Chapter 289 252: Matthias's Strength

The battle erupted in an instant!

The two Ash Guards behind Bach weaved rapidly through the Destiny Abominations. Wherever they went, the grotesque monsters fell like swaths of straw.

Following the tactical plan they'd arranged before entering the battlefield.

One of the Ash Guards charged the defensive line formed by the three hundred auxiliary soldiers. His Knight's Broadsword, wreathed in an Attributeless Destruction Force Field, cut through them with devastating ease. The instant he engaged the enemy, he ripped an opening in their layered encirclement.

The moment he reached the defensive line, he found the Auxiliary Army's current ranking commander and said in a deep voice, "I am Model of the Imperial Administrative Region's Ash Guard Battle Group. Effective immediately, I am taking command here.

Order your soldiers to protect the Technician Priests and charge out with me."

Every moment of the war was a race against time. Facing the immense pressure from the Dark Mage, he had no time to explain the purpose of the battle plan to these mortals.

But for these soldiers and Technician Priests, who had held their ground for over two hours and had already sunk into despair, the arrival of reinforcements at this juncture was nothing short of a miracle from the Emperor himself.

Besides, they were the Auxiliary Army of the Death Battle Group to begin with.

Simply hearing the name "Ash Guard"—a symbol of the Death Battle Group's once mightiest military force—was enough.

As the highest-ranking surviving commander in the Auxiliary Army, Lieutenant Liam raised no objections to the Ash Guard's order. He immediately began ordering his soldiers to shift position and cover the Technician Priests' retreat toward the elevator shaft seven hundred meters away.

Be that as it may, crossing seven hundred meters through the dense throngs of Destiny Abominations was an arduous and lengthy journey.

「Meanwhile.」

As an Ash Guard, Matthias was a member of a Battle Group that once specialized in suppressing Wizard rebellions. In his fight against Iskander, he unleashed a terrifying suppressive power for the first time—one that was difficult to use against the Space Dragon Race and Demons!

The mental conditioning every Ash Guard underwent against Spiritual Energy had forged Matthias's mind into something as indestructible as tempered steel, allowing him to face Iskander's Spiritual Storm head-on!

Extraordinary Armament·Arc Manufacturing Machine.

His Knight Power wasn't just about high mobility. Its Special Abilities—the Electromagnetic Shielding Force Field and surging electrical power—were practically designed for hunting Wizards!

When the dark purple lightning struck Matthias's Power Armor, he didn't even activate his power-hungry Energy Shield Technology Outfit. He simply raised his left hand, and the surging currents at his fingertips forcibly tore apart the howling Spiritual Storm.

In the blink of an eye, he was in front of Iskander.

At that very moment.

The arrogant Dark Mage Iskander, who fancied himself a master puppeteer, finally felt something stir within him. His gaze swept over the Battle Group insignia on Matthias's shoulder pauldron.

'This guy...'

When only a punch's distance separated them.

A Sleeve Sword shot out and struck Iskander's Power Armor. But this powerful Dark Mage—a Grand Master Level Tier One Mage with strength equivalent to a Seven-star Official Military Rank, as renowned as the Fear Knights—suddenly vanished from before Matthias, his body sinking as if into a Dark Lake.

He reappeared behind Götz, a Knight from the Caster Battle Group.

At that moment.

Another Ash Guard was leaning over to pull him to his feet.

An expression of incredulous shock was still frozen on Götz's face at the arrival of Matthias and his reinforcements.

Iskander seemed to have grown tired of playing. A gentle but threatening voice, transmitted via Spiritual Power, sounded in Matthias's ear.

'I didn't expect to run into the Seventh Group Army's Ash Guard. That fool Sedon is really willing to send you to your deaths for nothing...'

As a former elite member of the Justice Temple Legion's Think Tank, Iskander had of course heard of the elite formation known as the Ash Guard. Though they had never crossed paths, their defining characteristics were strong resistance to Spiritual Power, proficiency in Body Techniques, and extreme mobility.

A Battle Group with these characteristics could be none other than the Ash Guard.

While speaking, he prepared to kill Götz—a warning to Matthias for the audacity of his challenge. Then he would withdraw from the battlefield, his objective already achieved.

But he seemed to have forgotten something.

The Imperial Knight helping Götz to his feet was also an Ash Guard.

The instant the Spiritual Storm crashed down, the Ash Guard's expression remained unchanged. His right leg, cloaked in a Destruction Force Field, swung like a steel whip. It shattered the purple Spiritual Lightning and slammed viciously toward Iskander's midsection!

Seeing his attack had failed, Iskander's expression suddenly darkened.

If the Fear Knights were a group of bloodthirsty madmen, then the Dark Mages were a bunch of psychologically twisted deviants.

If he weren't worried about jeopardizing his own interests—that his power-siphoning scheme might be ruined by his own hand—Iskander would have long since used more powerful, extraordinary methods. He would have sadistically slaughtered these overreaching Imperial dregs who provoked him time and again.

Taking a deep breath, he forcibly suppressed the perverse rage in his heart.

In order to seize even greater power from this conspiracy and advance to Tier Two Mage, he held his nose and prepared to endure it.

However.

Just as he was preparing to withdraw.

A Flesh Battleship forcibly smashed through the steel gates of the lower-level hangar bay. Like a runaway bull, it roared and crashed onto the hangar's steel floor, crushing vast swaths of Destiny Abominations into meat paste wherever it went!

And when Iskander's Spiritual Perception detected the Knightly Aura within the ship, his expression changed drastically!

Fear Knight Carlos!

'How is this possible!'

'My conspiracy and plan were seamless! How could those brainless brutes from the Dark Abyss possibly...'

At this thought, Iskander's expression darkened once more. He had already guessed the reason.

'Kles... that double-crossing bastard...'

「At the same time.」

After dealing with the Void Knights, Manon and Hymes, having communicated with Raphael, were rushing to the lowest level of the Orbital Port...

...

One hour and thirteen minutes after the Vengeance Angel Squad arrived at the port.

The defensive line at the Barge Port was growing increasingly precarious as more and more Demon Legions poured in and the Imperial Rebel Army landed, ship after ship.

Of the sixty thousand Auxiliary Army soldiers stationed here more than two hours ago, fewer than twenty thousand remained now.

Unattended bodies piled up like mountains, and blood gathered into rivers in the grooves of the high-speed tracks.

Even the Ash Guard had suffered heavy losses in this high-pressure defensive battle. More than ten Ash Guards had died on the front lines, locked in mortal combat with the Void Knights.

Raphael's brow was deeply furrowed.

It had been over an hour since Matthias's squad left the Barge Port. Not only had they failed to return on time as ordered, but even now, he still couldn't find their Mind Marks anywhere in the Orbital Port…