Chapter 269 - 233: Fierce Battle

Raphael established a psychic link with the other party. ’I am Raphael,’ he responded, ’Combat Priest and Think Tank of the Vengeance Angel Squad. Our ship is severely damaged. Please gather all the Technician Priests at the port. We’ll need to hold our position here at the Orbital Port for some time until repairs are complete.’

Upon hearing Raphael’s voice, Bach—the Think Tank he was communicating with, a man who possessed the power of a Master Level Tier One Mage—barely resisted the urge to curse him out.

’Hold our position for some time?!’

Divine Emperor above! To capture this Demon-controlled Orbital Port, they had sacrificed six of their Battle Brothers, and the Death Battle Group Knights and Auxiliary Army fighting alongside them had also suffered catastrophic losses!

Forget "some time"—he didn’t want to stay in this godforsaken place, filled with Demons and corpses, for even one more minute!

They were holding on here for dear life, waiting for the Vengeful Angels to arrive so they could finally depart the port and enter the Void Storm.

Although the latter was likely even more dangerous, possibly even suicidal, it was a far more worthy cause than pointlessly bleeding the Battle Group’s strength here.

To hear Raphael say they were going to repair their ship in this war-torn Orbital Port, this hellhole where Demons poured out every second...

A few more veins popped out on Thinker Bach’s forehead.

But for this mission into the Demon Void Realm, they were only in a support role; the Vengeful Angels held all command authority. If the Vengeful Angels hadn’t been a secret squad personally formed by their Battle Group Leader, Sedon, Bach would already be considering a recommendation for the Ash Guard’s ’Iron Crown’ to lead a full retreat.

Forcibly suppressing his impatience, Thinker Bach responded, ’I will gather the port’s Technician Priests as quickly as possible, but you have to give me a time frame. We can’t just hold this position to the last man for a month, all to wait for you to fix your ship, can we?

We can afford to wait, but the Radiant Angels cannot.’

Bach’s tone, while maintaining the utmost courtesy he could muster, was still bristling with hostility. He seemed to have no intention of accepting the Vengeful Angels’ command.

Unlike the Emperor’s Shield, which emphasized passionate combat, brotherly bonds, and a tight-knit internal culture, the Ash Guard was different.

As an elite formation of the Death Battle Group—a truly top-tier Battle Group within the Imperial Administrative Region, comparable even to the Forbidden Guard—the members of the Ash Guard had their own pride and principles.

Throughout their history, it had always been others who coordinated with them and followed their commands.

Coordinating with others... for a Knight of the Ash Guard, this was a first in their long careers.

This was especially true for a Think Tank like Bach, who had served for forty years. Born in the Radiant Holy City, he was a one-in-ten-billion super-genius. If not for Sedon’s direct order, he would be vehemently against accepting the Vengeful Angels’ command.

Though the hostility in the man’s tone made Raphael frown, Matthias found it all incredibly familiar, almost comforting.

’This is the Battle Group I remember.’

Every Imperial Knight who joined the Ash Guard was exceptionally talented with outstanding combat power. Influenced by their Battle Group Leader’s own style, every member of the Ash Guard was filled with pride and possessed an indomitable spirit.

It reminded Matthias of the time he provoked Reinhardt, only to get thoroughly thrashed by him on the Northern Grassland of Grillers World.

And that was just how it was.

Trying to command the Ash Guard by emphasizing status and authority would only earn their resentment. There was only one way to make these brilliant Knights obey: strength.

Whether it was the wisdom of brilliant strategy or the martial power to slay a powerful foe.

To command these men, one had to possess the means to earn their genuine respect.

Matthias had long suspected their first contact with the Ash Guard wouldn’t be friendly, so he walked over to Raphael’s side. "Bach is just an impatient guy," he explained. "Don’t take his words to heart.

I’ll handle the negotiations from here."

It was a good thing Raphael was a mild-mannered person. If it had been a veteran Think Tank from another Battle Group, Bach’s tone would have provoked them to violence long ago.

The low-orbit port was five kilometers in both vertical height and depth, with a horizontal span of sixty kilometers.

Inside, it boasted over a thousand Net Path entrances and exits, hangars that could accommodate tens of thousands of small ships and ten large merchant vessels, an attached Fortress for stationing Imperial Knights, two thousand repair workshops, and could house up to one million people working simultaneously.

Like a giant Suspended Island, it stood sentinel in the low planetary orbit of Verne.

The Vengeful Angels had entered a Barge Port near the top level of the Orbital Port. Twenty Ash Guard members and over ten thousand Auxiliary Army troops were stationed in the connecting corridors around it.

In the short time it took for the Punisher Ship to land, more than ten of the Demons’ Flesh Battleships surged from the Net Path. Hundreds of Slaughter Demons, utterly fearless, roared and charged the defenders.

After the first systemic reform, the Auxiliary Army of the major Battle Groups in the Imperial Administrative Region were all equipped with the most advanced firearms and artillery. There was even a tank blocking a distant corridor.

Compared to Verne’s former Defense Army with their Leather Armor and Iron Swords, the equipment of this Auxiliary Army was far more in line with the military standards of a Human Empire with four thousand years of history and a command of advanced ancient technology.

Of course, the prerequisite for all of this was money.

Without massive financial support, no matter what kind of black technology the Mechanical Order developed, the financially strapped Mortal armies would still be stuck with the same Leather Armor and Iron Swords they always had.

Just as Bach finished his communication with the Vengeful Angels and began using his Spiritual Energy to contact the surviving Technician Priests in the Orbital Port, a Flesh Battleship from a Void Realm Combat Gang suddenly shot out of a Net Path, appearing at another barge point a hundred meters from the Punisher Ship.

These ships, tainted by the power of the Dark Abyss, were different from the biological technology of the Space Dragon Race. They were wholly evil creations of flesh and bone wrapped around rusty steel plates.

Viewed from above, these Flesh Battleships were shaped like hideous, twisted, and terrifying skulls.

Bach cursed under his breath.

Just as he prepared to go and deal with these traitors, an overwhelmingly powerful Destructive Suppression suddenly flared within his Wizard Perception!

The moment he realized there was a Flayer Knight of the Earth Military Rank inside the Flesh Battleship, his expression changed drastically!

At the same time, the roar of the Ash Guard’s ’Iron Crown’ erupted from behind him.

"Bach! Look out—"

Before the words had even left his mouth, the Flesh Battleship’s hatch was kicked open with immense force. A behemoth nearly four meters tall, practically flying across the ground, shattered the sound barrier as it lunged for him!

War is, by its very nature, full of surprises.

It was precisely because Bach had already dealt with three Flesh Battleships from the Void Realm Combat Gangs that he instinctively thought he could handle these enemies.

But when claws covered in shredded flesh slammed into his Spiritual Protection Force Field, Bach’s pupils shrank to pinpricks.

’Iron Crown’, rushing to support him, wore an expression of pure fury, but it all happened too fast. He could only watch helplessly as the Flayer Knight effortlessly tore through Bach’s Force Field.

Even though a distance of ten meters was but an instant for him, at this moment, it was an uncrossable eternity!

’Iron Crown’s’ eyes were splitting with rage. The aura of his Knight Power, like a storm, carried his fury as it howled through the port.

"Bach—!"

In Bach’s horrified gaze, the Flayer Knight’s claws had already slammed into the Power Armor on his chest.

His mind was left with a single thought he had never entertained before: ’I... am going to die?’

And in that exact instant.

A heroic, towering figure, moving faster than sound, suddenly appeared in his peripheral vision.