Chapter 77: Chapter 58: Demonic Corruption is Everywhere, In the Name of Courage and Knighthood (Part 2)

Until a pair of rough, large hands grabbed her wrist.

But Dietlinde’s arm still drooped lifelessly.

Reinhardt’s face was terrifyingly grim. Unspoken fury burned in his eyes as he knelt on one knee and carefully placed Dietlinde’s hand on her chest.

The faint heartbeat he felt through it could stop at any moment.

The sight made Albert’s eye twitch uncontrollably!

He was an Angel of the Empire who had executed hundreds, even thousands, of Fallen Knights.

The taint and corruption of Demons were everywhere!

For all the powerful Knights who received Avernus’s blessing, the first step to their fall was always hatred and unquenchable rage!

And this hatred would ceaselessly corrode a Knight’s noble ideals.

Ten years.

A hundred years.

A thousand years.

Even the most strong-willed Knight, after facing death and betrayal time and time again, would eventually be consumed by the flames of vengeance.

The roar of a steam engine was deafening. The Radiant Angel landed like a crashing meteor—heavy, making the very earth tremble.

Albert took off his helmet and tossed it to Fei Ning. With a deep frown, he shoved Reinhardt aside with immense strength, retrieved a syringe from the massive steam-pack on his back, and plunged it into Dietlinde’s chest.

He then placed his right hand on the horrific wound on Dietlinde’s right shoulder.

Knight Power flowed out, transforming into a sacred flame that cauterized the wound.

"Leave her to me. And you—in the name of the Second Legion’s Radiant Angel, I order you to take charge of Reinhardt’s safety from this moment on.

Under no circumstances can he be allowed to fall into the rebels’ hands!"

Fei Ning was stunned. Seeing the Radiant Angel willing to take over Dietlinde’s treatment, he scrambled to his feet. His earlier confusion vanished as he placed a fist over his chest and declared loudly, "I guarantee the mission will be completed!"

This was the instinct and muscle memory honed from his many years of service in the Death Battle Group.

In the first half of his life, he never asked why. He only accepted orders and completed his missions.

He admitted he wasn’t a clever man, that he wasn’t suited to be a Battle Group leader. But when faced with an order from a superior, he would give his all to carry it out!

Even though he was an Earth Knight, and the Radiant Angel was only a Six-star Military Rank Official Knight.

The Radiant Angel Albert did his utmost to heal Dietlinde’s injuries, but he could feel the vengeful fury from Avernus surging ever more violently deep within Reinhardt’s soul.

He fought the urge to draw his sword and cut down this potential Venerable Great Demon who could very well become the Empire’s number one enemy, and instead roared, trying to call back the young Knight who was already completely submerged in hatred.

However, Reinhardt’s calm reply stunned him.

At that moment, his gaze, filled with worry and killing intent, met Reinhardt’s across the distance. The young man simply rose to his feet and responded calmly.

"One by one, at the darkest of times, the Death Butcher used the cruelest of methods to kill my friends and my mentor right in front of me, Angel."

A crimson mist thickened around Reinhardt’s body.

The intensity of his aura continued to climb, until it broke through the critical point of the Seven-star Military Rank.

Behind him, within the Aikacia Nozzles, high-temperature energy streams converged. Terrifying fluctuations of power rippled outward, layer by layer, like waves on water.

In Albert and Fei Ning’s eyes,

Reinhardt’s body sank slightly. He took a step forward, and his terrifying Knight Power kicked up a blast of wind!

"In the name of courage and knighthood, one day, I will slaughter these bastards with my own hands."

And at that very moment,

for the first time, Albert’s vision as a Radiant Angel pierced through the unquenchable fire of vengeance burning in Reinhardt’s soul, past the colossal blessing of Avernus that was like a reflection of the Abyss, and beyond the layers of darkness and pressure.

He saw, deep in Reinhardt’s heart, a tenacious and unyielding courage, and the sacred light of a noble ideal!

It was a grand hymn that not even the darkest powers of this world could devour.

Just like the Human Empire standing amidst this Dark World—though it was now a flickering candle in the wind, broken and battered, there were still Knights and Mortals with ideals in their hearts who would march forward, one after another, willing to burn away their lives to fight for it!

The instant the interwoven red and blue Mach Ring appeared behind Reinhardt,

BOOM—!

The terrifying propulsive force made the very ground beneath his feet tremble.

The Knights present only saw a streak of dark blue light flash through the night, and Reinhardt was already in front of one of the Black Armored Knights who had previously tried to capture him.

Speed is power.

Empowered by the Steel of the Heart and the physique boost from Bloodthirsty Madness, this time, Reinhardt’s iron fists and arms did not crack or break from the immense recoil.

BANG—!

Like a balloon bursting under pressure!

Under the immense impact, augmented by the Steel of the Heart, the Black Armored Knight’s head—along with his fully-enclosed helmet—instantly exploded!

Fragments of bone and sprays of murky blood flew everywhere!

A line of ethereal blue text scrolled across Reinhardt’s vision.

[Giant Devouring Current Layer Number: 2475]

[Physical Enhancement Coefficient: 2.478]

When these Fallen Knights, traitors to the Empire, witnessed Reinhardt obliterate a Six-star Military Rank Elite Knight blessed by a Demon with a single punch,

immense, unconcealable fear filled their eyes!

It wasn’t just because of the terrifying power of Avernus’s blessing deep in Reinhardt’s soul, but also because the young Knight’s fighting style was even more cruel and bloodthirsty than that of a Great Demon!

Seeing that the recovery plan had failed and their rebellion had been exposed, and with Heinrich and the Dark Gold Blood Knights charging toward them from the distance, they finally began to feel fear, their previous attitude of complete control and contempt gone.

One of the leading Fallen Knights turned and fled toward the Radiant Waymark, completely disregarding the lives of his comrades.

More than death, he feared weakness and the failure of his mission, after which his soul would be unable to be reforged in the Abyss.

The master of the Dark Abyss, Avernus, was a ’merciful’ Divine Spirit.

It would bestow its blessing equally upon every creature that produced slaughter and wrath, just as it would ruthlessly reclaim the souls of the weak and the failed.

And for those who failed to please it with slaughter and wrath, it would place their reclaimed souls in eternally burning pools of boiling blood, amusing itself by listening to their agonized screams.

’Trying to escape?’

Just as Reinhardt was about to act, a pair of massive hands made of magma shot out from beneath the ground, suddenly seizing the traitor’s ankles and dragging him down into the high-temperature lava.

This was Sedon’s Knight Power, Lava Master.

But now wasn’t the time to deal with that bastard Sedon. Not a single one of these Fallen Knights was going to get away!

The battle erupted in an instant.

Seeing no escape, the traitors from the Ash Guard began screaming their allegiance to the Abyss, raising their broadswords and mercilessly striking at their former comrades.

This unit of Elite Knights from the Death Battle Group, famous for its mobility, instantly scattered, vanishing into the darkness of the night. They became like streaks of dim light, clashing continuously.

Sedon’s face was as black as thunder.

He never would have dreamed that the Ash Guard, which he had built from the ground up, would have so many members turn to the Abyss and betray the Empire.

But he was a born politician, a deep-thinking conspirator.

After a moment’s thought, recalling the Radiant Angel Albert’s furious roar, he already sensed that there was something unusual about this rebellion within the Empire.

The traitors in the Ash Guard must have been spies planted by the higher-ups to monitor him during those years after he left the Death Battle Group to purge internal dissent for Karloman and the Seventh Group Army.

It was just like the things he himself had done during his years as a vice-commander.

But all of that was something he could tolerate. What he could not accept was that these people would betray the Empire and plunge completely into the Abyss, all for the sake of power!

Finally.

This Seven-star Military Rank Earth Knight, who had always preferred to hide his true strength! The absolute leader of the Death Battle Group! An Imperial Meritorious Knight! At this moment, he finally unleashed his boundless fury.

For the sake of this teetering Empire, he had done everything in his power, not hesitating to stain his own hands with filth, blood, and death, not hesitating to bear the insults and hatred of his many Battle Brothers.

Time and again, he had purged the dissenting voices within the Empire to prevent civil war from breaking out due to the disappearance of the former Lord of the Empire.

But he never could have imagined that Karloman and the Regent Council were using his dedication and sacrifice to pave the way for their own corruption of the Empire!

At this moment,

Sedon’s body began to transform into molten lava, a terrifying heat radiating into the air!