The ground was filled with blood. Their souls had fallen, their bodies collapsed, but their will still stood.

"I, Belon, will avenge you all," the sword-browed man spoke, his voice deep and full of sorrow.

At this moment, only a few people were still fighting.

Their bodies were already down, yet their will was so strong that it forced them to move. Their legs kicked weakly in the air, their hands flung around, trying to rise—trying to fight.

They wanted to battle. They wanted to protect their people from the Tarens… but alas.

Belon drew his sword as he stepped forward.

The sun cast a long shadow behind him as he faced an army of a thousand men.

Although he was a Grandmaster realm expert, against a thousand men… what could he do?

But Belon still moved. One against a thousand, he marched forward.

"I will kill you. Let the souls of the fallen bear witness to this."

"I will avenge them and kill you, beasts who feast on my people's flesh and drink their blood as wine!"

Belon shouted, his voice echoing far and wide. The malevolent spirits of the fallen—their hatred, their murderous intent, their will to fight—seemed to rise and flow into him as his aura grew stronger and stronger.

The queen heard him and smiled in disdain. She? Die? That was impossible.

The three other Grandmaster experts beside her chuckled.

The general gave the command, and the thousand-man army advanced. Their heavy steps resembled a divine elephant marching across the mortal realm.

The ground trembled as they moved forward, their spears sharp and steady, their blades honed to the point where they could slice a strand of hair.

They were fearless. Even knowing many would die, they still charged forward, eager to kill this Grandmaster.

Belon stood alone.

Behind him lay the corpses of his comrades, his people who had died in this battle, trying to stop the Tarens from devouring them.

Before him stood a thousand warriors, fearless and eager to cut him down.

Belon raised his sword and pointed it at the queen.

"You will die today."

His blade seemed to awaken, resonating with his fury. His sword intent surged toward the sky as he charged forward.

The two sides closed the distance

And finally, they clashed.

Bang!

Slash

Belon cut into the army and began killing.

From severing arms to beheading soldiers, he tore through them relentlessly.

He moved like a fish in water, dancing on the thin line between life and death.

It was a dance even death itself would admire. He weaved through enemies, his blade claiming lives with every motion. Blood coated his body more and more.

But this was not a hundred men.

It was a thousand.

Even as a Grandmaster, stamina caught up to him. He was still, after all, human.

Stab.

Slash.

Cleave.

His skin was cut open, flesh tearing as it fell to the ground. He grimaced in pain but refused to stop.

Hack. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Hack.

Hack.

He blocked heavy attacks, but eventually, multiple blades pierced through him.

And finally

He stopped moving.

"Ghk… guh…"

Belon vomited blood as his eyes dimmed.

Out of the thousand men, only five remained.

The battlefield fell silent.

Even as enemies, what this man had done today would be remembered. A single man had stood against a thousand and nearly wiped them out.

The Tarens, though bloodthirsty, respected strength.

And Belon…

He had earned their respect.

Belon's vision blurred as he was lifted and brought before the queen.

"If you weren't my enemy, you would have made a great general under me," the queen said.

This was not mockery—it was genuine respect.

Belon coughed, a self-mocking smile forming on his face. Even the queen he swore to kill was praising him.

But he didn't want their respect.

He wanted her dead.

Yet… he was bleeding heavily. His mind was fading, his vision unstable. His eyelids grew heavy. He could feel life slipping away.

The three Grandmasters beside her had not even needed to act… and he had already fallen.

So his promise… his vow to the dead… was meaningless?

Bullshit.

Bullshit…

Tears mixed with blood as Belon forced his eyes open.

For a moment

Everything slowed down.

He could no longer hear anything clearly, but his vision sharpened.

He saw it

The path forward. What he needed to do.

His heart pounded violently as he forced his broken body to move. A sudden surge of strength filled him as he grabbed a sword and lunged at the queen.

He became a blur.

Even the three Grandmasters were caught off guard—it was too sudden, too fast.

Time seemed to slow for Belon. His blade moved forward, inch by inch, aimed straight at the queen.

But just inches away

His body failed.

His life slipped away.

"No… no, no, no…"

He screamed inwardly, but his body had already given up. His guts spilled onto the ground.

Bang…

His knees hit the ground at the same moment his sword struck something.

Belon could no longer move. He didn't know if he had succeeded.

He listened—waiting for a scream, any sign…

Anything to tell him he had done it. That he had avenged his people.

That they could rest.

But...

"That was commendable… but I do not take such actions lightly," the queen's voice rang out.

At the last moment, she had tilted her neck, narrowly avoiding the fatal strike.

She stood before him, looking down at his broken body, his entrails spilled across the ground.

Then she slowly closed her eyes.

"A great man…" the queen muttered.

Then she stretched out her palm and grabbed Belon's head.

And then

Squeeze.

Splash.

It exploded like a watermelon, blood and brain matter splattering across her lips.

The queen licked her lips in satisfaction.

"This is a high-quality meal. Pack everything and bring it back for my dinner tonight," she said as she turned and left with her guards.

The remaining soldiers nodded, and so ....

Belon was dead.

This was one of the many timelines created from the ten-thousand-year history node.

In this timelines, Belon was the Sword Demon, and the queen was Linkir. In other timelines , they fought across countless scales—from beings as small as ants battling on the ground to entities that could curse stars, reverse seas, and even influence fate.