The Adventures of an Overpowered Knight in Another World Chapter 682- Self Destruct Sequence Activated (2)

There they saw him, walking calmly through the sea of golden lights. Radiant golden hair, sharp features, a white cloak fluttering gently behind him, and an unmatched presence.

Who could it be other than the Divine Paladin, Reinhardt Arcknight?

"Commander!"

"Lord Reinhardt!"

Familiar and excited voices rang out everywhere. The tension that had been weighing upon everyone instantly disappeared.

There was something about his presence that reassured them all.

With golden dandelions falling around him, Reinhardt walked toward the knights and stood before Leona.

"So you came, huh?"

The latter looked at him, then shifted her eyes and spoke with a distant voice. In truth, she was quite happy that Reinhardt had shown up. However, because of her nature, she could not show it on her face.

Reinhardt smiled and nodded. In truth, he had arrived quite some time ago. Long before the final battles concluded. But he stayed in the shadows and did not intervene.

First, there was no need. As humanity’s finest, the Sixth Division was more than capable of handling the enemies. This was an opportunity for them to contribute to the world, gain experience, and earn accomplishment.

There was no reason for him to steal it.

Secondly, he did not intervene because, even after the three demons were dealt with, the danger-sensing perception of his [Celestial Harmony] had not settled down.

A faint unease lingered within his heart. There was still something within the labyrinth that triggered his danger sense.

A few moments later, the two heroes approached Reinhardt.

"Since you are here... does that mean our message went through?"

The one to speak was Orion. Although he was slightly disheveled, there was not much change in his aura.

This showed how powerful a hero truly was.

Reinhardt nodded.

"The Fifth Division received your message successfully. When communication was suddenly cut, Seraphina immediately investigated the surroundings. They discovered that the entire labyrinth was covered by a transmission-jamming field. After receiving the report, I came here immediately."

The two heroes nodded, seemingly in relief. The truth they learned after coming into this labyrinth was crucial to mankind. Even if anything happened to them and they were wiped out, the information needed to be sent back to the rest of the Dawnbringers.

"What about the frontlines? Will they be alright without you?"

"It’s fine. Erza and Achilles are there," Reinhardt answered calmly. With those two guarding the frontlines, there was truly little to worry about.

"Anyways, care to explain what happened here?" He then changed the topic. "I arrived after the battle had progressed and only saw the ending. What exactly happened here?"

Although the overflowing divine energy of his skill [Radiant Renewal] had purified most of the battlefield, traces of demonic energy still lingered at the corners.

"We fell for a trap and were separated shortly after entering the labyrinth," Leona said, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"The place was designed to trap us from the very beginning. The things you see around are the artificial monsters, the human-demon hybrids, the labyrinth unleashed to overwhelm us."

Reinhardt’s brows twitched. Some of the things she said unsettled him. Human-demon hybrids?

"Yeah, calling them human-demon hybrids is not wrong," Gareth nodded. "Their bodies were enhanced using demonic energy and wild beasts. They possessed abilities beyond ordinary demons."

Orion scratched his head and added in his usual languid attitude. "Well, they looked more like failed products. Although they were powerful and had many troublesome abilities, they were unstable and broke apart while fighting. Their bodies couldn’t withstand whatever power had been forced into them."

Once they spoke that far, all three wore grave expressions.

"We found strange markings on all of their bodies. Upon closer inspection, they resembled the Organization’s technology."

The moment he heard those words, Reinhardt’s eyes widened. "What?!"

Leona, Gareth, and Orion then explained everything they had learned so far.

The appearance of the labyrinth, the traps, the experiments... it was too much to consider all a coincidence. They suspected, no, were fairly certain, that the Organization was working with the demons.

After hearing everything they had to say, Reinhardt’s mood immediately became heavy.

Humanity already had enough trouble dealing with demons alone. If the Organization had truly sided with them, then the situation would become far worse.

.

Deep beneath the labyrinth, the researchers were in chaos.

Numerous screens floated throughout the chamber, displaying every battle occurring inside the labyrinth in real time.

"Subject 10041’s combat output is increasing!"

"Subject 10041 successfully suppressed two Elite Knights!"

"This is truly remarkable..."

"Look at the synchronization rate. My goodness, it is almost as high as subject 10044!"

Voices rang out nonstop. The researchers stared at the screens with bloodshot eyes and fanatic expressions.

For them, this was a buffet of information. Every clash, every ability, and every death of the subjects brought a flood of data. Data that was precious for their goal. All of it was being carefully recorded.

"Excellent!"

"They’re overwhelming the Elite Knights!"

"Subject stability remains above projections!"

Compared to the previous unstable products, the difference was like heaven and earth.

After the two Elite Knights were knocked out, an Extreme Knight stepped forward. Seeing this scene, the researchers became even more ecstatic.

"Incredible... They’re actually able to hold their own against an Extreme Knight head-on!"

"Even though they are failed products, they still reached ninety percent synchronization with the Aether Factor. That’s already a level close to perfection."

"The Hero vessels truly are the finest materials. A normal body would have collapsed long ago trying to withstand that level of Aether Factor. What a pity. The original souls inside those bodies had already died. What remains are merely empty husks carrying pseudo-wills. Otherwise..."

Every researcher sighed, wondering about the prospect of turning a living hero into a demon. However, it was a farfetched dream. Forget about turning a hero, who was a living embodiment of the will of humanity; even turning an Elite Knight was a headache.

The room fell into a momentary silence. Though their mood soon shifted when the three subjects underwent demonization.

"The combat output doubled. They have transformed successfully."

"The synchronization is going down, but the body is still stable."

The screen showed the scene of Leona, Gareth, and Orion fighting subject 10041, 10042, and 10043. To them, this was not war. This was research.

That said, the lively attitude of the researchers did not last long. Because the tide of battle had started turning. Alarms started flaring as red warning signs appeared on the screens.

"Subject 10042 is losing stability."

"Internal breakdown has been detected within subject 10041."

"Subject 10043’s synchronization is collapsing."

One by one, bad news started piling up. The expressions of the researchers became uglier and uglier.

The three powerful subjects were being overwhelmed, their bodies beginning to deteriorate. The heroes were simply too powerful.

One researcher slammed his fist against the console. "Damn it. We lost all three of them!"

"I guess it was still too early to pit them against Heroes. Heroes are Heroes after all, the peak of humanity cannot be measured using ordinary standards."

While the researchers gritted their teeth in anger, the lead researcher remained calm. He silently watched Cassius being cut apart by Leona’s final strike. Then Magnus and Aldric fell one after another.

The room became deathly silent. Finally, after a while, he sighed. "No matter. We’ve already achieved our purpose. We have shown humanity what we, what our Organization, is capable of."

There was a cold glint in his eyes behind those glasses. A hint of madness flashed through, though it was quickly contained.

"We have made a huge scene. The knights may already be suspecting the Organization’s involvement. But it doesn’t matter anymore."

He turned sharply and ordered, "Start the Teleport Gate. Transfer all collected data immediately. We’re vacating this place."

They were done with what they came here to do. There was no longer any meaning in waiting here only to be captured by the knights.

The ruthless glint in his eyes flashed again. That said, they weren’t just retreating. There was another gift left behind for the knights of the Dawnbringers.

"Start the self-destruct sequence. Blow this entire place up along with all those knights."

The researchers hurriedly nodded and got busy. Buried deep inside the labyrinth was a spherical metallic object three meters in diameter.

The moment the researcher pressed a button in the laboratory, the countdown sequence appeared in the object.

This was their backup plan. An ancient weapon of mass destruction that was salvaged from one of the labyrinths possessed by the demons.

The weapon boasted such power that if caught off guard, even a Heavenly King would die or be heavily injured. A weapon that was a prototype of Vermis Ultima... Vermis Formae III.

When the weapon was activated, the leader smirked, ready to turn around and leave. It was then, from the corner of his eyes, he spotted something or someone appearing on the screen.

It was a man with golden hair, exuding a divine kind of presence that repelled and purified all evil.