Chapter 40: Darkness of the Night
The black runes on Ashton's body pulsed as they took on a more complex design weaving the circuits across his body. His dark auburn hair seemed to absorb the light as it grew to reach his mid back and his azure eye paled to match his other moon-like silver eye.
Mana surged through Ashton's body and he zoomed forward at speeds no human was capable of. Fayden flinched back as Ashton came to a stop right in front of him. He could feel the mana getting sucked into his bandaged arm as it blurred out of his vision.
His body acted on reflex and he jumped back, but he could not fully evade the attack and it left a deep gash over his chest, tearing into his flesh. Fayden gasped in pain as blood began pouring out of his wound. His rune pulsed once, and greenish-black flames exploded over his chest, sealing up his wound in moments.
He watched Ashton warily, he had not moved from his position yet. Earth mana bent to his will and formed a thin layer over his body, while it wouldn't stop another hit like that, it would weaken it.
Mana flooded from Ashton's core taking on a spherical shape around him. The ambient mana funneled towards him, however, it wasn't absorbed by him. Rather, it floated within the bubble as it began to mix with the aether. Ice mana seemed to overpower the others, leaving behind a darker, more sinister version of it.
The dark ice mana flooded to his other arm, concentrated over his palm. A moment later, it exploded out in the form of tiny snowflakes that floated around the battlefield. Wherever it touched, an icicle of black ice would take its place. A shiver went down Faydens spine, he could feel the mana thinning in the area, sucked up by the ice.
I cannot let them touch me. The thought echoed in his mind as he flew up, fire mana coalesced over him, adding another layer over the earth mana, but much thicker and stronger than before. Out of curiosity, he threw a nacht sword into the snowflake cloud, watching it get encased in the black ice, fossilized inside it. He waved his arm over it, and a dome of earth covered up the ice.
"How long do you think you can keep containing them?" Ashton said rhetorically as he cast the spell once more.
"As long as I need to." Fayden retorted, and black flames spilled out of his hand, the nacht spell melting the nox ice, the two spells canceling each other out.
Ashton zig-zagged on the ground, each time leaving behind a dark afterimage made purely of nox fire, before disappearing into his shadow. The afterimages moved of their own will, each flying off towards Fayden.
Fayden Void Stepped away, and held his dominant arm out, using his left hand to stabilize it as a black mass of concentrated earth mana formed over his palm and began pulling on his clothes. He pumped as much mana into it as he could before letting it fly off and expand to form a black hole, sucking in the flame apparitions.
Unexpectedly, the flames didn't extinguish and began devouring the black hole from the inside, leaving behind a single afterimage at least ten times the size of him.
Anything but Nacht is useless against it, Fayden realized, in his acquire phase he did not have much nacht to use, and he was unwilling to enter his integrate phase until he was at his limit.
The apparition moved faster than it had any right to and extended its arm to grab Fayden. Ashton jumped out of Faydens shadow, standing on the blade of a rusty black sword and flew up behind him. Between his white shortsword and the flame apparition, Fayden was stuck in a pincer attack.
Fayden exhaled calmly, nacht pulsing over his body, and did nothing. Ashton's sword passed through his abdomen, and the black flames washed over him. Daybreak's passive skill activated, and absorbed the flames within seconds.
Taking the opportunity, Fayden twisted his body, a lance of black ice materialized in his hand. Before Ashton could recover, he took the opportunity and drove it into Ashton's shoulder. In the instant he had to act, Ashton activated Thunderclap Impulse and white lightning ran through his veins.
He hurled himself backward, using his floating sword as a footstand, and causing the ice lance to carve a deep gash on his shoulder.
Being flipped off the blade he used a burst of wind to slow himself before hitting the ground. Glaring at Fayden, sparkling black wind began to swirl around the wound. "My healing spell isn't as flashy as yours sadly." he shouted out
"Sounds like a skill issue." Fayden yelled back, grinning at him. His black lance dripping Ashton's blood. While he was still healing, Fayden hurled the spear at him, using wind magic to make it faster while using earth magic to make it stronger.
In a flash of black a long sword appeared in Ashton's right hand pointed toward the frozen lance. "I'll show you a skill issue!" the raging black flames from before burst from the blade toward the lance aiming for Fayden.
A black bubble formed around Fayden, casting a thin layer of stopped time around him. The black flames washed over it, part of it sticking to the bubble and the rest blew past and dissipated. Void stepping out, Fayden dispelled the bubble, letting the rest of the fire fizzle out.
"Now, now, don't get too angry," He chided, raising his arm up, and nacht concentrated over him. Thunder roared and black lightning carved itself in the shape of a hawk. The apparition dived at Ashton, breaking the sound barrier with a sonic boom.
Raising Daybreak Ashton stood his ground unflinchingly. The white sword began absorbing Fayden's spell, but he could tell something was amiss, it was like the nacht was viscous and refused to enter the sword. Fayden took the opportunity and Void stepped behind him, a blade of nacht ready to pierce through him.
A feeling of foreboding overcame him, and something told him to point Twilight behind, and so he did. The black blade blocked Fayden's nacht blade, but something unexpected happened. The nacht he had absorbed with Daybreak flowed out of Twilight all at once, at the same moment Daybreak reached it's limit and the rest of the nacht construct collided into him.
In a violent frenzy it tore into the two boys, sending thousands of volts of nacht-infused lightning running through their bodies. Ashton momentarily lost consciousness. He did not rest for long, a nudge from Vetus brought him back to reality.
Fayden had fared better than him, being part Marchosias gave him some resistance to Nacht, but his spell was still powerful, and he sported multiple bruises from it. Parts of his shirt had burnt away, leaving him in tattered clothes. Warping away, he took a moment to recover.
Ashton breathed heavily, leaning on his sword. He could hear his heart beat in his ears. The same dark hued wind from before covered most of his body, alleviating some of his pain. He glared at Fayden from where he was.
It's your own fucking fault, you tried to absorb something neither you nor your swords are familiar with.
What he means to say is, although this Nacht is similar to Nox in the way they are made, it is not the same thing.
'How different could it be?' Ashton snarked back.
You and I both know how different things can be in other universes. And while the Marchosias are similar to the Lykaios, we should not assume things just yet.
You've played around long enough, show him what you're really capable of.
'Fine, besides I need to see what I can do.' Ashton agreed as he pushed off his sword allowing both of them to disappear. "Fayden, I'd get serious if I were you. You don't want to end up in Marchosias hospital, do you?"
Fayden shrugged, "I'll take my chances, thanks."
Ashton's face twisted into a grin, "Your funeral."
Ashton's runes seemed to grow dimmer as a set of equally complex crimson ones formed alongside them. The circuit-like pattern from each set seemed to mesh and combine as the mana around him shook and the aether raced toward the sphere of mana even faster than before.
He raised his hand, and hundreds if not thousands of blades ranging in all shapes and sizes formed above him. As he dropped his arm, the blades rained down on Fayden, casting a large shadow across the battlefield.
Seeing no other way to escape the blades, Fayden encased himself in a layer of Nacht. Most of the blades embedded themselves in the nacht, but a few made it through. The first one only grazed his side, but the second one pierced right through his chest, puncturing his left lung.
The shell of Nacht dissipated as the rain stopped. Wheezing, Fayden pulled out the-now bloodied, sword out of his body, Tartarean Vitality already beginning to heal his wound.
"Probably would have helped you more if you concentrated all those blades at me instead of making them rain down aimlessly." He commented, hurling the sword back at it's owner.
The blade never reached him, coming to a stop inches before Ashton. "I'll keep that in mind next time."
He raised his arm again, "And next time, is now."
Like before, hundreds of swords materialized in the fake sky, all pointing towards Fayden. Unlike earlier, each and every one of them headed straight for him.
Fayden gulped, "Should not have said that."
This time he was not able to erect any defences, and the nox blades pierced him through, hoisting him up by his abdomen, his intestines ruined.
"Should have listened to my advice." Ashton shook his head.
"Yeah, well," He wheezed out, "I'm not really…a good listener."
"Canine Divinity."
Day turned to night as Nacht engulfed everything, the sky, the land, the ocean, everything was replaced by a reflection of the universe. Ashton's Imaginary blades shattered, but Fayden kept floating. Silver runes crawled down his body, the same color his eyes had taken. His hair grew darker and matte, making it look like they had meshed together.
He looked down at himself, other than his pants, the rest of his clothes were ruined. He tore his shirt off, letting it hang from his waist. Void Edge flowed out of his veins and into his hands, and he pointed it at Ashton.
"You wanted me to become serious right?" He asked rhetorically, disappearing from Ashtons vision.
"Be careful what you wish for." He whispered down his ear. Ashton swirled back, Daybreak cleaving the air behind him.
"Well you're hard to sense now, but that's all." Ashton grunted, annoyed he'd gotten tricked.
"Is it?" Faydens voice echoed through the chamber.
"I could be right here," His voice came from right beside him.
"Or there," It seemed farther now.
"Am I even in the chamber anymore?" It sounded muffled now, as if he was speaking from far away.
"If you left you're a coward." Ashton goaded as he closed his eyes, focusing more on himself than the world around him.
"Maybe I am," Fayden admitted, "As long as I win, does it matter how I do it?"
"Not at all, though it's just saddening a rival like you is a coward." Ashton went on as he waited, now holding both his blades.
"Sounds like a you problem," Fayden goaded back.
Brat, repeat what I say. Alterum spoke in his mind, and Ashton nodded internally.
"I guess Agrona will be able to reincarnate Cecilia into Tessia in this world with you around."
Fayden screeched to a halt, coming back into Ashton's vision, "What did you say?"
Ashton shrugged "Come over here and beat it out of me."
All the mirth left Faydens face, and Void Edge responded to his will. The semi gaseous weapon condensed into a solid blade, and Fayden held it with both hands. Nacht coalesced around the blade, and flames hotter than the Sun blazed to life around it.
A moment later, the flames disappeared, concentrated along the edge of the blade. It did not rage, it did not burn, It merely erased whatever it touched out of existence.
Fayden shot forward like an arrow, having long broken the sound barrier, and held his sword up for a strong downward strike.
Move
Ashtons body kicked into overdrive, he could feel the heat burning on the blade. He smiled "Not my strongest element, but it's close."
The Nox infused water mana focused around Twilight, but there was no ice. Sheer coldness settled over the blade in the same fashion as Fayden's fire, concentrated into the edge. The temperature kept rapidly decreasing, reaching absolute zero in moments.
And the two blades clashed in a song of ice and fire.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone