Poverty makes me capable of anything.

But Ronald couldn't help but frown; he sensed something was amiss.

Although An Ran was acting in accordance with his orders, she did not give him any response.

Ronald's expression changed drastically when Eresh pulled out the second transparent panel.

He knew how powerful An Ran was, and naturally he also knew how "fragile" An Ran was, given that she had just merged with the void and whose internal energy was still unstable.

Once the power of the Holy Judgment Sword rebounds, it's all over.

"stop……"

Unfortunately, Ronald's advice came too late.

He watched helplessly as the sword light collided with the transparent panel, and then the surging force bounced back.

Ronald's mind went blank.

There was complete silence around him when he suddenly heard the sound of something breaking.

All he could see was a desolate gray-white, and in the blink of an eye, countless black hands reached out towards him.

Boom!

Ronald clutched his chest and coughed up another mouthful of blood.

This temporarily brought him back to his senses. After looking at Irene's laughing profile, he suddenly remembered something.

That was a joint operation between the Royal Knights and the Republic of Novalu.

The year was 8082.

The objective is to target a powerful alien race in the Demon Realm of Rebirth on the border of the Republic of Novalu.

He cooperated with the Republic's Swordholders as an aid provider in an extremely fierce battle. Dozens of the Republic's Swordholders died in the battle in order to completely eliminate this alien race that could have a great impact on the Republic.

The person who left the deepest impression on Ronald was a young man with a cheerful smile.

Although he is in his thirties, he is indeed a young man compared to Ronald, who is fifty years old.

The young man named Octavio is a renowned genius among the Republic's Swordholders. He is optimistic and full of dreams for the future.

Indeed, it is only natural for a talented person to have a bright future.

Octavio suddenly became restless just before the decisive battle with the foreign tribes.

He acted recklessly and impulsively, transforming himself from a bright and capable rising star into a brainless brute in an instant.

Octavio paid a heavy price for his recklessness; although he tried his best to break through the encirclement, he still fell in the torrential rain.

Ronald met with him briefly.

Octavio was actually still salvageable at that time; he tremblingly extended his right hand toward Ronald.

Ronald pressed his hand back to his chest with a sorrowful expression, then watched Octavio disappear.

"If he were still alive, he would definitely pose a threat to the empire in the future."

There are no permanent friendships between countries; they are merely symbols of interests.

The older brother and younger brother address each other as "brother," but they might be thinking about their sister-in-law or sister-in-law back home.

Eliminating a threat is investing in tomorrow.

As Ronald's memory overlapped with Rio Ctavio's smile and Irene's profile, he suddenly understood something.

You should know that he brought Eleshy back from the Demon Realm of Rebirth. He thought Eleshy was very talented, so he brought her back to the Empire from the Demon Realm of Rebirth.

If Eresh is Octavio's daughter, then Octavio's dementia would be explained.

This isn't a game; you can't have your children arrested and still be in the mood to play cards all over the world or scavenge for trash in a wasteland.

"Just you wait and see!"

Eresh turned to Ronald and said, "Watching the empire crumble under your brilliant schemes, ultimately becoming dust in history, will be a path to glory for countless successors who will step over its corpse. You and your imagined world will become villains mentioned again and again in stories."

Ronald remained silent with a cold expression.

The best response to Elise is to keep a blank face, so that she can't see any pain in your heart.

Heartbreak was the best medicine for her soul.

But why does my heart ache so much?

Ronald's clenched fists were almost about to shatter as he stared intently at Ereshki.

That look in his eyes was the unbridled joy of revenge.

"Although there were some setbacks along the way, things are still progressing smoothly. After destroying the empire, I'll deal with you and your daughter slowly. I hope you don't collapse too quickly, otherwise it'll be too boring. By the way, what kind of death do you prefer? Don't worry, I'm not choosing it for you, but for your daughter. I've already thought of the best way to deal with you, but your daughter is different. How can I not take good care of the body I finally stole? Hahaha..."

Seeing Ronald's ashen face, Eresh felt a surge of relief.

She has lived with those indifferent eyes since she was 11 years old, and has never been this happy before.

"Alright, now it's time to check on my lovely 'little sister'."

Aileshi turned around with a cold smile. The smoke and dust from the explosion had all dissipated. She looked towards the distant location where Anran was.

An Ran impatiently slapped away the large paws that were tightly hugging her body, turned her head and angrily berated the huge panda: "You're so big and you're still so cowardly. Can't you have any backbone? This sword won't kill you, what are you afraid of?"

"I……"

The Void Panda scratched the back of its head, looking aggrieved, its dark eyes wide and round.

"It's not my fault, who knew it would suddenly bounce back."

"..."

What a harmonious scene this is.

It was as if they were in their own backyard, not a battlefield.

A speechless Eresh wiped her eyes in disbelief.

"how is this possible?"

She could sense that An Ran's body had never left that place, which meant that An Ran could not possibly have avoided the rebound attack by jumping to another space.

The panda that was formed from the void is a good example; its head, which was mostly white, turned mostly black after the explosion.

This proves that they were indeed attacked.

Eresh knew that the sword light couldn't kill An Ran, but it could definitely cause this unstable void container to collapse.

Her calculations couldn't possibly be wrong, and Ronald's performance proved that.

but……

A buzzing sound filled Eresh's head; she simply couldn't understand it—this was completely contrary to the laws of this world.

When her gaze fell on the Void Panda again, Irelia felt as if she had been struck by lightning.

She finally noticed something was wrong.

Why did the void turn into a panda?

Why is the Void Panda, who should be hostile to Anran, on such good terms with Anran?

Why couldn't the reflected sword energy from the Holy Judgment Sword severely injure the dying Void Panda?

Ultimately...

Eresh didn't see the words "on the verge of death" at all in the Void Panda.

It was as lively and energetic as could be, just like it hadn't had its power absorbed at all.

"Great!"

Seeing that Anran was unharmed, Philomena wiped the blood from the corner of her lips and shouted with joy.

Seeing Ronald unable to get back up after being hit by the rebound damage, Philomena felt like the sky had fallen. She had already "died" once, spent nine years in "Peaceful Body", and before she could even get out of the cage to enjoy life, was she going to die again, and this time it would be a permanent death.

The mere thought of this plunged Philomena into an endless, dark fear.

Until An Ran appeared, she regained her hope to live.

She desperately tried to grasp at this straw.

"Aileshi, you're dead! Haha, Anran has successfully fused with the power of the void. You're dead! Hahaha..."

Seeing the imposter An Ran jump up like an idiot, An Ran couldn't help but roll her eyes.

Irene coldly cursed, "Idiot!"

She sensed danger, and that danger was coming from An Ran.

At this moment, everyone in the Royal Knights except Ronald was overjoyed. The time for a dramatic comeback had come!

If Anran were to swing the Holy Judgment Sword once more, he could kill Eresh in the blink of an eye.

Their hope remains. As long as the current crisis is resolved, the ancient gods, demons, and insectoids will be no match for them!

They can still ride this wave of opportunity to soar to the heavens and become one of the rulers of this world.

Only Ronald noticed that something was wrong.

If all goes well, he and An Ran should have already established a connection.

But now there's nothing, which means his plan has gone wrong.

"Was the plan flawed from the start, or did something go wrong during its execution?" Ronald pressed his hands to his head, unable to figure it out.

terror, ecstasy, bewilderment...

Through the eyes of these few people, An Ran witnessed the myriad aspects of human life.

Schemes, dreams, ambitions, hatred, madness...

When all of this is thrown into a big pot and stewed over a high flame, the resulting taste is truly bizarre.

brake--

Anran pointed the Holy Judgment Sword, which, including its flames, was twice as long as her.

"..."

Ailey stared intently at Anran, one hand on her waist.

"I'll ask you one last question," An Ran said in an extremely calm tone.