Free Web NovelChapter 93: Chapter 70: A Bitter Song
Fei Ning had never accomplished glorious deeds, nor was he a Merit Knight—an Imperial hero wreathed in a dazzling halo.
He was simply an Earth Knight in this vast Empire, one who had served in a Main Battle Corps before retiring to join a Mercenary Corps. His experiences and ordinary life were an epitome of the hundreds of thousands of retired Knights.
Not all Earth Knights were like Heinrich or Sedon, able to withstand a direct attack from a Great Demon and survive.
Nor was every Knight like Reinhardt.
Empire’s Chosen One.
Abyssal Divine Chosen One.
His sublime courage earned the gaze of the Radiant Divine Emperor.
His death-defying fury won the favor of Avernus.
With the mortal body of an Official Knight, he had obliterated an Abyssal Great Demon’s head with a single punch.
They were born leaders, waymarks guiding the Empire toward a greater future, the Imperial’s Sword against powerful foes.
But it was always the hundreds of millions in the Infantry Legions, the tens of millions of government Clerks, and the millions of active-duty Knights that kept this vast Empire running.
They possessed no extraordinary abilities, no transcendent talents. frёeωebɳovel.com
But they had the courage to sacrifice for the Empire, the resolve to die for the future of the Human World.
Fear lingered on Fei Ning’s face as the Great Demon’s Divine War Axe swung down at him, but he resolutely raised the Imperial Standard Longsword that had been his companion for twenty years. Gathering all his strength, he moved to block the attack for Reinhardt.
It was a colossal power beyond Fei Ning’s comprehension. freёwebnovel.com
Like a mountain crashing into him, it shattered his Longsword, tore through his Knight Power and Armor, and bit deep into his chest.
The Curse Power of Avernus invaded his consciousness and soul like a raging flood.
The young Knight Fei Ning had been carrying on his shoulder fell to the ground.
Reinhardt tried to get up, but his body and limbs were no longer under his control. He was so weak he couldn’t even make a sound.
But his will to fight soared higher amidst his fury.
He struggled to lift his head and look directly into the Great Demon’s eyes, where he saw the mockery and disdain of Furious Great Demon Hekatos.
And in the depths of Reinhardt’s eyes, Hekatos saw it too—a blazing fire that should not belong to a human, a Supreme Power that ranked above its own!
In an instant.
Jealousy.
Resentment.
Rage!
’I had offered countless feasts of slaughter to the Supreme One! My loyalty and wrath were unmatched by any demon in the entire Abyss!’
’But why would the Supreme One, at the very moment of my success, show favor to such a tiny, weak human?! Why bestow the Mighty Power to ascend into a Venerable Great Demon upon a mere mortal?!’
’And not me—?!!’
It had tried to humiliate Reinhardt by cutting down Fei Ning, to taste the fear and hatred of this insignificant human who dared to oppose it.
But its act of humiliation, far from achieving its goal, had instead plunged it into a state of absolute rage!
Because compared to Reinhardt’s pure will to fight and his fury, it was impure, like a petty clown who thought itself clever!
At this very moment.
Albert took over, heaving Reinhardt’s body onto his shoulders and sprinting for his life.
The Bald Knight, in agonizing pain as he fought the invading Curse Power, unleashed an unprecedented burst of strength. His eyes burning with rage, he gave his all to desperately grip the War Axe embedded in his chest!
He was hoping to use his own body to stall the Great Demon’s attack and buy time for the Imperial Knights to retreat.
Ordinary as he was, he had never imagined that one day he would be worthy of staring into the terrifying eyes of a Great Demon.
Even as blood filled his throat and excruciating pain twisted his face, rendering him unable to control his body.
He still managed to unintelligibly murmur the words of the noble creed that countless Imperial Knights and mortal infantry would defend like moths to a flame, even unto death.
"For... the Empire..."
He was a veteran of the Death Battle Group.
He had enlisted because of this Knight’s Oath, and now he would give his life for it.
He once thought that leaving the Battle Group would allow him to escape the fate of an Imperial Knight, but in the end, the courage of an Imperial Knight had triumphed over his desire for an ordinary life.
He had lived up to the name of his Battle Group.
The sound of the wind grew faint in his ears.
He thought of his youthful dreams, of the skinny little girl he had found by the roadside...
Fei Ning’s proud head finally slumped down, silent and still. Like the Loyalist Knights who had long since fallen at Grillers, he was now buried in a foreign land.
BOOM—!
Heinrich’s Dragon-Hunting Giant Spear arrived a moment later.
This full-force strike, fueled by rage, pierced the Great Demon’s chest and pinned it firmly to the ground! He then drew his saber and, with a single slash, severed the right hand of the Great Demon that was gripping Sedon.
He was cloaked in a dark golden light.
Even if this was the power of his Scaya Dragonfolk bloodline, at this moment, Heinrich stood before them all like a Golden War God from the Empire’s histories, a towering and majestic figure!
He looked back and shouted.
"Dragon Hunters! Clear a path with me! Everyone else, evacuate the battlefield—now!"
Heinrich hoisted Sedon’s dying body, leaped over the Great Demon that was trying to wrench free from the Dragon-Hunting Giant Spear, and was the first to jump onto the steel platform of the Radiant Waymark.
He turned to leave.
But Sedon grabbed his arm, his dark eyes—still cold and ruthless even after sixty years—stared intently at him.
"What do you think you’re doing?"
Heinrich laughed heartily, as if the wound on his chest, reeking of a curse, caused him no pain. It was as if they were meeting again on the Empire Border after many years, still the same high-spirited youths they once were.
"I’m beyond saving, old friend, but you have to live. The Empire needs you."
All of Sedon’s ribs were broken, his internal organs were severely damaged, and his prosthetic right arm was long gone. He just silently watched Heinrich’s departing figure, knowing he would not return, and watched as Knight after Knight leaped onto the Radiant Waymark.
Just like the war at Frostfire Fortress.
Just like how he had silently watched as the Knight Orders he had once forced and framed died for the Empire in humiliation.
Sacrifice...
’As a member of the High Table Nobility, a top-tier Master of Government Affairs, and the Battle Team’s Brain Trust—a man with arrogance etched into his very soul—I had once believed it was merely the duty of every Imperial Citizen.’
’But now, seeing my old friend embrace his ideals and fulfill this noble duty...’
’I understood for the first time just how heavy, how suffocating, that word was—a word that appeared so frequently in the most ordinary reports submitted by the Military Affairs Department to the Regent Council.’
But in a war, everyone has their place and their mission.
Sedon knew this well. He could have stood up to fight alongside Heinrich, to fulfill their Knight’s Oath, but he had more important things to do.
The Empire’s traitors needed to be brought to justice.
The Loyalist Faction of the Death Battle Group and the Seventh Group Army needed a leader.
The Empire’s administrative system, which had collapsed during the rebellion, needed a Master of Government Affairs to step up and restore order...
Where light shines, there will always be shadows.
For every glorious ode to those who sacrificed their lives bathed in glory on the battlefield, there would be the silent ones who walked alone in the darkness, misunderstood by the world, burning away their lives for the Empire without a word.
Like the blood-soaked Military Affairs Department order that had reached their hands after overcoming countless obstacles.
The Demon Army and the traitorous legions were besieging the Holy City.
Hundreds of Clerks from the Military Affairs Department had paid with their lives, silently proving their loyalty and dedication to the Empire.
However, only a portion of the Knights could reach the Radiant Waymark within thirty seconds. The rest were all blocked by the utterly enraged Great Demon.
As the waymark’s teleportation Magic twisted space and time.
As the last Knight from the Death Battle Group leaped onto the platform.
Reinhardt saw the Dragon Hunters fighting a bloody battle against the demons to ensure their retreat. They could have left together, but they had voluntarily chosen to follow their leader, Heinrich.
To die for the Empire.
To die for him.
Reinhardt saw Fei Ning, who had already lost his life and collapsed on the ground—the Bald Battle Group Commander who had once brought him laughter.
Reinhardt saw three Radiant Angels who were too gravely injured to leave. He saw the Angel who had once treated his wounds and given him an injection; her eyes had lost their light as she knelt on the ground.
The evacuating Radiant Waymark finally activated its teleportation Magic.
Space and time warped, and the ten-meter-tall Radiant Waymark vanished from the battlefield in an instant.
