Lord of Winter: Beginning with Daily Intelligence

Chapter 871: Chapter 468: Monster (2)

Lava flowed among these skeletons like veins, delivering the blazing light to every joint.

The entire basin was instantly illuminated.

At that moment, Kaelin finally understood that this was never just terrain; it was a curled-up body.

As that gigantic body stretched, the air was forcibly compressed, emitting a deep explosive sound.

The edges of the basin began to move, and what was thought to be ridges were actually its coiled limbs.

Then, a head so enormous it defied perception descended from the night sky.

The head was a polyhedral structure composed of countless precision-cut diamond facets, each angle reflecting molten gold light.

It looked down upon the five thousand Heavy Knights struggling and melting in the golden liquid in the center of the basin, without anger or disdain.

Just as humans look at food that has fallen into a bowl.

Kaelin’s sanity shattered entirely at that moment.

He saw familiar flags melting, saw Personal Guard Knights frantically beating within their armor yet unable to escape, saw generals who once charged alongside him being gradually sealed by the steel they once prided upon.

“Enough——!!” he roared hoarsely, as if tearing his throat.

Thanks to the high proportions of precious metals in the Royal ceremonial armor, and his own formidable fighting energy, he barely broke free from the terrifying gravity targeting iron.

He chose not to flee but turned around to look behind him.

In that not yet completely submerged area, nearly a thousand Extraordinary Knights were standing with difficulty, having broken free from constraints.

Their armors were burned red hot, their fighting energy was nearly out of control, some had cloaks already on fire, and some had steeds fallen with mourning.

This was the Empire’s final edge.

Kaelin raised the sword he held before it broke, lifting it high above his head.

“Those who can still move,” his voice was hoarse but exceptionally clear, “charge with me!”

There were no grand speeches, no chants of Empire long live, only a cruel order.

Hundreds of Extraordinary Knights lifted their heads.

They saw the diamond head covering the sky, saw the terrifying body spanning the earth, and also saw their comrades being melted alive in the center of the basin.

Fear still existed, but more was a determination with no retreat.

They raised their weapons simultaneously, the remaining fighting energy entirely ignited at this moment.

Hundreds of figures started together at the edge of the rolling golden sea of corpses, charging towards that gigantic entity for the final assault!

“Kill!”

Kaelin led at the forefront, advancing on melting steel and flesh, burning his fighting energy to the limit, and losing life with each breath.

He drew the sword that had accompanied him for years in battle, its blade engraved with the emblems of royal authority and glory.

Squeezing out all the fighting energy he could muster, his blood vessels bulged, the energy burned uncontrollably, and crimson light exploded around him.

This was his strongest strike in life.

“Monster——!!” His voice was pitifully small in the vast basin, yet carried a sense of dying heroism.

The Extraordinary Fighting Energy transformed into a strike condensed to the extreme, tearing through the air, slashing fiercely at the lower limb of that mountain-sized figure.

It hit, the moment the sword’s edge contacted the leg structure made of high-purity diamond.

“Ding.” A crisp, clear sound.

The energy strike that could cleave rock was completely nullified the instant it made contact, not even leaving a white mark.

The recoil traveled back along the sword, and Kaelin felt his arms numb, with excruciating pain in the arm he once lost.

The next second, the sword that had accompanied him for years began to fracture from the tip, inch by inch, with fragments falling into the golden liquid, instantly swallowed.

He stood there, with only a broken hilt left in his hand.

The entity did not even lower its head because of this; it merely continued its action of standing up.

Then, the diamond head slightly leaned forward.

A not-completely-regular fissure opened between its facets, and in the depths of the fissure, darkness began to swirl, manifesting a visible distortion forming in the air.

A deep vibration sound came from within its body, like billions of pieces of metal being drawn towards a single center.

In the center of the basin, those knights who could no longer move, flesh welded into armor, broken weapons and barding, were forcibly pulled from the gold liquid by an irresistible force.

Some struggled frantically in the air, futilely trying to unfasten buckles long fused with flesh.

Some screamed in a dissonant wail in the moment of weightlessness, calling out for mother, wife, or commands to a legion no longer hearing.

Others clung tightly to a comrade’s corpse, as if by not letting go they could fall back to the ground together.

The entire legion was dismantled into pieces, or ground into fragments, transforming into a black storm that rolled and collided mid-air, then was dragged into that slowly opening huge mouth.

Kaelin stood still.

He watched as layers of his legion were swept away, saw flags burn in the air, saw each figure of Extraordinary Knights struggled at the vortex’s edge for a moment before disappearing completely.

Finally, his body too abruptly lightened, losing contact under his feet, pulled skyward by that irresistible force.

In the moment of losing weight, he saw below only a rolling sea of molten gold, devoid of any living soldiers.

The last Prince, in the final moment before being drawn into the diamond maw, had only one thought flash in his mind.

This world is doomed…