Immortal Creed

Seeing the longsword about to strike him, Liens's eyes narrowed slightly, and he vanished from under the sword in an instant, only to reappear in another place the next moment.

This was Flash, a spatial teleportation ability.

Outside, due to insufficient power levels, Liens was unable to perform spatial teleportation, but in this consciousness space, which was primarily based on cognition, he simulated this ability through his own understanding of space.

For this, he had to thank Lucrezia; he had verified many abilities that only existed in imagination through her, and he had thoroughly sorted out his own cognition.

Although many exaggerated abilities still couldn't be realized, in terms of space, he had already moved from simple cognitive principles into the field of basic application.

Alfred showed a surprised expression at Liens's action of dodging his slash by leaping through space; space was not a domain that just anyone could touch.

"Such talent, it would be a pity for him to die… Stop now, you are not my opponent. While your consciousness is not truly damaged, leaving here will not have too much of an impact on you."

Alfred turned to look at Liens, calmly advising him to stop.

At this moment, due to two consecutive large mental energy expenditures, Liens's mental energy phantom had become somewhat transparent.

If he continued to fight, even if he didn't receive any direct attacks, he would gradually overdraw his mental energy, ultimately leading to damage to his consciousness.

To Alfred's advice, Liens merely charged at him calmly with his sword, expressing his answer in this way.

"Clang!"

The two swords clashed again, and their shifting figures constantly intertwined in this stagnant space.

Liens also continuously observed the swordsmanship Alfred displayed and the changes in his mental energy simulation during this fierce battle.

These were all cognitions he wanted to learn.

"Whoosh!"

The glowing longsword thrust out at extreme speed.

When the feeling of being locked on arose, he knew that he also could not dodge this sword in a normal way, so he used Flash again, wanting to jump to another space.

But this time, things did not go as he wished.

The spatial fluctuation he had just simulated with his mental energy was directly pierced by a single sword, preventing him from completing the Flash.

Seeing this, Liens's pupils constricted. It was too late to make a blocking move, so he could only watch the rapidly approaching sword with a solemn gaze.

The longsword pierced Liens's shoulder; no blood flowed out, but Liens's mental energy phantom became a bit more transparent.

"This is a warning."

Alfred pulled out his longsword and said faintly.

Liens understood the meaning of these words: if he continued to be stubborn, the next time the longsword pierced him, it would not be the shoulder, but more dangerous vital points like the heart or brain.

The mental energy phantom seemed to be just a form composed of mental energy, with no specific internal structure. Theoretically, there were no so-called vital points.

However, human cognition artificially added vital points to the mental energy phantom.

But this was not a disadvantage, but a choice.

The existence of vital points precisely indicated that they chose to construct a mental energy phantom with clear primary and secondary parts, rather than a mental energy form where all parts were completely equal.

Otherwise, every time two swords clashed, it would cause damage to both sides, and even a slight scratch on the body surface would be a major injury. This choice was undoubtedly not suitable for close-quarters swordsmanship.

To Alfred's warning, Liens remained silent, solemnly swinging his sword to attack.

"I spoke too much. It seems you are ready to die. Since that is the case, I should respect your wishes."

"Unknown junior, let this sword send you off with your final funeral!"

Alfred dodged Liens's slash, instantly widened the distance between them, looked at the charging Liens, and solemnly and gravely recited.

"Sword!"

He made a sword-finger gesture with his left hand in front of him, and whispered.

In an instant, a heavy pressure descended. Although there was no concept of air here, the surroundings seemed to be plunged into a high-pressure environment, as if something was compressing space.

Liens looked up into the sky and saw a familiar dark blue giant sword standing majestically high above, rapidly falling towards his position.

In a flash, the giant sword had completely enveloped his vision, as if in that instant, the distance of the giant sword's fall had been clipped away.

"Is this the true 'Sword'?"

Liens sighed softly in his heart, not expecting Alfred to value him so much that he would expend a large amount of mental energy to cast this move to send him off.

Unlike the locked-on feeling he experienced outside, when this move "Sword" descended, not only was his figure locked, but even the surrounding space was sealed.

This was something he hadn't encountered before, and he didn't know if Alfred had added this restriction to prevent him from using spatial abilities to avoid the attack, or if the true "Sword" was just like this?

In any case, with his current understanding of space, he couldn't break Alfred's spatial blockade, and even if he could, it would take some time, and "Sword" wouldn't wait for him forever.

"Absolute Barrier"

Liens gripped his sword with both hands, then lowered it and plunged it into the ground. He stood upright, his gaze fixed on the giant sword, and all his mental energy at this moment transformed into a faint membrane in front of him, making a final desperate resistance.

The membrane looked fragile, but in reality, it was a defense composed of energy barriers simultaneously existing in many layers of space.

Although the protective ability of each layer of barrier was not very strong, theoretically, as long as enough spatial layers were stacked, it could withstand any direct impact at the energy level, achieving Absolute Barrier.

However, like Flash, Liens could only use this move here. Outside, he couldn't simultaneously transmit energy to multiple layers of space.

The giant sword collided with the barrier, and the immense energies of both sides mutually eroded. Soon, a "crack" sound came from the barrier, and spiderweb-like cracks began to appear on the transparent barrier, rapidly expanding.

Liens knew this was a sign that the Absolute Barrier was about to reach its limit. When the cracks covered the barrier, it meant that the energy barriers in other spatial layers had already shattered.

Undoubtedly, from the current performance, his Absolute Barrier could not block Alfred's "Sword", at most, it could only hold on for a little while.

Liens did not care about the impending death, his gaze remained fixed on the "Sword." This was one of his purposes for pulling Alfred into the "Mental Battlefield."

He had originally intended to gradually learn swordsmanship from Alfred through a fight to the death, but he didn't expect Alfred to directly display his entire cognition of the "Sword."

This was undoubtedly a stroke of luck for him.

The cognitive insights brought to him by facing the "Sword" in the consciousness space were far greater than simply dueling Alfred with swords.

"I wonder if I'll encounter such good fortune again in the next round of the Instance?"

In the final moments before his consciousness was obliterated, Liens thought to himself.

…

Several days later.

Looking at the urgent intelligence report delivered by his subordinate, Balder revealed a serious and solemn expression.