Victory in Hand

After just one exchange, Naimus had obtained a great deal of information.

The Abyss was no peaceful land. On the contrary, battles there needed no reason.

In places where Demons gathered, someone could begin a massacre simply because they were in a bad mood.

Of course, more often than not, after slaughtering enough, they would be killed by someone else who saw them as prey.

The order of the entire Abyss was that there was no order.

Nearly all Demons embraced chaos. It was not as if no Demons wished to form factions and establish order.

Among Demons, there were even countless oddities such as Holy Light Knights who genuinely believed in gods, abstinent Succubi, Flame Demons devoted to protecting glacial environments, and Beholders advocating human rights and freedom.

There was no shortage of creatures that were barely humanoid.

The problem was that there was no trust among Demons, nor any shared public morality that everyone fully recognized as a foundation for trust.

Demon Contracts were merely tools. Aside from a very small number of special contracts that were difficult to violate, most contracts were destined to be torn up the moment they were signed.

In such a chaotic environment, warfare naturally erupted one after another. Anyone who wanted to establish a faction could only guarantee it through strength.

Naimus could only keep a low profile in the Abyss. No matter how formidable a Variant Demon was, it could only rival a High Demon to a certain extent.

Schemes and battles emerged endlessly. Combined with Naimus's combat experience from his human days, he could be considered a veteran of countless battles.

"Jacques used a secret technique to stimulate his body's spiritual radiance and gained the blessing of some kind of faith-based power from the outside."

"Through this method, he minimized the damage the secret technique caused to his body's potential."

"Its characteristics are initially displayed in his mobility. He turns his body and closes in on me with exceptional speed."

As he made his assessment, Naimus stepped back. With a twist and flick of one foot, he sent a large amount of mud and sand flying toward Jacques's eyes.

Yet Jacques seemed not to notice the interference at all. He continued twisting his body and swung his sword at Naimus.

Throughout this process, the white light on his body seemed like a shield, pushing away all mud and sand that came near.

Naimus had no choice but to raise his sword to block.

Then he darted aside. His sword slid along Jacques's blade, completing a change of move as it shifted from a block into a faster forward thrust.

Jacques had clearly noticed the thrust, yet he paid it no mind. He continued swinging his blade toward Naimus.

Naimus had attacked first, so his strike should have landed first. Yet he soon discovered that his sword had missed.

His sword had clearly been aimed at the other's head, but before it could hit, it encountered some sort of guidance and slid aside.

Seeing this, Naimus immediately realized something was wrong. He retreated half a step and turned his body sideways.

Jacques's sword grazed Naimus's body, sending a strip of cloth fluttering into the air.

Looking at the retreating Naimus and the slightly damaged clothes on him, Jacques revealed a smile of certain victory.

"Your Swordsmanship is decent, but before Dartmenly's greatness, you have no chance of winning!"

With Jacques's words, he launched another attack. His twisting body became exceptionally swift, as though everything were avoiding him.

"So I can only confront him head-on. During his attack, all external interference directed at him is pushed away, including air and unfavorable factors such as enemy attacks?" Naimus roughly understood the effect of his characteristic.

This matched his Divine Prayer. His god had bestowed upon him the power to cut through obstacles and continue to advance.

"That truly is a fine characteristic." In an instant, Naimus came up with several tactics that could work with it.

It was quite comprehensive, serving as both an offensive and defensive characteristic.

At the same time, it could make up for Jacques's lack of Swordsmanship.

A person's strength was mainly composed of three aspects: attributes × characteristics × techniques.

Attributes were strength itself, characteristics were the mechanisms for using those attributes, and techniques were the efficiency of using them.

Only when all three were combined could one become a true powerhouse.

If one's attributes and characteristics were powerful but one's techniques were lacking, making one unable to hit the target, then the efficiency of use was zero, and the damage ultimately inflicted would also be zero.

The advantage of Jacques's secret technique characteristic was that it allowed him to completely abandon defensive techniques. He did not need to worry about external forces interrupting his attacks.

With such a characteristic, he would have an enormous advantage in combat techniques.

Even a combat novice could stop worrying about getting hurt and hack an experienced master to death with wild swings.

Next, Jacques used this characteristic to its fullest, attacking without defending as he swung his sword madly.

Attack! Attack! Attack!

Jacques himself was not a novice with no combat experience. On the contrary, his combat experience was fairly rich, and he had his own style of fighting.

His gaze was not fixed on Naimus, but on Naimus's sword.

"Besides ignoring interference and obstacles to oneself while attacking, the advance characteristic also has a hidden effect: Holy Collapse." The words of the elder who had taught him this secret technique within the family echoed in his ears.

"Holy Collapse means that as long as one Advances, one will inevitably cut through the enemy's resistance!"

Sure enough, as Jacques swung his sword once again and collided with Naimus's blade, a strange sound became the opportunity that broke the deadlock.

The knight's sword in Naimus's hand snapped.

Holy Collapse was a destructive ability that was bound to appear after several attacks. If the opponent used a weapon to resist, that weapon would inevitably be cut apart.

If they wore sturdy armor, then that armor would likewise be cleaved through.

"This is Holy Collapse!"

"This is Dartmenly!!" Jacques roared in his heart, while the joy of impending victory appeared on his face.

Having prepared for this long ago, he was not greatly affected. The sword in his hand continued forward as he pressed his body in, unleashing all his strength.

Jacques leaned forward, shedding the excessive force of his own movement.

Yet he could not help but worry. Would this strike kill Naimus?

He wanted to teach Naimus a lesson, but the other man could not die yet.

Otherwise, the charges they had decided upon would lose much of their weight.

Because the dead could be slandered at will, accusations against a dead person were naturally met with greater suspicion...

His mind was filled with random thoughts, but Jacques soon realized he had worried too much.

A hand reached out and gripped the body of his sword.

That hand was like an iron clamp, locking tightly around his blade.

"Just as I thought. Your characteristic cannot take effect while attacking or after an attack." Naimus's chuckle sounded beside his ear.

The next moment, Jacques's entire body was flung into the air. His vision instantly became a blur, and when it stabilized, the gravel-covered ground was before his eyes.

He turned over and tried to get up, but a foot had already come down, stomping firmly onto Jacques's chest.

In an instant, Jacques could no longer breathe properly, and all the strength in his body was restrained.

"Victory is never gained through one's mouth, but through actual strength."

"Don't get excited. Getting too agitated while suffocating is bad for your body."

Naimus's consolation at that moment became the greatest humiliation for Jacques.

Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle, gurgle, gurglegurglegurglegurgle!