Chapter 495: I Acknowledge Your Strength | Second Domain·Bionic Mimicry

Ultimate speed is ultimate power.

When Nelom’s Knight’s Broadsword struck Reinhardt’s Extraordinary Armament·Morphic Armor, the attack lacked the force to breach its defense, but the immense inertia was like two steel war machines colliding head-on.

CRASH—!

The muffled impact sent a visible, ring-shaped shockwave blasting outward through the swirling sand.

Reinhardt’s body was thrown backward, skimming across the ground at such incredible speed that he became little more than a long, narrow streak of dark purple light.

Nelom’s Standard Knight’s Broadsword could not withstand a direct clash between Domain Level Powerhouses. A deafening crack echoed as the metal tore, and violent tremors shot up into his hand.

The blade itself spiderwebbed with fine fractures.

Bolstered by his Ashen Battle Armor, Nelom slammed his left hand into the ground to steady himself. His legs took root, digging into the earth as the equally massive opposing force drove him backward, carving two deep gouges in the ground.

The aftershocks of the battle had yet to fade.

Wind howled past his ears. Sand and gravel peppered his Power Armor with a crisp, crackling sound. The swirling sandstorm once again obscured his vision, and even the sun’s light became a dying, dusky yellow within the intensifying gale.

‘Nelom knew full well that even if he used his full strength, an attack of this level posed no real threat to that man.’

His eyes couldn’t track Reinhardt’s movements, but in his Knight Perception, he detected an extremely powerful Knightly Aura hurtling toward him at a speed beyond mortal comprehension.

He looked up. A dark purple figure, moving as if by teleportation with a terrifying sonic boom cloud tearing the air in its wake, appeared in the reflection of his pupils in an instant.

Among the Domain Level Powerhouses of the Five-star Earth Military Rank, if one were to rank them by strength, Nelom would undoubtedly be counted among the absolute top tier.

Extraordinary Armor·Ashen Battle Armor.

Some might believe he only held a place among Domain Powerhouses due to his incredible healing ability and high-temperature ash. But only an opponent who had witnessed his true power would know why this twice-defected Imperial Knight still bore the honored title of the Ash-Burning Tyrant.

High temperatures, speed, strength, perception, and self-healing.

Everything except defense.

The Special Abilities granted by the Ashen Battle Armor offered no flashy techniques—only the purest of raw stats.

In fact, compared to the great warlord Sipia, whose power was all mechanics and no stats, the raw numerical strength provided by Nelom’s Extraordinary Armament even surpassed that of Reinhardt’s Morphic Armor—!

Had it been any other Five-star Earth Knight facing Reinhardt’s frontal assault, those who could have mounted an effective response could be counted on one hand.

Propelled by the high-temperature Energy stream from the Aikacia Nozzle, his super-speed approached Mach 4, long since surpassing the reflex limits of a Mortal body.

Even a bullet fired from a gun could not keep up with Reinhardt’s current speed.

But Nelom still managed to react in that split second.

His pupils contracted to pinpricks, his mind left with only a single thought: ‘So fast.’

He raised the cracked Knight’s Broadsword horizontally before him, but how could such outdated military hardware, already being phased out by the Administrative Region, possibly withstand a blow from a Domain Powerhouse?

CRACK—!

The sound of the blade shattering was exceptionally crisp.

The portion of the impact it absorbed was converted into kinetic energy, sending the exploding shards of the blade flying in every direction like a spray of metallic shrapnel.

Then, another Knight’s Broadsword, also covered in cracks, stopped mercilessly just before Nelom’s face. The howling sand scoured its blade, and this training-issue Knight’s Broadsword began to fracture, crumbling into pieces of various sizes.

If this hadn’t been an ordinary Knight’s Broadsword.

If Reinhardt hadn’t stopped his attack…

A bead of cold sweat trickled down Nelom’s temple. In that instant, though they were both Domain Level Powerhouses, the gap in their strength was laid bare.

“Is this the full extent of your strength?”

Facing Reinhardt’s deathly stare, Nelom didn’t flinch. He knew full well that his most common low-intensity combat tactic, the Sea of Burning Ashes, would pose no threat to the man before him.

“You forced my hand, Reinhardt.”

As intense heat spread through the sandstorm, it distorted the light, transforming into a terrifying, searing heatwave.

Nelom’s Ashen Battle Armor had silently merged with his body, forming a grayish-white coating over the surface of his Power Armor. His skin, like burnt-out charcoal, split open with dark red fissures—a symbol of the extreme heat.

The dispersing ash wove itself into a magnificent Great Cloak behind him.

Finally, a crown woven from pale flames materialized above his head. It seemed both real and illusory as it wavered and distorted in the sandstorm.

Domain·Overlord Form.

Even during his service in the Holy Temple of Justice, Nelom had rarely used his Domain Power, as he was unable to control this strength that far exceeded what a Five-star Earth Military Rank Knight should possess.

Once a battle began, the overflowing aftershocks would indiscriminately kill every living thing around him, friend and foe alike.

But now, before him was the crushing pressure of the Lord of Vengeful, and behind him was an inescapable Abyss.

‘If I want to return my soul to the Divine Emperor’s radiance in glory, as an Imperial Knight… the only thing I can do is stay true to my original conviction. The only thing I can do is fight!’

At that moment, several kilometers away, the Holy Fire Guard once again sensed the Knightly Aura. Its intensity had instantly swelled by more than tenfold, and Matthias’s expression shifted again and again!