【 " This answer is hardly surprising. " 】

【 " They are not just my companions, but also the path I walked to reach this point. " Dan Heng placed a hand over his chest and said word by word, " Therefore, they will also serve as my signposts when I am lost, leading to the future until the next ' cycle '. " 】

【 The corners of Dan Feng's mouth finally curved up slightly: " Then let me see how you intend to uphold this conviction. " 】

【 " Leave this place, go find that crazy demigod... and settle things once and for all. " 】

【 After Dan Heng passed through this cave, outside was a long corridor where the faint sounds of battle between Lord Broken Blade and Lord Winter Rain could still be heard. 】

【 " Desolate Flute has defected! Legion, charge with me! " 】

【 " Heh, a beast is a beast after all. " 】

【 Ahead were also the phantoms of Lord Yinfeng and Lord Yeshi. Piles upon piles of countless corpses lay around them, and even Dan Heng could seemingly smell that lingering stench of blood from his memories. 】

【 " This battle is far too cruel... " 】

【 " Let it be a necessary sacrifice for the Flame-Chasing. " 】

【 After passing through a heavy door, before them was another group of soldiers wielding swords and sabers, led by Cerydra pointing forward with her cane. 】

【 " Oh earth-shackled crouching dragon, you shall go down in history for slaying your master! " 】

【 Looking at the dense crowd of figures beside him, Dan Feng couldn't help letting out a long sigh: " Entangled memories. Another betrayal, another catastrophe. " 】

【 " It seems that no matter whose memories these belong to, Desolate Flute is always the protagonist among them. " 】

【 " A beast that spent its whole life in ' rebellion '... It is not hard to understand why it has gone this mad. " 】

【 As the group penetrated deeper, the tremors of the earth grew increasingly intense, and soon they spotted that familiar figure ahead. 】

【 " As expected, someone has been waiting for us for a long time. " 】

【 "... " Hysilens looked up at the Mountain People before her, a trace of confusion flashing in her eyes: " How could it be you... " 】

【 " They have arrived... " The Mountain People raised its head and gazed into the distance, " The scion of the ' Permanence ', and... your former comrade. My old friend, Desolate Flute... Enjoy it to your heart's content. Let this tide of memories devour everything. " 】

" —— "

Akame ga Kill!

" ？ "

" Wait, what does he mean by that? He... is not Desolate Flute?! "

Tatsumi's mind went blank for a second, and after his lips trembled a few times, he managed to squeeze out the second half of his thought: " So, this is actually a trap? Just to lure Dan Heng and the others here? "

" Calling Desolate Flute an ' old friend ', and Hysilens knows him too; it seems this person is quite prestigious in Caesar's Flame-Chasing team. " Najenda looked up and down at the tall Mountain People, momentarily baffled by its actions: " He wants to use Dan Heng and Hysilens as sacrifices. Could he possibly think that as long as the ' Earth ' devours the scion of the Permanence, he can obtain the Dragon-Transformation Arcanum? "

" I think it should be that Desolate Flute was infected by the Black Tide. " Mine continued to guess along the big sister's line of thought, " I remember it was mentioned before that the Black Tide would first invade Amphoreus's pillars, which are the sky, ocean, and earth. After Desolate Flute inherited the divine priesthood of the earth, it was also contaminated by the Black Tide... and then became out of its mind, finally turning its spearhead towards Caesar. "

" I feel the timeline doesn't match up. Even if Desolate Flute was infected by the Black Tide, that should have only happened after Cerydra's Death. " Tatsumi lowered his head in thought, " However, I agree with one point: Desolate Flute's body must have suffered irreversible damage, which is why that Mountain People was driven to desperation and decided to ambush Dan Heng, hoping to use the Dragon-Transformation Arcanum to cure Desolate Flute. "

" Then he's got quite a lot of nerve. Even after seeing the memories related to Dan Heng in the tide of memories, he still dared to make a move against him. " Hearing this, Leone couldn't help laughing out loud, " Could he really want to experience the Dragon Elder's strength firsthand? That's a figure even the Flame Reaver couldn't take down for a while! "

" —— "

【 " Lord Dan Heng, we must prepare for the worst: the Mountain People before us must not be underestimated... " Hysilens reminded him cautiously, " ' The Mountain Opener ' Geocles... Dragon Knight of the Earth, long time no see. " 】

【 Dan Heng was slightly taken aback: " The Mountain Opener? He... is not Desolate Flute? " 】

【 " I remember you, little fish, and your despicable master. " 】

【 " I didn't expect you to still be alive. " 】

【 " For the Mountain People, Death is merely returning to the earth. Thanks to the grace of ' Evernight '... I was able to return to the mortal world and watch over my dearest friend — that ' Earth ' demigod who sacrificed in vain for the conspiracy of Flame-Chasing. " Geocles lowered his head to look at Dan Heng, " Scion of the dragon, you are the most important offering in this sacrifice: no matter how resilient the will is, it will eventually be swallowed by the tide of memories. At that time, you, and the power you carry, will belong to us all... " 】

【 " Awaken the fallen dragon with the ' Permanence ', and let the ' Earth ' grow undying flesh and blood! " 】

【 Having heard the other party's scheming plan, Dan Heng's face remained expressionless, and he still said indifferently: " I see, you pretended to be Desolate Flute... in order to make us pursue you all the way here and walk right into a trap. " 】

【 Hysilens: " For the tomorrow of Amphoreus, it made the correct choice. " 】

【 " But in the tomorrow you speak of, there is only room for ' humans '. " Geocles opened his arms, " Old friend, look... I will whip up the wildfires once again and burn down the shackles that bind you and me! " 】

【 Hysilens raised her hand to stop Dan Heng: " Leave this place to me, Lord Dan Heng. Use that secret path to cross to the other side; Stelle might be even deeper within — — " 】

【 " No, let me stay here. " 】

【 Unexpectedly, Dan Heng stepped forward without hesitation. 】

【 " ' The Mountain Opener ', hero of the Mountain People. If I do not triumph here, he will surely die an ugly Death in the delusional obsession of the ' Permanence '. This should not be his ending. And as for the pest that stubbornly obstructs the Astral Express and threatens the fate of the world... " 】

【 " Along this journey, we have stood at the edge of cliffs countless times, coerced by danger to make difficult choices. But this time — — " 】

【 Cloud-Piercer appeared out of thin air in Dan Heng's hand, its spear tip tracing a blindingly bright arc amidst the surrounding raging flames. 】

【 " It is my turn to put pressure on this world. " 】

" —— "

Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid.

" Dan Heng is truly reassuring. "

Looking at Dan Heng's solid back in the Celestial Screen, Kobayashi inexplicably thought of those male classmates in her class during middle school who had exceptionally good grades. She always had a feeling that if Dan Heng went to school, he would definitely be that kind of quiet yet ridiculously good-at-school type of cool-faced handsome boy in the class.

March 7th, on the other hand, was the type who was very popular among girls.

In contrast, Stelle was quite chaotic; she should be the kind of person who got along well no matter where she went, yet nobody could guess what she would do next... She could be called a combination of reliability and abstraction, but she never lacked that refreshing sense of surprise.