Chapter 503 - 436: Nelom’s Monologue, a Demigod-level Battle

To have a mind free of distractions.

To give one’s all even in a battle destined for defeat.

To act purely for the enjoyment of the fight itself.

Now that the misunderstanding between them was resolved, the final barrier in Nelom’s heart had vanished. With the dark clouds above him lifted, he slowly shifted his feet to face Reinhardt.

"It’s true that I used and betrayed Claudius, but he was wrong about one thing."

Wind and sand howled between the two men.

The Ashen Battle Armor ignited once more on Nelom’s body.

He calmly met Reinhardt’s gaze. "I believe in the path of justice. My soul has never betrayed my Legion, Lord Seth never tried to seize power, and my brothers never cast me out of the Battle Group.

I willingly bore such infamy, leaving my former group as a deserter.

It was because I once made a fatal mistake. My very existence was a stain on the Battle Group. I couldn’t drag my Battle Brothers down into the Abyss with me over my error alone.

So, Lord Seth and I planned a rebellion together, giving him a legitimate reason to expel me from the Battle Group."

He paused and stared into Reinhardt’s eyes. "When I boarded your ship, I was already determined to die. I wanted to sacrifice my life to clear the way for my former group by killing the Grand Governor’s right-hand man.

Which is to say, you, Reinhardt, the Lord of Vengeful.

But after speaking with you, I finally understand why Lord Seth forbade me from getting involved in politics. The enemies of the Holy Temple of Justice were never you or the Grand Governor.

The front lines on Verne are bleeding and sacrificing, and Grand Lord Kles is still bent on our destruction.

In my time traveling with you, I’ve witnessed the Empire’s system rotting to its core. Everyone has their own ulterior motives. For profit and power, they are willing to cast aside three hundred worlds and a hundred billion citizens.

Even though we wield Mighty Power, we are still helpless in the face of these deep-seated, chronic problems.

You, a Vengeful Angel from Verne, the Empire’s Chosen One, the man who once personally slayed a Fear Knight, are forced to play political games with a group of Mortals just to collect taxes.

I never used to understand why Claudius and those Local Lords hated you and the Grand Governor so much, why they wanted to flay you and break your bones.

But now, I understand."

The wind and sand raged on.

An ashen-white Domain Power covered Nelom’s body.

But this time, the intensity of his aura was more than double what it was before!

Billowing waves of intense heat melted the dust and sand. A belt of molten magma and fiery rain flowed like a ceaseless river.

A massive amount of ash gathered on the surface of his body, forming a suit of skeletal armor. A powerful Knight Power throbbed like a heart, and each beat sent a circular shockwave spreading outward.

Gill-like vents grew from the tendons of his limbs. He took a single step forward, and a huge cloud of dust and sand shot up from the ground.

Overlord Form·Domain Liberation.

Nelom’s strongest Domain Power, and his final trump card.

The four forms of the Overlord transformation coexisted simultaneously. High temperature, strength, speed, and self-healing were all enhanced to their peak state. But the cost was no longer stamina, but Life Force.

Once Domain Liberation was activated, Nelom would be unable to fully control this power that was intrinsically his.

Or rather...

This was a realm of power that one was only qualified to touch after surpassing the Five-star Earth Military Rank, at the Six-star, or even Seven-star, level of strength.

In this battle, it wasn’t just Reinhardt who was one step away from the Six-star Earth Military Rank.

Nelom’s Military Rank had also been stuck at the Five-star Level for ten years.

He stared directly into Reinhardt’s eyes, his Knightly Aura like that of a Demigod, an erupting volcano. Even Matthias and the others, several kilometers away, couldn’t help but show drastic changes in their expressions.

"I know you want to use this battle to advance your Military Rank. But this time, don’t you dare disappoint me, Lord of Vengeful, Reinhardt."

The intensity of Nelom’s aura at this moment was nearly identical to that of the Fear Knight, Flayer Du Ma, whom Reinhardt had fought in the Demon Void Realm.

Reinhardt vividly remembered that terrifying foe, who had nearly killed him even after being grievously wounded.

And now, he was once again facing an opponent of nearly equal strength in Nelom.

Reinhardt remained expressionless, standing firm in the gale whipped up by Nelom’s Knightly Aura. A seemingly tangible, dark red substance continuously flowed out of his body.

Tumbling waves of blood surged into the sky.

Eternal flames blazed in his eye sockets.

The Destruction Force Field transformed into a rushing river of blood, spreading out from Reinhardt’s feet across the Gobi sands.

Then, dripping Angel’s Wings, like clouds hanging from the heavens, unfurled from his back. An apparition of a Vengeful Angel, over five meters tall and constructed purely from his Knight Domain, descended with a thunderous roar!

First Domain·Great Annihilation·Vengeful Angel Form.

At that moment, it was as if Nelom’s Knight Perception saw a magnificent battlefield of corpses and blood. The Gobi sands beneath their feet transformed into an endless expanse of bleached bones.

A river of blood hung inverted in the sky.

Millions of heads rolled down from the mountain of corpses.

At the peak of the corpse mountain, he saw a pair of terrifying eyes, roaring with fury and burning with eternal flames...

In Nelom’s perception, these illusions seemed to last for ten thousand years, yet also for only an instant.

As his vision left the Vengeful Angel Illusion Realm and he perceived the Knightly Aura, far stronger than his own, Nelom’s heart was, contrary to expectation, filled with relief.

To be able to serve as the Supreme Commander of the counter-insurgency war.

To even have the Grand Governor name the Vengeful Angels project after him.

Compared to those ’man-made Empire’s Chosen Ones’ selected by the Imperial Arena, it was only now, facing Reinhardt at his peak, that he finally understood what terrifyingly powerful beings the true Empire’s Chosen Knights of the glorious era really were!

But even so, he would not shrink from this fight!

He had to know for sure just how great the difference was between his own strength and Reinhardt’s—between himself and an Empire’s Chosen One!

The two faced each other in silence. The battle was about to erupt.

After two preliminary exchanges, the battle had reached a point where tactical superiority could no longer decide the outcome. In a clash between top-tier Domain Powerhouses—especially when both were pure "stat monsters"—the result was often just that simple.

Even the most ordinary punch or kick would leave a terrifying crater in the ground, as if from an aerial bomb!

A single swift dodge and powerful offensive rush could cross a distance of a thousand meters!

In the exchange of offense and defense, it was like a battle between Demigods. The earth trembled and gales churned.

Finally, Nelom’s body was torn from the sky-blotting sandstorm, crashing to the ground like a meteorite. He tumbled and bounced, flying a thousand meters before coming to a stop in the wasteland, a hundred meters from Matthias and the others.