52 Day and night phase

​​Under the heavy sun, the temperature was rising. The air was dry and hot. Frederick did not bother even to watch any longer at the candidates fighting for a bridge; rather, he was focused on reaching the upper island first.

'They are already fighting for a bridge. Is the number of available bridges that low?' After some thought, Frederick ultimately decided to accelerate his pace.

With a light hop, he accelerated rapidly, sprinting like a cheetah. His muscles tensed, and his feet felt as light as feathers. The wind brushed against his face, and his hair danced like waves in the sea. Despite the bridge's incline, making his climb a bit more difficult, his speed was astonishing, even without using Sanguine Infusion.

As he ran, he watched around and noticed that the length of each bridge varied. Some were very short and led to an island only hundreds of meters away, while others could take hours to cross. Unfortunately, Frederick had little choice but to take one with a higher distance as it was one of the few last ones available when he arrived.

Soon, he reached the end of the bridge and easily reached the next island. Like the previous one, this island was extremely barren. However, its smaller size sets it apart.

Frederick observed his surroundings for a moment and then cast a patient glance at the time panel.

<Time 0 until the first collapse: hours minutes>

<Collapse has begun...>

Looking beneath, he could see that some of the lower islands were slowly sinking. It wasn't an instantaneous process; instead, it seemed as if each island was being gradually pulled down by an invisible force that accelerated over time.

Some of the candidates who were unfortunate enough to be stranded on one of the lower islands were soon engulfed by the darkness. This process was extremely ruthless as no matter their age, gender, or authority, all unworthy candidates were consumed by the void, with only the sound of their screams lingering for a few seconds.

"Eh," Frederick remarked coldly with a hint of amusement in his tone.

As he was about to continue his journey, the unmoving sun in the sky suddenly flickered and began to dim. Soon, the bright sky gradually turned almost pitch-black. Amidst the sudden darkness, Frederick could discern a new message that appeared.

<Main story "Rise or Fall's" event revealed: "Day and night phase">

<Night phase has begun>

<Time 4 59 until the second collapse: hours minutes>

The atmosphere had shifted abruptly. From the relentless sun that had bathed everything in light, it had transformed into a chilling night. As the temperature began to plummet, the sound of the wind could be heard.

Thanks to Aake's diary, he knew that these "events" would often, if not always, occur in main stories. It would have been too easy to only make all candidates fight among themselves, so the Chronicles would "spice up" the main story a bit.

Honestly, Frederick was somewhat taken aback by the Chronicles' efficiency in testing and evaluating candidates. For example, this simple yet effective bridge system served as a clear message: the path to godhood is solitary. Only your own strength can protect yourself.

After some reflection about this night phase, he came to a conclusion. 'I see... During the day, there was enough daylight to see hundreds of meters around, allowing candidates to select their bridges and opt for the easiest route. But at night, that advantage disappears, forcing candidates to choose randomly. If one is unlucky enough, they might even select a bridge that leads downward. Given that each bridge crumbles itself after you, it would be too late once you notice, and you will have to continue descending.'

Unfortunately, Frederick had no light. He could probably make a torch with what he had but decided not to. He felt like this could be a really good opportunity to increase his perception attribute while training Blood Dominion's bloody sense.

If the constitution attribute could be honed through physical effort, then perception could be trained by maximizing the use of the other five senses. In other words, training perception could be done through extreme focus and concentration on their surroundings.

'Luckily, I had enough time to memorize which bridge was the shortest to the next island before darkness fell—Mmh?'

Just as he was about to head to the next bridge, a drop of water fell on his hand. The wind gradually became stronger as the sound of thunder and lightning was heard. After a while, the rain started. It was a cold, torrential rain, like a waterfall. Frederick was soaked to the bone, and his wet clothes stuck to his body like a second skin.

If Frederick could barely see before, he was now half blind. If not for the lightning that lit up the sky from time to time, he would have no idea where to go. Looking up, there was not even a glimpse of stars or clouds. It was just pure darkness.

Frederick rubbed the drops of water off his face and slowly walked toward the direction of the bridge. He took the time to thoroughly observe the bridge to determine whether it was the correct one. After confirming that it was, he slowly continued his way.

The wind blew violently, the lightning flashed in the dark sky, and the rain fell like arrows as the sound of the storm intensified. However, Frederick kept a steady pace, ignoring the discomfort.

Step by step, he advanced with great caution. He didn't want to risk falling down the bridge. He didn't know what was at the bottom of the abyss, but he was sure that he would die.

Frederick could not stop either, as the bridge behind him was slowly collapsing, forcing him forward. If he did not hurry and the bridge collapsed, he would fall. He continued his march for a long moment and moved a little farther every time there was a flash of lightning.

After a while, he finally saw an island appear in the distance.

"Almost there," Frederick whispered.

Yet once he finally arrived, the first thing he noticed was that the island was very different from the ones he had crossed before. Unlike the barren rocks he had seen, this island looked more like a grassland, albeit with a lack of trees.

A strong and wild wind swept across the field, and heavy rain fell upon the earth, covering the grass and mud. Thunder and lightning rumbled above his head, and occasional bolts flashed across the dark sky.

However, Frederick's attention was focused on the person standing on the edge of the cliff. He could not discern her features, but she was clearly a woman. Her black clothes were drenched, and her ridiculously long black hair danced in the wind. Her face was shrouded in shadow, and only her pale and smooth neck was visible.

Before Frederick could even disappear using his coat, the woman turned her head, her yellow eyes meeting his.

"Hmm? Oh... I did not expect someone to reach this island so soon." Her voice was soft and gentle and echoed in the stormy weather. Frederick could hear her every word as he was now fully focused on her.

With his keen senses and instincts, he could tell that she was dangerous. Perhaps not as dangerous as Antoine, the mayor of of Haven with his strange authority but still someone who he could not easily deal with.

"You are pretty fast, I must say." She added as she stepped forward.

As the light of the next lightning bolt illuminated the woman's appearance, Frederick's expression slightly changed. The woman had a face of incomparable beauty, almost ethereal, with pale and smooth skin, long, slender arms, and a beautiful figure. Her face was oval-shaped, and her cheekbones were well-defined.

... However, her beauty was almost obscured by her wicked smile, and her gaze was as sharp and cruel as the blade of a knife. Her eyes were the color of gold, and they were cold, merciless, and sinister.

"So, how did you reach this island this fast?" She inquired while staring in Frederick's direction. Frederick did not bother responding, and the woman didn't seem to care about his silence but was a bit taken aback by Frederick's lack of reaction.

"You..."

She was about to speak when suddenly, Frederick interrupted her brutally by throwing a blood spear at her. The blood spear was launched at an incredible speed, and it was as thin and sharp as a needle.

The woman was a bit surprised by Frederick's sudden riposte, but she didn't react to the attack and merely looked at it calmly. As the spear was about to touch her, something unexpected happened.

The woman had suddenly disappeared from her position.

Seeing this, Frederick's body trembled. The blood in his veins was boiling, and his muscles tensed. He had a very bad premonition and suddenly felt that something was behind him. Frederick did not hesitate and activated Sanguine Infusion before leaping away in a hurry.

A fraction of a second later, his instincts proved to be correct. The ground where he had stood previously had been split open. If not for his quick reaction and instincts, he would have died.

The woman now stood where he had been, accompanied by a pure, ethereal sword emitting soft light floating beside her.

'I didn't even notice her moving behind me.' Frederick thought, and his eyes grew colder.

Seeing that Frederick had somehow survived her surprise attack, the woman frowned a bit. With a slight move of her hand, the floating ethereal sword immediately flew toward Frederick.

Seeing this, Frederick only slightly moved his body, avoiding the sword by a hair's breadth. However, the sword did not stop there and quickly followed up with another attack. This time, the sword slashed diagonally. Once again, Frederick only needed to tilt his body a bit to dodge the strike.

The woman's expression gradually darkened as Frederick dodged all her attacks without much difficulty. This kind of reflex was truly not human. His movement seemed very fluid and easy, almost as if he were dancing with her sword.

In fact, Frederick had already encountered this kind of attack in Dyrroth. In the first stage, arrows would be constantly shot at him, and he had learned to move his body without thinking. After some time, his movements were so fluent that it seemed as if they were calculated beforehand. Even if the woman's sword was much faster, it was still not a problem for Frederick.

After dodging a couple more attacks, Frederick launched a counterattack. In an instant, a few crimson-red projectiles flew toward her. The woman was a bit astonished. His attack was clearly faster than her sword, which made her wonder what kind of authority Frederick had.

Just as the projectiles were about to hit her, her skin turned gray, and the projectiles bounced off her, having no effect. It was Frederick's turn to frown. 'What kind of authority does she have? No, rather, how many authorities does she possess? Is she an authority smith?'

As Frederick was about to continue his attack, he suddenly saw the woman disappear once again. He quickly used his bloody sense. He was able to find the woman a few seconds later. She was approaching him from his left.

Frederick knew exactly why she suddenly charged at him. She had exhausted her calculative power, the essence of thoughts which allowed the usage of authority and had no choice but to resort to using her body to fight.

Frederick had no idea how she ended up here. The speed at which she had moved earlier was so fast that Frederick could not sense it. However, he doubted that if she could travel at such speed, if it were her real speed, he would not even be alive right now. This left a single explanation: Rather than being fast, she had used an authority to teleport a short distance.

However, what she did not know was that ... trying to fight Frederick at close range was akin to a death sentence.