The helmet covering the face resembled a trident bent into the shape of a gun's barrel, and where eyes should have been visible through the gap, they were instead replaced by a patch of white wool.
Zach even began to suspect that beneath the helmet, there were no facial features at all, only wool. Or perhaps, the wool was so long it completely concealed any trace of a face.
What was certain, however, was that this golden sheep-headed swordsman had vision.
The moment Zach made eye contact, the figure slowly raised its head and locked its gaze directly on him.
Then, the hand that had been holding the hilt behind its back shifted, the grip turning to a pronated position, with the edge of the sword now pointing upwards. With a fluid motion, the wrist turned, aiming the blade squarely at Zach, offering no attempt to conceal its hostile intent.
Realizing that the swordsman was not going to make the first move, Zach decided to take the initiative. He summoned a tentacle from the sea surface, positioning it behind the sheep-headed swordsman. Logically, this should have been a blind spot for its vision.
Zach was eager to see if the tentacle could end the battle in an instant, smashing the swordsman into oblivion. However, to his surprise, the swordsman swiftly turned half of its body and swung a silver-bodied long sword with a gold handle. The tail of the sword was adorned with a ruby the size of an egg.
With a flash of cold light, the sword struck down diagonally.
Zach had expected the blade to sever the octopus tentacles, like some kind of sword qi. But to his astonishment, the sword didn't cut through the tentacles at all. Instead, it sliced through space itself.
A crack appeared in the fabric of space, pulling the tentacle into it. The tentacle, which had been barely half a meter away from the swordsman, was now completely out of reach.
Almost immediately, a sense of danger flared in Zach's mind.
Left!
Reacting swiftly, Zach teleported, retreating tens of meters away.
His gaze sharpened, and he realized the source of the danger wasn't from the tentacle itself but rather from the swordsman's manipulation of space. The sheep-headed swordsman had folded space and opened an exit right next to him, attempting to use its spatial abilities to counter Zach's attack.
Boom! Boom!
The massive octopus tentacles whipped through the sea with all their force.
A wide chasm formed in the ocean as the sea sank, and water surged upwards on either side like two towering walls.
Boom!
The water walls crashed down, filling the gap with a resounding thud that echoed like thunder.
As the water settled, Zach refocused his attention on the sheep-headed swordsman. "So, does that sword really have the ability to cut through space?" he muttered, his calm demeanor faltering.
A weapon of that caliber was impossible to ignore.
Zach waved his hand, and the tentacles dissolved into the air, vanishing without a trace.
Snapping his fingers, hundreds of basketball-sized fireballs materialized behind him. Zach wanted to see if the sword wielded by the sheep-headed swordsman could redirect or absorb other attacks.
Boom! Boom! Boom...
The fireballs shot toward the swordsman, the reflection of the flames dancing on the surface of the sea in strange, flickering colors.
Yet, the swordsman remained seated on the red rock, unmoving, unaffected by the barrage of fireballs. His response was as simple as it was effective—he raised his sword and drew another space crack, more than ten meters wide.
Boom! Boom! Boom...
No matter how many fireballs came, the swordsman effortlessly absorbed them all.
Zach's danger perception flared once again, as expected.
Boom!!!
Raising his hand, Zach pointed his palm at the newly opened space crack, summoning a tornado that swallowed all the fireballs, tearing them apart and snuffing out their flames.
With a quick motion, Zach drew the fire knife and tightened his grip. His eyes were locked on the sheep-headed swordsman, his resolve hardening. In that instant, he teleported forward, his hands already positioned to strike. His fingers gripped the hilt of the blade, ready to slash.
Boom!!!
The fiery blade of the knife extended several meters, the intense, orange-red flame burning brightly except for the hilt.
Zach swung the blade downward with all his might.
But just as the strike was made, it became clear that the sword didn't only cut through the air—it veered off course drastically.
Before Zach could even process what had happened, the distance between him and the sheep-headed swordsman, which had been several meters, was suddenly reduced to a mere ten centimeters.
Then, in the blink of an eye, that distance stretched out to several hundred meters.
"Is his sword that fast?" Zach thought, momentarily stunned by the unexpected turn of events.
Teleportation and instant strikes combined with spatial manipulation—it was a strategy that Zach hadn't anticipated.
Even with his slow vision triggered, he hadn't noticed anything abnormal at the time. Gradually, he began to realize just how formidable the sheep-headed swordsman truly was.
There was no swing of the sword. Instead, a space crack appeared out of thin air in front of Zach.
"Huh?" Zach frowned. "So, it's not necessary to swing the sword?"
That explained why he hadn't noticed the sword's movement earlier. It seemed that the swordsman didn't need to physically swing his weapon to create spatial rifts.
This also explained why the swordsman had been able to teleport away so quickly, evading Zach's attacks by manipulating the folds in space.
As Zach processed this, a new sense of crisis emerged, but this time, it came from above.
Looking up, his pupils contracted. The space crack above him dwarfed the one in front of him by a staggering margin.
A massive sword blade emerged from the crack, its sharp tip aimed directly at Zach.
"There's even a magnification effect?!" Zach realized, feeling a mix of awe and apprehension. The swordsman had just delivered yet another surprise.
Zach couldn't deny the power of the sword, but the immediate priority was survival. He had to either avoid the strike or find a way to deflect it.
Zach's eyes darted across the area, searching for a way out. He glanced up again, only to see that the enormous blade had already disappeared from view.
However, the sense of impending danger remained.
This time, the threat came from beneath his feet.
A spatial crack had appeared under a thin layer of sea water. The exit led directly beneath him, and through it, the long sword jabbed upward.
No matter how fast Zach moved or teleported, the crack seemed to follow, like a persistent shadow.
With every movement, the space crack was right there, closing in on him.
It was clear: if Zach didn't die, this would continue indefinitely.
Within a minute, space cracks had become visible everywhere, and Zach had no choice but to continue dodging.
"It's like dog skin plaster—it just sticks and can't be shaken off," Zach muttered, exhausted by the constant pursuit.
The sheep-headed swordsman didn't respond, but it was clear that he was relentless. The only rule in the Tower of Trials was that one party had to die to end the battle.
Zach, growing increasingly frustrated with the endless dodging, decided it was time to make a change.
"Think you're the only one who can use space folding?" Zach smirked, determined. "Let's see how you handle this."
[Skill successfully triggered! Please select the option you wish to share]
Zach grinned, his eyes now locked on the golden sheep-headed swordsman. "This skill is about to be mine!"