Yes, he began to work against God, like collecting all of his oopart and forming alliances. There wasn't an actual fight.
Pit can mean fight, but it can also mean
compete.
Sitch also said they'd been continuously fighting for 20 years, 18 years before any of their direct interactions. This outright confirms that do battle and pit against just means 'defy God's will'.
Battle as a verb doesn't necessarily even mean directly fight with arms, much like how 'go to war' doesn't automatically mean engaging in an armed conflict.