Chapter 154: Chapter 119: Custom Equipment
Normally, the Empire’s various Battle Groups wouldn’t accept orders that crossed organizational boundaries.
After all, they were so busy they could barely keep up with maintenance on their own Battle Group’s weapons and equipment, let alone take on outside orders.
But what could he do? Geoffroy was one of his Battle Brothers.
Although Master of Casting Romance was a man of few words who rarely socialized, it didn’t mean he was just some tech geek who only understood machinery.
On the contrary, as a three-hundred-year veteran of the Fire Dragon Battle Group, Romance had witnessed far too much nobility and depravity, seen far too many sacrifices and conspiracies.
A young Knight who merited a personal escort from a Battle Group Tutor of the Emperor’s Shield couldn’t possibly be as simple as he seemed. They weren’t just a pair of unremarkable juniors.
Especially since the suspected heretic, the Wizard, was holding a direct order from Grand Governor Sedon himself. The order demanded that the Master of Casting assigned to the job fulfill all of Reinhardt’s and Raphael’s reasonable requests—with an unlimited budget.
After reading the order, Romance’s brow furrowed on his dark, sweat-slickened face. His gaze passed over Geoffroy to rest on Reinhardt. "So you’re the young man who repelled the Demon Prince with a single sword stroke? I’ve heard about what you did in Verne."
The vast, magnificent forge was like a gigantic steel mill.
The metallic din of clanging steel was ceaseless.
Waves of heat washed over them, one after another.
Molten steel bubbled in the crucible, and the dark blue embers of dissipating Witchcraft Technology drifted everywhere in the forge.
Reinhardt was dressed in a simple, traditional brown Ilibyan robe. The massive War Axe on his back and the deceptively plain Divine Emperor’s Fury looked completely out of place with his attire.
"It was careless."
Romance handed the order back to Raphael, his eyes flicking to the War Axe and Iron Sword on Reinhardt’s back. ’The integration of Witchcraft Technology in that War Axe is flawless,’ he thought. ’I wonder which master forged it.’
’I know I couldn’t achieve such perfection.’
’And that Iron Sword...’
He guessed that the Divine Emperor’s Fury might be the legendary Radiant Holy Artifact from Verne, and his analytical gaze, which had been dissecting its Witchcraft Technology, slowly turned to one of awe.
Though his faith was pledged to the God of All Machines, the Emperor’s majesty remained sacred and inviolable in his heart.
Done with the pleasantries, Romance got straight to the point. "Since this is an order from the Grand Governor, I will forge a set of weapons and equipment for you to the highest possible standards."
As he spoke, he turned, retrieved a manual, and handed it to Reinhardt.
He probably suspected that the young Imperial Knight knew next to nothing about the Empire’s labyrinthine equipment system, and that explaining it all would take the entire day.
It was better to just let him read it himself.
Reinhardt took the manual explaining the Empire’s equipment system—or rather, a tome, given its thickness. It chronicled the entire system, from before the Empire’s founding in the Dark Ages all the way to the present day.
’Chaotic’ was the only word Reinhardt could think of to describe it.
The Standard Broadswords and Anti-Magic Steel Armor issued to Imperial Knight Battle Groups were divided into four different levels: Loyalty, Dreadnought, Fortress, and Titan.
Each level had its own detailed specifications and subdivisions.
The Empire’s Knight Battle Groups were generally equipped with inexpensive Loyalty Level Anti-Magic Steel Armor and Knight’s Broadswords, the kind that came without a Power Backpack.
This equipment could barely withstand the Extraordinary Power of an Official Knight below the Four-star Military Rank.
In contrast, the Steel Wings Mobile Combat Team was uniformly equipped with Dreadnought Level gear. This included Power Backpacks and Energy Shields, and their Knight’s Broadswords, enhanced by Witchcraft Technology, could easily pierce the scales of Mixed-blood Dragonfolk.
The next tiers, Fortress Level and Titan Level, were even more powerful. The former could withstand an Extraordinary Power on par with a One-star Military Rank Earth Knight, while the latter could even fend off attacks from a Sky Knight.
The price for such power was steep. In addition to the exorbitant cost of their base materials, both levels of Armor and Broadswords required rare Witchcraft Energy Cores to function.
These power cores were typically reserved for Imperial Knights at the rank of Battle Group Commander, and only then in the most affluent Imperial Knight Battle Groups.
This gear was so expensive that in their day, even Heinrich and Sedon couldn’t afford to be equipped with it.
That showed just how rare it was.
Of course, some Knights could pay out of pocket to swap their Knight’s Broadsword for another weapon type that better suited their combat style. However, for the vast majority of Imperial Knights—who were on campaign year-round and had no personal assets to speak of—the cost of a fully customized suit of armor was financially ruinous.
In addition, Romance picked up a firearm from his workbench—one so large it could be used as a club—and handed it to Reinhardt. "This is a new weapon prototype developed by the Mechanical Order over the last sixty years," he explained.
"In large-scale combat, its kill efficiency is more than ten times that of a Knight’s Broadsword."
Reinhardt was all too familiar with firearms.
Compared to the firearms he knew, the prototype weapon Technician Soldier Romance offered had a technological level comparable to a World War I-era Mosin-Nagant.
However, the weapon’s appearance was a fusion of steampunk and mysticism. It glowed with the light of Witchcraft Technology, making it look exceptionally cool. At this rate of development, and spurred by constant warfare, Reinhardt wouldn’t be surprised if the Mechanical Order produced Witchcraft Technology-infused versions of rockets and cannons within a hundred years.
Of course, he had no need for such prototypical weapons at the moment.
After a thorough discussion with Sergeant Romance about the custom equipment, they finally settled on the style and equipment level.
The raw materials for Titan Level gear were completely controlled by Forging Worlds directly affiliated with the Radiant Holy City, so they had to settle for the next best thing: Fortress Level.
However, without a Witchcraft Energy Core to power it, Fortress Level materials could only perform at a Dreadnought Level effectiveness.
Reinhardt’s new equipment would be a suit of fully enclosed Powerful Anti-Magic Armor.
Foregoing the Knight’s Broadsword, Sergeant Romance instead designed a pair of retractable Sleeve Swords into the armor’s vambraces. The left arm was also fitted with an Energy Shield capable of blocking the Knight Power and attacks of anyone below the Four-star Military Rank.
The color scheme was primarily black with scarlet accents.
The sigil on the pauldrons, suggested by Raphael, was the image of a Vengeful Angel: a blood-stained sword flanked by Angel’s Wings.
That wasn’t all. At Sergeant Romance’s strong insistence, a miniaturized firearm, shaped like a pistol, was fitted to the armor’s right thigh. It was said to be capable of killing a Scaya Dragonfolk Soldier in a single shot.
Raphael’s equipment, on the other hand, was outfitted in the style of a Think Tank.
In addition to a Standard Broadsword and Energy Shield, he received special gauntlets to amplify his Magic and a firearm for self-defense.
Once all the details were settled, they were told the finished equipment would be delivered to Ilibya World in one month.
However, as Reinhardt and the others were preparing to leave, Sergeant Romance gave Reinhardt a meaningful look. "Your Power Backpacks will have a slot reserved for a Witchcraft Energy Core," he said. "The Imperial Administrative Region has none in stock, however."
"But from what I hear, quite a few Wizard Lords in the Ash Soil Star Zone have them."
"Just plug in one of those cores, and your Power Armor will be able to perform at its full, Fortress Level capacity."
