Chapter 53: Chapter 42: Prerequisite Combat Technique, Humiliate People’s Power! (Part 2)

He had complete control over Reinhardt’s every move!

If both sides hadn’t agreed on the terms of the duel before it began, Reinhardt knew that he would be severely injured, if not dead, by now.

But for a Knight to live up to their convictions, they must fight for them! This was the final lesson Knight An Jie had taught him, one she paid for with her life!

Reinhardt understood the man wasn’t joking, nor was he simply looking for an excuse to test the depths of his strength. If he couldn’t even make Heinrich take a single step back, he would never get any useful information from this Knight about the events of autumn 1438.

But to be worthy of a dialogue with an Earth Knight, strength was the only way!

In Reinhardt’s vision, the blood-red icon for Steel of the Heart was still charging, but he knew that even with its power, he couldn’t move his opponent in the slightest.

His opponent’s strength was terrifyingly immense, far beyond his comprehension.

He struck and immediately retreated.

Reinhardt landed smoothly a short distance away.

Heinrich was expressionless. His gaze landed on Reinhardt, and his voice was deep and cold.

"You’re still a long way off, young man."

A grim silence fell, overpowering the whistling wind.

No one could see the expression on Reinhardt’s face, hidden as it was by the Morphic Armor, but he stood proud and unyielding under the Earth Knight’s immense pressure.

Unflinching.

The next moment, to the utter shock of his comrades in the Iron Blood Battle Group, a faint, blood-red mist began to seep from his skin, swirling around his body.

The faint power of his Destructive Field·Bloodthirsty Madness displaced the air, sending ripples spreading outward.

When Maxim sensed the properties of this power, his eyes went wide and he gasped in disbelief.

"A Destruction Force Field! How is that possible?! A dual-attribute Knight Power—! That guy Reinhardt..."

All this time, he’d thought Reinhardt was just some unlucky failure who’d washed out of a Knight Order’s training camp and had to pull strings to get a post in the Iron Blood Battle Group because he had nowhere else to go.

He figured their strength was about the same.

But after witnessing Reinhardt display such extraordinary power and talent time and time again, Maxim was at a loss for words.

He thought about how, for the past six months, he had constantly been showing off his veteran status in front of Reinhardt. Even for someone as thick-skinned as Maxim—a man who felt ill if he went a day without bragging—the memory made his face burn with embarrassment.

Dietlinde had always believed Reinhardt was just an ordinary young Knight who, at most, had a personal connection to Lord Sedon of the Seventh Group Army.

But a seed of doubt had been planted in her heart when, before they departed, she saw his personnel file, large portions of which had been redacted as classified information.

’A brilliant and tenacious young Knight wouldn’t just swallow his pride and join a third-rate Imperial Mercenary Corps without a reason.’

And now, Dietlinde suddenly understood.

This boy, whose eyes held a weariness that belied his age; this boy, whom she had fallen deeply in love with the moment she first saw him.

’He must be carrying some heavy, dark secret that he can’t share with anyone.’

「Meanwhile」

Reinhardt’s brow was furrowed in concentration. ’After that first probing attack, it’s clear his strength is far greater than I estimated!’

It was an immense pressure he hadn’t even felt when facing Fear Knight Dortmund!

Based on his experience from his one clash with Vice Commander Erich, he had initially thought it wouldn’t be a problem to make an Earth Knight budge with a charged strike from his Steel of the Heart.

After all, he was only trying to make him move, not hurt him.

But now, the man before him, completely encased in Dark Gold Dragon Scale Armor, seemed like an insurmountable mountain.

’Quelling a rebellion...’

Reinhardt couldn’t imagine how many lives would have to be sacrificed to put down a rebellion if a Knight Order like this truly turned traitor.

’The plan has to change.’

Reinhardt’s mind raced. The problem was this: if he couldn’t perfectly channel all his power into the charged strike from Steel of the Heart and make his opponent move...

...then trying to rely on his own strength afterward, even with a 100% boost from Bloodthirsty Madness, would make it nearly impossible to budge the Earth Knight.

After a moment of thought, Reinhardt’s brow tightened. ’Looks like I have no choice but to use that technique...’

Then.

Under the stunned and bewildered gazes of the Knights watching the duel, Reinhardt drew an exquisite dagger from his leg armor. It was a gift from Dietlinde, the blond Knight, given to him over dinner three days ago to welcome him into the Iron Blood Battle Group.

Reinhardt gripped the dagger tightly. The Morphic Armor on his chest writhed and receded, exposing the black-and-red-painted armor of the Iron Blood Battle Group beneath.

Without hesitation, he raised the dagger and plunged it forcefully into his own chest, just below the collarbone!

Instantly, the suffocating agony of a ruptured lung, of blood flooding his airways, seized him like a noose tightening around his neck. He couldn’t breathe!

But he merely grit his teeth, letting the blood spray freely.

At the same time.

The system’s ethereal blue text appeared in his vision once more.

[Grow stronger through battle.]

[Destructive Field·Bloodthirsty Madness has always been your greatest trump card, but you understand that a passively activated ability has its limits. To control this immense power with more flexibility, you must pay a price ordinary people can’t even imagine.]

[Optimizing prerequisite Combat Technique...]

[Bloodletting: You can now control the living matter of the Morphic Armor to create minute wounds on your skin and in your muscles, allowing you to actively control the amplification progress of Bloodthirsty Madness.]

[Please cherish your life. Do not self-harm. The feeling of your lungs filling with blood is quite unpleasant.]

[Current Physique Amplification: 67%]

He had devised this method while developing the Humiliate People’s Power technique. To use the Humiliate People’s Power Combat Technique effectively, he needed a way to activate Bloodthirsty Madness on command.

Today was the first time he had put the idea into practice.

Although Bloodthirsty Madness healed some of his wounds as it strengthened his Physique, the agony of blood filling his lungs—just as the system had warned—was almost too much even for him to bear!

Reinhardt coughed up a great mouthful of blood and collapsed to one knee, unable to stay upright!

The Special Abilities derived from one’s Power were many and varied; using self-harm to activate them was not unheard of. Still, every Knight who witnessed the act frowned.

Dietlinde’s brow furrowed, and her crimson warhorse shifted nervously beneath her. She desperately wanted to dismount, run to Reinhardt to check his injuries, and scream at him. ’Are you insane?! Stabbing yourself in the chest!’

But she was an Imperial Knight.

Love, as powerful as it may be, had to take a backseat to a Knight’s honor. As a frontline commander of the Iron Blood Battle Group, she had to remain where she was and see the duel to its conclusion.

Interfering in a duel between two Knights was not only an act of cowardice and depravity, it was utterly devoid of honor!

As Reinhardt’s blood spattered onto the ground, the sanguine mist around him deepened to a crimson red, and in that same instant, his aura skyrocketed!

It was a terrifying power that far surpassed that of a Four-star Military Rank Knight!

The presence of his Power billowed out in waves, saturated with madness and bloodlust.

Not a single Knight was unshaken by this terrifying power!

’This young Knight’s power is still growing?!’

Even Heinrich, the perpetually expressionless Earth Knight, could not help but frown slightly.

In his vision, he could see Reinhardt’s Life Force burning away, his body temperature slowly but surely dropping to an unnatural low.

This was a gift from his Dragon Descendant bloodline.

The ability to see through a Knight’s many Special Abilities.

In exchange, the intensity of Reinhardt’s Power blazed like a raging fire, its presence overwhelming!

’A Six-star Military Rank?’

’Or... Seven-star?’

’This young man...’

Heinrich’s train of thought was derailed for only an instant.

The next second, Reinhardt vanished from his sight. His terrifying speed tore through the air, unleashing a deafening sonic boom!

This time, none of the other Knights could track his movements.

It all happened too fast.

In a flash.

BOOM—!

Reinhardt’s figure, wreathed in a bloody mist, appeared before Heinrich. His face was a twisted mask of fury, his body was covered in blood, and a terrifying, Mighty Power was condensed upon his fists!

Heinrich’s pupils contracted!

’This is bad—!’

His battle instincts, honed over countless encounters, screamed of danger. Muscle memory took over, forcing his body back a step. At the same time, the Dark Gold Dragon Scale Armor covering his entire body began a High-Frequency Oscillation. Wreathed in the power of an Earth Knight, it unleashed a terrifying, dragon-like roar of sound waves that slammed viciously into Reinhardt!