I Aggressively Stack Steel of the Heart in the Knight Order

Even low orbit was still more than a thousand kilometers above the ground.

Jumping from this altitude, you wouldn’t even have time to be splattered into a pulp on impact. The heat generated by air resistance during the high-speed descent was enough to melt steel!

Stearns’s expression changed. He strode to the hatch, his right hand gripping the edge as he looked down.

Seventy-Six sank as if into water, vanishing into thin air right before his eyes. Meanwhile, Reinhardt, completely encased in Power Armor, became like a burning meteor. Propelled by a stream of superheated energy, he roared into the atmosphere of Hiniya World and disappeared from sight.

It was true that Imperial Knights were Transcendents who wielded Mighty Power.

But Stearns had never seen a deployment like this before. It was simply astounding!

As the hatch closed, Raphael walked up behind him and also looked down. He placed a hand on the Second Company Commander’s shoulder and said in a low voice, ”Don’t be surprised. Reinhardt will be fine.”

...

「Two hours earlier.」

Hiniya World. On the Southern Continent, within the four eastern provinces of the Wisian Republic.

The thatched huts and stone-brick houses characteristic of a feudal civilization sent plumes of thick smoke into the sky as they burned in raging flames.

Hundreds of villages and towns had been turned into horrifying cities of the dead, littered with corpses under the Abyss Legion’s invasion.

The Ed Castle Defensive Line.

This temporary defensive line, a series of low brick-and-stone walls stretching across the highlands, was built around the private castle of Baron Ed of the Wisian Republic.

More than thirty thousand Mortal Soldiers, clad in Iron Armor and carrying Swords and Shields, hid behind the line. Some were drinking, while others took deep drags of crudely prepared tobacco—potent enough to choke an ox—rolled in papyrus.

Unfortunately, such moments of rest were all too brief for them.

On the distant slopes, the advance of the Demon Legion made the very earth shake. The sight of the Dark Green Soul Lamps, the symbol of the Commanding Mages, made even the accompanying ’Mages’ turn pale.

Edburg Command Headquarters.

A messenger in light Leather Armor jogged up, pushed open the door, and shouted in a panic, panting for breath, ”My Lord Baron! Lady Lu Jia!

The Demons... the Demons are coming again—!”

Though elderly, Baron Ed’s body was still robust and strong—a testament to a long and distinguished military career.

He was clad in medieval-style Classical Knight’s Heavy Armor, and his well-maintained Longsword was covered in scratches.

Framed by a large brown beard, his expression was grave, lending him an air of great authority.

Hearing the messenger’s report, he looked up and exchanged a glance with Sister Lu Jia, who stood at the other end of the command table. He then turned and strode to the window. In the distance, a terrifying horde of Convicted Demons swarmed over the landscape. Even a man like him felt his heart grow cold at the sight.

Ever since the Demon Army invaded their world, the Emperor of the republic he served had vanished without a trace. Rumor had it the coward was hiding on the ’Suspended Island,’ while other whispers claimed he had already fled Hiniya to seek refuge in the ’Divine Realm.’

Of course.

As a native of Hiniya World, a baron whose Physique and strength were equivalent to a Knight’s Guard, he had been subjected to the Provincial Governor’s long-standing policy of keeping the populace ignorant. He could not possibly comprehend what an Orbital Port was, let alone the Radiant Empire, whose domain spanned a million worlds.

At the same time, a firm and powerful voice was issuing a stream of military orders from the command room.

”On my command, have General Louis take his three hundred Heavy Cavalry and move to the flank on standby.”

”Inform the three Mages with the army. Tell them to hold back the Commanding Mages at all costs. Our soldiers cannot withstand the power of the Soul Lamps.”

”Lord Ed, once the enemy attacks, you will be in charge of coordinating the defensive line and deploying personnel. I will deal with those troublesome Slaughter Demons.”

Upon hearing this, Baron Ed turned. He looked at the young woman standing before the command table—so valiant and heroic, rumored to have fallen to the mortal world from the ’Divine Realm’—and his eyes filled with awe and admiration.

Her black-painted Armor was of a mysterious design he had never seen before. The crimson rose on her white pauldrons was said to be the emblem of the army she served in the ’Divine Realm.’

Her pure white, shoulder-length hair was cut in a crisp, practical style. Her battle-hardened body exuded a beauty of strength, utterly different from any woman he had ever met.

The star-shaped tattoo beneath her right eye was especially striking.

Beyond that, Ed could occasionally feel a faint, almost imperceptible aura from this Battle Sister named Lu Jia, one that was very similar to what he had sensed from the Emperor’s Private Soldiers.

Sister Lu Jia had told him it was the aura of Knight Power.

But Baron Ed could only try to understand.

”As you command, My Lady.”

Baron Ed took his helmet from the table and strode out of the command room.

After he left, Lu Jia detached the Radiant Beacon from her Power Backpack. Its Energy was nearly depleted. She clutched it tightly in her palm, closed her eyes, and knelt on one knee for a brief, pre-battle prayer.

’Divine Emperor, grant me the courage to slay my enemies...’

Her prayer finished, she decisively picked up the Knight’s Broadsword propped against the table and, taking the three members of her Personal Guard—recruits from this world who possessed a faint Knight Talent—rushed to the front lines.

...

BANG—!

”Argh...”

”Soldiers, hold the line—!”

The clash of blades.

Roars of courage.

Screams of death.

War in a feudal world might not have the constant barrage of artillery fire from a main battlefield—where two hours of exposure could risk deafness—but it was no less brutal.

The countless sounds wove together a tapestry of death.