Chapter 287 250: The Confrontation of Courage and Sacrifice

Georg turned his head toward Raphael, several hundred meters away. He could no longer contain his inner rage, and practically pointing at Raphael's nose, he erupted.

"I don't want to talk to anyone! My soldiers need weapons and ammunition, and the wounded here need medicine and treatment!

What did the Military Affairs Department tell us when we arrived? That we would only need to hold our position for half an hour at most!

For the Divine Emperor's sake! Priest—! Open your eyes and look! My soldiers are bleeding! The Emperor's brave soldiers are dying! But where is the support from the Military Affairs Department?! Where are our logistics?!

In the midst of war, a single voice is so small.

Though Georg argued his case until he was red in the face, his powerful voice was still swallowed by the immense noise of cannon fire and carnage.

He wasn't wrong.

According to the original battle plan, the port's garrison was supposed to withdraw after the Vengeful Angels arrived. Their mission wasn't to seize control of this Orbital Port.

But what was the reality?

The reality was that they had been holding their ground here for over two hours, yet they still hadn't received any orders to withdraw!

In fact, Georg had reason to believe that in the other four port war zones on levels 299 through 297—aside from their Barge Port here—the garrisons had already suffered more than fifty percent casualties. Even the Knights of the Death Battle Group were probably all but wiped out!

And yet, they had to keep fighting here, dragging along an army whose command structure was on the verge of collapse.

If it were only Low Tier Demons pouring in, he could have accepted it. But after witnessing the main force of the Imperial Rebel Army arrive in the Verne War Zone—and seeing over one hundred rebels appear at the level 300 Barge Port war zone they were defending—Georg completely broke.

He didn't even dare to imagine the situation in the other four war zones.

If he were questioning the Death Battle Group, or a Senior Think Tank from the Ash Guard, they wouldn't have given him an answer. They would have simply given him a cold order to continue holding his position.

But the person he was questioning now was Raphael.

Faced with Colonel Georg's loud accusations, Raphael fell silent.

Because they were the very reason the entire battle plan had changed, the reason tens of thousands of soldiers had met a gruesome end at the Orbital Port.

A great sacrifice is undoubtedly glorious, but it must be a personal choice, a personal offering. Even as the Think Tank for the Vengeful Angels, Raphael believed he had no right to demand that these soldiers, who had already proven their courage and Loyalty to the Divine Emperor, die here in vain.

This was a fight where the odds were overwhelmingly stacked against them.

It was just as Agate had privately assessed: compared to being a Think Tank or a front-line Combat Priest, Raphael had always been more like a kind-hearted Priest, full of compassion for all life.

Raphael's gaze fell to the scene outside the Orbital Port, to the endless swarm of Flesh Battleships pouring out from the Ark of Calamity.

He believed this Mortal Soldier had the right to know the full truth of the mission. This wasn't just out of respect for the brave man, but also because... he would very likely not leave the Orbital Port alive.

「Thirty seconds ago.」

In the response he and Senior Think Tank Albert received from Grand Governor Sedon, there was not only news of the rebel main force appearing at the edge of the Void Storm, but also that an Abyssal Great Demon had already reached the Verne War Zone.

Moreover, the Grand Governor himself would be taking to the field to thwart the Great Demon's attempt to open an Abyssal Teleportation Gate after landing on Verne.

After a moment of silence, Raphael's voice sounded in Reinhardt's Mind Mark.

'Sir, may I tell him the truth of this mission?'

As he asked, Georg faced Reinhardt's Knightly Suppression head-on, his right hand gripping his sidearm tightly. Despite his fear, he showed no intention of backing down.

Reinhardt drew his Slaughterer's Weapon.

A Blood Hand Bullet obliterated a reckless Void Knight that tried to lunge at them, and the orange glow of the Blast Fireball flickered across his and the Auxiliary Army colonel's faces before fading.

He didn't answer Raphael's question. Coldly ignoring Georg's furious glare, he turned and threw himself back into the fight, charging the landing Void Knights.

For a fleeting moment, Colonel Georg thought Reinhardt was going to cut him down as punishment for his disrespect toward one of the Emperor's Angels.

But only after the man left did the immense pressure on his chest begin to subside.

At the same time, Raphael's voice sounded in his ear.

'Tell me your name and your Legion.'

'Georg Gustav, Colonel of the Third Legion, Death Battle Group Auxiliary Army.'

'Colonel Georg, I am Raphael, a Combat Priest and Think Tank with the Vengeance Angel Squad, which is attached to a top-secret project under the direct command of the Grand Governor of the Imperial Administrative Region.

I cannot answer your questions, but I need you and your soldiers to continue holding the line and help us repair our vessel.

This may take some time.'

'A top-secret project under the direct command of the Lord Governor?'

As Georg processed what Raphael had said, his brows knitted together. He never would have dreamed that he would one day be fighting shoulder-to-shoulder with a top-secret squad that didn't exist on any official roster of the Imperial Administrative Region.

It was as if the clouds had parted to reveal the moon.

He suddenly understood why the Ash Guard would send a hundred-strong detachment to inexplicably help them defend the port to the death for two hours, while the Administrative Region itself had sent no support whatsoever...

'Oh, right, reinforcements did arrive in the war zone ten minutes ago.'

'But fifty Death Battle Group Knights and a thousand Auxiliary Army soldiers? Facing the current situation here, it was less like reinforcement and more like plugging holes in the line.'

Though he was only a Mortal, he was also a veteran of the Empire and a colonel in the Auxiliary Army.

Even though Raphael hadn't shared more details, Georg could still sense the Priest's respect for their sacrifices beneath his curt words.

'And... Vengeful Angels...'

He stared silently at Reinhardt, who was fighting alone amidst the enemy ranks, because he was beginning to suspect the true identity of the Imperial Knight who had just saved him.

The Emperor's Vengeful Angels.

The powerful Knights who existed only in legends.

Georg's heart was now a maelstrom of complex and contradictory emotions. He completely understood why the Military Affairs Department had abandoned them here, leaving them to their fate.

If he was right, this Vengeance Angel Squad, part of a top-secret project, had to be on a mission of such immense importance and danger that it surpassed the limits of his imagination.

Whether for tactical cover or some other reason, if the Military Affairs Department mobilized a large-scale force to provide support, it would undoubtedly draw the enemy's attention, causing the mission to fail.

But he was still furious—furious that the Military Affairs Department had left them here to die in vain.

'Am I to know what mission you're on?'

Raphael didn't tell him the truth of the mission.

He only replied to Georg.

'We need that vessel to take us inside the Void Storm.'

Georg took a deep breath. He had perhaps already guessed his own fate, and the fate of the Barge Port's defenders. After a long silence, his gaze returned, calm, to the battlefield.

'It is my honor to fight alongside you, Vengeful Angels.'

'May the light of the Divine Emperor be with you, Colonel Georg.'