Not long after Yang Yi and the Players who had surrendered their equipment left, rhythmic metallic clanging suddenly rang out inside the checkpoint.
A mass of armor squeezed out of a passage beside the checkpoint, as though it were elastic, its plates able to deform and even overlap.
Once outside, the mass of armor quickly reassembled into a knight nearly five meters tall, clad in heavy, spiked armor. There were traces of blood on him, but they were inconspicuous against the rose-red armor.
"Lord Rose Knight!"
Ito Sho, standing on the raised platform, reacted immediately and shouted.
Mosen, the Rose Knight, did not respond. He merely looked over, paused for a few seconds, then asked, "Where are those Players?"
"They... they all went inside."
Ito Sho sounded somewhat apprehensive.
"Oh? Those ones actually behaved themselves?"
Mosen sounded rather disappointed.
Then he tossed over a strangely shaped conical spike with an antique-bronze human hand for a grip. It looked bizarre from every angle.
"You can have this little toy."
"Thank you, my lord! Thank you, my lord!" Ito Sho was ecstatic, responding with a fawning smile as he bowed and scraped.
"Hmm... Reinhardt is back."
The Rose Knight suddenly sensed the lingering presence of someone who had passed through.
"Yes, my lord. He also captured that strongest Player, the one named One-Eye, and brought him back."
Ito Sho told him everything he knew.
"The strongest Player?"
Mosen's "speaking" voice was as grating as ever. He seemed to take a slight interest in One-Eye.
But considering how the Players who had died at his hands earlier had performed, his interest faded again. They had not even been as good as the group Reinhardt had brought back before. They were simply too weak.
The strongest Player was probably just the best of a