The Adventures of an Overpowered Knight in Another World

Chapter 738- Dawnbringers Surrounded, Leona’s Last Stand

With that, her fingers slowly lost their strength. Aurelia lay lifelessly in his embrace.

The snow continued to fall in silence, each white flake settling upon her platinum hair as though the heavens themselves had come to mourn her passing.

Reinhardt did not move. He simply held her tighter, afraid that if he loosened his embrace even slightly, the last trace of her warmth would disappear forever.

”...”

No words came.

For the first time in years, the man who had stood before the most powerful of demons without flinching found himself utterly broken. His fingers trembled as they brushed away the strands of hair covering her face.

She looked peaceful, as though she had merely fallen asleep.

”Aurelia.”

The name escaped his lips so softly that even the wind nearly carried it away.

There was no reply. There was no gentle smile, no angry glare, no warm affection. Only an unbearable silence and pain.

Not far away, Mammon watched everything unfold with unconcealed delight. He could no longer hold himself back and laughed out loud.

”Hehehe...”

Before long, the Seventh Heavenly King was laughing so hard that he nearly doubled over.

Marvelous. This was truly marvellous. Everything was settled, and he did not even have to lift a hand. He looked at the kneeling knight shedding tears in grief and the lifeless woman in his embrace.

The woman had killed herself, and the knight had accepted the fate of bearing the Curse of Ophiuchus on him. Can there be any better ending than this? This was the best possible outcome.

Mammon’s crimson eyes shone with cruel amusement. The troublesome Divine Paladin, who had nearly cut him into pieces, had been destroyed so easily by a trap.

Had he known that defeating the Divine Paladin using a trap would be so easy, then he would not have bothered fighting him head-on. Using schemes to trap and suffocate his prey was far more to his liking.

The Abyss Nests nearby released low, rumbling growls. By now, they had completely recovered from the damage Reinhardt had dealt them.

This showed how terrifying and troublesome Abyss Nests were. In some aspects, they might be more fearsome than a Heavenly King.

Mammon sighed in relief and focused on his own injuries.

Everything had gone exactly according to plan. The reincarnation of the goddess was dead. The Divine Paladin had been broken. The Curse of Ophiuchus could not be dispelled. The knight would die sooner or later.

What was more, given the other party’s condition, it was more likely to be the former.

And indeed, Reinhardt at this moment was giving off the aura of death. It could be said that humanity had lost one of its greatest heroes. Victory belonged to demonkind.

That said, it had not come without cost. Thousands of demons had died, the Abyss Nests were nearly defeated, and he himself bore grave wounds of varying severity, leaving him momentarily weakened.

What’s more, the holy energy continuously interfered with his regeneration. And all of this had been done by a single knight.

Just thinking about it caused Mammon to shudder.

How could a human be so strong? What would have happened if he had not given that order to Duvessa? What would have happened if he had not captured that woman? What would have happened if he had not laid that trap?

Just thinking about the outcome made his face pale.

Mammon clicked his tongue unhappily.

”This is why I hate humans. They always produce troublesome beings in every era. There is no point staying here anymore. The dark castle will collapse soon, burying you two, and the curse will finish the rest. By the time the others arrive, they’ll only find two corpses.”

He cast one last mocking glance toward Reinhardt. Satisfied, he slowly turned around.

He still had to deal with the group of Holy Knights that had somehow managed to reach this place. Compared to Reinhardt, those insects were hardly worth mentioning.

But just as he took the first step, something made him stop.

”Hm?”

His instinct screamed, and an indescribable feeling crawled across his spine. The air around them had changed.

Mammon frowned.

”What is...”

Before he could say anything, warmth suddenly spread through the frozen battlefield.

Turning around, he immediately noticed that the warmth originated from the lifeless woman lying within Reinhardt’s arms.

A tiny speck of golden light emerged from Aurelia’s chest. It was so small that it resembled a firefly. But then another appeared, and then another.

Within a few seconds, countless particles of brilliant light floated upward, surrounding her body like stars gathering around their queen.

Reinhardt was too consumed and distracted to notice such things. His time was slowly running out, and his willingness to die only hastened that effect.

That said, looking at the cluster of lights, Mammon’s pupils contracted.

”What... is that?”

These particles of light seemed to be moving and resonating with something.

The next instant...

BOOM...

A pillar of incandescent light erupted from Aurelia’s body and shot toward the sky. The gloomy clouds blanketing the battlefield exploded apart. For hundreds of kilometers, the dark sky was violently torn open.

Sunlight that had not touched this battlefield for who knew how long now shone down upon the land.

Warmth bloomed in a land that had only been surrounded by coldness. Even the suffocating demonic energy blanketing the northern front retreated before that overwhelming radiance.

Mammon staggered back.

”W... what is going on?”

His voice quivered. He had never witnessed such a phenomenon before.

Then, in front of his astonished eyes, the sky began changing once more.

Lines of pure light appeared across the sky. One line became ten. Ten became hundreds. Each line moved with impossible precision, weaving together into an unimaginably vast pattern.

At this moment, it was as if the sky above the entire northern region of Solaris had become a canvas. Lines intertwined, ancient runes appeared one after another, interconnecting through the lines like constellations.

Before long, a magic circle of perfect geometric formations and breathtaking elegance appeared in front of everyone’s eyes.

The magnificence of the scene was such that one instinctively knew this was the doing of a god. No skill, saint, or artifact could do something like this except for the Supreme Divine Treasures. No mortal or demon could possibly create something so impossibly intricate.

It transcended mana itself and resembled... the masterpiece of a god.

The enormous magic circle expanded until it covered the entire sky.

Every knight across the battlefield, human and demon alike, slowly raised their heads toward the sky. Their movements unconsciously stopped.

No one dared utter a single word. They simply stared, overwhelmed by the incomprehensible work of divinity hanging above the world.

The brilliant magic circle lasted only a fleeting moment before dissolving into countless motes of light. As though nothing had happened, the northern region was once again enveloped by endless winter cold.

Inside the ruined throne hall, Mammon frowned.

”What was that?”

His crimson eyes narrowed as he stared at the two figures lying together amidst the rubble. That light and magic circle... it could not be a coincidence. But how had they done it? The woman was dead, and the man was about to soon follow.

Mammon was observing the couple when he saw the magic circle that had been in the sky a few seconds ago suddenly appear in the bodies of the two. Then, the next moment, a force beyond his comprehension reached into them.

A force older than anything, one that could ignore even the laws of the world.

It drew two streams of pale radiance from their bodies before vanishing into nothingness.

Right after, Reinhardt’s body finally collapsed completely beside Aurelia’s. His heartbeat had become so faint that it was almost imperceptible. His breathing stopped and started at irregular intervals.

Neither alive, nor dead. Simply... suspended.

”...”

Even Mammon felt an indescribable chill crawl across his spine. He had absolutely no idea what he had just witnessed.

Before he could think further...

BOOM...

The gates of the ruined castle exploded, and figures donned in armor rushed in.

”The Commander!”

”Find Commander Reinhardt.”

Drystan’s voice echoed throughout the hall.

Soon, they rushed into the throne hall. The moment his eyes landed upon the motionless figures lying together, his expression froze.

”Aurelia... Commander...”

For the briefest moment, the entire world seemed to stop.

Then his gaze slowly shifted toward Mammon. What followed was an explosion of killing intent unlike anything the Heavenly King had ever felt.

Drystan engaged the Heavenly King while ordering the Holy Knights to rescue the commander and retreat. Several Holy Knights rushed toward Reinhardt. The retreat began.

Meanwhile, Drystan stood alone before the Seventh Heavenly King and the two towering Abyss Nests.

Behind him, the surviving knights stepped forward one after another. No one retreated or cowered from death. They all understood.

Someone had to remain behind and stop the enemy to buy their comrades precious time to retreat. Even if only for a little while.

The battle that followed would later be remembered as one of the bloodiest and most tragic incidents in the history of Solaris.