Chapter 342 - 299: Vengeful Angels Battle Group

Radiant Calendar 1462, February.

Aboard the Thunderclap, a massive troop transport of the Imperial Administrative Region’s Seventh Fleet.

According to an order penned by Grand Governor Sedon himself, the Red Flame Son and the 33rd Infantry Corps had to wait for the fleet to complete a routine patrol before they could return to the Iberian World together.

Reinhardt and the Ash Guard were ordered to accompany them.

On the surface, the order seemed to be standard procedure. The Administrative Region Navy’s Seventh Fleet could hardly abandon its patrol mission just to escort the Red Flame Son back to the Iberian World.

In reality, however, this three-month patrol served two purposes.

First, it bought Sedon time to prepare for the integration of these Imperial Loyalist Knights into the Administrative Region.

Second, it was to clear some of the obstacles blocking Reinhardt’s return to the Administrative Region.

Sedon had been very clear on this point. As the central figure of the Vengeful Angels project, some factions within the Administrative Region had popped champagne and celebrated for a long time after Reinhardt was reported "sacrificed" during a rescue mission.

Therefore, certain people in the upper echelons of the Administrative Region did not want him returning to the Iberian World so easily.

During this time,

Sedon also had Bach secretly deliver a summary report on the Administrative Region’s military reforms over the past year.

Even with the war on the Verne Front Line still raging, internal reforms within the Administrative Region had never ceased. The Military Affairs Department had systemically dismantled a large number of Knight Warlords.

Regardless of the size of the Knight Battle Groups under these warlords, the Administrative Region broke them down and reformed them into standard, thousand-man Knight Battle Groups under the direct command of the Military Affairs Department.

Furthermore, companies were established within the Battle Groups, using the authority of company commanders at the ground level to further dilute the Battle Group Commanders’ direct control over their Imperial Knights.

Of course,

the resistance to these reforms was immense, and the difficulty of implementing them was no less than that of winning the war on the Verne Front Line.

Aside from the local warlords and major Battle Groups loyal to Grand Governor Sedon, the other warlord factions, including the Cicero Faction, had secretly allied to resist the Administrative Region’s military reforms.

Some had even been in secret contact with Grand Lord Kles—an act of egregious treachery.

Most importantly,

after learning of his return through secret channels two months ago, the Cicero Faction had already begun preparing to move against him.

Last May, the Assassin Court had "accidentally" lost a batch of hybrid prototypes. The Mechanical Sage responsible for the modification project vanished into thin air; not even the Mechanical Order could find a trace of him.

More recently, the Judgment Court had also started making subtle moves.

Sedon warned Reinhardt to be on his guard.

In a small ship’s cabin, Reinhardt sat at a table. He had removed his Avenger Power Armor and was dressed in only a simple linen tunic. He had just finished his first proper meal in years: a fine dish of fried eggs and steak.

The light tube overhead hadn’t been replaced in a long time, casting a pale, dim glow.

Reinhardt set down the Holy Sheepskin Paper. His expression remained unchanged by its contents—iron-willed and merciless.

’If he were just an Imperial Knight who charged into the fray, the Cicero Faction wouldn’t be going to such lengths over his return, no matter how powerful he was.’

But,

if a man attempted to step onto the stage of power in the Administrative Region, to take a seat at that ’table’...

...then all of this was inevitable.

Reinhardt was not surprised. Especially since he had suddenly appeared on the Administrative Region’s border worlds with a Loyalist Battle Group and six million hardened veterans in tow.

In the eyes of his opponents, this was a blatant case of leveraging military power for personal gain!

「Three months ago.」

Fedor, leader of the Red Flame Son, had made his choice: he would lead his Battle Group and join the Imperial Administrative Region.

Although there were no shady dealings between him and Reinhardt, for the opposition within the Imperial Administrative Region, a returning Reinhardt was already a big enough headache.

Now, a powerful Battle Group of uncertain allegiance had been added to the mix.

How could they possibly sleep at night?

They knew full well that a Battle Group on the level of the Red Flame Son was far beyond anything the local warlords of the Ash Soil Star Zone could compare to.

With equal Knight Military Ranks, a member of the Red Flame Son, blessed with Legendary Power, could take on ten opponents. This claim wasn’t an exaggeration; if anything, it was an understatement.

Across the entire Imperial Administrative Region, the only forces capable of contending with the Red Flame Son were the Death Battle Group and the forces of the Imperial City. The only comparable force under their enemies’ control was likely the Savior Battle Group, which wielded the Legendary Power of the Justice Temple Legion.

Furthermore,

within the upper echelons of the Imperial Administrative Region, Reinhardt himself was likely the only one who didn’t know that Sedon had already initiated the second phase of the Vengeful Angels project: the formation of the Vengeful Angels Battle Group.

Unlike traditional Battle Groups, which selected qualified recruits from various training camps and newly established Knight military academies to gradually mold into a main fighting force, the Vengeful Angels’ selection process was highly classified. It recruited only qualified personnel from the veterans and company commanders of existing Battle Groups, who would then enter the Vengeful Angels Battle Group for secret service.

As the most powerful secret armed force within the Administrative Region, the personnel structure of a Vengeance squad was identical to that of the team led by Reinhardt, with the sole addition of an Alchemist.

Their duty was to eradicate and exterminate all threatening Space Aliens and traitors within the Administrative Region, as well as to carry out a wide variety of high-risk missions.

Once the Battle Group was formed, Reinhardt would assume the position of its supreme commander, the Great Tutor of Vengeful, and wield immense power.

This was precisely why Cicero and the other opposition factions had to eliminate Reinhardt.

The Mechanical Order and the Capet Dynasty were involved in designing the Vengeful Angels project, and the opposition’s power was insufficient to stop it from moving forward. Thus, eliminating Reinhardt became the only way they could interfere.

If they could just eliminate Reinhardt, the launch of the second phase of the Vengeful Angels project would be postponed indefinitely.

This was because it would be incredibly difficult to find another qualified candidate for the position of Great Tutor of Vengeful on short notice.

There was no shortage of personally powerful Imperial Knights within the Administrative Region, but they were either Battle Group Leaders or local Knight Warlords. It was nearly impossible to find a powerful figure like Reinhardt—someone whose background was as clean as a blank slate, yet who possessed immense prestige—to fill the role of Great Tutor.

「Meanwhile.」

On the Iberian World.

Unlike the Red Flame Son, who had to accompany the fleet on its three-month patrol, the Battle Sisters of the Holy Rose Order completely ignored the orders from the Administrative Region Military Affairs Department. They contacted the Judgment Court at the first opportunity, broke away from the main force, and returned to Iberia ahead of everyone else.

Inside a secret prison of the Inquisition.

Battle Sister Lu Jia, covered in wounds, was bound to a torture rack.

The Judge and Nun Superior Eleonor stood before the rack. He held a blood-stained whip, and a nearby table was laden with numerous vile-looking potions. "Cultivator Lu Jia," he said coldly, "you only need to testify that Reinhardt accepted a Demon’s blessing.

"I will immediately declare you innocent. Her Excellency, the Nun Superior, will also welcome you back into the Holy Rose, allowing you to return to the light of the Divine Emperor.

"You would do well to consider it carefully."