Chapter 284 247: A Death Game Against Time

The ad-hoc tactical squad formed by the Vengeful Angels and Ash Guard had left the top-level port over twenty minutes ago, but the mission's progress was falling far short of their initial expectations.

The only good news was that they had procured the materials needed to repair the Punisher in the maintenance workshop on the 130th floor, and had already assigned two Ash Guards to transport them back.

All they had to do now was find a group of Technician Priests and escort them safely through the fallen middle and lower levels. Then, their mission would be complete.

Moving swiftly through a long, narrow corridor, Raphael's voice echoed in the squad members' shared Telepathy.

'The Barge Port on floor 300 is mostly secure. Matthias, report your status.'

A drop of water seeping from the wall landed on Matthias's pauldron.

The mangled body of a Demon, not yet dead, lay slumped in a corner of the corridor, letting out a pained, low growl.

He swung his Knight's Broadsword, flinging off the Demon's Blood that coated it. He then strode forward, his heavy footsteps echoing down the corridor.

'We're currently on the sixty-fourth floor. According to our intel, there might be a group of Technician Priests on the lowest level of the Orbital Port who haven't evacuated yet.

ETA five minutes...'

Matthias didn't get to finish.

The same heavy footsteps echoed from around the corner at the end of the corridor. A moment later, a squad of Void Knights appeared before Matthias, their flesh and Power Armor fused into Demon Scale Armor.

The woman following behind Matthias saw the Void Knights and her face instantly turned deathly pale, her voice filled with terror.

Because the two Death Battle Team Knights who had covered their group's retreat had died at the hands of these four!

And the way they had killed those two Imperial Knights was utterly brutal! So much so that just recalling the bloody scene that had unfolded before her eyes two hours ago made her feel dizzy.

"It was them... They're the ones who killed the Imperial Knights covering our retreat."

Manon gripped the handle of his Shield Tower and took three steps forward to the front of the squad. His Power Backpack emitted a low growl as his Knight Perception swept the corridor, his gaze landing on the four Void Knights—all of whom were at the level of Six-star Official Military Rank.

"Time is short. You guys go through the office on the side. I'll deal with these traitors."

Bach frowned. Although Manon was exceptionally powerful, fighting alone—one man against four Void Knights—was still an immense risk.

Besides, these four traitors had killed men from the Death Battle Group.

Suppressing his vengeful fury, he said in a low voice, "Hymes, you assist him. Kill these traitors. Report to me immediately if anything unexpected happens."

The Knight named Hymes was an Ash Guard with a Six-star Official Military Rank.

His face and body were concealed by Power Armor; aside from their slightly coarse voices, it was difficult to tell the three Ash Guards apart by appearance alone.

Hymes, holding his Knight's Broadsword, walked silently to Manon's side and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with him.

The remaining five wasted no time, following Matthias through the office on the left and into another corridor, heading for the elevator shaft.

The Radiant Angels and the Demon Mother Ship had fallen into a Void Storm, their status unknown. According to the rescue plan, they should have entered the Void Storm's interior by now.

But the Punisher was severely damaged, causing them to waste a significant amount of time at the Orbital Port.

Whether it was Bach of the Think Tank or the two-hundred-year-old veteran Manon, they both knew very well: if the Demon Legion found it too difficult to capture the Orbital Port, they would grow desperate. To prevent the Imperial Administrative Region from amassing its strength and deploying large numbers of troops to Verne through the top-level Barge Port under their control, the enemy would undoubtedly destroy the Orbital Port entirely with their massive ships.

A six-hour repair time had too many variables. They had to buy time at any cost.

After Matthias's group had left,

Manon stared at the Void Knights charging toward them. His Knight's Mighty Guardian Barrier·Cyan Gold Rune manifested as countless arcane golden runes, which rose like flames across the surface of his Power Armor.

He said in a low voice, "Cover me."

...

「Four minutes later.」

Matthias's party had yet to reach the lowest level of the Orbital Port, but the roar of cannon fire already reached their ears. At the same time, an extremely powerful and evil Spiritual Power was rampaging across the port's bottom floor.

Bach's expression changed drastically when he sensed the enemy's Spiritual Power!

"A Dark Mage? Why would one of them be mixed in with the armies of the Dark Abyss?!"

The other two Ash Guards, along with Matthias, were all aghast when they heard the term 'Void Mage'—a title for one of the most powerful armies under the Formless Divine Monarch!

If the ultimate honor for an Imperial Knight who betrayed the Empire for the thrill of battle and threw in their lot with the Dark Abyss was to become a Fear Knight entrenched in the Slaughter Death Arena...

...then for the Wizards and members of the Imperial Think Tank who threw themselves into the arms of the Formless Divine Monarch...

...'Dark Mage' was the highest title those with the Wizard Bloodline could obtain under the blessing of the Formless Divine Monarch!

But it was common knowledge that the one in the Dark Abyss loathed the power of Wizards. The Legions and Great Demons under His command were all brutish, evil creatures who used melee weapons.

For a Dark Mage to suddenly appear at Verne's Orbital Port was strange, no matter how you looked at it.

However, they didn't have much time to think about it.

After they took the lift and approached the bottom-level Barge Port, the Mind Mark connecting them to Raphael had already failed.

Even Bach couldn't re-establish contact with Raphael through the turbulent Spiritual Energy that filled the entire lower port. And by this point, it was too late to send someone back with a report.

Because when the lift doors opened, their vision was filled not only with a living hell of corpses strewn everywhere, but also with a large swarm of the Destiny Abominations that Reinhardt had once seen on Verne, shrieking as they charged toward them!

...

「At the same time.」

At the top-level port, after multiple failed attempts to repair the Punisher's control core, Agate found the entire repair process at a complete standstill.

He now had only two paths to choose from.

The first was to completely give up on the Punisher and contact the Great Sage stationed on the Iberian Glory to urgently dispatch a sufficiently high-spec vessel to help them enter the Void Storm.

Unlike ordinary Net Path navigation, the power of a Void Storm was immense; a normal vessel simply couldn't withstand that level of tearing Spiritual Energy.

But the process of dispatching a new ship could take several days.

By the time the new ship arrived, they might only be able to collect the corpses of the Radiant Angels.

The second option was to use the Heterodox Technology within the Ancient Black Box... Even though his current identity was that of a Mechanical Sage, the risks of doing so went beyond just potential attacks from his colleagues within the Mechanical Order afterward.

If this Heterodox Technology were to spiral out of his control, no one knew what the consequences would be.

But in this game of death, this race against time, he had no other choice.