The terror of the Fear Knights was known to all.
This was the first time the Fortress Defenders of Frostfire Fortress had truly laid eyes on these dreadful enemies, who until now had only existed in legend.
They didn't understand why Erich had ordered them down from the walls, nor did they understand why they were setting up defensive lines inside the fortress itself.
'Could the Abyss Legion truly shatter walls twenty meters high and six meters thick, and simply charge straight in?'
The soldiers gripped their spears and raised their shields. Their gazes traveled over the sharp cheval de frise to rest on the fortress wall. A dead, silent dread began to spread, leaving only the sound of pounding hearts and heavy breaths.
The wounded from the underground bunkers and the youths from the training camp had all been evacuated and were gathered at the fortress's southern exit. If the fortress fell, they would be the first to retreat under the cover of the defenders.
The Fear Knights had appeared.
Everyone knew they likely wouldn't survive the day. But with Frostfire Fortress surrounded by high mountains and deep snow, they had nowhere to retreat.
But not a single one of the passionate youths from the training camp showed fear or shrank back. Even though they had not awakened their Knight Power, the sublime courage in their hearts silently urged them to fight against death itself.
If not for the defense protocols, they would have long since rushed to the front, taken up arms, and stood guard on the fortress's front lines!
"Carl, do you think we'll die?"
"Would I have come to the training camp if I was afraid to die? If you're scared, get behind me. I'll protect you."
To fear death is life's instinct.
But to scorn death is a sublime courage that transcends the self—even for Carl, who was just a follower.
Pachy glanced at Reinhardt, who stood at their head, and tightened his grip on the sword and shield in his hands, staring straight ahead.
After this period of rest, Reinhardt's right arm had mostly healed. It was just as Knight An Jie had once remarked: powerful regenerative ability is a talent in its own right.
However, his request to fight alongside the Knight Order had been ruthlessly denied. Vice Commander Erich himself had issued the order: he and Knight An Jie were to be responsible for the safety of the training camp.
A military order could not be defied.
If the front line collapsed, his duty was to cover the retreat.
The Seventh Group Army's orders were to hold this position for seven days, but the youths of the training camp were not official members of the Knight Order, nor were they part of the Hearn Territory's garrison.
Strictly speaking, they were merely ordinary Imperial Citizens receiving training from the Knight Order.
In the event of war, it was the Knight Order's responsibility to ensure the safe retreat of Imperial Citizens.
The very dust on the ground began to tremble as the thunder of galloping warhorses echoed!
Even though everyone knew there were only six Fear Knights, the momentum they created felt like a charging army of thousands, and the pressure was immense!
BOOM—!
The magnificent fortress wall, which had helped them hold their ground for so long, melted away amidst a massive explosion and a burst of flame, leaving a terrifyingly large hole!
Billowing smoke and dust blotted out the sky!
This was the terror of the Fear Knights—before them, any ordinary wall was no more than a sheet of paper.
The sound of hooves pierced through the thick smoke, closing in at terrifying speed!
Friedrich, leading the fully-staffed Third Squad, took his position at the very front. The old Knight raised his right hand, his eyes wide with fury, and roared, "Everyone! Hold formation! Prepare to engage the enemy!"
As the first blood-red figure emerged from the dust like a flash flood, an unfeeling warhorse charging toward the Fortress Defenders, Friedrich let out a hoarse roar. A terrifyingly immense power erupted from his body, crushing every stone beneath his feet, his aura an overwhelming, unstoppable force!
The purest Destruction Force Field.
It had no other special properties.
It was the weakest of Knight Powers, yet also the strongest!
It was weak because it lacked special properties, but for that very same reason, it held infinite potential in the hands of a master!
Of the Steel Knight Order's three vice commanders, Friedrich was skilled in neither management nor communication. He had been a soldier in the Imperial Infantry Corps in his youth, and he remained one in his old age.
The only things he knew were obedience and slaughter!
"Erich! Sedon! Intercept them!"
Like an old, solitary lion, Friedrich single-handedly held back two Fear Knights!
Sedon, too, stopped holding back his strength as he usually did. The bearer of three Golden Flower Medals, he was, in fact, the most powerful of the three Earth Knights present.
Being ordered around by a Knight who came from the rank and file, his expression was particularly grim. With a cold snort, the ground beneath his feet began to spontaneously liquefy. Molten magma erupted, coalescing into spheres that floated around him.
His Power was called Magma Dominator, belonging to the Elemental Domain.
It was an extremely rare combination of the Fire and Earth elements.
But this was merely a diversion. As a Fear Knight was about to crash into him, Sedon stood his ground, unmoved. A pair of giant, magma hands erupted from the earth, viciously seizing the Fear Knight and dragging it deep underground!
But this fleeting victory could not turn the tide.
For the Fear Knights who had breached the fortress were merely the vanguard; the main legion of Convicted Demons followed close behind! At the sound of their earth-shaking roars and the tremor of their charge, the faces of even the most seasoned veterans turned pale!
Facing a charge of Convicted Demons on open ground was an entirely different concept from fighting them from atop the walls!
The two-hundred-meter wall could only accommodate a limited number of Convicted Demons. But now, with the fortress breached and facing a Legion of Convicted Demons numbering in the tens of thousands, the defenders inside were not even a mouthful for the enemy.
A frontal war against ten thousand foes was far beyond what a battered remnant force like theirs could handle.
In the next moment, to the horror of all the training camp youths, the front line shattered upon contact!
The shields and spears of the Mortal Soldiers were utterly useless against the charge of the Convicted Demons, each the size of a water buffalo!
In a single clash, a huge gap was torn in the defenders' carefully arranged lines! But that wasn't the worst of it. At that moment, the Red-robed Knights, the bringers of Fear, began to unleash their true power!
An invisible, yet tangible, pressure of pure dread spread like wildfire throughout the fortress.
What little morale the Fortress Defenders had managed to muster was instantly swept away as if by a bursting dam!
It was not that they lacked courage. They were facing a power that came from Lord Avernus of the Seventh Layer of Domination Abyss himself—Deep Dark Fear!
This Extraordinary Power invaded the consciousness of every living being, twisting their vision and awakening the deepest fears buried in their hearts!
Even the most iron-willed veterans and Knights had to focus all their concentration just to resist it.
Friedrich let out a muffled groan. His aged body was sent flying like a ragdoll, whistling through the air before slamming viciously into the fortress wall, carving out a deep crater upon impact!
He coughed up a great mouthful of blood, his energy instantly draining away.
A hand belonging to the Fear Knight that Sedon had dragged underground burst from the earth, trying to grab his ankle. He stomped down on it viciously. His brow furrowed. 'As I thought. This thing can't be killed, can it?'
At that moment, the youths of the training camp tightened their grip on their weapons, ready to die. But just as always, a tall, resolute figure stood firm before them.
Knight An Jie's Power flared like a drawn blade. Her Knightly Aura surged, stirring up waves of wind pressure!
A pair of pale gold wings of light sprouted from her back. Her long, black hair shimmered with a golden radiance, and in her hand, she held a long spear covered in flowing, dark gold arcane runes.
None of the trainees had ever seen their instructor, Knight An Jie, use her full strength. Today, they were seeing it for the first time. It would perhaps also be the last.
"Reinhardt, get them out of the fortress. As for whether you live or die... fate will decide for you."