I Aggressively Stack Steel of the Heart in the Knight Order

To advance further.

One could only temper their will in battle.

One could only strengthen their Physique in battle.

Beyond this, there were no shortcuts.

Every Knight capable of being promoted to a Five-star Military Rank was, without exception, a battle-hardened veteran who had crawled out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.

This was also why most Tactical Captains in the Knight Orders were of the Four-star Military Rank, with Five-stars being a rarity. Knights who reached the Five-star Military Rank were generally transferred to the Elite Battle Groups of the various Main Battle Corps.

Take the Radiant Angels supporting them, for example.

Every Angel in the Steel Wings Mobile Combat Team was a Six-star Military Rank powerhouse! Their Tactical Captains were even Seven-star Military Rank—legendary beings who stood at the apex of an Official Knight’s power!

Dietlinde’s gaze swept over the Black Armored Knights standing behind Sedon with iron discipline. The immense, intangible pressure left her breathless.

’A mere New Recruit Knight has a Five-star Military Rank... I can’t even begin to imagine the strength of this rebel army!’

The only one she wasn’t worried about was Reinhardt.

She refused to believe that the young Knight, who she had seen tear Mixed-blood Dragonfolk warriors apart with his bare hands on the battlefield, would so easily let an enemy get this close.

If she remembered correctly, Reinhardt’s Extraordinary Armament was also a speed-type.

Rage burned in Matthias’s eyes. He desperately wanted to lop off Reinhardt’s head, but military orders could not be defied. Suppressing his fury, he said in a low voice, ”Drop your weapon and come with me. I won’t kill you.”

After speaking, his gaze traveled over Reinhardt’s shoulder, looking toward Sedon in the distance. The face hidden inside his helmet wore the irrepressible smile of a victor.

He wanted to see praise and approval in Sedon’s eyes.

But that lord simply stood with his hands behind his back, watching him with a cold, expressionless face.

An unknown rage once again filled Matthias’s heart. ’I don’t understand. I personally captured Reinhardt, so why is that lord still treating me with such indifference?’

His teeth ground together with a CRUNCH.

Matthias had intended to forcibly seize Reinhardt’s weapon and escort him back to the Battle Group, but a cold voice rang mercilessly in his ear.

”The same type of Power as me?”

「The next moment.」

Before Matthias’s eyes, a dark purple living substance oozed from Reinhardt’s skin. A large hand, ignoring the high-temperature electric arcs dancing on the broadsword, brutally seized the blade like an iron vise.

The immense force coming from the blade shocked Matthias. He tried to pull his broadsword back, but it was too late.

At close range, a blast of high-pressure air, like a heavy cannonball, slammed into his chest!

Matthias’s pupils contracted. ’Just a low-level Knight of the Four-star Military Rank, and yet this guy...’

BOOM—!

A deafening sonic boom erupted. Matthias’s heavy body, clad in Anti-Magic Steel Armor, was sent flying backward. Before he even landed, a phantom-blue arc of electricity flashed through the air! The next second, a deadly short knife had plunged into Reinhardt’s chest!

However, the feedback Matthias received wasn’t the secret joy of a successful sneak attack.

In that brief instant, less than half a second long, as he met Reinhardt’s gaze through the not-yet-fully-formed dark purple helmet, the condescending coldness and the colossal killing intent deep within those eyes made his blood run cold!

’Strike and retreat!’

He didn’t dare to linger for even a moment!

When he looked up, he witnessed the dark purple living matter heal over, and the Demon-breaking Short Knife, enhanced with Imperial Technology, fell to the ground.

Matthias’s back was covered in a cold sweat. His mind, once so eager to prove itself, had finally regained its reason.

「At this moment.」

A grim atmosphere pervaded the battlefield.

The gazes of all the Death Battle Group Knights fell upon Matthias.

The honor of the Battle Group, Lord Sedon’s reputation, and the Knight’s oath he had sworn before the Radiant Holy Image were all at stake!

’I cannot lose this fight!’

Sedon stood tall and proud. The formless pressure he exuded as one of the Upper Ranks surpassed even his own Knightly Aura. A single, indifferent glance from him was enough.

Matthias immediately clenched his fists, the veins on his forehead bulging.

This humiliation of being overlooked and unacknowledged would transform into his will to fight, to defeat that young Knight named Reinhardt!

To take back everything that was his!

For some reason, as he approached Reinhardt, his combat instincts sent a chill down his spine. It felt as if the opponent he was about to challenge wasn’t some unknown, low-level Knight, but a Six-star or even Seven-star Military Rank elite veteran! A Fear Knight from Avernus of the Abyss!

But the pride of a Champion Project candidate and the dignity of a member of the Death Battle Group’s Ash Guard elite tactical team would not allow him to retreat in fear!

「In this moment.」

When Matthias looked at Reinhardt again, that dark purple figure seemed so towering and immense, filled with an inexplicable sense of pressure!

This was a feeling he had never experienced, not even when sparring with Champion Project candidates from other Battle Groups.

After one brief exchange, Matthias completely shed his contemptuous attitude. He began to seriously scrutinize Reinhardt, analyzing his Special Ability, trying to find an opening or a weakness.

In a battle between Knights, strength was only one factor in determining victory. The information gap was just as important.

If one was unaware of their opponent’s Special Ability, it was easy to fall into a passive position.

But Reinhardt wasn’t going to give him that chance.

He didn’t know what this ”Champion Project” his opponent mentioned was, but if the man wanted a one-on-one duel, then he had to be prepared to greet death!

A roaring sonic boom suddenly erupted.

All that remained in Matthias’s pupils was an afterimage of Reinhardt. As a fellow speed-type Knight, he knew exactly what it meant to lose track of his opponent’s attack trajectory.

Matthias’s eyes darted rapidly, his body transforming into a streak of lightning as he tried to create distance. But an old, scab-caked Steel Boot, moving at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye, whistled toward his abdomen like a cannonball!

’Not good—!’

He tried to twist his body away, but it was too late.

BANG—!

The immense force shattered his Anti-Magic Steel Armor. His internal organs churned, nearly rupturing, and the sudden increase in abdominal pressure caused Matthias to spit out a large mouthful of blood. His eyes bulged as his high-speed trajectory drew a white line through the air before he slammed into the ground!

Rubble and dirt flew into the air.

He crashed into the ruins of the city wall, kicking up a monstrous cloud of dust!

But he was given no chance to breathe.

In the pitch-black night, the Knights’ limited vision couldn’t track Reinhardt’s movements at all; they could only see the massive vacuum suddenly formed where the shockwave blasted through the dust!

Matthias lay sprawled amidst the ruins.

He hadn’t even exhaled the stale air pooled in his lungs when a dark purple figure, as majestic as an insurmountable mountain, abruptly appeared in his field of vision, blocking out all the light he could see.

「In this moment.」

A faint mist of blood suddenly appeared on the surface of Reinhardt’s body. The aura of his Power surged, faintly approaching the level of a Six-star Military Rank Knight!

And feeling this gale-like Knightly Aura...

The Death Battle Group Knights, standing in neat formation behind Sedon, all had their expressions change drastically!

The low-efficiency Bloodthirsty Madness only provided a 30% increase to his Physique, but that was more than enough for Reinhardt to use his Combat Technique—Humiliate People’s Power!

This was a tyrannical Combat Technique he hadn’t even deigned to use against the Scaya Dragon Race Army!

No flashy moves.

No dazzling Special Abilities.

There was only a simple fist, and the monstrous wind pressure howling above it!

When the reflection of Reinhardt’s giant Iron Fist filled Matthias’s pupils, his combat instincts no longer gave him any of that chaotic feedback.

The only thing that remained was a single word.

’Death—!’

In the instant between life and death, adrenaline surged through him!

Matthias’s pupils shrank to the size of a pinprick, and a fine sheen of cold sweat instantly covered his forehead. He knew with absolute certainty that if that fist landed on him, he would undoubtedly die!

”Terror” was no longer sufficient to describe what he felt inside, but he possessed the competitive spirit of a noble Knight and the honor of his Battle Group. The near-death experience, far from shattering his psychological defenses, actually calmed him, his mind racing as he prepared for a desperate, final struggle!

BOOM—!

An arc of electricity flashed through the dust.

Reinhardt’s fist slammed into the rubble and the earth. The terrifying aftershock created a magnificent, ring-like wave in the dust, and the ground beneath them trembled!

「The next second.」

Blood had already stained Matthias’s helmet and Chest Armor. His eyes were wide with rage! He let out a silent roar, unwilling to accept defeat! High-temperature electric arcs condensed in his hand, forming a high-frequency, humming plasma cutter. True to his usual fighting style, he silently slashed toward Reinhardt!