"Do you have time for treatment?"

The huge thunder sword pierced through the mist, tearing apart the thunderclouds. The Greyheart Knight slowly rose from the long ruins, exuding a terrifying battle aura all over his body, echoing the rampant aura emanating from George in the distance.

A thunder sword emerged horizontally from the back of the Greyheart Knight, as if all the surrounding thunderous energies were absorbed into this sword, making it narrower and more slender instead.

Its thunderous appearance was like a fierce roaring female beast. The Greyheart Knight slightly bent forward in a swift charge, gripping the thunder sword on his back in the most outstanding posture of a hunter in the Middle Eastern desert.

"The only difference between you now and a fish on the cutting board is..."

"Is that you're not on the cutting board."

The temperament of this thunder sword was clearly different from the one the Greyheart Knight used to stab Xiangfei before. This sword now seemed to be born specifically for slaying gods. Arcs of electricity floated around the sword like thunderstorms blossoming with nowhere to land.

"The volcanic mode is almost here... Looks like I'll have to tough it out with magic against this fellow."

"You've done well enough, Merka. Step aside."

George looked at the Greyheart Knight, brimming with momentum, and with a clear exhale, his own aura began to rise steadily.

But Merka didn't leave, he leaned in next to George, one hand embracing the Duke's sturdy waist that bulged with muscles, and whispered softly into her ear.

"This might not be a good idea, Your Grace..."

"If you use part of your power to neutralize the magic, there's a good chance you won't be able to kill it."

George turned back, asking incredulously, "What should I do then? If I choose to dodge the front, but still end up not evading, won't the one who dies be me?"

"Do you trust me...?"

Merka said steadily.

At seventeen or eighteen years old, his eyes seemed to contain the whole vast universe, supporting and infecting human nature with a sense of insignificance.

On normal days, George would have been eager to get to know such a handsome guy better.

But entrusting his own life to him now...this made it hard for George to smile about it.

"You don't need to do anything... Just watch ahead quietly."

"No need to evade, no need to defend."

"Just choose the latest moment to launch an attack."

"Remember, it must be the latest moment."

"Leave the rest to me."

One hand hooked around George's muscle-filled waist, and Merka's other hand firmly settled on George's shoulder.

The Duke of George understood inside that Merka might actually have a plan. And what he said was quite right – if his strike had its power dispersed by the opponent's magic, he may be powerless to continue the fight against this angel.

But can a forty-year-old person like herself listen to the battle plan of a young boy over twenty years younger?

No time for further thought, an endless cloud of dust rolled in.

The vast desert seemed to strike from a distance.

The raging thunder coiled in the low sky like a dragon, as if the golden land beneath it had not seen rain for a thousand years, now dancing in celebration.

The scattered pebbles, broken tiles, chunks of earth, all felt elated by the power that had reshaped the world from ancient times.

George suddenly felt as if she were deep in the endless desert, with the raging thunder like the sword of Damocles hanging overhead, leaving no escape, no resistance.

"Duke...! Trust me!"

This call woke up George, and she set up her magic stance, fully focused on facing the mighty Greyheart Knight head-on.

"Die!"

Finally, the Greyheart Knight drew the thunder sword from behind.

Every movement and moment thereafter seemed to be stripped of several frames in an instant. Before anyone could see his actions clearly, he had already sprinted to the vicinity of Duke George.

However, with Bastet's magic to speed up reactions, Merka clearly saw the Greyheart Knight's path of progress and the direction of his attack.

"Shadow! Portal!"

Merka shouted.

The Shadow, who had already known Merka's plan through telepathy, was prepared.

A richly nuanced iron chain of hyacinth color swiftly emerged from underground beneath Duke George, fiercely dragging her into the void behind her, avoiding the Greyheart Knight's devastating blow.

"Right now!"

"What...!?"

Duke George, prepared with magic, instantly appeared from behind the Greyheart Knight. In the Greyheart Knight's startled gaze, Duke George's lips slightly parted, uttering the most terrifying incantation of the Montecristo lineage.

"Tocamak Ring Hot Model • Nuclear Fusion."

In the truest sense, a "sun" condensed in the hands of Duke George, piercing straight into the body of the Greyheart Knight.

A massive broadsword, one meter wide, vertically pierced the Greyheart Knight's chest like cutting through tofu, swiftly depriving him of all life.