Chapter 55: Chapter 43: The Last Afterglow of the Sublime Age (Part 2)

But she clung to Reinhardt with a death grip. Even as blood streamed from her forehead where it had struck the jagged stones on the ground, even as the back of her hand was mangled and bloody, she still refused to let go.

At this moment.

Everyone was plunged into a deathly silence.

The Knights of the Iron Blood Battle Group were shocked by Reinhardt’s immense power—enough to shatter the defense of an Earth Knight. Meanwhile, the Knights from the Dragon Hunter Battle Group could only watch in stunned silence as blood trickled from the corner of Heinrich’s mouth.

This was the man who had led them through mountains of corpses and seas of blood, who had won one great victory after another—a Hero Knight straight out of an ancient epic.

He took another step back.

And spat out a shattered molar.

No words could describe what they were feeling. It was the sheer horror of witnessing this towering, mountain-like Earth Knight wounded and bleeding for the very first time.

It was the heart-pounding thrill of witnessing the birth of another Hero Knight with their own eyes!

Tenacity, wisdom, and courage were noble beliefs etched into the very blood of every Knight.

They did not fly into a rage out of shame and anger over Commander Heinrich’s defeat and injury in the duel.

When Heinrich picked up his Dragon-Hunting Giant Spear, the Knights of the Dragon Hunter Battle Group, their expressions solemn, gripped their weapons tightly and forcefully struck their shields.

The muffled sound of metal striking metal.

It was like the thunderous roar of shouts and applause from the stands of the Imperial Arena.

This was a glorious, seven-hundred-year-old tradition of the Dragon Hunter Battle Group. It was their most fervent cheer, a celebration for the battle’s victor: Reinhardt!

In this instant.

They etched the indomitable figure of this young Knight into their memory.

Reinhardt was gravely wounded.

Even though the power of Bloodthirsty Madness was slowly helping him recover, that single, all-out strike had completely drained his stamina.

Faint blue system text scrolled across his vision.

[Giant Devouring Current Layer Number: 1858]

[Current Physical Enhancement Coefficient: 1.858]

[Steel of the Heart has completed its final evolution.]

[Goliath Giant: For every 1000 layers of Steel of the Heart, your Physique strength permanently increases by 3%. You can unleash the characteristic power of the Goliath Giant to gain an increase in body size equivalent to the permanent increase in Physique strength.]

[Physique Strength: Increases muscle and bone density, enhances neural reflex speed.]

[Be a real man! Bigger! Taller! Stronger!]

’A thousand layers of Steel of the Heart...’

There was no better testament to an opponent’s strength than the number of Steel of the Heart layers gained from a single exchange.

Fear Knight Dortmund, the enemy who had forced him to risk everything in a life-or-death battle on the Northern Icefield, had only granted him a hundred and fifty layers of Steel of the Heart.

’The power that grants a thousand layers of Steel of the Heart...’

If this had truly been a fight to the death, he likely would have been a corpse the instant he got close to his opponent.

However.

Reinhardt could now feel his Physique growing stronger with incredible clarity. It was a sensation that would normally take a year of arduous training to achieve—as if, after a long period of exertion, his aching muscles were suddenly filled with a newfound depth of power and stamina he had never possessed before.

He placed a hand on the ground to push himself up, but a calloused hand caught his wrist. Dietlinde’s familiar voice spoke beside his ear.

"Can you stand?"

Reinhardt knew someone had helped him bear the brunt of that potentially fatal impact, but he hadn’t expected it to be Dietlinde.

They helped each other to their feet. Reinhardt’s gaze landed on Dietlinde’s face. A long gash on her forehead was bleeding profusely, and the skin on the back of her hand was scraped away from the impact with the ground, revealing bloody wounds that were bone-deep.

Despite being so severely injured, Dietlinde only furrowed her brow slightly. When she noticed him looking, she broke into a wide smile, looking just like the tall, flippant, blonde female Knight he remembered from their first meeting in the Iron Blood Battle Group.

But the smile eventually faded from Dietlinde’s face. She looked up toward Heinrich in the distance, her expression hardening into one of resolute, iron-willed conviction—the belief of a Knight, etched deep in her bones. It was a look completely unlike her usual self back in the Iron Blood Battle Group’s camp.

"Whatever you’re trying to do, if we make it back to Infinitis alive, I expect a proper explanation."

Supporting each other, the two slowly walked toward Heinrich, under the gazes of Knights who looked upon them as if they were returning heroes.

When Reinhardt saw the wound on Heinrich’s face, he fell silent.

’My all-out strike, one that I endured immense pain and burned my very blood to deliver... In the end, did it only manage to break one of his teeth?’

Back in the wastelands outside Frostfire Fortress, even Fear Knight Dortmund had been unwilling to face him head-on when he was at his peak. But now, after truly facing an enemy whose Power Level was in another league entirely, Reinhardt finally understood why Erich had warned him over and over not to confront Sedon directly.

The gap in power between an Official Knight and an Earth Knight was not something that could be overcome with mere willpower and conviction.

But Reinhardt felt no despair. On the contrary, the knightly ideal deep within his heart now burned like a raging, inextinguishable inferno!

A chilling wind rustled Reinhardt’s tousled hair. A bead of blood traced a path down his cheek before falling to the ground.

Aside from Dietlinde’s shallow breathing, all he could hear was a terrifying, deathly silence.

The Knights of the Iron Blood Battle Group didn’t understand why Reinhardt and Heinrich had dueled, but they knew that the conversation that followed would determine whether they lived or died.

The Knights of the Dragon Hunter Battle Group were also waiting.

The moment Commander Heinrich gave the order, they would—despite their admiration for Reinhardt’s courage and strength—raise their Slaughter Knives and butcher every last Knight of the Iron Blood Battle Group stationed in Baihe Town.

Reinhardt looked directly into Heinrich’s hazel eyes and said in a low voice, "You lost."

Heinrich wiped the blood from his mouth and spat. He stood tall and proud, sunlight casting shadows across his face as his cold eyes looked down upon them.

He began to speak, his tone like that of someone recounting a tale from long ago.

"Six months ago, on the Northern Icefield, a secret letter was sent through the high command of the Seventh Group Army and delivered into the hands of a certain important figure.

Casting aside all prejudice, the letter was lavish in its praise for a certain young Knight’s valor and tenacity, requesting his transfer to the Death Battle Group under the Seventh Group Army.

But that important figure refused.

In fact, he saw this young Knight as a thorn in his side."

Reinhardt’s brow furrowed tightly.

’A secret letter?’

’Why have I never heard anyone mention this?’

The dark golden light surrounding Heinrich faded away, revealing only the mottled battle scars on his Armor. He continued, "This world, this Empire... it is far from what you imagine. The age of nobility is over, young Knight.

Your persistence, my persistence, the persistence of the Steel Knight Order... we are nothing more than the final afterglow of a bygone era.

But if you wish to know the truth of that year, bring your men and come with me. Once you meet him, you will understand everything."

The Knights of the Iron Blood Battle Group understood every word Heinrich spoke, but when strung together, his speech left them completely bewildered.

Thinking back, the order from Blood Corps Headquarters to come to Baihe Town and quell a rebellion now seemed suspicious. But were the Knights of the Dragon Hunter Battle Group actually rebels?

Dietlinde said in a low voice, "I will ask you only one question. In the name of the Knight’s Oath, have you betrayed the Empire?"

Heinrich let out a cold snort. He vaulted onto his horse, raised his Dragon-Hunting Giant Spear, and roared, "Knights! Have you abandoned the oaths you once swore?!"

THUD—!

THUD—!

THUD—!

The sound of weapons striking shields was resolute.

From high atop his horse, he reined his mount to a stop beside Reinhardt and Dietlinde and declared bluntly, "The Dragon Hunter Battle Group is eternally loyal to the Empire. We will never betray it."

His powerful, resonant answer completely dispelled Dietlinde’s doubts.

If these Knights were truly rebels, they could have simply crushed the Iron Blood Battle Group and moved on, rather than wasting their breath here.

She didn’t know what the high command of the Corps had decided, but she and her Knights had no obligation to lay down their lives for them—or for whoever was pulling the strings.

Dietlinde might have been flippant in her daily life, but that didn’t mean she was some love-struck simpleton. With events having developed to this point, it didn’t take a genius to realize that this all had something to do with Reinhardt and the Knight Order he used to serve.

’Since the Earth Knight of the Dragon Hunter Battle Group had put it that way, she might as well go with them and see for herself.’

’Just what was the answer Reinhardt was searching for?’