Chapter 179: Chapter 144: Overwhelming Power
Reinhardt vanished on the spot.
Even Florant could only catch a glimpse of a dark purple afterimage, propelled by a burst of high-temperature energy, as it forcibly smashed through his Energy Force Field.
But he was, after all, a Master Level Tier Two Wizard.
The greatest difference between Wizards and Knights was that Wizards never relied on their physical eyes to perceive and observe the world.
Time seemed to freeze.
In that fleeting instant, within Florant’s Spiritual Perception—a sense like a bat’s, probing a world of pitch-black space-time—a humanoid figure, its strength of flesh and mind suddenly soaring to a terrifying level, tore through his Energy Force Field with its bare hands. Its body shimmered with the ghostly blue, rippling defense unique to Anti-Magic Steel Armor as it brushed past him, barely a step away.
Although this level of power and movement wasn’t enough to cause him any real harm, Florant felt a genuine threat from Reinhardt.
When a Wizard’s mind operated at high speed, time seemed to flow much more slowly for them.
Florant had more than enough power to stop Reinhardt, but since his two students had dared to ignore his command and make a move, they would have to bear the consequences themselves.
At the same time, Matthias and Manon, who had long since taken a disliking to these Wizards, acted decisively the moment the two attacked.
Matthias’s speed was extreme, even surpassing Reinhardt’s. He moved like a leaping arc of electricity, vanishing in a flash and silently reappearing behind one of the attacking Wizards.
He violently clamped his right hand over the Wizard’s mouth while pressing a broken blade, stained with the blood of hundreds of Wizards, against the man’s lower back.
Manon’s expression hardened. He stepped in front of Raphael as profound golden Runes instantly wove a gleaming golden Shield Tower before him. He let the two Wizards’ Spiritual Power crash against it, erupting in a shower of hot embers.
Only then did the terrifying roar of Reinhardt’s high-speed movement reach everyone’s ears.
BOOM—!
A violent blast wave scattered the curtain of rain. Large, spiderweb-like cracks spread across the surface of the megastructure’s ruins, crackling as they shot out in all directions.
His massive right hand shot out and brutally clamped down on the head of one of the attacking Wizards as if grabbing a baby chick. Under the immense force—enough to shatter rock—the Wizard’s jaw and skull creaked, and he let out a blood-curdling scream!
At the same time, his gaze, utterly devoid of emotion, fell upon the Wizard who had collapsed to the ground, spitting blood.
It all happened too fast.
Aside from Florant and the three Knights of the Vengeful Angels, no one else had time to react. By the time their Wizard Perception registered the terrifying Knight Power surging before them like a tidal wave, Reinhardt had already ignored Florant’s Energy Force Field and forced his way into their midst.
At this moment, the Tier One Mages, including Irenia, were all horrified. ’They’re lucky he was only intervening and didn’t have any real killing intent.’
’If he had really come to kill us...’
The four Tier One Mages who hadn’t joined the attack broke out in a cold sweat.
It wasn’t just Reinhardt; the power displayed by the other two Knights of the Vengeance Angel Squad was utterly overwhelming. They had almost no way to resist!
For a split second, Irenia’s feigned expression became extremely unnatural, but it vanished in a flash. She immediately put on the same terrified look as the other Wizards.
Before Isaac’s horrified eyes, the Imperial Knight, who was so tall he looked like a monster, casually tossed aside the accomplice he had nearly crushed to death with his bare hands.
Then, right in front of Florant, he took the absurdly large Black War Axe from his back.
Finally, this Tier One Mage—who had conspired with two others for a long time to seize Raphael’s extraordinary knowledge with Florant’s tacit approval—let out a terrified scream. He scrambled on all fours, practically crawling to Florant, and hugged his Master’s leg, abandoning all dignity as he cried, snot and tears streaming down his face.
"Master! Save me—! It wasn’t my idea! Abel was in on it too! He’s the real mastermind! He foresaw that Raphael would come to Kemola, so he planned this all along..."
As he spoke, Isaac, who looked tough at first glance, glanced back in terror at Reinhardt standing in the rain. He saw his accomplice clutching a face that was still oozing blood, and his body trembled violently.
Florant had been navigating the Wizard World for many years; betrayals like this were practically a daily occurrence for him.
Isaac using his name to try and seize Raphael’s knowledge had been part of his plan to exploit human weakness. The one thing he hadn’t expected was for his two students to be so audacious.
He could accept his students seeking personal gain, but he would not tolerate them defying his will and ignoring his authority.
If this weren’t Kemola, and if they weren’t in the presence of Imperial Knights, he would have already killed those two fools for daring to plot against him.
The Wizard held fast by Matthias tried to resist, but the feeling of an electric current coursing through his body was unbearable. His eyes rolled back in his head, and he nearly passed out.
Rain pattered against Matthias’s Armor as a cold, merciless voice filtered through his fully-enclosed helmet.
"Don’t try to resist, Wizard."
As someone from the Ash Guard’s Elite Formation, his strength might be slightly inferior when fighting Demons or other Knights. But when it came to dealing with Wizards, if Florant weren’t present... he had a hundred ways to slaughter this entire group of Wizards by himself.
Originally, Florant had intended to use Isaac to, one, probe the depths of Reinhardt’s group’s strength while also displaying his own, and two, exploit human greed by letting Isaac invade Raphael’s Mind Barrier to dig for useful intelligence.
In the end, he had gained no intelligence and had lost a great deal of face.
He didn’t care whether these Tier One Mages lived or died, but as their Master, he had been utterly disgraced.
Florant suppressed his rage, bent down to help Isaac up, then looked at Reinhardt and remained silent for a long moment.
"I was too lenient with them. When we return, I will punish them personally and give you and the Imperial Administrative Region a full accounting."
However, the more Florant spoke this way, the more terrified the three perpetrators became.
Reinhardt showed no quarter, stating coldly, "Control your people, Florant."
He signaled for Matthias to release the man, then put away his War Axe and strode away.
Florant’s expression froze. He had offered an out, yet this Imperial Knight named Reinhardt had the audacity to push his luck?!
A sinister, venomous glint flashed in his eyes as he stared at Reinhardt’s retreating back.
Manon also retracted his Knight Power and walked over to Raphael. "Are you all right?" he asked with concern.
Raphael glanced at Florant’s group in the distance and shook his head, indicating he was fine. He then used Telepathy to add, ’I don’t know what method that Wizard used, but his Spiritual Power was able to bypass my Mind Barrier...’
’Looks like our Think Tank is finally getting a clue.’
Manon’s brow furrowed. He glanced in the direction where Seventy-Six was. ’Raphael is a battle-tested and exceptionally loyal Combat Priest,’ he sent via Telepathy.
’Seventy-Six, don’t make your damned jokes about things like this.’
At the same time, the ship that had streaked across the sky, trailing turbulent air currents, slowly came to a stop above their heads.
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