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Katherine did not pursue. Instead, she sheathed her sword and leaned on it, calmly saying, "The outcome is clear. Any last words?"

Heinz, pushed to the brink of exhaustion, though his stamina was not a concern, the mental strain had already given him a splitting headache. The final blow had pierced his internal organs, causing him to cough up blood nonstop. Struggling to his feet, he looked at Katherine and let out a bitter laugh: though their battle had lasted only twenty minutes, the rapid exchanges had each delivered over ten thousand strikes. His legendary-grade light armor was full of holes, almost completely shattered, yet Katherine's mithril armor remained unscathed, and her sapphire battle robe bore no marks of the desert battle.

The gap was so vast that even Heinz, the "White Night Knight," a steadfast paladin, couldn't help but feel a wave of despair.

"Coughing... The 'Holy War Martial Emperor' is indeed formidable. I am no match. However... if you wish to seize the 'Crimson Lotus Sword,' you might not succeed," Heinz spat out blood as he spoke. Despite his disheveled appearance, the light in his eyes had not faded.

"...Oh?" Katherine responded indifferently, though her gaze shifted slightly. Although the 'Crimson Lotus Sword' was only a secondary target in her plan, if it could be obtained, the orcs would never let it go.

"Cough, I knew this battle was doomed from the start, so before the battle for the divine weapon began, I had already used a secret technique to send the 'Crimson Lotus Sword' away. You can kill me today, but you will never lay hands on the human 'Holy Sigil.'"

"Secret technique?" Katherine gazed at Heinz for a moment, then shook her head. "Lies won't help you. Don't you know I am also a shaman of the War God? No matter the secret technique, its spatial fluctuations can't escape my perception. Since you say so, the 'Crimson Lotus Sword' must indeed no longer be on you. Then you must have hidden it some other way. And by lying to make me believe it is no longer here, does that mean the sword is still nearby?"

Katherine, known for her dual mastery of martial and divine arts, though her War God divine arts were only at the level of a high shaman and ineffective in saintly battles, her subtle energy sensing abilities remained. Combined with the fact that saintly experts are masters of manipulating energy across space, monitoring spatial fluctuations was almost effortless. Against Heinz's teleportation skills, she could predict his moves, which was why the battle had been so easy for her. She was confident that unless facing a magic expert of the Twelve Sages' caliber, Heinz's second-rate divine arts could never deceive her perception.

Heinz, having his lie exposed by Katherine, couldn't help but blush, cursing himself for being so overwhelmed by the Lion Tribe woman's combat prowess that he forgot her divine arts and wisdom were equally outstanding. His words had been used against him to deduce part of the truth.

However, from the start, he had not intended to rely entirely on deception. Though time was pressing and his plan was relatively crude, he still had confidence in his method to ensure the 'Crimson Lotus Sword' escaped Katherine's grasp. So he no longer pretended, instead straightening his body and coldly stating, "No matter what, you will never obtain the 'Crimson Lotus Sword.' With today's lesson, you will no longer easily find the 'Holy Sigil Knight.' Soon, a new 'Knight' will rise again and drive you out of human lands."

Katherine calmly raised her sword, pointing it at Heinz. "Using fantasies to boost morale only shows your own weakness. For you, who are about to die, the future is meaningless. But to show respect for your fight until now, I can reveal one thing to you—my main target from the beginning was not the 'Crimson Lotus Sword' but you, the 'White Night Knight.' My husband is already waiting at the 'Red Glory Royal City' to receive your 'Holy Spear Kunilong.'"

"What?" This statement immediately threw Heinz into disarray. Though he had previously worried about the leakage of the divine weapon's return location, he had always thought the problem would arise in the future, never imagining that the orcs' actions had already fully unfolded, and a vast conspiracy had long enveloped him. Yet he still clung to a sliver of hope, shouting, "Don't dream! The 'Escort Glory Royal City' has tens of thousands of elves, six thousand regular mages, countless magical structures, and is impregnable. Even you might not be able to come and go freely, let alone someone who hasn't even set foot in the saintly realm."

"Impregnable? Compared to Saint Spirit Mountain?" Katherine retorted.

"Uh..." Heinz was immediately speechless. Others might be fine, but that orc was the infamous thief who had once stolen a divine artifact from the heavily guarded Saint Spirit Mountain.

Could it really be...

"Enough chit-chat. Prepare to fight, 'White Night Knight'!" Katherine no longer waited. The 'Holy Covenant Sword' surged with golden light, its runes flashing continuously, slashing through the heavens and earth towards her opponent.

"I... will not give up—" Heinz's will was unexpectedly firm. Even in this dire situation, he mustered all his strength and stubbornly launched a counterattack. The secret Katherine had revealed forced him to fight for the slimmest chance, even resorting to the secret techniques of the Holy Light Temple, overdrawing all his life force to triple his combat energy.

However, the gap in absolute power was ultimately insurmountable, especially since Heinz was hastily engaging and already injured.

After just ten moves, Katherine's 'Holy Covenant Sword' once again shattered the 'Holy Spear Kunilong.' As Heinz spat blood and was sent flying, he saw countless golden storms swirling around the orc swordswoman. Then, he heard Katherine loudly proclaim the name of her sword technique: "Oath—Sword of Victory—"

In an instant, the entire desert was illuminated by golden sword energy. Countless pillars of light shot into the sky, and thunderous explosions echoed continuously, only gradually subsiding after a long while, leaving behind a cloud of dust. Fortunately, the surviving desert warriors had fled far away during the battle, or anyone nearby would have been turned to dust by this sword strike.