Chapter 2172: This was no longer a battle. BOOOOM CLANG SSHHRRKKKK The dark void was no longer quiet. It trembled with every strike, every movement, every breath. The once endless darkness was now filled with flashes of gold and silver, waves of light clashing against a constant, dark... shadow—shadow that seemed to devour everything it touched. For hours, the battle had continued. The Light Borns—the proud, radiant beings who stood at the top of all existence—fought relentlessly, giving their all to resist the enemy in front of them. But... But it wasn’t working. The pride they had for being the Supreme Borns, the pride that was instilled into them, the pride that made them believe they were meant to stand above all... It was crushed into pieces. And it didn’t happen in a single moment—it happened slowly, so slowly that even if they wanted to believe all of this was an illusion, that it wasn’t real, they couldn’t. This was very much real. Out of the initial hundred and four Light Borns, only about fifty of them were left now. Others had already been devoured—consumed completely, right in front of them—by the monster who was now floating calmly in the center of the battlefield. Nux Leander. The Anomaly. The being who... even after fighting for hours, did not look tired. The being who... even after facing a hundred enemies alone, never once looked outnumbered. The being who... never once looked like he was fighting. "Keep your distance! Don’t attack alone!" One of the surviving Light Borns shouted, his golden armor cracked and his wings flickering weakly. The other Light Borns obeyed automatically—after all, they had done this countless times already—formation after formation, strike after strike, they had tried everything. And it had all failed. These were the same beings who had faced countless strong opponents in their long lives, beings who had the power to destroy worlds, beings who commanded armies and terrified even the High Level Worlds, But... Nothing—absolutely nothing—had ever felt as hopeless as this. The enemy moved calmly, almost... lazily. His breathing was steady, his body no longer jerked awkwardly like before. Every movement was measured, precise, almost... beautiful. His strikes no longer broke more than he intended. His steps no longer sent shockwaves by accident. He was in control. He was still not perfect, but close enough. He reached out, caught a spear of light midair, and twirled it casually in his hand before snapping it like a twig. "Enough of this mockery! What do you want from us!?" A Light Born cried out in frustration, summoning another wave of light sigils around him as he screamed in a voice full of rage and... fear. Nux glanced at him, his golden eyes showed amusement. "Want?" He chuckled softly. There was absolutely no sense of danger in his voice; if anything, he sounded more like this was all a... play. A stage show meant for amusement, an act where... everything was supposed to go exactly like the script that he already knew. "I already told you, didn’t I? I’m just... practicing." He answered, his tone not changing even as he dodged the series of light spears that were aimed at him. "Practicing!?" Another Light Born shouted, his wings flaring in rage. "Do you think this is a game!?" Nux laughed at that question. "Everything’s a game. You just lose faster than others." "Y-You...! You bastard!" One of them charged forward, his sword blazing with intense golden light. "You dare look down on us!? I’ll show you what happens to—!" "Yap less, Just move." Nux replied, provoking him even further as he signaled him to come at him. And the Light Born did exactly that— BOOOOOM His golden blade struck Nux square in the chest. He didn’t even bother blocking it with an arm. An explosion covered everything, blinding the Light Born who initiated the attack, but this time, the Light Born grinned. He felt it! This time, he felt it for sure! The attack connected! This was it! The first time they would be able to draw the enemy’s blood! Or at least... that was what the Light Born thought but... When the light faded away... just like before... Nux was still standing, completely unharmed. His clothes were torn a little, but his... body—the sword seemed like it was just resting on his chest, unable to move forward despite the Light Born doing his best. "I-It can’t be... 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂 I used everything..." The Light Born stared blankly, his hands trembling as he started questioning his very existence. But Nux... He had an entirely different concern. "It’s good that you’re trying hard, but I have said this before, Stop using your Life Force to strengthen your attacks. I cannot have you overuse your Life Force and be unusable later. That will be problematic." Saying those words, he reached out before the Light Born could retreat. The Light Born tried to dodge, but with Nux now having much better control over his body, it was simply impossible. Nux’s fingers closed around the Light Born’s head, the familiar black energy seeped out— "No...! Wait—!" The Light Born’s words were cut short as the dark energy surrounded him completely and then— He was gone. There was no explosion, no fancy tricks, no lights, Only... silence and darkness—darkness different from the ones the Light Borns were familiar with. "That was fifty-sixth." Nux, on the other hand, muttered softly, rubbing his wrist slightly. His tone was so casual that it felt like he was counting the number of push-ups he had done. The Light Borns around him hesitated, none dared to move, none of them wanted to end up like those who had disappeared. But... standing still wasn’t going to help them. The space around Nux warped again—it was a sign, a sign that he was about to move again. A signal he gave out every time he moved, yes—a signal Nux gave out. A signal he used to alert the enemies, to tell them to be prepared, to tell them... that he was coming. Yes, This was no longer a battle. He was simply toying with them.