’My head is swimming. It’s taking a will of steel just to stay conscious. Who cares if I’m getting thin? Didn’t that bastard Robie become nothing but skin and bones after he awakened his Knight Power?’

He sniffed.

’Smells a little sweet.’

The ride was incredibly bumpy, but Reinhardt finally let out a sigh of relief. His mind gradually settled. He just hoped that some people would still be alive when he returned to the fortress.

The Empire’s reinforcements had arrived: three 10,000-man Infantry Legions, two full-strength forty-man Knight Orders, and even a Sky Knight was personally overseeing the situation.

The Abyssal Demons that had broken into Frostfire Fortress didn’t last twenty minutes. They were utterly routed.

After returning to the fortress, Reinhardt ignored the Knight in front of him trying to stop him and hastily jumped off his horse, running toward the spot where he had separated from the Fortress Defenders.

The bodies of Convicted Demons and soldiers were piled up like mountains. Rivers of blood pooled at the base of the city walls.

Knight An Jie’s body was nowhere to be seen.

All Reinhardt found on the ground was a tattered piece of clothing, soaked a dark red with blood. He fell to one knee, clutching the fragment of Knight An Jie’s garment. He glared and ground his teeth as hatred and fury took root, spreading through his veins.

Even though he had accepted the cruelty of reality long ago, and even though he had witnessed everything at the bridge, Reinhardt still clung to a sliver of hope on the way back to the fortress.

’That Lord Knight who had protected him for three whole years at the training camp... maybe she was still alive.’

But the cold, blood-soaked cloth in his hand silently told him everything that had happened here.

Given the bloodthirsty and cruel nature of the Convicted Demons, any Knight who died at their hands was destined to not have their body left in one piece.

Reinhardt’s face was expressionless as he silently rose to his feet. If a Convicted Demon were standing before him right now, he would tear the filthy beast apart with his own hands—even if activating his Knight Power again would leave him with grievous, slow-healing wounds!

’No.’

’I’ll kill Dortmund with my own hands—that hybrid bastard who killed Knight An Jie! I’ll use its filthy blood as an offering to every comrade who died in this catastrophe!’

’I will cut off Dortmund’s head and mount it before Knight An Jie’s grave to commemorate the great, heroic instructor.’

’I will make the person behind Sedon pay a heavy price!’

The Empire’s relief force recaptured the fortress, bringing a temporary end to the battle.

The Infantry Legions that entered afterward began cleaning up the battlefield under their officers’ command, tallying the dead and severely wounded.

A fine snow fell ceaselessly, swirling in the bleak, cold wind of the Northern Lands. It landed on Reinhardt’s head, where it melted and then froze.

He heard footsteps stop behind him.

"My condolences."

Reinhardt stood and looked over. It was the slender Knight who had pulled him onto her horse and galloped all the way to the fortress. She raised a hand and removed her helmet, revealing a shock of fiery red, choppy hair.

"Your injuries are severe. I was worried, so I followed you to check."

Her breath condensed into a white mist in front of her. She had a few small freckles on either side of her nose. Her brown eyes weren’t exactly clear, but they weren’t too world-weary either.

Her lips were slightly pale and chapped, and there was a scar from a healed wound near the right corner of her mouth.

Perhaps because she empathized with Reinhardt’s grief and anger, her voice was frank and sincere.

Her helmet was tucked under her arm, and her fine brows knitted slightly. Seeming to notice how young Reinhardt was, she glanced at the gruesome pile of corpses in the distance before saying casually, "To die on the battlefield is a Knight’s glory, young Knight."

’If it had truly been a glorious death in battle, Reinhardt might have been angry, but he certainly wouldn’t be burning with this kind of rage!’

The female Knight’s attempt at comfort may have been well-intentioned, but at that moment, her voice was grating to his ears, like the low, mocking laughter of the one pulling the strings from behind the scenes.

Reinhardt gave the conveniently-timed reinforcements a look, then turned and silently walked deeper into the fortress.

The female Knight could feel the towering rage buried deep within the young Knight’s heart, but she didn’t understand where it came from.

’Perhaps the one who died was very important to him.’

"Albrecht! The captain’s looking for you! Report to him at once!"

"Got it!"

The female Knight glanced at Reinhardt’s back before turning and walking away in the other direction.

「Elsewhere.」

As Reinhardt looked around, the price the Fortress Defenders had paid was too devastating to describe. Of a full Knight Order and two thousand infantrymen from Hearn Territory, fewer than twenty were now left alive inside the fortress.

With the help of the reinforcements, they were either resting by a bonfire or being carried into simple, hastily erected tents for medical treatment.

Reinhardt searched for a long time among the surviving Knights but saw no sign of Vice Commander Erich.

Sedon, once so high and mighty in the Steel Knight Order, now had an empty right sleeve. A thin white smoke rose from the burn wound where his arm had been.

Even his usually immaculate hair was matted to his scalp, sticky with blood.

Adrian’s injuries weren’t severe. He was holding a small, intricate Mechanical Crossbow. Reinhardt recognized it; it was the weapon of Karamor, captain of the third squad.

But now it was in Adrian’s hands, which meant its owner was long gone.

Seeing Reinhardt walk over, even a chatterbox as naturally friendly as Knight Adrian could only manage a forced smile.

He got up and walked over, giving Reinhardt an enthusiastic bear hug.

If he hadn’t also condensed his Power and gained the Physique and strength of a Knight, a normal person would have been strangled to death on the spot by the man’s embrace.

Adrian slapped Reinhardt hard on the back and said with a smile, "It’s good you’re alive. Come, sit."

Perhaps it was because they had fought side-by-side.

Or perhaps something had happened that Reinhardt didn’t know about.

Adrian’s attitude toward Sedon was much better than before. He pulled Reinhardt over and said with a laugh, "Look who it is! I told you this guy wouldn’t die so easily.

"Pay up. You can’t go back on our bet."

Sedon’s expression remained grim. Of the Direct Lineage Knights he had once brought to the Steel Knight Order, he couldn’t even assemble a single six-man squad now.

He gave Reinhardt a cold glance and said nothing.

Just then, his gaze went past Reinhardt and caught sight of a vaguely familiar figure, causing his brow to furrow deeply.

’Robbie Hiling?’

’How did he end up looking like this? This aura... a Knight’s Power?’

Not far away, the sound of firm footsteps approached. When Sedon saw the newcomer, he hurriedly stood up, bowed his head slightly, and said respectfully, "Legion Commander, the fortress fell. It was my dereliction of duty."

The man’s voice was exceptionally deep. He had brown hair, black eyes, and a face that looked as if it were carved from stone. He was naturally intimidating without showing any anger. At over two meters tall, he stood out even among the Knights of Frostfire Fortress.

He stood before the bonfire with his hands clasped behind his back, his round eyes authoritatively surveying the survivors. "The fortress’s defenses were weak," he said, his face devoid of expression. "You all did your best to hold out this long.

"I will request Radiant Medals from the Seventh Group Army for the Knights who sacrificed themselves."

At that moment, Robbie Hiling, whose hair had turned completely white, walked over. He looked at the tall man’s back, his lips moving slightly as he respectfully lowered his head.

"Father."

But the man merely gave him an indifferent glance, as if his own son condensing his Power and awakening his Knight Power was the most ordinary thing in the world.

He didn’t respond to Robie’s greeting, offered no words of comfort or praise, and didn’t even give him a proper look. Treating him like a stranger, the Legion Commander finished giving his instructions to Sedon, then led his subordinates straight past Robie.

All that was left was the wind from his striding departure, blowing across Robie’s face.