Round 35: Dawn at Sunset

Two dragon golems charged in from the left and right, grabbed by 47, but the impact forced him to retreat, one foot already on the edge of the Seven Sins Tower. Flames engulfed everything, blocking his vision. Then a third dragon golem broke through the fire cloud and pounced on 47 like a predator—yet 47 didn’t give it a chance to bite. With a fierce headbutt to the junction of its chest and neck, a clear cracking sound was heard.

47’s arms emitted mechanical roars; the high-speed turbines at his elbows even spat out blazing blue-white gusts, flinging the two dragon golems he held back far away. Then he prepared to crush the one he had just knocked down with his head. He pressed down on the golem’s head with terrifying force, ignoring its frantic scratching claws and thrashing tail, grabbed its torn iron wings, and pulled hard—

Even the painless body of the dragon golem let out a loud scream as it felt its body about to be torn apart. The metal making up its muscles and bones emitted a grating friction sound as it groaned and began to deform and break.

With just a little more force, it would be torn in half—there was no way to repair it. The other two dragon golems had just rolled themselves up from the crater they had created and were too late to come to their rescue.

Suddenly, the tower surface beneath 47 collapsed. As if struck by a dissociation spell, the stone slabs wrapped in rebar and iron bars shattered into fine sand along with the metal structure inside. 47 lost his footing, and his massive body fell along with the sand formed from the iron tower. Roaring, he clung to the dragon golem’s wings, trying to take it away from the Seven Sins Tower, but that part of the golem also turned to sand and slipped from his grasp.

Dragon flames then chased after the falling 47, engulfing him. In the night sky, an enormous flower of death slowly bloomed.

“Nonsense! Who allowed them to use breath attacks?” Singer struggled to reassemble the tower he had disassembled earlier to distract 47, but part of it was lost forever. But there was nothing he could do—if 47 and the dragon golems continued fighting on the Seven Sins Tower without a winner, the tower would collapse. The energy sustaining the tower was now at its lowest, to a very dangerous level.

No one replied, and Singer didn’t press further, knowing that although the dragon golems were as strong as real dragons and incredibly robust, their extremely low level of thinking ability and combat style based solely on residual instincts were a great insult to the creatures they imitated.

Singer sent his will back into the minds of the three dragon golems, suppressing their desire to chase after him.

The massive fireball gradually dissipated. Singer searched for the whereabouts of the Construct Giant. It seemed it hadn’t fallen to the ground—so where had it gone?

A huge figure emerged from the fire cloud beneath the Seven Sins Tower, resolving Singer’s confusion but also increasing his astonishment.

The propulsion engines on 47’s back and legs emitted a trembling roar. Powerful gusts of wind dispersed the flame clouds as he soared upward—while also transforming.

From his body to his limbs, 47’s entire form was undergoing a precise and intricate systemic restructuring—parts moving, repositioning, and fixing in new locations, altering his physical structure. Beneath the layers of heavy armor that kept opening, internal gears and components spun rapidly, his steel-like bones folding or stretching to form new shapes before being covered again by the reassembled armor plates…

As he flew while transforming, 47 surpassed the Seven Sins Tower before turning and descending. He unfolded a pair of perfectly symmetrical giant wings to cushion his fall; the airflow and noise generated by the turbine engines on those wings made it seem as though he was wrapped in a storm filled with thunder. He landed on the flat top of one of the towers, the long, sharp spines on his folded wings reflecting the colors of flames. His powerful hind legs were equipped with strange thrusters, and protrusions of unknown purpose grew at the base of his wings on either side of his neck, featuring blade-like serrated spikes. A highly flexible metal tail hung down, sparking against the iron towers—as he slightly bent his neck, the steel dragon head, adorned with spiral horns like a crown, still held blood-red eyes filled with disdain.

A dragon. A dazzling, terrifying dragon.

It was impossible to determine its color. The spikes and various geometric metal crystals complemented each other, perfectly enhancing its magnificent appearance. His steel scales flickered, seemingly reflecting light yet also glowing as if covered in shimmering gem dust. Compared to his human form, his dragon body was slimmer, yet undeniably strong, clearly reflecting the dignity and perfection that 47 usually lacked.

“Amazing… Is this the Divine Armor…” Kisuke murmured in admiration.

47 glanced at the Seven Sins Tower, looking somewhat lazy. He tried to turn his head but found he couldn’t—his neck, though longer now, had lost its ability to rotate.

Three dragon golems fired at the dragon-form 47, but this time he didn’t confront them head-on. Instead, he easily flew away to avoid the flames, landing on another tower without even activating his thrusters, as if he had no weight at all.

47 perched atop the spire, staring down at his opponents as if inspecting his subjects. One of the dragon golems flapped its wings and jumped clumsily onto the tower, attempting to climb up and attack.

“A test?” 47 snorted, unleashing his breath like a true dragon.

It was a cloud of destructive light. Explosive energy burst from his mouth, resembling boiling flames and lightning. The dragon golem climbing up was hit first, completely engulfed by it. A torrent of particles poured into its body, destroying every part of its structure—there was no time even to repair it with fire. The dragon golem emitted several muffled explosive sounds before crumbling into fragments.

The other two dragon golems managed to escape the reach of the dragon breath in time, clearly as a result of direct control by the mages in the control room. Once the light cloud dissipated, everything it had covered was unrecognizable. A large area of the Seven Sins Tower was now full of pits and craters; the raised parts of the tower that the dragon golems had crawled on were all flattened, a result of the continuous explosions within the light cloud. The extreme heat melted metal and stone, causing them to fuse together in a completely different state. The evaporated substances mixed with the ionized air to produce toxic fumes that hung low in the air. It was astonishing! Before the mages could react, 47 plunged downward. Not only him—entire sections of the tower top were torn away by his blade-like tail, which cut through the necessary areas before being thrown at the enemies. The more troublesome of the remaining two dragon golems was hit head-on and crushed under the weight. The other one flew up, stretching its neck to bite 47, but 47 easily dodged and bit back. As he turned around, tearing at the dragon golem with his teeth, his body transformed again, and upon landing, he reverted to the Construct Giant 47—clearly, in this form, he was more interested in close combat. The dragon golem, with its neck twisted to the limit, hadn’t even had time to adjust before it broke under 47’s crushing grip. The headless dragon golem staggered around, attacking recklessly, its limbs out of control—before falling off the Seven Sins Tower. 47 discarded the dragon golem’s head and stomped on it to ensure it was completely crushed, then prepared to deal with the last one. The last one suddenly became very difficult to deal with. The sky was already showing signs of lightening; dawn was approaching. Suddenly, as if the last and thickest darkness had been drawn away, a huge black fist formed above 47’s head and struck down with unimaginable force. It was like a furious strike from an evil deity; even 47 couldn’t fully resist it and was knocked to his knees, causing the Seven Sins Tower to tilt sharply. The Dark Iron Fist retreated into the air and launched a second strike. 47 dodged with a backward somersault, transforming into a dragon mid-air. The Seven Sins Tower, having taken two massive blows from the Dark Iron Fist, floated at an angle, no longer able to regain its balance. “Elder Singer!” the assistants cried out, not only because of the crisis facing the tower but also because of Singer’s sudden change. Singer clutched the control panel tightly, staring blankly ahead—beneath his messy hair, on his wrinkled forehead, a festering wound was slowly expanding at a visible pace. “Don’t touch him! It must have taken hold of the dragon golem!” Kiskain stopped the panicked and reckless actions of the old mages, helping them react in time. “Without the Elder’s control, the Seven Sins Tower won’t hold! What do we do now, Master Kiskain?” Since Singer was no longer there, Kiskain naturally became their leader once again. “Sigh.” Kiskain slowly walked to his own control panel and stretched out his hands.

“Try to hold on as long as possible. As long as the Tower of Seven Sins doesn’t collapse, Singer will still have confidence and can keep going…”
The two dragons exchanged glances.
“I’ve never had any interest in talking to the dying… but you’re an exception.” Forty-Seven spread his iron wings and floated steadily in the air, relying solely on the power of the turbines on them.
The dragon golem climbed out from beneath the shattered tower top, shaking off the debris. The construct, which moments ago could only act under others’ commands and instinct, suddenly gave off an air of great wisdom.
“Hehe…” The iron dragon golem let out an aged laugh. It was unclear how Singer managed to produce sound with its throat that could only hiss and roar. “I now fully agree with Kiskein… You’re a peculiar construct.”
A Dark Iron Fist struck down from below, infuriating Forty-Seven—daring to attack me from behind?!
He rose to avoid it but collided head-on with Bigby’s invisible giant hand. Fortunately, Forty-Seven was no longer an amateur. His particle breath was unleashed once again, targeting the dragon golem possessed by Singer. Even the incoming Dark Iron Fist vanished under the highly destructive beam of light—Forty-Seven’s breath wasn’t just aimed at matter.
But the dragon golem withstood such a devastating attack. It countered Forty-Seven’s breath with its own, unleashing not fire but an invisible energy field. Space seemed to warp slightly as roaring streams of particles accumulated above the golem’s head, but they couldn’t break through Singer’s fully exerted energy shield and could only spread out helplessly.
The control room was filled with flashing lights, and two mages were even knocked to the ground.
“Master Kiskein! We can’t hold on any longer!”
Kiskein issued a new order—not to save the Tower of Seven Sins—but because they truly could no longer hold on.
Meanwhile, Singer remained oblivious, standing by the control panel, with blood trickling from his ears and nose.
Forty-Seven broke free from the grip of the invisible giant hand and circled, looking for an opportunity. Unusually, he didn’t charge in immediately, as his opponent was nothing ordinary—mages could only be truly understood once one possessed equal or even greater strength. Who knew what tricks they might have up their sleeves?
He still hadn’t forgotten how Morriel had thrown him into some bizarre dimensional maze.
The dragon golem flew at Forty-Seven. But even when controlled by Singer, its mobility was far inferior to Forty-Seven’s at that moment. Forty-Seven simply adjusted the direction of the turbines on his wings and easily changed direction to avoid it.
The old guy… actually eager to engage me in close combat? Something’s off, Forty-Seven thought, becoming even more cautious.
If I can’t get close to him, I can’t use the “Seal Spell”… Did I rush things and make him suspicious? I should have used that spell from the start… He actually managed to escape the attack of “Extreme Heaven’s Fury Fist”! Singer grew anxious. The Tower of Seven Sins was already on the verge of collapse. It seemed he could only hope to find another “Divine Armor” in the forest to repair it. To achieve that, he had to deal with this construct as soon as possible—
How did he suddenly become so shrewd!

Singh’s powerful energy palms, along with the Dragon Golem, tried to encircle and block 47, but no matter what they did, they couldn’t fully control his movements. 47 shamelessly employed delaying tactics, seemingly determined to wait for the chance to use his breath of fire again.
A loud explosion came from the Seven Sins Tower behind them.
Something had gone wrong. Singh turned to look. One of the towers had tilted outward. Still engulfed in flames from the fierce battle, it swayed helplessly as massive chunks of metal fell off. Eventually, it broke away from the Seven Sins Tower and plummeted toward the ground under gravity, leaving a terrifying wound in its place.
No! How is that possible! It should still be able to hold on! Singh’s eyes burned with fury. The Seven Sins Tower was the culmination of his efforts over the past half of his life—he had given almost everything to make it possible to travel through the heavens—yet now it was about to fall?
47, who had been feuding with Singh, took this opportunity to launch a surprise attack.
Singh turned his attention away from the Seven Sins Tower, but in that fleeting moment of distraction, a flash struck right in front of him.
An invisible energy palm formed in front of Singh—almost too late. The lightning-like flash encountered an obstacle less than five feet away from the Dragon Golem. As it collided with the crushing palm, Singh saw that it was a spindle-shaped metal object wrapped in lightning, with a long blue-white tail flame at its rear, resembling a meteor.
The massive explosion was as bright as a small sun. The energy wave that swept out was filled with flames and lightning, making the shape of the energy palm clearly visible. What was this? Before Singh could figure it out, another explosion occurred on his back—the Dragon Golem was knocked down violently, spinning through the air amidst thick smoke. Then two more explosions occurred, drawing arcs in the air before hitting the Dragon Golem from different angles and completely shattering it into two pieces.
In the control room, Singh staggered backward and fell to the ground in disarray.
“Singh, give up!” Kiskain came over to pull him up, but Singh frantically shook him off and rushed to the control panel. “No! There’s still a chance! We can take the Seven Sins Tower to the forest. If we save it, we can refine the power of the ‘Divine Armaments’ again! Where are the people?! Where have they gone?”
“I sent them away. They can’t die along with the Seven Sins Tower! They’ve already dedicated their entire lives to it!”
“What!” Singh grabbed Kiskain by the collar. “They left? I didn’t give permission! How dare you give such an order? They’re mages of the Council! They have a duty to sacrifice themselves!”
“What mages!” Kiskain broke free from Singh. “What kind of mages are they? They’ve spent their entire lives studying the Seven Sins Tower and the ‘Divine Armaments.’ What else do they know? They’re just our tools! That’s enough! Enough already!”
Singh stared at Kiskain in shock.
“Enough… Never.” His lips twitched, and suddenly he laughed, his blood-stained white beard trembling as well.

The Tower of Seven Sins shook again. From the wildly distorted and flickering magical images, it was clear that Forty-Seven was still attacking the Tower—the explosive missiles that destroyed the dragon golems were fired from a strange device mounted on the dragon’s neck and shoulders, as if a pair of heavy crossbows were attached to the base of its wings.
“Go,” Singer said calmly to Kiskain, returning to that aged, serene tone. “The Council of Mages cannot be destroyed by us… Remember, old friend… It is because of mages like us that the Council exists… Go… Don’t worry about Agus. Find a successor first…”
Kiskain said nothing. He gave Singer one last deep look and obeyed him once more—as he had done for over a hundred years.
Dawn arrived. When the first rays of light touched the Tower of Seven Sins, the tilted towers finally collapsed completely. A violent explosion erupted inside, a furious declaration from the uncontrollable energy within.
The Tower of Seven Sins burned, sending smoke and flashes into the air—as if a sun had fallen in the dawn.