Chapter 319 - 278: Formidable Foe, Brute Force! A Clash of Demigods

Flayer Du Ma’s voice hadn’t even faded.

The Steel Execution Rack fixed to his back erupted with the sharp, ear-piercing shriek of twisting metal. Unleashing a terrifying tide of Void Evil Power, it spread like thorny vines, crawling madly across the surface of his Demon Scale Armor.

Its Iron Lock Hooks spread out, enveloping his fists.

Du Ma balled his left hand into a fist, turning it into a heavy cannon as he violently smashed it toward Reinhardt’s face.

Reinhardt released his grip on his War Axe, pulling his right forearm back to guard his flank. Simultaneously, the Energy Shield of his Avenger Power Armor flared with a ghostly blue light. A curved Energy Shield Tower, composed of perfect hexagons, rose to meet Flayer Du Ma’s heavy swing head-on.

BAM—!

Like shattering glass, the Energy Shield—only Artificial Level—instantly broke apart.

But that brief block bought Reinhardt precious time to counterattack.

The Extraordinary Armament, Micro-Aikacia Nozzles, extended from his joints. Boosted by his Mimic Evolution Body’s Extreme Overload Special Ability, they unleashed a high-temperature energy stream—a sapphire torrent of plasma-wrought destruction.

A blade shot out from the Power Armor’s arm.

As he sidestepped at high speed to dodge Du Ma’s heavy blow, the Micro-Aikacia Nozzles propelled his right arm, and he brought the blade down violently on his opponent’s smashing fist!

In the eyes of Florian and the other Imperial Knights, the speed of Reinhardt’s counterattack nearly surpassed the limits of their perception.

But to Du Ma, every movement was perfectly clear and predictable.

Its demonic maw, filled with sharp teeth, let out a scornful laugh. Completely ignoring the descending blade, it charged like a savage bull and slammed its head into Reinhardt!

Although Reinhardt saw the attack coming, the distance between them was too short. The terrifying inertia from the Aikacia Nozzle-propelled swing meant that even he, its wielder, could not defy the physical laws of the Real Cosmos.

The Full Coverage Helmet, bristling with Steel Spikes from the Steel Execution Rack, slammed into his Clay Steel Chest Armor like a cannonball. The sound of shattering composite metal was exceptionally crisp.

One of the Steel Spikes even punched through the Avenger Power Armor’s defenses—armor plating strong enough to withstand a frontal assault from a heavy machine gun!

A battle between Body Technique Powerhouses.

Such a reckless head-first strike was not only extremely risky, but a tactic usually reserved for the weaker party in a desperate, last-ditch struggle for survival.

Flayer Du Ma’s counterattack far exceeded the bounds of Reinhardt’s combat experience and situational assessment.

Or rather.

This traitor—an Imperial veteran of a thousand years and a Battle Group champion even before becoming a Fear Knight—possessed a terrifying level of combat experience that no enemy Reinhardt had ever faced could hope to match.

’This guy...’

Feeling the stabbing pain in his chest and the Demon Evil Power continuously pouring into his body,

under his Full Coverage Helmet, the fury in Reinhardt’s eyes blazed into an even greater will to fight!

The Ejected Sword Blade on his Power Armor snapped in two against the Steel Execution Rack. Propelled by Flayer Du Ma’s bull-like charge, Reinhardt was sent tearing across the battlefield. They plowed through every Demon in their path, hurtling toward the hangar wall.

To grow in battle.

To become strong in battle.

In that split second, Reinhardt made a decision.

’Against a traitor with such high offense and defense, I can’t rely on my old tactics. Given the gap in our raw power, a mindless frontal assault is pointless.’

’If any other enemy had dared to ram into him like this, Reinhardt had a dozen ways to twist or slice their head off.’

’But Flayer Du Ma’s head, shoulders, and neck are protected by the Steel Execution Rack. And as a Seven-star Earth Military Rank powerhouse, even gravely injured, his flesh and bone—blessed by the Mighty Power of the Slaughter Death Arena—are several times tougher than steel.’

’The Sleeve Sword that broke against his arm is proof of that.’

Due to the vast difference in their height and size, Reinhardt was completely immobilized, suspended in the air with his feet more than a meter off the ground. He had no leverage to counter Flayer Du Ma’s overwhelming brute-force attack.

Even with the dual protection of his Extraordinary Armaments—the Morphic Armor and the Blood Hand Shield—crashing into the Demon Mother Ship’s bulkhead like this would be no different from lying on a railroad track and being run over by a freight train loaded with coal.

Evacuation countdown: twenty-seven seconds.

Bathed in the Flame of Blood Fury, Reinhardt resembled a veritable Blood God. His face was a mask of savage fury as he gripped the steel barbs on Flayer Du Ma’s shoulders and let out a low roar.

All four Aikacia Nozzles ignited. Boosted by his Extreme Overload Special Ability, they went into overdrive, emitting the sharp sonic boom characteristic of a Mach Ring.

The sapphire-blue, high-temperature energy stream instantly vaporized all liquid within a ten-meter radius behind Reinhardt.

The blood flowing on the floor dried and caked in the blink of an eye.

In the area irradiated by the intense heat, the mountain of Demon corpses began to char, emitting the foul stench of cooked flesh.

The moment before he would have slammed into the wall, Reinhardt unleashed the terrifying kinetic energy of his Aikacia Nozzles—enough power to accelerate him to three times the speed of sound—and brought Flayer Du Ma’s charge to a dead stop.

But the power this brute-force traitor unleashed in that same moment made Reinhardt’s heart sink.

Because even this terrifying thrust—enough to accelerate him to Mach 3—was only enough to push Flayer Du Ma’s heavy body backward, sliding across the floor with agonizing slowness.

The sound of the steel floor denting and tearing was like the great Iron Locks of a bridge snapping. The entire hangar trembled violently from their struggle.

The aftershocks from the clash of their Knight Power raged like a storm of high-altitude thunderclouds.

Witnessing this terrifying, high-level confrontation, the Imperial Knights stationed in the evacuation zone were all aghast.

To shake a Demon Mother Ship with a body of flesh and blood! What terrifying power!

Battle Sister Lu Jia felt the Demon Mother Ship trembling beneath her feet like an earthquake. What she felt in her heart went far beyond mere shock.

This level of combat was utterly beyond her comprehension.

She had entered the Monastery at eleven and joined the Holy Rose Order at nineteen. In her short three-year career, the most powerful Imperial Knight she had ever encountered was Nun Superior Eleonor, who held a Three-star Earth Military Rank.

But in this moment...

...the battle she was witnessing between Reinhardt and the Fear Knight Du Ma had transcended the bounds of a normal conflict between Transcendents. The power the two of them displayed was something straight out of ancient legend—the kind of battle strength possessed only by the mighty Demigods who followed the Radiant Divine Emperor on his great expedition into the Dark Cosmos!