I Aggressively Stack Steel of the Heart in the Knight Order

Facing the overwhelming Abyssal Army, the thirty thousand defenders of Ed Castle were like rotten wood in a flood, crumbling at the first charge.

Over an hour of high-intensity slaughter had long since drained Baron Ed of his stamina. He leaned on his Longsword, protected by his Personal Guard, gasping for breath as he knelt on one knee.

Baron Ed’s somewhat clouded eyes swept across the battlefield, where soldiers were being slaughtered one after another.

If he were twenty years younger, he swore he would tear these beasts from the Abyss to shreds with his own hands! But at seventy, as a Mortal, he was long past the age of fighting on the battlefield.

As one of his Personal Guard tried to block a Convicted Demon’s Chain Hammer, his Iron Shield caved in, and with a wretched scream, he was sent flying.

Baron Ed struggled to raise his head.

The Convicted Demon stood before him. Its scale-covered body, over three meters tall, was built like an iron tower, exuding immense pressure. Its gaze, burning with sulfurous flames, looked down upon him.

「In the distance.」

Battle Sister Lu Jia, personally leading the charge, watched helplessly as the hundreds of soldiers around her died screaming, one by one. Faced with the crushing pressure of six Slaughter Demons, her strength, that of a Four-star Official Military Rank, was already at its limit.

There were too many enemies.

Far too many...

「Three months.」

Ever since being separated from her sisters of the Holy Rose Order, she had been fighting desperately here for three long months.

Even as a Battle Sister of the Holy Rose Order, how could she possibly stand alone against an overwhelming Demon Army?

She let out a roar like a cornered beast, unwilling to accept defeat.

Facing the downward slash of a Slaughter Demon’s War Axe, she managed to block it with her Knight’s Broadsword, but the terrifying force still sent a numbing shock through her hands. Her entire body sank, and her left knee slammed into the ground.

CRASH—!

Barely taller than a Mortal and standing no more than 1.85 meters, she was besieged by six Slaughter Demons, each towering over four meters and as burly as a Dragon Beast.

In that moment, her strength and body seemed so insignificant.

However, as she knelt on the ground, knocked off balance from blocking the frontal assault, she heard the heavy footsteps of another Slaughter Demon charging from behind. Her expression changed drastically.

’This is bad—!’

She adjusted her stance, attempting to use her Knight Power to violently shove aside the Demon War Axe pressing down on her Broadsword. She needed to create a moment’s respite to dodge the Slaughter Demon attacking from behind.

But as she tried to channel her Knight Power to its fullest, she found her stamina was already overdrawn. She had been fighting continuously since the previous night, with no more than twenty minutes of rest.

Her tactical intent was like an engine seizing the moment you floor the accelerator.

The strength in Lu Jia’s arms, tightly gripping her Knight’s Broadsword, suddenly gave out. Her expression became savage, her teeth clenched. ’Dammit! How could I... at a time like this...’

The Slaughter Demon’s massive War Axe pressed down, biting deep into her pauldron. Blood gushed out!

The pain in her shoulder, far from breaking the Battle Sister’s will, only fueled her rage. She looked up, stared into the Slaughter Demon’s eyes, and let out a hysterical battle cry.

Knight Power is the unification of Spiritual Power and Physical Strength.

Though her stamina was spent, Lu Jia’s unwavering faith erupted with immense power, violently shoving aside the Slaughter Demon’s massive War Axe!

「In a flash.」

A glance from the corner of her eye was all she needed. The instant she regained her footing, she spun sharply to the left, and the Demon War Axe swinging from behind her scraped harmlessly past her Power Armor.

”I’ll slaughter you beasts with my own hands!”

Lu Jia seized the fleeting opportunity. Knight Power·Punishment Fire rapidly reconsolidated within her.

In that instant, her shoulder-length white hair erupted into a pillar of burning golden flame!

The raging flames illuminated her face, transforming her feminine features and imbuing them with a solemn, divine power.

Even the Knight’s Broadsword in her hand underwent Elementalization by the Punishment Fire, transforming into a Flaming Blade that radiated terrifying heat!

「The next moment.」

She exploded with three times her previous speed, her fighting style becoming like liquid fire, trailing brilliant sparks and a tail of flame. Seizing on a mistake in the swing of the Slaughter Demon behind her, she severed the red-skinned beast’s right hand with a single stroke.

Using the momentum of the swing, she spun around, her Flaming Blade slicing beautifully into the Slaughter Demon’s thick abdomen. Like a hot knife through butter, the Demon’s massive body was instantly severed at the waist!

Unfortunately.

Like the final flare of a candle before it sputters out, her Knight Power abruptly extinguished after she had slain the Slaughter Demon—a foe comparable to a Four-star Official Knight—with such thunderous speed.

She swayed, unable to stay upright, and collapsed forward.

Her Knight’s Broadsword clattered to the ground.

She propped herself up with her hands, sweat born of pure exhaustion pouring down her face like rain.

She knew she would not leave this battlefield alive. Even as another Slaughter Demon took its place, raising a strong right leg as thick as a tree trunk to stomp violently on her head, she did not waver.

But even so, as long as her faith remained steadfast and the fire of her ideals remained unquenched, she would fight on!

Facing the Slaughter Demon’s descending leg, Lu Jia let out a guttural roar for one last, desperate struggle. She drew the dagger from her belt and lunged forward!

She was prepared to take the Demon down with her.

”For the Emperor—!”

As her exhausted body leaped, the Slaughter Demon snatched her out of the air, crushing her in its palm as if she were a fledgling chick. Lu Jia’s pupils trembled violently—not from fear, but with the unyielding defiance of a soul about to return to the Divine Emperor’s radiance!

Her dagger plunged viciously into the Slaughter Demon’s arm.

She felt an immense, crushing force that made it impossible to breathe. Even her Power Armor shrieked with the sound of twisting metal!

「At that very moment.」

Reflected in Lu Jia’s weary eyes was the ferocious face of the Slaughter Demon—a savage incarnation of slaughter and rage—that held her in its grip. And then, its head suddenly exploded like a bursting watermelon.

Simultaneously, a second Slaughter Demon standing in a direct line behind the first beast suddenly had a bowl-sized, bloody crater appear in its chest, its heart gone.

「It was also at that moment.」

Lu Jia heard a roar and a rumble from the sky.

She looked up.

In her vision, a ball of fire, like a meteor, slammed into the battlefield not far from her!

The shockwave from the impact created a torrential gale that howled and raged across the field! The Convicted Demons near the point of impact were mown down in droves, their internal organs crushed by the concussive force, leaving them gravely wounded or dead!

’This is...’

As the Slaughter Demon’s headless corpse toppled in the gale, Lu Jia fell heavily to the ground. Her ears picked up the sounds of slaughter carried on the wind from a distance.

The sound of bones breaking.

The sound of flesh being torn asunder.

And carried on that wind... was a Knightly Aura. It was unfamiliar, yet powerful beyond anything she could have imagined.

Her consciousness was hazy from the constant fighting and exhaustion, but she knew. After three months of desperately calling for aid, reinforcements had finally arrived.

Even on the verge of collapse, her battle-honed senses could faintly detect the telltale crack of a high-velocity bullet streaking through the air.

「Until.」

A pair of heavy, black-painted Clay Steel Power Boots landed from above, right in her field of view.

Barely able to move, Lu Jia struggled to tilt her head up. She saw an Emperor’s Angel with a magnificent, heroic stature.

The Black War Axe in his hand was terrifyingly and extravagantly designed, and Demon’s Blood dripped constantly from its blade.

Then, this Emperor’s Angel, whose name and origin were unknown to her, grabbed her with one hand and slung her over his shoulder.

His voice was hoarse and deep, as if he hadn’t been properly fed in a long time. It was filled with the grim harshness of a hardened veteran.

But it was exactly that kind of voice.

That sounded so incredibly calming.

”You’re safe now, Sister.”

「Meanwhile.」

As Lu Jia was about to lose consciousness, her vision dimming and turning black, she saw a slender, all-black humanoid figure carrying a massive firearm appear soundlessly before her.

”My lord, she’s fainted—”

And that.

Was the last sound she heard before her consciousness faded to black.