Chapter 1354: “You Have to Work Slightly Harder”
“When I said equal grounds, I was not referring to numbers. I was referring to rules.”
Delta bent forward, retrieved the broken mask, and set it back in place. The crack from the sword shrank and closed. Even his tattered clothing mended itself; the wounds across his body sealed; he stood exactly as he had before she landed the first blow.
“Under the same rules, the Creator loses the protection of her territory, and we Oracles are restricted to strength proportional to this world — that is the essence of equal grounds. The numbers, the positional advantages, the careful planning — that was all mine. Where is the unfairness in that?”
“Heh.” Fei Yuhan wiped blood from the corner of her mouth. “I’m not sure having your head run through by a sword and walking away constitutes rules.”
“Regrettably, it does. It is written into the lowest tier.” Delta spread his hands and came toward her. “If you want to blame someone, blame Lan. As a traitor to the Oracles, it left a small backdoor in this world — only Creators and Oracles themselves have the power to destroy another Oracle. You can wound me. But every wound will be repaired by my power eventually. This battle has had only one possible outcome from the beginning.”
“That’s why you’re so cautious about Zero.”
“To be precise — cautious of her before the crack formed. Without her territory’s protection she is simply a newly Awakened.” He paused. “That you could ask that question tells me you’re different from ordinary self-cognitive constructs. Where did you learn you came from the void? Knowing that, why are you still fighting?”
“Does the distinction matter so much — void versus reality?” The corners of her mouth rose. “The answer changes depending on where you stand. How do you know you aren’t the one who comes from the void?” She raised her sword and drove the Force of Nature back into the blade. “To me, nothing is more real than this world.”
“Truly ignorant.” Delta snorted and brought his hand down.
Fei Yuhan drove forward to meet it.
The two forces collided with a concussive crack, a wave of pressure that flung surrounding vehicles skyward. In a zone like this, simply entering the radius of their exchange could kill. Countless wounds appeared on the Oracle — half its body sliced apart by the light produced in that single clash.
None of it stopped it. It held its own body together with one hand, and the wound that ran from shoulder to chest sealed itself closed.
Fei Yuhan had no such ability.
However strong the aura she pressed to her limits, the wounds kept coming — small grazes, then cuts that went to bone. Her situation worsened with every exchange.
Zero could not make herself look away.
She understood it then — why Fei Yuhan refused to retreat, refused to seek any distance, kept throwing herself into the Oracle’s reach without pause.
Because of her.
If Fei Yuhan dropped the pressure and went defensive, Delta could simply step around her and walk straight to Zero. Every wound on Fei Yuhan’s body existed in Zero’s place.
The young girl’s throat tightened until she could not swallow.
After Awakening, Zero had learned the basics of how a body worked under Force of Nature. What kept Fei Yuhan upright right now was the technique driven to absolute peak — not pain relief, just the ability to keep functioning past a threshold that would collapse anyone else. But this had a limit. Zero could see it narrowing. Either the pain would finally overwhelm her, or the Force would run dry. Both ended the same way.
Stop. Please stop. Zero shaped the words in her throat. What came out was a choked sound without language.
Fei Yuhan and Delta hit each other with everything they had. A sharp crack, and Fei Yuhan’s sword shattered to pieces. The Oracle caught her right ankle and launched her upward before she could locate another weapon.
In the air, without purchase, she could not control where she landed.
The Oracle waited below. It delivered a single punch that sent her forty meters before she touched the bridge surface again, bouncing and rolling until she stopped.
The light around her dimmed.
She tried to stand. Failed. Tried again. Failed again. Blood and sweat ran down her face and soaked her collar.
“No!”
Zero broke from cover and ran, every careful instruction forgotten.
“Master—”
“Stay away from me — go back, stay back!” The voice that came out of the wounded woman was fierce enough that Zero froze mid-stride, and then the coughing started, deep and painful.
For the first time, Fei Yuhan’s face showed something other than composure. It was close enough to fear to matter.
“But I — Ahhh—”
An invisible hand seized Zero before she could finish the sentence, lifting her off the ground.
“Got you.” Delta held one hand outstretched toward nothing; the other drew back to strike.
Fei Yuhan clenched her teeth. She poured everything remaining in her legs into one final charge — collided with the Oracle — and the impact freed Zero, who dropped from the air.
“Your endurance is commendable. Thirty minutes.” Delta took hold of the immobile Martial Artist and pulled her close. “But what does pressing on accomplish? You know this world was a mistake — a fragment of imagination. Its existence and continuity depend entirely on the Creator. I do not believe he considers you his equal. Everything you’ve done is a joke.”
Fei Yuhan’s body was a record of the fight: both legs shattered, her right arm and shoulder ground down to exposed bone, her back a landscape of open wounds. She should not have been conscious. That she was, and that she was still smiling, was the only thing in the entire battle that had surprised Delta.
“I said it before — so what?” Her voice came in segments, each one costing her. “I can’t choose where I was born. But I can choose how I carry myself. As for you — besides the Gods, what do you actually have? I doubt you’ve ever seen the Gods’ true face.” She pulled in a breath. “I also think the Creators are nothing like what you’ve described them to be.”
“What do you mean?” Delta frowned. Something had shifted in its chest that it could not account for.
“They come from beyond this world. They don’t belong here by any right — and yet they keep trying to stay.” She coughed. “If they truly saw this place as imagination, why would they go that far? If they’re willing to go that far, why shouldn’t I? If you don’t believe me — wait for him to arrive, and ask him yourself. I’ll stake everything on his answer being different from what you expect.”
“You’re persevering just to wait for another Creator’s support?” Delta shook its head. “Give up. Everything has been planned. There is an Oracle outside the crack right now — it cannot defeat the Creator, but it can delay him. And you have clearly reached your limit.”
It let go.
Fei Yuhan dropped.
“I will not kill you. Use your Force of Nature to sustain the damage — perhaps enough of you will survive. When this world returns to its origin, you will understand the grandeur of the Gods.”
Delta turned toward Zero and took one step.
Then stopped.
It looked back.
Fei Yuhan’s remaining left hand had closed around its ankle.
“You are impossibly stupid!” The Oracle’s composure broke entirely. It raised its hand and brought the formless palm down, driving her into the bridge hard enough to fracture the surface in a spiderweb pattern around her body. The hand at its ankle went slack and fell.
“I gave you a chance.”
“NO — Master—!” Zero’s scream hit the hollow air.
“Don’t worry. You’re next.” Delta suppressed the emotion that had no business being there and raised both hands toward the Creator once more.
A dull percussion rolled through the crack.
A beam of light swept across the rhombus-patterned sky like ripples crossing still water, followed by a second and a third — something outside was striking the barrier, striking it with rhythm, and each blow shook the whole enclosed space.
“How—how is it already—” Delta’s voice was unsteady for the first time. The independent space had been constructed from more than a thousand cores. It should have held for hours.
“Epsilon! What is happening outside?” It called across the space. Silence. “Epsilon — answer me!”
Nothing came back.
“Damn it—” Delta reached for Zero.
A blinding flash pierced through the crack and left burning traces along the patterned lines. The light spread outward, scattering the darkness; the bridge scenery that had dissolved into abstraction resolved itself again, solid and concrete and real, stretching to both ends of the span.
The crack had split open.
Chapter 1354 - “You have to work slightly harder”
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
“When I said equal grounds, I wasn’t referring to numbers, but to the rules.”
Delta leaned forward, picked up the broken mask, and placed it back onto its face—the crack from the penetration of the sword became smaller and ultimately disappeared. It did not stop there; even Delta’s tattered clothes and wounds recovered and he was restored to his initial self.
“Under the same rules, the creator no longer receives the protection of the territory, and us Oracles are restricted to using strength equal to that of the world—this is the essence of what I meant. As for the number of people or the advantages and disadvantages of the situation, it was all due to my meticulous planning, how is it not fair?”
“Heh…” Fei Yuhan wiped the blood off the corner of her mouth. “I don’t believe that being fine after having your head bored through by a sword is considered under the rules.”
“Regretfully, it is indeed carved into the lowest tier of the rules.” Delta spread his hands out and walked towards her. “If you want to find someone to blame, blame Lan. As a betrayer to the Oracles, it left a tiny backdoor in this world—only the creators and the Oracles themselves are capable of destroying another Oracle. You can harm me, but all of these superficial wounds will ultimately be healed by my magic power. This battle had been destined with one outcome from the very beginning.”
“Is that why you’re so guarded against Zero?”
“To be more precise, I’m guarded against her before the crack formed. Without the protection from her territory, she is just an ordinary Awakened.”
Delta paused. “To be able to ask this question means that you are different from all the other self-cognitive bodies; where did you hear such information before? To actually know that you actually came from the void, why are you still struggling on?”
“What is the void and what is reality, do you truly think that the difference matters?” The corners of Fei Yuhan’s mouth drew upwards.
“What?”
“From a different angle, the answer will vary, so how do you know that you’re not the one from the void?” She raised her sword and imbued the Force of Nature once more into the blade. “But to me, nothing is more real than this world!”
“Truly—ignorant.” Delta snorted, and raised its hand and smashed down towards her.
Fei Yuhan did not retreat but welcomed the enemy’s attack with a slash of her blade!
The two forces collided and unleashed a ear-splitting rumble, evoking a blast of wind that threw the surrounding vehicles into the air—In such a battle, simply entering the region where the skirmish was happening could possibly lead to fatal injuries.
It went without saying that countless wounds appeared all over the Oracle’s body. Furthermore, half of its body was sliced apart by the resplendent light produced by the genius Martial Artist in this confrontation.
But as it had explained, even such fatal wounds were incapable of stopping it. The Oracle merely used one hand to hold tight its body and the wound stretching from its shoulder to its chest gradually closed.
But Fei Yuhan did not have the same ability.
No matter how much more stronger her aura from before was, wounds continued to appear on her body. From the minute grazes to bone-deep
wounds, her situation turned for the worse.
Zero could not help but cover her mouth.
She suddenly understood why Fei Yuhan was unwilling to take half a step back despite the injuries, and instead chose to clash head on with the enemy!
It was all because of her!
To lessen the possibility of injuries, Fei Yuhan had to avoid its attacks while probing for opportunities to strike. The Oracle’s means of attacks were completely reflected by its hands and it was not impossible for her to predict and avoid them. If they were the only two inside the crack, her attacks would have been even more dexterous.
But it was impossible for Fei Yuhan!
If Fei Yuhan abandoned her aggressive means of attack and chose to remain passive, the enemy could simply ignore her and charge straight for Zero!
Upon realizing that, Zero’s heart tightened.
To prevent the Oracle from harming her, Fei Yuhan had given up on all strategic means and used her most ferocious attacks to keep the enemy suppressed in the middle.
That meant that all the injuries she had were in place for Zero—
The young girl suddenly felt like crying.
After Awakening, Zero gained the basic knowledge of a body’s strength. The reason why Fei Yuhan was still going strong was due to her pushing of her Force of Nature to its peak. But this power did not relieve any pain and had a threshold. Zero was aware that Fei Yuhan could not continue battling in the same manner, for she would either fall under the overwhelming pain or under the exhaustion of her powers. Regardless, both outcomes would lead to irreversible harm to her body!
Stop… stop fighting. Zero wanted to scream but all she could do was produce choking sounds.
Fei Yuhan and Delta engaged in yet another full force attack. With a crisp cracking sound, Fei Yuhan’s sword shattered into pieces. The Oracle grabbed her right feet and sent her flying upwards before she could find a new weapon!
Even with her excellent skills, Fei Yuhan had difficulty controlling the trajectory of her fall without being able to borrow an external force in the air.
And beneath her, the Oracle was waiting.
The Oracle produced a thunderous punch that sent Fei Yuhan flying tens of meters away, which resulted in her smashing back down onto the ground and tumbling over ten times before coming to a stop.
This time, the light around Fei Yuhan dimmed a few notches.
She attempted to stand but failed even after numerous tries. Blood and perspiration trickled down her cheeks and stained her lapels.
“No!”
Zero could no longer hold herself back. She charged out from her hiding spot and ran towards Fei Yuhan.
“Master…”
“Stay away from me, go back to where you were and don’t be anywhere near here!” The latter’s stern voice caused the young lady to freeze before breaking down into a fit of coughs.
For the first time, Fei Yuhan revealed an anxious expression.
“But I… Ahhh—” Before Zero could reply, she felt her body being grabbed by an invisible hand and raised up into the air.
“Got you.” The Oracle had a hand grasping onto nothing while the other prepared to unleash an attack. Right at this moment, Fei Yuhan clenched her teeth and poured all the Force of Nature into her legs as she charged recklessly towards the enemy.
The collision sent the two rolling away and freed Zero—causing her to drop from the air.
“Your strength is truly commendable, being able to last 30 minutes in battle. But what’s the point of pressing on?” Delta grabbed the immobile Martial Artist and pulled her towards over. “You should know that the appearance of this world was nothing but a mistake, a figment of an imagination. Its activation and immobility relies on the Creator. I do not believe that he sees all of you as equals—everything you’ve done is merely a joke.”
After sustaining a series of falls, Fei Yuhan’s entire body was already badly mutilated. After the last attempt of charging at the Oracle, both her legs had burst apart, her shoulders and right arm crushed to the point of revealing her bones. It was a spectacle too horrible to endure. But even so, Fei Yuhan still had the same smile on her face as she looked at the Oracle disdainfully.
“I… said it before, so what? I can’t… choose where I was born, but I can choose… to conduct myself with determination. As for you, aside from… the gods, what do you have? I’m afraid that you’ve never even seen the Gods’ true appearance… Additionally, I personally think that the Creators aren’t as what you have described them to be,” she gasped for breath and replied.
“What do you mean?” Delta frowned. Unknowingly, it suddenly felt somewhat distraught with anxiety.
“They are from beyond this world… Cough, cough. Clearly they do not belong to this world, yet they strive to remain in this world. If they truly regarded this place as an imagination, why would they go that far? If they are putting in so much effort, why shouldn’t I? If you don’t believe me… you can simply wait for him to arrive and ask him personally. I can personally bet that his answer will be different from what you expect.”
“Is that the reason why you’re persevering, just to wait for another Creator’s support?” Delta shook its head. “Give up, I have planned everything a long time ago and naturally will not give you an opportunity. There is another Oracle outside the crack, it might not be able to defeat the Creator, but delaying him is not out of the question. As for you, you are obviously at your limit.”
It relaxed its hand and allowed Fei Yuhan to fall to the ground, “I will not kill you. Use your magic power to sustain your injuries, and perhaps you can still preserve your life. When this world returns back to its origin, you will acknowledge the grandeur of the Gods.”
With that said, Delta turned towards the direction of its original target.
But just as it was about to take its first step, it suddenly stopped.
It turned back to see Fei Yuhan extending her remaining left hand and grabbing its leg.
“You—are impossibly stupid!” It could not help erupting with rage and raised its hand to smash down behind it. The formless palm pressed the martial artist down to the ground, forming spiderweb cracks to appear around her.
The hand which was grabbing at it finally fell.
“I gave you a chance.”
“NO! Master—-!” Zero screamed out, heartbroken.
“Don’t worry, you’re next.” Delta suppressed emotions that it shouldn’t have felt and once again raised both its hands at the Creator.
Right at this moment, a dull sound suddenly resonated from the crack.
A beam of light flashed through the patterned lines like ripples flitting across water. It was followed by a second and third beam, as though something outside was striking the crack, causing the entire space to tremble rhythmically.
“How… could it be that fast?” Delta was startled. Impossible! The independent space was created using the Erosion trap formed from magic power cores. Although it was not completely isolated from the outside world, it should at least hold for a couple of hours.
“Epsilon, what’s going on outside?” It yelled across empty space.
“Answer me, Epsilon!”
Yet no replies were heard from the other side.
“Damn it!” Delta reached its hand out towards Zero. Right at this moment, a dazzling flash penetrated through the crack and left burning marks on the patterned lines.
As the beam of light extended outwards and dispersed the darkness, the surrounding scenery which had turned ethereal returned to the ends of the bridge.
The crack had split open.