A terrible predicament (thanks to Hu Lingxue for the top-tier endorsement)

Meanwhile, inside the cave in the Snow Mountain, the nuns were at a loss.

The wind and snow were still howling outside the cave, and inside there was only a dim oil lamp. On the Stone Platform, the Blue Knight and Brunkel lay side by side, with the nuns surrounding them. Ever since that feather broke, they had no other choice but to stay by their side without leaving for a moment.

The next moment, Brunkel and Blue Knight opened their eyes almost simultaneously.

Before the nuns could even rejoice, the Blue Knight shuddered violently, as if struck by a heavy blow. His eyes, which had just opened, rolled back, and he fell unconscious again.

At the same time, an unusual aura slowly emanated from her body, carrying a sense of Contamination, gradually seeping outwards and seemingly heading in some uncontrollable direction of Mutation.

Brunkel sat up abruptly from the Stone Platform, panting heavily, his chest heaving, his forehead covered in cold sweat, as if he had just experienced a life-or-death ordeal.

But no matter how hard she tried to recall, she couldn't remember. Her mind was blank, as if someone had forcibly scooped out a large chunk of it. She knew she must have forgotten something, but she couldn't remember what it was no matter what she tried.

Just then, she suddenly sensed an unusual aura around her.

Brunkel turned his head sharply and found that the strange aura was coming from the Blue Knight; it was an extremely dangerous, Mutation aura.

Brunkel's brow furrowed instantly; her first instinct was to try and rescue her.

Brunkel rolled off the Stone Platform, beckoned the nuns to come over, and then bent down to conduct a preliminary examination of the Blue Knight.

Brunkel discovered that the Blue Knight seemed to have been Contamination by something; her Pathway were in turmoil, and Heretic energy began to emanate from her body. Her Pathway were also beginning to Mutation, and this Mutation was happening very rapidly.

Brunkel's expression was somewhat solemn. She immediately pried open the Blue Knight's mouth and poured in Sanity-Stabilizing Potion. Although she was ruthless, she was not someone who couldn't distinguish between right and wrong. She couldn't just kill her teammate for the slightest problem. If she really had to use a knife, it would be after the teammate was beyond saving.

The nuns immediately surrounded her, the one in the lead looking solemn as she fed the Blue Knight Holy Water and whispered Hymn, bestowing a Blessing upon her.

A faint golden light fell upon the Blue Knight, and the strange aura seemed to be only slightly blocked. After a few breaths, the aura seeped out again, even more intense than before.

The lead nun stared at the Blue Knight for a moment, then looked up and shook her head at Brunkel with a complicated expression.

Brunkel instantly understood her meaning: things were becoming irreversible and uncontrollable; in other words, the Blue Knight was heading in the direction of Mutation.

The cave fell silent instantly.

Brunkel slowly straightened up, drawing the Execution Longsword from his waist. The blade was wide and straight, with a blunt tip, designed specifically for beheading, and gleamed coldly in the dim light of the oil lamp.

She was going to kill the Blue Knight.

The Blue Knight was Fourth Order being, and his physical skills were terrifyingly strong. Once such a being Mutation and controlled by Heretic, it would be an absolute threat and an absolute loss for Brunkel and the Empire. Therefore, she absolutely could not allow the Blue Knight to continue to Mutation like this, but she was powerless to stop it at the moment, so she had no choice but to kill him.

Brunkel raised the knife expressionlessly.

Just as she raised the knife, a voice suddenly rang in her mind.

Send the Blue Knight to the Knight Academy, regardless of whether she undergoes Mutation.

Brunkel paused. The voice came out of nowhere, and she couldn't even remember whose it was, yet it was so clearly etched in her mind that she couldn't shake it off.

Brunkel stared coldly at the unconscious Blue Knight. The Execution Longsword hung suspended in mid-air, its blade no more than a foot from the Blue Knight's neck. She hesitated, wondering whether to simply ignore the strange voice and finish the job while the Blue Knight was still unconscious.

The sound of wind and snow outside the cave grew louder and louder, but the nuns dared not even breathe. They were only concerned with their own safety and did not care about anything else.

After a long while, Brunkel finally sheathed the Execution Longsword, the blade returning to its original sheath with a soft click.

She gestured to the nun, "How long was I unconscious? What happened during that time?"

The lead nun was taken aback, then quickly replied, "About a minute."

Less than a minute?

Brunkel frowned, lowered her head in deep thought, and tried to recall everything, but she couldn't remember what she had forgotten. The only thing she remembered was the sentence about sending the Blue Knight back to the Knight Academy.

Just as she was frowning and preparing to leave, a series of footsteps suddenly came from outside the cave amidst the sound of wind and snow. The footsteps approached from afar, treading through the wind and snow towards the cave, as if someone had caught up with her.

The nun's expression changed drastically. The lead nun gripped the scripture in her hand tightly. She knew better than anyone that crushing that feather had attracted the Angel's attention, and the commotion would be significant. What was bound to happen had finally arrived.

Brunkel gripped the hilt of his sword, turned to look at the cave entrance; the Blue Knight's crisis was far from over.

At the same time, Potion Room in the Hanging Tower, Lu Yuan suddenly opened his eyes.

A bitter and cold taste flowed down Lu Yuan's tongue and into his chest the moment he opened his eyes.

His first sensation was that his face was being pinched tightly, his cheeks were being squeezed painfully, and his mouth was being forcibly pried open, with something being poured into it.

Lu Yuan had just opened his eyes a little when the hand pinching his face suddenly trembled. Clearly, the other person had not expected Lu Yuan to wake up at this moment and was startled.

Lu Yuan looked closely and recognized the face in front of him immediately. It was the Lantern Knight. He was holding Lu Yuan's chin with one hand and clutching a glass bottle that was almost empty with a few drops of pale gold liquid still clinging to its mouth.

Lu Yuan propped himself up and sat up, his tongue curling as he instinctively tried to spit out what was in his mouth. But as soon as he opened his mouth, the Lantern Knight grabbed Lu Yuan's shoulder.

"This is Advanced Sanity-Stabilizing Potion, swallow it right now!"

The Lantern Knight stared intently at Lu Yuan, as if to say, "If you dare to spit it out, I'll force you down another bottle."

Lu Yuan held the medicine in his mouth, hesitated for a moment, and then obediently swallowed it. The medicine slid down into his stomach, and a warm feeling burst forth from his body. His rational mind flickered, but ultimately did not jump up.