A dull longsword and a heartbroken villager

However, even if He didn't do that, Bray wouldn't make excuses for his failure.

The moment you lose might be the moment you die, so there's no point in making excuses.

Bray's twin swords left two furrows in the ground as he retreated rapidly.

"Cough cough... um..." He coughed a few times, coughing up fragments of his internal organs.

He coughed up fragments of internal organs? No, the priest had told him that it was a blood clot.

It's true that you can cough up this stuff...it really looks like fragments of internal organs.

Bray suppressed a cough and readjusted his unbalanced posture.

His eyes were already stained red with blood, and so was his vision.

Fortunately, his main perception still relies on his inner eye, so the bright red vision only makes him a little uncomfortable.

The battle can continue as normal.

"Every hit felt like hitting cotton."

"As expected, relying solely on limited abilities is not enough to decisively determine the winner," Umkandal remarked.

He was very cautious, so it wasn't that He didn't want to define other outcomes that could decide life and death in one fell swoop.

But He couldn't do it.

While the will of the world cannot directly guarantee Bray's immortality, it can significantly limit Umm Kandar's interference with Bray.

The concept of cause and effect is ambiguous for many people.

Does causality exist? What constitutes causality?

Some people have observed that a certain result will only occur when three conditions are met. Are those three conditions all causes of that result?

Some people have observed that when a certain condition is met, two results will occur. Are both results the cause of that condition?

Some people have observed that if three conditions are met, three results will occur. Does each cause correspond to these three results, and each result correspond to these three causes?

To understand cause and effect, one needs to observe, but the observational abilities of normal people are limited.

Therefore, the existence of cause and effect is itself very vague.

However, this is not an obstacle for Umm Kandar.

The reason is that He Himself is able to define cause and effect.

He can decide any of the above forms, and even reverse cause and effect, making the effect precede the cause.

Of course, this doesn't mean that He is powerful enough to create another world; His limit is rewriting reality.

Because the prerequisite for achieving a certain result is that He must have that ability.

For example, to ask Umkandal to easily erase the existence of a certain golden species would be to make things difficult for Him.

But if it's about changing other simple things, He can still do it.

"BOOM!!!" Bray, who was trying to stand firm, was thrown away by Umkandal, who moved in front of him in an instant.

This time, Bray felt his sternum break; the sharp pain told him it wasn't an illusion.

The force of the blow was no different from any of the previous ones, but Bray found that he was less able to deflect the opponent's power.

"Hmm... If I could learn some combat techniques from you, attacking would be much easier," Umkandal said casually.

He couldn't kill Bray outright, but He could make himself stronger.

You only need to use the law of cause and effect to understand a small part of Bray's combat skills.

"I've only learned a little bit, but I'm already quite impressed by your strength."

No wonder the Silver Seed, whose concept was suppressed, had no chance against Bray.

It's normal to be powerless to fight back; that's extraordinary swordsmanship, so much so that it wouldn't be an exaggeration to describe it as "magical."

While the conversation continued, Umkandal didn't pause for a moment. He took off his thick crimson cloak and caught up with Bray's flying figure.

The cloak billowed in the wind as Umkandal was swept away by the gust of air.

"Clang—" Umkandar's palm collided with the Bree sword, producing a metallic sound.

The sound was short and sudden.

After the sound suddenly rang out, the surrounding air seemed to freeze, and time and space were frozen.

However, this illusion only lasted for a second.

Then the attacks from both sides flashed by like countless invisible meteors, with the speed of each move increasing.

But even after Bray reached his speed limit, Umm Kandar continued to accelerate.

The sounds of battle were continuous, like the frenzied cheers of the audience in the arena.

finally--

Finally—

I was pushed a little too far.

The moment Umkandal discarded his crimson cloak, which symbolized him as the "Lord of the Demigods," it proved that he was no longer at ease.

This is not a good thing, and it is definitely not something to be happy about for Bray and the capital city behind him.

“Breaklas!” Ummkandar called out Brey’s name.

“…” Bray merely raised an eyebrow, offering no reply.

“A dying man always hopes that someone can take charge,” Umkandal said quietly.

"So, are you the same way?"

"..." Bray was speechless.

“I just suddenly wanted to ask, you don’t have to answer.” Umkandar said casually when he saw that Bray didn’t speak.

Is that so? We've fought so hard that we can no longer calmly converse with Him. What a pity.

“I am not a dying man,” Bray said as Umkandar thought this.

The already gloomy sky became even more oppressive.

There used to be a sliver of sunlight filtering through the thick clouds, but now it's completely blocked out.

The ground was so dark it was as if it had fallen into darkness.

The darkness is deepest before dawn, just like it is right now.

The dying always hope that someone can take the lead—this statement is quite true.

After all, everyone has someone they don't trust at all, and they worry about what will happen to that person after they're gone.

Just like Redip did in the past.

But Bray didn't think he should be thinking about that now; he wasn't dying yet.

The longsword sliced ​​across Umkandar's face, breaking off a few strands of his dark hair.

At the last second, Umkandal leaned back, dodging Bray's sword.

“…” Umkandal was slightly surprised.

The intended "result" has failed...

Although this is partly related to the suppression of concepts, His previous rewriting of cause and effect was not rendered ineffective by Bray's suppression.

Therefore, the only explanation can be found in the scene that appears before one's eyes.

“Brekras, is this your trump card?” Umkandal asked, staring at the towering fortress that appeared before him.

At that time, there was a fortress that stood firm in the desert.

The outer walls were full of cracks, and the plain flags fluttered in the wind and sand.

Despite the desolate surroundings, the fortress was still guarded.

Even though it seems pointless to garrison it, the fortress still exists and stands.

It's as if it's telling the world that there's still a place in this desert that's persevering.

The land, which was originally a mess, was now covered with grayish-white sand.

The sky has turned into the darkness before dawn, awaiting the light that may come.

And Bray happened to be standing in front of the fortress gate.

"Wait for dawn, the unyielding fortress."

If dawn exists, and if the fortress will not collapse, then patiently wait for the night to recede.

"..." Bray lowered his right eyelid, and the flame in his left eye was almost gone, perhaps soon to be extinguished.

A trump card? I guess so.

In the most perilous times, this mental world can always be opened.

This is likely because Bray's fighting spirit is strongest when he is in dire straits, which is why he resonates with this world of mental images.

An impregnable fortress will not appear easily; when it does, it will inevitably be at a dead end.

Like now.

"Silence?" Ummkandar didn't care about Bray's silence.

Having fought this battle between the man and the god for so long, He understands that Bray only speaks very rarely.

“But… a world of mental images? It’s truly amazing that we can’t possess such a thing,” Umkandal said.

The mental world is practically a privilege reserved for lower species, something that higher species simply cannot obtain.

Of course, compared to concepts, the influence of the mental image world is still insufficient.

However, it can more or less interfere with reality. The mental world has its own rules and is not part of the world's will, so the effect of concepts is sometimes much weaker.

The mental world... coupled with the suppression of concepts, leaves most silver-level beings helpless.

Unless their control over concepts exceeds the reducing power of these things.

Umkandal happens to be such an exceptional existence.

Therefore, even with Bray, one can only influence the opponent's concept execution, but cannot stop it.

“That last sword strike was lucky,” Umkandal said, delivering an elbow strike to the sword that Bray had held in front of him.

With a loud "clang," Bray's hand holding the sword went numb, and his wrist was even damaged by the powerful force.

But it doesn't matter, even with a broken bone, Bray can still swing his sword with all his might.

Moreover, it hasn't come to that point yet—

Blocking means being able to counterattack; the existence of the mental world means having a chance to hit the opponent.

"Ancient Sword School" "Reverse Blade"

While Bray himself took the brunt of the impact, Ummkandar's strong physique was also thrown back several steps by Bray.

The moment He stepped back, He lost His balance.

The broad, cracked blade landed on His armor.

"Sizzle sizzle sizzle sizzle—" A piercing sound rang out, accompanied by orange-red sparks.

Bray continued to increase his strength, the blade slowly cutting into the armor.

The time in this scene seemed to be stretched out indefinitely, with every detail moving so slowly.

"Crack!" A sound rang out and then abruptly stopped.

Umkandar's armor was cleaved open by Bray's sword.

He was left with a wound.

“You are also a well-deserved suppressor, one of the people chosen by the world’s will. You are indeed extraordinary.” Umkandal was not angry because of his injury.

On the contrary, he was somewhat sentimental.

How long has it been since He was injured? It's been a very long time.

As you become stronger, the chances of getting injured decrease.