Chapter 755: Chapter 18 Distance_3

Long after, Gongsun Ce still remembered that afternoon, remembered the conversation at the dinner table. The observation skills he had learned had never been forgotten, already etched into his heart, but he could not recall who they had all guessed or what exactly was said. He only remembered the warm sunlight that afternoon, the soothing music playing in the restaurant, and the gleam in Alandia’s grey eyes. Her lips parted, uttering words that impressed him, without any special gestures, yet she looked so beautiful.

Her smile lingered at the corners of her mouth, faint as if it were an illusion.

It seemed as if the distance between them had genuinely narrowed. But at the moment, he only felt sincere happiness in their conversation, having long since forgotten his original purpose.

At the headquarters of the Knight Order, in the Heart Phase Weapon workshop.

While Gongsun Ce chatted idly with Alandia, another Superpower User was engaged in a lively exchange with some passionately talkative uncles.

“Mr. Mo is truly a young talent!” “Genius ideas!” “Would you consider establishing a long-term partnership when you return to Sky City?” “Exactly, we could pressure Gafri to allocate funding for you.” “Get out of here, our Mage Academy will recruit him first!”

“Everyone flatters me too much,” Mo Yuankai said repeatedly, bowing his hands in thanks. In that room, other than him, there were a bunch of muscle-bound uncles with headscarves and old Mages leaning on large wooden staffs, their eyes shining and their persuasive tones making him feel an unusual familiarity in a foreign land. It was only when someone suggested adding a self-splitting module to the armor that he suddenly realized—these people had the same demeanor as the lab-coat-wearing intellectuals from Sky City.

Do all you scientific researchers think alike? Don’t tell me some of them are your brothers from the same sect!

“Tomorrow I’ll test if the Barrier core module can respond, and if successful, we should be able to verify the feasibility of the plan. Let’s leave it at that for now, see you all later!”

Mo Yuankai quickly slipped out of the sweat-scented room, wiping the sweat from his brow. Knight Rakael happened to be passing by and looked at him with grateful eyes, startling Mo Yuankai into waving his hands, “No worries, it’s nothing, I’m almost finished here. Where did Miss Orianna go?”

“Knight Orianna is practicing her swordsmanship, Mr. Mo,” Rakael said with a troubled expression.

Mo Yuankai recalled the heavy sword wrapped tightly in red cloth and then thought of the myth he had heard on the plane.

“The Holy Sword that repelled the giant dragon?”

“Yes, it’s incredibly powerful, and hence very dangerous. Only the kindest, purest Knight is worthy of wielding the Final Sword…” Rakael led him towards the practice ground, “Even then, it’s extremely difficult to wield.”

They arrived at Orianna’s private practice ground. The wide area was enclosed on all sides by transparent materials, like a cage in a zoo. Dozens of fully armed Knights stood guard outside the transparent walls, and the ground of the duel arena was inscribed with layers upon layers of complex Arrays. Knight Orianna, clad in heavy armor and wielding the great sword, stood on one side of the field. The blood-red cloth that had sealed the sword had been removed, revealing its gleaming silver blade, as Holy as King Morton’s weapon in the legends.

A man in a dark blue military uniform stood opposite Orianna, his face stern, holding an épée. He placed one hand behind his back and shouted, “Please proceed, Seventh Knight!”

“Yes!”

Orianna held her sword with both hands, slashing at the man in the military uniform. Her movements were flawless, honed through rigorous training, but the sword itself reacted abnormally. A streak of black light, shadow-like, flashed down the center of the giant sword, shooting straight towards Orianna’s hands.

She didn’t even manage to launch a true attack. The giant sword slipped from her grasp mid-swing, the intense repulsion knocking the Seventh Knight into the air, like a bird unfortunate enough to be struck by lightning.

“She is someone who loves peace from the bottom of her heart,” Rakael sighed, “But the sword is a weapon of slaughter.”

The man in the military uniform set down his épée, sighing silently. Orianna fell to the ground and then stood up, supporting herself with her hands. She didn’t notice the arrival of the onlookers; her entire focus was on the sword. She picked up the giant sword, took her stance. She tried once again, failed once again, and then tried once more.

Like a bird with broken wings that still yearns for the sky, she never gave up.