He promised to become a knight, but what the heck is Astartes?

With the help of this war and the spiritual tide, Orus finally broke free from the shackles of the peak Earth Knight and completely stepped into the threshold of Sky Knight!

Not only him, but of the twenty-four peak Grand Knights who came this time, a total of thirteen successfully broke through, while the rest failed, and one even died in battle.

But that is the fate of war knights: to die on the battlefield, for that is honor.

And these experienced peak Earth Knights who have already broken through once, if they have another chance, their chances of breaking through again will greatly increase.

We won!

With the deaths of several Tier 3 magical beast lords, the magical tide quickly receded.

Upon seeing this, deafening cheers erupted outside the Frost Fortress.

"Hahaha! I survived! I've earned my war merit. I'm definitely going to have a blast when I get back!"

"Let's go together!"

The surviving knights and mercenaries raised their blood-stained weapons high, loudly expressing their excitement at the victory.

Or one or two people might start discussing how to spend their war merits.

"Hahaha, after this battle, the entire Frost Rift will be peaceful for at least several decades!"

Taylor, carrying a blood-dripping battle axe, walked towards Rorschach, his expression filled with boundless joy. He reached Rorschach's side, slapped him hard on the shoulder, and laughed loudly:

"You kid, your achievements in this battle are going to be phenomenal!"

“Aside from Orus and the others, I’m afraid you, Rorschach, will suppress all the Grand Knights this time with your strength as a low-level knight.”

"Just lucky, just lucky."

Rorschach put away the blood explosion beads that had formed from the removal of the blood armor. After hearing Taylor's words, he just chuckled and didn't explain anything.

"Tsk tsk tsk, this is no fluke. After all, your great achievements are entirely due to your strength!"

"Let's go, let's go back to the fortress to collect our reward."

Seeing Rorschach's humility, Taylor jokingly retorted before leading Rorschach back towards Frost Fortress.

As for the monster corpses outside the fortress, they will naturally be dealt with by designated personnel.

After half an hour.

Frost Fortress, inside the council hall.

Renault sat in the main seat, flanked by over fifty high-ranking knights, including Orus and Taylor, who had participated in the battle.

Behind them were newly promoted knight geniuses from various powerful factions.

Rorschach stood behind Taylor, surveying the people in the room, and gained a direct understanding of the power within the Northern Territory.

First and foremost was the Imperial faction, represented by Reynolds and other imperial nobles and military commanders.

Then there's the War Academy faction, to which Luo Xia belongs, which is implicitly led by a Sky Knight from the main academy who has already broken through to the next level.

Then came the various independent knightly orders and mercenary groups...

And a small number of wizards from the Northern Wizarding Association.

"However, the War Academy and the War Church are actually divided into two factions internally..."

Luo Xia pondered, feeling somewhat helpless.

Sure enough, once the external pressure disappeared, humanity naturally began to fight amongst themselves.

"A unified human empire? That's utterly ridiculous."

Looking at the knights who were now on opposite sides and seemed to be in opposition, Luo Xia found it amusing.

As expected, this Holy Empire, where no one sits on the Golden Throne, is not united.

Far inferior to Holy Terra!

"However, in the end, all these forces boil down to just two major factions: the Church faction and the Imperial faction!"

"Since the academy and university were jointly funded by the church and the empire, I am actually still considered neutral?"

Rorschach's eyes flickered, as if he had already figured out the internal struggle within the Holy Empire.

However, Rorschach was also aware of his own limitations. At this moment, he was just a nobody and was not qualified to enter into the factional struggles within humanity.

"Gentlemen, with this victory, the entire Frost Rift will enjoy at least thirty years of peace."

"Therefore, apart from the Imperial 'Abyssal Dragon' army stationed there, the rest of the knightly orders and mercenary groups can withdraw from the Frost Rift."

Renault glanced to both sides, a smile playing on his lips, and stood up, raising his glass to say:

"This victory is inseparable from everyone's contributions, so I, Renault, raise a glass to you all to thank you for your efforts!"

"Thank you for your leadership, Commander Renault!"

Seeing this, Orus and the others also stood up, raised their glasses, and said with smiles.

After all, the biggest beneficiaries of this battle were these newly promoted Sky Knights.

"Alright, then according to the Imperial Wartime Regulations, battle merits will be doubled, and the Imperial Battle Merit Center will be opened simultaneously. I wish you all the best in your quest for victory!"

As he spoke, Renault clapped his hands, and immediately his adjutant took out a thick, pre-compiled roster and began to compile the list.

"Aurus, you have slain three peak-level Tier 3 magical beast lords, five high-level Tier 3 magical beasts, and three mid-level Tier 3 magical beasts, earning 83,000 battle merits!"

Immediately, a chorus of congratulations filled the hall, with most of the knights extending goodwill to Orus.

After all, Orus not only successfully broke through to become a Sky Knight, but also gained so many battle achievements.

After this battle, he'll likely rise rapidly in rank.

"Taylor, you have killed one peak second-tier magical beast, thirteen high-tier second-tier magical beasts, and seven mid-tier second-tier magical beasts, for a total of 24,000 battle merits!"

"Haha, this is it!"

Upon hearing his name and battle record, Taylor's lips curled into a smile, and his fists clenched tightly.

As long as I exchange enough resources at the Imperial War Merit Center this time, I can prepare to break through and become an Earth Knight when I get back!

As the names of high-ranking knights and newly promoted knightly geniuses were read out in the council hall, gasps of surprise rang out.

"Luo Xia, three mid-tier second-order magical beasts, five low-tier second-order magical beasts, thirteen peak first-order magical beasts, and high-tier first-order magical beasts..."

The battle merits earned amounted to 18,000 points!

Although most people knew that this black-armored youth was rampaging across the battlefield, they couldn't help but be shocked when they heard about his numerous achievements.

"Hiss, 18,000 battle merits! That's more than even I, a Grand Knight!"

A great knight exclaimed in surprise, seemingly unable to accept that his own battle achievements had been lost to a newly promoted knight.

"That kid Rorschach single-handedly fought his way through the entire battle zone of newly recruited knights. I'm afraid all the newly recruited knights combined aren't as tall as him!"

The other great knight's tone was also filled with envy and awe.

After all, Luo Xia was able to kill a second-tier magical beast as a newly promoted knight, which was enough for them, the great knights, to regard him as an equal.

Elsa stood at the rear of the Violet Knights. Upon hearing about Rorschach's achievements, she clenched her fists tightly.

She tried her best, but only earned a little over three thousand battle merits, while even Elias only earned around four thousand.

But even if the two of them were combined, it would only amount to a fraction of Rorschach's.

“This boy named Rorschach is quite nice. Elsa, try your best and see if you can bring him to our Violet Garden.”

Just then, a blue-haired female knight in silver armor, whose face was no less beautiful than Elsa's and whose figure was no less impressive than Gwen's, looked at Rorschach's tall and imposing figure and suddenly spoke to Elsa.

"Auntie, what nonsense are you talking about!"

Hearing her aunt's words, Elsa blushed instantly. She glanced at Rorschach, and when she saw him looking at her, she lowered her head in embarrassment.

"What's wrong with that? We knights are all about settling scores and getting revenge!"

"If you like it, just go for it! Hesitating and being coy isn't chivalrous!"

Upon hearing this, Elsa blushed even more, and her mind began to wander.

"Rorschach is so tall, can my small frame handle him...?"

Chapter 148 Heavenly Ice Secret Realm, You Are Just Challengers!

"He was able to slay a peak second-tier frost giant while still a quasi-knight, and having just broken through to become a full knight, he was able to single-handedly kill nearly a thousand magical beasts in the demonic tide..."

Renault looked at the tall, black-armored youth standing behind Taylor, a smile playing on his lips. He beckoned to Rorschach and said:

"Rorschach, come forward."

Hearing this, and seeing the undisguised admiration in Renault's tone...

At this moment, all the knights in the council hall were looking at Rorschach with envious eyes.

Such a genius is truly full of vigor and ambition.

"Commander Renault."

Seeing that everyone's eyes were on him, Rorschach didn't feel nervous at all. He simply walked slowly to Renault, punched the armor with his right fist, and respectfully performed a standard knightly salute.

"What did I say before? Call me Big Brother."

Renault smiled, his appreciation for Rorschach undisguised. He then took out an exquisite wooden box from his spatial ring, handed it to Rorschach, and said gently:

"This is the gift we promised you for winning first place in the Knight's Baptism Points. Open it and take a look."

Upon hearing this, Luo Xia's heart stirred, and he took the wooden box and opened it.

Inside the box was a small, ice-blue token. The moment the wooden box was opened, a chilling aura began to emanate from it.

"This...this is the Heavenly Ice Token?"

Upon seeing the ice-blue token, Orus exclaimed in surprise.

This sound, however, drew the attention of all the high-ranking knights. Everyone stared intently at the ice-blue token, as if it possessed some alluring magic.

"This Heavenly Ice Token is the most precious thing in this Frost Rift. Holding it allows you to enter the secret realm formed after the fall of the ancient Frost Dragons to cultivate."

Renault looked at Rorschach and explained the function of the Heavenly Ice Token in a gentle tone:

"The Heavenly Ice Secret Realm is not accessible to anyone other than Earth Knights. It contains a large amount of natural ice marrow and spiritual energy formed after the fall of ancient frost dragons, which has unimaginable benefits for improving a knight's breakthrough."

This Heavenly Ice Token is not only a pass to enter the Heavenly Ice Secret Realm, but it can also protect you during your cultivation within the realm for three days.