At the canyon pass, Mo Tingquan, who had been fighting fiercely against the enemy, now knelt on the ground, letting out agonized roars. Countless golden branches sprouted from his flesh, growing wildly and extending leaves that shattered his battle armor inch by inch.
"Ahhhh——"
Mo Tingquan clutched his head, his nails digging deep into his scalp as if trying to physically tear the maddening voice from his mind. But he could not.
The golden branches and leaves quickly covered his entire body. His once clear and spirited eyes gradually gave way to a turbid, blood-red hue.
"Senior Mo Tingquan..." Jingliu tightened her grip on the sword in her hand.
She knew the rules. Every Cloud Knight knew them. Once a comrade fell to mara, they were no longer a fellow soldier but a mara-struck that had to be eliminated.
Yet this was Mo Tingquan.
He was the only remaining Cloud Knight Vanguard from Cangcheng besides her master, and also her master's comrade of hundreds of years. After centuries, the number of surviving Cangcheng natives had already grown painfully few.
Mo Tingquan struggled to lift his head and look into the distance. On his face, now unrecognizable, a faint, weak, almost pleading expression flickered for the last time.
Jingliu felt the sword in her hand grow heavy as a thousand pounds.
Just as she gritted her teeth and resolved to act, a blurry shadow swept past her side.
Thud!
The sound of a sharp blade piercing flesh was faint, yet unmistakably clear.
Kanzaki appeared before Mo Tingquan. His sword precisely stabbed into the vital organ, sword intent spreading and shattering it completely.
The roars ceased abruptly.
Mo Tingquan's body stiffened. The blood-red in his eyes receded like a tide, restoring a moment of sanity. Looking at his old comrade of hundreds of years standing before him, the corners of his mouth twitched with difficulty, as if trying to force a relieved smile.
Two seconds later, he slowly fell backward. The golden branches covering his body rapidly withered and scattered with the wind.
Kanzaki stood holding his sword, unmoving for a long time. He lowered his gaze to Mo Tingquan's gradually cooling corpse, his face expressionless, as if he had simply slain an ordinary enemy.
"Master..."
Witnessing this scene, a rare pang of sorrow passed through Jingliu's heart. Her eyes grew complex.
"This is the fate of the long-life species of the Xianzhou."
Kanzaki did not turn around. His back remained to Jingliu, his voice terrifyingly calm.
"In the future, I might become like this too."
He paused, his tone carrying an undeniable command.
"If one day I fall to mara on the battlefield, you must act just as your master did today. Without any mercy. Do you understand?"
Jingliu shuddered.
If that day came... would she have to kill her master with her own hands?
If at that time it was the only release left for him... Shadows fell over Jingliu's face as images that still haunted her nightmares resurfaced in her mind.
That day, her master had ended his mother's life with his own hands.
The difference was that back then he had not stepped forward actively, but waited for his mother to approach him.
The similarity was that there had not been the slightest hesitation when he drew his sword.
"Yes... Master..."
Jingliu replied softly.
She did not notice that deep within her master's eyes, a terrifying brutality was quietly churning.
Kanzaki thrust his sword into the ground, bent down, and gathered the remains of his former comrade.
Another one gone...
Only a few of Cangcheng's remnants had left descendants before passing. More had fallen to mara at six or seven hundred years of age, to be received and extinguished by the judges of the Ten-Lords Commission.
Up to the present star calendar year 6745, after Mo Tingquan fell to mara, only eighty-eight remained alive, all already at high-risk ages.
Perhaps in not many years, the descendants of Cangcheng's remnants would gradually forget that long-shattered ancestral homeland as time continued its relentless march.
Kanzaki straightened up again and stomped his foot hard on the ground.
The earth trembled.
An invisible wave spread outward, sweeping over countless Borisin bodies. The moment it touched them, every last one turned to ashes. The wave contracted back, carrying the power familiar to Kanzaki, and fell silent.
The mara-struck were completely annihilated. The crisis had finally been resolved.
When they counted the casualties, the unit led by Mo Tingquan had totaled three million, with just over seventy thousand sacrifices. In the desperate situation of being ambushed by Hoolay, keeping the losses this low was the utmost he could have achieved.
He had not betrayed the will of The Hunt, nor the Xianzhou, nor the comrades who had entrusted their lives and trust to him. He had fought to the very end.
The master and disciple did not immediately lead the troops back to Xianzhou Yaoqing. They first slaughtered every remaining mara-struck in the entire Yinghuo Star Sector before beginning the return journey.
The sacrifice of a Cloud Knight Vanguard was a heavy loss, even for the martial Xianzhou. At most two Valiant Guards were promoted every five years.
In the Cloud Knights' Exclusive Memorial Cavern, flowing clouds hung like plain silk around verdant, tranquil mountains. White cranes skimmed over the mirror-like lake, their long cries echoing and accentuating the solemnity and peace of the place.
General Zhuiyun posthumously awarded Mo Tingquan the honor of martyr, buried him with grandeur, and recorded his name in the Xianzhou's Annals of Heroes and Martyrs, to be revered by future generations forever.
Kanzaki and the others saluted in unison. Their expressions varied, but the heaviness in their eyes was the same.
The next day, Kanzaki visited the General's Mansion alone.
"You want to retire from the military?"
After hearing his request, General Zhuiyun was slightly taken aback. Only then did he realize the profound exhaustion and helplessness hidden beneath countless illustrious military achievements.
It had been 445 years since Cangcheng's destruction. Back then Kanzaki had been six hundred years old. Now he was one thousand and forty-five.
Throughout the entire history of the Xianzhou Alliance, Cloud Knights who lived to this age were few and far between. Moreover, over all these years he had never shown signs of falling to mara.
"Yes, General."
Kanzaki's expression remained calm, his words concise.
"Your subordinate has surpassed a thousand years by several decades. Though I wish to continue fighting, my body is gradually feeling unable to sustain it."
"This is your subordinate's Post-Battle Inspection Report. Please review it, General."
Zhuiyun took the report transmitted from the Jade Token Terminal and examined it carefully. He could not help but sigh deeply.
The report showed that while Kanzaki's spirit was unimpaired, it was no longer as stable as in previous years. Besides the Medical Conclusions from the Alchemy Commission, there were also Divination Annotations from the Divination Commission.
Both reports ultimately pointed out the same conclusion: if Kanzaki continued to view life and death as lightly as before and threw himself into Hunt expeditions, the probability of him falling to mara on the battlefield was no less than seventy percent. And as battles grew fiercer and more frequent, this probability would only rise.
By both emotion and reason, he should no longer fight. It was time to step down from the front lines and return to an ordinary life.
"Valiant Guard Kanzaki, thank you for your centuries of service to the Alliance and to Xianzhou Yaoqing."
Zhuiyun closed the report, his expression solemn, and bowed respectfully to Kanzaki.
"From today onward, you are honorably discharged."