I can evolve everything

After Harold finished speaking, he picked up a broken sword leaning against the wall of the storage room, looked at Karen in front of the door, and seemed to be asking for her permission.

Karen stared intently at Harold, then after a moment, he sighed deeply and turned to make way.

Seeing this, Harold hunched over, dragged the broken sword away without a word, and walked out.

A very brief muffled thud came from the next room.

Then, Renn could vaguely hear something fall to the ground with a "thud," and the string that had bound Harold for three years finally snapped at that moment.

Apart from that muffled thud, Renn heard no other sounds, no screams, no struggles.

The chewing sound that had been echoing in the basement for so long came to an abrupt end at that moment.

Harold personally sent his long-deceased granddaughter to her rest.

A few minutes later, the wooden door behind Ryan was pushed open again.

Harold came back.

His clothes and arms were covered in dark brown stains, but clearly he had no intention of wiping them off or looking back.

But at this moment, his originally hunched back miraculously straightened.

The decaying, almost dead aura surrounding him seemed to dissipate as the chewing sounds ceased.

Harold now appears eerily calm.

It was like a piece of rusty iron that shone with metallic luster one last time before being completely melted down and remade.

"Nina is asleep."

Harold looked at Karen, a faint smile even playing on his lips.

Logically, Harold's blood-soaked appearance paired with a smile should have been quite gruesome. But Renn only saw relief in the old man.

"This time I'm really asleep. I won't be hungry anymore, and I won't be in pain anymore."

Karen remained silent, only nodding slightly.

Harold slowly walked up to Karen and stopped beside the armchair.

He didn't sit down, but instead, like a novice knight preparing to receive his medal years ago, he straightened his clothes and collar, and adjusted the knight's badge on his chest, which had long since lost its luster.

"Karen."

The old man's voice was soft and steady.

"I know that, according to the laws of the Knights, and even according to our oath back then, someone like me should be brought to the judgment seat of the Knights of the North, hanged amidst the scorn of the crowd, and then my body thrown into a mass grave to be fed to wild dogs. Never to be reincarnated."

At this point, Harold paused, his gaze fixed on a corner of the storage room ceiling, as if he could see the dazzling starry sky outside through the stone.

"I'm not afraid of death. But I'm afraid of the cold."

He withdrew his gaze, his eyes fixed on Karen, gleaming with an eerie light. Renn couldn't discern what kind of emotion it was.

"The gallows are too cold, old man. And... I really don't want Nina to see her grandfather hanging on the rope like a dead dog from heaven."

"Help."

Harold's voice lowered, just as it had when they entrusted each other's backs on the battlefield.

"Give me a quick death. Right here. In a chivalrous way."

The air in the basement seemed to freeze.

Ryan and Ella instinctively held their breath, and she looked at Karen.

For a rigid knight who adheres strictly to knightly law and is even willing to turn against his old friend for the sake of justice, this is undoubtedly a request that goes against his principles.

Vigilante justice is illegal, even when done out of pity.

Karen's hand rested on the hilt of the greatsword, a hand that had never trembled even when facing hordes of orcs, but was now trembling slightly.

His knuckles gripped the sword hilt tightly, now turning white from excessive force, and the veins on the back of his hand were slowly bulging.

Ryan could tell that Karen was struggling quite a bit.

On one hand, there was the chivalric code he had always believed in and followed; on the other hand, there was the request from a friend of thirty years.

Although her old friend had long since fallen from grace, Karen couldn't tell how he, now pleading for a dignified death, was any different from the man she had been thirty years ago.

Time passed by in this way for a long time.

"……good."

Karen finally spoke, her voice hoarse.

He released the greatsword that had been with him for half his life.

The sword he was using was too heavy and too dull.

That was a weapon used to execute monsters and criminals, to shatter armor; a single strike would only cut Harold in two. Even a spike would leave a gaping hole in his body.

That's a knife for killing, not suitable for bidding farewell to old friends.

"Raine".

Karen didn't turn around, but simply stretched out her still slightly trembling right hand behind her.

Give me your sword.

Renn paused for a moment, then understood the old knight's intention.

Without any hesitation, he stepped forward and took the ordinary knight's longsword from his waist.

Renn drew his sword. The longsword gleamed coldly like water.

This sword is sharp and light; it was a masterpiece crafted for him by his father.

It can cut off the wind, and it can also cut off life without pain.

Raine held the sword with both hands and handed the hilt to Karen.

Karen took the longsword. In that instant, all the old knight's inner turmoil seemed to vanish. His eyes sharpened once more, a solemn reverence bestowed upon Harold his final dignity.

Harold Wilder.

Karen's voice echoed in the basement, solemn like the tolling of bells in a temple at dawn.

"Remove your armor."

Harold laughed again, and couldn't help but laugh out loud.

He unfastened the rusty breastplate, revealing a blood-stained linen shirt underneath. He slowly knelt on one knee, lowered his head, and exposed the withered nape of his neck.

"Thank you, Karen."

Harold closed his eyes.

"Go for it, old buddy. Don't hold back."

Raine stood in the shadows, silently watching the scene unfold.

His breathing technique was in operation, and his vision was magnified to the extreme.

He saw the dust floating in the air, and he also saw that Karen no longer hesitated and cleanly raised her longsword.

There were no unnecessary movements.

It was just a simple downward slash, followed by a flash of cold light.

After a sword rang out.

That was the sound of a sharp blade cutting through the air, slicing through the skin, and severing the vertebrae.

too fast.

It happened so fast that there wasn't even time for blood to gush out.

Harold's body trembled slightly, and then, like a puppet, he slowly fell to one side.

Blood did not gush from Harold's neck; the scene was quite calm.

The wound was incredibly clean; only after the body fell to the ground did a pool of crimson blood slowly spread across the floor, like a flower blooming in a swamp.

This sheriff, who fell into depravity for his granddaughter, finally found his final rest.

Karen lowered her longsword, the tip touching the ground.

A drop of blood slid down the blade; it was the only stain on the sword.

The old knight stood there, his shadow stretched extremely long by the oil lamp outside the door.

At that moment, Renn felt as if he had aged considerably. The man who had always been like a lion now looked so desolate.

"Take it."

A moment later, Karen turned around.

His face was expressionless, but his eyes regained their composure. He handed the longsword back to Renn, his movements steady and without a trace of trembling.

"Wipe it clean. Don't let the rust ruin the blade."

Renn took the longsword.

The hilt of the sword still retained the warmth of Karen's palm and a trace of Harold's body heat.

He took out a cloth from his pocket and silently wiped the blade of the sword.

As the bloodstains were wiped away, the mirror-like blade reflected Rein's dark eyes.

Those eyes reflected a hint of sighing, and also a touch of coldness.

Must we fill that bottomless pit with countless innocent people just so that one person can live?

Harold loves his granddaughter, a love that is sincere, profound, and even touching.

But this did not change the fact that those adventurers were turned into living corpses.

Renn sheathed his sword.

A soft click.

In this basement, the sound looked exactly like something breaking.