Immortal Creed

"Judgment."

A soft whisper, yet it contained an irresistible command.

Space solidified, restricting Alfred's movements like a mire; countless light spears instantly condensed from all directions, shooting towards Alfred, as if to shoot him down in mid-air.

"Flow!"

A faint water curtain appeared around Alfred. The water curtain was very thin, and the shallow Flowing Water couldn't even hide Alfred's figure.

Although this water curtain didn't appear as grand as the previous torrent in reality, every light spear, upon contact with the water curtain, instantly reverted to its elemental form, returning to the surrounding environment.

"Cut!"

Sword raised, Alfred slowly cut downwards. Invisible belief converged on the blade, and the compressed, solidified space expanded once more at this moment.

"Flash! Slice!"

As space expanded again, Alfred stepped across the distance between them, instantly appearing before Elthorp and simultaneously swinging his sword.

Elthorp placed one hand in front of him, and an invisible barrier instantly formed, blocking the longsword. There was no sound at this moment; the longsword entered a distant journey, as if it would never reach its intended destination.

Alfred watched the elongated space, his eyes narrowing slightly. The longsword then erupted with a faint blue glow, breaking through the spatial restraint and instantly reaching its destination.

"Clang!"

Elthorp's palm slightly curved, and an orange-yellow light screen engraved with a scale symbol formed in an instant, blocking the longsword.

The contact between the light screen and the longsword didn't produce a noticeable energy impact, as if it were just a simple collision, but the distortion and tearing of the surrounding space indicated how terrifying their collision was.

If their battle had taken place on the ground, the earth, affected by the distorted space, would likely have experienced a brief but violent earthquake around them.

Without a word, Alfred backhanded with his sword, striking again. This time, the longsword cut through the light screen, but it passed directly through Elthorp's body.

Elthorp joined his palms like a blade and slashed diagonally, an invisible spatial blade cutting towards Alfred.

Alfred frowned, sidestepping the incoming spatial blade, then sheathed his sword, raised it, and chopped down. The series of actions was completed almost in an instant.

The powerful slash passed through the superficial space, directly reaching Elthorp's body, which was hidden in another layer of space.

Seeing this, Elthorp realized that simple spatial etherealization couldn't stop Alfred, so he used teleportation and flashing to dodge the slash.

The slash, missing its target, transformed into a massive sword ki, extending dozens of meters and striking the ground, cutting a huge fissure into the earth. The fissure was deep and dark, as if it led directly to a bottomless abyss.

"Elthorp, you know I'm not interested in that level of spatial manipulation, but rather the authority representing the world."

Alfred turned to look at Elthorp, who had flashed to another location. He didn't pursue but spoke to him in a deep voice.

"If you can't even handle these crude spatial tricks, then I naturally don't need to expend too much effort. Not everyone is worth me using the power of authority."

Elthorp responded to Alfred with an indifferent expression, his calm tone constantly revealing the composure of a God.

The meaning in his words seemed to imply that Alfred, the so-called Kingdom's Sword Saint, was an insignificant figure in his eyes.

In fact, if he could have resolved Alfred immediately, he wouldn't have used such crude spatial abilities against him, nor would he have said any nonsense.

The so-called arrogance of a God is built upon absolute certainty. However, he had lost the right to be arrogant thousands of years ago.

Resolving the battle as quickly as possible was most beneficial to him; the longer it dragged on, the worse his condition would become.

Alfred didn't get angry; he just watched Elthorp intently. After a moment, he spoke:

"It seems your situation, or rather, your collective situation, is even worse than I expected... What exactly happened back then to cause the Gods, who once resided in the heavens, to fall to their current plight?"

"That's something you'll have to discover for yourself. Perhaps someone will answer your questions once you successfully break through to Legend."

Elthorp replied calmly.

"Is that so... Then please lend me a hand."

Alfred said faintly, then instantly moved, swinging his sword at Elthorp.

"Alas~"

Seeing this, Elthorp sighed inwardly and once again became entangled in battle with Alfred.

He still used simple spatial abilities, as before, to counter Alfred's attacks.

Only when necessary did he mobilize more power through his Godhood, intending to exhaust Alfred with the lowest possible consumption.

Although his condition wasn't good, Alfred, who had already used two high-cost moves consecutively, wasn't in much better shape.

As long as Alfred didn't go crazy and fight him to the death, it wouldn't be too difficult for him to drag out the fight until Alfred left voluntarily. Anyway, he had no intention of wasting too much of his own power.

Moreover, if Alfred hadn't been so troublesome and unwilling to end the fight, he would have already left with Liens.

The battle continued, their figures like a single-frame animation, intersecting in various corners of the battlefield. Each true confrontation caused the surrounding space to distort.

However, if one ignored the spatial changes, to outsiders, the scene of their battle was less dramatic than when ordinary Great Knights fought each other.

There were no cataclysms, no roaring explosions, only the very rapid "clanging" of weapons clashing.

If it weren't for their identities and the occasional massive sword ki that ripped across the sky, the two factions observing the battle using "Distant Vision Magic" might have thought it was a friendly sparring match.

"Can Lord Alfred defeat that Evil God's avatar?"

A Great Knight-level general asked Ralph with some concern.

"I don't know."

Ralph shook his head, his expression very serious.

"From the visuals, Lord Alfred is currently on the offensive, holding some advantage."

"But the opponent is an Evil God after all. Even an avatar possessing a priest is not easy to deal with."

"Furthermore, Lord Alfred has already used two high-cost moves, which might have some impact on his condition."

"Lord Alfred might not be able to hold on for too long."

Ralph continued his analysis, not very optimistic about Alfred's victory.

Although he trusted Alfred's strength as the 'Pillar of the Nation,' the opponent was an Evil God, and Alfred had already expended considerable energy in the previous battle.

Additionally, Alfred had continuously instilled in them the idea that the reason they hadn't completely crushed the rebels was out of concern that the opposing Evil God would unleash rampant evil pollution.

Therefore, based on a rational analysis, he naturally wasn't too optimistic about Alfred achieving victory.

"Don't worry, I've already sent an urgent message about the situation here to my teacher. He said he'd be here very soon, and with his magic, he might already be close."

Realizing that his words might be dampening morale, Ralph informed his colleagues of some good news.

"The Chief Court Mage is coming..."

Before the others could show their joy, someone suddenly pointed at the image displayed by the "Distant Vision Magic" and shouted in great shock, "Look, what's that?"