I Aggressively Stack Steel of the Heart in the Knight Order

Reinhardt didn’t answer Irenia’s question.

He walked straight past her, under the Witch’s helpless and desperate gaze.

”Agate, where are Matthias and Manon?”

After their Telepathy failed, Reinhardt had been busy fighting Nico. He knew Florant had captured Raphael and that the other two had given chase, but with the lack of real-time communication, they had lost contact not only with Matthias and Manon but also with Seventy-Six, who was outside the Kemola Tomb Complex.

Right now, control of the Punisher Ship was still in Seventy-Six’s hands.

Whether he chose to retreat early alone or died at the hands of the Space Dragon Race and the Demons, either outcome would be a catastrophe for the entire Vengeance Angel Squad.

In fact, after Agate handed over control of the ship, the immense responsibility of whether any of them would get out alive rested entirely on Seventy-Six’s shoulders.

Strictly speaking, Agate had not come back from the dead.

The damaged Ancient Black Box and Irenia didn’t possess that kind of power either.

If he were an ordinary Imperial Knight whose heart had been destroyed, no one could have saved him unless the Emperor himself had manifested or an Eternal Knight of the Empire had descended upon this place.

But Agate, hailing from the Mechanical Order with a body modified through Alchemy, had another set of mechanical heart and lungs made from Witchcraft Technology to power his mechanical arms, in addition to his biological heart.

In other words, Agate possessed two independent cardiopulmonary systems.

What Irenia did was use the power of the Ancient Black Box to stitch his wounds and use the device as a substitute for his biological heart, reactivating his mechanical one.

This was also why she had been in such a desperate hurry to take the Ancient Black Box.

Even though his mechanical heart could sustain his life, if too much time passed and severe brain death occurred, even she wouldn’t have been able to save Agate.

Even so, the experience of ’coming back from the dead’ had still caused some confusion in Agate’s memory, so much so that he clutched his Faith Pendant and prayed like a new recruit for a long while.

Only when Reinhardt asked about the other two was this part of his memory reactivated.

Agate’s Mechanical Eye constricted slightly. Without pausing to answer, he broke into a sprint and ran toward the corridor outside the Tomb Treasure Vault.

Because Matthias was still kneeling motionless at the corner at the far end of the corridor.

And from deeper in the corridor, Manon’s roars could no longer be heard.

It was the first time Reinhardt had ever seen Agate so flustered. Realizing the gravity of the situation, he frowned and chased after him.

The dim light of the Tomb Treasure Vault fell upon Irenia.

The surrounding ruins resembled the apocalypse. Dust motes drifted endlessly in the light, falling on her shoulders like a fine rain.

She simply stood there and took out a Ruby Brooch that had been with her for twenty years. It was a gift from the most important person in her life, given to her on the day of her coming-of-age ceremony.

’Father...’

She gently tightened her grip on the brooch and took a deep breath.

Just as she was about to leave the Tomb Treasure Vault and find another chance to escape Kemola.

A cold voice rang out from nearby.

”What are you waiting for?”

Irenia turned to look behind her.

Reinhardt, the Flame of Blood Fury and Morphic Armor now faded, stood at the exit of the Tomb Treasure Vault. A crimson mist from his Destruction Force Field still swirled around the surface of his Power Armor.

She froze for a moment.

She gave Reinhardt a deep look, then clenched her brooch and hurried after him.

On the way, Reinhardt walked beside her, his voice hoarse and low, devoid of any emotional fluctuation.

”If you want to leave Kemola, then help me find Florant. If Raphael is dead and we lose our Telepathy link, none of us will get off Kemola.”

Irenia frowned.

”You don’t have control of the ship?”

”The Space Dragon Race found the Punisher we hid in the rainforest.”

The two of them stopped beside Matthias.

Agate had inserted several extremely fine probes into Matthias’s spine. His voice was cold and mechanical. ”His soul was hit by a Mind Storm. He’s alive, but if we don’t...”

He had been about to say that Matthias might fall into a permanent coma.

But before he could finish, Irenia knelt in front of Matthias. Placing a hand on the probes Agate had inserted into his spinal nerves, she said in a low voice, ”I’ve studied Florant’s Spiritual Power for a long time.

Sensory deprivation is his most common tactic.”

As she spoke, a brilliant light, like that of distant stars, erupted in Irenia’s eyes. A web of Spiritual Power traveled along the probes and into Matthias’s nervous system.

Agate didn’t seem surprised by this and made no move to stop her. Instead, after a moment of silence, he said, ”Death Star Bloodline... No wonder you’re so familiar with the structure of the Kemola Tomb Complex.”

Not to be outdone, Irenia retorted, ”To have access to this knowledge, your rank in the Mechanical Order must not be low.”

Out of principle and secrecy, Agate never spoke a word about the Mechanical Order.

To this day, aside from knowing he was an Advanced Technical Soldier, Reinhardt and the others knew nothing about his history with the Mechanical Order.

At that moment, Matthias’s fingers began to twitch slightly. Agate said coolly, ”Forger of Tomb Worlds, Keeper of Secrets of the World of the Dead... you should be grateful you haven’t been caught by the Judgement Court and the Mechanical Order.”

Irenia let out a hostile snort and said no more.

A moment later, Matthias gradually regained consciousness. The first thing he did upon waking was to wrench free from the probes and press his Knight’s Broadsword to Irenia’s neck.

His breathing was exceptionally ragged.

Irenia, however, was completely unfazed. She shot Matthias a frosty glance. ”Your soul is severely damaged. You will need a long time to recuperate.”

For Matthias, having his soul grievously wounded and his five senses sealed away was an experience no different from dying and coming back to life.

Although he wasn’t entirely clear on the current situation, seeing Reinhardt standing nearby, he slowly withdrew his Broadsword.

When they found Manon, his condition was extremely similar to Matthias’s; he was lying on the ground in a deep coma.

After Irenia woke Manon, she looked up, staring in the direction Florant had fled. ”It seems that bastard Florant was badly injured,” she said coldly. ”If he were at his full strength, there’s no way the two of you could have survived his Spiritual Storm.”

At this, she snorted and said to Reinhardt, ”I know where he is. Follow me.”

「At the same time.」

Ghostly blue text from the system appeared in Reinhardt’s vision.

[Interlude Event III: Escape from Kemola.]

[The Space Dragon Race has already established a foothold on the surface of Kemola. To prevent the Demon Legion from landing, these powerful Alien Races will complete their blockade of the Kemola Planet’s orbit in two hours.]

[You have only one mission: Find Raphael, re-establish contact with Seventy-Six, break through the Space Dragon Race’s blockade, and escape Kemola. May the God of All Machines protect you.]

[Event Completion Reward: Weapon and Equipment Upgrade Components.]

[No true warrior would refuse a powerful set of equipment... What?! Your Power Armor and weapons are still at the most basic factory-issue level?!]