While floating aimlessly in the void that was the shadow realm, Hyogo couldn't help but feel suffocated. There wasn't so much as a breeze in there, and the sheer lack of stimulus felt wrong.
From what he could tell, it was as if his body was frozen, but his consciousness was awake. That was the only way to explain how he could survive in there without any air.
He slowly started to drift into unconsciousness when he saw blinding flashes of purple light shooting past him.
His eyes followed them, and he watched as they slipped into an opening of light and out of the void. Seeing this, he couldn't help but worry for Lloyd, but as the last of the purple streaks vanished, the emptiness began to take over, and before long, he couldn't tell whether he was even awake or not.
The purple projectiles shot out from the shadows cast across the field and toward Renthos. By then, their weapons were locked, so he had no choice but to back away.
As he did, Lloyd fell over and into his own shadow, disappearing only to appear out of it moments later, his sword ready to pierce him through.
Renthos dodged just barely and countered, forcing Lloyd back and into the shadows again.
"This isn't going to work," he thought to himself. "As long as the clouds keep casting their shadows on this field, he will be at an advantage, and trying to move elsewhere won't change anything."
"No, this is good. That means that he won't be expecting his advantage to turn on him."
As he thought that, Lloyd popped up again from beneath his feet, so he leapt into the air and countered his swing, pointing his dagger into the air.
A bubble of energized blood converged on its tip, and Lloyd retreated into his shadow again, expecting him to shoot it like a projectile.
Seeing this, he smirked and said, "Just what I expected."
The bubble separated from his dagger and rose into the air as he landed back on his feet. Its surface began oscillating as he called out its name.
"Blood Manipulation: Bloody Matrix!"
Its vibrations grew wilder before its surface suddenly pointed toward his left. Then, as he turned to it, he saw Lloyd slipping out again, ready to attack him, but this time he charged first and caught him off guard.
Confused by how he managed to react to him, Lloyd backed away again and prepared for another attack, but before he did, he noticed the bubble of energy oscillating in the air.
Before he could make out what it was, Renthos had already charged at him, and he was forced to slip into his shadow again to prevent getting caught in his attack.
Before he could attack again, though, the surface of the bubble warped, pointing in the direction from which he was coming out. So when he did, he found Renthos already waiting.
This time, instead of swinging his daggers at him, he shot a projectile of blood straight at him and watched as it successfully hit its mark.
The cloak he was wearing was torn, and part of it caught on fire, forcing him to abandon it completely and revealing the garments he was wearing underneath.
They were the same clothes he had when he first met them months before, but thanks to Kanami, it was fully restored. The purple emblem of two crescent moons converging at the base of a crystal lit up the back of his sleeveless shirt. His laced boots contrasted with Renthos's grass sandals.
The only thing that was different from before was the purple cloth belt that he wore, which seemed inspired by the robes that he had been wearing up until that point.
The blast from the projectile scraped the back of his sword up, but he ignored the pain and got back into his stance.
By now, the cause of Renthos's newfound precognition was clear, so he called it out, saying, "That's quite the technique you got there. It must be sensitive to sudden changes in the Source energy in its surroundings, which is how you've been able to tell where I come out from, right?"
"You have a sharp eye," he replied, "but that should have been fairly obvious. As if I would just let you flaunt that advantage on me. Now you have to face me head on."
"Do you think forcing me out into the open would flip the tables on me?" Lloyd asked. "Before, I was just using the most efficient way to win that I could think of, but it doesn't mean that it was the only way."
"Oh, then bring it on!" he yelled. "You're nothing without your cheap tricks."
Lloyd closed his eyes and focused on the scattered pieces of Vora energy floating in the air from his previous attacks. Once he got a sense of them all, he opened his eyes, and the sharp glow from them as he activated his Rebel Eyes sent a pulse outward.
Purple and dark particles suddenly became visible, floating in the air around them. They all began racing toward him, converging at his back.
Then they all took on a dark shade before taking the form of a large wing from the right side of his back.
Renthos didn't even wait to ask and immediately shot several projectiles of energized blood at him, but the wing spread outward and in front of him, taking in all the incoming projectiles.
As they spread out again, he sheathed his sword and reached into it just like his shadow, pulling out his blade bow.
The wing then blew a gust of wind off him as Lloyd strung the bow with a thin thread of energy and drew an arrow of purple light. He shot it into the air, and it split into several other arrows that came raining down on Renthos.
He dashed toward Lloyd to avoid them, and as he did, Lloyd took the bow apart at its handle and took the two blades into his arms, ready to counter.
Each of the blades met a dagger as the two clashed, their eyes meeting again before they pulled away, ready for the next attack.