That grand city suddenly appeared before everyone's eyes, as if the endless road before was just an illusion.A massive bridge connected to the royal city's gate, with imposing statues standing in front of it, and towering city walls behind which were multiple areas gradually elevating towards the center, featuring dense and ancient architecture, solemn towers, and majestic palaces.
Yu Sheng raised his head, struggling to see the distant towering central district. The magnificent yet unsettling spectacle immediately filled his view—the city's central district had already begun to disintegrate. He could see the tops of those palace-like or castle-like buildings cracking open, with broken roofs and ramparts floating towards the sky as if losing gravity. Meanwhile, a rift spanning the sky was gradually devouring the city's upper layers.
The Little Puppet sat on Yu Sheng's shoulder, looking up and exclaiming, "Wow—"
The little thing then suddenly turned its head, "Hey, hey, Yu Sheng, do you think this city will suddenly stand up, and a health bar will pop out at its head that stretches to the horizon..."
Yu Sheng was admiring the magnificent scenery when the little thing's words almost made him break out in a cold sweat, "...Don't say such scary things in this environment..."
While talking, Hu Li flicked her big tail, and two scouting chickens covered in iridescent light flew out from her tail. White Cut and Salt Roasted circled above Yu Sheng and Hu Li's heads twice, then dragged a long trail of colorful light towards the city. After a brief aerial reconnaissance, Hu Li turned her head, "Savior, the city seems to be... devoid of living beings, only some corpses and illusions wandering around."
Yu Sheng frowned, not surprised by this result, but instinctively turned to glance at the Knight beside him.
But the scarred Knight only stood silently in place, quietly gazing towards the royal city without reacting to Hu Li's words.
"...Let's go in," Yu Sheng gently exhaled, "Luna's troops will secure the perimeter; let the drones fly ahead—Erin, send out part of the flying sword puppets for continuous reconnaissance. This city is very unstable; things might change after we enter..."
Before he finished, the Little Puppet turned its head and headbutted him, "Flying sword, you fool! I've said it so many times, it's flying sword!"
Then, more than ten puppets stepping on flying swords disengaged from the aerial formation and, under Erin's angry command, flew towards various parts of the royal city.
Yu Sheng and his group then crossed that long bridge together with the Valhalla force, stepping into the "royal city."
The royal city was densely built, so Hu Li soon reverted from her battle form after entering, yet probably because she had been fighting and traveling as a Nine-Tailed Fox since entering the Kingdom, she found it a bit hard to adapt to her human form; walking two steps unevenly, she nearly stumbled...
"Hey, walking on four legs is actually super stable," Hu Li adjusted herself while walking alongside Yu Sheng, muttering to herself, "but eating with paws is not convenient..."
"Four legs, impressive," Erin commented from the side, "Later, I'll smear myself with blood on my face to show you my goddess form, with a mass of long legs..."
"Not impressive, I've seen it already."
"Just say if they're long!"
Yu Sheng listened to the noisy bickering beside him, already used to it, with half of his attention on the surroundings and the other half on the Knight walking ahead.
The Knight said he had forgotten the way home, yet as soon as he entered the royal city, he walked purposefully ahead.
The Knight, who didn't talk much initially, appeared even more reticent after stepping into the city.
Chaotic winds swept through the streets, carrying a smoky scent, with towering ramparts on both sides, dense architecture, one after another heavy and ancient-style houses resembling silent cold tombs. Those black, hollow doors and windows stared indifferently at the uninvited guests who arrived.
Something blown by the wind passed by, and Yu Sheng instinctively reached out, grabbing only a tattered piece of paper.
The paper outlined a large building with crude lines, surrounded by many people.
Yu Sheng flipped the paper over, revealing some worn text—
"...They built the Hall of Sleep, sending the most promising and wisest people inside... On the final morning, the hall transformed into a flowing color, disappearing with the morning light..."
Erin skillfully climbed up to Yu Sheng's arm, her eyes wide as she looked at the piece of paper flying from nowhere.
"How can it fly over here... What's the meaning of this? Such a confusing sentence... a grammatical error?"
Yu Sheng just frowned, unable to answer the Little Puppet's question, yet for some reason, upon seeing the text on the back, he couldn't help but feel as if his heart was clenched.
Some guesses blossomed in his mind, and at almost the same moment, more wind blew from the direction of the towering royal court, bringing many scattered paper fragments.
"Hey hey! More are blowing over!" Erin exclaimed loudly, quickly moving to Yu Sheng's shoulder while reaching out, "They're falling... they're falling..."
The fluttering papers resembled fallen birds with broken wings, but before Erin's fingers touched them, most had already disappeared in the air, leaving only a single piece floating down, casually caught by Luna.
Erin leaned forward, looking at the paper Luna handed over, only to find it completely blank, while on its back was a fragmented message—
"...Let's tell a story, the last story."
Erin's eyes widened, and then instinctively she looked up at the Knight walking ahead, as if wanting to ask something.
However, the knight suddenly sped up, walked faster and faster, and finally even started to run.
Yu Sheng and his group followed behind the knight, everyone quickened their pace, traversing desolate and abandoned streets, crossing a shattered plaza, and passing through the city walls and gates.
The turbulent wind swept through the streets, and the whole city seemed to sway in the wind, with a low, almost wailing sound emanating from all directions.
"Savior! Look over there!"
Hu Li suddenly shouted, and Yu Sheng turned his head to look. In the distance, a section of buildings had unknowingly collapsed, the collapse silent like a scene without a soundtrack. Then, the collapsed structures rapidly became illusory and transparent within moments, the majestic buildings and towers transforming into countless scattered paper fragments caught in the gust and disappearing into the clouds.
Soon after, similar scenes began to appear in succession in the distance.
The entire city—or rather, the entire kingdom including the city—had entered the next stage of disintegration: the evaporation and decomposition of the informational level had begun.
Yu Sheng exclaimed, "What the hell," and turned to look in the knight's direction, noticing that the party had unknowingly crossed the final wall and arrived before the continually crumbling "palace."
A long staircase led to the palace door, and seeing the sight on the stairs, everyone halted in astonishment.
Layer upon layer of "corpses" lay there, battered armor appearing eerily familiar.
Knights, hundreds and thousands of "knights"—they lay on the palace square, on the stairs leading to the door, at the door itself. They seemed to have been advancing towards the door until the last moment, collapsing as they moved forward.
"I'm home... I'm home..."
The knight already at the door muttered, a hoarse, deep voice emanating from beneath the hollow helmet. He pressed both hands against the dark, gold-inlaid door, then pushed forward with all his strength.
However, the door seemed too heavy, and the knight's strength could not budge it.
Yu Sheng came over and also placed his hand on the door.
But he made no further moves, only turned his head and quietly looked at the knight, "Are you sure you want to open it?"
"Yes."
"...Alright, I'll help you."
Thus, the kingdom's last door was opened.
The collapse and disintegration of the sanctuary continued, but at the center of the kingdom, a brief calm still lingered—in the instant the door opened, the whole world seemed to go silent, the whistling wind coming to a halt.
Yu Sheng saw an expansive and ruinous hall before him, once grand and solemn, but now those days of glory had become the past, the fallen debris smashing the former splendor. The intricate patterns remaining on the ground were marred by ugly rifts, and the hall's roof had long vanished with the disintegration of the upper parts of the building, only a few fragmented rooftop pieces floating in the sky.
Dusk-like turbid light from the roof openings trickled down, quietly flowing in the drifting dust.
The knight walked forward, his iron boots treading the ground with a monotonous hollow echo.
"It's kind of scary," Erin mumbled beside Yu Sheng's ear, "there seems to be something here..."
Yu Sheng said nothing, merely observing the direction the knight was advancing.
A shadow gathered at the hall's center—initially, it seemed merely a part of the surrounding dust, but quickly, it solidified.
The accumulating shadows began to take shape—these were struggling human figures, innumerable, indistinct, some seemingly trying to escape, some seeking refuge, some hugging for support, some pushing and fighting, some crying, some laughing, some just standing still, facing an already descended conclusion with a calm smile.
All shadows merged, stacked higher, surface swelling and writhing, gradually taking on a flame-like form—a black flame burning fiercely and showing a bizarre inward collapse amid the blaze.
All humans merged into the flame disappeared, leaving only a blurred face within it, a peaceful and calm smile looking at the knight standing in the hall.
"Welcome home, Daddy."
"I've returned, Rosaline."
The knight whispered, holding a handful of soil from his homeland, which then transformed into a halberd.
Black flames burst forth from within the armor, the helmet melted in the flames, turning into an iron-gray crown.
The clumsy knight—exiled king—charged towards the central heap of time's ashes that had long lost control within the hall.