Chapter 221 - 186: The Vengeful Angels’ Decree, Transformation

They had been through countless life-and-death battles together.

The Vengeance Angel Squad of today was a far cry from the disjointed unit it was at its inception.

When Seventy-Six’s voice came through, no tactical commands were needed. Agate immediately took on the responsibility of halting the enemy’s advance. Following his promotion to Earth Military Rank, his terrifying Thermite Beam mowed down the endless tide of the Space Dragon Race’s army, mercilessly suppressing them.

Clad in Radiant Power, Manon and Matthias faced the charging Elite Slaughter Demon head-on, letting out a roar as they met it with swords drawn.

With the Black War Axe in his right hand and the Divine Emperor’s Fury in his left, Reinhardt glanced at Raphael before joining the fray. His voice was low and hoarse. "Kemola is not the end of your mission.

Keep fighting."

Raphael exhaled slowly, his expression solemn as he gave a slight nod.

To him, the Vengeful Angel’s admonition was no less than a decree from the Divine Emperor—a command he had to obey.

He may have faltered for a brief moment, but on this grand battlefield, no one had the right to accuse this Combat Priest of weakness or irresolution. Not even Reinhardt.

His was a soul tortured for ten long years by the whispers of a Demon and the power of a Void Divine Artifact, yet he still held fast to his faith in the Divine Emperor. What could possibly be greater proof of his Loyalty?

Raphael had fallen into a state of confusion, believing he had desecrated his faith and the Divine Emperor’s majesty.

But the Radiant Power now blessing him shattered his self-doubt and denial.

If Raphael’s previous perseverance was a testament to his unwavering personal faith and his unyielding resistance to the Demon’s whispers, then in this moment, blessed by Radiant Power, the young Combat Priest—the rookie Team Think Tank—had undergone a complete metamorphosis!

The uncertainty in his eyes was gone.

It was just as the Vengeful Angel Reinhardt had said, in a decree that was, to Raphael, the very symbol of the Divine Emperor’s authority: his mission was not over. No matter how many hardships he faced, no matter how much pain he bore, he would fight on until his mission was complete!

"I will."

Conversations between Imperial Knights were just that brief and powerful.

Reinhardt threw himself into the fray, helping Agate fend off the frontal assault as they tried to forcibly clear a landing zone at the entrance to the catacombs.

Raphael took a steadying breath and contacted Seventy-Six.

’I will guide you to a landing spot. Don’t worry about the pursuers on your tail.’

Even though Seventy-Six’s voice was exceptionally weak, laced with a certain half-dead charm, and even though they were on the grand battlefield of Kemola, the guy still managed to stay true to form.

’Oh? So our Think Tank has his reliable moments, does he? Cough... COUGH COUGH COUGH... Such a big change. Did the Divine Emperor whisper sweet nothings in your ear?’

Raphael shook his head with a helpless sigh.

The people from the Assassin Court operated on a different system. Even though they were both members of the Vengeance Angel Squad, there was nothing he could do about Seventy-Six’s various blasphemies.

Not unless he reported him to the Civil Affairs Department and the Judgment Court.

But the entire Assassin Court was suffused with that same bitterly cynical attitude; even if the Judgment Court did investigate, it likely wouldn’t lead to anything.

The time for idle chatter is always fleeting.

Empowered by Radiant Power, Manon and Matthias used the strength of Official Knights to grind the Elite Slaughter Demon’s advance to a halt!

Reinhardt and Agate were like two relentless killing machines, and swathes of enemies fell before them.

That cunning Witch, Irenia, was tangled up with a Pure-blood Level Dragon Blood Warrior the entire time. She was clearly not using her full strength; it looked more like she was just putting on a show.

Raphael snorted coldly.

He didn’t care what relationship that Witch had with Reinhardt. Besides, the facts proved it: Wizards, as a group, were completely unreliable.

Just as the Punisher Ship came roaring toward their position,

Just as Raphael looked up,

A landing beacon of the Space Dragon Race suddenly pierced the clouds, screaming down toward them with a long, fiery tail!

Dozens more followed in its wake.

At the same time, a Space Dragon Race barge, like a vast mountain range stretched across the sky in low orbit, slowly appeared above them, blotting out the sun and looming menacingly through the clouds.

Up to a hundred smaller ships, like a swarm of hornets pouring from a nest, sped toward them at high velocity!

The Radiant Power had certainly granted them strength far beyond their normal limits, but it had also drawn the attention of the Space Dragon Race’s main forces.

Raphael’s heart sank.

’The main force of the Space Dragon Race has noticed us! Time is short, Seventy-Six, you have to land now! I’ll provide cover!’

Perhaps it was because the Vengeance Angel Squad had too many powerful Knights, or because the enemies they faced were too strong, that the terrifying power of their Team Think Tank had been overshadowed.

But as the Punisher Ship, piloted by Seventy-Six, shot overhead with as many as twenty enemy ships in hot pursuit, that changed.

A terrifying Mental Power erupted from Raphael’s eyes. Countless bolts of white lightning arced around his body as he entered a state of Mind Release.

He raised his right hand.

Currents of electricity coiled around his fingertips.

As far as his eyes could see, the pilots aboard the Space Dragon Race ships began to die, one after another, killed from afar!

Some of their heads exploded.

Others were seized by terror, losing control of their vessels.

Still others were driven suddenly insane, their crews attacking friend and foe in a mad frenzy.

In an instant, the twenty-odd ships chasing the Punisher either spiraled out of control and crashed, or began flying about chaotically like headless chickens.

The Elemental Dominator tried to pull its old trick, preparing a sneak attack on Raphael.

But before it could even move, an impossibly huge Black War Axe, slick with gore and chunks of flesh, was already cleaving toward its chest!

Empowered by the mighty power of the second Ring of Earth, Reinhardt’s combat effectiveness on this grand battlefield was skyrocketing.

As he flew low over the enemy forces, he carpet-bombed them with Living Bombs. Each detonation blasted a massive crater more than five meters in diameter!

These biological bombs, composed of dark purple living matter and infused with Knight Power, were something even the Elemental Master Battle Group could barely withstand.

The flexibility afforded by his Overload Drive gave him a range of battlefield tactics that far surpassed the time of Grillers and the Verne Era, when he could only rely on his Aikacia Nozzle to smash headlong through enemy formations.

He was a terrifying killing machine, a God of Slaughter on the battlefield.

In the brief twenty-odd minutes of fighting, more than three thousand Space Dragon Race soldiers and six Pure-blood Centurions had already died by Reinhardt’s hand.

The terror he inspired had reached the point where some of the Space Dragon Race soldiers would lose all will to fight the moment they saw him, turning to flee on the spot.

And Reinhardt hadn’t even been specifically targeting the ordinary Dragon Race infantry.

That was because, within the Vengeance Angel Squad, he played the crucial role of the main assault; any hard target on the battlefield that was too tough for the other squad members was his to eliminate.

Just as the first landing beacon slammed heavily onto the ground and an elite Space Dragon Race tactical squad charged out of its Teleportation Gate,

The Punisher Ship finally made a safe landing.