Today, they too are going to their deaths.

The knight used his nimble movements to dodge the barrage of bullets and quickly approached the steam behemoth.

Its close-range defense system is enough to suppress most superhumans, but for him, it is far from sufficient.

Even Cui Xun couldn't stop the knight from boarding the steam behemoth.

Swing your sword!

The surging demonic flames swept across, destroying a group of external turrets and severely injuring more than thirty mechanical guards, clearing a space on the steam behemoth in an instant.

The agents, who were nearly wiped out, were pounding with fear. They couldn't even see how the enemy was approaching; they could only see a trail of afterimages made of demonic flames.

Fortunately, they had been taught how to deal with this kind of enemy during training.

The twelve agents simultaneously extended their right hands, which were holding ritual implements, and grasped the extraordinary power fluctuations caused by the destruction of the kingdom's assets. They cried out in unison, "Oath! Punishment! Hand of Judgment! We command the vandals to halt here!"

The power of the oath is extremely effective in counterattacks, returning a small amount of power whenever the enemy inflicts losses on friendly forces.

This enemy is extremely powerful, but because they have just been reborn and have not accumulated any sins, even if they use props and incantations to enhance the effect, they dare not mention punishments such as death.

Even with such an effect, it was of no use to the Immaculate Knight.

His pace didn't slow down at all; instead, as the agents chanted, he severed another leg from the steam behemoth.

But before the knights could begin slaughtering the agents, Cui Xun arrived.

Cui Xun knew very well that if he fought the knight on the steam behemoth, he would absolutely not be able to avoid the aftershocks affecting others. After such a great battle, there would probably be very few survivors.

Even though he knew these men were soldiers willing to die, and that the kingdom would compensate their families and friends afterward and posthumously award them the honors they deserved, how could the value of life be measured by those things?

However, Cui Xun also had no way to defeat the Flawless Knight without paying a price.

The soldiers went to the battlefield prepared to sacrifice themselves; the correct approach was to make the best use of these individuals, but...

Before Cui Xun could finish thinking rationally, his body, driven by his soul, instinctively rushed towards the knight. At the cost of having his left arm and half of his body severed, he successfully held off the flawless knight, forcefully pushing him away from the steam behemoth and slamming him back to the ground.

"What a foolish choice!" the knight commented on Cui Xun with a mixture of sigh and regret. "A king must make choices."

Despite being quickly overwhelmed by the knights for losing his arm, Cui Xun showed no regret and faced this desperate situation with equanimity, even a hint of a smile appearing in his soul's voice.

"A hero can choose not to choose; that's the romance of a hero!"

The knight responded to Cui Xun with the edge of his sword, a hint of melancholy in his voice: "The heroes you speak of are from fairy tales; they are merely puppets created by humans. Real-life heroes always have to pay a price, endure again and again, and accumulate strength."

"Your impulsive act will only lead to the collapse of the battle."

Cui Xun said indifferently, "But that's not romantic enough. I'd rather die than become such a boring person."

The knight said knowingly, "So that's how you overcame your innate tyranny and madness, young dragon... no, tell me your name. After I kill you, I will write a legend about you."

"No need, senior." Cui Xun's defenses were gradually broken down, but he felt more relaxed than before. "I don't want to be gender-bent and stuffed into a game gacha pool thousands of years from now."

"You may not understand what this means, but in short, all I want is a romantic trip, a grand and passionate journey to the end of my life. So-called honors are useless to me. I despise being elevated to a pedestal, becoming a tool for others to attack, and I despise those boring forms of worship."

"Besides, the outcome is still uncertain!"

The agents, who had just been saved by Cui Xun, were casting a spell together, and some special forces teams even jumped off the steam behemoth and rushed towards the battleground between the two.

Even though the place where the two fought has become a dead end that no human can set foot in!

Compared to royal agents selected from orphans and out-of-favor nobles, military special forces mostly have families, and their compensation is astonishingly high in order to enable them to fight desperately in critical moments.

Moreover, they believed that the hero who was willing to risk his life to help them would definitely take good care of their families after the war!

"By my life I swear that whoever kills me will be weakened."

To avoid alerting the enemy, the special forces did not mention the oath, but the knight, based on his experience, figured out what those people were planning to do.

Unable to break through Cui Xun's defenses, the knights decisively retreated, distancing themselves from the special forces.

Cui Xun seized the opportunity to catch his breath briefly, expelling the waste gas from his body, and then immediately continued to pursue the knight to prevent him from firing the light cannon again.

The person atop the steam-powered behemoth in the distance, as Cui Xun gave chase, picked up Cui Xun's severed arm. Unconcerned about its inhuman features, they declared with utmost reverence, "Oath! Punishment! Destroyer, cease your advance!"

Using Cui Xun's arm as a medium, the knight's steps came to a halt this time.

The instant he was pinned down, the crew inside the steam behemoth completed an emergency adjustment, connecting all the secondary power sources to the main cannon.

A giant cannonball weighing over 40 tons struck the knight at a speed even faster than Cui Xun's.

The knight's pupils suddenly contracted as he poured all his spiritual energy into his armor, maximizing its defensive capabilities to form a shield that enveloped his entire body.

"boom!"

An attack powerful enough to destroy a block of streets struck the knight squarely.

A small mushroom cloud rose slowly from his center, and the shockwave rippled outward, stirring up earth and rocks. Even Cui Xun, who was rushing towards the knight, felt a burning heat.

But when Cui Xun broke through the smoke and sensed the knight again, he did not feel that the enemy had been weakened; instead, he felt extremely dangerous.

The knight's armor was tattered, revealing his charred body, from which blood was constantly dripping.

Every time those blackened, scalding drops of blood fell to the ground, a flame would bloom, and in a short while, a "sea of ​​flowers" would be born around him.

In the very center of the sea of ​​flowers, the knight raised his sword.

He didn't need to explain; Cui Xun already understood that the battle was about to end, but he himself had exhausted his strength and could no longer muster the power to stop his opponent.

The thought that he shouldn't save people didn't even cross Cui Xun's mind; he just stubbornly continued charging forward.

Shortly before this scene, the march in the city had reached its end.

Although a large-scale melee almost broke out at the beginning, resulting in countless deaths and injuries, the various forces helped maintain order, and after the workers' celebratory parade began, the spirituality emanating from ordinary people began to converge.

Menov, at the very front of the group, felt as if he was about to collapse from the immense power, but he still resolutely carried it on his back and gathered it together, bearing the power far beyond his limits with his frail body, even as strange phenomena appeared on his body that were invisible to ordinary people.

All the old wounds on his body, accumulated from overwork, were exposed, radiating a scorching light. His eyes shone brightly, the flickering flames almost turning into raging fire.

Perhaps, he's going to become fuel.

In this tragic era, every worker will burn out in the factory, exhausting their life and youth.

Before the wave of layoffs broke out and he began to rebel with others, Menov had not thought about any other future.

Even after that, he could only fantasize about storming factories with others, smashing machines, killing factory owners and nobles, and dying on the way to battle. It wasn't until he talked to Cui Xun that he gradually realized the problem was with the country, with its social structure.

He began to think about enabling more people to "learn to think," rather than simply stuffing ideas into their heads; he wanted others to become extraordinary as well.

But... he probably won't have the chance to see that future.

If he had allowed this power to dissipate at the beginning, he probably wouldn't have been in any danger. But he instinctively judged that if the enemy could create such a terrifying phenomenon, then those who were fighting the enemy would definitely need even more power.

Lacking knowledge, pioneers instinctively transformed themselves into vessels.

His consciousness began to blur, and he started to recall his wife and children. He began to regret that he would never be able to see them again, but he believed that what he was doing now was meaningful and could help everyone, and in doing so, help them.

He was willing to become fuel for this, burning himself out completely.

Menov turned and announced to the vast procession, "Friends, today's carnival parade is now over. Let us thank ourselves, and also thank our predecessors, and those who helped us."

Menoff paused. He had a vague feeling that Cui Xun might be the mysterious "worker" who had driven the changes of the past few days. Cui Xun must have some purpose in hiding his identity, and he shouldn't reveal it rashly.

But some truths can still be told.

"We have a friend who prevented the conflict from escalating, punished evil, made the nobles and factory owners back down, helped us find a future, and defended against powerful enemies."

"That friend is among us, he is 'us'."

Menov could feel a tremendous force surging into the distance, falling upon those who needed it most at that moment.

Ah, then he can take a short rest.

"Disperse, everyone, it's time for us to get back to our lives."

Menno smiled and waved to the crowd as he walked into a secluded alley. The crowd's memory of him gradually faded as he instinctively cast a spell in his final moments.

If their representative dies right after the march, something terrible is bound to happen, so he has to leave quietly.

When he was out of everyone's sight, Menov finally couldn't take it anymore, sat down on the snow, looked up at the sun, and laughed.

The uncontrolled power of the furnace burst forth from within, and his body and soul became fuel to create the greatest creation of his life—a book, a book that encapsulates his life, filled with his thoughts and regrets, a book that can serve as a lesson for others.

The original text, titled "Menov's Thoughts," fell to the ground.

A passerby happened to see it while passing by. Curious, he picked up the book, opened it, and wanted to see if there were any clues about the owner so he could return the book.

Then, a gift, along with a responsibility, was handed to him.

At this moment, Cui Xun could also feel this heavy gift.

The pain, sorrow, anger, and confusion were washed away by the march and transformed into a longing for the future.

The power that Andrew originally used to massacre the city ended up becoming, by a twist of fate, the aid that Cui Xun used in his final counterattack.

The knight, who had transformed his legion into one and was prepared to single-handedly crush everything in front of him, was not dazed by the scene before him. However, ordinary features quietly appeared on his face, which was covered with eclipse patterns.

Many people believe that the Immaculate Knight, as a legendary hero, must have an extraordinary appearance, but once he takes off his armor and puts down his magic sword, he is no different from anyone else.

The knight still didn't understand what the real hero was thinking when he was alive, but he felt that, facing Cui Xun at this moment, he also had to admit that he was a hero.

"Let's use this strike to settle everything that happened today."

He raised the demonic sword high, the one that had brought strife and chaos to tyrants and generals, but had become a hero's sword in the hands of knights, now replaced by a blade of demonic flame capable of setting cities ablaze.

At the center of the eye-shaped energy furnace in Cui Xun's chest, a vast amount of spiritual energy converged to a single point, completing a transformation that Cui Xun himself could not comprehend.

The next instant, the demonic sword slashed down, and the chest cannon exploded.

Those who originally wanted to help Cui Xun involuntarily closed their eyes, but even with their eyes closed, two undeniable beams of light still pierced through their eyelids, allowing them to witness the clash of the torrents of power.

First came a chilling, deathly silence, as if foreshadowing the end of the world. Then, the earth cracked open where the two forces collided, revealing a bottomless, pitch-black fissure.

It spread all the way, even touching the nearby hill, causing it to crack and collapse inch by inch, the sound of churning earth and rocks mingling with the howls of wild beasts.

The sky changed color due to the conflict between the two, and the clouds within dozens of miles were all dispersed, even faintly revealing a fleet sailing at the end of the sky.

But no matter how great the power, it will eventually be exhausted.

The knight calmly watched as the demonic flame was pushed back little by little. He smiled at Cui Xun and said, "Well done. Then, take my example and move towards a brighter future. Hero, may your journey be safe."

The moment he finished speaking, his body completely collapsed.

In the end, only the original text of "The Tempest" was left behind, along with Melia Duke, who remained unharmed even after being hit by Cui Xun's chest cannon.

Cui Xun coughed a few times, enduring his physical discomfort, and took a few more steps forward, grasping the demonic sword that would bring disaster if it went out of control.

This feeling was much better than Cui Xun had imagined. He had thought that Melia Duke might reject him or even unleash demonic flames to burn him, but in reality, although it was somewhat unwilling, it still took the initiative to accept Cui Xun as its new sword master and even silently helped him regulate his power.

It's almost as if a chaste and virtuous woman, under the instruction of her beloved husband, reluctantly accepted the man who took her away, became obedient and docile, and transformed into a gentle wife, but still couldn't help but recall her early-deceased husband.

That's strange, there are even minotaurs to watch here.

Cui Xun wanted to laugh, but unfortunately, his head was no longer on his neck, and because he had lost his powerful enemy, he could no longer drive his body with the intense fighting spirit.

He held the sword like that, his consciousness sinking into his heart.