The Adventures of an Overpowered Knight in Another World Chapter 739- Dawnbringers Surrounded, Leona’s Last Stand (2)

Drystan Benedict fought until the very end, refusing to yield even a single step.

Beside him, Holy Knight Bargo laughed in the face of overwhelming odds as he charged headfirst into an Abyss Nest.

Mikita exhausted every drop of her holy energy protecting the retreating knights before falling beneath an endless tide of demons.

Maynard continued fighting with a broken sword long after both of his arms had been rendered useless.

One after another... these valiant knights fell. Each bought precious moments for their comrades to retreat.

By the time the surviving knights finally escaped beyond the mountains, the Northern Alliance had suffered catastrophic losses.

Vice Commander Drystan Benedict, Holy Knight Bargo, Holy Knight Mikita, Holy Knight Maynard... and countless unnamed knights. They all perished upon that frozen battlefield.

Their sacrifice became the final wall that prevented the northern army from being completely annihilated.

.

.

.

The world spun, and Reinhardt felt his consciousness being forcefully repelled. Before he could even resist, the world turned blank.

When he came to himself, he was back in the Altar. Everything around him was made of gold, and the most striking features were the statues of the Seven Gods.

"This..."

For a moment, he was still a little disoriented. But once his various Divine Traits kicked in, Reinhardt seemed to come to himself. He was currently inside the Altar of the capital city of the Ancient Kingdom Elarion.

This meant that he was back. The vision, memories that the seven gods wanted to show... it felt like he had awakened from a long dream. Nonetheless, thanks to that, Reinhardt had finally realized his own origins and the truth behind his reincarnation.

He also finally realized why his memories were incomplete and who the faint shadow of a woman in his heart was.

At the same time, a profound change also occurred inside his body. Now free of all restraints, Reinhardt’s stats showed a tendency to evolve. All these years he had been mating... ahem, vigorously pursuing strength. How could it not increase?

That said, the power within him had not yet reached a critical threshold for a breakthrough. Reinhardt did not mind. His status had already reached Divine. Progress from there was bound to depend on further opportunities and lucky epiphanies. Training was pointless at this point.

Reinhardt looked around the silent altar, his brows slowly knitting together.

"Where is everyone?" he muttered to himself.

The place that had once been bustling with expedition members, powerful knights, and heroes was now eerily empty. The countless divine pillars still stretched toward the heavens, while the colossal statues of forgotten gods continued to overlook the world with expressionless faces.

Only silence remained.

More importantly... how much time had passed? It was difficult to judge the flow of time inside the memories. At times they felt like mere moments. At others, entire years.

Still, his instincts, honed through countless battles, told him one thing. A considerable amount of time had already passed since he had fallen into that state.

Without wasting another second, Reinhardt stepped outside the altar. Outside, the ancient capital appeared before him. He soon noticed that the traces of the expedition were everywhere.

Rows of tents still stood where they had been erected. Cooking utensils remained beside extinguished campfires. Stacked supply crates, maps, ropes, excavation tools, and medical kits all lay sprawled as if abandoned.

Seeing this scene, Reinhardt narrowed his eyes.

"What’s going on?"

The state of the camp felt unusual. If the expedition had completed its objective and withdrawn, why would they leave behind so much equipment? Knights never abandoned supplies unless absolutely necessary.

What’s more, this was deep inside the Tainted Lands. Supplies here were even more scarce.

A bad feeling surfaced within him. It was then that he remembered something, and his pupils contracted.

The warning.

Back then, before entering the Ancient Kingdom Elarion, his Divine Trait [Celestial Harmony] gave off sharp warning signals. At that time, nothing had happened, and they had successfully reached the capital city. After entering the altar, he was pulled into the memories. Thus it had completely slipped out of his mind.

"Something must have happened."

Something serious enough to force everyone to abandon everything.

Without another thought, Reinhardt shot forward.

Boom...

The ground shattered beneath his feet as his figure became a streak of golden light, following the route they had excavated to reach the buried capital.

Did the forces of darkness attack them?

His pace became faster and faster.

Then, on the way, his senses picked up something, causing his expression to darken.

"Demonic energy."

It was faint, yet unmistakable. That nauseating, corrupted aura drifted through the tunnel like poisonous mist. The further he advanced, the stronger it became.

Soon, another smell reached him.

Blood. Fresh blood.

This could mean only one thing.

A fight had broken out.

His speed exploded once more.

A few moments later...

Reinhardt stood on an elevated ground, watching his surroundings.

Bodies, dozens of them, lay strewn about. Although he did not recognize these faces, they were undoubtedly members of the Order of the Dawnbringers. The insignia on their capes was proof.

Furthermore, they all had varying degrees of wounds. Some had their limbs missing. Some were scorched by spells. Others had their hearts directly pierced.

That said, even after they had laid down their lives, some still clutched their broken swords, some while protecting others, and some wore expressions of unwillingness even in death.

Of course, mixed among them were equally gruesome corpses of demons. Their tainted blood stained the stone passages.

Reinhardt directly disintegrated the bodies of these vile creatures. As for the bodies of these brave soldiers, they would be later salvaged and sent back to their loved ones for funeral rites.

After doing all that, he looked at the walls covered with claw marks, sword slashes, and scorch marks from powerful magic. He could tell that the battle had been incredibly fierce.

Reinhardt’s heart sank. His footsteps became even quicker.

Boom...

His speed was so fast that he left sonic booms behind.

Not long afterward, Reinhardt’s enhanced senses picked up something. Judging by the collision of steel, explosions, and shouts...

"They’re still fighting."

He burst forward.

Light flooded his vision as he shot out of the tunnel entrance. The moment he came out, the scene outside unfolded before him.

It was a battlefield.

Several dozen exhausted Dawnbringer knights were desperately holding back a small legion of demons. Their formation had long collapsed, and many were already wounded. Blood streamed down their bodies, and they could barely keep their swords raised.

Yet none of them retreated.

The demons laughed viciously as they closed in from every direction.

"Kill the humans!"

"Tear them apart!"

"Leave none alive!"

A high-ranking horned demon opened its large mouth and cast a demonic spell. Fire blazed and quickly took the shape of a terrifying minotaur.

Then, just as the minotaur was about to slam into the brave yet tired knights...

At that very instant, Reinhardt raised one hand.

"Radiant Ascension."

Everything happened in a matter of a second. From his arrival outside the tunnel to the demon casting the infernal minotaur spell, the world fell silent.

A heartbeat later...

A pillar of incomparably brilliant golden light descended from the heavens.

BOOOOOOOOM...

The earth shook violently. The blinding radiance swallowed the battlefield whole. The demonic legion never even had the opportunity to scream. Their bodies were disintegrated instantly. Even the demonic aura in the area was cleansed by the vast divine energy.

Everything disintegrated beneath the descending judgment of divine light.

When the brilliance finally faded, a land purified of all filth appeared before everyone’s vision. The demons were gone. Only a vibrant land filled with drifting golden particles that floated through the air remained.

The surviving knights, who had been ready to face their fate, stared blankly at the unexpected outcome before slowly coming to their senses and turning toward the source of that miracle.

Standing amidst the fading light, golden hair fluttering in the wind, white cloak swaying gently behind him, sword resting calmly at his side, Reinhardt Arkknight showed his figure.

For a moment, no one spoke. Then all of them widened their eyes and exclaimed.

"S... Sir Divine Paladin?"

They rubbed their eyes in disbelief and excitement.

"It... it really is Commander Reinhardt..."

The despair that had surrounded them moments ago vanished completely. Relief, disbelief, excitement, hope... every emotion burst forth at once as the exhausted knights looked toward the golden-haired Divine Paladin who had returned when they needed him most.

Reinhardt’s expression gradually turned solemn.

"A month...?"

After arriving and healing the knights, he asked them several questions. Most importantly, he wanted to know how long had passed since he was pulled into the world of memories.

The answer was far beyond what he had expected.

Although it was inevitable for some time to pass, what he had never imagined was that an entire month had passed since then.

One of the battered knights nodded heavily. "Yes, Sir Divine Paladin. It has been thirty four days since the expedition withdrew from the capital."