The moment Skuld’s radiant energy had fred to life, the Realm of Darkness responded.

  The tremors beh them grew stronger as massive, shadowy figures rose from the watery abyss. Their t, muscur forms were silhouetted against the swirling, dark sky.

  Darksides ten of them. Eae stood colossal, their glowing yellow eyes fixated owo Keybde wielders. Their massive cwed hands twitched, their bodies pulsing with pure darkness.

  And surrounding them—dozens of smaller, faster creatures slithered forth.

  Neoshadows.

  They didn’t lunge immediately. They were waiting. Watg.

  The Darksides slowly raised their arms, and the Neoshadows tensed, coiling like springs, ready to strike.

  Helios exhaled sharply, gripping Equilibrium. "Here we go."

  The first attack came fast—a Darkside raised its massive arm and smmed it into the ground.

  The impact sent shockwaves rippling through the air, and pools of darkness spread beh them.

  The Neoshadows immediately sank into the bck puddles, disappearing from sight.

  Then— they burst out from different dires, moving in aic, zig-zagging pattern too fast for the eye to follow.

  Skuld’s eyes widened. "They’re too fast! I ’t keep up!"

  Helios had already moved, ing behind a Neoshadow in a burst of darkness, sshing it in half with a strike. "Then make yourself faster!"

  Skuld ched her Keybde, and the warmth of the light within her chest pulsed.

  She focused on making her body feel lighter, her movements sharper. The moment, she vanished or rather her body transformed into a streak of pure, golden-white light, darting through the battlefield like a et.

  She reappeared instantly behind a Neoshadow, her Keybde fshing mid-air—but her attack missed.

  Her movements were too fast, too untrolled.

  Another Neoshadow lu her, but she reacted, ing away again, but this time, she reappeared upside-down midair and barely corrected herself in time.

  Skuld gritted her teeth as she nded. "I ’t trol it!"

  Helios, sshing through another Neoshadow, called out, **"Then stop thinking—**just move!"

  Skuld narrowed her eyes, and this time, she let instinct take over.

  Her body shifted into light again, but this time she didn’t try to dictate her nding rather this time she flowed with it.

  She vahen reappeared behind a Darkside’s arm, sshing downward.

  Then again. And again.

  She wasn’t telep—she ure motion. She was like a shooting star, striking down darkness wherever she fell.

  Helios, meanwhile, took a different approach.

  He focused his own light, trying to form another crest ssh like befolden energy surged into Equilibrium’s bde, pulsing weaker than Skuld’s, but trolled.

  He swung.

  The golden wave shot outward—but it wasn’t strong enough. It hit a Darkside’s arm, but instead of cutting through, it merely fizzled out, dispersing like embers in the wind.

  Helios frowned.

  His light was stable, but weak. It required too much effort to maintain, and after just one use, he felt the drain on his stamina. He couldn’t use this often and worse yet he wasn’t sure if it was even worth using as it currently was.

  His darkness was effortless. His fire, ice, and thunder magic were sed nature.

  But this?

  Light took effort. And eve was nothing pared to Skuld’s.

  Before he could dwell on it, the Neoshadows attacked.

  The battlefield erupted into chaos.

  The Darksides smmed their fists into the ground, sending shockwaves through the water, while the Neoshadows zig-zagged uably, striking from every dire.

  Skuld, adapting to her speed-based light ing, sshed through a row of them, but her strikes still cked precision.

  Frustrated, she tried something new, she raised her Keybde imagining light surrounding her, and bright pilrs of light erupted randomly around her.

  They shot up, twisting uably, searing through the Neoshadows unlucky enough to be caught in their path.

  Helios dodged as one nearly clipped him. "Oi! Watch it!"

  Skuld turned, but at that moment a group of Shadows obscured her sight. So she flung her Keybde in frustration, sending in a spinning arc that produced many spinning orbs of light outward.

  It finished off the Shadows but unfortunately one of them smmed into Helios’ back.

  A fsh of pain shot through him.

  His vision blurred for a moment, his body felt heavy, weak—

  The power of Light, it burned.

  He stumbled back, shaking off the dizziness. "What the hell, Skuld?!"

  She winced. "Sorry! I didn’t—wait, are you okay?"

  Helios inhaled sharply, then exhaled. He waved a hand, casting Cura on himself. “I’m fine," he said, brushing it off—but inside, his mind raced.

  Light actually hurt him. He had been hit with many attacks before like fire, ice, and physical attacks but this was different. It was like it had attacked something deeper than just his body and that was… ing, to say the least.

  The Darksides raised their fists high, preparing t them down in unison.

  Skuld, realizing the impendiation, gritted her teeth.

  She focused—focused on her light, ohing she had learned in this battle. Instead to force her power, she let it flow naturally and suddenly—her Keybde ignited with blinding radiance.

  She twisted midair, using her speed to spin into a drill-like strike, her entire body ed in spiraling light. She shot forierg through a Darkside’s chest.

  For a moment, everything froze.

  Then—the gialess let out a guttural roar, breaking apart into pure white light before vanishing pletely.

  The remaining Darksides faltered.

  Helios took that moment to unleash a final attack, using what little magic he had left to send a burst of ice ced with darkhrough the battlefield.

  One by ohe remainiless fell.

  And finally—the Dark Meridian was silent once more.

  Helios sighed, rolling his shoulders. "Well… that was fun."

  Skuld breathed heavily. "I actually… did it."

  She ched her fists, feeling the lingering power within her.

  Helios smirked, giving her a nod. "Told you you’d figure it out."

  Skuld looked at him, eyes narrowing. "Wait—what happened when I hit you? You looked like you were in pain."

  Helios stiffened for a moment, then shrugged. "Just a bad hit."

  But inside?

  He was uled. His light was weak. His darkness was strong. The ck of bance made him resistant to darkness but susceptible to light. Since Skuld’s light actually hurt him that much that meant he was closer to being a dark being than he realized.

  He would desperately have to master his light to some degree while in the Realm of Darkness.

  He forced a grin, patting Skuld’s shoulder. "Anyway, nice work. Don’t worry I’m fine, I just wasn’t expeg the hit, but I was more surprised than hurt so rex."

  She didn’t look vinced but nodded.

  And so, they tinued forward.