THE VILLAIN'S POV Chapter 748: Gehrman and Abraham vs Amon (2)

"Why so shocked?" Gehrman asked lightly while stretching his limbs.

"Didn't you mention it earlier? Folks like me always hold onto a secret ace up their sleeve."

With that, he parted his robe, exposing his torso.

Embedded there—a blue ring shaped like a clock, its pointers stuck motionless.

Amon identified it right away.

"So that's your time-manipulating power..."

"Spot on," Gehrman confirmed, moving back into the fray.

"My older brother told me about it," Amon remarked with a quiet chuckle. "Yet I never imagined its strength was this immense..."

He let out another soft laugh.

"Strong enough to pull you back from the brink of death."

"Don't talk nonsense," Gehrman shot back icily. "Death doesn't allow comebacks. What I achieved was halting time for my form at a chosen instant—and I can revert to that instant anytime I choose."

"Put simply, I never truly perished."

"...Hoh? Impressive indeed."

Amon felt real admiration.

Gehrman’s control over time was seriously formidable—this revelation alone forced Amon to regard him with much greater caution.

However, beneath his composed exterior, Gehrman was far from okay.

’I wanted to avoid tapping into time powers and wrap this up using just ice... These abilities exact a heavy toll on my frame.’

His eyes scanned across his body... fissures had formed all over, injuries showed clearly, and an odd fluid, much like blood, oozed from the wounds.

’Facing a foe like him... winning without these powers is out of the question. But what other option exists?’

Gehrman shifted his focus to Abraham.

’Abraham packs power—but he’s worn out. His strikes won’t truly endanger Amon, impressive as exposing his method was.’

While Gehrman pondered deeply, Amon advanced a step closer, locking his attention solely on him now... the bigger danger.

Gehrman held his ground without flinching.

’To make it through this, we must stall until the cycle of death starts spinning... though I can’t predict when that’ll occur.’

’Essentially... I’m left with no alternative but to withstand this fiend as long as I can. I must stay alive—and I won’t let him seize Frey or Abraham.’

Gehrman balled his hand into a tight fist, plastering a forced grin on his features.

"Such a pain..."

He pondered—

How long had it been since he’d been pushed into a corner this way?

The initial memory that surfaced...

The clash with a particular demon...

’Ever since battling Crimson... and now facing his sibling—if he really is related.’

"Finished with your scheming?" Amon inquired evenly. "Since I’m launching my assault right now."

He reached out his arm.

"Be careful!!" Abraham yelled. "That blow’s speed is unbelievable!!"

"I’m aware," Gehrman answered.

His eyes ignited with a fierce azure light as he expanded his aura into a precise one-meter sphere surrounding him in every direction.

Simultaneously, Amon unleashed his assault.

His punch surged forth...

Far too swift to track.

Far too rapid to counter.

Gehrman understood this more than anyone.

Thus... he swiftly saturated that one-meter zone with a massive surge of frost aura.

Tapping into the immense aura stores granted by Fulghor, Gehrman unleashed the thickest frost at his command...

Not in rigid ice form...

But as a crushing, choking fog of packed frost.

Just then, Amon’s blisteringly quick punch struck once more... directed right at him.

In a flash, Amon’s fist breached the frost realm.

The strike brimmed with raw force, slicing far into Gehrman’s frozen territory without resistance—until it halted mere inches from his visage.

Yet in that final instant... as the surroundings appeared suspended by pure velocity...

Gehrman jerked his head to the side by the tiniest margin of a moment, dodging the hit through sheer fortune.

Capitalizing on the lingering force, he instantly countered... though Amon parried it without effort, pulling back swiftly.

The entire exchange unfolded in nearly no time at all.

From a distance, Abraham observed in utter astonishment.

And the element that floored him most... was how Gehrman had managed to avoid that strike whatsoever.

"That guy... he actually outpaced the velocity of that punch!"

"No—he didn’t," Amon countered at once, his tone laced with astonishment and thrill.

"You weren’t quicker than my fist... you decelerated it!"

"Heh... just about," Gehrman responded with a chuckle, settling back into his guard position, alert for any abrupt move.

Amon readied himself for another blow.

"That frost zone wasn’t designed to halt my attack—but to reduce its pace! Sufficiently for your agility and instincts to slip away. Brilliant tactic!"

Gehrman had intentionally molded his ice into a fluid state.

If it had been frozen solid, Amon’s fist would have shattered through undiminished.

Yet by crafting it as an ultra-dense, vaporous layer, the assault fell under the influence of the hyper-chilled zone—throttled by a fraction, enough for Gehrman to weave aside.

This stemmed from the razor-sharp wits of the Shadow Sect’s top tactician.

"Onward we go!"

Amon barreled ahead at maximum velocity, as Gehrman breathed out yet another veil of frost, bolstering his straightforward—yet potent—domain.

The pair dashed with horrifying swiftness, Gehrman sidestepping every assault by the slimmest edge.

At the same time, Abraham dashed in to assist, now grasping fully what Gehrman had pulled off.

The instant Abraham materialized at his rear, Amon whirled about without delay.

"Idiot! You can’t dodge it the way he managed!"

Amon fired off his rapid strike—but Abraham met it with a menacing smirk.

"And who says otherwise?"

BOOOOOOM!!!

Suddenly, a colossal blast rang out as Amon’s fist smashed against an unseen shield.

Although it broke through, Abraham twisted away in the nick of time and swung his blade toward the demon’s flank.

Amon deflected the sword using his spare hand... but Gehrman pressed in with a quick hit, hurling Amon back.

Amon regained his footing in a heartbeat.

When his eyes fixed on Abraham again, he pieced it together at last.

"He... mimicked Saint Gehrman’s approach with his personal skill!"

Amon’s assessment hit the mark.

Abraham’s shield was the Dawn Barrier, though he had squeezed it down dramatically, encasing it snugly over his frame.

In this shrunken form, the shield lacked the strength to completely repel the blow—but it drained much less aura and, crucially, granted Abraham a brief window.

Upon Amon’s fist impacting the shield, a parallel effect to Gehrman’s frost domain took hold... the punch lagged just sufficiently for Abraham to slip free.

"Hahahaha!! You foes are such a thrill!!" Amon bellowed with glee.

Both Gehrman and Abraham proved keen, insightful, and remarkably clever.

"You’ve gone beyond what I anticipated, Abraham. I didn’t expect you to copy my move so quickly," Gehrman noted.

Abraham shot back right away,

"Save the compliments. We’re still on the back foot. Up to now, we haven’t inflicted any real harm on him."

Abraham spoke truly—and Gehrman recognized it fully.

The strategist’s gaze sharpened as his thoughts whirled, hunting urgently for a strategy.

’As Alexander Rybak described... Amon wields a reality-shattering power of dread might—so vast that Rybak fell the instant it activated.’

’Rybak held strength that even I at full capacity would’ve found tough to overcome... Meaning, that fiend’s reality-shattering ability is so dominant that deploying it seals the battle immediately.’

’That’s the direst outcome imaginable.’

’Yet—there’s a vital clue. He hasn’t deployed it so far. That points to two options...’

’He might deem it unnecessary and trust victory without it...

Or—his power brings dire consequences. A recoil. Unavoidable harm. A factor barring its use except in desperation.’

Gehrman’s deduction drew from Alexander Rybak’s prior account.

That sufficed for the azure-eyed tactician to craft highly probable theories.

Briefly, the former option appeared plausible... but Gehrman favored the latter.

It stemmed from gut feeling... forged in experience and endless prior conflicts.

And he resolved to bet on it.

"Back me up, Abraham!" Gehrman called out as he rushed ahead, with Abraham trailing close behind.

Amon adopted a fighting pose, greeting them with a broad smile.

"At last, you’re going on the offensive! Show me your full potential!"

The trio collided headlong, unleashing floods of SSS-tier aura.

Versus the 11th-ranked High Demon—

The fight hit its pivotal climax.