The hot-blooded youths who had followed in Reinhardt's footsteps, sweating on the training grounds just moments before, watched helplessly as he was led away by the guards.
Everyone chose to remain silent.
The cause of the incident.
Robbie Hiling, son of the Sky Knight Duval.
He neither gloated over Reinhardt's misfortune nor stepped forward with righteous indignation to bravely take responsibility like a Knight.
The sixteen-year-old boy just stood there, pale-faced, his head bowed, not saying a word.
Perhaps he was afraid someone would reveal the truth of the conflict. Perhaps he was reproaching himself for his character, knowing he could never become a great Knight.
But only he knew what he was truly thinking.
Eliza glanced back at Reinhardt's somewhat lonely figure in the Knight Training Camp, recalling how Vice-Commander Sedon had disparaged the young man when she met with him.
The curiosity in her eyes grew even stronger.
'Is this Reinhardt fellow really as worthless as Vice-Commander Sedon claimed? Maybe I should strike while the iron is hot and try to invite him to join my family.'
...
Night fell.
The blizzard arrived as expected.
The patrol team led by Knight Elias had yet to return.
Outside the solitary confinement cell, the wind howled. Reinhardt leaned against the wall, doing a one-handed handstand. Beads of sweat trickled down his forehead and dripped onto the floor.
In the flickering candlelight, the lines of his knotted muscles were clearly defined.
"Thirty-five... thirty-six..."
Just then.
The sound of light footsteps echoed in the corridor outside the cell, followed by a gentle voice, like a warm stream flowing past one's ear.
"Are you sure he's locked in here? It's so cold..."
A guard's cold, detached voice answered her.
"You have five minutes to visit."
Reinhardt lowered himself, stretching his slightly sore right arm. He frowned slightly. 'That voice... Eliza Hearn?'
The light footsteps stopped outside the cell door. After a long moment, Eliza asked cautiously, "Mr. Reinhardt, are you in there?"
"What is it?"
Hearing Reinhardt's voice, she let out a long sigh of relief and said sincerely, "I came to apologize for what happened today. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have been locked in here."
Had any other young man been locked in solitary, they would surely have been flustered by Eliza's sudden apology and concern, their head sent spinning.
But the young man in the cell was no one else; he was Reinhardt.
The moment Eliza appeared at his cell, he had already guessed what the Great Lord's daughter wanted.
'Right now, everyone in the Knight Training Camp must think I'll be kicked out for sure next spring!'
But Reinhardt was unmoved. Even while imprisoned, he refused to waste a single moment, training diligently to hone his body and strengthen his Physique!
He took firm, unwavering steps toward achieving Knight Power!
'If not for today's events, I might have considered joining the Hearn Family.'
'But the injustice I suffered today, and that bastard Sedon! His disdain and disregard for our sweat and effort, that condescending gaze, as if we deserved to spend our lives tilling fields back home!'
'An experience like this is like a great humiliation, branded deep on my face!'
'Joining the Hearn Territory and choosing to flee the Knight Order—that's a coward's choice!'
'Acts of cowardice will not be tolerated!'
'I don't need dignity handed to me by others as charity!'
'I will use my own efforts, forge them into an Iron Fist, and smash it viciously into the face of that disrespectful, virtueless political hack, Sedon!'
'What I've lost, I will take back with my own two hands!'
Seeing no response from the cell, Eliza was about to tactfully state her true purpose when suddenly, a blinding crimson flash of light tore through the dark, snow-swept night sky, streaking past the barred window in the corridor.
BOOM—!
A terrifying shockwave, carrying deadly light and heat, erupted with a roar!
Reinhardt felt the entire cell shake. The heavy iron door let out a dull thud, as if something had slammed into it. A brief moment later, everything fell silent.
A sense of dread washed over him. He pounded on the cell's iron door and shouted, "What happened?! Is anyone there? Miss Eliza?!"
The only answer was the absolute, dead silence that followed the terrifying boom.
Reinhardt had been stationed at Frostfire Fortress with the Steel Knight Order for over a year. Although their mission was to defend against the Abyss Legion entrenched deep in the Northern Icefield, he hadn't seen so much as a specter, let alone a Demon.
Everything he knew about the Abyssal Demons—descriptions and rumors—came from the old veterans among the Fortress Defenders.
Their breath reeked of sulfur, their black scales were harder than steel, and their cavernous mouths were filled with sharp teeth.
When you see fire and intense heat raining from the sky, you know they have arrived.
A rush of hot blood filled Reinhardt's chest. He couldn't tell if it was fear or excitement. Fear, because the Abyssal Demons were far stronger and more terrifying than any enemy he had ever known! Excitement, because he could faintly hear the clanging of the Steel of the Heart ringing in his ears!
'The Knight Order forbids me from stacking my Steel of the Heart against my comrades-in-arms, so these Demons are the perfect targets!'
When no one responded after a long while, Reinhardt couldn't be bothered waiting. He took three steps back and viciously kicked the iron door of the cell open.
The door bolt, along with its mounting nails, flew straight out.
Although it didn't take much effort for him to kick the door open, the impact felt wrong. It seemed there was something heavy behind it.
Reinhardt pushed the iron door aside. A small figure in a furry cloak lay unconscious on the ground, blood streaming from her head.
He wasn't sure if her injuries were from the explosion's shockwave or a secondary injury from when he kicked the door, but with Abyssal Demons about to break into the fortress, he didn't have time to worry about it.
He stepped over the unconscious Eliza and quickly ran outside the cell. The two guards who had been standing post outside had large, charred patches on their bodies and lay on the ground, wisps of white smoke rising from them.
A massive crater, twenty meters from the cell, burned with roaring flames and billowing smoke.
And this was the reality for ordinary soldiers in war.
Even the aftershock was enough to be fatal!
The blizzard had not let up. Reinhardt looked up at the sky. A terrifyingly vast cluster of fiery rain instantly lit up the night as it howled down toward the fortress!
The fortress was now in chaos.
The garrisoned soldiers scrambled into the underground fortifications, while the Knights struggled to maintain order in the fortress as they rushed to the walls.
The surprise attack, for which there had been no intelligence, threw the fortress's rhythm into disarray.
Reinhardt had intended to return to his barracks to don his gear, but after taking a single step, he glanced back at the still-unconscious Eliza, cursed under his breath, and ignored the clothes he'd left in the cell. He picked her up, slung her over his shoulder, and sprinted toward the entrance of the underground fortifications!