Chapter 223 - 188: Brief Respite, Pursuers Incoming

「Twenty-seven minutes before the complete lockdown of Kemola Planet’s orbit.」

「The Punisher.」

After the intense battles in the burial grounds and on the planet’s surface, even with the physique of Imperial Knights, Manon and the others could not conceal the exhaustion on their faces.

Even though Reinhardt was off the battlefield, the viscous blood of the Space Dragon Race still streamed down the surface of his Power Armor.

And because of the repeated battles, the laceration across Reinhardt’s face—a wound from Nico’s kick—had grown more horrific. You could almost see the cartilage beneath the bridge of his nose and the stark white of his cheekbone!

Irenia, the first to board the ship, was in the confined space of the cabin, surrounded by a group of Imperial Knights.

She never once let her guard down.

She simply watched with a cold expression as the others sat down to take a brief rest.

Meanwhile, Seventy-Six kept his gun trained on her. It seemed that if this Wizard with questionable motives made a single unusual move, he would pull the trigger and end her life without a moment’s hesitation.

The voice that rang through the telepathic channel was, for once, unusually serious and stern.

’Reinhardt, how could you allow a Wizard to board the Punisher? Don’t you know that the Judgment Court and certain people have been secretly investigating you?

If they get any leverage on you, we’ll all pay the price.’

Reinhardt walked to the side of the cabin and began using a spray unit to clean the blood from his Power Armor. He replied, ’So you do get scared sometimes.’

’I never said I was scared.’

Manon glanced at Irenia and exhaled wearily. He sent via telepathy, ’But she saved our lives, Seventy-Six. Are you saying we should just abandon her?’

Hearing this explanation, Seventy-Six finally, slowly, lowered the massive, ornately-designed firearm.

Irenia glanced outside the Punisher’s control room at a Space Dragon whose limbs had been severed, and at the nearby corpse of the Warlord, Nico.

She walked up behind Reinhardt. After a long silence, she said sincerely, "Thank you."

Reinhardt didn’t respond. He only glanced at her before walking straight past.

Although his promotion to Two-star Earth Military Rank meant his total stamina far exceeded what he had as an Official Knight, he had been sustaining his Second Mighty Power·Bloodthirsty Madness at full capacity for an extended period. At the same time, he also had to maintain his Morphic Armor and Blood Fury Technology.

He was at the end of his rope.

The physical stamina and Spiritual Power required to fuel his Knight Power were nearly eighty percent depleted.

Once his stamina ran out, his Knight Power would enter a prolonged dormant state, becoming difficult to summon.

If they couldn’t withdraw from Kemola before his stamina ran out...

Stopping in front of Seventy-Six, Reinhardt looked down at the assassin, who was now only half a man. "You can still talk," he said, "which means your injuries aren’t that serious."

Seventy-Six leaned against the bulkhead and quipped, "Unless you blow my head off, it’s not that easy to kill me. My combat effectiveness isn’t what it used to be, though.

If any Space Dragons or Demons try to board us later, it’ll be up to you guys to handle them."

Although none of the Vengeance Angel Squad members, including Reinhardt, had ever seen Seventy-Six fight, the remains of the Slaughter Demons who had boarded earlier, along with the assassin’s own mangled body, were proof enough of how dangerous the battle inside the ship had been.

If the Punisher was to break through the enemy cordon and reach a near-planetary orbit, boarding actions would be almost inevitable.

The words had barely left Seventy-Six’s mouth when Agate’s cold, mechanical voice echoed through the ship.

"The Space Dragon Race interception force is thirty kilometers out. Prepare for engagement."

Seventy-Six tried to get up, but missing a leg and half his torso, he fell back to the floor three times. He finally stopped when a large, Power-Armored hand reached out to him.

Seventy-Six grabbed Reinhardt’s hand, hauled himself up, and leaned against the bulkhead, giving him a slight nod.

Manon tried to stand, but as his Radiant Power faded, the pain from the wound where a Space Dragon’s Elemental Blade had pierced him returned, becoming nearly unbearable.

Just then, Irenia walked over.

She produced two sealed Alchemy Needles from her Wizard Robe. "Cell Activation Alchemy Needles," she said. "They can stop the pain and accelerate healing.

Of course, if you don’t trust them, you don’t have to use them."

With that, she handed the needles to Reinhardt, then turned and walked off alone to stand before the ship’s viewport, gazing outside.

As Manon watched her go, he saw a profound loneliness in the sight of her solitary figure.

Even though an Imperial Knight should have no dealings with a Wizard, his human empathy compelled him to send a telepathic message. ’Sir, aren’t we being too harsh?’

Reinhardt handed the needle to Manon and replied coolly, ’You don’t know Irenia. I do.’

’But...’

Manon fell silent under Reinhardt’s gaze.

After they used the Cell Activation Injections, their wounds visibly began to stanch and heal.

A faint scar now traced a path across Reinhardt’s face.

Suddenly, the Punisher changed course, and the immense inertia threw them violently against the port bulkhead. An instant later, an artillery shell from a Space Dragon vessel shrieked past, narrowly missing them! Before anyone could regain their footing, the sound of a massive explosion rocked them, and the Punisher’s hull began to shudder violently!

Standing by the viewport, Irenia’s pupils constricted in shock!

A dense barrage of cannon fire, like a rain of fire, was streaking past, almost scraping against the Punisher’s protective Force Field!

She whipped her head toward the control room, her eyes fixed on the forward viewscreen that displayed the scene outside in real-time. Hundreds of Space Dragon vessels, like a swarm pouring from its hive, were hurtling toward them!

A war on a planetary scale.

Thirty kilometers of empty space might seem like a vast distance, but for their ships, it was a gap that could be closed in one or two minutes.

Even with ten kilometers still between them, the artillery fire had already arrived.

Under Agate’s control, the Punisher didn’t slow in the slightest. It continued to weave through the rain of fire created by the intersecting artillery, flying at full speed toward the yet-unsealed section of the near-planetary orbit!

At the same time, the ship’s built-in Radiant Beacon automatically switched to planetary communication mode. A warning from the Space Dragon fleet, automatically translated, suddenly blared through the cabin.

"We are the Gamu Fleet, under the command of the Thunderlord. Imperial Humans, cease your hostile actions immediately. State your purpose and submit to our inspection and questioning.

We are the..."

As the diplomatic warning from the Space Dragon fleet repeated, all eyes in the cabin turned to Reinhardt.

Reinhardt simply said, his voice cold, "Agate, maintain our course."

There were now eighteen minutes until the orbit of Kemola Planet was completely locked down.

Not far away, a Space Dragon vessel rapidly closed in on the Punisher. Three Dragon Blood Warriors equipped with jump packs stood at its open hatch. Then, they leaped, hurtling directly toward the Punisher like meteors!