Adrian set Reinhardt down. As an eerie green light reflected in his eyes, a biting frost suddenly appeared, rising from his feet like a raging, cold flame!
Elemental Domain.
Frigid ice crystals condensed into a giant longbow in his hands. Adrian held his breath, his focus absolute. An Ice Arrow forged from Knight Power shot out with a whistle!
Adeliea glanced over at Reinhardt, his gaze calm.
"Hide."
The frost Element condensed into two longswords in his hands. He shot toward the fortress wall like an arrow loosed from its bow.
Reinhardt knew Knight Adrian wanted to protect them, but 'once the fortress falls, can anyone really get out alive?'
The battlefield was in constant flux. Before Reinhardt could react, a sudden cry of alarm erupted beside him!
"Reinhardt, watch out!"
The roar was accompanied by a foul wind, and the hair on Reinhardt's body stood on end. He spun around just as a massive Demon's head slammed into his chest!
BANG—!
The immense force sent him flying over ten meters. He crashed through a tent in the camp and only stopped after smashing a wooden bed to pieces!
A huge creature the size of a lion pinned him down, its gaping, blood-stained maw full of sharp teeth just an arm's length from his neck.
Death laughed, whispering in his ear with every passing second.
Adrenaline surged through Reinhardt. His expression twisted into a demonic snarl, and his hands became iron clamps, desperately prying the Abyssal Demon's jaws apart as he let out a hysterical roar!
"COME ON!! EAT ME!"
Reinhardt didn't know what kind of Abyssal Creature was on top of him, but he knew that at a time like this, only fighting for his life offered a glimmer of hope!
Time seemed to slow to a crawl. In his vision, the Steel of the Heart sigil, which only he could see, grew brighter and brighter on the beast's body.
Reinhardt's eyes bulged with fury. His body erupted with unprecedented strength as he ripped the abyssal fiend's lower jaw clean off!
He leaped up and straddled its neck, wielding the torn-off lower jaw, and viciously smashed it against its head again and again!
CLANG—!
He was so consumed by the imminent threat of death that he barely registered the crisp chime of the Steel of the Heart.
[Your constitution has slightly increased.]
[Awakening Progress of 'Power': 96.25%]
"Reinhardt! Take this!"
A youth picked up a Longsword from the ground and threw it to Reinhardt. Gripping the hilt with both hands, he used all his strength to instantly pierce the blade through the Abyssal Creature's skull.
The two youths who had witnessed Reinhardt slay a Demon stared, their eyes filled with unconcealable shock and admiration!
That was a genuine Tier One Demon!
It was a terrifying creature that would make even veterans of the Imperial Infantry Corps' legs tremble! An Abyssal Hound from the 7th Floor of the Abyss, said to be raised by the legendary Master of Flames and Pain!
Although the Longsword they'd thrown had ended the Abyssal Hound's life, the moment Reinhardt was sent flying, they had both been certain the training camp's most hardworking little guy was a goner.
The two of them rushed over. One helped Reinhardt up while the other checked to make sure the Demon on the ground was completely dead.
The youth supporting Reinhardt stared wide-eyed in disbelief. He glanced back at the Demon's corpse, then clapped Reinhardt on the back and exclaimed in awe, "Carl and I both thought you were a goner for sure. Awesome job!"
The other youth, the one who'd thrown Reinhardt the Longsword, finished checking the corpse. It was his first time helping kill a Demon, and even though he'd only played a small part, he was ecstatic. He ran over, excitedly throwing an arm around Reinhardt's neck and messing up his already coarse black hair with a rough noogie. He jumped up and down, yelling, "Can you believe what we just did? We killed a Demon with our own hands! Man, I could kiss you right now, haha!"
The fighting on the fortress walls was exceptionally brutal. Every so often, a creature would slip past the defensive line—a wall of flesh and blood formed by soldiers and Knights—and charge into the fortress interior.
Although the two youths beside him were shouting excitedly, Reinhardt couldn't bring himself to smile.
It wasn't just because he'd been dancing with death.
'Just one of those things increases my awakening progress by 2.5%. I've never encountered anything this strong before!'
But for it to appear inside the fortress...
Reinhardt looked back toward the fortress wall.
It was too dark to see clearly, but the soldiers' furious shouts and agonized screams were deafening. A tide of the Demon Army was gradually swallowing them whole.
The Knights, the only lights in the darkness, who wielded immense Mighty Power, were barely holding on against the endless assault.
A deep, rumbling laugh echoed from outside the fortress.
Suddenly, a massive hand of fire and magma shot up and grabbed the edge of the wall, heaving its massive form into view!
Its terrifying frame was the size of a small mountain. Billowing clouds of sulfuric smoke rose from it. The intense heat and light instantly illuminated the entire fortress!
In the crimson firelight, Reinhardt could clearly see the carnage on the fortress wall.
The bodies of Demons and soldiers were piled into a mountain of corpses.
Countless Abyssal Hounds slaughtered soldiers, trampled their bodies, surged over the defensive line on the wall, and poured into the fortress!
The two youths standing beside Reinhardt—Pachy and Carl—had faces on which the excitement had yet to fade before twisting into abject horror!
"The wall has fallen!"
They weren't Reinhardt, who could dance with death without batting an eye and walk away from a poker game with Death himself.