Chapter 315 - 275: The Light Has Dimmed

"Sir—!"

BANG—!

A tall figure, like a cannonball, smashed against the twisted, bone-wrought bulkhead of the Demon Mother Ship. The sound of rending metal from the shattering Power Armor was sharp and piercing.

Dark red blood seeped continuously from the Full Coverage Helmet.

The Power Armor, interwoven with silver and gold and emblazoned with the Battle Group Badge of the Steel Wings Mobile Combat Team, was now battered and scarred, its brilliance gone.

Even the steel-forged Angel’s Wings were long broken. The low, intermittent roar of the Power Backpack was like a terminally ill body, barely clinging to life.

The dark red Witchcraft Energy Blade coating the Knight’s Broadsword flickered erratically before extinguishing completely.

Albert collapsed to his knees, the agonizing pain of his internal injuries making it difficult to focus. He reached up, tore off the stuffy, stinking Full Coverage Helmet, and began to vomit blood violently onto the ground.

He raised his head, his blurry gaze sweeping over the corpse-strewn ground.

A terrifying figure, over three meters tall and as solidly built as a heavy shield wall, stood amidst a pile of corpses not far from him, wielding an Iron Lock Hook.

It slowly walked toward him.

"Your strength is pathetic, Radiant Angel."

Albert’s pupils gradually regained focus.

Reflected in his vision was a Fear Knight with curved horns, a completely demonic face, blood-red skin, and Power Armor that had mutated into sharp scales.

The crimson fire burning in the monster’s eye sockets was like writhing, twisting blood.

Affixed to the back of its Power Armor stood an enormous Steel Execution Rack, covered in rust, bloodstains, and spikes. Fresh flesh hung from every barbed spike.

The distant fires flared, casting a dark crimson glow.

Against this backdrop, its towering three-meter-plus frame projected an oppressive presence, as terrifying as a mountain blotting out the sun.

The Fear Knight, Flayer Du Ma.

A Seven-star Military Rank Earth Knight.

’Even Lord Sedon, who personally moved to suppress this monster on the Verne Front Line and gravely injured it, couldn’t prevent its escape.’

’And the power of a Fear Knight... it was far too great for a Three-star Military Rank Earth Knight, for a Radiant Angel whose Legendary Power had already been extinguished...’

’So powerful that he was an insurmountable foe in this lifetime.’

Albert wiped the blood from his chin and coughed violently a couple of times. He picked up the Knight’s Broadsword that had fallen to the ground, slowly rose, and stared directly at Flayer Du Ma’s contemptuous, demonic face.

Gritting his teeth against the searing pain, his face contorted into a snarl as he gripped the sword’s hilt with both hands.

The Extraordinary Armament·Curse-Breaking Blade emitted a dim, dark red glow that coated the edge of the Knight’s Broadsword as he tried to gather his strength for one last desperate struggle.

But the short blade buried deep in his back, coated with Demon Poison, continuously radiated the tyrannical Mighty Power of Avernus, eroding his flesh and corrupting his mind.

If the Legendary Power of the Great Angel still remained within him, this level of Demon Poison would have had no effect on his mind or body.

’But...’

Albert felt the rage and bloodlust swelling deep within him. He felt the Blood Burning Needle devouring his Life Force. He knew his time was running out.

Just then, three other Radiant Angels, also covered in wounds, skimmed low over the ground and landed before him. Swords in hand, they faced the Fear Knight’s oppressive presence without a trace of fear on their faces.

"Sir! You’re in no condition to keep fighting! Lord Lazar has taken control of a Flesh Battleship! We’ll cover you..."

Before the Radiant Angel—a warrior with the strength of a Seven-star Official Military Rank—could finish, Albert’s brow furrowed, and he cut him off in a harsh tone, "I’m well aware of my injuries!

Now, as the acting Battle Group Commander of the Steel Mobile Battle Group, I order you to move out with the Emperor’s Shield.

If you get the chance, you must evacuate the Demon Mother Ship immediately."

"Sir!"

"Albert!"

Albert shoved aside his Personal Guard, who were trying to use their strength as Official Knights to confront Flayer Du Ma. Seeing the powerful enemy closing in, he roared, "That’s an order!"

The heavy footfalls of the running Fear Knight suddenly became a deathly drumbeat!

THUD, THUD, THUD!

A coarse voice unleashed a soul-stealing battle cry!

Albert’s eyes were nearly splitting with rage. He held his sword with both hands and shot past his Personal Guard like a gale. His Broadsword crashed against the Iron Lock Hook, unleashing a titanic storm of force!

"Your opponent is me, you traitor—!"

For a moment, their snarling, furious faces were only a fist’s-width apart.

Crimson flames twisted and surged in Flayer Du Ma’s eyes as he let out a guttural roar!

"No prey escapes my grasp! None! Die—!"

The roar of chains was deafening.

In the distance.

Where over two thousand Imperial Knights had once followed the Radiant Angels in a vast and mighty Holy Boarding of the Demon Mother Ship, attempting to destroy the Blood Slaughterhouse, now only a field of corpses remained.

Beside a commandeered Flesh Battleship.

The five remaining Emperor’s Shield Knights desperately cut down the swarming Abyssal Demons.

Even though corpses were piled like mountains at their feet and rivers of blood pooled around them, this was a Demon Mother Ship, home to an endless Demon Army.

One of the Emperor’s Shield Knights, fighting with all his might, shouted toward the distance, "Natan! We’re out of time! We have to—"

Before he could finish his sentence, the ceiling above suddenly shattered. An Elite Slaughter Demon descended from the sky, its massive War Axe striking with devastating force, and hacked the Emperor’s Shield Knight—armor, sword, and all—to death on the spot.

Lazar, an Emperor’s Shield Tutor and one of only two in the entire combat zone with an Earth Military Rank, was missing his right arm. A broken Demon Slaying Blade was impaled through his right chest, piercing his body.

Seeing his subordinate killed, Lazar, already spent and running on fumes, let out a hysterical roar. He leaped from the Flesh Battleship, throwing his mortal body at the Elite Slaughter Demon!

"Stop worrying about a dead man like me! Go!"

"Lord Lazar!"

The four surviving Emperor’s Shield Knights watched, their eyes wide with fury. But the battle had gone on for so long that their stamina was at its limit; even the hands gripping their Knight’s Broadswords trembled with exhaustion.

As for the Emperor’s Shield Tutor Lazar, who had been thrown to the ground, he glared with furious, wide eyes. Facing the Elite Slaughter Demon’s raised foot, he let out a final, defiant roar.

"For the Emperor—!"

At that moment.

Whether it was him or Albert.

As leaders of the boarding party, they had long been prepared to die for the Empire and pledge their loyalty to the Emperor.

Two Emperor’s Shield Knights beside the Flesh Battleship tried to counter-attack and save Lazar, but their strength was so pitifully weak before the Elite Slaughter Demon.

And also at that moment.

Just as the Emperor’s Shield Tutor Lazar was about to be brutally stomped to death by the Elite Slaughter Demon.

An incomparably tyrannical and Destructive Suppression descended in an instant over the entire, endless battlefront of the Demon Army!