Void Evolution System
chapter-1799

The woman wasn't going to allow Damien to easily put her at a disadvantage.

When he banished "information" from her, she combatted it with her own energy to negate the effect.

Nonexistence was powerful enough on its own. Technically, no matter its level, if it was allowed to do as it pleased it could affect anyone at any level.

That was why it was important for people who wielded Nonexistence to always be prepared to counteract its effects.

It was an entirely different branch of thinking, one where not many excelled. In a battle between two practitioners of the concept, it was usually a race to see who could inflict enough damage to gain momentum to push forward and land a lethal blow.

The woman Damien faced was different. She, who went only by the name "Kura," was an incredibly defensive player.

To ensure that information wasn't removed from her mind, she had to target Damien's attack itself.

She found its energy in the air and read the intent Damien infused into it. In the split second before it struck, she recreated the exact same energy form, reversed it, and sent it into Damien's energy to dispel his skill.

The instant her energy was released, she was confident that his wouldn't reach her. As such, she immediately began working on a counterattack.

From what she could see, the man she was currently facing was far more skilled than the average practitioner who came from the second island.

Most people thought they would be skilled enough after spending many years there, so they left for the third island before they were truly prepared.

Only after fighting their first fight and losing would they realize how weak they were. By that point, it was already too late.

The third island really was a place of constant competition.

Kura stayed near the beginning so that she could teach these lessons to newcomers. She wasn't some kind of benevolent saint. She just wanted to make stronger people so she would have stronger opponents to face in the future.

Any individual they met would likely challenge them to a duel. If those losses added up, then the situation would turn extremely dire.

There were consequences to losing, just as there were benefits to winning.

Kura stayed near the beginning so that she could teach these lessons to newcomers. She wasn't some kind of benevolent saint. She just wanted to make stronger people so she would have stronger opponents to face in the future.

As someone near the end of the gold level, it was difficult to find people who could actually help her promote herself further.

If she kept working on the shore like this, strong people would eventually appear, right? Then, she could defeat them and finally challenge an Area Lord for their seat.

Now that she looked at him, Kura didn't think Damien needed the kind of training she was providing. Still, she wasn't remiss about fighting him.

He aimed for the mind, but she was more focused on the physical body. The intent was the same. She wanted to disrupt him so that he couldn't retaliate when she really pulled out a fatal move.

However, she chose the wrong opponent.

Damien's eyes narrowed when he saw his attack falter. 'It won't be that easy, huh.'

When the woman said that platinum was the highest rank and then showed her gold badge, Damien already knew he was fighting an uphill battle.

Nevertheless, even the beasts of Death's Hold could never directly disperse his attacks. Their strategy was to offset his energy with an even stronger concept so that it wouldn't reach them.

Seeing how Kura moved definitely gave him some insight, but his strategy never changed.

'I have to see how effective the things I've learned until now are, even if I lose.'

He noticed the incoming negation, but he ignored it.

'Physical targeting.'

He didn't care if his physical body was ruined. Physical pain didn't matter to him anymore, so it didn't mean anything.

Rather than attempting to mindlessly combat it, wasn't it better for him to attack? It was like two spiders weaving webs and fighting over territory. Damien weaved a web filled with mental attacks.

He negated confidence. He negated spirit. He negated prowess, and he negated experience.

He weaved a web that, if successful, would rid Kura of everything that made her a good fighter.

At the same time, he was struck with the web she weaved.

Pestilence, famine, and death became entangled in his body. Most importantly, there was a feeling as if the immortality Damien worked so hard to achieve was gone entirely.

'It's an illusion.'

No matter what she did, she couldn't negate his immortality.

Perhaps she could get rid of it in a certain sense, but as long as they were in the Land of Nothingness, the only thing capable of granting True Death was the realm itself.

Damien's body took on a sickly form. His muscles drained and his bones became fragile. It looked like it took him a great deal of effort to even remain standing.

However, his mind was as sharp as ever.

Despite being the one attacking more, Kura was the one with gritted teeth and a serious expression.

'Seriously, what is this guy?!'

How was he able to weave complex webs already?

In this realm, there wasn't such a thing as someone willing to teach others. Even if they did something similar, it was only out of greed.

How was Damien able to figure out how to properly wield Nonexistence without someone guiding him?

'How much did he fight on the second island?'

From what Kura remembered, it wasn't a place where battles were frequent. It shouldn't have allowed him to properly affect her mind.

Her confidence was wavering. The experience she had built up was still at her command, but the spirit and vigor of a combatant had disappeared from her body entirely.

Obviously, if Kura tried hard enough, she could bring them back.

The problem was…

'...I don't have any time!'

If she stopped defending, she'd be in serious trouble.

She looked at the battlefield between them. In the invisible field, countless spiderwebs spread all throughout. Each strand was filled with malicious intent either left by her or her opponent.

If either of them made a misstep, it would be difficult for them to recover.

After all, Damien wasn't in the best state either.

Kura was losing fighting ability. He was not. That was his advantage.

However, Kura had not taken any real damage yet. He had. That was her advantage.

He could be as battle-ready as he wanted, but unless he was able to defeat her first, he would die.

It was the consequence of taking her attacks in order to counterattack. 'Next time, I should play defensively as well.'

In this battle, it was too late for something like that.

Damien's eyes sharpened as he stared at her.

'Either I defeat her within the next minute or so, or I experience my first death in this realm.'

The stakes were already high.

But that was the exact kind of environment where Damien thrived. He had to suppress the grin that was trying to rise on his face as he attacked again.

Reflected in his eyes were the same spiderwebs that Kura saw. Only, there was a pattern in his vision that she'd failed to realize.

'It's not much, but it's definitely enough to be called a fatal blow.'

All he needed was a single opportunity.

If he could create it…

…then in his first few minutes on this island, he would defeat a gold-badged practitioner.

Exciting, right?