A dull longsword and a heartbroken villager

A punch without any skillful technique involved.

His eyes, eroded by cracks, held a complex expression, so complex that even Bray couldn't decipher it.

Do you want to die? Yes.

Do I want to live? Yes, I do.

“Bray!!!!!!!!!!” Redip shouted Bray’s name meaninglessly.

Bray didn't answer, he just watched silently as iron fists rained down from the sky.

The sea giant was as big as the nearby shipwreck.

The five sea giants are comparable to a fleet of ships; their appearance is a perfect embodiment of power and beauty, and one way to interpret majesty.

If such a massive entity were to simultaneously unleash its fist, what would the people below see?

The answer is that you can't see anything.

Light barely penetrated the sea giant's body, preventing the area covered by his fist from being completely dark, but that was all.

It was dark, and apart from the oppressive pressure that made it hard to breathe, you could feel nothing at all.

When all those fists are thrown at one person at the same time, the sight that person sees must be as if the sky has collapsed.

“I just didn’t expect your attack method before,” Bray said, slowly closing his right eye, leaving only his prosthetic eye, which could not see anything, open.

Since we can't see clearly, there's no need to open our eyes to look.

With his mind's eye opened, the very breath of the world was within Bray's perception; there was no world clearer than this.

Without color, everything observed by the mind's eye feels even more splendid.

“I hope so too,” Redip said expressionlessly, his tone serious.

He truly hoped that Bray had simply been careless.

"BOOM!!! ...

Originally, Redip could shake the ground and even cause tremors outside the secret realm.

But he did not let his power be wasted; the power was concentrated within this hundred-square-meter area.

He couldn't possibly be like Bray, able to contain all his power to a single point; that would be the limit of his abilities.

But that was enough; his attacks wouldn't reach the ground beneath Doffin's feet, and he didn't need to hold back any of his strength.

But on the devastated ground, there were only shattered corals and broken, rotten wood; there was no sign of Bray.

Redip looked up almost instinctively.

In the air, there remained a series of faint, small magic circles.

Each magic circle was only the size of a white porcelain dish.

"A pedal," Redip thought to himself.

These magic arrays are definitely not circular arrays containing terrifying spells; they are simply stepping stones.

At the end of the path that the magic circle burst forth from, there was a mine suspended in mid-air.

Even as countless iron fists struck, as if the sky were collapsing above, Bray's composure remained unmoved.

Unless it's a single surface pressed down.

Otherwise, there will be gaps.

The gap may be winding and difficult to pass through, but at least it exists.

As long as it exists, it means that it is possible to travel through the past.

Bray then stepped over the sea giants' fists, which possessed the brute force to unleash a flood.

Man and sword, crossing together.

The two swords in his hands were still in the position after the attack, and the water droplets hanging on the blades had not yet fallen.

Yes, two swords.

The shattered black sword reappeared intact in Redip's sight once more.

The next moment, the sea giants froze in unison, ceasing all their movements. They began to disintegrate from their arms, eventually transforming into a torrent that rushed in all directions.

In the blink of an eye, the sword had already been swung several times.

Bray certainly couldn't deliver a hundred or even ten thousand blows per second.

But for him, those few sword strikes were more than enough to deal with the ferocious giants in front of him.

"..." In that instant, Redip's thoughts were not on defense, nor on how to attack.

Instead, he suppressed his powerful instincts and raised his hand.

"BOOM!!!!!!!!!" The torrent that was about to engulf Dove suddenly spun backward and then flowed weakly in all directions.

In the end, what reached Dove's feet was only a gentle current.

Redup's left arm muscles were torn, and blood was seeping out.

After he stopped the torrents and lowered his arms, he suddenly realized he could no longer lift them.

He had no feeling in his arm and couldn't exert any strength; his left arm was ruined.

When and how did Bray lose his left arm?

Redip found it incredible, but when he remembered that the other person was Bray, he put his doubts aside.

His arm was ruined not because of a single sword strike; Bray had already slashed the same spot countless times.

If the slash hadn't been forcefully cushioned into a blunt impact, Redip's hand would have been broken, or simply rendered useless.

Of course, Redup didn't understand the underlying principles and didn't intend to delve into them.

"Thump!!!" The mine in the air landed on the puddles, splashing up high waves.

Bray didn't attack while Redip was rescuing Doffin; he only paused for a few seconds to rest.

The water was very deep, up to Bray's calves.

Even just walking in the water was extremely difficult for Bray; trying to dodge in such a place would be even more challenging.

"Are you alright?" Redip touched his crippled left arm with his right hand, but looked at Bray with dead fish eyes.

Bray drew his sword across the puddle, creating ripples.

Although Bray was still in the mood to do this, Redip could tell just how exhausted the other man was.

Bray's breathing was erratic, and his body swayed slightly uncontrollably, as if he might faint at any moment.

It looked like just that his clothes were soaked, but Bray's injury was more serious than he had imagined.

His physical strength was almost completely exhausted, and he probably had several broken bones.

“…” Bray raised his head and faced Redip.

He can't see anything now, but he can feel everything.

He knew where Redip was and what his situation was.

“You should ask yourself about your own situation,” Bray countered.

“I can still stay conscious,” Redip answered slowly after a moment of hesitation.

"You need to hurry up..." He removed his right hand from his left arm and stretched his right side.

"I am still conscious, but my body is a different matter."

"..." Bray was speechless.

During the battle, Bray "saw" that there was more than one Redip, and suppressed the mutation in his body.

At this point, Redip's left side was also covered with scattered scales, and his right arm became the same as his left arm.

Her hair grew long instantly, falling messily over her shoulders.

“Then let’s continue.” Bray opened his right eye, which was red from being soaked in water, and opened his mouth.

The instant he uttered those words, Redip sensed that something was amiss in his surroundings.

The light... has become even dimmer.

Although the light in the secret realm was already severely insufficient, this was different; it was as gloomy as if the sky had suddenly darkened.

The sky suddenly darkened? But how can there be a sky or a color of sky underwater?

No, is it really impossible to see the sky from underwater?

"It's getting dark," Bray murmured, tilting his head slightly.

Redup followed Bray's gaze.

It was a gloomy, lifeless sky.

"Wait for the dawn, the unyielding fortress." In this hidden underwater realm, the sky appeared.

However, the sky was not sunny; although the clouds were not completely black, they were still gloomy and oppressive.

Looking up at the sky like this fills one with despair.

No one can imagine what the sky looks like when it's hidden behind the clouds.

Is it beautiful? Or is it even more depressing?

The only response to the people under the sky was the gusts of cold, desolate wind.

This is the darkness before dawn, the most unbearable night.

It was slightly brighter than the dead of night, yet even that slight light made one feel heavier.

The pitch-black night, lacking the light that inspires hope, is actually more comforting.

"It's getting dark."

Rediple's mind was replaying Bray's words from a few seconds earlier.

He thought it was a joke, but now he realizes it's true.

The scenery of the secret realm faded away, replaced by a desolate desert, upon which stood a fortress.

Plain flags fluttered above the fortress.

The flags fluttered in the wind, making one feel as if in a trance.

All that remains of the original world in this mental world are those stagnant waters.

The secret realm is colorful everywhere, but this mental world is shrouded in a dark hue.

Large and small puddles are scattered across the desert, as if a long and heavy rain had just fallen.

However, it won't be long before the water in these puddles seeps completely into the desert ground.

The premise is that this world won't disappear too soon.

The mental world is ultimately projected onto reality, rather than replacing it.

The current situation, however, is nothing more than a fleeting moment.

"Sh ...

The next moment, the surrounding scenery faded away.

In everyone's sight, the same secret realm as before still appeared.

Everything seemed like an illusion.

But Redup knew it wasn't an illusion; the mud and water left on his face proved the reality of the world he had just witnessed.

"Bang!!!!!" A heavy sword struck Redip's right arm.

The internal energy spread through every crack in the broadsword, making the power of this strike far exceed Bray's own strength limit.

Redup didn't understand advanced fighting techniques, so he could only defend himself in the simplest way, such as using his hands to block in front of his chest.

Because of this, his defense was full of holes, with more than one weakness in Bray's view.

"..." Redip staggered back a step, the defenses covering his right arm tearing apart like paper this time.

However, in order to break through Redip's "armor" which was invisible to the naked eye, the broadsword had no strength left, and it even cracked and scattered on the ground, leaving only the bare hilt.