Chapter 73: Chapter 57: The Blessing of Avernus! The First Evolution of the Special Ability
The five Ash Guards captured Reinhardt with seamless, flawless coordination.
The combat prowess and teamwork unleashed by this elite squad from the Death Battle Group completely surpassed Reinhardt’s expectations.
It was a textbook example of using superior intelligence to achieve a tactical objective. Moreover, their combat discipline and methods were like those of a highly efficient, cold, and emotionless war machine.
There were no rousing pre-battle speeches.
No blood-pumping roars of fury in combat.
There was only silence, like the god of death reaping lives without a sound—just as the name of their Battle Group implied.
The Black Armored Knight with the Elemental Domain ability walked slowly to the Ice Crystal imprisoning Reinhardt. He placed a hand on its surface, then single-handedly lifted the entire crystal over his head. Escorted by the other four, he started back toward the Radiant Waymark.
Baihe Town.
The Death Battle Group was already locked in battle with the Dark Gold Blood Knights.
Imperial Knights who had once been Battle Brothers, who had once stood together against the invasion of the Alien Races, now crossed blades. The blood splashing against their Anti-Magic Steel Armor and the corpses falling at their feet held none of the glory of fighting for the Empire. Instead, the scene was chillingly grim, oppressive, and suffocating.
A deathly silence pervaded the battlefield, broken only by the sharp clang of metal and the muffled groans of dying Knights.
It was just as Heinrich had once told Reinhardt: "The age of nobility is over. Today, the Empire is nothing but a giant corpse, rotten to the bone, reeking of oppression and lies!"
The brother of the Lord of the Empire has defected to the Abyss.
The Regent Council is insatiably greedy.
The National Church is rife with traitors.
The original dream and vision of the first Radiant Knight, the founder of this great Empire, had long since been washed away by the merciless river of time.
In a tide of war that could plunge countless worlds into a sea of fire, the Imperial Knights had no choice.
...
The battle between Heinrich and Sedon was not fierce. On the contrary, facing his old friend, Heinrich fought with extreme caution.
As an old friend, he knew full well of Sedon’s strength and his great achievements.
He had once single-handedly suppressed the Wizard rebellion in the Land of Stars and personally slain a Master Level Tier Two Wizard. He had followed the Seventh Group Army into the third level of the Dark Abyss to fight, and after disappearing for a month, returned alone to the Death Battle Group, carrying the head of a Great Demon on his shoulders.
But for the sake of status and power, this old friend of his had done far too much dirty work for Karloman and the bureaucrats of the Regent Council.
Heinrich’s knightly honor could not allow him to accept this, so they had parted ways.
Reinhardt had once mentioned that Sedon had served as the deputy commander of the Steel Knight Order, but Heinrich knew that Sedon had been the deputy commander of more than just one Knight Order.
Every Knight Order he had ever served in, without exception, had either been wiped out to the last man while stationed in the most dangerous regions of the Empire Border, or had rebelled, only to be annihilated by the Empire’s furious suppression.
And all of this was done at Karloman’s behest, disregarding the sacrifices and honor of the Knights, purely for the sake of purging internal opposition.
Sedon stood ramrod straight, ignoring Heinrich’s Knightly Suppression. "You’ve grown timid, Heinrich," he said indifferently.
"If that’s the case, you’ll have to excuse me. I have urgent business to attend to. I hope the next time we meet, it’s in a cell of the Imperial Court of Justice."
Heinrich refused to believe his old friend would betray the Empire. He watched Sedon’s retreating back, his right hand gripping his Dragon-Hunting Giant Spear, and shouted, "The Empire betrayed us! Are you really going to keep serving that bastard Karloman?!"
His only answer was silence.
Sedon’s objective in leading his troops back to Grillers World was to capture Reinhardt; quelling the rebellion was merely secondary. He couldn’t understand why His Highness Karloman would issue such a ridiculous order through the Regent Council, but an order from that man was the ultimate expression of the Empire’s will.
His duty was to execute orders, not to question them.
Meanwhile.
Facing the Elite Knights of the Death Battle Group, Dietlinde’s strength and combat experience were no match. Heavily wounded, she struggled just to stay on her feet.
Blood streamed into her eyes, blurring her vision.
Her broken ribs sent lancing pain through her with every passing second.
CRACK—!
The Longsword in her hand finally gave way under the high-intensity combat and snapped. A terrifying Broadsword, wreathed in Witchcraft Power, hacked into her left shoulder!
If she hadn’t reacted in time, catching the blade with both hands, the blow would have split her in two!
Through her blood-reddened vision, she watched helplessly as the rebels carried Reinhardt away. He was imprisoned in the Ice Crystal, which was hoisted onto a Knight’s shoulder and borne toward the Dao Mark Teleportation Gate.
She knew.
Once those rebels stepped through the Dao Mark Teleportation Gate, she would likely never see Reinhardt again—if she even survived to have a "rest of her life."
The roars of Battle Group Commander Fei Ning sounded so faint in her ears.
That ever-reliable Earth Knight, who was nevertheless unskilled in command and strategy, was fighting with all his might to break through the encirclement. But he was, after all, just an ordinary Two-star Earth Knight.
He was no Heinrich, nor was he a decorated war hero and Merit Knight like Sedon.
Blocked by more than a dozen Elite Knights from the Death Battle Group, he fought like a madman to tear open a gap, but his efforts were all in vain.
To him, Dietlinde was less a subordinate and more a friend and de facto battle advisor for the Battle Group.
Fei Ning had watched her grow, step by step, from a naive young girl into the woman she was today. The bond between them ran far deeper than that of mere Battle Group comrades.
