Chapter 252 - 216: The Villain Is Me

At this moment, time seemed to freeze.

From the perspective of the family manager, Dane, two scenes were unfolding. On the left, at the entrance to the Governor’s Mansion, a towering Combat Priest rushed into the room, his Power Armor painted identically to Reinhardt’s. Terrifying white lightning erupted from the Priest’s eyes, his right hand raised forward with fingertips wreathed in white electric arcs.

To the right, on the observation terrace...

The Red-haired Witch, Evelyn, had just witnessed the Withered Knight, Delany, die under the chop of the Black War Axe. She collapsed to her knees in anguish as roaring purple Spiritual Lightning writhed around her Wizard Robe.

And between these two...

...stood the majestic and imposing Emperor’s Angel. He held a war axe and a firearm, looking like a God of the Human World descended to the mortal plane. A terrifying, dark-purple pulse suppressed all Extraordinary Power within the Governor’s Mansion.

A faint, dark-purple living substance pulsed on the surface of his Power Armor, suffused with his Knight Power and radiating a silent terror.

He ignored the Red-haired Witch’s heart-rending wails for her lost love. He planted his heavily armored right leg on the Withered Knight Delany’s shoulder and brutally ripped out the Black War Axe that had been buried deep in the man’s chest.

Blood and viscera spewed forth.

Delany’s body, still clinging to its last breath, convulsed and collapsed.

’If I didn’t know this was one of the Emperor’s Vengeful Angels,’ Dane thought, ’I would have mistaken Reinhardt for the invader, and the Trick Witch and the Withered Knight for warriors fighting to protect this world.’

The unparalleled pressure emanating from Reinhardt’s Knight Power left Dane’s spirit deeply shaken.

Now, he finally understood why this being was called a Vengeful Angel.

Like the dark side of the Radiant Angels who symbolized mercy and justice, wherever the Vengeful Angels went, there was never any pity—only cruelty and slaughter.

「Meanwhile.」

The Red-haired Witch, kneeling on the ground, felt a wave of dizziness. Her chest felt as if it were being crushed by a boulder, making it hard to breathe.

Tears blurred her vision.

She watched helplessly as Delany’s corpse lay on the ground, while the Think Tank knelt beside it. He gripped Delany’s head with his right hand, and she could feel constant waves of Mental Power ripple through her Wizard Perception.

She snapped her head up, her gaze locked venomously on Reinhardt.

With her beloved dead, extreme hatred and rage made her force the words through her teeth.

"Reinhardt... I swear on my soul, sooner or later, I will personally flay you, rip you limb from limb, and tear out your soul! I’ll throw it into a Mage’s Soul Lamp to burn for ten thousand years!"

Reinhardt’s Full Coverage Helmet showed no reaction to the Witch’s threat, projecting only cold indifference.

After the recent battle, the two Wizard’s Secret Treasures Evelyn relied on were severely damaged. Even her own power, disrupted by the living bullet that had struck her chest, was less than a quarter of what it had been at its peak.

Facing the terrifying suppression of the Forbidden Magic Force Field, her Spiritual Storm couldn’t even leave her body.

The thud of his Clay Steel Power Armor on the ground was exceptionally heavy, and the grinding scrape of metal on metal was piercingly shrill.

Reinhardt looked down at the Witch before him, allowing her to bombard his Avenger Armor with her Spiritual Storm. His Power Backpack emitted a low hum as a pale blue Energy Barrier flowed over the armor’s surface, deflecting the Spiritual Energy.

Ignoring her gaze that seemed to want to skin him alive, he pointed the black maw of the Slaughterer’s muzzle at her head. His voice was ice-cold.

"Noted."

Then, the Sun Ring emblem on the Slaughterer Rifle’s surface lit up with a sanguine glow, like a sun of blood reflected in Evelyn’s pupils.

Her Wizard Perception detected the Knight Power steadily gathering within the firearm.

That terrifying, destructive power was like a bucket of cold water dumped over her head!

She tried to make a final, desperate struggle, but a huge roar echoed through the Governor’s Mansion. Reinhardt lowered his muzzle, and a dark-red Burst Bullet tore through her mouth and jaw, plunging straight into her chest cavity!

The instant it touched her heart, it detonated!

Even though the Slaughterer was currently only an Artificial Level Treasure, a body of flesh and blood was still as fragile as a piece of paper before the Mighty Power of a Three-star Earth Military Rank.

In an instant, a huge, bloody hole exploded in Evelyn’s full chest. The lower half of her face vanished, revealing a terrifying, gory wound.

Intense pain and the final flash of life before death violently stimulated her nerves.

But she could no longer move. She could only fall stiffly at Reinhardt’s feet. She struggled to turn her neck, her gaze traveling past Reinhardt’s Clay Steel Power Boots to land on Delany’s corpse.

She felt a powerful Mind Power invading her memories.

But she no longer had the strength to resist.

Memories of the past flashed before her eyes like a revolving lantern.

Darling...

She laboriously reached out a hand, as if trying to grasp Delany one last time before death. Then, the light faded from her eyes, and her consciousness completely dissipated under Raphael’s intrusion.

Having dealt with Kles’s people, Reinhardt stepped over the Witch’s corpse and walked to the observation terrace to look down upon the prosperous Stereoscopic City.

His Imperial Technology·Angel Vision functioned like a high-powered telescope, allowing him to adjust his focal length and see the current situation in the Upper City District with greater clarity.

He put away the still-hot Slaughterer Rifle.

Although it was a rifle, the massive recoil was no problem for Reinhardt to handle one-handed, even without the aid of his Power Armor.

This was also the first time he had used this Imperial Technology-enhanced firearm in actual combat.

From the Thousand-Change’s Extraordinary Bullet to the Blood Hand Bullet that ultimately obliterated the Witch, both the lethality and functionality far exceeded his expectations.

Even though it was only an Artificial Level Extraordinary Creation, for a Body Technique Knight like him, it could greatly enrich his tactical options and compensate for his deficiencies in mid-range combat.

At this moment.

As Reinhardt looked down upon the Golden Capital, he could see that the Upper City District had already descended into chaos.

Taking advantage of the chaos... or rather, as they had planned all along, the Interstellar Pirates bought by Kles were rampaging through the Upper City District, burning, killing, and looting at will.

Reinhardt even spotted some suspicious individuals among the fleeing Mortals who looked like Cultists.

Even though he had killed Kles’s people and subdued the leader of the Capet Dynasty’s merchant caravan inside the tower, the Spiritual Energy signal the Trick Witch had sent out earlier had still pushed the situation in the Stereoscopic City to the brink of spiraling out of control.

Seeing that Reinhardt was completely ignoring him, the family manager had intended to flee, but he ran right into Robie, who was returning to the tower. Cold sweat beaded on his skin, his breath coming in panicked gasps.

"Lord Judge! I was deceived by those two bastards too..."

Robie’s gaze swept over the two corpses on the floor. He turned to stare into Dane’s eyes and smiled a sickly smile. "Really? I don’t believe you."

Raphael walked out onto the terrace and leaned over to look down at the Stereoscopic City.

A fierce wind howled from high above.

’After invading the minds and memories of Delany and Evelyn, I feel a flicker of sentiment for their faithful love,’ he thought. ’But that’s all. Sympathy? For the grave sins these two Desecrators have committed, they should consider themselves lucky to die this way.’

’Or to put it another way... sympathize with them? Then who will sympathize with the tens of thousands of innocents currently dying in the Golden Capital?’