The Adventures of an Overpowered Knight in Another World

Chapter 763 The True Form of the Eight Heavenly King

From the looks of things, it appeared that blowing the Horn of Calamity took quite a toll on him.

“Good job, Beleth. Take some rest. Although I did not expect a human to be so capable, now that the horn is blown, everything is already decided. Human, give up. There is no way you can win. Among the 666 curses stored within the Horn of Calamity- Gjahorn, there are three supreme curses that were created by…”

“The Demon Lord himself.”

Reinhardt completed the sentence of Astaroth. His face looked unusual, which Astaroth attributed to him being afflicted with the curses.

“Oh, so you know, huh? But knowing this should make it even more despairing. That’s right, I heard that you were once afflicted by one of the Three Supreme Curses. I don’t know how you managed to survive after suffering something like that…”

Astaroth’s crimson eyes gleamed with malice.

“But now… feel the power of those curses once again.”

The 666 curses stored within the Horn of Calamity surged forward. Countless malformed faces screamed from within the storm of curses. It was a sight capable of breaking the minds of ordinary people.

Reinhardt looked up at the overwhelming calamity with a melancholic expression.

“Yeah… I know the power of these curses firsthand.”

He had failed once, but not again.

Ordinary curses are one thing, but among the 666 curses, there were some with extremely malevolent effects. Among the Dawnbringers were his dear subordinates, his friends, and people he cared about.

Which is precisely why he could not allow the past to repeat itself.

He had already seen what happened when a curse of this level was allowed to spread. He had already watched people he cared about suffer. He had already watched the Dawnbringers endure losses that should never have happened.

Yesterday in the meeting, he boldly stood before them and promised victory. If he does not stand true to his promise, how could he call himself a knight?

He would not allow another disaster to occur immediately after making that promise.

Reinhardt closed his eyes and raised his right hand.

Golden radiance gathered between his palm before shooting upward.

If the problem is curses, then he has just the right skill.

“[Radiant Benediction].”

As if answering his command, the sky changed. A blinding radiance erupted from the sky above and expanded outward.

Like the spread of dawn, a golden hue swept across the land.

Ten miles… Twenty… Thirty…

Before long, the entire demonic camp and land surrounding it was drowned in sacred light.

The next instant, golden feathers began falling from the sky. Like a breeze, they drifted gently downward, purifying any evil they came in contact with.

When the feathers touched the knights, the curses infesting their bodies vanished instantly.

The corrupted soil gained a healthy hue. The miasma evaporated.

Even the demons were not spared. Whenever a demon was touched by the golden feather, the demonic energy enveloping their body disintegrated at an alarming speed, and they issued a soul-shuddering shriek.

The 666 curses that had seemed capable of swallowing the world were erased one after another.

Of course, the extremely evil ones like the Ophiuchus Curse tried to resist by attempting to burrow deeper into the souls of their victims. But it made no difference.

In front of the [Absolute Purification] power of the [Radiant Benediction], every curse and demonic corruption was stripped away.

The light did not merely remove the corruption. It restored what had been damaged.

Body, soul, mind, and will. Everything returned toward its original state.

The knights who were planning to lay down their lives as the spark for the future suddenly found themselves healthier than in their prime.

The fear disappeared, and the despair was washed away. Their minds became clearer than before.

“Is this Sir Divine Paladin’s power?”

“To purge all curses at once, it is too powerful.”

“Even the Saintess can’t do something like this, right?”

The curses that had once given them immense trouble were solved just like that.

Everyone looked at the sky in disbelief.

Up above in the clouds, the sky began burning. The gigantic skull above the battlefield was engulfed by golden fire. Its shrill scream could be heard from miles away.

Soon, the entire projection of the skull was ablaze with golden fire.

At the same time, the black horn in Beleth’s hand was trembling intensely.

Witnessing this ridiculous scene, Astaroth’s laughter slowly died.

“W-What…?”

He blinked his eyes and looked at the disappearing skull in the sky and the rain of golden feathers in a stupor.

Someone make sense of this to him. How on earth are these astonishing things happening one after another?

Just… who the hell was he fighting against?

This did not make sense. Nothing made sense anymore.

As a demon who had lived for more than three hundred years, Astaroth found himself wanting to curse out loud without a shred of his image.

CRACK…

At this moment, a massive fracture appeared on the skull above. Then another, and then dozens.

Soon, the entire manifestation began collapsing under the radiance.

Simultaneously, small cracks also appeared on the Horn of Calamity.

The countless curses housed within it vanished one after another.

The demonic treasure that had once been feared as one of the greatest weapons of demonkind became completely silent. Useless, like a dead piece of metal.

A piece also broke off and fell to the ground.

Astaroth heard the noise, looked at the horn, and then glanced upward.

In the span of a few seconds, his mentality took another hit.

His expression gradually became empty. The previous confidence and arrogance disappeared.

His crimson eyes widened until they were almost round. Not only that, he looked like he had visibly aged.

“T-This…”

His voice trembled.

“This isn’t possible. The curses… even the Supreme Curses…”

His mind refused to accept what his eyes were seeing.

He had relied on this weapon as the final trump card. The same weapon that had once crippled the Dawnbringers. The same curse that had nearly killed Reinhardt in the past.

Yet now… they were nothing. Not even the Three Supreme Curses could resist the power of this human.

Astaroth’s lips trembled.

“Impossible…”

But before he could finish…

SHING…

A cold line of light flashed across his neck, and suddenly Astaroth saw his world spinning.

In his vision, he saw Reinhardt with his sword drawn. His own body, now without a head, and the running visage of Beleth.

Ah, so he was beheaded.

Astaroth came to a realization.

For one moment, his body remained standing. Then… his body collapsed.

Reinhardt stood behind him. He glanced at the severed head for a moment before quietly speaking.

“Don’t get distracted. I’m still here.”

Play with his enemy? Reinhardt had no such habit. Once he decided to get serious, he went for the kill.

In that earlier attack, he used the Fifth Light of the [Holy Sword Art]- [Divine Severance].

It was a clean, silent, and absolute cut. Even if the Eighth Heavenly King was not caught by surprise, he wouldn’t have been able to avoid it.

With Astaroth’s head falling on the ground, for an instant, it seemed as though the battle had already ended.

But a Heavenly King was not an existence that could be defeated so easily.

The severed head suddenly twitched. Flesh erupted from the wound. Numerous thick, pale-red tissues shot outward like living cables.

They wrapped around the neck and torso. Muscles, veins, bones… everything was rapidly reconnected.

The torso was pulled back toward the head.

SHHH…

With a steaming sound, the neck connected, and Astaroth opened his eyes once again.

Though this time, something within him had changed.

His eyes revealed a dangerous, feral glint. His armor fell apart. His body started expanding.

His skin stretched, and the human-like shape he had maintained until now slowly disappeared.

Astaroth’s skin became rugged and thick, taking on a faint crimson hue. Dark crimson scales emerged across his shoulders, chest, arms, and legs.

SHHHHH…

Heat began pouring from his body. Steam escaped from several natural openings around his neck and shoulders, hissing into the air like vents releasing the pressure of an enormous furnace.

If one looked carefully at his chest, beneath the layers of flesh, one could see something producing intense heat. Like a blazing core or a heart.

Every beat caused a wave of heat to roll across the battlefield.

The stones in the surroundings became red-hot. The air distorted.

ROARR…

Astaroth issued a feral roar.

Standing nearby, Reinhardt looked at the creature in front of him.

The being no longer resembled the previous elegant ruler of the demonic army. No, now it resembled an ancient bipedal crimson lizard-like creature.

Broad shoulders, rugged scales, curved horns, long claws, a thick tail dragging across the ground. Steam constantly escaping from its body.

And inside its chest… a blazing heart.

This was the true form of the Eighth Heavenly King.

ROOOOOOOAAARRR…

The roar shook the battlefield.

Astaroth slammed his tail on the ground, causing the land to fracture. A terrifying heat flooded the surrounding land.

Astaroth opened his mouth full of jagged teeth to speak.

“Domain Release… [Infernal Crucible].”