Chapter 82: Reinforts

  “Ikaros still hasn’t returned,” Fina said, her voice filled with worry as she hid in the shadow of the ruins, gng at the distant sky. Uhe dark, gloomy heavens, faint i-like figures were cirg above the ruins—those were the imps h in the air. Although Fina and Alex couldn’t clearly see them from this dista was obvious that danger filled the area.

  “Mr. Alex, are you sure Ikaros is going to be alright?”

  “She should be fine.”

  Alex could only offer that much reassurance. Earlier, Ikaros had told him she was going to scout, then vanished from sight. This had left Alex feeling a bit uneasy. However, he could still sehe transparent eg them, and the soul stone embedded in the Dimensional Codex showed no signs of disturbance, which helped him feel somewhat relieved.

  “I don’t think she would iionally take any risks. We just o wait a little… huh?”

  At that moment, Alex suddenly felt something vibrating in his pocket. He quickly reached in and pulled out a badge—the very emblem of the Sacred Temple. Right now, it was faintly glowing and shaking, much like a pho on vibrate. Seeing this, Alex’s face lit up with joy.

  “Reinforts have arrived!”

  During his time with the Sacred Temple, Alex had learned some of the temple’s uniethods. One of them was the resoween these badges. Due to space restris and spell-based unication blocks in this world, people had developed various alternatives.

  The resonance of the badges Alex held was one such method. The Sacred Temple’s emblems were blessed by the Order, and within a certain range, if infused with power, they would automatically resonate and vibrate. The frequend brightness of the glow would also ge depending on the dire and distance, much like a glowial detector.

  Gripping the badge tightly, Alex infused a bit of his power into it. Almost immediately, the badge grew hotter, and the light began to fsh even more brightly. Moments ter, Alex heard the distinct fpping of wings, and then several shadows desded from the sky, heading in his dire.

  It was the knights on their flying steeds.

  “Wow, that’s impressive,” Alex muttered to himself, watg the knights white armor with their capes fluttering in the wind. The Sacred Temple really had the grandeur of a royal army, and if nothing else, they certainly looked the part—majestic!

  And with those flying horses, they looked even cooler.

  Alex didn’t wave at them like aed kid. He wasn’t that impulsive anymore, and besides, they were still in a dangerous area. He only hoped the knights wouldn’t attract the attention of the imps flying above, or things could take a turn for the worse.

  Luckily, the pegasus knights from the Sacred Temple weren’t foolish enough to let themselves be seen by the enemy. They circled down gracefully and nded in front of Alex and Fina. As the first knight dismounted, Alex saw him rush over with a big grin. Before Alex could say anything, the knight spped him on the shoulder.

  “Hey, kid! I knew you wouldn’t go down so easily!”

  “Master?”

  Hearing the familiar voice, Alex was taken aback. The knight in front of him removed his helmet, revealing the rugged face of Stone, his mentor. Stone was grinnio ear, clearly happy to see Alex again.

  “To be ho, when I got the news, I thought someone ulling my leg. But here you are, alive and well! You didn’t even give me a heads-up that you were back! Where’ve you been hiding all this time? I haven’t heard a peep from you for half a year, but I have to say, you’ve ged quite a bit. You look tougher now! Looks like you’ve been doing alright!”

  As he spoke, Stoted Alex repeatedly. In the past, such a hearty sp would have knocked Alex off bance, but thanks to his Zerg transformation, he could easily withstand it now.

  “Hold on a moment, Sir Stone.”

  Just then, a cold voiterrupted, ing from behind Stone. His expression ged slightly, and he g Alex apologetically before stepping aside. Alex saw an elderly man in a white robe walk toward him.

  At first ghe old man didn’t seem too different from any other elder. He was tall and slender, with white hair and a beard, but his every movement carried a sense of elegance. His face was stern as he scrutinized Alex, and after a moment, he spoke softly.

  “You are Alex? From the Silver Nation, currently an apprentice Guardian Knight at the Sacred Temple in Star Moon City?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Although the elder’s tone wasn’t particurly polite, Alex shot a g Stone and obediently nodded. He was no longer a young, hotheaded boy. Even though the elder’s attitude wasn’t great, Alex wasn’t foolish enough to cause trouble for someone who had even his mentor standing at attention.

  “Show me your credentials. Your badge and star sigil.”

  “Of course.”

  Upon hearing the old man's and, Alex retrieved his badge and star sigil from his pocket. The old man approached, carefully examining the Sacred Temple knight's badge in Alex's hand before turning his attention to the star sigil. He then produced a scroll and muttered a few words of blessing. As the old man ted the intation, the scroll transformed into a beam of golden light that shot into Alex’s star sigil. Immediately, Alex felt a soft, white glow emanating from his body, while his star sigil began to flicker.

  After a few moments, the light faded, and for the first time, a faint smile appeared on the old man’s otherwise stern face.

  “Wele back to the Sacred Temple, Sir Alex.”

  “Wait… Sir?”

  Alex was taken aback by the title and looked toward Stone in fusion. As far as he remembered, only great knights and above were referred to as "Sir" in the Sacred Temple. But wasn’t he just an apprentice Guardian Knight? How had he earhis title?

  Notig Alex’s bewilderment, the old man spoke slowly.

  “Your brave as in Shadow yon have beeed to the cil by Grand Knight Malt and Grand Knight Stone. Your willio sacrifice yourself for order and justice, as well as your ce in fag the Children of Chaos, were truly endable. After careful deliberation, the cil has decided to bestow upon you the title of Grand Knight. Thus, you now hold the same rank as Sir Stone.”

  “Huh?”

  Alex was utterly stunned. He khat the title of Grand Knight was not just a mark of strength but also of honor, experience, and aplishments. For instance, despite being more powerful than ie, Alex still had to start as an apprentice.

  But now, they were suddenly promoting him from an apprentice Guardian Knight to Grand Knight? Wait… Alex's face darkened as he recalled something.

  If he remembered correctly, being promoted two ranks in one go was usually reserved for… martyrs.

  “Hahaha!”

  Stone couldn’t help but burst out ughing at Alex’s dismayed expression.

  “You finally caught on! Haha, I ’t believe it! Those old fools—no matter how many times I told them you weren’t dead, they insisted on giving you a posthumous promotion. Now look at this! Hahaha, kid, you should’ve seen their faces when your ‘death’ was reported to the Sacred Temple. Just thinking about it cracks me up!”

  “Uh…”

  Watg his mentleeful demeanor, Alex didn’t know what to say. He never expected something like this to happen. Eveurning to the Sacred Temple was bound to be a headaow. No wohat elder had been so serious earlier, thhly cheg his badge and star sigil… So, he was a Grand Knight now?

  “Alright, stop looking so down,” Stone said, ughing even harder at Alex’s face.

  “No matter how you look at it, this is a good thing, right? A Grand Knight title—do you know hoeople dream of that their entire lives? Besides, you’ve ear. Don’t fet, you were the one who took down that Child of Chaos, not me or Malt. You’ve proven yourself more than capable of being a Grand Knight, and you alsht back valuable information. Speaking of which, what’s the situation now?”

  “Please hold on, Master.”

  At that moment, Alex finally received word from Ikaros, who was returning safely from her reaissance mission. Feeling relieved, he turned back to Stone.

  “My panion has just finished scouting. We’ll have the full details once she reports back—ah, here she is.”

  “She?”

  Just then, Stoiced a blue-haired girl desding gracefully from the sky like a fairy, nding beside Alex.

  “Rep, Master. I’ve returned… Who are these people?”

  Notig the sudden presence of strangers, Ikaros appeared slightly uneasy. She eyed the pegasus knights warily while subtly shifting to hide behind Alex.

  “……………”

  Stone and the pegasus knights behind him were dumbfounded, staring in shock at the shimmering, rainbow-colored wiending from the blue-haired girl’s back.

  “An angel?!”

  (End of Chapter)