The shadows were louder than before.
Not in sound-but in presence.
They stretched further, longer than they should. And whispered in a language that I couldn't clearly understand.... but somehow felt.
Watching.
Waiting.
I stood in the middle of the arena, my arms crossed, eyes half closed, not in concentration but in sleepy ness.
Lyarea was still struggling Infront of me.
Again.
She took a wild swing. A step too heavy, a punch too wide.
I tilted my head and let it pass like wind.
"Too slow." I said.
She gritted her teeth and came again.
Faster but not enough.
I stepped again.
Again.
And again.
Her breathing became uneven, rough. Her movements sharper but sloppier. Frustration was creeping in, effecting her rhythm.
Good.
"Stop."
She froze mid step, chest rising and falling as she tried to catch her breath.
"Is that it?" she asked trying to catch her breath. "You are not even trying."
"I am." I said calmly. "I'm trying to see if you can lay your little hands on me."
Her eyes become narrow.
"I can fight. But not like this..."
A silence fell over the arena.
The words hit harder than any strike could.
Her fists tightened.
"You... you have not seen me with a sword yet."
"And I won't ... At least... For now." I replied.
"But why." She asked looking at me with those eyes filled with childish innocence.
"Because this sword of your is a crutch."
And that did it.
Her expression broke.
"You do not know anything about me."
"I know enough," I said stepping closer. "You rely on it because you're afraid of what will happen without it."
Her breath caught.
For a moment she said nothing.
Then-
"I lost before," she muttered.
The arena seemed quite.
Even the light of the fireflies seemed a little dimmer.
"Before I had my blade, My training, My title..." her voice dropped. "And I still lost... Everything."
Ah
There it was.
Not weakness.
But, fear.
"I will not lose again..." She said louder this time Not to that thing... Not In front of everyone.
Her eyes burned with determination.
Good.
"Now we are getting somewhere."
'Fear makes poor footing.'
Nyxios voice chimed in as he materialised beside me. His form bending out from the darkness like smoke given shape.
"Jeez you and your wisdom. Good thing she can't hear you."
I said to Nyxios.
"Do not be too sure about that kid. Look at her she can clearly see me."
I turned to look at Lyarea and she was stiffened in fear.
"...whe...when did her..."
"What you can see this basterd..."
"Relax girl I am always here..."
Said Nyxios.
"Unfortunately...."
I said rolling my eyes.
"So," I said glancing sideways at him. "You going to teach me that trick of yours."
His gaze drifted towards the ground.
Towards the shadows.
"It is not a trick. It is understanding." He said.
I sighed. "Here we go."
Nyxios raised his right hand and the shadow beneath us seemed to move.
"You see the darkness as emptiness," he continued. "A lack of light. A void."
He stepped forward—
—and his foot sank into the shadow.
"You are wrong."
Lyarea's eyes widened.
The darkness didn't swallowed him.
It accepted him.
"These shadows are not just lumps of darkness." Nyxios said, his voice echoing faintl. "They are gateways to time and space, pathways to the world beyond the living."
And then—
—he vanished.
Gone.
Lyarea spun, searching.
"Where..."
"Behind you." I said.
She turned.
And Nyxios stood there.
Unmoving.
Silent.
Like he always been there.
Lyarea took a step back.
"...Tha... that is not possible..."
"It is inevitable." Nyxios replied.
I exhaled slowly.
"Alright." I said. "My turn."