Chapter 2173: The ‘battle’ was over. 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. "Be u-unusable later!? What do you mean!? What do you want from us!?" One of the Light Borns shouted desperately as his voice began to crack. "You are clearly powerful enough to defeat us in one go, then why do you keep doing this!?" Nux looked at him with a frown— "Do you people have a recorder inside you or something? Why do you keep asking the same thing over and over again? I told you before— You’re helping me improve." "Improve...?" One of them repeated weakly. "I got stronger too quickly, wasn’t used to my new strength, and I have been using you to deal with it. Obviously, the pace isn’t exactly according to my standards, but you are currently the best things I have, So I guess you can say you’ve been... helpful." Nux nodded, praising them without holding back, but the Light Borns... They didn’t see this as praise. Their bodies trembled in intense anger. For beings who had once stood at the very top, that single sentence shattered the last of their pride. "Things...?" One of them muttered. "You... you are using us as... toys?" "You dare treat the Children of Light as your tools!?" Another snapped. "Not tools." Nux defended himself. "Training dummies. Let’s keep it accurate." "You..." The Light Borns felt their very bodies collapsing at the ridiculousness and anger they felt. "YOU VILE... THING!" They screamed before they all burst forward together, their golden halos blazing strongly. WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH Hundreds of radiant spears appeared from all directions—lightstorms, faith bursts, sigil bombardments—every ability these Light Borns had ever mastered, it was all used at the same time without holding back one bit. The void which was once dark and lightless turned completely gold, and the intensity only continued to increase even further. But in front of that golden storm... Nux just grinned, looking forward to what was about to come. With enraged eyes, the Light Borns lowered their hands, beginning the bombardment, and Nux... He moved. And this time, he moved with precision. In this golden storm, he looked like a shadow dancing through sunlight. Every movement was conscious, every step was calculated. His arms moved through the air, redirecting attacks into each other. One Light Born tried to pierce his back. Nux twisted without looking, catching the attack by the wrist and slamming the attacker into another Light Born, making them both lose their balance. Another one tried to bind him with a Light Sigil chain, but Nux flicked his fingers—and the chain shattered like glass. Just like that, the battle continued. Nux continued to dodge everything, for hours. And the worst part? Even if he was caught in one of the attacks, it... it simply made no difference. His body came out unhurt, and the attack didn’t even shift his focus. Even when he was caught in an attack and was ’under its impact,’ he was dodging other attacks, completely ignoring the said ’impact.’ And this sight... It... It broke the Light Borns. The golden beings no longer shouted in unity. Their movements were mechanical now—they moved just for the sake of moving. There was no intent behind it, their hope... Their hope had already been crushed. "What... what sort of monstrosity are you?" One of them whispered when he got caught. Unlike others, who showed desperation and fear when they were caught, this one seemed... relieved. Almost as if he needed a reason to stop. He didn’t even resist when the black energy surrounded him; he... he simply let go. And when Nux saw it, he stared at the rest of the Light Borns with a deadpan look on his face. "Come on now, will you? Show some spirit!" He spoke as he clenched his fists, as if motivating them not to give up. "Also, being training dummies isn’t that bad, now is it? Weren’t you the ones who were disappointed that I didn’t kill the Light Infinity? This is exactly the moment where you can be of help! Fight me with everything you have, help me improve and who knows? I might just succeed!" He gave a small motivating speech but... It clearly wasn’t working. The Light Borns... They didn’t even reply. They just moved and switched to another formation as the battle continued further. By now, Nux’s movements were smooth and effortless. He could appear anywhere he wished, strike as he intended, control his strength exactly as he imagined. Of course, there were still times where he misjudged—using too much force, moving too far—but those moments were rare now. Each mistake he made, he corrected within seconds. Every time he got caught by one of the attacks, he analyzed, adjusted, and made sure it never happened in a similar manner again. And every time he improved, the Light Borns broke even further. They had been fighting for hours, and no, their bodies weren’t tired. These were beings capable of fighting for centuries without needing rest. A few hours would make no difference to them, but... But their minds... Their minds were collapsing. How could they not? They were being used as tools—tools this monster was using to sharpen himself. From the beginning till the end, he never once took them seriously. And why would he? Even their strongest of attacks only managed to tear his clothes. In these past few hours, not once had they managed to even so much as graze his skin, let alone hurt him. This... This was no longer a fight— It was... humiliation. An endless cycle where they gave their all, tried new formations, caught the enemy off guard, only for it to end with... Hopelessness. "Haaahh..." After a while, Nux sighed as well. "Sixty-eighth." He muttered lazily as he devoured another. With the number of enemies diminishing and him getting stronger, this was... getting boring, too easy. The last time he was caught by an attack was three hours ago. The worst part? The Light Borns weren’t even trying at this point! They no longer moved in coordination, they no longer showed anger or frustration, they all had just... Resigned. "Whatever, I’ll get what I can from them." Nux muttered to himself before he began moving. But then— ’Nux.’ He paused as he heard a familiar voice. ’Something happened.’ Shadow informed. ’What is it?’ He asked. ’It’s the Light Infinity. Come see for yourself.’ She called. Nux looked at the remaining Light Borns and then— ’Give me a minute.’ He spoke as he then moved. This time, there was no ’signal,’ something that surprised the Light Borns, but before they could realize what was different— Nux was already in front of them. They attacked again, golden beams, swords, and explosions filled the void again, but Nux ignored them completely. Every blast struck him, but his body didn’t even flinch. The light burned around him, but never on him. He reached the first two Light Borns, grabbed them by their heads—one in each hand—and the dark energy exploded outward, swallowing them whole. Both vanished in an instant. "W-What—No!" "Stay away from—!" The Light Borns stuttered, but they weren’t given time to react. He kept moving—with every few seconds, another pair disappeared. Two. Four. Six. Eight. He didn’t even bother dodging now. Attacks hit him, explosions burned around him, but nothing changed. He just kept moving, kept catching, kept devouring. And in less than a minute, the void was empty. All Light Borns were devoured. The ’battle’ was over.