I Aggressively Stack Steel of the Heart in the Knight Order

’Does anyone know what it feels like to have twelve Space Dragon Race ships on your ass? Hmm... now it’s thirteen... You damned Alien! Hold still!’

As the Think Tank of the Vengeance Angel Squad, Raphael’s duty was to lay out the tactics for their retreat, but the ever-silent Combat Priest hadn’t uttered a single word the entire way.

So, the task of planning the retreat fell to Agate, who best understood the Punisher Ship’s performance.

After confirming Seventy-Six’s distance and coordinates from the catacomb entrance, he thought for a moment.

’We should reach the exit in about fifteen minutes. Don’t worry about the pursuers; just get to the evacuation zone on schedule.’

In this urgent race against time, Agate’s retreat plan was brutally simple.

If Seventy-Six could successfully break through the encirclement and reach the evac zone, their escape would then depend on his piloting skills once he took control of the ship.

If Seventy-Six died along the way, they would have to seize a Space Dragon Race ship, find a way to hack it, gain control, and then evacuate Kemola.

This second backup plan was their last chance to escape, and its execution was extremely difficult.

Seizing a Space Dragon Race ship would not only require a great deal of time to hack, but it would also alert the enemy’s mothership that someone was attempting to leave by piloting one of their vessels.

At that point, it wouldn’t be a simple small unit coming after them.

It was a matter of wartime priorities. Unless they were truly cornered, Agate had no desire to risk hacking a Space Dragon Race ship and bringing that kind of fire down on himself.

When Reinhardt and his group took the Teleportation Platform and arrived at the entrance where they had first entered the catacombs, the once-clear entryway was now piled high with the corpses of Space Dragon Race members and Demons, blood flooding the ground!

Reinhardt’s gaze swept past the mountains of corpses and across the vast, magnificent battlefield. Pillars of thick, rolling smoke shot toward the heavens, and dense battle formations of ships streaked across the sky like a swarm of hornets.

Ship-mounted cannons bombarded the ground, erupting in massive fireballs. The sound was deafening!

Two people speaking face-to-face had to shout with all their might just to keep their voices from being drowned out by the artillery fire.

Outside the catacomb exit, three Clan Knights, likely left behind to cover the retreat, were already covered in wounds from the Space Dragon Race’s siege. Their faint life force showed they were a spent force.

At that moment, a Dragon Blood Warrior over three meters tall and covered in black scales charged like a high-speed tank. It leaped over the Space Dragon Race’s Elemental Master squad and landed before the three Knights!

Its sharp twin blades cut them down with irresistible force, slaughtering the three rear-guard Knights in an instant!

Elsewhere, the Demon Legion that had landed on Kemola’s surface let out a sky-shaking roar. Thousands of Slaughter Demons with crimson skin, fleshy wings, and massive bodies formed a tide of death, crashing against the Space Dragon Race’s positions in wave after wave.

The moment Reinhardt and his group appeared at the catacomb entrance, their presence attracted the attention of that Dragon Blood Warrior. At the same time, a hundred-strong Elemental Master Battle Group began to move toward them.

The Space Dragon Race was nothing like the native Scaya Dragon Descendants Reinhardt had encountered before.

This ancient civilization, which had suffered heavy losses yet remained the Radiant Empire’s number one enemy, possessed armies and Transcendents whose combat prowess was in no way inferior to that of the Imperial Knights!

Every Elemental Master was a Transcendent who could rival an Official Knight.

And that Dragon Blood Warrior was a powerful being at the Earth Knight Level!

The Transcendents of the Space Dragon Race had two major systems: Element and Dragon Blood.

Elemental Master, Governor, Origin Incarnation, Supreme Dominator... this series of advancement paths formed the Element system.

Mixed-blood, Pure-blood, Original Bloodline, Void Blood... these paths, which continuously increased the purity of their bloodline’s Mighty Power, formed the Dragon Blood system.

As the Pure-blood Warrior let out a roar, its black scales erupted with the radiant Mighty Power of flowing magma, and it charged toward the Vengeance Angel Squad with twin blades in hand.

Reinhardt raised his axe in his right hand and transmitted a thought via the Mind and Spirit Divine Dao, ’Manon, look after Raphael.’

Agate dropped Nico’s corpse—which he had been carrying this whole time for its great research value—and his Mechanical Eye twitched slightly. He looked up at the sky. The Space Dragon Race was implementing a full blockade of low orbit, and more and more Demon Legion landing beacons were being intercepted outside the atmosphere.

’An hour?’

’Or two?’

The state of the war was changing every second; he couldn’t estimate a definite time. The only thing they could do now was dig in here and resist.

Feeling the Ancient Black Box pulsing like a heart within his chest cavity, Agate summoned his Extraordinary Armament·Thermite Beam Array.

To Kemola, the Ancient Black Box was the very heart of this Tomb World.

But the long-damaged Ancient Black Box could not be exposed to an external environment for too long.

That cunning Witch named Irenia had clearly used his corpse to preserve the Ancient Black Box, while also currying favor with Reinhardt so she could escape the control of Florant and Anatol.

Others might not have understood her little scheme, but Agate, hailing from the Mechanical Order, saw Irenia’s intentions with perfect clarity.

Although he had ’risen from the dead,’ the price...

Under the corrupting influence of the Ancient Black Box’s power, Agate’s Extraordinary Armament became tainted with a large amount of Wizard’s Power, turning it a mix of blue and green. The armament covering his mechanical arm also mutated, growing larger and more destructive.

He stared at the hundred-strong Elemental Master Battle Group approaching in the distance and unleashed a roaring Thermite Beam.

The price of his resurrection was that the Ancient Black Box would remain eternally in his chest. If it were ever removed, his bodily functions would instantly fail, resulting in shock and death.

Furthermore, the terrifying power that had once killed a Wizard Saint, ’Eternal Annihilation,’ would now flow through his blood like a deadly poison until it completely erased his existence.

This was a price far more terrifying than death.

For if he were killed by the power of this Eternal Annihilation, his soul would neither return to the light of the Divine Emperor nor enter the Void Realm, but would instead be utterly annihilated.

Perhaps the only silver lining was that he would, in turn, gain the Extraordinary Power of the Ancient Black Box—a power coveted by countless Transcendents!

But if given the choice, Agate would have rather died in the Tomb Treasure Vault.

BOOM—!

As his Thermite Beam slammed into the Space Dragon Race Battle Group, it crashed against their Frost Element Shield Array, erupting in a terrifying blast of light and heat. The resulting shockwave swept across the land!

In the next moment, Reinhardt’s War Axe clashed with the Pure-blood Warrior’s twin blades.

The collision of Knight Power and absolute physical strength kicked up an appalling pressure wave.

The Dragon Blood Warrior’s reptilian, reddish-brown vertical pupils stared at Reinhardt from close range. Its gaping maw, filled with sharp teeth, twisted into a disdainful sneer.

Then it abruptly opened its mouth, and the power of the Fire Element instantly engulfed Reinhardt!