2283 2283. Isolated battlefield

Caesar appeared curious about the new environment. He inspected his dark surroundings and waved his hands among the thick array of black lines that filled every corner of his vision.

The black lines didn't release their destruction when Caesar touched them. They were firm and stable even if they contained a dense expression of Noah's destruction.

That stability wavered as soon as Caesar tried to summon his aura. A sliver of pale-blue energy began to leave his fingers, but he immediately retracted it when he saw that everything around him started to shake.

A single spark could trigger a chain reaction capable of damaging most of the higher plane. Caesar was inside a ticking bomb, but he wasn't alone.

"This is reckless even for you," Caesar commented.

Noah didn't answer. His eyes darted left and right as he inspected his creation. He felt quite proud of that technique, but he could also see its shortcomings.

The technique was simple at its core. The ethereal blackness contained every aspect of Noah's existence, so he had fused his many abilities to create an incredibly powerful expression of his destruction.

Snore's violent dark matter, Duanlong's pulling force, Night's severing power, the parasite's corrosiveness, the Cursed Sword's bloodlust, the Demonic Sword's general properties, and Noah's abilities had fused. They had given birth to something that even Caesar had to respect.

"I need to get reckless," Noah stated. "I can't beat you otherwise."

"You can't beat me anyway," Caesar teased.

Noah heaved a sigh before pointing at the edges of the spherical area. The black battlefield wasn't big compared to the immense higher plane, but Caesar couldn't measure its width since the black lines hindered his senses.

"Your fate doesn't exist here," Noah declared while drawing a circle with his fingers to highlight the personal battlefield. "This isn't a separate dimension or reality. This is a domain that your power has yet to affect or taint. You will die for real if I kill you here."

"The same goes for you," Caesar uttered. "No one can help you among this darkness. It's your world against my world."

"Not quite, am I right?" Noah chuckled. "Your power relies on the fate you planted in the higher plane. That energy doesn't exist here. You are nothing more than a peak rank 9 cultivator in this environment."

"While your own destruction surrounds you," Caesar continued. "I understand my situation, but that won't change the outcome of our battle."

"Will you fight then?" Noah wondered. After all, he had never seen Caesar's real offensive. The latter had only relied on his fate during their past encounters.

"I don't see other options," Caesar replied while letting his gaze wander among the blackness. "I knew something like this would have happened, but it still feels strange. I almost forgot what it was to live among the darkness."

<br/>Caesar wasn't speaking about the environment's color. Noah's technique had forced his very awareness of his surroundings to regress to a point before the birth of his fate.

Generally speaking, Caesar didn't need his senses to study his surroundings. Inspecting the fate planted in the higher plane was more than enough to grant him a comprehensive understanding of what was going on.

However, Noah had removed that ability with his destruction. Caesar couldn't even expand his consciousness. He was completely blind and in the dark. Noah's words managed to reach him only thanks to the black lines.

Of course, Caesar only needed to leave the dark area to regain access to his fate and senses, but he didn't know in which direction he had to fly. Moreover, Noah wouldn't just stay still, and the various black lines were a variable that Caesar couldn't ignore.

Everything in that environment pointed toward Caesar's defeat, but he showed no fear. Some nostalgia had appeared on his expression, but that was it.

"I believe you only saw a dark spot in your predictions," Noah announced.

"Indeed," Caesar exclaimed. "I couldn't remove this moment of darkness in my future no matter how I altered the higher plane's fate. That alone confirmed that you had the potential to match my expectations."

"Which means that I can kill you here and now," Noah pointed out.

"My predictions don't stop here," Caesar responded. "This darkness merely interrupts them for a brief period. I know what will happen afterward already. I know I'll get out with my life and power."

Noah didn't speak anymore. He tapped the Demonic Sword on one of the black lines next to him, and the latter started to shake wildly. The event caused a chain reaction that spread through the entire black environment before converging toward Caesar.

Caesar smiled when the black lines around him started to shake. The tremors grew wilder until multiple explosions happened and engulfed him with violent, destructive energy.

Noah had shot forward as soon as he released his attack. His figure crossed the black lines without affecting their stability or structure. They were an expression of his destruction, so his body could merge with them.

The situation was different for the explosions. The violent energy released by the black lines still had a connection with Noah, but he had no control over it. That would only limit its destructive power.

Nevertheless, Noah dived right through the violent waves and let them wound his body. Entire patches of his skin completely disappeared, and the same went for half of his face. Part of his skull appeared in the open, but his cold eyes remained fixed on his target.

Noah plunged forward. He felt his blades stabbing a foreign power before unleashing their abilities. The Demonic Sword released destructive dark matter, while the Cursed Sword went silent to condense its bloodlust into a single attack.

The immense power released by the blades pushed the violent storms. That destructive energy fused with the black lines and made them expand to refill part of the area cleared by the explosions, but a small chunk of that isolated battlefield remained empty.

"This brings me far back," Caesar's voice seeped out of the dark matter inside the empty area and pushed it away. That energy fused with the black lines and made them grow, but Noah's attention remained on his opponent.

The dispersion of the dark matter revealed Caesar's figure. The two blades had stabbed his chest, and their attacks had ripped away part of his insides. Noah could almost see Caesar's internal organs from his position, but he felt no joy at that sight.

"You might have cut me away from the rest of my fate," Caesar exclaimed while spreading his arms, "But my world remains superior to yours. You can hurt me only if I let you."

"You said it yourself," Noah growled while using cries that Caesar could understand. "You can't see what will happen here. I have the chance to surpass you."

"Oh, mighty demon," Caesar laughed as faint energy spread from his fingers. "Creating a blind spot in my predictions doesn't make you able to defeat me. I might be rusty, but I still remember how to expand my fate. I only need to make this technique fall inside it."

The faint energy expanded before disappearing. Caesar merged his power with the destruction around him, and the black lines started to twist under his influence.

Noah didn't hesitate to wave his swords. The weapons cut Caesar's chest horizontally before releasing violent energy that flew toward the nearest black lines.

More explosions happened, and Noah didn't use the chaos to attack again. He let the environment stabilize and absorb the lingering destruction while he and Caesar swam inside it.

An even larger clear area appeared once everything stabilized. Noah and Caesar floated on opposite sides of the space without destruction, but they remained pretty close.

"You detonated part of your technique to hinder my fate," Caesar announced while inspecting the new injuries on his body. "I wonder for how long you can do this before exhausting your destruction."