Raise Joan of Arc to be an empress, then discard her.

"This guy still made it..." Enzo murmured, unsure whether he was more happy or heartbroken. He was happy because Joan of Arc hadn't died and that person had indeed appeared. He was heartbroken because he realized that things had simply slid from one abyss of no return to another.

Aaron clashed with the King of Knights, and all the knights understood what this meant. Someone had openly challenged the King of Knights, and there was only one outcome.

Despite the fact that the civilization of the Seven Gods has developed to this day, and that the glory of the gods has long since shone throughout the world, and that humanity is no longer as barbaric as it once was, in reality, knights still follow the primitive laws of a pride of lions.

Only the strongest individual in a lion pride can become the lion king; this is a consistent law of nature. The lion king's responsibility within the species is to defend his title of the strongest. If any other male lion provokes him, it is seen as a challenge to the throne. A life-or-death struggle ensues. If the lion king does not fight back or is defeated, a new lion king will emerge in the pride.

If the Lion King is still sharp and defeats a male lion who dares to challenge him, then at best the male lion will be driven out of the pride, and at worst the Lion King will kill the rebel on the spot.

The human world is far more brutal than the pride of lions. If any other knight dares to challenge the King of Knights, his only fate is to be killed by the King of Knights. This is the way of the king: cruel to challengers and equally cruel to the King of Knights. If the King of Knights is killed by a challenger, it means that a new King of Knights has been born. But in any case, the King of Knights must be the strongest among the knights.

The saying "He who kills the King of Knights will become the new King of Knights" has been passed down through the nations. Fifteen years ago, Agil killed the old King of Knights and became the new King of Knights. Now, Aaron's act of striking at Agil is seen as an attempt to seize the throne, and a new challenge has begun.

Most people are pessimistic about Aaron. Akiel is the strongest knight king in twenty years, or even the strongest knight in a hundred years. He became the emperor of knights by stepping over countless corpses. Even the proud Knight Lusset bowed his proud head to him. This happened when he first became the knight king.

Fifteen years have passed, and Akiel, as a superhuman, is still young, even in his prime, a time when he burns brightly like the sun. Fifteen years have passed, and no one knows how much Akiel has grown. Some say he has reached the realm of near-gods, but the realm of gods is not for mortals to explore.

However, what was even more surprising than Aaron's audacity to defy Agil was that Aaron actually managed to catch Agil's sword. When Aaron's figure appeared in the firelight, the scene was beyond the common sense of many people. It could be understood that the Knight King had not yet gone all out and did not intend to kill him, but the power of that sword was still enormous. No one on the city gate thought they could catch that sword.

Sivan's face was ashen as he stared intently at the man who dared to confront the Knight King, his eyes flickering as if he were deep in thought.

Sirio, however, felt a surge of excitement. He was one of the Omniscient Knights who had personally witnessed Aaron's strength. He had said that it wasn't because he was weak and was instantly defeated by Aaron, but because Aaron's strength was inherently superior! He could even rival the Knight King!

However, Syrio still doesn't think Aaron can defeat Agil. Otherwise, he would be witnessing history today. But putting aside these irrelevant things, he still doesn't think Aaron can win. As the swordsmanship instructor of the Omniscient Knights, he knows all too well how unfathomable his leader's strength is. Few people are considered by Syrio to be underestimated by outsiders, but Agil is one of them.

When Akiel was thrown back, he calmed down and scrutinized the Obsidian Knight, whose reputation he had only occasionally heard of, and said, "Do you know what you've done?"

"So what if you know? If you want to continue, then keep going. I'll play along to the end." Aaron's words seemed to be spoken with a sharp edge, each syllable hard and unyielding.

The Knight King's expression remained unchanged; he regained his usual calm, and a terrifying aura emanated between the two.

“Is it worth it to protect traitors? If you protect them, you will only become a new traitor. Even if you win, you will still be a traitor and will not become a knight-king,” Aguirre said.

“I have no interest in the position of King of Knights. If you like it, you can be the one, but they cannot die,” Aaron replied.

Chapter 60 Dark Awakening

"You want to deny it? To cover up for the demon behind you? Why don't you turn around and look at her first? What's the difference between her and the demons I've slain in the city?"

“I have no problem with you cutting down those demons in the city, but she can’t die.”

"Can't you smell the evil aura on her? Even the girl beside her has been tainted by darkness. She's no different from the demons I've slain."

Aaron turned to look at the wolf child. Even though they were temporarily safe, the wolf child was still trembling all over. Aaron looked at the wolf child and said softly, "You've become like this."

Aaron said to Akil, "I can tell you the truth, or I can fight you, whatever you want, but this place is not suitable, let's go somewhere else."

Akiel narrowed his eyes slightly. If it were any other knight, he would never listen to him. But the sword strike Aaron had just exchanged with him made Akiel feel that Aaron was qualified to talk to him.

“Fine, you choose the place.” Akil’s voice was cold.

Aaron didn't say much, and Aguirre knew very well that Aaron couldn't possibly run away, especially with Joan of Arc and the wolf child as burdens. Aaron and Aguirre going to another place was just to cover their tracks.

Those on the city wall couldn't hear their conversation. They only saw them exchange a few words after exchanging a sword strike. Aaron then helped Joan of Arc up from the ground. Just as they were wondering why the All-Knowing Sword wasn't striking, the two of them rose into the sky together and flew away into the distance.

"What happened? They ran away?" someone exclaimed in surprise. "Should we report this to the king?"

“They probably didn’t run away.” Cilio glanced at him indifferently. “If they didn’t run away, you can expect to suffer when the Knight King returns.”

*

On the outskirts of Esgard, on the shimmering surface of a great river, two figures suddenly descended from the sky, raising a cloud of dust.

"It's here."

They were both very satisfied with this place. It was far from the crowds, and they couldn't even see a rabbit. Only the fish in the river could hear their secrets. They didn't have to worry about anyone eavesdropping. With Aaron and the Knight King themselves here, anyone who tried to eavesdrop would be discovered immediately. This was the perfect place to tell the truth.

“Joan of Arc, take her away from us,” Aaron said.

Joan of Arc nodded and left with the wolf child. She ran for hundreds of meters before stopping. She had fought with her teacher and knew that if they really went to war, even being a hundred meters apart would not be safe.

"So what is your choice? Do you really want to go to war with me?" Akil said.

"Before the battle begins, I'll show you something." Aaron sighed softly, sounding both tired and helpless. Even though he was the one who offered to show it to Akil, he seemed like the one who didn't want to.

Akil's face remained expressionless, his reaction unchanged, even showing a hint of impatience.

Are you ready?

Aaron smiled, his black robes fluttering as a dark aura, seemingly emanating from the depths of hell, appeared around him. This aura surpassed any demon Akil had ever seen, even exceeding their combined power. Those demons were merely hellish creatures, but he was the Demon King of Hell.

As the dark aura spread, Aaron's body was also undergoing drastic changes; to be precise, a demonization process had begun in Aaron's body.

First came his hair, which turned grayish-black in the blink of an eye and began to grow rapidly, covering his ankles in seconds. Next came his skin, covered in bronze-colored scales, with some incongruous bone spurs protruding from it.

His bones and muscles grew, expanded, and deformed beneath his scales at a visible speed. Soon, enormous claws replaced his original arms, and his body expanded several times its original size in a very short time. He was much taller than Akil, and a huge shadow suddenly covered him. In just a few seconds, Aaron transformed from a human into a hideous demon.

But what was most unsettling was not Aaron's appearance. Although the degree of demonization of his body had surpassed that of any demon Agil had ever seen, and those demons of Esgard were at most half-baked, the demon before him was the king of hell. His face was ferocious yet handsome, and although his appearance was terrifying, it was close to the gods people imagined. He had a demonized appearance, and his form possessed a certain divine majesty, like a strange evil god worshipped in a temple.

What was most unsettling was the dark aura emanating from Aaron. It was denser than that of any other demon, and even Akil felt terrified by it. But what was even more terrifying was the crazy increase in his spiritual power.

Akil had a gut feeling that in those few short seconds, Aaron's strength had increased several times, even tenfold, which was far beyond common sense, as if he had exchanged his soul for power from the devil.

When that power and its hideous appearance were revealed to Akiel, Akiel, his eyes filled with fear, picked up his sword, facing the demon before him with fierce resolve, ready to fight at any moment.

Amidst the swirling darkness, Aaron, or rather, the demon transformed from Aaron, slowly opened his crimson-gold eyes. At that moment, Akil was stunned. The scene was as if an ancient demon had been reawakened, and the moment he wielded his sword marked the beginning of the end of the world.

Agil almost couldn't resist drawing his sword. If such a demon were to appear in Esgard, it would indeed be like the end of the world for humanity.

To Akiel's surprise, when he met those crimson-gold eyes, he felt a faint mockery, a human expression, an expression belonging to Aaron.

Could it be that Aaron hasn't completely turned into a demon? Does he still retain some consciousness?

In the moment of Akil's stunned silence, he saw the gray hair on the demon's body begin to grow in reverse, and the dark aura swirling around Aaron began to recede rapidly. An incredible reverse engineering was unfolding before Akil's eyes.

The protruding bone spurs returned to their bronze scales, which then disappeared back under the human skin. The twisted, deformed, and swollen muscles quickly recovered, and Aaron's height decreased from five meters to three meters before returning to a normal human height.

In just a few seconds, Aaron transformed from a hideous demon who seemed to have emerged from hell to trample the human world back into an ordinary person. When his gray hair turned completely black again, Aaron also completely returned to his original appearance, without leaving any trace of demonization on him, as if everything that had just happened was just an illusion.

Chapter 61 The King's Experiment

Not only were there no signs of demonization left, but even the dark aura that had just been revealed was completely gone. All demons, or those who have undergone demonization, inevitably carry a dark aura that cannot be removed once it is acquired; this is almost an ironclad rule.

Aaron had just exuded a terrifying aura comparable to that of a demon king from hell, yet now there was no trace of darkness left on his body. If you got close to Aaron and smelled him, you would only smell the dust and grime that came with his long journey back.

"This is the Dark Awakening." Aaron, still with the mocking look he had when he was demonized, looked at Akil, whose face was full of disbelief, and said calmly, "Or, to use my preferred name, the perfect Dark Awakening."

“The perfect… Dark Awakening…” Akil said softly.

"You can collect all the dark energy on me you want. If you find even a tiny bit, I'll admit defeat," Aaron said.

Akil frowned deeply, but still followed Aaron's instructions, closed his eyes and began to sense. After a moment, he opened his eyes again, his expression unreadable, whether it was ugly or solemn, because he really couldn't sense any dark aura from Aaron. It was all just an illusion.

“I have no objection to you killing those demons, because they were all products left behind by the failure of the ‘Dark Awakening’. At that point, it was indeed beyond redemption, and they were no different from real demons.”

"Why do you possess this technology?" Akil's eyes were icy.

"Have you never wondered why Aurelia took me as her student? Have you never wondered why the King trusts me so much and often summons me to the palace alone? Have you never wondered why demons appear in Esgard? Where did these demons come from?" Aaron countered.

What are you trying to say?

Aaron didn't answer Agil, but looked at the wolf child: "Abby, tell the Knight King where you came from."

Abby had been hiding behind Joan of Arc, ignoring everyone who spoke to her, but when she saw Aaron, her eyes lit up as if she'd met a familiar face. She stumbled towards Aaron and said:

"Abby...Abby escaped from the lab..."

“The laboratory…?” Akil frowned.

"How did you escape from the lab? Didn't anyone want to catch you?"

"Because...because Abby secretly mastered the ability...but the people in the lab...didn't know...so Abby took the opportunity to escape...but after escaping...some people still wanted to capture Abby...they said...Abby was a traitor...but Abby didn't betray the country at all...Abby just couldn't stand the lab anymore..."

"That's it. That's the truth about the traitors of the Obsidian Knights, and also the truth about demons." Aaron looked at Agil.

"The demons you killed in the city were all escaped from the laboratories and bases. Like Abby, they were products of the laboratories. The difference is that they were failures, completely demonized, but they were still being kept in the laboratories, where new experiments were being conducted."

“Abby, she used to be a member of our Obsidian Knights, but one day the king discovered her talent and brought her into the laboratory.”

"However, Abby did not conduct the Dark Awakening experiment, but another kind of experiment. After Abby went through the experiment, she showed signs of rejuvenation and became the way she is now, even losing a lot of her memories."

“They were supposed to live their whole lives without ever seeing the light of day, but I don’t know what happened in between, they were released, which is why this happened today.”

“Who made those labs?” Akil asked.

"Who else could it be? Of course, it's our supreme, all-knowing, and all-powerful King. Haven't you heard? Our King loves to conduct experiments. My mission this time is also for the experiments that His Majesty the King enjoys."

"You mean, these demons, or that girl, are all monsters kept by the king?"

Aaron didn't answer, he just looked into his eyes.

Akiel fell silent. He had always thought that those demons were just pure demons, and that his duty was simply to eliminate them. But he hadn't expected that all of these demons were being raised by the state. The demons he was eliminating in the name of eliminating traitors were actually experimental subjects in a laboratory. This greatly shattered his understanding.

"Why study this kind of thing?" After a long silence, Akil asked coldly.

"It's because he wants to gain power. After all, our king is a god who possesses the Book of Omniscience. Things that humans have never seen or thought of can appear naturally in his mind. How can someone who possesses such knowledge resist putting it into practice?"

"In fact, they started researching this much earlier than you think, at least three years ago. In fact, I don't think this research is wrong, because there are indeed examples of perfect use of this method. But they are so desperate for this power that they've gone mad, and the real world has gone mad as well."

“You are the perfect example?” Akil looked at Aaron.

"Yes, I can tell you how I became that special case."

“In the past, they have been studying why those who fail become demons, and I have given them the answer. All those who fail in their Dark Awakening have one thing in common: during the awakening, the spiritual power within their bodies goes out of control. When they no longer control the power, they are controlled by the power itself. Ultimately, they fall.”

"There is only one way to overcome depravity, which requires an extremely high level of control over spiritual power. Those who ultimately fall into depravity do so because their control over spiritual power is not yet proficient. It is that simple."

Aaron's words were simple, but Akiel was secretly alarmed. The Omniscient Blessed and the Giant Blessed were probably the most skilled in controlling spiritual power among all superhumans. It was no exaggeration to say that they were world-class in this regard. Yet, even so, countless superhumans still fell into demonic ways. So far, there has only been one successful case.

What kind of spiritual power control is needed to master Dark Awakening? Or rather, just how terrifying has Aaron's spiritual power control reached? This prompted Akil to ask further:

"So your power was also obtained through that Dark Awakening?"

Aaron frowned, a rare occurrence, and said, "How is that possible? I started knight training at the age of eight and attended the High Tower Holy Academy at the age of thirteen. My growth trajectory is clearly documented in my records, but nothing has suddenly made me stronger."

Chapter 62 Rewards Instead of Punishment

Akil realized he had misunderstood, but his face had turned cold and he was no longer smiling. He glanced at the trembling Abby and finally decided not to kill her.

He no longer cared about Aaron. He had just received a lot of new information and needed time to confirm and digest it. He was not in the mood to fight Aaron.

But before leaving, the Knight King still asked, "What do you plan to do next? The King won't let this go."