Chapter 288 251: The Game Behind the War

「Three minutes ago.」

「The lowest level of the Orbital Port.」

A mirror-like Teleportation Gate of shimmering blue-purple neon light endlessly spewed forth a tide of Destiny Abominations.

These twisted monsters, their bodies covered in octopus tentacles and feathers but their heads retaining human facial features, felt no fear and knew no fatigue. Their sharp shrieks were like nails on glass.

The last of the Orbital Port's staff yet to evacuate, along with a five-thousand-strong Auxiliary Army, were trapped in the assembly bay. The three Imperial Knights from the Death Battle Group assigned to cover their retreat had long since fallen.

Or rather... of the five-thousand-strong Auxiliary Army, fewer than three hundred now remained, still putting up a stubborn resistance.

Over a thousand administrative personnel who had yet to evacuate and thirty Technician Priests had also been all but wiped out in the intense battle, with fewer than twenty survivors.

Another detachment of Imperial Knights from the Verne Caster Battle Group, ordered to cover the retreat, had been cut off and forced to fight elsewhere while also suffering grievous losses.

From two five-man tactical squads, only a single man was left standing after more than two hours of grueling, high-pressure combat.

But that wasn't the worst of it.

The worst part was that the extraction beacon they had planned to use for an emergency evacuation had been completely destroyed before they even reached the lower-level assembly bay.

...

The roar of gunfire was deafening.

Götz, a founding member of the Verne World's Caster Battle Group, was a veteran of the Verne World Defense Army.

Now an Official Knight with a Five-star Military Rank and one of the Battle Group's champions, he had received orders from the front line after news broke that the Orbital Port had fallen. He was to lead two five-man Knight squads and assist with the evacuation of personnel back to Verne World.

But the sheer number and power of the enemy within the port far exceeded his estimations.

The scar-faced veteran, clad in a suit of old Anti-Magic Steel Armor and wearing a ferocious expression, breathed heavily. He was down on one knee, his right hand gripping the hilt of his Knight's Broadsword, fighting to keep his body from collapsing.

The Spiritual Power suffusing the lower assembly bay was like an overflowing ocean of blue-purple neon, constantly washing over his body and soul.

Behind Götz, his former brothers-in-arms from the Battle Group had long since returned to the Divine Emperor's light.

Under the crushing pressure of the Spiritual Storm, his mind endured unimaginable pain and torment. He knew the powerful enemy before him was humiliating him, trying to make him submit to this evil power.

But from the day he joined the Caster Battle Group, the precepts and creeds of its Holy Scripture had been seared into him—into the very soul of every Caster Knight.

'If you want to realize your ideals, you must fight for them.'

This noble creed of his Battle Group had inspired him through the cruel trials of the Verne Campaign; no matter what darkness or pain he faced, his will to fight would never be extinguished.

Götz snapped his head up, glaring daggers at the powerful enemy before him.

Resisting the agonizing pressure of the Spiritual Storm, he staggered to his feet, gripping his sword with both hands. He didn't even have the strength left to swear his conviction aloud; his lips trembled as he whispered, "For the... Vengeful Angels..."

As one of the Caster Battle Group's champions, Götz had been tempered by the trials of the Verne Campaign and had grown into the man he was today. His power was far beyond that of the New Recruit Knight he once was.

He knew the enemy before him was powerful beyond imagination.

But what he could not know was that the enemy he faced was no mere member of the Imperial Rebel Army. It was a terrifying entity, premeditatedly lying in wait, a being whose name was as feared as the Fear Knights!

Iskander—former elite of the Justice Temple Legion's Think Tank, a Dark Mage, a purloiner of secrets!

Unlike the twisted and mutated Low Level Destiny Knights, the Dark Mage Iskander's black-painted Power Armor was outwardly no different from standard Imperial issue. The power source within its Power Backpack, however, teemed with the vile Mighty Power of the Divine Domain Maze.

The black, hooded cloak draped over the Power Armor was covered in a dense network of Desecration Runes.

Through his Full Coverage Helmet, Iskander's cold gaze fell upon Götz as he launched his final charge. Iskander raised his right hand, and a deceptively simple Spiritual Storm transformed into a web of interwoven purple lightning, exploding in size within the reflection of Götz's eyes!

He hadn't hidden himself in the lowest level of the Orbital Port just to play at being a Knight with these ants.

As though he had just swatted a fly, Iskander turned to look past the Orbital Port, toward the main forces of the Imperial Rebel Army that were steadily arriving in the War Zone.

In his eyes, the life-and-death struggle in the Verne War Zone was more than a mere war between the Imperial Administrative Region and the Imperial Rebel Army. This conflict was a strategic game played by three powers, and every human and Demon who joined it was nothing more than a pawn on their board.

Even that Vengeful Angel, Reinhardt, was nothing more than a pawn in his plan.

To put it another way, in unseen, shadowy corners, the conflict and strategic maneuvering between the Dark Abyss and the Divine Domain Maze were far more brutal than anything happening in the Verne War Zone.

Among the secrets he possessed was the fact that the cunning Wizard, Grand Lord Kles, was hedging his bets between the two great powers of the Dark Abyss and the Divine Domain Maze. Though he revered the Ten Thousand Changes Demon Monarch as a great Prophet, he was secretly cutting deals with the Fear Knights.

It was he who was pulling the strings of this Imperial Rebel Army, secretly guiding them to Verne World's Void Exit.

Although Grand Lord Kles's methods were exceedingly subtle, there were no secrets in this world before Iskander's power.

After negotiating in secret with the Ten Thousand Changes Demon Monarch, Iskander had no desire to see the forces of the Dark Abyss use this war to encroach upon the Ash Soil Star Zone, let alone become the sole dominant power.

That would not align with his interests, nor those of the Venerable Great Demon.

As one of the masterminds behind this war, his ultimate purpose for hiding in the Orbital Port was far from what these Mortal Soldiers could imagine. It was not simply to start a war and slaughter them.

On the contrary, rather than slaughtering these mortals, who were meaningless to him, his true goal was to use this situation as a pretext to intercept the Demons of the Dark Abyss.

He had no desire to see those precious Technician Priests in the distance devoured by the bloodthirsty beasts of the Dark Abyss.

If the ship up there couldn't be repaired, and Avernus were to forcibly corrupt the Radiant Angel into a Fear Knight, it would be terrible news for both him and the Ten Thousand Changes Demon Monarch.

Besides, he could also absorb a great deal of Extraordinary Evil Power from this conspiracy.

In the instant the dark purple Spiritual Storm was about to kill Götz, a powerful surge of Spiritual Power erected an Energy Protection Force Field before him.

Simultaneously, a streak of lightning shot across the War Zone, arriving behind Iskander in a flash. Matthias's Power Armor deployed its Sleeve Sword, thrusting viciously at Iskander's neck!

'So you've finally arrived?'

'You're later than I expected. I was starting to get impatient.'

He raised his right hand and twitched his index finger. An incomparably powerful wave of Telekinesis, like a steel cable, latched onto Matthias's body and flung him backward!

He then established a psionic link with Thinker Bach, taunting, 'Be sure to give my regards to the Lord Governor, Thinker.'