Chapter 012: The So-Called Sacred Rank

Actually, Spalitis had misunderstood Du Fan. Given Du Fan’s personality, if he had more techniques at his disposal, he would surely use something like a Half-Moon Slash or similar. But alas, his time practicing various spells had been far too short. Whether it was magic or combat energy, he only knew a few basic moves. Such techniques might work against ordinary strong opponents repeatedly, but against a sacred-ranked angel, Du Fan lacked confidence!

After all, every technique has its weaknesses. The low-level combat skills he knew had even more flaws. Using them constantly in front of an angel would only lead to certain death.

In such a situation, it was better not to use any combat skills at all. By relying solely on brute force, he could avoid being seen through by Spalitis. With the help of the Eye of Truth, even if he wanted to lose, it wouldn’t be that easy!

Spalitis narrowed his eyes, staring at Du Fan, who was getting closer. Suddenly, he vanished from his spot with a flash. But right after that…

Swish—

With almost no warning, Spalitis reappeared above Du Fan, swinging his Desire Angel Spear fiercely at Du Fan’s head!

If that attack were delivered with full force, even with Du Fan’s combat energy at the peak of level nine, he would either die or suffer a severe concussion!

Yet Du Fan in mid-air seemed to have fully anticipated Spalitis’s move. He tilted his head slightly, allowing the spear, glowing with sacred light, to pass just above his scalp. Then, he turned abruptly, his Silver Moon Sword already pointing at Spalitis’s throat.

But Spalitis was still an angel. With a grunt, he raised his Desire Angel Spear, deflecting Du Fan’s attack. It seemed both of them realized they couldn’t hurt each other. With another flash, they passed each other by.

Everything returned to calm. The two stood in positions that had cleverly swapped, as if they had agreed beforehand.

A hint of surprise flashed in Spalitis’s eyes. He gave Du Fan a deep look and, after hesitating for a moment, said solemnly, “Human, if I’m not mistaken, it seems you saw through my move just now.”

Du Fan touched his nose and replied calmly, “It seems so. Why… are you scared?”

Sparalithis shook his head slightly and said, “No. I’m just puzzled. Toronus’s power isn’t about controlling time. Logically, if you inherited his angelic power, at most you’d have the power to ‘break’ things. But you’re quite strange—possessing abilities beyond my imagination… Good… That way, our battle will be even more interesting.”

Du Fan smiled and said, “Is that so? Isn’t it you, Sparalithis, wasting time with nonsense just to stay alive?”

“Or perhaps,” Du Fan said with a strange expression, “you’re wondering how to deal with my ability to see through everything. Even if you’re an omnipotent Desire Angel, facing my peculiar ability, you must instinctively feel fear. Humans fear not the fear itself, but the unknown behind it. Could it be the same for Lord Sparalithis?”

A flash of anger appeared in Sparalithis’s eyes, his silver-colored gaze filled with murderous intent. “Wretched human, are you trying to provoke me? Heh… I haven’t used my full strength. Do you really think that’s all I can do? If I weren’t injured, a mere wave of my hand would erase you from existence!”

“If you weren’t injured, I wouldn’t dare attack an angel like you. You surely understand the principle of adding insult to injury, right, Lord Sparalithis?”

“Damn it! More!”

A flame erupted in Sparalithis’s eyes. He suddenly focused and stepped back, disappearing into the air.

But in less than half a second, eight Sparalithises appeared in midair at once. Holding their Desire Angel spears, they struck, chopped, and pierced, all aiming at the same target—Du Fan. The attacks from all eight Sparalithises reached him simultaneously.

This move by Sparalithis had surpassed the limits of martial arts. Using his supreme angelic power, he transcended the rules of time and space, summoning eight versions of himself from both past and future. Although each version had the same strength as his current self, together, the eight Sparalithises were far more than just the sum of their parts!

Of course, this move couldn’t last long. In an instant, Du Fan felt eight figures rushing at him at once!

“Ah… is this a Splitting Slash?” Du Fan was surprised. He had heard of this technique before. His eyes flashed silver, and suddenly his expression changed. “No, these are all real!” Before he could finish speaking, Du Fan had no time to react further. His Silver Moon Sword turned into a swirl of silver light. With the powerful predictive ability of the Eye of Truth, he managed to block seven of Spalitith’s attacks. But when it came to the last attack, Du Fan suddenly felt a burst of light before his eyes. His Silver Moon Sword cracked into pieces with a snap. He felt as though all his gathered combat energy vanished in that critical moment. Then he felt a sharp pain in his chest and was flung backward, crashing heavily onto the platform.

Du Fan struggled on the ground for a while before feeling a sweet taste in his throat. Before he could get up, he couldn’t help but spit out a mouthful of blood. The crimson droplets immediately stained half of his body red. Fortunately, Gannon’s angelic power was extremely pure. Within less than a second after spitting out the blood, Du Fan’s wounds had already healed. He took a deep breath, slowly stood up, and stared at Spalitith in the air. He couldn’t help but say, “Lord Spalitith… I seem to understand now…”

Spalitith frowned and asked, “Understand what?”

Du Fan snorted and said, “From this fight just now, I think you should also understand that our powers are roughly equal at this moment. In fact, due to the backlash from the Fang of the Abyss, my combat energy is even stronger than yours. But why can’t I still defeat you?”

Spalitith became interested. He looked down at Du Fan and said, “Oh… human, what have you understood?”

Du Fan smiled and said, “I saw your battle with Gannon before. Although I didn’t fully understand it, it’s obvious that your true strength lies in that so-called Holy Tier domain… creating your own space and controlling all the rules within it to defeat your opponent. For example, your Holy Tier domain is lightning, right? And Gannon’s is some kind of destructive force… Initially, I thought that was what the Holy Tier was all about… But now I understand. It’s not that I was wrong; I just overestimated the power of the Holy Tier!”

“Oh…” Spalitith said, “What else can you understand?”

Du Fan took a deep breath, reached out his hands in the air, and grasped a light sword formed from combat energy. He stroked the light sword and sighed slightly, saying, “Previously, I lacked the strength and couldn’t understand your battles at all. Now that I possess angelic power, though I can’t use it skillfully, I seem to grasp something vaguely in times like this! A Holy Rank domain isn’t just Holy Rank power—it must stem from power beyond Holy Rank… such as domains…”

Sparalitis’ expression changed, and Gannon in the distance also looked perturbed.

But Du Fan acted as if he hadn’t noticed and continued, “It has been passed down since ancient times that beyond Holy Rank, there exist beings even closer to gods—what are known as domain masters. As the name implies, domain masters can use their strength to create an independent space and freely manipulate its rules… But your Holy Rank domains can’t do this. Therefore, a Holy Rank domain must be a fragment of power that can be glimpsed when Holy Rank power reaches its peak—just like… a ninth-level master at its peak can glimpse Holy Rank power!”

As he spoke, Du Fan waved his hand slightly, and the light sword in his hand slowly solidified into a physical form, only to dissipate again moments later.

Sparalitis’ expression grew even darker.

But Du Fan continued, “See? This is the essence of the sacred-grade power I glimpsed just now. Compared to creating domain power, sacred-grade power is about utilization—using the rules of the space we exist in… There’s a saying in the distant Eastern continent: ‘Use minimal effort to overcome great resistance,’ which refers to this very principle. If one masters sacred-grade power and understands how to apply the rules of space, then no matter how powerful the opponent is, by utilizing the spatial rules around them, one can dissipate their combat energy or magic into nothingness, because after all, those things are also part of the rules… Just like earlier, Lord Spalitis, you easily shattered my defenses—was that because you utilized the spatial rules? But I think such utilization must come at a cost… Otherwise, Lord Spalitis, you wouldn’t have waited until now to use that move. If I’m guessing correctly, your situation is extremely dire right now; the Fang of the Abyss is likely on the verge of getting out of control. That’s why you dare not use too much power, as you still need to suppress it within you… So, that move from earlier… you… can probably use it no more, right?”
Spalitis shuddered. His beautiful face was covered in cold sweat, his complexion utterly pale, with the veins beneath his skin clearly visible…