Chapter 132: Chapter 98: Hack! Awesome! Blood Fury War Axe, Promotion to Seven-star Military Rank
A frontal execution, in the most crushing manner!
HACK—!
’So satisfying—!’
And just like that, under countless horrified gazes, Reinhardt was like a farmer chopping wood, and Stein, holding his Energy Shield, was the log laid before him.
Each time the heavy Black War Axe fell upon the Energy Shield, it sent ripples of energy scattering like water.
The air boomed!
The shockwaves from the terrifying impacts pierced the air. With each strike, the surrounding soldiers and Knights felt their eyelids twitch and their hearts stop!
Stein’s massive body, kneeling on the ground like a wooden post, sank into the earth. The ground beneath him cracked and caved in, burying his Steel Boots and knees!
One axe blow, two, three... The Power Backpack on Stein’s back couldn’t handle the load.
A wisp of smoke began to rise from the Power Backpack.
Stein’s expression changed drastically. Beneath his Full Coverage Helmet, his eyes, seeing the descending Black War Axe, trembled madly. Only a single thought remained in his mind: Death—!
He let out a hysterical, terrified scream.
Stein tried to call his master’s name, to beg for help, to beg for permission to merge with the Void Divine Artifact ahead of schedule and complete the Demon Ascension Ceremony.
But it was all too late.
With its Imperial Technology fully unleashed, the War Axe in Reinhardt’s hand was unstoppable. It sheared through the arm Stein raised to block it, shattered the Solid defense of his Anti-Magic Breastplate, and finally, sank deep into Stein’s chest!
CLANG—!
The crisp sound of Heart Steel flashed and was gone.
At the same time, azure text from the system flashed before his eyes.
[Blood Sacrifice ceremony complete. Blood Fury War Axe technology upgrade finished.]
[One person’s Blood Fury, the whole team ascends!]
[Giant Devouring Current Layer Number: 4380]
[Physical Enhancement Coefficient: 4.380]
[Heart Steel Goliath Giant: Current permanent Physique bonus 12%]
Back in the Central City District, Reinhardt hadn’t just dealt with one squad of Wolf Elite Knights. The two tactical teams that arrived later provided him with a total of 520 Heart Steel Layers.
The 120 Heart Steel Layers provided by Stein were silent proof that his strength was not insignificant. His defeat was only because the formidable enemy he faced was Reinhardt!
At the Level of Official Knight, aside from that nightmarish Fear Knight, Death Butcher Dortmund, Stein was the most powerful opponent Reinhardt had ever encountered.
An Epic Heroic Unit, according to the system’s judgment.
At this very moment, Reinhardt’s Knight Power surged upward once more!
Like a blazing fire fed with fuel, the intensity of his Knightly Aura solidified, and an invisible Force Field enveloped the entire Verne Bridge!
All the raider knights felt this utterly terrifying aura. It was like a massive stone pressing down on their minds, an unspeakable, horrifying pressure that made it almost impossible to breathe!
Seven-star Military Rank—!
This was no longer a product of boosts from Combat Techniques and Special Abilities, but a genuine Military Rank Level that existed only in legends!
Stein, facing Reinhardt directly, was still not dead, even though the Black War Axe had cleaved deep into his body, shattering bones and rupturing organs.
A hidden Demon Power was keeping the flame of his life from being extinguished.
As the evil aura of this Demon Power seeped from Stein’s wound, Reinhardt, standing amidst a crimson mist of blood, suddenly looked down and stared into Stein’s eyes.
The cruel, merciless gaze was like a sharp knife plunging into his heart. Stein’s very soul trembled.
This moment was just like that other moment.
He remembered the battle that had led to the deaths of all his Battle Brothers. He remembered kneeling on a battlefield littered with corpses, and the Deep Dark Fear he felt as the colossal shadow of a Demon stood before him.
It was on that day.
In order to survive, he had gladly accepted the Demon’s gift. The failure in that battle was because he himself had led the brothers of his Battle Group into a death trap long prepared by the Ten Thousand Changes Demon Monarch.
Now, in his terrified gaze, Reinhardt’s presence was just like the figure of the Great Demon he had witnessed for the first time all those years ago. The resemblance was uncanny; they were exactly the same!
A road paved with corpses.
The world burned and fell behind him.
The Real Cosmos, twisted by the Void Realm, was morbidly dying.
In a daze, Stein saw in Reinhardt the same vision that only Raphael had ever witnessed: blood forming Angel’s Wings, the dying sky becoming a Great Cloak draped over his shoulders.
Unending rage echoed the Divine Emperor’s Gospel.
Never before had Stein so tangibly felt the gaze of the Radiant Divine Emperor! His soul shuddered uncontrollably, as if Radiant Power was searing his traitorous, filthy soul!
He finally understood the truth behind the "Empire’s Chosen One" from the intel. It wasn’t some laurel crown awarded by the Regent Council to ridiculous arena champions, but a Chosen Knight truly blessed by the Divine Emperor.
Finally, unable to bear the immense pressure of death, Stein could no longer maintain the powerful image he had painstakingly cultivated for sixty years. His eyes flickered, and a scream escaped his mangled body!
"Don’t you come near me—! Master, save me—!"
Reinhardt had once considered Stein a powerful Knight, but now, sensing the demonic aura, he looked down condescendingly into Stein’s terrified eyes, pinned his ruined body underfoot, and wrenched out the Black War Axe, which was covered in shredded flesh. His deep voice was like the pronouncement of a death sentence.
"Traitor."
The gruesome wound in Stein’s chest and abdomen clearly exposed his internal organs and bones. Yet, though he should have died instantly, the wound was slowly healing at a visible rate, sustained by a Demon Power that resembled a black, viscous spiderweb.
