Noctem

Planting his feet within the raging water, Nox brought his nodachi up in an upward arc to defend against the downward slash from the fragment of Aries, the shadow's attack was heavy and gravity was clearly against Nox, but he countered the attack, adding enough strength to his swing to deflect it.

The shadow attacked once again with his katana, it was so fast that it was basically a blur of the blade that was visible, however Nox met his attack with a quick strike of his own.

The both of them ran wild in the midst of the storm, their movements caused numerous ripples to appear above the water, sparks flew as their blades collided whilst only blurry silhouettes of the wielders were visible.

With each attack the shadow entity made, Nox would counter with his nodachi, replicating the same set of moves his attacker made to defend.

The current battle style Nox was using was the free form battle art. one of the battle arts that had taken him a while and several deaths to learn as it utilized the insight of a high level swordmaster to use.

The free form battle art focused on speed and a little bit of prediction, using the same attack as the opponent to counter with uttermost precision, back in the past it had a name, the denizens of the lost era referred to it as the 'mirror art of the d'raul tribe'.

It was a complex battle art and there were other factors which made it extremely difficult to use, one was the strength of the user and another was the speed at which the user was able to react to attacks.

The user had to have an unusual level of focus to effectively use it and it wasn't without a flaw which could cause strain on the mind if not used in moderation.

Currently Nox had been successful in repelling all the shadow's attacks but a slight frown marred his delicate face.

'He's toying with me, he has me right where he wants me.' Nox thought while deflecting an attack from the shadow entity. 'No! I can't let him beat me this time, this has to end, I'm not even sure how long I've spent here, but I'm certain that we've spent centuries training and honing my skills... And Yet... Yet, I still haven't managed to kill him once!'

" You're distracted" the fragment of Aries muttered sternly, delivering a devastating kick to Nox's abdomen.

The kick carried enough force to send Nox flying off the cliff side of the waterfall, the effeminate kid was momentarily stunned while being suspended in the air, but his daze only lasted one second before he manipulated the mana in the atmosphere around him, creating a dense wall of liquid like mana then using the wall as a platform, he propelled himself forward with enough force to send him flying towards the shadow.

Seeing this, Eren, who had been watching the battle from the branch of an enormous tree which was easily two times the size of an average skyscraper— smiled with satisfaction.

"Oh dear me, it would seem that I have created a monster."

Nox hurled towards the shadow with impeccable speed, gripping the nodachi with both hands he shot forward, leaving afterimages of himself in the air.

The shadow didn't flinch nor was he surprised at the speed the tenebrous child approached with, his calm gaze never left his face and he stood still like a statue waiting for his opponent to get into his range.

The intensity of the rain increased, as such, the current of the flowing water drastically increased as well.

Flame-like shadows rose from the fragment of Aries, surrounding his form in gentle strolls, it crept and crept until it finally engulfed his katana.

He made a clean cut through the air, and the shadow nether bent to his will moving towards the incoming Nox, attempting to split him in half.

Nox spun slightly, barely avoiding the sword aura that was shot towards him.

He slashed his nodachi sideways attempting to sever the head of the shadow entity but at the same time, the fragment of aries had lunged forward, crouching low while swinging his sword in an horizontal pattern, attempting to sever Nox's torso.

At that moment Nox's body shook slightly and a surge of energy flowed calmly within his veins... No, it wasn't his veins but rather the nether vein he had created to allow the free flow of his shadow nether.

Forcing out nether from his body, dark motes of shadows enveloped his entire being. Unlike the shadow entity who was cloaked in shadows of flame like structure, his was a bit different as he was not at the level at which he could properly shape his shadow nether to create structures.

The shadow's katana was met with air as Nox vanished alongside his shadowy motes, his brow perked up a bit in genuine surprise, he never imagined that the kid who had been struggling to use the shadow nether, would be able to become formless alongside his shadows.

His surprise was short lived as he spun the blade within his hand backwards, but he had been a bit too slow to react. Nox's nodachi slashed across the back of the shadow entity, drawing blood from him for the first time since the battle started.

Panting and huffing, Nox firmly planted his feet beneath the raging water while the tip of his nodachi was pointed at the fragment of the spawn of shadows.

The shadow had an amused look on his face, his eyes glistened with dark glee and his lip twisted into a rather hollow smile.

"~My.. My, now isn't this a lovely surprise, I never imagined that you would actually be able to use the shadows that way, despite being unable to control it freely, still you've managed to get a cut across me, that's quite a feat child, you're learning rather quickly, and at this rate there's practically nothing left for me to teach you."

He lingered for a few seconds then took a step forward

"You seem drained, but I hope you're not done yet, it'd be quite a shame you see, I was hoping for a real battle."

Nox straightened up his pose, he let out an exhale then took another battle stance.

This time his stance was graceful, excluding a sense of regality and finesse in his pose. He had his left hand poised behind his back while both of his legs were positioned together, then his nodachi was raised forward with the tip being pointed at the opponent.

"Well then I'd say you're in luck, afterall.. I was just getting started." Nox replied with a subtle smile.

Both of them clashed once again, and this time the force of the attacks created ripples in the flowing currents. Their blades met one another creating sparks with each contact that was made.

The cacophony of clanging metals rang louder than ever, overwhelming even that of the deafening rainstorm, indicating the sheer force behind each attack.

The wielders themselves were engaged in a beautiful sword dance in the storm, battling their hearts out while letting their blades do the talking, with an excited grin, both of them battled, enjoying the thrill of a deadly brawl with their lives on the line.