Chapter 306 - 267: The Romance of Imperial Tough Guys

A rapid increase in an Imperial Knight’s power didn’t just signify outstanding talent. It also meant that these quickly advancing experts had endured brutal, bloody battles far beyond what an ordinary Imperial Knight could imagine.

In the hour-plus-long battle where he led his unit to reinforce the Orbital Port.

Stearns had personally witnessed him execute two terrifyingly powerful Combat Gang leaders and kill countless Elite Slaughter Demons...

At this thought.

Stearns looked at Reinhardt with reverence. It was then that he finally understood what the title, Emperor’s Vengeful Angels, truly symbolized.

Persuaded by Reinhardt, Manon took a deep breath, released his grip on Seventy-Six, and stepped back twice. His Power Armor clanked softly. Clenching his left fist, he said in a low voice, "I lost my composure. My apologies, both of you."

With that, he turned and knelt on one knee beside Matthias.

"Agate, that plan Seventy-Six mentioned... are you confident it can save him?"

At that moment.

Agate injected a dark red serum into Matthias’s body through the Power Armor’s built-in port, then began to cut away the necrotic tissue from the wound.

He answered Manon’s question bluntly.

"The serum I used is a prototype product of Alchemy Technology from the Artificial Angels project, codenamed ’Rebirth.’ It promotes rapid coagulation and regeneration at the genetic level.

It was originally designed for augmentation surgeries to promote the regeneration of bones, internal organs, and muscles, thus preventing an overly long recovery period that might lead to the Artificial Angel test subjects dying in their beds.

But I must tell you, its side effects are still in the human trial stage. I can’t guarantee that after saving Matthias’s life, his body won’t suffer permanent damage."

As he spoke, Agate took out a titanium-alloy artificial bone. Using his Knight Power to make a quick thermal-fusion cut, he immediately began the surgery to repair the broken bone.

Seventy-Six remained nonchalantly leaned against the bulkhead.

It seemed Manon’s threat had no effect on him at all. Or perhaps, the modifications from the Assassin Court had completely suppressed his emotional responses, forging him into a pure killing tool.

Black humor and morbid jokes were the only things that allowed him to feel even a sliver of emotion.

Cradling the large-caliber sniper rifle named Far-sighted, he stared at Manon’s back, apparently unwilling to let the Imperial Knight’s provocation slide.

"This isn’t over, Manon."

Manon had already backed down at Reinhardt’s intervention and for the sake of the rescue mission, but he never expected Seventy-Six to be so relentless.

Manon rose to his feet, his veteran gaze as hard as iron. "What do you want," he said coldly.

Even as he spoke, he was struggling to suppress his inner rage.

Seventy-Six shrugged indifferently, holding his hands out. "Take it easy, big guy. When Imperial Knights have a problem, don’t they usually prefer a Knight’s Duel?

How about we fight after the mission’s over?

I’d like to see you try and snap my neck. If you can twist my head clean off, I’ll buy you a drink. But if you can’t..."

Now that it had come to this, some of the hostility in Manon’s heart began to fade. He knew Seventy-Six was an unfiltered bastard, but even he wasn’t so dense that he couldn’t understand the man’s intentions.

Everyone in the Vengeance Angel Squad was seething with suppressed anger over Matthias’s grave injuries and the abandonment of their comrades at the Orbital Port.

The guy had probably intended to use black humor to ease the post-battle tension, but he had only made things more hostile. At this thought, Manon didn’t know what to say.

But he was starting to see Seventy-Six in a different light.

"If I can’t, I have a bottle of good wine from the Radiant Holy City stashed away on the Iberian World..."

Before Manon could finish, Raphael interrupted in a cold voice, "Count me in on that duel. Your attitude just now really pissed me off, brother."

"Of course! And you’re in for the drinking, too!"

Manon walked over to Raphael. The two formidable Imperial Knights clasped right hands firmly, then shared a grin.

So much so that when Reinhardt walked past him with a deadpan expression to stand by Matthias, the Emperor’s Shield Veteran, a man born in the glorious age of the Empire, suddenly felt a little awkward.

He realized he had forgotten to invite the leader of his own squad.

Manon pulled off his Full Coverage Helmet, revealing a rugged, determined face. "Lord Reinhardt, maybe... you’d like to join us then?"

’Drinking?’

Reinhardt thought of the fine wine he and Albert had been saving for their next meeting. After a moment of silence, he replied, "One bottle won’t be enough. If everything goes well, Albert also has a bottle of good wine from the Holy City stashed away at a vineyard.

I’ll talk to Lady Catherine and figure out a way to buy another rare bottle or two.

When we get back, we’ll drink until we drop."

Albert, the Radiant Angel.

When Reinhardt spoke that name, the atmosphere aboard the Punisher, which had only just begun to relax, instantly grew heavy again.

Manon looked at Reinhardt’s back and exchanged a glance with Raphael. Both men’s eyes held a worried look. They knew that this Radiant Angel, famous throughout the Imperial Administrative Region, was Lord Reinhardt’s Battle Brother.

Matthias was still lying on the floor, his life hanging in the balance.

Manon could understand Reinhardt’s inner rage and anxiety. He clapped Raphael on the shoulder, motioning for him to sit and recover his energy, then walked over to Sir Stearns.

Based on rank, he should have addressed this Second Company Commander of the Death Battle Group as ’Lord’.

But they weren’t in the same Battle Group’s chain of command, and Manon himself was a two-hundred-year veteran. He simply walked over, gave Sir Stearns a firm handshake, and nodded slightly. "Welcome aboard the Punisher, Sir Stearns. You shouldn’t have gotten involved in this rescue plan, but since you chose to board this ship and brave the Void Storm with us, you can ask Raphael Priest if you want to know the mission details."

With that, Manon turned and returned to Matthias’s side.

Agate’s voice was cold and mechanical. The prosthetic limbs on his back moved without pause, busying themselves inside Matthias’s wound. He then took out an Artificial Level Extraordinary Creation that looked remarkably similar to the Wizard’s Secret Treasure implanted in the nape of Lady Catherine’s neck.

"Due to ischemia, parts of Matthias’s brain are showing signs of neural failure and necrosis..."

He paused.

Then he looked up at Reinhardt and asked, "As a Technological Sage of the Mechanical Order, I have the authority to use protected prototype technology in a crisis.

However, whether or not to modify Matthias’s body requires your authorization, Lord Reinhardt."