Chapter 435 384: Public Execution, Rendezvous with Nelom

The downpour never stopped.

A damp wind swept across the land, whining through the clusters of buildings.

When Reinhardt flew from the ruins, clutching Atlas's corpse, he hovered in the air above the street.

The fleeing civilians, already packed together, now raised their heads as one, gazing up in awe at the Emperor's Angel poised in the sky above them.

To Mortals, an Emperor's Angel was a sight many would never witness in their entire lifetime.

Or rather, it was only when a situation had deteriorated beyond control, when their entire world faced catastrophic ruin, that they had the chance to witness these Angels of Death who fought for the Emperor.

Undoubtedly.

The raw, overwhelming presence of the towering figure poised above the street did more to maintain order than all the efforts of the local Priests and the Defense Army combined.

The fleeing civilians stopped in their tracks, looking at Reinhardt in terror, completely at a loss.

Even the local nobles, who had been ruthlessly pushing through the crowds, now bowed their heads, daring not make a single move.

Reinhardt hovered above the street, Atlas's corpse in hand. The danger had passed, and his purpose now was to halt the civilians' flight.

He needed to prevent the chaos and congestion from causing unnecessary casualties.

Oftentimes, the power of silence surpasses a thousand words.

Within moments, the chaotic footsteps, shoving, and shouting on the street below were gradually swallowed by the roar of the downpour.

A local Arbitrator, the one closest to Reinhardt, squeezed out of the crowd. He jogged to a spot beneath Reinhardt, saluted, and shouted, "Sir! I am Storm, the Law Enforcement Officer for the Lexington Administrative Region!

I am coordinating the evacuation of the local populace."

The heavy rain soaked the Law Enforcement Officer's dark blue uniform. Water dripped constantly from his service cap, running down his cheeks and forcing him to keep squinting and wiping his face with a sopping wet sleeve.

The sound of the rain drowned out the Law Enforcement Officer's voice. Only the Mortals standing close by could hear what he was saying.

Within Reinhardt's Angel Vision, the insignia on the Law Enforcement Officer's uniform magnified, and text appeared, identifying their origins.

But before he could land and explain the situation to this Law Enforcement Officer, the crowd gathered in the rain erupted in terrified screams!

Because in their line of sight.

The headless corpse held by the Emperor's Angel seemed to come alive. Its limbs twisted and squirmed uncontrollably, its joints bent at unnatural angles, and bizarre fleshy lumps bulged from beneath its skin.

The next second.

Massive tentacles burst forth from its disemboweled torso, spilling out from Atlas's corpse.

A giant crow's head, letting out a soul-piercing shriek, struggled to squeeze its way out of the severed neck!

Seeing this, the local Law Enforcement Officer standing below Reinhardt went deathly pale, his pupils quaking in terror.

'A Demon?!'

He drew his pistol with his right hand and took five quick steps back.

"Sir—!"

The instant Atlas's corpse began to mutate, Reinhardt sensed the demonic aura seeping from it.

'Is this the self-destruct Magic, implanted to prevent these War Armaments from falling into the hands of the Administrative Region?'

Reinhardt acted decisively.

Ignoring the tentacles trying to coil around his Power Armor, he extended his left hand. The Divine Emperor's Fury flew into his grasp, and the Eternal Flame, wreathed in Radiant Power, ignited with a roar.

Under the gaze of tens of thousands of locals, Reinhardt lifted the demonizing corpse as if it were a mere chick and ran his sword straight through the giant crow's head!

Then, the fiercely burning Eternal Flame completely engulfed Atlas's corpse.

In the blink of an eye, it incinerated the Demon hidden within.

After executing the Demon that had tried to burst forth, Reinhardt landed heavily, watched by the Law Enforcement Officer and the Mortals who had witnessed the horrifying scene.

THUD—!

Law Enforcement Officer Storm watched Reinhardt stride toward him. He was so shocked that he remained frozen in place until Reinhardt's towering form stood before him like a mountain.

The average-sized Law Enforcement Officer finally snapped out of it, hastily standing at attention and saluting.

He looked up, excited and fearful, at the Emperor's Angel before him. Rainwater streamed down the surface of the black-painted Power Armor.

Reinhardt wasted no words. "The heretic has been purged," he said coldly. "Terminate the evacuation."

With that said.

He glanced at the ashen remains of the corpse, then turned his head toward the location where Nelom had fallen. He took two steps back, spun around, and his Aikacia Nozzle flared at full power. The azure, high-temperature energy stream instantly vaporized all nearby puddles, propelling his body up until he vanished into the sky above the city.

He left behind the Law Enforcement Officer and the local civilians, their hearts still pounding with lingering fear.

「Fifteen minutes later.」

In a deserted city block, now a field of ruins.

Dead civilians lay in pools of blood or were buried beneath the rubble of collapsed buildings.

Nelom, his Power Armor riddled with holes, had his right foot planted viciously on the woman who had previously ambushed and 'killed' him. His eyes were cruel as he sneered, "...An Extraordinary Armament developed using my Ashen Battle Armor as a prototype?

Tsk.

That Lord Enok of yours certainly has a vivid imagination. I should have him send me royalty payments."

Facing his mockery, Night Goddess Nikos, now just a bisected torso, could do little more than spit up blood, her gaze unfocused. The arrogance and conceit she'd worn when she first boarded the ship were long gone.

Perhaps still not satisfied, Nelom gradually pressed down harder with his right foot. The dying woman's grim expression suddenly twisted, contorting in agony.

Her eyeballs looked as if they were about to burst from their sockets.

CRUNCH—!

Only after Nelom violently crushed Nikos's chest did the woman, who possessed abilities so similar to his own, finally breathe her last.

Achieving victory had not been simple for him.

It had been nowhere near as easy as he made it look.

Just then, he snapped his head up toward the distant sky. A powerful Knightly Aura was rapidly approaching.

Once he recognized the approaching figure, he pulled his foot out of Nikos's chest cavity.

"Taken care of?"

"Taken care of."

After Night Goddess Nikos died, her corpse began to mutate as well. Having learned his lesson from the previous encounter, Reinhardt didn't wait for the Demon hidden inside to break free. The Divine Emperor's Fury flew from his right hand with a piercing shriek, pinning the corpse firmly to the ground.

Nelom stared in shock at the longsword radiating immense Radiant Power. "Emperor's mercy..." he said in disbelief. "I'd heard you possessed a Radiant Holy Artifact, but I didn't think the rumors were true."

Reinhardt didn't answer his question.

"We need to find a way to rendezvous with Koller's group. You used to serve Claudius, so you should know where we can get our hands on a ship around here."

Nelom snorted. "It was a partnership, not fealty. He wasn't worthy of it."

He paused for a moment in thought.

"All the major Military Ports in Cyrenaica are under the control of the rebels and the Mechanist Cult. If we want to get a ship, we'll probably have to steal... no, 'forcefully requisition' one."