When Reinhardt and Holden returned, the fortress's defensive line had already been pushed back to the second wall.
After sacrificing more than three hundred soldiers and four Knights, the first wave of the Abyss Legion's assault was finally contained.
This probing attack came to an end with the death of the last Abyssal Hound.
The blizzard raged on without pause.
The soldiers cleared a space amidst the ruins, setting up bonfires and pitching tents. Some collapsed into sleep where they stood, while others cradled bowls of hot soup for warmth.
The crackling of burning firewood was piercingly loud in the deathly silent, oppressive fortress.
The surviving soldiers were silent.
Once-vibrant faces were now frozen masks of terror and agony. No glory or praise for their heroic sacrifice awaited them; no graves or mourning loved ones would mark their passing.
New recruits pushed carts piled high with corpses, tipping them into a mass grave. With their own hands, they buried their former comrades in this mountain pass in the Northern Lands, far from home.
The only thing these fallen soldiers left behind was a dog tag, stamped with their name and military identification number.
With the Abyss Legion's army bearing down on them in a time of war, the most the Fortress Defenders could do was hastily erect an unmarked stone tablet over the mass grave, a monument to the comrades who had fearlessly sacrificed themselves.
—
Reinhardt attended the funeral for the four Knights who had died heroically. Four crude wooden stakes and four earthen pits were their final resting place.
But only half of the Knights attended the funeral. Of the Deputy Commander Level officers, only Erich and Friedrich were present.
The Knights at the funeral showed little grief. Instead, Reinhardt felt a constant, palpable sense of oppression and anger from them.
Reinhardt never saw Vice Commander Sedon or the other Knights, even by the funeral's end. On the way back to the barracks, however, he saw them gathered around a bonfire, laughing and talking as they cooked a meat stew.
Big-nosed Robie was there, too.
He had been found when the defenders were clearing the fortress interior. Now, he sat before the bonfire with a blanket draped over his shoulders, enjoying a bowl of delicious stew.
The Knights beside him offered occasional words of comfort, patting his shoulder and telling pointless, awkward jokes to ease the tension, but the tall boy simply kept his head down, silent.
Seeing Robie in this state, the Knight next to him, despite maintaining a gentle demeanor, could no longer hide the contempt in his eyes.
If Robbie Hiling weren't the son of the Sky Knight Duval, the Knights by the fire would have likely burst out laughing. 'A coward like this is fit to serve in the Knight Order?'
Vice Commander Friedrich saw this, his face impassive, and walked away without a word.
Vice Commander Erich clenched his right fist, but he suppressed his anger, chose to ignore them, and went to sit by another bonfire.
At a time like this, even a fool could see that the atmosphere within the Knight Order was a far cry from the unity imagined by the youths in the training camps. It was hardly the hallowed ground of legend, a bastion of courage and fearlessness!
Holden glanced at the laughing and talking Knights, his expression grim. With his single eye, braided hair, and blood-spattered, scratch-covered Armor, he looked exceptionally severe and intimidating.
He patted Reinhardt on the back. "Pay them no mind."
Just then, Vice Commander Sedon—who hadn't been seen for the entire battle—pushed aside a tent flap and emerged, clad in a gleaming, brand-new suit of silver Armor, walking right toward them.
His eyes met Holden's for a moment before his gaze fell on Reinhardt, and his brow furrowed.
Sedon raised his right hand, blocking their path. His gaze was condescending, his tone full of arrogance and displeasure. He was clearly unhappy that Reinhardt had left confinement without his permission.
"Mr. Reinhardt, do you know the consequences of leaving confinement without authorization?"
Reinhardt desperately wanted to punch that bastard Sedon in the face, but he held back.
'With the firestorm scouring the ground and the Legion attacking the fortress, if I'd stayed in that cell, I'd probably be digested in an Abyssal Hound's stomach by now!'
However, he wasn't just a follower from the training camps anymore. 'Now that I've awakened my Knight Power, I have the strength to put this old bastard in his place!'
Completely ignoring the arrogant, bureaucratic expression on Sedon's face—a look brimming with authority—Reinhardt snorted. "I would have died if I'd stayed in confinement," he said coolly, "so I came out."
This brief, pointed exchange between Reinhardt and Sedon—a single question and a single answer—immediately drew the attention of the Knights around the bonfires.
Only Holden and Vice Commander Friedrich knew that Reinhardt had awakened his Knight Power. The nearby Knights found it unbelievable that he would dare to speak to a vice commander of the Knight Order in such a tone.
'A mere follower, a common-born peasant, publicly defying Vice Commander Sedon, a man from a great noble house... has he lost his mind?'
'All it would take is a single written order stamped with the vice commander's seal, and Reinhardt would be packing his things and kicked out of the fortress by tonight!'
Hearing Reinhardt's name, Robie looked up and saw the youth standing beside Sir Holden, facing off against Vice Commander Sedon.
He clenched his right fist so tightly that his knuckles turned white. A voice seemed to roar from the depths of his heart, mercilessly mocking his cowardice.
'After a single brutal battle, Reinhardt is already worthy of standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Sir Holden, while I can only sit here like a pathetic wretch, accepting the hollow comfort of others.'
'All this time, I thought I was better than him, but when faced with a true crisis... I can't accept this huge gap between us.'
As one of only two people who knew Reinhardt had awakened his 'Power,' Sir Holden inexplicably felt the urge to laugh, but he suppressed it.
The Steel Knight Order might be split into two factions, but there were a few Knights like him who chose to remain neutral, refusing to take part in the overt and covert struggles between Erich and Sedon.
'A response like that is a clear refusal to submit to Vice Commander Sedon's pressure and questioning.'
'For a man like Vice Commander Sedon—who prizes his reputation and authority, who's used to giving orders from on high—this is like someone climbing on his shoulders and pissing on his head in public! It's a blatant provocation, worse than a slap to the face!'
Then again, it was only natural for Reinhardt to react this way. 'The Abyss Legion is launching a major assault on the fortress, people are on the verge of death, and he's still going on about confinement? What kind of person asks a question like that?'
'If I were in Reinhardt's shoes and received such unjust treatment, I'd consider it merciful to just tear off one of that damn bureaucrat Sedon's arms.'
In the distance, Erich saw the conflict brewing between Reinhardt and Sedon. He frowned, rising to his feet to go and pull Reinhardt away.
He didn't want to see that passionate, idealistic young man get dragged into the filthy power struggles among the Knight Order's leadership.
But just as he took his first step, Vice Commander Friedrich, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke.
"Erich, he can handle this himself," he said. "The Abyss Legion's assault isn't over. Don't escalate things. Sit down."
Sedon's expression darkened instantly, his cold gaze slithering over Reinhardt like a viper. He hadn't expected Reinhardt to dare refute his authority to his face!
'If I don't punish him severely for this, the authority I've worked so hard to build within the Knight Order will be destroyed!'
'Since someone is so unwilling to continue serving in the Knight Order, so eager to provoke the garrison's regulations, then I'll be "magnanimous" and enforce the law impartially. I'll just send him to the Imperial City's Arbitration Court to be judged.'
His body ramrod straight within his silver Armor, Sedon clasped his hands behind his back and spoke in an officious tone. "According to the Knight Order's garrison regulations, for evading punishment without permission, and for disobeying a superior officer's command during a state of war to leave the underground fortifications without authorization, thereby causing the accidental deaths of multiple soldiers and Knights on the front lines..."
"Mr. Reinhardt, I believe the Empire's military Arbitration Court will deliver a fair and reasonable judgment."