Chapter 79: Chapter 59: Sedon’s Strength, New and Old Grudges

"You have the nerve to use the word ’corruption’? Why don’t you take a look at yourself, you big shot? Vice Commander Erich and the Steel Knight Order proved their Loyalty to the Empire with their lives.

And you?

You just played it safe, stayed out of it, your hands stained with the blood of your comrades.

You even wrote a half-hearted letter trying to protect me just to make yourself look less like a villain. Do I need *your* protection?!"

Sedon faced Reinhardt’s accusations, his expression still impassive. He was simply waiting for a response from the Radiant Angel, Albert.

If there was any trace of corruption in Reinhardt’s soul, he would strike immediately and eliminate this potential future enemy of the Empire!

Reinhardt was still laying into him, his spittle flying onto Sedon’s face!

Matthias, who had just returned to report to Sedon, saw the young Knight—the same one who had nearly taken his spot as a candidate for the champion program—standing face-to-face with Sedon and absolutely unloading on him. He froze on the spot, completely stunned.

He wasn’t the only one.

Every Knight who witnessed the confrontation was shocked by Reinhardt’s flagrant insubordination! ’Doesn’t that young Knight know who he’s talking to?!’

Founder of the Ash Guard.

Spiritual leader of the Death Battle Group.

Councilor of the Lower House of the Regent Council.

Senior advisor to the Imperial Seventh Group Army.

With a list of titles like that, Sedon was a true powerhouse even in the Radiant Holy City—to say nothing of how he appeared to an Official Knight like Reinhardt, who came from a third-rate Mercenary Corps!

Any disrespectful offense would have disastrous consequences.

Even if Reinhardt was exceptionally powerful, he was still a Knight with no background or status. If Sedon wished it, he had countless ways to completely crush the young Knight’s future.

Albert was a Radiant Angel of the Second Legion, a position of transcendent status.

But in the face of Sedon’s question, his attitude was not only respectful but also extremely cautious.

Setting aside those bureaucratic titles,

Albert had once heard his captain speak of the deeds of a certain Merit Knight. The ruthless man who had single-handedly fought his way out of the Abyss while carrying the head of a Great Demon was the very same lord standing before him now.

He kept replaying the state of Reinhardt’s soul as he had seen it through his Angel’s sight.

This wasn’t just about the life and death of a single Knight; it was about whether the Empire would have one more Venerable Great Demon to face in the future!

His decision had to be made with the utmost care!

Albert looked at Reinhardt’s back, his left hand clenching slightly into a fist. Recalling that fleeting glimpse, he ultimately chose to believe in the young Knight’s conviction!

Then he looked at Sedon and gave a slight nod, indicating that Reinhardt’s soul was still pure.

Sedon wanted to leave.

But Reinhardt wasn’t about to let him go. The deaths of Erich, of An Jie... The rage had been building inside him for far too long—so long that he wished he could smash Sedon’s damned head in with a single punch right now!

Under the dumbfounded gazes of the other Knights, Reinhardt continued to unload on him!

His furious voice echoed through the skies of Baihe Town.

"You talk on and on about the good of the Empire, but do you have any idea how much your actions make you look like some noble clown obsessed with the glory of his bloodline?

Do you see these Imperial Knights who were sacrificed for nothing?

They didn’t die on the battlefield fighting Demons! They didn’t die in the glory of protecting Imperial Citizens! They died for your so-called Loyalty and the Empire’s bullshit interests!

Why was your family destroyed? Why was your surname stripped from you? Do I have to be the one to tell you why?! Traitor!"

No one could know the trials and tribulations Sedon had endured.

After choosing to sacrifice himself for the sake of the Empire, he had long been prepared to bear the insults. But every one of Reinhardt’s words was a dagger to the heart!

After the fifth Lord of the Radiant Holy Sword inherited the Empire, this Human Realm that had stood for a thousand years in the Dark World was already teetering on the brink of collapse, rotten to the core.

Someone needed to step forward, to reunite this fragmented Empire and reforge the great glory it had known a millennium ago.

And to achieve this vision,

someone needed to step forward and shoulder the darkness and sin that lurked beneath the light.

The outwardly united but inwardly divided traitors had to be dealt with. The disloyal Provincial Governors had to be replaced. The Imperial Legions that defied the orders of the Regent Council and the new Lord of the Empire, Karloman, had to be purged...

Sedon once believed Karloman would be a great sovereign.

But he was wrong.

The humiliation of seeing such lofty ideals thrown to the ground and trampled by a traitor, combined with Reinhardt’s words that so precisely pierced his defenses, was too much. Even for someone as composed as Sedon, the rage in his heart could no longer be contained.

"Enough—!"

Thunder rumbled.

The cold wind sweeping through the Northern Lands had finally brought dark clouds and heavy rain.

His subordinates from the Death Battle Group.

His friends from his youth.

Pairs of eyes from all directions fell upon Sedon, burning with such heat that it felt as if a great roar of mockery was echoing in his ears.

Raindrops splattered against Sedon’s Armor, sending up splashes of water.

An absolute, oppressive silence spread and seeped through the air of Baihe Town.

In that moment, neither Sedon nor Reinhardt backed down from the other’s gaze!

Knights do not believe in empty words.

Nor do Knights believe in cunning sophistry.

There is only one true way for Knights to communicate: a duel!

Just like the battle between Reinhardt and Heinrich!

To earn the right to speak, to wash away great shame, you must rely on superior Physique and immense strength to win your opponent’s respect!

Reinhardt’s chest heaved. The more he looked at Sedon’s arrogant, noble face, the more he wanted to punch it!

’This bastard!’

Reinhardt twisted his body slightly. He clenched his right fist, and a terrifying force cut through the air with a dull WHIR, hurtling toward Sedon’s face.

Sedon raised his left arm, blocking Reinhardt’s wrist. In a single motion, he parried and countered, stepping forward with his left foot and using the momentum to slam his right fist into Reinhardt’s chest!

Even without using Knight Power, his Physique of over 170 kilograms made the blow feel like a war chariot slamming into Reinhardt’s chest, knocking him several steps back.

Finally, the man who had always stood still in battle, looking down on everything with the arrogance of an Emperor, took a step.

His black Anti-Magic Steel Armor clanged sharply.

He threw a heavy, powerful hook that whistled through the air toward Reinhardt’s left cheek!

BANG—!

The sonic boom of high-pressure air sacs was brief and piercing.

Reinhardt vanished from the spot, his arms positioned like a bull’s horns, and viciously slammed into Sedon’s body!

Sedon was sent flying back on impact!

But before he landed, a magma tendril shot silently from the ground and wrapped itself tightly around Reinhardt’s ankle!

In the brief moment his movement was restricted, Sedon’s body touched the ground, instantly sank into it, and reappeared right in front of Reinhardt.

A fist the size of a sandbag shot upward, aiming for Reinhardt’s chin. But the youth was no longer the reckless, inexperienced follower he once was.

Reinhardt stomped, snapping the magma tendril. He brought his right hand across his chest and, with his left arm bent, brutally smashed his elbow into Sedon’s face!

Even with a Knight’s Physique, taking an elbow strike from a brawny man weighing over 150 kilograms head-on would, at best, result in a fractured skull and extremely severe injuries, if not death.

But Reinhardt’s elbow felt no impact on Sedon’s face—only a slight resistance and a wave of intense heat.

This discrepancy between his combat instincts and the actual feedback caused Reinhardt to briefly lose his balance. His elbow passed through Sedon’s face, which had undergone magma Elementalization, and he stumbled forward.

Sedon seized the opportunity, grabbing Reinhardt’s body and driving his knee up in a powerful strike!

The iron knee, encased in Steel Armor, magnified instantly in Reinhardt’s vision! It was too late to pull his arms back to defend.

’This is bad—!’

If he took this hit head-on, his face—his entire facial structure—would be completely caved in! It would most likely be a fatal blow!

The living substance of the Morphic Armor instantly covered his head and neck!

THUD—!

The muffled impact even sent a ripple through the curtain of rain!

Reinhardt wrapped his arms around Sedon’s body, his eyes wide with fury. A roaring bellow shattered the battlefield’s dead silence as the high-pressure air sacs fired at full power, sending him flying backward with Sedon in tow!

He had waited too long for this fight.

Old grudges and new hatred.

In this battle, he would settle the score with Sedon once and for all!