Chapter 238: Void
The darkness around Myles no longer lingered as a thin mist drifting without purpose. It gathered and thickened steadily, drawn inward as if responding to something within him. Until it wrapped around his entire body in dense layers.
The movement of that darkness changed as well. It was no longer passive but coiling along his arms, shoulders, and torso like a living cloak.
In some places, it compressed further to form shapes that resembled armor made from shadow that hardened enough to suggest protection while still shifting in a fluid way.
The air around him grew colder and heavier. Even the space seemed to tighten under the presence.
Red felt the change immediately. The sensation forced a reaction out of him before he could properly think it through.
His body moved on instinct as he pushed himself backward to create distance in a quick leap. When his feet landed, his stance had already shifted more cautiously.
His gaze locked onto Myles as he studied the transformation in front of him.
The figure standing there no longer felt the same. That difference pressed against his senses.
He narrowed his eyes slightly. His grip tightening around his short sword as thoughts began to form one after another.
"What is this…?" The question lingered as he watched the darkness coil and move with unnatural behavior.
"Where did he get that kind of power? Why do I feel danger?"
That last thought stayed longer than the others, heavier than he expected, as he continued to observe.
"Is he becoming a threat to me now?"
At that same moment, Myles himself was no longer present on the battlefield.
His body remained where it stood, surrounded by that swirling darkness, but his mind had already pulled into a space far removed from everything happening outside.
That place stretched endlessly in every direction. Filled with nothing but darkness and thick drifting mist that moved slowly around him.
There were no sounds there or echoes of battle, only a suffocating stillness that made everything feel distant and unreal.
When Myles looked around, faint shapes began to appear within that void. They gradually became clearer as his awareness adjusted to the space.
Strange and vivid colors emerged from the darkness, spreading across the emptiness like ink spilled onto a surface.
They blended into one another while still maintaining their own forms, shifting in slow but erratic motions that followed no pattern yet never felt entirely random.
His attention moved forward, and he saw a circle.
It stood at the center of that endless space. Massive beyond measure, dominating everything around it while defying clear definition.
The shape didn't remain stable. But it remained undeniably present, anchoring the entire void around it.
Myles couldn't describe it. He couldn't comprehend what it truly was, but something inside him than thought told him its significance with absolute certainty.
"That is the center."
The understanding didn't come from logic or reasoning. It came instinctively as if that truth had always existed within him, waiting for this moment to surface.
Outside, in the physical world, his body moved without hesitation or awareness.
Myles surged forward in a sudden burst of speed. The darkness trailing behind him as he closed the distance toward Red in an instant.
His Fangblade cut through the air in a sharp slash, immediately followed by another slash of his Noctyrix dagger aimed with precision and lethal intent.
Red still managed to block them.
The attacks didn't stop there.
They continued, flowing seamlessly from one motion into the next, each slash and stab delivered with relentless pressure that left no space for pause or thought.
The dark mist around him responded to every movement. It thickened further as it swirled violently, as if feeding into his actions and amplifying their force.
Red raised his weapon to block, reacting quickly to the attacks. But his focus remained locked on Myles' face even as he defended.
What he saw unsettled him more than the attacks themselves. Myles' expression remained completely blank, devoid of any emotion or awareness.
His eyes reflected nothing at all. Only an empty gaze that seemed to look straight through him as the relentless attacks continued to come, faster and heavier with each passing second.
Then Red felt the pressure around him thickened. It pressed against his body and senses until even his breathing began to feel heavier.
It didn't come from the battlefield itself, but from Myles. That presence wrapped in darkness continued to grow more oppressive as each movement carried a weight that hadn't been there before, forcing Red to adjust his footing again as his instincts warned him that the balance of their fight had already begun to shift.
Myles moved faster.
The change came without warning. One moment Red still managed to follow the rhythm of the attacks and the next that rhythm broke apart completely as Myles' speed surged beyond what his eyes could track properly.
The Fangblade flashed forward, followed instantly by the Noctyrix dagger, both weapons moving in tight and precise arcs that cut through the air with terrifying acceleration.
Red raised his sword to block but the timing no longer matched. The clash came a fraction too late.
A sharp line of pain spread across his side.
Another pain came. And another.
The slashes and stabs slipped through the gaps in his defense as Myles' attacks overlapped faster than he could react.
Blood began to spill from multiple wounds across his body, staining his clothes as each hit carved his body.
Red tried to step back and regain control, but the pressure didn't allow it.
His every attempt to stabilize was crushed by another incoming attack that forced him further off balance.
His eyes widened slightly as realization struck.
"I can't keep up…!"
Before he could recover, Myles closed the distance completely.
The darkness around him surged violently as his body twisted and then a powerful kick drove forward without hesitation. It slammed directly into Red's chest with overwhelming force.
The impact exploded through him.
Air burst from his lungs as his body lifted off the ground and flew backward. He tore through the boundary of hot blood mist and swirling darkness that surrounded their battle.
The world spun violently as he was thrown several meters away before crashing hard against the ground.
He rolled across the dirt. His body tumbled uncontrollably until the momentum finally died.
When he stopped, pain surged through his entire body as he struggled to push himself up.
Then he coughed and a large amount of blood spilled from his mouth.
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