Dragon Clan: I'm too lazy to talk to you, you're not worthy to listen!

In the long night and the fire, in the long darkness, he came with a candle, illuminating the upside-down man on the clock tower, holding high the torch of life.

—From *Dragon Raja: Essays*

The King of Bronze and Fire reigns supreme above the sea, his limbs treading on balls of fire, exuding an unapproachable aura.

"Brother, don't go, you're too weak right now." Constantine felt like he could barely hold onto Norton's clothes, his legs stretched out and almost sinking into the soil, turning him into a human-shaped plow.

“This ugliness is unbearable.” Norton’s upper body blazed with fury once more, and he reached out and patted Constantine’s small, tender hand.

“Constantine, my brother, let go.”

The King of Bronze and Fire seemed to hear Norton's words. His pair of golden dragon eyes stared over, meeting Norton's golden gaze, and he felt as if he were seeing his own origin.

At this moment, Ying Zheng walked over and put his hand on Norton's shoulder. The flames burning on Norton's upper body dissipated rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Remember, don't get angry!" Ying Zheng tugged at his collar and tightened the knot at the collar of his Fire Cloud Robe. "Anger will diminish your wisdom."

As Ying Zheng spoke, the Seven Deadly Sins sword case appeared out of thin air on his right.

He grabbed the Seven Deadly Sins sword case with one hand and threw it into the air, towards the massive dragon body of the King of Bronze and Fire!

The King of Bronze and Fire noticed the weapon case that looked somewhat familiar.

"Alchemy Domain, open!" Ying Zheng walked step by step toward the river, facing the King of Bronze and Fire.

With each step forward, even the river receded in fear.

"This body is made by the sword."

The seven deadly sins' sword sheaths unfolded in mid-air, revealing the hilts of seven alchemical weapons, each displaying a different luster, like bronze flowers of molten gold blooming in the sky.

"Blood as hard as steel, heart as clear as glass."

Pride, Envy, and Sloth—the three alchemical weapons—flew out of their scabbard and charged toward the King of Bronze and Fire.

"Having traversed countless battlefields, he has never been defeated."

The three alchemical weapons—Greed, Lust, and Gluttony—followed closely behind. The six weapons, like aurora borealis or meteors, formed a six-pointed star array and rushed towards the King of Bronze and Fire.

"This person is often all alone."

The alchemical weapon, Wrath, did not drift with the tide. The moment it left its scabbard, it plummeted to the ground, scraping against the air and trailing a long fiery tail, crashing towards the riverbank like a meteorite.

"Swords were forged on the hill."

Ying Zheng let the furious object fall beside him, creating a crater and sending sparks flying like iron filings.

"This life needs no meaning."

Ying Zheng reached out and grabbed the hilt of the furious, molten metal-hot sword, dragging the long saber and carving long lava-like marks on its surface.

"It is destined to be formed from the Infinite Sword."

Ying Zheng raised his head to look at the King of Bronze and Fire. A red light flashed in his left eye beneath the white mask, transforming into a black vortex that distorted space. He vanished from the spot, enraged.

In the blink of an eye, Ying Zheng appeared before the King of Bronze and Fire, gripping the hilt of his raging sword with both hands, while the other six alchemical weapons arrived as promised.

"The Seven Deadly Sins: Sin and Punishment"

"open!"

When all seven alchemical weapons are drawn simultaneously, the highest alchemical domain, Sin and Punishment, will be activated.

Seven different colored lights instantly spread out, enveloping the King of Bronze and Fire.

This was a territory he couldn't resist; it was a territory Norton had tailored for dragons.

Dragon blood, flesh, and the power of words were all imprisoned, as if they were shackled.

Ying Zheng grasped Lust and Gluttony with both hands and inserted them into the kneecap of the King of Bronze and Fire.

"You will repay your transgression with pain."

Then, grasping greed, he sliced ​​open the dragon scales on the head of the King of Bronze and Fire, and with sloth, he pierced the King of Bronze and Fire's eyes and cut open his nose.

“You will pay for your arrogance with your eyes.”

With pride and envy, he used envy to sever the dragon's wing bones, knocking the King of Bronze and Fire to the ground by the river. Pride pierced the bone spikes on the dragon's spine, pinning the King of Bronze and Fire to the ground!

Jealousy pierced the back of the Bronze and Fire King's head, leaving only the hilt of the sword exposed. The Bronze and Fire King's pupils trembled so much they seemed about to pop out of their sockets.

"You will pay for this betrayal with your blood."

He gripped the hilt of the enormous, enraged sword with both hands and cleaved open the back of the King of Bronze and Fire.

Reaching out to the dragon, he grasped the flaming ram's horns atop its head.

Ying Zheng gazed into the eyes of the King of Bronze and Fire, and uttered the sacred words of final judgment:

"On the day I return to the world, all the rebels shall die!"

Having said that, he twisted in fury, shattering the powerful, beating dragon heart within the chest cavity of the King of Bronze and Fire.

The long, thin dragon tongue, dripping with dragon blood, emerged from its mouth and drooped over its sharp lower incisors.

Thus, all four counterfeit monarchs perished in battle.

The river wind, carrying the stench of dragon blood, made Ying Zheng's fiery cloud robe flutter loudly.

The enraged blade still dripped with molten dragon blood, scorching black holes in the asphalt pavement.

Those watching from the sidelines—Jormungandr, Fenrir, Constantine, and others—had no smiles on their faces; their expressions were deep and solemn, as the cold river wind lashed their faces.

Norton stared at the broken dragon body of the Bronze and Fire King, his golden eyes reflecting a mixture of sorrow and pleasure.

Quietly, the music of parting plays, and everyone remains silent.

Ying Zheng raised his face and looked up at the sky.

The gray fog dissipated, carried away by a gust of headwind.

Even after the clouds dispersed, the sky remained dark and overcast.

There was no thunder but rain, a light drizzle, falling like silk threads.

It slapped against Ying Zheng's cold white mask.

Ying Zheng's inner monologue: "They don't know, or perhaps they do."

Phenomena that have already occurred are unlikely to reappear within a large cycle.

Four monarchs have already died, so it won't be easy for them to die after that, sigh...

The road ahead is long and arduous, but I will persevere in my pursuit of knowledge.

Ying Zheng raised his hand and flicked his wrist, accurately throwing the rage back into the Seven Deadly Sins sword case.

The other six alchemical weapons were instantly pulled from the corpse of the King of Bronze and Fire and inserted back into the Seven Deadly Sins Sword Box in turn.

The Seven Deadly Sins, like a peacock closing its tail, slowly recede, transforming back into a cold, emotionless sword sheath, unchanged since its creation.

Sages say that weapons are instruments of violence and should only be used as a last resort.

Something's not right.

Jormungandr suddenly trotted to the dragon's corpse, her fingertips tracing the cracked horns of the Bronze and Fire Lord.

"Look at this..."

Everyone looked in the direction Jormungandr was pointing!

I saw.

Silvery-white viscous liquid seeped from the cracks in the dragon's horn, and the liquid condensed into bronze-colored ice crystals upon contact with air.

The relief of the Hall of Heroes of Kassel College appeared on the surface of the ice crystal. The lid of the central coffin of the five bronze coffins inside the hall slowly opened, revealing the dense alchemical circuits inside.

"Projection magic?" Ying Zheng's white mask suddenly cracked open, revealing his left eye beneath, which displayed a swirling star map. "No, this is... that damn dragonblood warrior thing from the Gattuso family?"

Constantine seemed to sense something, and he suddenly raised his hand to cover his chest.

Bronze veins bulged under his skin.

Those blood vessels, like black snakes, snaked and coiled. "Brother...this dragon corpse...also has those round alchemical instruments inside."

"Watch this." Norton suddenly reached out, and part of his right arm transformed into a dragon, covered with deep red dragon scales, and sharp claws grew from his five fingers.

He easily tore open the flesh and blood of the King of Bronze and Fire, gutting him, and grabbed the celestial sphere inside the dragon's corpse with one hand.

This sophisticated, retro-style spherical instrument is a trick commonly used by ancient families like the Zhou family. Norton had already seen it before, back in the time of Yao and Shun.

Norton slightly brought his five claws together and crushed the armillary sphere. Tiny, exquisite gears and tenons instantly flowed out from between Norton's dragon claws like sand through the cracks in the broken outer shell of the armillary sphere.

These gears and tenons trace lava-like patterns on the ground.

The figure of a woman with golden curly hair emerged from the murals, walking barefoot across the bronze city, each step creating splashes of sand.

"Surprised? You've only killed a counterfeit of a counterfeit."

Jormungandr and Norton both looked down on the blonde woman, casting their gazes as if she were a clown.

Fenrir raised his hand and scratched the back of his head. He thought that the buzz cut Jormungandr had given him, with his short hair, felt like a plastic brush and was incredibly comfortable to the touch.

Constantine silently tugged at Norton's sleeve, oblivious to everything else.

Shutoku Aki's kimono hem fluttered, twelve short swords formed an alchemical matrix, and the Word Power Enhancement Alchemy Instrument on her back spewed out hot steam.

In the center of the blade array, electricity crackled, constantly alerting the surrounding dead servants.

The woman with golden curly hair wasn't annoyed at all. She smiled and raised her hand, "It's fine for you to see, hehe."

The tiny gears and tenons on the ground melted away and transformed into a smooth bronze mirror in the air.

In the mirror image, what appears is Ying Zheng's shattered white mask.

Each fragment of the white mask reflects a different future:

Ye Jingchen ignited the Blood Sacrifice Flame at the port.

Chu Tianjiao burned the archives of Bronze City.

Meanwhile, Fenrir is being reborn deep within the subway.

Ying Zheng walked up to the bronze mirror and looked at his reflection in the pale yellow surface. "Do you also like wearing masks?"

In the mirror, Ying Zheng's reflection transformed into a woman with golden curly hair. "Aren't you also wearing a mask, Your Excellency?"

Ying Zheng advised, "When you speak, you should use the tone of a Japanese girl. Don't choose the wrong side."

"Hehe, you don't need to worry about that," the blonde woman chuckled, covering her mouth. "You may be very strong, but in front of him, you are just a rising star."

"Oh?" Ying Zheng asked, somewhat puzzled. "Who is he?"

Golden curly-haired woman: "Ye Jingchen!"

Ying Zheng: "..."

Ying Zheng had already roughly guessed who the woman with the golden curly hair was. Considering the Japanese accent and her voluptuous figure, it was hard not to guess who she was.

The woman with golden curly hair was still exerting her power. She glanced around at the various masked people: Norton, Jormungandr, Constantine, Chen Motong, Jiudeyaqi...

The woman with golden curly hair said, "He's not like us, who only dare to act while wearing masks. He always forges ahead without hesitation!"

Ying Zheng: "..."

"Alright, stop talking!" Ying Zheng smashed the bronze mirror with a punch.

"Hahaha, you're scared!" The voice of the woman with golden curly hair gradually faded away in the river breeze.

The methods of deceiving people have not diminished.

Each of those broken copper mirrors presents a different scene.

“Brother, look!” Constantine exclaimed, his voice trembling like the strains of a bronze chime.

Each mirror reflects a scene deep within the Bronze City:

Jormungandr was chained to the center of the Alchemy Matrix, his spine being replaced with the core key to the Bronze City.

Ying Zheng's left eye twitched; he saw that each lens depicted a different ending:

In some timelines, Norton devours his brother to become the new Black King.

In some timelines, Ye Jingchen transforms into the gatekeeper of the Bronze City.

In the deepest shadows, he himself is plunging rage into his own heart.

The datura flowers that Uesugi Erii left on Ying Zheng suddenly withered away.

The ice crystal die she threw before disappearing shattered in mid-air.

The six sides are engraved with the sleeping faces of Norton, Constantine, Jormungandr, Ying Zheng, Ye Jingchen, and... Fenrir.

As Ying Zheng looked at these images, he thought to himself, "Even Erii has these bad premonitions? She has been cultivating the pre-emptive domain for a long time."

If she has such a premonition, then I have to take it very seriously.

“There are always enough spare pieces.” The voice of the woman with golden curly hair finally drifted away with the river breeze.

The remains of the King of Bronze and Fire suddenly collapsed into a black hole, swallowing up the other three Dragon King corpses.

From the depths of the black hole came the sound of breaking chains—the pulsation of the Black King's egg awakening in the clock tower.

“It’s time to go to Kassel College.” Ying Zheng picked up the last fragment of the bronze mirror, which reflected the image of Chu Tianjiao burning the files in the ice cellar, and casually crushed the fragment.

“Some fires…” he said, golden alchemical flames igniting at his fingertips, “must be extinguished with blood.”

Norton gripped his brother Constantine's trembling hand.

He suddenly remembered that rainy night three thousand years ago when he handed the bronze box to King Wen, and the sound coming from the box was the same heartbeat frequency that Constantine was experiencing now.

Black waves surged on the river, and countless Deadpools in the city jumped into the river as the tide receded.

Ying Zheng watched this scene and murmured, "So they all come from the river. No wonder they keep coming in endlessly."

On Professor Stanlundbergh's side, the executives of Kassel College were at a loss when they saw the previously ferocious Deadpools retreat.

Ye Sheng, carrying a Uzi submachine gun with its stock attached, pointed the black muzzle at the sky, approached Professor Stanlundbergh, and asked:

“Professor, Deadpool has temporarily retreated. You take your men back to Kassel College first, and I will organize the Third Squad of the Executive Department to stay behind and cover the rear.”

“Okay.” Professor Stanlundberg nodded, patted Ye Sheng on the shoulder, and instructed, “Be careful, the Execution Department has already lost quite a few people.”

"Definitely!" Ye Sheng threw away the empty magazine of his Uzi submachine gun, pulled out a new extended magazine from his waist, and ran back to the defensive line organized by the third squad...