CHAPTER 363: CHAPTER 363- CAUGHT IN 4K

There was still hope.

"How are you so sure that they won’t move?" Erza folded her arms, her piercing gaze fixed on him.

Reinhardt grinned, the kind of grin that for some reason made people want to punch him. He didn’t answer. He didn’t need to, mainly because he couldn’t explain it himself. It was just instinct, a gut feeling that came from his divine traits and the faint shimmer behind his pupils... [Eyes of Divine Clarity].

Seeing that insufferably confident smirk again, Erza clicked her tongue and turned on her heel. "Tch. Fine. Keep your secrets."

"Well, that went well," Reinhardt muttered with a laugh as he watched her leave. Then, just as she was about to disappear from view, he called out softly, "Hey, thanks for helping earlier."

His voice barely rose above a whisper, but the other party was also a level 10 legendary hero, it reached her perfectly.

A sharp snort was his only reply before Erza stomped away.

"Haha," Reinhardt chuckled, amused.

She could deny it all she wanted, but he knew it, the reason the foreign dignitaries were still alive despite the number of Demon Generals attacking was because the Crimson Knight herself had protected them.

She’d claimed she wouldn’t get involved.

But like every kuudere war hero in existence, she ended up doing it anyway.

When her figure finally disappeared, Reinhardt looked up at the moon. The light reflected in his heterochromatic eyes as he murmured, "Forces of Darkness, Heavenly Kings... what are you plotting this time?"

He raised one hand toward the silver glow. There was no question, he’d need to lead an expedition soon, deep into the Tainted Lands.

The demons always spied on humanity, slipping into their borders and gathering intelligence. But humanity? They barely knew anything about what was stirring beyond the corrupted frontier.

Ever since the tragedy known as The Rainy Day , when the combined armies of the seven human kingdoms were nearly wiped out, the kings had lost their nerve. No one dared venture too deep after that.

His thoughts were interrupted when he noticed movement from the corner of his eye.

A familiar figure... Diana, the bride whose wedding had turned into chaos, was wandering the streets, heading deeper into the darkened city. Alone.

Reinhardt sighed.

"Really? At this hour?"

Even with knights on patrol, the streets were no place for the kingdom’s princess to roam out alone. And knowing how things were going lately, luck wouldn’t be on her side.

[Aetherial Stride] he activated his skill.

A blink later, he materialized in front of her, making the princess yelp and clutch her chest. "Phew... It’s you! You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"You really scare easily, Princess," Reinhardt said, arching a brow.

"Why are you out here at night with no escort? What were you planning to do if it wasn’t me but some creep trying to kidnap you?"

"Haha, come on! Who’d dare kidnap me, the princess of the kingdom, in the capital itself?" she said, laughing nervously.

"That kind of thinking," Reinhardt countered, "is the reason people do get kidnapped."

He pointed behind him. Just a block away, two would be kidnappers lay unconscious, their "brilliant plan" smashed along with a few of their ribs after trying to tail her.

The presence of the two thugs said everything about human greed. Even now, there were those foolish enough to think they could profit from chaos.

"Anyway," he said, dusting his hands, "mind telling me where you’re going this late?"

"I’m looking for my husband... Ah, I mean, Vaerion!" Diana stammered, her face flushing a delicate pink. The Dark Knight was not her husband yet, as the wedding did not happen. So it was still a little embarrassing for her to call him her husband.

Reinhardt nodded, stifling a laugh. "Right, husband. Got it. Then, I’ll help you look for him. It wouldn’t sit right letting you wander the streets alone."

Her shoulders relaxed in relief, and she smiled. "Then let’s go. He should be at the garrison."

With the princess leading and Reinhardt following at a polite distance, they began searching. But when they reached the garrison, Vaerion was nowhere to be found.

None of the knights had seen him; not his own order, not even the guards who should’ve been stationed nearby.

One empty location led to another. Every place he normally visited turned out deserted. Finally, when the princess began to look worried, Reinhardt sighed. Guess it was time he helped her out a little.

He activated [Eyes of Divine Clarity]. The world around him flickered with faint divine light as his perception expanded outward, tracing energies and movement patterns like lines on a map.

"Found him," he said, turning east. "He’s in the eastern park."

"Eastern park? At this hour?" Diana frowned.

"Why would he go there?"

"Not a clue," Reinhardt replied. "Ask him when you see him."

She nodded. "Alright, let’s go—"

"Hold up," he said. "You’ll take an hour on foot at that pace. Grab the edge of my shirt; I’ll teleport us."

Diana froze for a second, clearly unsure about touching another man, but after a moment’s hesitation, she grasped the corner of his shirt.

Then the space folded. In an instant, the two appeared in the still, moonlit park.

"Where is he?" Diana asked, scanning the empty ground.

"He should be around here. Maybe patrolling or..."

Reinhardt stopped mid sentence. His divine senses had just picked something up a faint voice, familiar, strained.

"Yes... go faster... Kuh!"

That was Vaerion’s voice. But that tone, what in the world was he doing here at this moment of the night?

Reinhardt froze, his expression slipping somewhere between surprise and awkwardness.

"Why’d you stop? Is he there?" Diana whispered. She couldn’t hear what he did; her human senses didn’t extend that far.

Reinhardt’s reply came after a long pause. His expression was... complicated.

"Uh... yeah, about that," he said slowly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I think it’s too late. We should head back."

If there was one thing he’d learned since being reincarnated, it was this: divine powers did nothing to prepare a man for witnessing earthly awkwardness.