CHAPTER 1541: CHAPTER 327: YOU FORCED ME

This Divine Kingdom space was an empty void, holding nothing but the Bone Throne at its center. There was no sky above nor earth below, devoid of earth, water, fire, or wind—absolutely nothing. However, despite the absence of solid ground, Pannis and Nellie stood firmly on the same plane as the Bone Throne, as if the ground had always been there but was invisible to mere mortals. At this moment, Pannis suddenly sank into the ground as if it had vanished, causing their planes to misalign and Nellie’s attack to miss entirely.

Yet, Pannis did not fall indefinitely. After dropping less than a meter, he steadied himself as if he was stepping on non-existent soil once more. Simultaneously, he half-turned, thrusting his one-handed sword from an extremely bizarre angle upward into Nellie’s abdomen.

As her attack missed, Nellie’s expression remained wooden and cold. She didn’t even blink at the odd shift in Pannis’s position. Leaning forward slightly, at the original angle, it appeared as if she leaned sharply forward, standing on the ground. However, her posture remained the same as if standing on flat ground, as if the ground itself had tilted by thirty or forty degrees. While adjusting her body angle, Nellie didn’t even glance at the one-handed sword thrust by Pannis. With a flick of her wrist, the previously missed four-meter Hunting Arrow suddenly whipped downward like a whip, leaving a trail of afterimages in the air and emitted a terrifying sonic boom.

Although the sword strike was hasty, Pannis’s counterattack was anything but feeble; the strength was enough to penetrate most targets. However, this time, it did not pierce Nellie’s body but instead, a strange phenomenon occurred. Pannis could clearly feel that at the moment the long sword pierced Nellie’s body, the energy surged along the blade, directed by the tip of the sword, instantly flowing into Nellie’s body. But in the next instant, all the energy returned along the same path back into the sword, and then back into his own body. He could confirm that in this brief process, the energy he used was fully returned to him, unchanged except in direction. However, Pannis wasn’t surprised at all. Over a hundred years ago in the battle with Danacus, even stranger things had happened; this was merely trivial in comparison. Moreover, rather than saying he wasn’t surprised, it would be more apt to say he was waiting for this moment. When the energy returned along the same path and collided with his own, Pannis was directly sent flying by his own power, flying far away at a downward angle, finally creating a distance from Nellie once more.

After missing another attack, Nellie finally ceased her pursuit, looking down at the Hunting Arrow in her hand, her cold gaze locking back onto Pannis in the distance.

"Tsk tsk, how interesting. You actually know how to fight in such a bizarre space, and you’re quite proficient too," Pannis, after several rapid exchanges of offense and defense, had dropped the smirk on his face, squinting and clicking his tongue, "I thought, with Nellie’s mind, she couldn’t comprehend such a strange way of fighting. But thinking about it, it makes sense; after all, no, I should say, you’ve been here for over a hundred years. If you still couldn’t adapt to this style of combat, that would really make you a fool."

Pannis was right, this was indeed a bizarre space, solely belonging to the realm of the Grimreaper. In truth, this was a world between reality and illusion, also the original form of the Divine Kingdom. The Divine Kingdom was originally an illusion in the Deity’s will, shaped by Divine Power and projected into reality. In this shaping process, the more energy the Deity invested in the Divine Kingdom, the closer it resembled reality, until the fully completed Divine Kingdom appeared virtually real to mortals, with no trace of illusion.

The initial state of the Divine Kingdom was just like now—bizarre and illusory, entirely dependent on the imagination of those who dwelled within. If you believed there was solid ground beneath your feet, then it could support your weight. If you thought there was nothing but void, then you would fall indefinitely, never able to stop. In such a space, most people wouldn’t dare to fight like Pannis could, because they struggled to control their own imaginations. If they negated the presence of the ground beneath their feet and began to fall, it became nearly impossible to reestablish the belief that the ground was indeed beneath them. The longer they fell, the harder it was to establish that belief. Only someone with as peculiar a mindset as Pannis could adapt to this similarly bizarre method of combat in a short time. As for Nellie, as Pannis said, if she couldn’t adapt after a hundred years, she would indeed be a fool.

Being called a fool again, Nellie remained indifferent, showing no reaction as if she hadn’t heard it at all. Her weapon continued to lock onto Pannis, exerting tremendous pressure on him.

"This really is trouble," Pannis felt the intense pressure from the lance and, scratching his head in dismay, muttered, "You really are a Divine Body, huh? Attacks that aren’t strong enough get reflected right back, and the ones that are strong enough probably end like last time, with the damage reverberating back onto me. I can only passively take hits like this. I have to figure out a way; otherwise, I think you might kill me before you come back to your senses. Hey, darling, can you tell me how long until you wake up?"

Of course, Nellie did not respond, her emotionless eyes just staring distantly at Pannis, her thoughts unknown.

"How about we just stand here for a while, how about that? Why hurt each other? Oh, I’ve got some of your favorite dried pasfruit here, want to try some? No? What about finger cakes then, with pasfruit jam filling, really tasty."

Although Nellie hadn’t made any moves yet, Pannis felt the pressure mounting, undoubtedly her energy was escalating rapidly. Once she adjusted to the optimal state, it was likely the moment she would launch another attack, which he was sure would not be as mild as the previous ones. Pannis had no confidence in withstanding it. Knowing this, however, he had no effective strategy and could only be ready to fight at any moment while trying to delay time, hoping Nellie would recover from this state soon.

Unfortunately, at this moment, Nellie could not be disturbed by any means. The attempt to delay time was doomed to be futile. No matter what Pannis said, he couldn’t stop Nellie’s energy from escalating or delay the impending attack.

"You’re forcing me into this," Pannis clenched his teeth and said bitterly, "Then don’t blame me."

Saying this, he drew the Hunting Arrow from his waist and gripped it in his hand again.