From just one clash, Naimes had gathered a wealth of information.

The Abyss was far from a peaceful realm; on the contrary, battles there required no justification.

In places where demons gathered, a single displeasure could spark a massacre.

More often, the slaughter would reach a point where others would turn the hunters into prey and kill them.

The entire order of the Abyss was, in fact, a complete absence of order.

All demons basically embraced chaos. That did not mean demons lacked those who sought to build factions and establish order.

Among demons, there were even bizarre types like the Holy Light Knights who truly believed in gods, the ascetic succubi, the flame demons who loved protecting glacier environments, and the eye demons who advocated for human rights and freedom.

There was no shortage of creatures barely resembling humans.

The real issue was that no trust existed between demons, and there was no public morality that everyone could universally agree upon to serve as a foundation of trust.

Demonic contracts were merely tools. Except for a few rare contracts that were difficult to break, most contracts were destined to be torn apart the moment they were signed.

In such a chaotic environment, constant warfare was natural, and the only way to establish a faction was through sheer strength.

Naimes had to keep a low profile in the Abyss. Although aberrant demons were powerful, rivaling high-level demons to some extent, that was only to a certain degree.

Schemes and battles emerged endlessly, and coupled with Naimes’ combat experience from his human days, he was considered a seasoned veteran.

“Jacques activated a secret technique to stimulate his body’s spiritual light, and externally received a kind of faith power blessing.”

“By doing so, he maximized the avoidance of secret technique damage to his body’s potential.”

“The characteristic mainly shows in his mobility. When he rotates his body, his approach speed toward me is extraordinarily fast.”

Thinking this over, Naimes stepped back, pivoting one foot to flick up a large amount of mud and sand, sending it flying toward Jacques’ eyes.

But Jacques seemed utterly unaffected by this interference, continuing to twist his body and swinging his sword down at Naimes.

During this, the white light emanating from his body acted like a shield, pushing away all the approaching mud and sand.

Naimes had no choice but to raise his sword in defense.

He then quickly dodged to the side, sliding his sword along Jacques’ blade, completing a transition from a block to a faster forward thrust.

Jacques obviously noticed this sudden stab but paid no mind, continuing to slash his sword at Naimes.

Naimes had struck first and should have landed the hit, but he quickly realized his strike missed.

Though he should have pierced Jacques’ head, before the hit landed, something redirected his blade, sliding it aside.

Seeing this, Naimes immediately sensed danger and retreated half a step, turning his body sideways.

Jacques’ sword brushed past Naimes’ body, a strip of cloth flying up and hovering midair.

Seeing Naimes retreat and the slightly torn clothing on Jacques, a confident smile appeared on Jacques’ face.

“Your swordsmanship is good, but under the greatness of Dartmenli, you stand no chance!”

Accompanied by Jacques’ voice, he launched another attack, his twisting body moving with extraordinary speed, as if everything was avoiding him.

“So, the only way to face him is head-on. During his attacks, all external interference against him—be it air, enemy strikes, or other adverse factors—will be pushed away?” Naimes roughly understood the effect of Jacques’ characteristic.

This matched Jacques’ sacred prayer; the god granted him the power to cut through obstacles and keep advancing.

“Not a bad trait at all,” Naimes instantly conceived several tactics that could exploit this characteristic.

It was quite comprehensive, serving both offense and defense.

It could also compensate for Jacques’ lack of swordsmanship skill.

A person’s strength mainly consisted of three aspects: numerical value × characteristic × technique.

Numerical value was raw power, characteristic was the mechanism to utilize that power, and technique was the efficiency of using that power.

Only by combining these three could one become truly strong.

Even if numerical value and characteristic were strong, without sufficient technique to hit the target effectively, the damage inflicted would be zero.

Jacques’ secret technique’s advantage was that it allowed complete abandonment of defensive technique, without worrying about external forces interrupting attacks.

Having this characteristic gave a tremendous advantage in combat skills.

Even a novice fighter could attack recklessly without fear of injury and still survive against seasoned masters.

Next, Jacques fully utilized this trait, attacking relentlessly without defense, swinging his sword wildly.

Attack! Attack! Attack!

Jacques was not inexperienced in combat; on the contrary, he had considerable experience and his own fighting style.

His gaze did not fall on Naimes but on Naimes’ sword.

“The forward movement trait, besides ignoring interference against the attacker during offense, has a hidden effect called ‘Holy Collapse.’” The words of his elder, who taught him this secret technique, echoed in his mind.

“Holy Collapse means that as long as you keep advancing, you will inevitably cut through the enemy’s resistance!”

Sure enough, as Jacques swung his sword again and it clashed with Naimes’ knight sword, a strange sound broke the stalemate.

The knight sword in Naimes’ hand snapped.

Holy Collapse was a destructive ability that inevitably manifested after several attacks. If the opponent resisted with a weapon, the weapon would be cut off.

If wearing sturdy armor, the armor would be broken through as well.

“This is ‘Holy Collapse!’”

“This is Dartmenli!” Jacques roared inside, a victorious joy appearing on his face.

He was well prepared and not much affected, his sword continuing forward while his body leaned ahead, unleashing his full power.

Jacques tilted his body forward to reduce his excessive force.

But he couldn’t help worrying: would this strike kill Naimes?

Though he intended to teach Naimes a lesson, the other must not die now.

Otherwise, the charges laid would be seriously undermined.

Because dead people could be slandered at will, convicting a deceased person naturally drew suspicion...

His mind was filled with mixed thoughts, but soon Jacques realized he had overthought it.

A hand suddenly stretched out, gripping his sword blade.

That hand clamped onto his sword like iron pincers, holding it firmly.

“As expected, during and after your attack, your characteristic fails to activate.” Naimes’ light laughter sounded in his ear.

The next moment, Jacques was thrown up, his vision spinning wildly. Once stable, he saw the rocky ground beneath him.

He turned to get up, but a foot stepped heavily on his chest, pinning him down.

Instantly, Jacques found it hard to breathe, all his strength restricted at that moment.

“Victory is never claimed by words but earned through real power.”

“Don’t get excited; getting too worked up while suffocating isn’t good for your body.”

Naimes’ words of comfort at this moment became the greatest humiliation for Jacques. Tʜe source of this ᴄontent ɪs novelfire(.)net