Chapter 308 - 269: The Dragon Slayer Need Not Become the Dragon, Dark Side of the Empire

"Tch."

After Agate finished speaking, Seventy-Six clapped twice, slow and deliberate, and said coldly, "Why am I not surprised at all? Efficiency, value... just what you’d expect from the Mechanical Order.

"Even if we die in a Void Storm, our corpses still have to generate some value for those oil-leaking bastards."

Seventy-Six’s sarcasm was, of course, born from his own resentment.

As one of the Assassin Court’s most powerful prototypes, his full designation was Subject Seventy-Six of the Sixth Column Experimental Group, part of the 320,000th experiment. A single column group often consisted of two thousand mortal test subjects.

Only those who knew could truly know the inhuman torment he had endured.

Stearns, sitting on a metal bench in the cabin with Raphael, grew to understand the immense importance of this rescue mission after learning all its details.

The Radiant Angels were a great banner of nobility and resistance raised by the Emperor in the Dark Cosmos, their symbolic significance far outweighing the members of the Radiant Angel Legion themselves.

The vile nature of the plot to corrupt the Radiant Angels was tantamount to a horde of Demons storming the Radiant Holy City, spitting on the Emperor’s Holy Image, and mocking it with abandon.

For any and all reasons, they absolutely could not allow the Demons’ plot to succeed.

However, while Stearns was focused on discussing the rescue plan with Raphael, the conversation between Agate and the others still reached his ears.

As a company commander from the lower echelons of a Battle Group—and of course, in front of these important figures, "lower echelons" was a generous term—the shock Stearns felt upon learning of so many top-secret plans from the Imperial Administrative Regions for the first time was immense. What astounded him most was that the Mechanical Sage currently performing modification surgery on Knight Matthias would actually take the initiative to seek Lord Reinhardt’s authorization, his attitude visibly humble.

’That’s a Mechanical Sage!’

An extraordinary being equivalent to a Battle Group Leader.

Recalling his experience fighting side-by-side with Reinhardt in the Orbital Port battle zone, Stearns felt an even stronger sense of honor swelling within him.

If the suffocating shadow that had once hung over the Steel Knight Order was the personification of power and Mighty Power—

then now—

the boy who once struggled beneath that colossal shadow in Frostfire Fortress had become an existence far above it, a sun forged from military glory and Mighty Power, scattering the darkness and reigning high above the clouds.

The former brought betrayal and hatred.

The latter brought courage and honor!

From the perspective of Stearns, Second Company Commander of the Death Battle Group, Reinhardt was just such a transcendent being.

And his sense of honor came not from fighting alongside a great man, but because this man was one of the Emperor’s Vengeful Angels.

The visual impact of him tearing through enemy lines and ripping an Elite Slaughter Demon apart with his bare hands was far more direct and thrilling than any display of power or status!

At this moment, as the Punisher Ship suddenly shuddered violently, as if it had struck a meteor, the warped scenery of the Net Path and the Void Storm vanished.

Stearns grabbed a handhold, his gaze piercing the viewport. A massive Orbital Port, overgrown with flesh, like a gargantuan beast crouched in defiance of the extreme cold of the cosmos, rapidly grew larger in the reflection of his pupils!

Agate was still immersed in the modification surgery on Matthias, but the faint blue light of his Mechanical Eye flickered, as if he were searching a database.

As the ship entered the Barge Port, his mechanical voice announced coldly, like a public broadcast, "Two-star Agricultural World Hiniya. Civilization level: feudal. Last arrival of a Ministry of Internal Affairs tax collection ship in Hiniya: 1373."

After speaking, Agate stitched a piece of synthetic skin over Matthias’s wound and continued, "The Void Storm has indeed distorted our time of entry into the Dark Side of the Empire, my lord..."

Before he could finish, Raphael shot to his feet, his eyes suddenly flashing with intense white lightning. The Radiant Beacon fixed to the side of his Power Backpack began to blink incessantly.

He ignored Stearns’s gaze and strode to Reinhardt’s side, his voice grave. "My lord! I just received two different distress signals. One is from the surface of Hiniya World."

"The other signal is very faint. It’s from the Emperor’s Shield."

According to the rescue plan, they were to rendezvous with the Ash Guard on Hiniya World, then use the distress signal from the Radiant Beacon to locate the Ark of Calamity where the Radiant Angels were being held.

But plans never keep up with changes.

Moreover, the inside of a Void Storm was the domain of Demons and the Four Gods; the interference of the god of plots and schemes was everywhere.

As for the Flesh Battleship that had just so happened to collide with the Punisher Ship, Reinhardt was certain that a Great Demon had to be pulling the strings from behind the scenes.

After a brief moment of consideration, Reinhardt made a decisive choice.

"Agate, is the phase-teleportation device ready for use?"

"It is."

Receiving the affirmative, Reinhardt walked to the cabin door and gave his orders. "Seventy-Six and I will go check the source of the distress signal on Hiniya World. The rest of you will clear the Barge Port and hold your position. Wait for one hour."

"If the Ash Guard doesn’t show up as planned, Agate, you are responsible for using the phase-teleportation tech to recall me and Seventy-Six."

"Raphael, maintain constant contact with me."

After issuing his orders, Reinhardt commanded Agate to open the cabin door. Seventy-Six silently picked up his sniper rifle and fell in behind him.

Raphael’s brow furrowed slightly. "My lord, while I don’t mean to question your judgment, there’s a risk the distress signal on Hiniya World is a demonic fabrication."

"Our mission is to rescue the Radiant Angels..."

Reinhardt cut off Raphael’s concerns. His voice was hoarse and brutal as he unslung his Black War Axe and replied, "If it is a Demon, I’ll cut it down."

Manon wanted to request to go with Reinhardt, but with Matthias grievously wounded and unconscious and Agate still finishing the final stages of the modification surgery, he decided against speaking up.

Besides, he and Stearns were responsible for clearing the Demons infesting the Barge Port.

Of course, while Hiniya World was located in the Dark Side of the Empire and corrupted by Demons, this Orbital Port was no grand warfront like Verne. The most powerful Demons they might encounter would be Slaughter Demons, and few at that—hardly a threat.

To Demons and the Four Gods, the Real Cosmos where humans lived and the land itself held no value. Annihilating humanity was just as meaningless.

All these vile beasts pursued was endless, unending chaos.

This was especially true for a backwater feudal world like Hiniya, which was nothing more than a playground for demonic dogfights. The main legions of Demons and rebels wouldn’t deign to come to such a place, devoid of substance.

As the cabin door opened, Stearns was still wondering how the two of them could possibly land on the planet’s surface from an orbital port ten thousand meters high, especially since the Punisher Ship had no Radiant Waymarks or landing craft.

But before he could figure it out,

Reinhardt and Seventy-Six had already thrown open the door and leaped out!