Neo rolled away to dodge the attack.
The Shadow dashed forward with a burst of speed.
Before Neo could stand up, it closed the distance in an instant and swung its blade in a wide arc aimed at Neo’s throat.
Neo raised his sword just in time.
Their weapons clashed with a deafening crack, the sound reverberating through the empty space.
Sparks erupted from the collision, and briefly illuminated their identical faces.
Neo pushed back, forcing the Shadow to stumble a step, and used the moment to regain his stance.
He retaliated with a downward slash, aiming to split the Shadow in two.
But the Shadow twisted to the side, avoiding the strike, and countered with a thrust aimed at Neo’s chest.
Neo spun his blade in a circular motion, deflecting the thrust, and countered with a sharp kick to the Shadow’s midsection.
The Shadow staggered but quickly recovered, slashing horizontally at Neo’s waist.
The clash of steel echoed like thunder in the vast emptiness around them.
The two of them were locked in an intense battle. Neither of them was giving the other an inch.
However, slowly but surely, the Shadow was gaining the advantage.
It began to laugh as it pushed Neo.
Hehehehe, give up.
You should know nobody can defeat their Shadow.
I’m the Shadow that is the same as the ‘you’ before you started this Shadow element awakening process.
I can use all of your techniques. I know you more than yourself!
You can never win!
Neo leapt backward, his feet skidding against the stone floor.
The Shadow pressed forward with a twisted grin.
It was assured of its victory.
Each of its attacks was aimed to kill.
In its eyes, Neo’s was barely keeping up thanks to his sharp reflexes.
He parried and dodged, their blades dancing in a deadly rhythm that echoed through the empty space.
The Shadow feinted a high strike, then swept low, aiming for Neo’s legs.
Neo jumped, arcs of lightning trailing around his sword as he brought it down in a vertical slash.
The Shadow raised its blade to block, and the resulting clash sent both of them sliding back from the force.
Hehehehe!
The Shadow’s shoulders shook as it struggled to hold back its laughter.
Why aren’t you talking? Did you lose your bravado after fighting someone who is the same as you?
A wide grin was etched on its face.
Neo remained expressionless.
His grip on his sword tightened, the crackling lightning dancing along its edge.
“Fight, Neo!
Fight or you will die!
Hehehe, you can’t save your world if you die!
The Shadow dashed forward again, faster this time.
Neo braced himself as the Shadow unleashed a relentless barrage of strikes.
The air shuddered with every clash of their swords.
Neo, you are going to die~
After I kill you, I will kill your friends too~
It was enjoying overpowering Neo.
The Shadow thrust its blade forward, but Neo sidestepped and swung upward, slicing through the air.
The Shadow ducked, then retaliated with a spinning slash that Neo barely managed to block.
The force of the attack broke his stance.
The Shadow dove in to attack and use the opportunity, but it had been a trap.
Neo swung his blade in a wide arc.
The Shadow barely parried, sparks flying as their swords locked once again.
Neo gritted his teeth and pressed forward, forcing the Shadow to retreat step by step.
Suddenly, the Shadow shifted its stance. It feinted left, then struck right, its blade grazing Neo’s arm.
Hahahaha! Got you-
Can you stop talking like that? Neo cut off the Shadow mid-sentence. It’s sickening to hear you talk like a stupid hooligan when you have the same appearance and voice as me.
His words ticked off the Shadow.
The creature’s expression darkened and its eyes narrowed as it closed the gap in an instant.
Just when Neo thought it would attack, it spun on its heel, swinging its sword in a full circle.
The abrupt change in attack caught Neo by surprise.
He raised his sword to block the attack.
But the Shadow didn’t let up, following with a series of rapid strikes that forced Neo onto the defensive.
The space itself seemed to collapse around the two as the intensity of the fight grew.
Red lightning crackled erratically as their blades clashed again and again, illuminating lightless shadows.
The Shadow suddenly saw an opening.
Neo overextended on a strike, leaving his side exposed.
The monster slashed forward.
Its attack sliced through the air and almost landed a clean hit across Neo’s torso when—
Huh?
Neo sidestepped the attack as if he had predicted it.
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The Shadow blinked, confused.
However, Neo ignored its confusion and stared at his arms, noticing the faint lines connecting him and the Shadow.
So that’s how [Flow] is used.
The Shadow attacked him while he wasn’t paying attention.
Neo shifted only a few inches to dodge the attack.
The Shadow smiled, thinking his careless dodging would get him killed.
But against all expectations, he dodged successfully without even looking at the attack.
His weird actions surprised the Shadow.
It attacked Neo again, but the same thing happened.
Neo would dodge its strikes as if he had seen the future.
….What is that? How are you dodging the attacks?
Flow of Battle.
He could finally use the technique after months of training.
You learned that technique now?
Yes, I learned it right now thanks to you.
The Shadow grew tense.
Knowing how powerful [Flow of Battle] was, it didn’t dare to attack Neo without fully understanding his current capabilities.
I thought you were too talentless to learn Flow?
To the Shadow’s question, Neo shook his head and spoke,
Haven’t you realized it? We can talk even though we have no mouth and body.
….!
The Shadow flinched.
Neo continued, his voice calm yet piercing.
I was thinking about it when I fought Zeus too. I could hear him use his technique names even though he was using chantless Incantations, Neo said.
Are you sure you weren’t hallucinating? the Shadow asked.
I’m sure I heard him say ‘Partial Divine Transformation’ and ‘Complete Divine Transformation, Neo answered. Even you. I could hear you say the names of the Sword Techniques.
….But I never said the techniques’ names, the Shadow said.
I know. That’s why it helped me learn the [Flow].
The Shadow instantly understood what Neo was talking about.
It could do it because it was the Neo’s Shadow and almost an exact copy of him.
Shadows were copies of their original.
The higher synchronization they had with the original, the more accurate a copy they were.
Even though Neo’s Shadow hadn’t reached 100% synchronization—because it needed to devour Neo for it—the Shadow had a very high synchronization.
So that’s what Flow is, the Shadow said. And here I thought it would be something very amazing. It’s was just the Intent that everyone leaks unconsciously.
Intent were one’s thoughts that were created from their Will.
Depending on one’s strength of Will – aka Willpower – they could manifest their Intent.
In other words, Intent were one’s thoughts that were given a form due to one’s Willpower.
Neo, having overwhelmingly strong Intent, could talk by projecting his thoughts outward.
He didn’t have a mouth.
But he was emitting his thoughts – Intent – and others absorbed that Intent and understood what he was saying.
It was a primitive form of telepathy.
The Shadow felt absurd.
Neo learned Flow as soon as he understood that he was talking with Intent.
Aren’t you worried I’ll unlock Flow too, now that I know how it works? the Shadow questioned.
Its tone was sharp and laced with mockery.
Neo’s glowing form remained unshaken.
You can’t use Flow” he replied evenly. Even I could barely unlock it, and you aren’t a 100% copy of mine. Your talent is worse than mine. There is no way you can learn it as quickly as I did.
The Shadow’s face twisted at the blatant insult.
Its crimson eyes glowed faintly.
No one could stop their thoughts.
In other words, everyone is projecting their Intent outward at all times.
Since it was an unconscious action, the Intent projected outward was very weak.
That’s why others could not read that Intent. Because it was weak.
However, this was how Flow worked.
One needed to read the Intent of their opponents.
The Shadows thought aimed at Neo created Intent about Neo.
Even if Neo couldn’t read all of its Intent, he could read the Intent directed at himself.
This allowed him to read the Shadows thoughts and know how it was going to attack.
To be honest, I don’t think I would have been able to read others Intent so easily, Neo said.
He added,
But since you are my copy.
The Intent you create is quite similar to mine.
That’s why I could read your Intent easily and it helped me understand how [Flow of Battle] works.
Don’t joke with me….. the Shadow glared at him. You learned just one technique. So what if you can predict my attacks!? You still can’t defeat me!
Neo ignored the Shadows actions and tightened his grip on the hilt.
I don’t need to waste my time anymore since I learned what I had been trying to learn by fighting with you.
I’ll end this fight now.
The Shadow pounced on him.
In response, Neo raised his sword.
Divine Swordsmanship Eight Form—