It felt so good to be close to the witch!

A wound appeared on the body of the Azure Horned Moon Wolf King's clone. The appearance of this wound was like the first domino to fall, triggering a chain reaction. In the next instant, hundreds of wounds appeared on the Azure Horned Moon Wolf King's body.

Because it was an avatar, the Azure Horned Moon Wolf King was not a physical being of flesh and blood, so no blood flowed from its wounds; instead, milky white light spots continuously emanated from them.

"Qiang!"

In mid-air not far away, the dark gold female knight sheathed her rapier again. With a forceful grab of her left hand, a purple-black battle aura spear materialized and struck the Azure Horn Moon Wolf King's brow with a "whoosh".

"Boom!"

Under the bombardment of the purplish-black spear, the Azure Horned Moon Wolf King's clone crashed into the crystal island like a falling meteor.

Because it is made entirely of magic crystals, the crystal island is exceptionally sturdy. The fall of the Azure Horned Moon Wolf King only created a shallow crater with a spiderweb-like crack a little over one meter in radius, without causing any damage to the main structure.

"Pfft!"

At the same time that the Azure Horned Moon Wolf King was knocked down, the Shadow Witch Lilia spewed out a large cloud of blood mist. Her skin almost lost all color, and the light in her eyes dimmed to the extreme. If it weren't for a stubborn will supporting her, she would have already collapsed.

At the center of the shallow pit, the body of the Azure Horned Moon Wolf King was almost transparent due to the loss of a large amount of energy. It looked at the Dark Gold Female Knight in mid-air, and its wolf eyes revealed a look of unwillingness. If it were not just an avatar, it would never have lost!

"I'm sorry... it's all because... I'm too weak..."

The trembling voice reached the ears of the Azure Horned Moon Wolf King. It turned its head and looked at the girl not far away who was barely keeping herself from falling by supporting herself with her hands.

"Woo..."

The Azure Horned Moon Wolf King used its last strength to climb out of the shallow pit and walked step by step to the girl's side. It gently rubbed its nose against the girl's arm, as if to express something.

But its power was exhausted. After completing this action, its body began to dissipate into tiny particles of light from head to toe and disappear into the air.

"pat..."

The sound of footsteps landing rang out, and the Shadow Witch Lilia struggled to raise her head. However, she was too weak at the moment, and even her vision became blurred. But the blurry dark gold color still allowed her to discern the identity of the person who had come.

—Dark Gold Female Knight.

Lilia tried to stand up, but she was too weak. The depletion of her magic and the exhaustion of her spirit meant that she had to exert all her strength just to keep from fainting.

“Tap, tap…”

The Dark Gold Knight walked up to the Shadow Witch Lilia. She looked at the witch struggling to get up from the pool of blood, her eyes slightly dazed, as if she remembered something. She slowly loosened her hand from the hilt of the rapier at her waist.

Without killing the Shadow Witch, the Dark Gold Knight continued walking, passing by her, and heading step by step toward the Lost Ice Coffin not far away and the man beside it, whose entire body was enveloped in pitch-black light.

"……stop!"

A hoarse, blood-soaked cry escaped from the Shadow Witch Lilia's mouth as she struggled to reach out to the Dark Gold Knight's back, trying to stop her. But in the end, she lost her balance and collapsed helplessly into a pool of blood.

“Roy…sir…”

Never before had the Shadow Witch Lilia hated her weakness so much, but no matter how unwilling she was, no matter how much she wanted to struggle, her weakened consciousness still fell uncontrollably into the deep darkness.

……

"Faster! Faster! Faster!"

Roy was screaming wildly in his heart.

Upon discovering the appearance of the Dark Gold Knight, he desperately absorbed the pollution, not caring at all even though his skin cracked open with countless bloody lines and he was in excruciating pain all over his body.

Thanks to his tireless efforts, the rate of pollution absorption miraculously increased by a fraction, from 0.2 particles per second to 0.3 particles per second.

But... it's still too slow, too slow.

In the eyes of the Moon Witch Cecilia, dark blue gradually took over, but it would still take a considerable amount of time before it completely suppressed the blood red.

Out of the corner of his eye, Roy saw the defeated white giant wolf in mid-air, the shadow witch Lilia lying in a pool of blood, her fate unknown, and the dark gold female knight walking towards him step by step.

"Lilia..."

Roy's heart skipped a beat. His emotional anger made him want to get up and tear the Dark Gold Knight to pieces, but his rationality made him realize that impulsiveness would not solve any problems.

What he needs to do most now is to seize every spare moment, absorb the pollution, and strive to make the normal personality of the Moon Witch Cecilia overcome the crazy personality.

Once the Moon Witch Cecilia awakens, true victory will be achieved!

Hurry! Hurry!

The footsteps drew closer, and Roy screamed wildly in his heart. Time seemed to slow down at that moment.

But even at its slowest pace, a distance of only a few dozen meters is just a second for the Dark Gold Knight.

She stood before the lost ice coffin and saw the face lying inside, the face she had never forgotten, the face that haunted her dreams for the past 150 years. She also saw those eyes, a mad mix of dark blue and blood red, and the man with one hand pressed against the Moonlight Witch's chest and the other against the dark purple crystal tree.

"So, that's it..."

The corruption of witches may be unfamiliar to ordinary knights, but for the Dark Gold Female Knight, who is the Great Knight of the Temple's Divine Punishment, it is all too familiar.

She would never mistake that foul, sticky, and repulsive smell.

As a legendary knight, the Dark Gold Knight's knowledge is unparalleled.

With just one glance, she could tell what state the Moon Witch Cecilia was in.

One hundred and fifty years ago, on that night, the Moonlight Great Witch Cecilia, who had broken through to the "Great Witch Realm" with the third level of the Blood Refining Technique that no witch had ever reached before, lost her mind and became a mad and bloodthirsty monster. Her terrifying strength was so great that even she and eight other legendary knights could not resist her.

That state is clearly abnormal and distorted.

Afterwards, the Dark Gold Knight consulted and verified various sources, and finally came to a conclusion:

The third level of the Blood Refinement Technique can indeed grant a top-tier witch the strength of a "Great Witch," but it requires sacrificing reason. To put it simply, a Great Witch who advances in this way is essentially a monster who still has a human form but has actually become mutated and out of control.

The crimson power in the eyes of the Moonlight Great Witch Cecilia was a power that the Dark Gold Knight would never forget, even in death. It was the power of the deformed Great Witch who had defeated eight legendary knights 150 years ago. The dark blue power, on the other hand, was likely the uncorrupted true self and normal personality of the Moonlight Great Witch Cecilia.

To the surprise of the Dark Gold Knight, in the battle between Crimson and Dark Blue, in the duel between madness and normalcy, the normal personality seemed to have the upper hand at the moment.

Logically speaking, this shouldn't have happened.

Having advanced to the "Great Witch Realm" through the third level of the Blood Refinement Method, the power of her insane and distorted personality will inevitably far exceed that of a normal personality.

But now, something that shouldn't have happened has happened.

The dark gold female knight's gaze shifted to the man beside the lost ice coffin, whose entire body was shrouded in polluted light—he actually possessed the ability to reduce the pollution?!

"boom!"

An invisible gust of wind exploded, and Roy, who was still trying to absorb the pollution, felt an irresistible force strike him, sending him flying and crashing into the dark purple crystal tree behind him.

The absorption of pollution was also forced to stop.

"Cough cough..."

"Is this... a legend...?"

At this moment, Roy, who was leaning against the trunk of the dark purple crystal tree and was seriously injured by the invisible shockwave, had a complex and indescribable feeling.

He saw the sword and shield emblem on the Dark Gold Knight's chest, signifying her identity as a Temple Punishment Knight. In that instant, all the information connected in his mind, giving him a more accurate guess about the beginning and end of the Star Lake incident.

One hundred and fifty years ago, the Moonlight Great Witch Cecilia forcibly broke through the third level of the Blood Refining Technique and advanced to the realm of Mad Witch in Blackrock Territory at the cost of the lives of many Divine Punishment Knights. She then fought against eight legendary knights and suppressed them for a time.

However, just as the great battle was about to end, the hidden magic veins unexpectedly erupted. In order to prevent the people of Rafa Province from being devastated, the eight legendary knights abandoned their campaign against the Moon Witch Cecilia and instead began to suppress the erupting magic veins.

However, even if they joined forces to support the "Demon-Locking Array" despite their severe injuries, they were powerless to seal the magic energy points.

Perhaps due to the influence of the primordial magic power erupting from the magic pulse points, the Moon Witch Cecilia briefly regained consciousness. For the sake of her sister Yuna's life, she resolutely used herself as the foundation to seal the magic pulse points, ultimately quelling the calamity.

This upheaval ultimately ended with the sealing of the Moon Witch Cecilia and the deaths of seven legendary knights. The surviving legendary female knight, because of Cecilia's words before rushing into the magic pulse space, did not kill Yuna, who had become a witch, but instead took her away.

Roy didn't know what happened afterward, but there was no doubt that, perhaps out of fear that the Moon Witch Cecilia would break free of her seal at any cost, the temple spared the life of the witch Yuna.

One hundred and fifty years later, having calculated that the primordial magic of the magic vein beneath Star Lake had been neutralized by the world and was no longer harmful, the Dark Gold Knight and the Temple jointly set up a trap.

They revealed to the Second Prince's faction the existence of the A-level forbidden item—the Lost Ice Coffin—within the magic vein beneath Star Lake, because the Second Prince's faction possessed a method to break the "Demon-Locking Array."

In order to win over the Duke of the Border in the struggle for the throne, the Second Prince planned a series of events after learning that the Duke of the Border needed the A-level forbidden item - the Lost Ice Coffin.

The Dark Gold Knight and the Temple, as the biggest masterminds behind the scenes, manipulated everything, just to involve the royal family and noble forces of the Radiant Empire in this incident involving the Moonlight Great Witch Cecilia, and to use them to release the Moonlight Great Witch Cecilia from the magic pulse space.

The Dark Gold Knight's goal was simple: to settle a grudge from 150 years ago. However, the temple might have deeper considerations.

In this scheme, the Second Prince's faction and the Border Duke's faction unknowingly became pawns of the temple.

Roy, the lord of Blackrock, was merely a pitiful wretch caught in the crossfire of the three leaders.

Thinking of this, Roy gave a bitter smile.

He has done his best within his capabilities.

But in the end, it still fell short.

If the Dark Gold Knight had arrived an hour later, if one of the witches beside him had been able to resist the Dark Gold Knight, if he himself possessed the strength of a legendary knight…

There are just too many possibilities.

But now, it's all just empty talk.

It failed...

Roy's inner turmoil gradually subsided, and he watched the dark gold female knight walk towards him step by step, feeling an unusual sense of peace.

He was undoubtedly afraid of death; it was an instinct inherent in being human.

But when death is inevitable, he is not overly afraid.

What troubled him most were the witches who had entrusted their trust to him.

Ice Witch Ais, Shadow Witch Lilia, Healing Witch Shanika, Light Witch Vivian, and Fox-Eared Witch Elena.

No, there's another one, and that's the Moon Witch Cecilia.

only……

I'm sorry.

As the icy, murderous aura drew closer, Roy calmly looked at the dark gold female knight before him, ready to unleash all the "Rage Marks" accumulated in his heart.

He knew very well that compared to a legend, his strength was like an ant compared to a giant.

But he never intended to obediently wait for death.

Even if it means death, he will fight to the death. Even if his struggle is seen as a futile effort by the enemy, as long as he can make the enemy feel even a little pain, Roy can still show a relieved smile before he dies.

But just before the "Wrathful Light Seal" was about to explode, a familiar figure appeared in front of Roy, standing between him and the Dark Gold Knight.

A small, fair, and soft hand pressed against Roy's heart, its gentle touch soothing the pain within him.

A fluffy, soft pointed witch's hat, a snow-white fitted long dress, a deep purple-black cloak and shawl, and dark blue fluorescent patterns on the cheeks of her face, with blood-red and deep blue mixed pupils that came into Roy's view.

"Don't worry."