Chapter 292 254: Knight's Ideal, Glorious Shine

The Flesh Battleship collided with the massive piece of engineering equipment, lodging itself firmly in the breach of the lower-level port.

Only then did the roaring airflow, created by the pressure differential, begin to subside.

The battle between the Dark Mage and the Fear Knight raged on. Manon caught Matthias just as he was about to collapse, and his eyes fell on the bone fragment embedded in the man's Power Armor. In a low voice, he asked, "Can you stand?"

Matthias was on one knee. He gripped the bone shard lodged between two of his ribs, intending to yank it out. But he only just realized that the fragment, which had broken off the Fear Knight's weapon, seemed to have taken root in his flesh and blood.

The pull was too strong. His ribs, which had already begun to fuse with the shard, emitted a sickening crack!

Matthias let out an agonized howl. A cold sweat beaded on his skin, instantly drenching his clothes. His hands hit the floor as he pitched forward heavily.

Inside his Full Coverage Helmet, Matthias's pupils trembled, his face a mask of agony.

'That bastard...'

Manon also sensed something was wrong. He knelt, his brow furrowed as he stared at the shard embedded in Matthias's body. From that unremarkable bone fragment, he could sense an extremely faint trace of Evil Mighty Power.

Their mission was to find materials and cover the Technician Priest's ascent to the top level.

'Since the mission is complete, there's no tactical value in getting tangled up with the enemy here. While those two traitors are busy tearing each other apart,' Manon said via the Telepathy channel encrypted by Raphael, 'based on my calculations, the Technician Priest should have already reached the 200th floor of the Orbital Port or higher. We can pull back.'

Matthias knew that with his and Manon's strength, it would be difficult to deal with the Dark Mage and the Fear Knight. Besides, they couldn't let their lust for battle delay the plan to rescue the Radiant Angels any further.

The two exchanged a look. Manon gripped the handle of his Shield Tower tightly and stepped forward to protect Matthias, his eyes fixed warily on the two powerful enemies locked in combat.

By now, Matthias had also realized that a foul power was taking root and spreading through his flesh and blood. If he didn't deal with it promptly, at this rate, he might not survive another hour. Or even...

At that thought, he looked up and stared at the distant Fear Knight, his right hand clenched into a fist. Indignation and fury raged like a wildfire in his chest.

He couldn't accept it! How could the gap between his strength and that of a truly powerful warrior be so immense?

He had tried to prove his strength more than once, but every attempt had ended in dismal failure.

The Vengeful Angel Reinhardt, the Warlord Nico, the Carnivorous Hunting Dog Carlos... these mighty foes were like a colossal, sky-blotting mountain range standing in his way.

'It feels like... no matter how hard I try, I can never defeat them...'

At that very moment, Matthias sucked in a sharp breath. He grabbed the Knight's Broadsword lying on the ground, still on one knee, and gasped for air. Beads of cold sweat rolled down his cheeks.

Feeling the Evil Mighty Power spreading within him, his gaze became resolute. He had made his decision. His left hand tightened on the sword's hilt, and the Power Armor covering his arm scraped with a sharp, metallic sound.

In the distance, the duel between the Dark Mage and the Fear Knight continued, but with Iskander's low willingness to fight, it was hard to see a clear winner emerging.

A malevolent Spiritual Power, like blue-purple neon light, coiled around Iskander's body. He spared no effort in taunting his opponent, "You're completely wasting your time, Carlos."

As he spoke, he glanced at the kneeling Matthias out of the corner of his eye. A twisted, gleeful pleasure welled up in his depraved heart as he savored the man's misfortune.

Although the Carnivorous Hunting Dog was a recently promoted Fear Knight, he was familiar with the mindless brute's Extraordinary Power.

'Looks like that poor Imperial Knight will soon be corrupted by the power of the Slaughter Death Arena,' he thought. 'But whether he dies or accepts Mutated Transformation from the Dark Abyss, he has no other choice.'

Tsk.

'This is what you get for believing in the Pseudo-Emperor. How tragic.'

After another exchange of blows, Carlos's tolerance for Iskander's cowardly evasions reached its limit. The desire to kill surged within it, and its craving for battle swelled during this frustrating fight!

It crouched on the ground, a terrifying, beast-like roar rumbling in its throat. It stared at Iskander, who had slipped from its grasp time and again, its voice filled with uncontrollable fury.

"Coward—!"

Iskander merely sneered at the insult.

The Dark Knowledge he currently commanded wasn't profound enough, and his control over plots and schemes lacked the finesse of someone like the Ten Thousand Changes Demon Monarch. Even so, he couldn't be bothered to entangle himself with an idiot whose mind was filled with nothing but the thrill of battle.

In his view, a creature like the Carnivorous Hunting Dog Carlos was, at best, a somewhat valuable pawn in the hands of a major player.

What he pursued was not combat and slaughter, but to become the true puppet master behind the grand battlefield, looking down as billions of lives fought and bled under the weight of his conspiracies!

"Idiot, instead of wasting your time with me, your real enemy is already plotting his escape."

Carlos grinned, retorting with a taunt of its own, "You're not the only one in this world who knows how to use schemes, coward."

Of course it realized Matthias and Manon were preparing to flee.

But where could a poor wretch parasitized by an Evil Bone possibly run? Once the infestation began, that Imperial Knight had only two choices: become its slave, or die.