I Aggressively Stack Steel of the Heart in the Knight Order

Reinhardt, you son of a bitch—!

Didn’t you say you’d let me go?

Before he could even rejoice, the exploding engine and damaged hull of the now-uncontrollable Assault Boat struck like a blow, jolting Sipia from the secret delight of his narrow escape.

Under the fire of the Living Bombs, the surface of his Dissolving Battle Armor blistered and bubbled. He desperately gripped the control stick as high-temperature flames and thick smoke filled the cabin, obscuring his vision.

Sipia swore an oath!

If he could just survive this crash, he would kill... he would definitely...

Sipia took a deep breath. The intense pain in his chest was draining his life with every second, and this very pain was a constant reminder of the monster on the Avenger Flagship from whom he had just wrested his life back.

That terrifying person, bathed in Blood Flame, like a Demon emerging from the Dark Abyss.

Thinking of this,

Sipia had a change of heart. ’Compared to revenge and saving face, my own life and enjoying it are much more important. If I’m dead, what’s the point of a future? What’s the point of dignity?’

’Besides, Reinhardt surely thinks I died in this Assault Boat. As long as I don’t get involved in the rebellion and find a place to lay low, that madman definitely won’t keep hunting me.’

With his plan set, Sipia once again activated his Domain Power: Optimal Solution.

In an instant, a complete suit of Power Armor, constructed purely from Knight Power and emanating a black aura, replaced the Raptor Flying Bag and enveloped his body.

This was the last of his strength, used while heavily injured and utterly exhausted.

Extraordinary Armament: Shield Wall Power Armor.

It had only one Special Ability: It could take a beating and survive a fall!

...

「Elsewhere.」

It wasn’t that Reinhardt had shown mercy or accepted Sipia’s pleas.

By now, he was already tens of kilometers away from the Avenger Flagship.

This wasn’t Kemola’s atmosphere, nor was it an ordinary ground battle.

If not for the relative velocity he carried from leaving the ship, trying to catch a starship—which could easily reach speeds of tens of thousands of kilometers per hour—with the Aikacia Nozzle’s twice-sonic speed would have been nothing but a dream.

After returning to the ship, Reinhardt stood at the breach in the hangar bay, axe in one hand.

The atmosphere rushing out of the Avenger Flagship whistled past him. Despite the dense barrage of the ship’s cannons, hundreds of boarding Assault Boats fearlessly swarmed toward them.

Every second, ships erupted into fireballs under the bombardment, their shattered hulls crashing like space junk against the Zeka Energy Shield and causing ripples of ethereal blue.

As the Avenger Flagship sped onward, the verdant planet of Cyrenaica grew steadily larger in Reinhardt’s sight, its swirling atmosphere and oceans filling his view.

The tiny point of light plummeting toward the planet was the ship Sipia had used to escape. All Reinhardt could do now was unleash a barrage of Living Bombs in an attempt to finish him off.

Whether Sipia would survive or not was now a matter of luck.

Of all the enemies he had ever faced, aside from the Traitor Stein, this traitor Sipia was probably the fastest to flee and the most durable.

Augmented by Blood Fury Empire technology, his Body Techniques delivered blows that no ordinary Imperial Knight could withstand. Even Reinhardt was surprised that two consecutive powerful attacks had failed to kill the man.

’Hopefully, he’ll die from the Living Bomb bombardment or be killed in the crash on Cyrenaica’s surface.’

Letting an enemy escape like this wasn’t Reinhardt’s style, but with war imminent, he couldn’t abandon the Avenger Flagship and disregard the safety of his crew for the sake of personal revenge.

Even so, the moment he returned to the hangar, Koller’s reprimand reached his ears.

Because a Spiritual Tide blanketed the entire Cyrenaica system, Koller could clearly sense that Reinhardt’s Spiritual Energy signature had left the ship and vanished into the void.

For a moment, the thousand-year-old veteran had even thought the rebels had abducted their leader.

When Reinhardt finally returned, Koller could no longer contain his fury. ”Lord Reinhardt—! Have you forgotten your duty? Forgotten your responsibilities as Great Tutor?!

With no Spiritual Energy link, if something had happened to you out there, how would I have explained myself to the Grand Governor? To the rest of the Vengeful Angels?!

For the Divine Emperor’s sake, you are the most reckless Battle Group Leader I have ever served! Utterly unreasonable—!”

He had served in the Imperial Army for so long, but today was a real eye-opener. A Battle Group Leader personally chasing an enemy, jumping onto their Assault Boat, and pursuing them all the way out into open space.

Even though Imperial Knights wielded Extraordinary Power, in the vastness of the Cosmos, their strength was as insignificant as an ant’s when faced with the unforgiving laws of physics.

Once they lost their relative velocity from the ship and had no real-time Spiritual Energy link...

The consequences were so severe that Koller didn’t dare to imagine them!

On the grand scale of the Cosmos, finding a single person, even within just one star system, was a million times harder than finding a needle in a haystack!

In other words, if Reinhardt were to become separated from the Avenger Ship, he would essentially be waiting to die.

As a Commander of Vengeful and one of the Great Tutor’s Adjutants, how could he not be furious?

If Reinhardt weren’t his superior, he would have ensured there was severe punishment for this after the fact!

As Koller continued to rage, Urus’s voice sounded in Reinhardt’s ear. ”Sir, the second wave of boarders has broken through the blockade and entered the elevator shafts.

They’re led by three Earth Knights, with ten Guard Knights and six Technician Soldiers.

ETA to the corridor outside the bridge is one minute. Nelom is stationed there.”

Reinhardt ignored Koller’s tirade and asked coldly, ”Koller, how long until we make landfall on Cyrenaica?”

After a moment of silence,

”Approximately fifty standard minutes to reach the outermost layer of Cyrenaica’s atmosphere. I’m worried they’ve deployed a large number of anti-air cannons on the surface.

The Technician Priests’ capacity is limited, and the power output for the Zeka Energy Shield is very low. If Claudius fails to capture the ship and grows desperate as we approach Cyrenaica, the situation could become extremely unfavorable for us.”

In any war, the firepower and destructive capability of ground-based weapons will always exceed that of ship-based ones.

This is especially true since Claudius has access to an Ancient Armory and is supported by the Mechanical Order. When the time comes, the situation will only be worse.

But as it stood, they had no other choice; landing on Cyrenaica was their only option.

Although Koller didn’t say it aloud, the implication was clear: if the situation truly escalated to that point, they would be forced to abandon the Avenger Flagship and sacrifice the non-combat personnel within the command structure.

If the Avenger Flagship were to crash in Cyrenaica’s atmosphere,

the only ones likely to survive would be the powerful Imperial Knights like Reinhardt.