A dull longsword and a heartbroken villager

"I'll fight you to the death!!!" Under immense pressure, one of the fishermen finally couldn't hold back and rushed out.

“Yes, yes, that’s right! You cultists should just die spouting these ridiculous lines.” Betley threw the person he was holding out, and the man landed on top of the fisherman who was rushing towards him.

"This is great. Now I don't have to bother distinguishing those guys from cultists at all."

Betley didn't have any grand dreams, nor did he adhere to the principle of "with great power comes great responsibility."

His goal was simple: endless revenge. "Hurry up, fight back! Fight back!" The madman Betley stomped on the believer beneath his feet.

Betley generally considered the followers of "Fishermen" to be cult members.

This is truly a cause for celebration; Betley can now save himself the time of using divine magic to interrogate souls.

"What are you doing?!" The leader of the "Shepherd Fishermen" followers finally couldn't hold back any longer and stood in front of Bateman.

What Betley did was truly chilling.

Slaughter, slaughter, slaughter—in this woman's vision, all she saw was the blood of the "Shepherd Fishermen" followers.

Who on earth could do such a terrible thing? How profound is the sin of such killing?

“God will never forgive you for the atrocities you have committed against us, the believers of the ‘Shepherds’!” the woman said, pointing at Betley with a trembling voice.

Afrena, standing behind Betley, looked at him with the eyes of someone looking at a pitiful person.

This woman must be out of her mind to stand up and say these things to Beatrix.

Betley snapped his fingers to the side, not even glancing at the woman.

"What...what did you do to me..." The woman stared in horror as her body became transparent.

But Beatrix did not give the woman an answer.

"..." The leader of the "Shepherds" followers could only helplessly wave his fading arms.

She had no idea what she should do or what she would become...

"Help..." The woman's eyes pleaded, hoping that Beatrix would have mercy and spare her.

“You brought this on yourself,” Beatrix said suddenly, coldly.

Unfortunately, those words would never reach the woman's ears, because she vanished from the spot immediately after Betty said them.

It was spotless, as if this person had never been there at all.

Among countless divine spells, there are many that appear holy but are actually extremely vicious.

For example, that divine spell just now has a nice name: "Daytime Retreat".

A divine spell that makes a target "disappear".

To understand the specific effects, one only needs to look at the leaders of the "Shepherds and Fishermen" believers.

"You have such a twisted sense of humor." Afrena crossed her arms and looked at Betley. This kind of pleasure in watching others gradually despair was hardly pleasant.

“I am not the one who determines the effect of divine magic,” Betley said, and continued walking.

He will continue hunting cultists in Elatabah.

The town, teeming with fanatical believers, got Betty's blood pumping.

Betley sometimes wondered if he was not simply acting out of revenge, but rather indulging in the pleasure of killing.

Killing can gradually make people lose themselves, and he... has probably already lost himself.

"..." The next moment, Betley's pupils suddenly contracted, and he immediately looked in the direction of the Elataba coast.

"What guy is here?" Betley frowned.

Then he felt an urge to kneel down.

It wasn't mind control; it was something much stranger.

"..." The magic circle under Betley's coat began to spin wildly, moving around his body as if it were alive.

After the magic circle was activated, that impulse basically disappeared.

“Concept…” Betley narrowed his eyes, barely managing to counteract the effect of the concept by relying on the large amount of divine power he had “stolen.”

He may be fine, but Aphrena cannot escape the influence of the concept.

The once proud and arrogant angel Aphrodite now resembled a slave, meekly prostrating herself on the ground, kneeling in worship towards the coast.

“I can’t help with that.” Beatrix tapped his forehead, feeling a bit of a headache.

He was able to use a large number of conceptual fragments—that is, divine power—to simulate conceptual collisions.

However, this is ultimately a simulation, and the scope is very small, so small that it can only offset the influence within one or two meters around him.

Betley walked up to Afrena and picked her up.

"!?!" Afrena, who was being picked up by Betley, was completely dumbfounded.

However, this is much better than her submissive and meek demeanor.

"Do you know what you're doing?" Afrena said coldly, having regained consciousness.

“Looks like you’re back to normal now.” Betley, however, was completely unconcerned about Afrena’s rude attitude.

"..." Reminded by Beatrix, Afrena vaguely recalled her actions just now.

Then she began to feel a chill run down her spine.

"What happened...?"

"You're still as timid as ever," Betley scoffed at Aphrena.

“We need to leave this place,” Avrena said seriously.

"Concepts" are not something they can handle.

“No.” Betley gazed towards the coast.

"That guy needs to be dealt with."

“You murderer, and you’re saying these things to me at a time like this.” Afrena grabbed Betley by the collar.

“Yes, that’s when I would say something like that.” Even though Betley was a man with blood on his hands and had lost his way in the killing, he had not forgotten his original aspirations.

After all, he was young and had always wanted to protect his country.

“Besides, you can’t live without me now,” Beatrix said with a smile, knowing that Aphrena would be affected if she was away from him.

She herself probably wouldn't want that kind of thing to happen.

"..."

---

As the sea rises, its enormous body rides the waves.

The moment Takaman entered the territory of Elatabah, both Bray and Betley stopped in their tracks.

A powerful sense of oppression enveloped the entire Eratabah.

An inextinguishable flame ignited at sea, engulfing Takaman.

Takaman's footprints left a trail of charred marks on the shore.

His body, made of rock, possesses a unique beauty—a beauty that embodies the meaning of power.

Takaman releases his concepts without reservation—there is no reason for him to hold back.

The next moment, all the creatures of Eratabari knelt down and worshipped Takaman in the distance.

Even if they couldn't see Takaman, a voice would still resonate in everyone's hearts, prompting them to kneel and worship in the direction of Takaman.

Their master... is the great Takaman, the conqueror of all things.

This idea has taken deep root in people's minds.

However, Takaman himself was very dissatisfied with the result.

His power shouldn't be limited to this level; after all, He held nothing back.

"Is it that 'fisherman'?" Takaman couldn't help but think of the "fisherman" Jonathan had mentioned.

"The Fisherman" is also an Aragami, and the concepts it possesses can rival those of itself.

Even though Jonathan said that the "fishermen" were on their side, the clash of "concepts" was unavoidable.

Although this level of collision is much less intense than the clash of "concepts" between opposing sides, it will not significantly affect the use of abilities.

But it still made Takaman a little unhappy.

As Jonathan suggested, they should vent their frustrations on the city of the Black Iron race. "Hey, hey, hey, why are these people suddenly kneeling down?" Naruko asked in astonishment, looking at the prostrate crowd.

Of course, Levy didn't know what was going on either, and she looked completely bewildered the whole time 0A0.

It's no wonder that Naruko and Levy didn't know what was going on, since "concepts" are not something that everyone can perceive.

Bray stood still, the blade of his longsword suddenly protruding halfway from its scabbard.

There were no enemies around, but Bray still drew his sword immediately.

Except for those within tens of meters of the mine, everyone was affected by the Takaman "concept".

Those who had fled in panic because the situation was too bizarre, once they were far enough away from Bray, became disoriented and then prostrated themselves with submissive expressions.

Like slaves waiting for their masters, Bray felt a chill run down his spine.

If it weren't for the suppression of "The Last Echo," Naruko and Levy, who were around Bray, would probably have been affected.

The scope of this concept is...so broad that Bray doesn't know what to do.

“The last Silver Species…” Bray squinted his right eye and murmured. He hadn’t expected the last Silver Species to appear so directly.

Compared to the previous silver variety, it was much more straightforward, appearing openly and honestly without any taboos.

Is it because the "World Wall" is damaged that they can move around so freely?

This is not good news for Bray, nor is it good news for all the Black Iron race.

“…” Bray’s expression was a little serious.

Both Bray and "The Last Echo" quickly figured out what the other's "concept" was.

Bray couldn't say what the "Conquer" ability could do, and he dared not bet that Naruko and Levy, who were exposed to this ability, would be safe.

Looking at Bree, Naruko paused for a moment, then burst into a loud laugh.

"Dead fish eyes, you seem to have a lot of concerns," Naruko said loudly, arms crossed.

What does a dead fish-eyed person have to worry about? Naruko at least has some self-awareness.

However, Bray usually doesn't worry about her and Levy, so this time seems a bit different.

"..."

"Have you forgotten what I have?" Naruko held a piece of paper between two fingers.

“I can have the good things that little Nick Boras gives me.”

"But be prepared to go back to the capital alone." Naruko shrugged and began activating the "teleportation talisman" on her own.

This magical artifact has already recorded the geographical location of the capital city, so it will only take some time to return.

"Get back here in a day," Bray said to Naruko without any politeness.

"I don't want to take any form of transportation."

"Well, you're such a hassle," Naruko said, pursing her lips.

"At this time tomorrow, Levy and I will be waiting for you here."

“…” Bray nodded, agreeing with Naruko’s suggestion.

"Levy, let's go back to bed and wait for tomorrow," Naruko said cheerfully, lifting Levy up.

“Oh!” Levy responded, still not understanding what had happened.

Let alone Levy, even a normal person would find it difficult to keep up with the pace of things.

"But this thing takes half an hour to run, that's a long time." Naruko muttered, looking in the direction Bray had been looking.

Her intuition told her that Bray was up to something, and it seemed to be something that neither she nor Levy could interfere with.

“Yes, half an hour.” Bray closed his right eye, lost in thought.