Before today, he had only shown one skill to the knights of his order. Today, he was going to show off another and this one was even more visually impactful and dramatic than the [Radiant Ascension].
'Make sure all of you watch this carefully' Reinhardt smiled.
With the three year gap, the reputation as well as the strength of his order had fallen. People only remembered the old accomplishments and valor of their knight order now whenever they looked at the temple of light.
Today, he was going to change that perception of theirs.
"[Lightforge Ascension]" Reinhardt's deep and loud voice cut through the chaotic noise of the city like a knife through butter.
The next second, the ominous dark clouds above the sky of the capital was abruptly dispersed, and one could see the familiar setting sun once again.
However, that was not all, a huge mass of light that looked like another sun rose in the sky of the capital, causing every observer to drop their jaw.
What was going on? What kind of ridiculous skill was that? How could one create another sun?
The spectacle was so eye catching that it also caught the attention of the running demon, who turned around to see what the commotion was all about.
When its eyes fell on that sun, its entire body shuddered violently, a primal instinct rose inside it. Telling; no, shouting for him to run away.
That nonsensical amount of holy energy… it was dangerous, far too dangerous. However, before the demon could even flap its wings, the huge sun in the sky changed shape and turned into a gigantic sword of light.
ZZZZzzzz...
Space shuddered violently as if unable to bear the weight of that vast amount of divine energy. Then, in front of the wide open eyes of everyone, the sword came down, engulfing the demon in its radiance entirely.
In front of that absurdly gigantic sword of light, the demon was nothing more than a speck of dust and was disintegrated into the same. Everything happened in a matter of a few seconds and left everyone shocked and wanting for more.
.
.
"W-What was that?"…
"Woah, did you see that huge ass sword? The demon was disintegrated in an instant"…
"I have never seen a skill so awesome like that. So that is the power of a Divine Paladin huh"…
The crowd discussed in excitement. With the threat of the demon now gone, they were more relaxed and back in the mood to celebrate.
"Haha, it looks like it wasn't my chance to shine" Brutus laughed, strapping the huge swords back on his back.
"That was indeed an impressive skill, Sir Reinhardt. It looks like the legendary paladin of Solaris is back" Vanessa added.
"Haha, young people sure have lots of energy. These old bones can't keep up" Conrad stroked his beard.
Of course, not all the commanders were happy with the spectacle that Reinhardt just showed them. Many of them became wary and even jealous of the power he just displayed.
To create such a massive weapon made of holy energy in the sky… there could be only one explanation for that.
"Ultimate skill… dammit" With this thunder stolen, Guren grit his teeth. The audience were only showering Reinhardt with praise; nobody remembered the arrow he fired.
"Dammit, it's just a flashy skill, what's so special about it? The demon died so easily because I had already severely injured it. That guy simply stole my kill" At the end, he could only make excuses to console himself and deny the reality.
Reinhardt didn't bother with the multitude of reactions that the audience were giving him, he looked at the members of his order and smiled.
Next, he would teach them this skill. Of course, there was no way they could learn the actual skill, but who is to say they can't learn the smaller, downgraded version of it?
With his actions today, he had not only announced to the capital and all the cities of the kingdom that he, Reinhardt was back, but he was even more powerful than before.
He erased the rumor of him getting weaker and at the same time, redeemed the image of his orders.
Of course, one cannot just simply cover for three years of gap with just a skill, but it was a good start.
Having achieved his goals, Reinhardt getting showered with all kinds of attention, returned to his seat.
In one corner of the stage, two pairs of eyes intently observed him. One of them had short black hair and deep, dark pools of eyes, while the other was silver haired girl with drill curl pigtail.
"Due to the disturbance of the demon earlier, the Knight entrance exam was interrupted. As the situation has already been resolved, let us continue with the ceremony".
The knight entrance ceremony continued, and all the commanders and knight orders all focused their attention on the young talent standing on the stage.
"We have all seen and witnessed your talent today. You all are the brightest and most resilient hope of this kingdom. We have marked the names of those who have passed the exam"...
"Those whose names are called, step forward. If you get an invitation from any knight order, you may join them. In the case that you get an invitation from multiple knight orders, you are free to join whichever knight order you like. As for those whose names are not called out, please do not be discouraged. You have shown us your talent, if you keep honing it, you'll have a better shot next year" Vanessa announced.
A knight from her order started calling out the names of the candidates who had passed. One by one, they stepped forward, their eyes gleaming with the excitement of joining the knight order and becoming one of the knights.
Most of the participants whose names were called received only a single invitation, sometimes twice. None of the seven great knight orders had extended an invitation yet.
Finally, after the quality of the passing candidates increased and there were more level 3s appearing, the Seven Great Knight Orders started extending out a few invitations.