Nyx, kneeling, anchored his body on his sword struck into the ground. Pushing himself up, he stood—straightening his back. He extended his arm and wiped his burst lip clean of blood.
His gaze locked onto Aria's silhouette.
Aria, slowly standing, struck her sword into the ground, extended her hand, and wiped her face.
She then grabbed the sword, unstuck it from the earth, and prepared her stance—extending the blade forward and grounding herself.
"Heh," Nyx chuckled.
"You're not giving up, are you?"
Nyx, glancing at her silhouette, remembered a moment from just a few days ago.
SWOOSH
The sound of someone swinging a sword, cutting through the air.
SWISH. SWOOSH. SWISH.
Nyx had been that person—swinging his sword vertically, over and over again.
SWOOSH. SWISH.
He kept swinging—sloppy, furious, breath sharp in his throat. His jaw hurt from clenching, his arms screamed with each strike.
" I'm powerless... I need more strength".
The thought looped in his head like a broken record. Not desperate—just stubborn. Almost ridiculous. But he didn't stop.
SWISH. SWOOSH.
Sweat poured down his face, his shirt soaked through.
Stopping, he extended his arm and struck the sword into the ground, walking to a fallen tree trunk and sitting on it.
In silence thinking "I'm far too weak."
"How am I going to protect... with this meager strength I have?"
Nyx stretched out his hands, looking at his calloused fingers and palms—trembling with exhaustion. His focus sharpened on his hands.
"I… need it…" he said aloud, clenching them with a sturdy grip.
Wiping his face of sweat, he stood, walked up to his sword, and unsheathed it from the ground.
Firmly planting his right leg forward and left leg behind, solidifying his stance, he extended the blade forward.
He raised it above his head and gripped it tightly.
SWOOSH.
He swung the sword—and with that, his recollection ended, fading back into the reality of the duel.
He unsheathed his sword from the ground, rising slowly as his eyes locked onto her figure. Motionless, he waited—reading her, measuring her, each breath a quiet countdown.
Seconds stretched.
Then—a flicker.
A shift in her silhouette. Barely there. Almost imagined.
Gone.
She vanished.
Nyx grinned.
A blur of smoke exploded behind him as he lunged forward, launching into a deadly sprint. His movements blurred, dangerously fast—his sword drawn tight to his side, the wind howling past him like a chorus of banshees.
In one fluid motion, he extended his blade, leveling it with his shoulder. Crackling mana surged to life across the steel, wrapping it in a flickering glow of volatile light.
he swung his sword, striking something
Steel collided.
A sharp clang! ripped through the air as his blade met Aria's, her sword snapping up at the last possible second. Sparks burst from the clash, dancing in the space between them as their swords shrieked and ground against each other.
"So fast..." he muttered with a crooked grin, leaning in close—eyes locked with hers, wild and unyielding. "Yet so predictable, aren't you, sis?"
"Tsk... Can't you just lose on purpose?" Aria grunted, teeth grit as she struggled to hold off Nyx's pressure.
Her gaze fixed on his blade, heat flaring in her eyes. "I'm here fighting for Luna's praise."
"You already had enough of her praise."
"Can't you be a good older brother and let your younger sister get some?" she chuckled mid-struggle—her words light, but her expression gleamed with determination. She was enjoying every second of it.
"Haa?" Nyx scoffed, before abruptly shifting his weight.
With a violent shove, he knocked her sword to the side, catching her off-balance. Aria's eyes widened—surprised—but she recovered just in time, blocking a flurry of merciless strikes.
CLING! CLANG!
Steel rang through the clearing as Nyx attacked again and again, each swing heavier, faster, more brutal than the last. Their blades clashed in a flurry of sparks, each blow echoing with raw energy.
They were at it again.
Fighting not just with swords, but with years of rivalry, pride, and unspoken words.
"Aren't you the one who's been with her the most since we got here?" Nyx said between swings.
"You both slept together since we arrived!"
"I barely had an hour with her!"
"That's payback for every time you had monopolised her in the mansion!" Aria growled, throwing her weight forward, trying to overpower him with brute force—her sword grinding hard against his, muscles trembling.
"Mansion?" Nyx's voice flared with emotion. "You were the one who spent every day with her—since birth!"
Aria's eyes narrowed. Her brow creased.
That fired her up.
"Stop bullshitting me!" Nyx spat, voice crackling with raw conviction.
With a twist of his wrist and a brutal surge of strength, he broke the deadlock—her blade slipped.
His sword surged upward through the clash, slashing the balance apart.
Momentum turned in a heartbeat.
Now he was pressing forward.
Eyes burning.
Stance solid.
And Aria—cornered—knew this wasn't just a duel anymore.
This was everything they'd ever left unsaid, finally being screamed through steel.
CLING! CLANG!
Aria staggered backward, barely keeping pace with Nyx's relentless assault.
"You're saying I'm bullshitting you?" she spat, dodging a savage swing. "Did I say anything wrong?!"
Their blades collided again—and again—each strike more brutal than the last. Sparks burst between them like fireworks, the metallic screech of steel against steel ripping through the air. Sweat streamed down Aria's face, soaking into her clothes, each drop evidence of how close she was to breaking.
"You've spent far more time with her than I ever did!" she shouted.
"NONSENSE!" Nyx barked, striking faster, angrier. "You were the one who spent the most! Her free time—her lecture time!"
"EVERY SINGLE TIME I HAD TO TRAIN, YOU WERE WITH HER!"
Nyx's voice cracked with fury, and his attacks only grew more savage. His muscles screamed with fatigue—but he didn't care. He wouldn't stop now.
"NO! Coincidence doesn't mean deliberate!" Aria shouted, her parries desperate, chaotic.
"We had lessons together! I didn't choose that!"
"Stop making things up!"
"You KNOW Luna had the same lessons as me!" Aria yelled, her voice cracking. Her mouth opened wide, eyebrows twisted, eyes twitching with unspoken frustration.
"WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!" Nyx roared. "You still spent time with her—while I slaved away under the damn sun!"
"SWINGING THIS DAMN SWORD!"
"AND YOU—" he surged forward, his roar exploding like thunder, "YOU HAD EVERY DAMN OPPORTUNITY I NEVER GOT!"
Nyx's scream tore through the air.
"EVEN THE TEATIME! PLAYTIME! EVERY STUPID SECOND OF FREE TIME YOU HAD WITH HER!"
His blade screamed as it crashed against hers, fury driving every blow.
"SO DON'T STAND THERE AND LIE TO MY FACE—TELLING ME I'VE SPENT MORE TIME WITH HER THAN YOU!"
Nyx snapped out of his rage-fueled trance for a heartbeat—just enough to see her.
Her sword still met his—but her blade shook. For just a breath.
Eyes locked. Lips curled in defiance.
But her stance wavered.
She didn't answer. She couldn't. The truth had landed. And though she burned to deny it, her silence screamed louder.
Nyx's gaze hardened.
He poured everything into the next strike—rage, grief, longing—his sword crashing down and sending hers flying to the side.
Her eyes followed it—wide, intense—caught in the moment.
Too late.
His foot slammed into her guts with brutal force.
A gasp burst from Aria's lungs—spit flying from her mouth—her body lifting from the ground.
In less than a second, she was airborne, a blur of limbs and pain as she crashed into the arena wall.
BOOM.
Stone shattered, a crater split open behind her, and dust erupted like smoke around her fallen form.