Chapter 217 - 182: A Brutal Battle

Raphael once thought the Battle of Verne was the limit of his imagination for grand warfare, but personally witnessing a Planet Level battlefield for the first time left him utterly shaken.

This shock even overshadowed the immense guilt he carried deep within his heart.

In his Mind Perception, within just a three-kilometer radius, hundreds, even thousands, of living beings were dying every second.

In the distance, the dense forest had turned into a sea of fire.

A Legion of a million soldiers was at war. The battlefield and its front line of death were so vast his eyes couldn’t even take it all in.

"Priest?"

Manon noticed the young Combat Priest and member of the Imperial Think Tank seemed a bit dazed and lost in thought. He let out a hearty laugh and said, "Every rookie has the same look on their face the first time they arrive on a grand battlefield. But the Space Dragon Race’s highest priority right now is definitely the Demon Legion.

They can’t spare too many troops to deal with us."

Matthias, his face devoid of expression, said coldly, "Is everyone in the Emperor’s Shield as optimistic as you?"

"Haha."

Manon, a two-point-six-meter-tall giant built like an iron tower, tried to comfort Raphael with his clear, hearty laugh, but the gravity deep in his eyes was no less than Matthias’s.

Irenia stood beside Agate, a sense of surreal, dark humor rising within her.

’To think she would one day stand on the same battle line as Imperial Knights, facing the siege of a powerful enemy.’

Just as Agate had said.

’If a Judge ever caught her, it would take a miracle from the Divine Emperor himself to grant her mercy and spare her from on-the-spot execution, let alone fighting side-by-side with the Emperor’s Angels.’

Saint of the Dead Star.

Ten thousand years ago, long before the founding of the Radiant Empire, they were once the number one enemy of the Radiant Divine Emperor.

Recorded in the Holy Scripture as the most heretical of heretics.

’Only that Newbie Priest and Think Tank member, Raphael, wouldn’t have had enough time to learn the grand, ten-thousand-year history of the Empire. Otherwise, they would have definitely started fighting.’

But for Imperial Knights, who were either fighting or on their way to a fight, moments for idle chatter were always brief.

After Agate used the Thermite Beam Array to stop the first Elemental Master Battle Group that tried to approach, an elite Space Dragon Race infantry force of about thirty thousand, having received new orders, began advancing on their position.

These elite infantry were armed to the teeth, their equipment so superior that even the most elite Imperial Infantry Corps would be hard-pressed to match them.

Gun-like weapons were fixed to their arms, capable of firing flame and frost.

Bio-engineered drakes covered in biological armor, their saddles mounted with fifty-millimeter elemental cannons, thundered toward them like steel tanks, roaring as they came.

When Reinhardt obliterated the Centurion Level Dragon Blood Warrior with a single punch, Agate and Manon exchanged a look, seeing the sheer horror in each other’s eyes.

A dual-wielding Pure-blood, at least Centurion Level.

As veterans themselves, they knew all too well how terrifyingly destructive those things were on the battlefield!

In the Empire’s history, there were more than a few cases of weaker Hundred-Man Battle Groups being completely slaughtered by a single one of these Pure-blood Centurions on a grand battlefield!

Yet, even such an incomparably powerful Dragon Race warrior was instantly turned to paste by a single punch when facing Reinhardt’s Mighty Power.

They had thought Reinhardt would be tied up fighting that Alien for a while...

Although Manon’s and Matthias’s Spiritual Power had been severely damaged during the pursuit of Florant, they still resolutely drew their Knight’s Broadswords.

Manon said with a grin, "Seventy-Six is on his way. Hold on, guys."

...

The rolling wheels of this grand war were cruel and unforgiving.

It was like a meat grinder operating on overdrive.

As Reinhardt clashed with the main force of the Space Dragon Race, Manon and Matthias, right behind him, dragged their grievously wounded bodies into the fray!

Damage to one’s Spiritual Power showed no external signs.

But it was even more devastating than physical injury.

The fact that Matthias and Manon could still summon their respective Knight Power was a testament to their tenacious fighting spirit.

After Raphael crossed a line in his heart and used a forbidden power to kill Florant, a colossal sense of guilt weighed heavily on his soul.

But the battlefield offered no time for self-pity.

An army of over ten thousand charged head-on, their momentum so terrifying the very ground shook!

Explosions of fire from the Dragon Race Elemental Masters erupted like a dense volley of fireworks, raining down upon them!

Even Irenia, who always preferred to stay out of trouble, was forced to join the fight.

Even though every member of the Vengeance Angel Squad was an elite, and ordinary Space Dragon Race soldiers fell effortlessly before them, the enemy’s numbers were still too great.

No matter how many they killed, more enemies would simply take their place.

It was as if they were endless.

In just ten short minutes of fighting, the flat ground outside the tomb complex entrance was already piled high with corpses. Mutilated remains of the Space Dragon Race lay heaped in the mire and bloody water.

The Power Armor of every squad member was drenched in enemy blood.

Even though they resisted with all their might.

Even with Agate’s Thermite Beam Array and Reinhardt’s Living Bombs clearing the field, the enemy’s encirclement tightened, forcing them step by step toward the tomb complex entrance!

"Manon—! Dammit..."

The tall, ever-cheerful Knight, under siege by three Mixed-blood Level Warriors, had a moment of carelessness. A Curved Saber wreathed in Elemental Flame pierced through his Power Armor’s defenses and stabbed into his side!

Blood splattered across Manon’s face. His eyes wide with fury, he punched down the Mixed-blood Warrior who had ambushed him, then fell to one knee, letting out a pained howl as he pulled the Curved Saber from his abdomen!

But that very motion created an opening. Another Curved Saber swung viciously for his neck!

If not for Matthias’s timely assistance, he would have undoubtedly died!

"What about Seventy-Six?! Is there still no reply from him?!"

Perhaps because they identified Raphael as a Battle Group’s Think Tank member, he was suddenly cornered by more than thirty Elemental Masters, with hordes of regular soldiers swarming toward him.

His Mind Storm mowed them down like grass. Crackling white lightning slammed into the earth, and swaths of Space Dragon Race soldiers died instantly.

Howling elemental attacks crashed against his Mind Force Field, the dissipating energy embers flaring like fireworks!

Raphael had tried to contact Seventy-Six more than once, but his Telepathy seemed to be blocked by some kind of Spiritual Power, unable to reach Seventy-Six’s Mind Mark.

In other words, the enemy chasing Seventy-Six was likely far greater in number than he had described.

In the split second Raphael was distracted, an Elemental Dominator hidden within the Battle Group seized the opportunity to strike!

This powerful being, whose strength was comparable to the Wizard’s Power of a Tier Two Mage, raised a hand to summon the power of the Thunder Element. The next moment, a thick bolt of lightning descended from the sky, smashing toward Raphael’s Mind Force Field!