Chapter 639 - 54: Whether It’s Futile Is Not for You to Decide

The Ironspine Duke ignored him and continued speaking:

"You're far too arrogant."

"You think you can change the world. You think you can protect those ants. You think you can single-handedly fight against a balance that has been maintained for a thousand years."

"But what's the result?"

He gently raised a hand, pointing toward the brightly lit Taymer Palace in the distance, and beyond it, to the world Murphy had changed, a world that now stretched across the Continent.

"Do you see?"

His voice grew low, but every word pierced Murphy's heart:

"What do you think you've changed? You think you've given the children of the poor a chance to study, fed the starving, and given hope to the oppressed?"

"But do you know what's going to happen next?"

He took a small step forward.

"I will correct all of this."

"I will set time back on its proper course."

"Those academies you built? They will once again become the private domains of Lords. Those literacy primers you created? They will be burned to ashes. Those Priest Apprentices you trained? They will become commoners again. And those people you gave hope to? They will be plunged back into despair."

He paused, a cold smile touching his lips:

"And you, Murphy, can do nothing."

"You can only watch helplessly as it all happens. Watch as everything you worked so hard to build turns to dust and ashes."

Murphy's hand tightened on the hilt of his sword.

Seeing his reaction, the Ironspine Duke's smile grew even wider.

"What's wrong? Are you angry?"

He tilted his head, as if looking at an amusing little animal:

"But what can you do? You can't kill me. Your sword passes through me as if through air. Your Mist Lock can't trap me. Your anger, your indignation, your pain... they're all worthless to me."

"And do you know what's most laughable?"

His voice was soft, yet every word dug into Murphy's heart like a knife:

"You can't protect a single person you think you can."

"How did Margaret die?"

Murphy's body jolted.

The Ironspine Duke continued, "To save you, she risked everything to snatch the Withered Heart. She was gravely injured, yet she forced herself to open a Plane Passage and send it out. And then what?"

He chuckled softly:

"Then she died."

"And you? You survived. You used her life to buy your own."

Murphy's sword was trembling.

The Ironspine Duke looked at him, his eyes full of pity.

"And then there's Eleanor. Your daughter. She lost her mother at a young age and grew up alone. She relied on you so much, needed you so much. But you? What did you ever give her?"

"After she grew up, you only visited her once every three months, and even then, it was just in passing. You weren't there when she cried. You weren't there when she missed her mother. You weren't there when she needed comfort."

"Now she's finally crying in your arms, and you don't even know how to comfort her."

He shook his head.

"Murphy, you can't save anyone."

"You can't even save the people closest to you."

A rage so intense it threatened to spill over burned in Murphy's eyes.

He said nothing.

He just looked at the Ironspine Duke.

In those pitch-black eyes, there was no fear, no retreat—only a will that burned to its absolute limit.

The next instant—

His body suddenly transformed into a streak of Crimson sword light!

The sword light merged directly into the four Crimson Longswords suspended in the air!

VMMMM!

The four Longswords simultaneously erupted with an unprecedented, brilliant radiance!

The light was so intense it threatened to dye the entire night sky Crimson!

Upon the blades, the already intricate Dao Patterns began to evolve madly. Countless new patterns materialized, intertwined, and reformed within the light, as if coming to life!

The power of the Sword Array was skyrocketing exponentially!

The net of light, which had previously dissipated, now coalesced once more—and it was denser, tougher, and more ferocious than before!

Like an ancient beast awakened from slumber, it opened its gaping maw and bit down viciously on the Ironspine Duke, who was trapped at the heart of the array!

The net of light touched the Ironspine Duke's body—

It still passed right through.

Murphy's consciousness spun frantically within the Sword Array's core. He burned every last wisp of his Mana, driving every single Dao Pattern, trying to make the net of light even denser, even stronger!

He felt it.

Under the tearing force of the net of light, that layer of nothingness was undergoing an infinitesimal change.

It was incredibly faint, almost imperceptible, but it was a change nonetheless. He had touched the Ironspine Duke.

'I can do this.'

'I can really do this.'

The very instant that thought arose—

SNAP.

A crisp snap of fingers echoed high in the sky.

The Ironspine Duke had casually snapped his fingers.

Time resumed its flow.

Murphy's consciousness jolted violently.

He felt the power that had been bound within the Sword Array—the power he had forcibly compressed, controlled, and directed at the Ironspine Duke—suddenly break free of its restraints.

Like unbridled wild horses, like a bursting dam, it poured out madly in all directions!

'No—'

'Not in all directions.'

'Downward.'

'Toward the earth.'

Toward the brightly lit Taymer Palace, and beyond it, toward the sleeping Violet City!

Murphy's pupils contracted violently!

That power—that sword light and Energy, enough to destroy everything—was now plummeting toward the earth below with world-ending force!

If he let it fall—

Taymer Palace would be leveled in an instant.