Chat group, if you have anything to say to my Holy Sword,

Black and white clashed repeatedly in the sky above the Royal City of Rodel, each collision producing a deafening explosion. The welcoming stage prepared by Xiling had long since shattered. The broken stones should have rained down on the city below, but they strangely hovered in mid-air, as if bound by some invisible will, refusing to fall.

Maricus's figure was like a black lightning bolt, each thrust carrying the chill of death. His black sword whistled as it sliced ​​through the air, its blade devouring even the light in its wake. Yet, Xiling remained standing despite such attacks. The two, locked in rapid combat, created a cataclysmic storm with just their clash.

"What...are you?" Maricus's voice was low and hoarse, like a growl squeezed from the abyss. His attacks remained fierce, but his sword was finding it increasingly difficult to break through Xiling's defenses. What unsettled him even more was that his opponent's strength was still rising—as if the battle itself was a catalyst for Xiling's power.

In the distance, countless scouts held their breath, watching incredulously as this battle defied all logic. Maricus the Black Sword, the legend who symbolized death itself, had been forced into such a predicament. And what shocked them even more was the being confronting him; they didn't know who the opponent was, but they all knew his identity: a king.

That is the king of the new law.

Silvery-white magic flowed around Xiling. At first, it was just a few firefly-like specks of light, but as the battle continued, it gradually condensed and transformed into one sharp silvery-white sword after another, hovering beside him.

Black Sword Maricus, like a beast following orders, exerted all its strength and held nothing back, attempting to grant its enemy a destined death. However, as the battle progressed and the strange silver-white energy around its opponent transformed into sharp swords, Maricus sensed that its opponent's strength was actually increasing.

In an instant, a cold, unfamiliar thought appeared in Maricus's mind—he would lose.

Losing is normal; everyone loses, but Maricus cannot lose! The Golden Law has ended, but it may rise again. The Eternal Queen has vanished, and Godwin, the eldest son of the demigod revered as "Gold," has been murdered. The remaining descendants with divine blood are each occupying their own territory, each with their own ambitions. At this moment, only Maricus, bearing the name of "Black Sword," can defeat this Silver King!

Therefore, it cannot afford to lose! It cannot be defeated! It has absolutely no right to be defeated!

It will win, just as it has wielded its black sword countless times, ruthlessly cutting off all thorns that threaten the Queen and the law!

"Roar--!!!"

With a roar that ripped through the heavens, Maricus's massive, scarred body unleashed its final, unrestrained power! The power of death burned wildly on its blade as it shattered the earth, carrying with it a will to destroy everything, and soared into the sky!

The next instant, the sky changed dramatically!

Endless black mist of death erupted from Maricus's body, instantly engulfing the stars, swallowing the cold moonlight, and even suppressing and isolating the purifying light emanating from the silvery-white sacred tree that supported the world! The entire sky was reduced to a churning, suffocating swamp of death!

A terrifying pressure, mixed with the aura of the end of all things withering away, crashed down from the dome of death like a tangible mountain! The air groaned under the weight, and space itself seemed to distort slightly.

Maricus is a killing beast, but that doesn't mean it lacks reason. On the contrary, its instinct for battle is beyond terrifying. If time drags on any longer, it will surely lose!

So we can't delay any longer! The outcome hinges on this all-out attack!

The omen of death descends equally upon the heads of every living being. People involuntarily look up, their gaze falling upon the deathly sky that swallows the stars and moon and blocks the radiance of the sacred tree—with just a glance, a pure, suffocating realization is injected into the soul like poison—death has arrived!

Fear, panic, numbness, and countless thoughts of relief surged in the minds of different people.

Maricus's gaze, filled with the will of death, sharply locked onto the silver-clad king below. It was about to unleash the sword of death—a sword imbued with the power to obliterate the royal city of Rodel and everything around it, even etching a curse of death into the land forever. However, Maricus no longer cared about such things; its goal was clear and singular—to slay the king! And the god the king had sworn to protect!

Above the sky, the shadow of death loomed over heaven and earth. Facing this power of annihilation, Xiling's face showed only calmness and focus. The several silver swords surrounding her, formed from silver-white magic, began to disintegrate silently, transforming back into specks of pure silver-white light.

"The final blow..." Xiling murmured, gripping the hilt of the Holy Sword with both hands and slowly assuming a slashing stance.

"Then let's go."

At that very moment, the silvery-white magic surrounding him frantically converged and merged into the holy sword in his hand! The radiance of the holy sword was no longer a restrained sharpness, but began to burst forth and spread like the sun!

This light stood in stark contrast to the oppressive shadows of death looming down from the sky. It dispelled the gloom of death and forcibly pulled people back from the shadows, their eyes fixed blankly on the silvery-white light that pierced the darkness.

A glimmer of light appeared in the eyes of the numb, while those who longed for death were momentarily stunned.

hope!

The feeling was so unfamiliar yet so intense. In numb pupils, the long-lost light was rekindled; those who craved death froze in place in terror.

What was that? Everyone who witnessed that light felt an indescribable peace and tranquility welling up within them. Almost out of pure, irrational instinct, they reached out their hands toward the light—their spirits, eroded by madness and numbness, instinctively and greedily craved that light.

This is the Silver Light, born from the resonance between the "Hero" Xiling and the "Silver Law"!

At the same time, in Remian's mind, like a calm lake tossed with a pebble, countless voices, carrying the deepest prayers, resounded like a roar, transcending the barriers of space and soul:

"I want to live!"

"May eternal peace prevail..."

"Witness the future..."

When will order return...?

At that moment, Remien heard it—she heard the prayers, desires, and yearnings from every corner of Rodel, from every struggling heart! In that instant, the Silver Law responded! It never rejects any seeker; all who yearn are blessed!

At this moment, countless people yearning for the Silver Law were all bathed in a pure, silvery-white light! The royal city of Rodel and its vast surrounding area were instantly illuminated by thousands upon thousands of silver lights bursting forth from the ground! These lights were not isolated; like resonating stars, they echoed and connected with each other, ultimately converging into a vast and boundless ocean of light, piercing through the heavy darkness and tearing apart the gloom of death!

These lights gathered together, illuminating the night and also illuminating death.

In the center of this silvery-white sea of ​​light woven from the prayers of all living beings, the most dazzling "Silver King" Xiling and the "Beast" Maricus who controls death in the sky seemed to have reached the ultimate tacit understanding—they moved!

The shadow of death, the sword of Damocles hanging over the heads of all living beings, crashed down with the absolute power to end all things! And the silver pillar rising below seemed to transform into a sacred pillar supporting heaven and earth, resolutely meeting the sword of death!

Holy Sword—Slash!

boom--! ! !

The heavens and earth paled in comparison! The boundary between night and day shattered completely at this moment! Death and silver collided violently above Rodel! The instantaneous burst of light and impact shook the entire boundary! Countless creatures stared in horror at this extraordinary sight, holding their breath, their souls deeply moved by this unimaginable power!

Completely enveloped in dazzling silver light, the Black Sword Master Maricus let out a roar that shook the heavens! The sound was no longer pure savagery, but more like the mournful cry of a trapped beast on the verge of death! He clearly felt that the terrifying will of the Silver King in that pillar of light was like a raging flood, and he was a beast standing in front of this flood.

The torrent surged forth, relentlessly eroding His will's defenses. Resistance? In vain! He couldn't even maintain his footing amidst this deluge of will! The ferocious claws that gripped the black sword—the symbol of death—began to tremble violently under the impact of the silver will, power slowly slipping through his fingers... The hilt of the sword was slipping irrevocably from His grasp, bit by bit.

It's going to lose.

The pure and gentle silver-white light was not dazzling, but it carried an undeniable power that completely engulfed the shadow beast's figure.

It... lost.

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Sacred Scripture

The enormous beast's body and the black sword of death fell from the sky and crashed into the shattered dueling arena.

Maricus, its pupils unfocused, stared at the silver tree that blotted out the sky. It had lost, but this was its last loss. The premonition of death had arrived, but Maricus felt no fear; it even felt a heavy sense of relief.

Yes... it should have died long ago. What keeps it alive in the world is nothing more than a stubborn obsession that refuses to let go.

Looking at the sacred tree with its silvery radiance, Maricus felt an unprecedented sense of peace.

This feeling is just like when it was still by the side of the Eternal Queen Marika.

The faint, almost inaudible footsteps pounded across the gravel, reaching its fading hearing. It knew who was coming, but at this moment, its limbs and bones were like rotten, withered wood, and it had exhausted even the strength to lift a single claw.

Xiling stared at Maricus, whose body began to slowly dissipate.

"Is there anything else you want to say?" Xiling asked, her voice as calm as a casual greeting, yet it sounded exceptionally clear in the desolate ruins.

Silence lingered for a moment amidst the dust. A faint glimmer of light seemed to coalesce in Maricus's unfocused pupils with tremendous difficulty, and a hoarse, cracked voice, as if grinding sand, broke out of its crumbling mouth: "Where...is...the...Eternal Queen..."

“I didn’t kill her. But whether she is still the ‘Marika’ you remember… I don’t know.”

Maricus's massive body fell silent once more, only the faint rustling sound of its dissipating form testifying to its impending end. After a long while, the hoarse voice struggled to rise again, this time with a strange calm:

"Silver...the law..."

"...makes one feel... at ease..."

Its unfocused gaze seemed to pierce through Xiling, casting its gaze towards a distant future filled with bright hope: "The Silver...King...Ah..."

"Your...conquest...is not...over yet..."

"...But...I have...seen...the dawn..."

Xiling nodded slightly. "Yes, leave it to me."

After watching Maricus leave those words, Xiling's massive body, like embers that had burned out, quietly disintegrated and vanished in the invisible wind, turning into countless ashes and completely disappearing into the world. Only a deep, dark energy, seemingly capable of swallowing light, remained in its place—that was the unleashed Rune of Destiny, symbolizing absolute death.

The moment Maricus perished, the Death Runes, now freed from their restraints, immediately began to stir! A terrifying aura of death, like ink dripping into clear water, spread rapidly outwards, eroding and attempting to devour all life around it!

However......

Xiling raised his left hand, and with a slight thought, a vast and pure silver-white magic instantly appeared, like a holy cage woven by living beings, precisely and forcefully imprisoning the restless death rune! The death aura that tried to run rampant was like a venomous snake hitting an invisible barrier, immediately compressed and bound, unable to advance any further.

Having suppressed the source of death that was enough to overturn the border region, Xiling stepped forward, reached out and grasped the ball of death runes that was firmly locked by silver-white magic in her palm. After glancing at it, Xiling threw it into her Starry Cloak before walking towards the Silver Tree.

Wherever Xiling passed, the shattered earth, the bottomless cracks, the boulders overturned by the shockwave... all the scars left by the previous earth-shattering battle were silently healed and reshaped under his feet. The silvery magic was like a gentle hand of God, and the ground quickly returned to its smooth and flat state, as if the devastating battle had never happened.

Xiling walked into the interior of the Silver Tree, patted her chest proudly towards Luo Tianyi and Remy, and said, "How about it? Cool, right?"

Xiling then pointed her thumb to her chest and said, "This is—the power of a legendary hero! Do you understand the significance of this?"

"Wow—!!!" Luo Tianyi's reaction was extremely enthusiastic, her beautiful eyes seemed to sparkle with stars, and she clapped her hands vigorously, "That was amazing, Xiling! Absolutely awesome! That beam of light just now, and the way it repaired the ground in one go! Super—awesome!"

"Yes! That's really impressive, Xiling." Remian smiled gently and sincerely, and she gave Xiling two thumbs up without hesitation. "You did a fantastic job."

"Ahem," Xiling tried to suppress the wildly upturned corners of his mouth as he listened to his companion's undisguised praise, but he clearly failed. He waved his hand with feigned modesty, "It's nothing special, just basic stuff. Keep it low-key, keep it low-key."

Seeing Xiling's smug yet forced-to-be-low-key demeanor, Luo Tianyi and Leimiaoan exchanged a glance and smiled silently.

Just then, a message popped up on the chat panel from the Faded Ones requesting support.

Luo Tianyi, who was constantly monitoring the group messages, immediately suppressed her smile. She gave Xiling and Remy An a rather informal salute: "Calling from the front lines! I'm off!"

Xiling snapped out of her smugness and told Luo Tianyi, "Be careful on the road!"

"Relax, relax!" Luo Tianyi's voice lingered in the same spot, but she had already vanished without a trace in the light of the chat group's time-travel system activation.

Suddenly, only Xiling and Remian remained inside the tree, and the relaxed atmosphere seemed to settle down. Remian took a deep breath and turned to Xiling.

“Hiling,” Remian began, her voice a few decibels lower than usual, “there’s something I need to talk to you about.”

Sensing the unusual tone in Remien's voice, Xiling's relaxed expression vanished completely: "Yes, I'm listening."

Remian gently placed one hand on her lower abdomen, as if sensing the Elden Ring, and her expression became unusually complicated.

“Just now… when you were fighting against Maricus, the radiance that pierced the heavens and earth and contained the essence of the Silver Law that you ignited…” Remian’s voice was very soft, as if afraid of disturbing something, “was witnessed by the creatures in countless corners of the borderlands.”

She paused, as if sensing the vast and cacophony of echoes emanating from the magic ring within her body: "Those who witnessed that light... no matter how desperate they were, no matter if they had been numb, insane, or thirsting for death... at that moment, the same thing was ignited deep within them—a fierce yearning for the 'Silver Law'."

And so the law responded to them, and blessings descended upon them...

This should have been a cause for celebration. However, Remian's hand, which was covering her lower abdomen, suddenly clenched her clothes tightly, her knuckles turning slightly white from the force. Her face showed no trace of joyful relief, but rather was filled with deep worry.

“As a vessel of the law… I can clearly feel it…” Her voice lowered, carrying an almost painful insight, “Those who are awakened by the light in despair, what they grasp is not merely 'hope'…”

"It's more like a drowning person desperately grabbing onto the last piece of driftwood! Their numb minds are restarted by the intense stimulation, the suicidal rekindle their twisted will to live, and those driven mad by the shattering of the Golden Law gain temporary 'rationality'... but this 'rationality' is not a return to normalcy..."

Remian raised her head, looking directly into Xiling's eyes, her golden pupils churning with unease and sorrow: "What they all share is a kind of... absolute, fanatical worship, a worship... so intense it's heart-stopping..."

Remien knew this wasn't what she wanted, nor would it be what anyone else wanted. Looking at Remien's tightly clenched hands, Xiling already knew what the other was thinking.

Remien lowered her head, her long hair falling down, obscuring the confusion and chaotic thoughts churning in her eyes.

Just then, Xiling's steady footsteps stopped in front of her wheelchair.

Remi'an subconsciously looked up.

What came into view was Xiling, who was kneeling on one knee. The height of his knee was just right so that she could look him in the eye without having to look up. He raised his head, and beneath his silver hair, Xiling's eyes were focused and gentle as he looked straight into Remian's somewhat surprised and confused eyes.

Xiling's lips curved slightly upward, and her tone became exceptionally gentle: "Peace."

The familiar call made Remian respond almost instinctively in a soft voice, "I'm here..."

Xiling reached out and warmly grasped Remy's slightly cool hand, which rested on her lap. His palms offered a reassuring warmth. "Do you remember what I said?"

Under Remi's gaze, Xiling spoke, "Mutual help is something I once said, something I promised you, Remi, do you remember?"

Remien's fingertips curled slightly in Xiling's warm palm. She nodded gently, a look of reminiscence flashing in her eyes: "...Yes, I remember."

Xiling held Remian's hand in one hand, while raising his other hand solemnly to his chest—where his heart beat. "So," his voice was clearer:

"If you feel lost, just call upon me."

"If you are confused, call upon me."

"Call me if you need help."

Xiling gazed into Remian's eyes and uttered her final vow with unwavering resolve: "I am here, I will always be here."

Looking at Xiling's earnest, almost vow-like expression, Remyane's worries, confusion, and anxieties about the future of the borderlands instantly vanished, replaced by a sense of peace.

Seeing the hero kneeling on one knee, holding her hand, Remy stood up and gently offered him her embrace.

Xiling let Remy Ann hug her.

Remien gently pressed her cheek against Xiling's head, feeling this real sense of security. A relieved and warm smile finally appeared on her lips, and her voice was as soft as a whisper: "Thank you, Xiling."

Sensing that Remien had calmed down, Xiling's voice rang with laughter: "What are you thanking me for? We're comrades who fought side by side! As a hero, if I can't even bring peace of mind to my companions..."