Noctem

The shadow orb above the fragment of Aries grew larger while thick motes of shadows swirled around him like a snake coiling around a tree with outstanding speed, protecting the shadow entity from any external attacks.

As soon as Nox got in range, he spun his body in a semi-circle motion mid air with his dual daggers firmly held in both hands.

The shadow motes surrounding the shadow entity seemed to come alive, the particles of shadows moved to meet Nox's strikes head on while becoming denser.

A loud clanging sound of metal was heard as the shadows blocked Nox's strike, still the tenebrous child didn't fall back instead he spun on his feet while twisting his body in an unnatural angle to avoid the shadow tentacles that tried to knock him away.

Crunching low while holding both daggers in reverse grips, his body coiled like a spring before bursting upwards in an explosive sprint as he dashed past the shadow orb with inhumane speed.

Multiple slash lines appeared all over the orb almost as instant as Nox moved past it, Numerous webs of cracks appeared on the surface of the shadow orb and veins of shadow nether seeped outward before imploding, sending shadow shards in various directions.

The shadow entity seemed unfazed, even as the attack he was preparing got destroyed, instead a snide smile was present on his face.

"A smart move, tenebrous one, but a mistake nevertheless."

A shadow shard transformed into a tentacle and shot towards Nox with piercing speed, but the tenebrous child was able to react in time and deflect the attack.

Since Nox had accidentally triggered his vampire awakening his body had been different, even he could tell. He had become faster, stronger and was able to deflect some hits from the shadow entity without getting pushed back, still, he couldn't reach the fragment of Aries without meeting resistance from the shadows around the shadow entity.

A scowl found its way to his face as more broken shards of the shadow orb transformed into tentacles and shot towards him, each making whooshing sounds as they moved.

Nox blades sliced through the shadow tendrils with lethal precision, cutting through the shadow tentacles with flawless strikes while imbuing bits of shadow nether on his blades.

Seeing this, the fragment of Aries narrowed his eyes and in the next second, more tendrils of shadows shot forward from beneath the shadow entity, their form, writhing and twisting like the limbs of a nightmarish creature as they moved towards Nox.

The tenebrous child— in response, crouched low, then shot forward with stunning speed, meeting the tendrils of shadows with quick precise strikes like he had done before, severing a few before they could get to him.

He spun his body once again, this time in a full circle and like a tornado he burst forward, quickly closing the distance between him and the fragment of Aries.

With a gesture of his hand, the shadow entity created a wall of shadows to block Nox, but before it could fully form, Nox threw one of his daggers imbued with his shadow nether towards the shadow entity.

"Not the wisest of choice, lad.. a desperate attempt perhaps?." The shadow asked.

There was no reply and no impact was met by the wall of shadows but behind the shadow entity, there was a slight change in the air and a dagger was heading for Aries head.

He effortlessly swung his longsword to deflect the attack while a tendril of shadow grazed Nox on his wrist.

Nox leaped backwards putting a little distance between the two of them, his damp robe hung tightly on his skin while his wet hair was flung behind, revealing his face which had ominous glowing red eyes and fangs.

The shadow entity turned around fully and gazed at Nox with his usual calm expression. The shadow swirled beneath his feet then six nebulous tentacles of shadows shot out, each of them whirling and swaying in calm motions.

"Fighting a skilled assassin such as yourself while using my shadow nether as a mage is quite draining for me."

He lingered for a few seconds and a subtle glint was visible within his eyes.

"Henceforth I shall fight you as an equal using my blade as a shadow knight."

For a short while the shadow's declaration was met with silence, whilst deep shadows obscured Nox's face giving him an eerie feel.

Unknown to the shadow that Nox was slowly giving in to his dark desire, while losing his sanity.

His shoulders trembled a bit then his body followed, which was accompanied with a cackle before it turned into a crazed laughter.

"Kekeke... uha... puhahahaha, Say!... you're an amusing creature, your resilience is top notch and no matter what I try, I can't seem to beat you.... It makes me want to tear you apart even more."

Pointing his dagger at the shadow,he spoke with a malevolent whisper, licking his fangs while looking extremely excited with a hint of craziness in his expression, he spoke.

"Don't die just yet ok?, at least not until I'm done with you."

"Did you go berserk? An unwise decision, you're no different from a beast now."

"Me? Berserk?.. kekeke... No I'm not berserk, I just want to spill your blood reallyyy bad... Look at me! I'm perfectly sane."

'Hmmm, is it a side effect of his trait as a vampire, no, that's not it, if that were to be the case then he would have tried to sink his fangs in my throat... A berserker who hasn't gone completely berserk? I'm not sure such a thing exists.. if that's not it then what brought about the change of his demeanor.' The shadow couldn't help but ponder

Somewhere a bit far from the waterfall, on a ridiculously tall tree with branches as thick as a building, Eren had the same thoughts as he watched the scene play out... Although he couldn't interfere, instead he was busy casting spells on an obsidian ring.

Launching himself forward, an ominous crimson aura entwined with the shadow nether around Nox's dual daggers, his movement created several ripples much larger than those caused by the droplets of rain from the rain storm.

The shadow didn't wait around this time, instead he ran forward to meet Nox's assault, their movements fell into rhythm.

As their weapons collided, Nox's body became a blur, spinning in the flow of a wild cyclone, his dagger arc through the air with streaks of ominous dark crimson, like they were an extension of his body, every movement of his body was a dance of death and his weapons were perfectly in sync with his eccentric movements, his footwork was impeccable, pivoting and planting while moving in smooth motions even as he went for the offense in this battle.

On the other hand, the shadow remained calm and collected, his form was a nebulous mass of swirling shadows and the six tendrils of shadow beneath him acted like extra limbs, parrying Nox's strikes with flawless efficiency, while allowing him to attack Nox with strikes of his own.

They battled across the waterfall, their forms were nothing but mere mirages as only the sounds of metal clanging could be heard while crisscrossing streaks of dark crimson consumed the entire terrain.

Nox's slashes became erratic, evolving into more deadly attacks while his movements became more fluid as he mixed in feints within his movements and attacks.

The reason Nox was able to keep up with the shadow's attacks was due to his speed as a hybrid.. or more specifically as a vampire, another reason was his application of shadow nether mixed in with the crimson aura on his blades, he noticed that it was taking more—time to create the shadow tendrils than usual.

Gritting his teeth Nox repeatedly struck the shadow tendrils with one of his daggers while he used the other one to defend a strike from the shadow entity.

"Annoying, why.. why, why, why... Why won't you bleed!!!." He yelled his frustration as he dealt a devastating strike to the shadow's longsword.

The impact was enough to stun both of them, and the results? Well the force of the strike was enough to make a dent on the shadow's longsword which was already battered from the previous impacts it had received.

Seeing as his sword was in a sorry state, the shadow sent all six of the shadow tentacles towards Nox, aiming to impale the tenebrous child.

The attack was too fast and the distance between them wasn't that great, it would have been almost impossible for Nox to dodge the attack– or at least that's what the shadow thought.

Seeing all six of the shadow tendrils aimed at him, a sadistic smile found its way to Nox's lips as he squeezed out every ounce of nether within him for one last attack.

One second Nox was just a few inches away from being impaled by the shadow tendrils, then the next he disappeared into motes of shadows.

Aries saw this and soon realized his mistake, he tried to swing his sword around but it was too late, Nox's dagger was already protruding from his chest while the other from his neck.

The shadow entity was quite stunned by this, he gazed at his bleeding chest before exhaling shallowly with a smile.

'It's my loss'

"~Gotcha.. hehe!" Nox whispered, but his victory was short lived as he felt all the strength leaving his body.

The last thing he saw was the fragment of Aries as well as himself plummeting down the waterfall, before his world went dark.