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.