Just a glance was enough for knights of their caliber to acknowledge each other.

Then without standing on ceremony, Reinhardt addressed.

"I’ll get straight to the point. The world is already at war."

He wasted no words.

"You all know of it. The fall of one of the Seven Great Kingdoms, Lunaris, was no accident. By the time we arrived, it was already over."

A ripple passed through the hall.

"What we saw there was not a battlefield. It was a graveyard."

Speaking of the things he saw in Lunaris, Reinhardt’s eyes turned grim.

"The capital was gone. The land corrupted. And at the center stood the Nest."

A few images were pulled up at this moment.

The recording shown on the screen did not display a thriving capital. But a hell on earth.

It sent chills through the hall.

Those that had already seen these images were able to remain unperturbed.

But the same couldn’t be said for the others.

Of course, showing them what they already knew held no meaning.

As such, he also detailed what he heard and saw from the last surviving knight of Lunaris.

"Sir Giacomo told me what unfolded in their country. Hundreds of thousands of demons surging out from the hollow earth. And the most devastating of all, the Heavenly Kings working together."

"The Tenth Heavenly King, Moniker, the War Beast King, Beleth. The Ninth Heavenly King, Moniker, the Sovereign of Graves, Duvessa. The Eighth Heavenly King, Moniker, Architect of Cataclysm, Astaroth. All of them attacked Lunaris at the same time."

At that instant, it was as if the entire hall had been turned into an arctic area.

A bone-chilling coldness assaulted everyone.

Reading the report and hearing it from the knight who had actually dived into the hell was another thing.

It made the threat demons represented all the more real and imminent.

Reinhardt didn’t stop.

"And Lunaris was not the only one. And it will not be the only one to fall in the future."

His gaze shifted to the Queen.

"Many years ago, Solaris was similarly attacked. The Battle of the Black Tide where it lost a third of its territory, where multiple knight orders were wiped out and its Supreme Divine Treasure was taken. It was orchestrated by multiple Heavenly Kings."

Right after, he placed his eyes on the rulers of Aetherion.

The couple were quite happy after discovering that their daughter Diana was staying in Solaris.

Princess Diana too took this opportunity to sit along with her family.

When eyes turned towards them, their expression had turned quite grim.

"The kingdom of Aetherion had suffered a similar attack. The Holy War in their lands was orchestrated by the Twelfth Heavenly King. However, he wasn’t acting alone. Two more Heavenly Kings were involved in the attack."

Similar to Solaris’ Battle of the Black Tide, Aetherion’s recent Holy War was quite well-known.

Due to the fact that one of the Five, Four now, Heroes of Aetherion, the Dark Knight, had slain the Twelfth Heavenly King.

This accomplishment had reached the ears of numerous nations and their rulers.

At that moment, all eyes turned towards the rulers of the two Great Nations.

The rulers of Solaris and Aetherion gave slight, grim nods. They confirmed Reinhardt’s words.

After the war, both nations had extensively investigated the scene and every clue.

In the end, they came to the same conclusion that the Heavenly Kings were working together.

The realization not only terrified them to their core, but also flipped their understanding of the demons.

Demons who could essentially be called a cumulation of ego had no concept of working together.

All they followed was hierarchy and strength.

It was for this reason that it was widely believed that Heavenly Kings who stood amongst all the demons never cooperated.

No, far from cooperation, they regarded the other Heavenly Kings as their enemies.

They were equally cruel to their own kind as they were to humans and other races.

The war with the demons that had been going on for hundreds of years proved that fact.

Heavenly Kings waged war alone.

There was never an instance where one kingdom was targeted by the same Heavenly King.

It was also the reason why humanity was able to survive for this long.

However, this logic was now being toppled in their heads. All clues indicated the worst possible scenario.

A heavy, oppressive silence enveloped the place.

Everyone could feel the weight of the looming danger.

Seeing this scene, Reinhardt stepped forward and released his aura.

Like the warm breeze of summer, the heavy, oppressive atmosphere was instantly swept away.

He looked across the hall. The rulers, the heirs, the knights.

All of them weighed down by the same thought.

"Can we win?"

"I know what you are all thinking. That this is hopeless. That we’re walking toward the same end as Lunaris."

No one denied his words because it was true.

"Let me tell you all, you are wrong."

[Voice of Providence] activated.

Reinhardt gave his most inspiring speech.

"Humanity has survived the war since ancient times not because of heroes like us. What the demons fear is not our power or skills but our resilience."

"Humanity survived because we refused to fall. Because even when one generation dies, the next stands up to replace them."

Saying that, his eyes swept across the younger knights. The princes and princesses.

"We pass the torch. No matter the cost. That is humanity’s greatest weapon. That is what demons fear."

The air shifted.

All eyes were attracted to Reinhardt like magnets.

It was not his aura or presence that reassured them. But his words.

The simple words that everybody understood and could trust.

Reinhardt did not give some epic speech. He simply gave them a reason to believe.

A direction to their faith.

A fire they could rely on.

"We still have hope. Humanity can turn the tables on the demons. And to do that, we need to form the Allied Knight Order once again."

"A force comprising every knight order from all the nations of Valdonia. The full strength of humanity. And only then do we stand a chance."

Silence in the hall once again.

Every ruler and knight pondered the implication of his words.

This silence went on for a while with everyone discussing in hushed voices.

When a sharp voice caught everyone’s attention.

On the round table, one of the kings of the smaller nations stood up and spoke towards Reinhardt while looking uneasy.

"Sir Divine Paladin, are you saying that we should make the same mistake from twelve years ago?"

The hall quieted down.

The king of the smaller nation continued to speak with a voice full of bitterness.

"Bloody Rain. I don’t think anyone here forgot about it. That expedition was humanity’s greatest mistake."

"We provoked something we didn’t understand. Something that lives deep within the Tainted Lands. And we paid the price."

His words reminded everyone of the chilling event that shook the heart of humanity.

More than twelve years ago, after the Allied Knight Order set out to reclaim the Tainted Lands and defeat the demons, humankind waited with excitement for the news and the return of the knights.

However, the knights never returned.

What came back was a red cloud with bits and pieces of their body falling all across Valdonia with blood.

Hence the Bloody Rain.

Even now, more than twelve years later, the memory remained.

Bodies, armor, weapons falling from the sky.

Like rain.

A nightmare etched into history.

The king’s gaze locked onto Reinhardt.

"We should never anger those things again."

With the mention of the Bloody Rain, the mood sank once again.

Doubts returned.

However, Reinhardt remained steadfast.

He had inherited Reinhardt’s memories and experienced the nightmare that was deep within the Tainted Lands.

However, he did not despair or waver.

He was like a ray of light shining brilliantly in the darkness.

"This time will be different," he spoke in a clear voice.

"How? How could it possibly be different?"

Reinhardt smiled.

"The World Tree. The previous expedition failed for a reason. The deeper you go into the Tainted Lands, the denser the demonic energy becomes."

"It corrupts everything. The flow of mana is disrupted. For knights like us, that environment is anything but pleasant."

"Limited mana causes our power to plummet. The highly toxic air weakens our body. The limited sleep and rations also affect the morale."

"In such an unfavorable land, humanity’s chances of winning are bleak. On the contrary, for the demons, it’s the most ideal ground. They grow stronger and faster in a territory with a high concentration of demonic energy."

The words spread through the hall.

Every knight and hero who participated in the expedition more than twelve years ago could testify for every word he spoke.

Others hearing about it for the first time frowned with a grim look in their eyes.

In such an unfavorable land, the expedition force was doomed from the start.