I Aggressively Stack Steel of the Heart in the Knight Order

But faced with Undead Koller of the First Legion, Nelom’s lips moved as if he wanted to retort, but in the end, he chose to remain silent.

Lu Jia watched in silence. In her eyes, these were all great figures—powerful Knights with over a century of service—yet they were bickering like children.

She fell silent.

It wasn’t until Reinhardt spoke, breaking the silence, that the atmosphere on the bridge returned to the matter at hand.

”Are you quite finished?”

It was just a short, rhetorical question.

Urus and Nelom both fell silent. Nelom even lowered his head, feigning interest in the holographic map to hide his embarrassment.

Having quashed their dispute, Reinhardt turned to Koller. ”What’s your assessment?”

Koller considered this for a moment before speaking. ”I believe a forced landing on Cyrenaica is our only option. We must place ourselves in a desperate situation to survive.

”Although this world is deep in rebel territory, an armory of the Ancient Wizard Civilization is buried here.

”Claudius and the Mechanist Cult won’t risk destroying the entire planet just to kill us. They’ll have to send troops to hunt us on the ground. That scenario plays to our advantage, allowing us to buy as much time as possible.

”If we can find that Giant Beacon Nelom mentioned, we can get a message out. Then, whether we call for reinforcements or halt the advance of the two Infantry Legions, the initiative will be ours.”

Koller’s plan aligned perfectly with Reinhardt’s own thinking.

They could, of course, rely on the Avenger Flagship’s superior performance to escape Cyrenaica. But the nearest Net Path entrance was almost two astronomical units away—a journey of over two hundred million kilometers.

Making the journey at conventional speeds would take weeks, if not a full month.

But none of that was important.

As the high command for this counter-insurgency, the Avenger Flagship and everyone aboard could die a glorious death on Cyrenaica. What they could not do was flee and save themselves.

In other words, they were responsible for the lives of the twelve million soldiers from the Administrative Regions.

If the Eleventh Infantry Legion and the Twelfth Infantry Corps were lost on Cyrenaica, even Reinhardt would have no way to answer to Sedon and the Military Affairs Department, let alone face the wives and parents of his soldiers.

Even if millions of infantrymen were lost in a single major war, these soldiers were not machines. They were living, breathing, flesh-and-blood human beings.

Reinhardt gave Koller a slight nod, agreeing to his plan.

He then looked to Urus. ”And what are your thoughts?”

Urus took a deep breath, suppressing his anger. He pointed to the holographic projection and questioned Nelom, ”Do you know the location of the armory and the Giant Beacon?”

Nelom’s brow furrowed. He studied the map for a moment before pointing to a continent near the equator and saying grimly, ”The armory and the Giant Beacon are top secrets of the highest echelons. I never had the clearance to access that information.

”But I often saw Mechanist Cult personnel coming and going from this area.”

Although the area Nelom indicated was tiny on the map, when scaled to the planet itself, it represented a continuous mountain range more than two thousand kilometers across.

It was an area comparable in size to a planetary province capable of supporting four hundred million people.

Having confirmed the general area, Urus finally responded to Reinhardt. ”Sir, once the Avenger Flagship has landed on Cyrenaica, the Silencers and I will head out to find the armory and the Giant Beacon.

”Koller, I need you to establish a Spiritual Energy comms-link between me and the bridge. I’ll notify you the moment I have their exact location.”

For Urus to volunteer for this task meant he had a way to accomplish it. The Legendary Power granted by the Night Demon Legion—the Night Demon’s Blood—was the true source of the abilities that earned him and his Silencers the title of Master of Intelligence.

In other words, the Legendary Power of the Night Demon’s Blood allowed them to use certain ’illicit’ methods to bypass the cause-and-effect of the Real Cosmos to find what they sought.

This was also one of the reasons for Nelom’s mockery of Urus.

These ’illicit’ methods involved borrowing power from Void Demons, and coupled with the Legion’s harsh internal discipline, desertions from the Night Demon Legion were a frequent occurrence.

Aside from the convenience, Urus requested to operate alone because he could not allow outsiders to learn the secrets of the Night Demons. This had always been an ironclad rule of the Night Demon Legion.

Even during the Old Empire Era, the only ones who knew the Night Demon Legion’s secrets were the high command of the Regent Council and the Military Affairs Department, and, at most, the other Lords of the Legions.

Furthermore, these methods were considered somewhat unsavory, especially after the Great Rebellion. Unless it was absolutely necessary, Urus himself was deeply reluctant to use the Legendary Power of the Night Demon’s Blood.

Reinhardt didn’t immediately approve Urus’s tactical request. Instead, he stared silently into his eyes. The unspoken pressure made Urus realize that this Great Tutor of Vengeful trusted him far less than he let on.

However, as a Master of Intelligence who was always sensitive to such things, Urus completely understood Reinhardt’s position.

If the roles were reversed—if they had just stormed the enemy’s stronghold with a horde of pursuers on their tail, and one of his own commanders then requested to venture out alone on a mission—not arresting the man on the spot and interrogating him under torture would be a sign of great mercy and trust. Anyone in that position would be suspicious of his actions.

Even Koller was frowning, his gaze wary.

Urus knew explanations were pointless. Instead, he made a solemn vow to Reinhardt. ”Give me two hours. If I haven’t found the armory and the beacon by then, I will answer with my head.”

After a long moment of staring, Reinhardt said coldly, ”I’ll give you three hours. If I don’t get a response by then, you’d better think long and hard about the consequences before you see me again.”

In the face of Reinhardt’s blatant threat, Urus took a step back. With his three Silent Knights, he knelt solemnly on one knee before Reinhardt and said in a low voice, ”In the name of the Knight’s Oath, a Silencer’s word is his bond.”

At that moment, Lu Jia and Koller stood flanking Reinhardt. Nelom had a hand resting on the command console. The dim white light cast shadows across Reinhardt’s face as he looked down at the kneeling Knights. ”We will hold our position on the Avenger Flagship for three hours,” he said coldly, ”and await good news from the Silencers.

”Rise.”

Then, Reinhardt turned to Lu Jia. ”And you? Do you have anything to add?”

The Battle Sister, for whom this was her first true high-command strategy meeting, took a deep breath. ”I will follow you and fight on Cyrenaica to the death.”

As Lu Jia finished speaking.

Faint blue text from the system suddenly materialized in Reinhardt’s vision.

[Interlude Event V: The Cyrenaica Counter-insurgency]

[Initially, the Military Affairs Department considered this a routine counter-insurgency with a predictable outcome. With the Great Tutor of Vengeful personally leading the campaign, accompanied by two Infantry Legions and the Fourth Fleet, quelling the rebellion was seen as merely a matter of time.

[But when Nelom revealed the Mechanist Cult’s involvement, you, as the Great Tutor of Vengeful, understood all too well that this rebellion was far from the simple affair the Military Affairs Department had envisioned.

[Even with an Ancient Armory as a bargaining chip, the support of the Mechanist Cult never comes without a price.

[In other words, it is highly likely that Claudius is secretly backed by splinter factions within the Capet Dynasty, or perhaps even by Merchant Dynasties from beyond the Administrative Regions.]

[Objective 1: Break the enemy blockade, execute a forced landing on Cyrenaica, seize control of the Giant Beacon, and transmit all gathered intelligence to the Military Affairs Department.]

[Reward: Avenger Armor Upgrade Component·Gift of the Machine God.]