Chapter 180: Can It Be?

Mrs. Aisal twisted her wrist, and the Acacia Flower suddenly burst, turning into countless specks of light that rained down.

Each speck of light entered an Acacia Flower Knight's body, and the vine patterns on their breastplates instantly came alive, pulsing like veins.

"…to reap."

Mrs. Aisal's lips curled into a chilling curve.

"Duke Hok has colluded with the remnants of the Mechanical Church, seeking to wreak havoc on the Western Realm. For the Western Realm, we must act."

In response, the Acacia Flower Knight Order collectively drew their swords and pointed them skyward.

In Leo's white pupils reflected the brilliance of the Acacia Flower; he let out a cold snort and slammed his heavy sword into the ground.

"Crack—"

Using the blade as the center, spiderweb-like cracks instantly spread for a hundred meters, breaching an underground water channel, and the water surged upward like a fountain.

"Knights of the Knight Guild!" Leo's single eye swept over the two second-tier strongmen behind him, "Three hundred years ago we drove the Mechanical Church out of the Western Realm."

He drew his sword and pointed toward the disintegrating castle ahead, pale flames igniting on the blade.

"Today we can nail Duke Hok dead before the gates of Upper Oberdi! For the Western Realm, for glory! For the Knight Guild."

"For the Western Realm! For the Knight Guild! For glory!"

Mrs. Aisal and Leo locked eyes, and the two leaders raised their hands simultaneously.

"Acacia Flower Knights, obey!"

"Guild Knights, obey!"

The auras of fifteen legendary strongmen erupted thunderously, causing the heavens and earth to change color.

Four second-tier strongmen leapt into the air, the energy surrounding them warping space.

"After today!" Mrs. Aisal's Acacia Flower staff pointed at Duke Hok's silhouette atop the castle, "The Western Realm will no longer suffer the calamity of machines!"

"Kill!"

"Kill!!"

"Kill!!!"

The roar of three thousand Iron Riders shattered the clouds, and the storm they surged created ground that pulverized the massive stones along the way into dust.

The frontmost knight's long spear was entwined with Acacia Poison Mist and Star Marrow flames; wherever it passed, the ground cracked and the air burned.

At the forefront of the charging torrent, Mrs. Aisal and Leo became a violet and a white streak of light, respectively, and were the first to plunge into the temporarily summoned Star Gate.

The decisive battle now sounds its start!

The award ceremony scene.

"After today, the Western Realm will usher in a new birth!"

Duke Hok's speech spread throughout the city via Star Marrow energy.

In the square, newly inducted knights were forced onto Mechanical Modification Platforms, their spines implanted with glowing Star Marrow crystals.

The attending nobles had not yet realized that those crystals were silently emitting energy waves that rewrote consciousness.

Suddenly, the plaza tiles displayed Acacia Flower patterns.

"Now," Mrs. Aisal's voice rang from all directions, "Please behold what true destruction is!"

Twelve violet‑gold pillars of light shot upward, precisely striking twelve hidden nodes in the square.

Amid the violent shaking of the crust, a Star Gate made of pure energy rose from the ground.

It is a simple Star Gate, capable only of short-range teleportation, yet it can decide the war's course at a critical moment.

Duke Hok looked at everything before him and roared, "Knight Guild, have you forgotten who lent you a hand in the dire moment?"

Before Duke Hok's roar faded, twelve violet‑gold chains suddenly shot out from the Star Gate, coiling around his limbs like poisonous snakes.

Mrs. Aisal's figure stepped out from a twisted spacetime fissure, the tip of her Acacia Flower staff blooming with eerie light.

"Lend us a hand?" she sneered, lightly tapping her staff, "Do you mean using Star Marrow to control the three Legendary Knights under my command?"

"Pfft!"

The chains suddenly tightened, and the duke's mechanical armor emitted a strained groan.

The Star Marrow crystal in his chest flickered wildly, trying to break free, but Leo's figure leapt out from the opposite Star Gate, his heavy sword bearing pale flame slashing down from above!

"Clang—!"

At the critical moment, the duke's mechanical wings suddenly unfolded, six alloy blade limbs bracing the heavy sword.

On the viewing platform, the newly modified knights suddenly turned en masse, golden light blazing in their eyes, launching a suicidal charge toward the Star Gate.

"Form the array!"

Three legendary strongmen of the Acacia Flower Knight Order simultaneously formed seals, the wildly growing Acacia vines on the ground forming a wall of thorns.

The first mechanical knight that crashed into them was instantly pierced by the vines, but the Star Marrow energy exploding inside also blasted a huge gap in the thorns.

"Second squad, switch to armor‑piercing arrows!"

The rear sharpshooters of the Knight Guild's knight order swiftly seized the high ground.

The moment the arrowheads ignited, the temperature of the entire square dropped sharply, and the moisture in the air along the arrows' paths condensed into icy crystal trails.

"Swoosh swoosh swoosh—"

Three arrows pierced the head of a mechanical knight at the pinnacle of a Legendary Knight, pinning it to a copper pillar on the ceremony stage.

The frozen Star Marrow crystal cracked with a "Kak" sound, revealing a beating human brain inside.

On the other side of the square, inside the duke's mansion.

Robin's Tang Sword silently sliced the throat of the last guard.

Windbell's eyes glowed with a faint blue hue in the darkness; she lightly tapped the corridor wall with her fingertips, and data streams spread like ripples on water.

"The ledger is in the master study's triple‑encrypted safe," she whispered, "but Duke Hok's private steward is a bishop of the Mechanical Church, with terrifying second‑tier power, monitoring the entire mansion. We have only a three‑minute window."

Robin's pupils narrowed slightly; at the end of the corridor, a headless mechanical knight's corpse twitched eerily, the Star Marrow crystal in its spine flashing with dangerous red light.

"That thing is sending an alarm." He gripped the sword hilt, "We must settle this quickly."

Feng Ling's mechanical interface stabbed into the Entry Level lock; the gear-turning sound had just reached the third click when Robin suddenly yanked her back violently!

"Boom!"

The spot where he had been standing was smashed to pieces by a falling metal spike cage from the ceiling.

The study door slid open automatically, revealing a breathtaking sight: hundreds of ledgers floated in the room, each wrapped in a star‑marrow energy field, while the floor was covered with precise gravity‑sensing traps.

"Typical Huo Ke style." Feng Ling sneered, "They're displaying the evidence as art."

"Found it!" She pointed to the black leather ledger at the center, embossed with a gear emblem, "But the moment we take it out, the Night Watch will…"

Robin's blade was faster than her words.

The Tang Sword flew from his hand, its blade blazing with stellar patterns.

As the sword tip pierced the ledger's cover, the room's defense system suddenly fell into an eerie stillness.

Robin caught the falling ledger, flipped through a few pages, confirmed it was his target this time, and said, "Now we can withdraw."

The alarm suddenly echoed through the manor.

The Duke's Manor's alarm was transmitted to Duke Huo Ke at once; his face instantly changed as he looked toward Lady Aishar and Leo.

"Do you still have spare manpower?"

Lady Aishar smirked: "He's just a second‑stage Knight; I don't know if the Night Watch in your manor can stop him."

(End of chapter)