The Adventures of an Overpowered Knight in Another World

Chapter 732- The Divine Oath, the Fall of a Hero and the Truth (4)

The marble floor behind him was stained with fresh demon blood. Reinhardt calmly entered the throne room, holding his sword that was still dripping with black blood.

The high ranking demon who came to report slowly turned around, its face pale from terror.

”H... he... he’s already here?!!”

Mammon paid no mind to the demon and glanced at the knight, no, his arch-nemesis. The stare-down lasted only a few seconds before Mammon slowly smiled.

If one looked at his current expression, one would be astonished to find that the way Mammon was looking at Reinhardt was as if he were looking at an old friend.

”Hahaha, so you showed up, huh. What determination. I truly don’t know whether to call you brave... or simply foolish. You actually came alone. Do you really care so much about that woman?”

Reinhardt’s eyes remained emotionless.

”I didn’t come here to listen to your nonsense.”

Mammon did not mind and grinned wider.

”No matter. I almost admire that courage.”

Reinhardt simply pointed his sword toward the Seventh Heavenly King.

”You told me to come. So I came. Now. Tell me. Where is Aurelia?”

The temperature of the entire hall seemed to plummet at this moment. Holy energy quietly spread from Reinhardt’s body, enveloping him in a brilliant halo.

Every demon inside the castle felt a palpable pressure that shook their very souls. Mammon himself felt cold sweat form along his back and was reminded of his defeat at the hands of this man. This terrifyingly powerful man.

Yet... he still forced out a smile.

Why? Because the key to turning things around was in his hands.

”Don’t be so impatient.” He slowly shook his finger and then pointed up. ”Why don’t you first... look at what I prepared for you?”

Reinhardt instinctively followed his finger and looked up.

There, high above the throne room, hung an enormous iron birdcage. Inside, a familiar figure lay unconscious. Platinum-blonde hair and dressed in a white dress. Her hands and feet were tightly bound. A cloth gag covered her mouth.

”Aurelia!”

Seeing that figure, Reinhardt called out. Her condition and the shackles on her caused his pupils to violently contract.

BOOM...

An overwhelmingly murderous aura erupted from his body, so violent that the entire castle trembled. Walls cracked from his fury. Every demon present felt as though death itself had descended upon them.

Reinhardt really wanted to murder these filthy demons and go on a killing spree. But he forcefully calmed himself down.

They really had captured her. He could get hurt himself, but he could not allow Aurelia to suffer. His priority right now was to get her away from here.

Without another word, Reinhardt kicked off the ground. He shot toward the suspended cage like a beam of golden light.

Just then...

CRACK...

The entire floor of the throne hall exploded apart. Stone and rubble erupted into the air, and a deafening roar shook the castle to its foundations.

From the darkness beneath, something colossal began to rise.

BOOM...

A colossal appendage burst through the floor. Before Reinhardt could even reach the cage, it smashed into him with a powerful force. The impact sounded like two mountains colliding. The shockwave alone blasted apart the pillars of the throne hall as stone fragments rained in every direction.

Reinhardt, who was caught momentarily off guard, was sent flying backward, crashing through several thick walls before finally twisting his body in midair.

After skidding across the broken ground and carving a deep trench that stretched hundreds of meters, he finally came to a halt.

Rubbing the area that had become somewhat numb after getting hit, Reinhardt raised his head and looked at the thing that struck him.

”...”

It was a monstrous creature that slowly crawled upward. Its body resembled an enormous pale larva several hundred meters long. Its bloated flesh continuously writhed. Circular rows of teeth covered the end of its body where a mouth should have been, and thick black saliva dripped onto the ruined castle floor, corroding everything it touched.

The things that attacked him were the countless feelers on its body that whipped through the air like giant serpents.

”An Abyss Nest.”

Reinhardt immediately recognized it. There was no mistaking what that thing was.

What was even more astonishing was that... there wasn’t just one.

The castle shook once more.

CRACK...

The floor exploded, and another colossal creature emerged.

Unlike the first, this one resembled a grotesque colony of living bacteria magnified countless millions of times. Its body was a constantly shifting sphere of black and crimson flesh. Countless whip-like pseudopods stretched outward before retracting again.

Every time the thing moved, it released foul black mist that spread throughout the hall.

Seeing the two abominations, or more precisely, Abyss Nests, Reinhardt’s expression became even more solemn.

After all, it needed to be mentioned that each Abyss Nest was a force capable of destroying an entire country on its own and was no weaker than a Heavenly King.

And there were two of them in front of him.

One Abyss Nest stood on the left. The other stood on the right. Between the two colossi was the birdcage, hanging high above and appearing no larger than a grain of dust.

Seeing the expression on Reinhardt’s face, Mammon burst into laughter.

”Hahahaha!”

He had never felt so satisfied. His grin became increasingly sinister.

”How do you like my surprise? Now then... what will you do? If you wish to rescue that woman... you’ll first have to defeat them.”

Saying that, his smile gradually twisted into madness.

”And not just them.”

BOOOOOOM...

An extreme amount of shadow erupted from Mammon’s body. Some even looked like the demons Reinhardt had killed before.

Seeing this, the latter realized that Mammon had stolen every demon shadow in the castle. Darkness swallowed the entire throne room. Even the light released by Reinhardt’s holy energy was violently pushed back.

But Mammon was not done. His voice echoed from within the darkness.

”[Penumbric Rebellion].”

With that shout, the surrounding shadows, whether cast by walls, pillars, stone fragments, even the silhouettes cast by the Abyss Nests... everything. Every trace of shadow was sucked toward Mammon and absorbed into his body.

This drastic measure caused his aura to multiply explosively.

”[Umbral Convergence].”

Then once again, his voice rang out. The countless shadows he had absorbed fused together. Layer upon layer. Compression after compression.

During this entire time, Mammon’s aura rapidly climbed to an astonishing level.

Furthermore, his body also began violently distorting, as if unable to completely absorb this power. His bones cracked, muscles expanded, and jagged masses of shadow pierced through his flesh before becoming something like armor.

Within moments, the once-humanoid Heavenly King had transformed into a towering giant over ten meters tall. His limbs became unnaturally long, and countless shadow spikes extended from his shoulders and spine.

Black smoke continuously poured from the gaps of his mouth.

If one looked at Mammon right now, they would be unable to recognize him at this moment. He looked both odd and terrifying.

When he spoke, it sounded as though countless voices overlapped one another.

”[Total Umbra].”

Absolute darkness exploded outward and for a moment, covered the entirety of the dark castle and dozens of miles of land beyond. Even the world itself seemed to lose color.

Inside the throne hall, Mammon slowly clenched his enormous fist. No light could penetrate the darkness surrounding him.

Feeling the rush of power, his distorted voices rang out.

”Hehehe... sorry, but I can’t hold back in this form.”

His monstrous eyes locked onto Reinhardt.

”I created this for only one purpose. To kill you.”

Right after, his massive figure instantly appeared before Reinhardt. When he threw a punch, the air itself screamed.

The punch landed on the ground. It tore through the castle and split the mountainside. Even the snow-covered plains outside were carved open by the residual pressure.

Fortunately, Reinhardt had already dodged the attack.

Holy energy wrapped around his sword and collided against the absolute darkness surrounding Mammon. However, to his shock, Mammon’s shadow powers were no longer instantly vaporized.

Although holy light still burned away large portions of the darkness, the suppression had weakened considerably.

Mammon laughed maniacally.

”Hehehe... as expected, you’re still ridiculously strong. But don’t think I’m the same as before.”

He twisted his gigantic body. Countless shadow tendrils erupted from behind him like the limbs of some ancient monster. They all lashed toward Reinhardt from a different direction.

The Divine Paladin vanished.

Golden platforms formed beneath his feet one after another. He dashed through the air, maneuvering agilely. Forward, sideways, downward. He constantly changed directions in midair. His figure became countless golden afterimages.

Mammon’s attacks were powerful, but they held no meaning if they could not connect.

[Shadow Ball]... [Shadow Spikes]... [Nightmare Claws]...

Gigantic jaws, clawed limbs, serpentine monsters... all kinds of attacks pursued Reinhardt through the air.

But as if he could see through everything, he easily dodged them. Some were split apart and vanquished by a precise sword swing of his.

In short, none could even come close to him.