Chapter 37: Chapter 32: The Power Born of Pain and Despair

Meanwhile.

Having witnessed Reinhardt gradually descend into madness during his life-and-death struggle with the Fear Knight, even tearing a Demon apart with his bare hands, Ober, the dull-witted boy, was left completely dumbfounded.

He never would have dreamed that the short young boy who used to chase them around and beat them up every day at the training camp actually possessed such terrifying power.

After witnessing Knight An Jie’s death, he had even thought Reinhardt would die in the span of a single breath.

Ober would never forget.

When the Fear Knight’s blood-red robes, whipping in a fierce gust of wind, had suddenly appeared before him, Reinhardt’s back had seemed so solid, so imposing.

’Your enemy is me, you mongrel Knight.’

It was as if Vice Commander Erich himself were standing before them.

Even though death already had him by the throat, the fire in Ober’s heart hadn’t diminished. He might not be the sharpest, but his knightly dreams and courage had never wavered!

It was just as Instructor An Jie had once told them—the origin of the Steel Knight Order’s name.

A will of steel!

An unyielding spirit!

This was the soul of the Steel Knight Order, passed down for seventy years, and it had never changed!

And in that moment, seeing Reinhardt, Ober understood for the first time what a true will of steel really was!

’If it had been me, I might have yielded to the Fear Knight’s temptations and threats—not just to survive, but for my comrades, Robie and Lupu.’

But Reinhardt’s answer had shown him, for the first time, the meaning of defiance!

However, Robie Hiling, son of the Sky Knight Duval, was drowned in immense pain and despair. He heard nothing but mockery and ridicule.

He had promised that if danger came, he would step up to protect them both. But now, faced with the lifeless eyes of Lupu, that promise seemed like a colossal joke.

Just then.

Ober’s voice reached his ears, and his shoulders were being shaken frantically.

"Robie! The Convicted Demons are coming! Get up!"

Robie lifted his head and stared blankly at the Convicted Demons closing in on them. He wanted to resist, to try and stand up and run, but his limbs were as weak as his soul and refused to obey him.

Ober tried to carry him, but Robie was over two meters tall and built like an ox. He tugged several times but couldn’t get him up.

The towering figures of the Convicted Demons grew larger and larger in Robie’s pupils, their colossal shadows completely swallowing even the dying light of the Northern Lands.

Ober dragged his body, struggling to move forward.

The savage laughter and heavy breathing of the Convicted Demons grew closer and closer.

But in that instant, Robie’s gaze passed over the swarm of Convicted Demons and fell upon the figure shrouded in a bloody mist.

Scenes from his past flashed before his eyes, like a dying man’s final memories.

The ridicule and disapproval of his childhood.

The lofty, indifferent, and contemptuous gazes of his brother and father during his youth.

Reinhardt’s dazzling light of unyielding tenacity at the training camp, which had overshadowed all his own sweat and effort.

Robie smiled, a smile of release.

In that moment, it was as if he had aged thirty years.

His once-lustrous brown hair turned withered and gray in an instant.

His once-arrogant and jealous eyes became exceptionally calm.

In his short life, all he had wanted in childhood was the approval of those around him; in his youth, the acknowledgment of his father and brother.

He had wanted to defeat Reinhardt, and then to become Reinhardt, inheriting all the glory that common-born boy had claimed at the training camp.

But he had never once considered what his own knightly dream was truly for.

What his convictions were.

It was as if, being the son of the Sky Knight Duval, he was naturally expected to inherit his father’s glory, become a Knight, and spend his entire life living in his father’s shadow.

At this moment.

He was completely liberated.

The one he had claimed to disdain but secretly respected the most—An Jie, an ordinary Three-star Military Rank Knight of the Imperial Knight Order.

Her teachings from long ago echoed in his ears:

’If you want to live by the conviction of a Knight, you must fight for it.’

Those were her words, and she had lived by them, leading by example.

Just as she had once stood her ground against three vice commanders, arguing forcefully to keep Reinhardt from being expelled from the training camp.

Anyone who wanted to harm the boys of the training camp would have to do it over her dead body.

Robie had never known why he wanted to become a Knight, had never even thought about it. But in this moment, he finally understood what it was he truly wanted.

He didn’t want approval humbly begged from others, nor their sarcastic, insincere praise.

He wanted the power to protect his friends.

He wanted to climb the ladder, step by step, to stand at the very top, and make all those who had once scorned and mocked him kneel and grovel in fear, begging to kiss his feet!

Before Ober’s panicked and horrified eyes, Robie’s hair instantly turned ancient and gray. Puddles of blood seeped uncontrollably from his skin. His once ox-strong body began to wither and dry up, as if it would drain its very last drop of blood and become a desiccated corpse.

Not only that.

The terror on Robie’s face vanished, replaced by an unsettling, maniacal laughter.

"Ha... haha... HAHAHA—!"

Suddenly.

The laughter stopped short.

Ober felt a massive force grab his arm. Robie’s face looked like a shriveled corpse. The blood pouring from his body swirled around him like a living thing, finally coalescing into a scarlet greatsword covered in folds and protrusions.

"Take Lupu’s body and get out of here."

Even as slow-witted as Ober was, he understood: Robie had manifested his Power.

In Robie’s first year at the training camp, Instructor An Jie had said he was only one step away from manifesting his Power. But that one step had taken three years.

The aura of this Power was unlike that of any Knight he had ever seen in the Knight Order—it was chilling to the bone. But he knew that Robie was still Robie, the leader of him and Lupu.

Ober was at a loss for words. He gripped Robie’s shoulder tightly, gave him a small nod, then shouldered Lupu’s body and ran into the distance without looking back.

Facing the swarm of Convicted Demons, Robie’s nearly desiccated body slowly rose to its feet.

The greatsword of blood flowed in his hand. The massive weapon, as wide as a door panel and covered in what looked like pulsing veins of hatred, gave off a cold aura that unsettled all living things. He calmly watched the approaching Convicted Demons.

Just as he had once provoked Reinhardt, he raised his left hand and beckoned with his finger.

"Which one of you is first?"

At the same time.

The sudden appearance of a strange Knightly Aura in the distance drew the attention of both Reinhardt and the Fear Knight.

Death Butcher Dortmund.

His arrogance would not permit him to feel admiration for another Knight.

So he stared at Robie Hiling in the distance, because it had been a long time since he had seen such a Knightly Aura. It was filled with despair and terror, as if the boy was born to be a Fear Knight, rather than wasting his talent and time in the Human Empire.