Chapter 264 - 228: Heresy? Indescribably Loyal

"We’ve run into some problems, but it won’t take too long."

Although the Phase Cube’s deployment wasn’t complete, the tides of war shifted every second. They had to reach Verne before its Orbital Port was breached.

There are two ways to enter the Demon Void Realm from the Real Cosmos.

Void Teleportation and Net Path Shuttling.

When exploring cosmic regions beyond the Pioneer Empire’s control, some Merchant Families would often risk entering the Demon Void Realm. They did so under the guidance of a Navigator, usually because the Net Path was missing or closed.

This was because the Demon Void Realm was an illusory place, devoid of the concepts of space and time.

As long as one possessed coordinates in the Real Cosmos, it was possible to break through the barrier between the real and the illusory, ignoring physical distances in the Real Cosmos to teleport to a destination.

But this method carried enormous risks, and the arrival time was difficult to predict.

To the ship’s crew, it might feel like only a few seconds had passed in the Demon Void Realm, but in the Real Cosmos, no time might have elapsed at all—or many long years could have gone by.

Net Path Shuttling was a vastly different method.

The Void Storms spreading throughout the Real Cosmos were, in fact, true projections of the Demon World. They were bound by the rules of the Real Cosmos; in other words, the interior of a storm was the dark side of the Real Cosmos.

The purpose of Reinhardt’s mission was to use the Net Path to enter this dark side and find the Demon Mother Ship that Albert and his team had boarded.

After a brief, five-minute rest.

On the lower deck of the Iberian Glory, the hangar bay doors gradually opened, driven by hydraulic rods. Jets of depressurizing steam erupted with a piercing shriek.

Then,

Enveloped in a ghostly blue protective Force Field, the Punisher shot out of the hangar bay like a streak of light.

With the Net Path blockaded, they had to pilot the Punisher across a 430,000-kilometer-wide warzone. Their objective: break through the enemy lines and reach Verne’s low orbit within twenty-seven minutes.

Flying there on engine power alone would take even a ship as advanced as the Punisher more than a day. Therefore, they had to resort to the ancient, short-range teleportation technology they had used to escape the Kemola World.

Previously,

Agate would have been extremely hesitant to use such unauthorized Heterodox Technology.

However, the Technician Priest who had once used this "black tech" was now the Mechanical Sage and Master of Hundred Machines of the Ash Border Forging World. The right to decide whether it was Heterodox Technology now lay in his hands.

’So what if someone claims he’s using Heterodox Technology?’

’Insolence! As long as it serves the great cause of the Human World and fights for the noble victory of the Emperor, it is undeniably loyal Imperial Technology!’

Dense Neural Metal Wires extended from Agate’s spine, linking him to the Punisher’s console. He multitasked, simultaneously dodging cannon fire from the Demon Legion and the Imperial Rebel Army while also continuing the deployment of the Phase Cube.

BOOM—!

As one of the Demon’s blood bombs struck the Punisher’s Energy Shield, it detonated like a deadly firework. Ripples of ghostly blue energy, like waves on water, spread across the ship’s surface.

Just then, an ally’s voice crackled through the Radiant Beacon, which was set to planetary communications mode.

"Can you hear me?!—BOOM!—Dammit... can you hear me?! We’re the Falcon Battle Group, part of the Fiery Sun Legion!—’Demons are boarding us!’—Hello—?!"

The voice from the Radiant Beacon was filled with unholy static, a clear sign of Spiritual Energy interference.

The ship contacting them was clearly under attack by a Demon Legion. The sounds of explosions and the roars of Demons echoed in the background.

Raphael snatched the Radiant Beacon and yelled into it, "This is the Vengeance Angel Squad! What’s your situation?! Is anyone there?!"

But aside from explosions and screams, only silence came from the Radiant Beacon.

Seventy-Six cradled his sniper rifle, leaning against the bulkhead with a cocky swagger. "Dead men don’t talk, Priest," he said in a low voice.

Raphael’s brow furrowed. He glanced at the warzone outside, let out a heavy sigh, and walked over to stand behind Reinhardt.

"Sir..."

As a Combat Priest, his faith was built on discipline and Loyalty. He couldn’t just stand by and watch allies be slaughtered, but Raphael also understood their primary objective.

In accordance with the laws of the Imperial Legion, he had to seek his squad leader’s command, regardless of whether they would offer aid.

Reinhardt gazed out through the ship’s forward Holographic Projection Armor.

Countless small ships plummeted and exploded amidst the fires of war. The dense, interwoven web of firepower looked like a brilliant, crimson meteor shower.

The demonic Flesh Battleships swarmed like locusts, so numerous they even blotted out the light of the distant star, which was already tainted by Void Power. It hung in the sky like a dying Death Star.

Viewed through his Imperial Technology: Angel Vision, the Verne Planet was completely engulfed in the flames of war, its surface nearly impossible to make out.

A fiery explosion flashed, casting a blood-red light across the surface of Reinhardt’s Power Armor.

"We continue our mission."

As soon as he spoke,

Three Flesh Battleships from the Dark Abyss came roaring in. Swarms of smaller craft poured from their hangar bays, descending on the Punisher like a vicious hive.

Agate’s voice was cold. "Prepare for the first Radiant Teleportation. Hold on to something."

Radiant Teleportation.

It was the same ancient "black tech" he had once used on Kemola.

Though the technology originated from the Heretical Creation Ancient Black Box, Agate had renamed it to demonstrate his Loyalty, bestowing upon it the suitably loyal prefix: "Radiant."

The teleportation tech deployed on the Matthias Power Armor was also derived from it.

As he spoke, the Phase Cube began to emit a dim golden glow. It floated within the grappling hook of one of his mechanical arms, and its deployment slot was now fully open, revealing the highly integrated conduits within.

Just as the Demon Legion’s attack craft were about to collide with the Punisher, a blinding, ghostly blue light erupted from Agate. With it came the immense aura of Mighty Power—a blend of Wizard and Knight.

The next moment.

The Punisher seemed to drive into a ghostly blue lake, vanishing from the Demons’ sight in an instant.

When they reappeared, they were thousands of kilometers away, in another part of the warzone.

Even though Agate had reinforced the Punisher’s frame, a jump of several thousand kilometers still placed an immense strain on the hull. The cabin shuddered violently and without cease.

Perhaps it was the perilous nature of their mission into the Void Storm.

From the moment they boarded, the atmosphere in the cabin had been exceptionally grim.

Even Manon and Seventy-Six sat silently in their respective seats, not saying a word.

’Perhaps the Divine Emperor truly was watching over them.’

Aside from one small-scale, close-quarters engagement, the Punisher Ship’s journey through the warzone was surprisingly smooth. Each time, they managed to narrowly escape danger.

Thanks to the Radiant Teleportation technology, they managed to reach Verne’s low orbit in just nineteen minutes.

But...

Just ten thousand kilometers from their destination, the Orbital Port...

A massive fleet of Imperial Rebel Army ships suddenly appeared in Reinhardt’s view!