Chapter 516 284: I lost.

Baron narrowed his eyes. "And how can you guarantee that?"

Jill Hestia immediately cut his palm with his longsword, using the blade to guide the blood and draw a faintly glowing Cross in midair.

Elder Pence turned pale with shock. He shouted at the stunned Griffin Knights, "Stop him! Hurry and stop him!"

The Griffin Knights moved to obey, but they had barely taken half a step before a Griffin Feather shot past them, forcing them back.

Elder Pence was stunned. "Jill… what are you doing? What do you think you're doing! Are you mad?!"

Jill Hestia said coldly, "Elder Pence, I know what I'm doing. I've never been more clear-headed in my life. This clarity is even greater than when I first forged my pact with the Knight Law."

He said, "I don't know if Baron Constantin was the one who murdered Anthony, but Roy Hestia has undoubtedly betrayed the Knight Law. He joined the Dragon Eater Association; it's an undeniable fact that he has forsaken the spirit of a Knight."

"As Roy Hestia's older brother and the deputy leader of the Griffin Knight Order, I am responsible for atoning for all the sins he has committed."

Elder Pence said, "What if you fail! Are you really going to help Baron Constantin escape? You can't possibly hold back so many Law Enforcement Organizations! You're the eldest son of the Hestia Family! Remember the duty you carry!"

Just then, the heavily injured Celestial Horse Knight was helped to his feet by the Wild Boar Knight. A Law Enforcer had already explained the situation to him, so he mostly understood what was going on. He joined in, trying to dissuade Jill.

"Mr. Jill, I understand how you feel, but the Holy Hall will never approve of this decision."

"Besides…" His gaze grew complicated as he looked at the man surrounded by the crowd. Those Golden Eyes were still shining brightly. "Baron Constantin is far from as simple as you think."

'Hey, hey, hey... why am I getting déjà vu? It feels like I'm the final Demon King, and the Hero is about to come at me with the power of love, justice, and friendship to take me down.'

Baron checked on the [Illusory Cocoon]. 'The cooldown still has a little while to go. If I can stall for just a bit longer, I should be able to make a break for it.'

Jill said, "I know. But this is something I must do. I will not allow my heart as a Knight to be tarnished!"

His words were resolute and powerful.

Baron thought that, putting aside that bully of a brother, Roy, this fiancé fellow was actually a decent young man.

"Mr. Jill, don't do anything foolish!" someone in the crowd shouted.

Hearing the voice, Jill looked toward Freya, who was also standing stunned in the crowd. His expression suddenly softened, but he only offered her a small smile without saying a word.

Jill Hestia pressed his hand against the Cross. Its faint light rippled outward, like a series of transparent waves on the ocean's surface.

He stared fixedly at Baron and said, word by word, "I swear on my heart as a Knight that everything I have said is true. If I break this oath, may I never be able to Promote for the rest of my life."

As he finished speaking, the Cross before him silently shattered.

Jill Hestia looked at Baron. "You were that Attendant from the auction, weren't you?"

Since he'd been recognized, Baron had no intention of hiding it and simply nodded in acknowledgment.

Jill nodded. "Are you ready?"

Baron Constantin said, "Then bring it on. Mr. Jill has gone so far as to make a blood oath. It would be rude of me not to accept."

He twirled his Spear Sword. In that instant, everyone felt the flames on the blade intensify, as if a mirror facing the sky had suddenly flipped to snatch the sun's rays. From a distance, the two Fire Sabers in the Dragon Knight's hands were as impossible to look at as the sun itself.

Wings of intermingled gray and white sprouted from Jill Hestia's back. His form slowly began to change, his pupils shifting to the blue-gray of a Griffin, reflecting a fluorescent green in the firelight.

He raised his Longsword horizontally over his shoulder and infused it with Spiritual Power. It too began to emit an ethereal glow, its brilliant luster impossibly sharp.

And then, the battle erupted.

A thrust of a sword.

A slash of a blade.

The instant their weapons clashed, everyone felt as if they were hallucinating. It was as if they weren't watching two men fight, but two massive armies clashing, followed by the world itself collapsing in a cataclysmic landslide and tsunami.

A literal landslide and tsunami.

The ground trembled. A colossal pillar of Spiritual Power erupted from the epicenter of their clash, soaring into the heavens. It slammed into the dark clouds above, and like a golden blade cleaving the sky, it tore a hole several miles in diameter through the cloud cover. The pillar then struck the transparent Barrier, leaving a visible network of cracks and revealing the long, red moon behind it.

At that moment, it was as if someone had hit the pause button on the world outside the battlefield.

No one paid any mind to the still-raging pillar of Spiritual Power. Instead, they all stared upward, holding their breath, their bodies leaning forward and their eyes wide as they gazed at the blood-red moon.

"That's... the Blood Moon..."

"The legendary Blood Moon... a sign of calamity..."

At that same moment, far outside Bertelili Town, Wizard K and the others who were reinforcing the Barrier to contain the Dragon Tide glanced at the sky. Their expressions changed drastically. "The Red Moon! The Mad Dragon Seal is about to be broken!"

He hastily took out a Magic Card, infused it with Spiritual Power, and appeared before Silver Lion Wilder, who was single-handedly holding back the Dragon Tide. "The blood moon has risen. There might be a problem at Traitor's Cliff—perhaps with the Mad Dragon Seal."

Wilder said, "The Silver Lion King and the Dragon Witch are locked in a fierce battle. You go provide support. I'll leave a double here to contain the Dragon Tide while I go break the Barrier."

A spark, like a flash of electricity, flickered in Wilder's amber eyes.

In that same flash, his figure split into three.

[Promise: Group of Lions Illusion]

Of course, this was a variant of the technique.

Wilder said, "This phantom has a third of my strength, making it roughly equivalent to a Pseudo-Silver. It can last for about fifteen minutes. Take it with you to Traitor's Cliff as backup."

Wizard K nodded and departed with the phantom. Wilder then looked at his remaining illusion. The illusion nodded back, stomped hard on the ground, and launched itself like a cannonball toward the crack that had just appeared in the barrier high in the sky.

「Meanwhile.」

Elder Pence finally reacted, shouting, "It's Baron Constantin! As a Lawbreaker in league with the Dragon Witch, he must be the source of this evil omen!"

"Kill him as soon as you get the chance!"

But after he spoke, no one responded. Everyone's gaze was fixed in one direction, where a vast tide of Spiritual Power surged amidst the ceaseless clang of battle.

The sounds were gradually fading, and everyone was desperate to know who would be the final victor of the battle.

Everyone held their breath, watching with the intensity of medieval believers witnessing Missionaries perform a Divine Descent, their eyes locked on the golden pillar of light as it gradually shrank and finally dissipated.

Then, they could finally see the two figures standing beneath where the pillar of light had been, pressed closely together.

A dead silence fell over the crowd.

As the golden light of Spiritual Power faded, the crowd could see that Baron Constantin's shoulder had been pierced by Jill's sword. At the same time, one of Baron's blades rested against Jill Hestia's throat. The edge hadn't cut deep, but blood was already trickling down his neck from its sheer sharpness.

Jill Hestia released his grip on his sword and said with a bitter smile, "I have lost."

"What kind of technique was that?"

Baron pulled the sword from his own shoulder. "It's not a technique. Just trading a small price for a much greater one."

"That certainly fits your fighting style," Jill said with a wry smile. "As per my oath, you are free to go."

"Thanks." Baron turned and fled.

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[Baron Constantin's Diary / Time and Place Unknown

Father is dead.

My uncles say Father was killed by a Demon on a Foggy Day.

But I don't believe them.

Master Jack also said that everyone in London, and indeed all of Britain, knows that Fran Constantin was the Knight Order Leader of the Dragon Heart Knight Order, a Silver Tier Contract Knight.

He said the only danger a man like my father could possibly face would have to come from the Golden Tier.

But everyone on the Inner Side knows that besides the Saint from Spain's Holy Mechanism, there are only three Golden Tiers in all of Britain, and none of them would have possibly made a move.

As for a so-called Demon... aside from the Law itself... ]