Chapter 165: Chapter 130: That Imperial Knight Is Too Arrogant; Mission Complete
「One day later.」
「Baze World.」
This world was once covered in volcanoes, its air thick with deadly poison, and its ecological conditions incredibly harsh. But after three hundred years of terraforming under Grand Lord Kles, it has been completely transformed into a habitable world with a pleasant climate.
And so, the citizens of Baze World revered Grand Lord Kles as their savior.
The Three-dimensional City of Cardas.
This massive metropolis, built upon Baze World’s tallest volcano, rivaled the Granada Metropolitan Area on Iberian World in both scale and splendor.
Grand Steel Bridge Corridors connected the city’s various districts, and vertical shafts ran straight to the mountain’s peak, allowing even the poorest Lower City District to enjoy the precious sunlight.
The Lord’s Palace, located at the city’s highest point.
After listening to his subordinate’s report, Grand Lord Kles’s handsome, impeccably-maintained face twisted into a livid expression.
"Are you telling me that people from the Imperial Administrative Region not only slipped into Rebino World without a trace, but also kidnapped one of my Grand Interrogators?"
The Clerk delivering the report broke out in a cold sweat. He kept his head bowed, not daring to even breathe too loudly.
Kles’s posture was exceptionally straight. His right hand was covered in all manner of ornate rings, and his crimson formal wear was perfectly crisp, without a single wrinkle.
The Red-Eyed Crow perched on his shoulder tilted its head, quietly staring at the holographic projection transmitted from Rebino World.
It showed an Imperial Knight, his body shrouded in a dark purple, living substance. He moved as if through uncontested territory, slaughtering over a hundred Conqueror Knights before abducting the Grand Interrogator—a Master Level, Tier One Mage—in full view of everyone.
What he found most unacceptable was that the enemy, with support from reinforcements, had brazenly entered planetary orbit and vanished without a trace, right under their very noses.
It was an absolute, utter humiliation!
After watching the footage, it wasn’t just the reporting Clerk who was drenched in sweat. The other local Governors, who had been holding a small meeting in the Lord’s Palace, were utterly enraged.
That Imperial Knight was simply too arrogant!
Infiltrating Rebino World to assassinate a Provincial Governor would have been one thing, but to then dare charge into a Conqueror Battle Group and attempt to abduct a Grand Interrogator in public?!
The most infuriating part was that the Imperial Knight not only dared to try, but he had actually succeeded.
"Grand Lord Kles! We must find out who that Imperial Knight in the footage is and kill him!"
"This is a provocation and a declaration of war against Baze World and against you, Your Lordship! We can’t just let him go!"
But then, a dark, formless Extraordinary Power emanated from Kles. It twisted all the light entering the palace, making even space-time itself ripple and warp like uneven glass.
The outraged assembly in the palace instantly fell silent.
Kles stared at the man’s silhouette in the footage, his expression growing ever more sinister.
’So many years ago, during the Battle of Verne, I had the chance to kill Reinhardt,’ he thought. ’Back then, if he hadn’t possessed a Radiant Holy Artifact, he wouldn’t have even registered as an ant in my eyes.’
’And that famed Battle of Verne on Iberian World? In the grand scheme of the Ash Soil Star Zone, which spans over two hundred light-years, it was as insignificant as a speck of dust.’
’It’s like how a normal person wouldn’t use a Star Destroyer Cannon to deal with a colony of ants.’
’If it weren’t for that fool, the Thousand-Change Monarch, swearing up and down that everything was part of his plan, I should have intervened personally, taken Verne, and killed that unpredictable Imperial Knight, Reinhardt.’
’And that traitor, Stein... Even now, the memory makes my teeth ache with hatred. I wish I could drag both Stein and Reinhardt back here right now, grind their bones to dust, and stuff their souls into a Soul Lamp to burn for ten thousand years!’
Kles never imagined that Stein, having already betrayed the Empire and the Radiant Divine Emperor, would dare to betray him and the Formless Divine Monarch as well!
After a moment of deathly silence, the light in the Lord’s Palace returned to normal.
Grand Lord Kles turned and said coolly, "You have all seen the situation. Notify the Infiltrator Council. That Knight in the footage... I want him captured alive."
From his high platform of polished obsidian, Grand Lord Kles’s gaze was imperious and disdainful, like that of a true monarch.
Judged solely on his status, position, and numerous achievements, Kles was indeed worthy of the titles "Monarch of Baze" and "Lord of a Hundred Worlds."
But those things alone were far from enough to rule a hundred worlds and unite the local warlords and Governors, all of whom harbored their own ulterior motives.
For beneath all that dazzling prestige, he was also a Master Level, Tier Three Mage.
This was a terrifying existence whose Mighty Power was so immense that he could traverse the Cosmic Net Path in a body of mere flesh and blood, a being powerful enough to stand as an equal to a Six-star Military Rank Sky Knight!
In the Ash Soil Star Zone, the only power capable of contending with him was the Cardinal Archbishop of the Secret Order.
Even Sedon, who had already ascended to the rank of Sky Knight, was not qualified to face the full might of Grand Lord Kles’s Wizard’s Power.
...
「Meanwhile.」
「Onboard the Punisher Ship.」
Whether it was Emperor’s Shield Knight Manon, Advanced Technical Soldier Agate, or even Seventy-Six, their attitudes toward Reinhardt had all undergone a subtle change.
Because now, they were beginning to understand.
They understood why this mission, a plan with a Legendary Level security clearance, was codenamed: Vengeful Angels.
It wasn’t merely because "Vengeful Angel" was the noble title bestowed upon Reinhardt by the people and the Defense Army of Verne World, nor was it just because it was the supreme legend Combat Priest Raphael had written into the Angel Holy Scripture.
It was because Reinhardt’s actions were just as the Angel Holy Scripture described: He was the dark reflection of the Radiant Angels, the incarnation of the Empire’s fury, the punishment and slaughter visited upon traitors by the great Divine Emperor.
He had single-handedly broken into a thousand-strong Knight Battle Group, not only snatching away the protected Grand Interrogator—a man who wielded the power of a Tier One Mage—but had even slaughtered a hundred Knights right under the nose of Grand Lord Kles’s Legion!
If they had joined the Vengeful Angels mission and accepted Reinhardt’s leadership purely because it was an order from the Grand Governor, Sky Knight Sedon...
...then now, they held no more reservations about him.
This was especially true for Seventy-Six, who was either silent as a stone or spoke with a biting, passive-aggressive tone. The traditions of the Assassin Court dictated that he only accept leadership from those stronger than himself.
And when it came to Reinhardt’s strength, he now had no objections.
’Those two Provincial Governors who were with the Grand Interrogator would have been an extremely tricky problem for me to handle without alerting the enemy,’ he thought.
’But Reinhardt completed the assassination with the simplest method. No... could you even call that an assassination? It was more like he brazenly charged in and took what he wanted by force.’
Raphael sat cross-legged before the Grand Interrogator. Reinhardt had already torn out the man’s tongue and hacked off his limbs, leaving him little more than a living torso. Raphael placed a hand on the prisoner’s forehead, carefully searching his mind for useful intelligence.
He continued his search until, once again, a particular term appeared in the Grand Interrogator’s memories: Saint’s Remains.
