"Heeh, I like that confident air surrounding you, boy."

Astaria smiled teasingly.

Nux smiled back,

His Black Purple Sword appeared in his hand and he replied,

"Let's start the fight, shall we?"

"Heh."

Astaria chuckled, then, she raised her hand and pointed at Nux,

"Come."

Nux didn't wait either,

He disappeared and then appeared right in front of Astaria, without giving her any chance to react, he aimed at her neck, Astaria, however, simply stepped aside and dodged his attack.

Unlike Keeve, Reeve, and the others, who were having a hard time reacting to his speed, Astaria did it with ease.

This didn't affect Nux, he continued to attack, aiming at the neck, legs, shoulders, and chest, repeatedly however, Astaria continued to dodge his attacks with a teasing smile on her face.

"You are quite slow, aren't you?"

Astaria questioned.

Nux, however, completely ignored her teasing and continued to attack.

Astaria shook her head, she then dodged the sword that was aimed at her right shoulder, using that chance, she closed the distance and,

"Let's end it."

She punched his abdomen.

Soon, however, a frown appeared on Astaria's face.

She knew that her punch connected, however, something felt wrong.

She felt that most of the power behind her punch was… dispersed?

It was a strange feeling that Astaria was having a hard time describing, however, in summary, she felt that her punch didn't have the effect that it should have had.

And that was clear from how Nux was only pushed back rather than passing out and losing consciousness.

"How did you do that?" Astaria questioned.

"…"

Nux, of course, didn't reply. He would be a fool if he revealed his tactic in the middle of a battle.

However, Astaria's curious side was already chewing her out, she wanted to find the answer to her question.

A wide smile appeared on her face and a fierce aura was released from her body.

"Don't want to answer? Alright, you give me no other choice, boy. I just have to punch you again to see and analyze it myself."

Suddenly, Nux felt his body getting heavier.

He quickly realized that it was Astaria's Aura. The technique she used the first time he met her in the Royal Hall.

The technique that rendered him completely useless and immovable before.

He glanced at Astaria and saw her walking towards him with a sadistic smile on her face.

"Don't blame me, boy. You should have answered when I asked."

However, to Astaria's smile, in this seemingly dire situation, a smile appeared on Nux's face.

Astaria then noticed a strange Black Mist coming out of Nux's body, the strange Mist quickly surrounded his entire body and Astaria noticed that something was wrong with her Aura.

It was… weakening?

A frown appeared on Astaria's face.

She then increased the pressure to maximum, a move that broke Nux's legs last time, however, this time, let alone breaking his legs, it couldn't even faze him.

Astaria narrowed her eyes when she realized what was happening.

Her Aura wasn't weakened, that, she was sure about, and at the same time, she also knew that Nux's strength hasn't increased compared to that time,

The problem was that Mist.

That Mist was working like a protective layer that was somehow 'eating out' her Aura, making it completely useless against Nux.

"That Mist..."

Seeing that strange Mist, Iria quickly turned towards Amaya, however, she then noticed that even Amaya had a frown on her face.

'Did he just Devour her Aura using the Devouring Mist?'

Amaya questioned inwardly.

'Is that even possible? How can he Devour something that doesn't even have a form?'

Amaya couldn't understand.

She has been trying hard to understand the Devouring Mist for quite a long time now, however, from her understanding, the Devouring Mist could only devour something that actually has some sort of Form.

Aura, on the hand, was something like… it reflects a being's presence, it is supposed to be formless.

A better example would be Mana,

Mana inside a Being's Body has a form, which is the reason why the Devouring Mist could devour it, however, the Mana present in the air is formless, it wasn't something Devouring Mist could just… devour…

That isn't how things work!

"Heh, that is quite an interesting thing you got."

Astaria laughed.

"Anything for you~"

Nux replied with a playful smile as well.

"Was that how you dealt with my punch before?"

"Who knows?"

Nux just shrugged.

Astaria smiled.

Well, she was smiling, however, inwardly, her frustration was at new peaks.

Of course, she knew she could defeat him in one move, she wanted to do that, however, at the same time, she wanted to see how far this boy could go.

"Boy, you are definitely showing me many more interesting things than I thought you would."

Astaria gave a strange compliment in her own way, then,

She disappeared.

Nux's face turned serious, his body took his Battle Stance and he activated his [Sense].

Astaria appeared behind him, punching him from behind, but again, Astaria felt that similar feeling. The major portion of power that her punch contained had dispersed.

Astaria frowned, however, at the same time, a smile appeared on her face as she continued to deliver more and more punches while Nux tried to dodge a few and use his strange technique to disperse others.

*Bam* *Bam* *Bam*

The fight continued.

'Hmm?'

A frown appeared on Ember's face as she turned into another direction.

'Was it just me or did you guys feel a movement as well?'

She questioned using the connection.

'Huh? What are you talking about?'

Thyra frowned, she then quickly used [Sense] but didn't see anything.

'I didn't notice anything.'

Amaya spoke.

Ember's frown deepened.

'I definitely noticed some- You felt that?' Ember spoke.

Thyra narrowed her eyes.

At the same time, Astaria punched Nux again, since he wasn't in any position to dodge, he had no choice but to take on the punch directly.

Amaya tilted her head in confusion.

'Is it Nux's doing?'