I Aggressively Stack Steel of the Heart in the Knight Order

In principle.

The Mechanist Cult and the Empire existed in a state of cooperation. They did not worship the Emperor, nor were they subject to the Imperial Regency Council, possessing their own autonomous systems for taxation and military development.

In other words.

The fact that they could sit as equals with the behemoth that was the Human Empire, even holding the upper hand in negotiations, was because the instruments of violence and high-end military power under Mechanist Cult rule were, compared to the Empire’s, equal, if not superior!

The Defender Army, whose scale was no less than that of the Imperial Infantry Corps.

The Titan Legion.

The Mechanical God Guard.

Far more than any de jure standing or traditional alliance, these three military forces were the true reason the Mechanist Cult could stand as a rival to the Human Empire.

Even with the fires of the Great Rebellion spreading to the Mechanist Cult, and large numbers of tech-heretics declaring independence to side with the Four Gods, the Mechanist Cult still remained a vast, military-industrial empire.

「Thirty minutes ago.」

The Defender Army soldier who died at Urus’s hands and cried out that support was arriving—the support he spoke of was not the thirty-man Knight Battle Group that Frost saw escorting the transport convoy.

But rather, a Glory-Class War Titan from the Titan Legion, which had arrived via airdrop into the underground ruins!

In stark contrast to the victory achieved in the battle for the bridge of the Avenger Flagship.

Empowered by loyalist Witchcraft Technology, this war beast—brimming with the beauty of machinery and steel and standing over fifteen meters tall—was like an insurmountable chasm. With its unparalleled combat power, it utterly crushed the Silencers’ tactical attempt to stall for time!

Three Furnace Cast Relic-Level Annihilator Cannons, the destructive power of each salvo rivaling the ship-borne artillery of the Imperial Navy. Beneath their thunderous roar, swathes of Ancient Wizard High Towers collapsed into roiling flames and thick smoke.

Under the protection of the Glory-Class Annihilation Shield, even Urus, unleashing the full extent of his Four-star Earth Military Rank, was like a Mortal Soldier’s blade striking the steel armor of a war machine.

His all-out strike could only cause faint ripples on the Annihilation Shield’s surface.

Even someone with defenses as formidable as Reinhardt’s would struggle to withstand a direct hit from Cruiser-Level naval artillery. Yet this thing’s Annihilation Shield could completely ignore such bombardments until its energy ran out, a testament to its incredible defensive power.

And then there were the giant Power Swords, over three meters long, fastened to the ends of six flexible mechanical arms. Every swing was like a scythe from the Death God himself.

If it were merely a clumsy steel behemoth, it would pose little threat to the Children of the Night Demon. But this specialized Glory-Class War Titan Reaper was designed from its very inception to handle small-scale, Elite-Level engagements.

Its array of Magic sensors covered every leaf and stone within a ten-kilometer radius.

It sacrificed some of its heavy armor in favor of a lightweight alloy skeleton. Combined with an Imperial Navy Cruiser-Level energy core, its short-range burst speed and reflexes were comparable to those of a Body Technique Imperial Knight.

The Silencers of the Night Demon Legion were never proficient in open combat. Their Knight Power and Special Abilities—even their Legendary Power—all served to enhance their skills in assassination and stealth.

In a pure contest of destructive power from Special Abilities, Urus, the strongest among them, couldn’t even compare to Agate back when Agate was merely at the Official Knight Level.

The difficulty of dealing with such colossal war machines was perhaps one of the few weaknesses of the Body Technique Knights.

Now, facing the Glory-Class War Titan Reaper deployed to the underground ruins by Great Sage Cassio—a killing machine with a composite combat strength equivalent to a Five-star, or even Six-star, Earth Military Rank—Urus knew his fate, and that of his Silencers, was about to be sealed.

Or perhaps, the power of a War-Level Titan was simply beyond what any squad of Imperial Knights could possibly handle!

”Sir! They’re moving the Wizard’s Divine Artifact—”

Before Frost could finish his words, a three-meter-long Power Sword grazed past his helmet.

But it wasn’t over. With an agility that defied logic, the fifteen-meter-tall behemoth used the momentum of its missed swing to launch itself into the air. Before Frost’s horrified eyes, its frame began to spin at high speed.

Its right foot, forged from pure steel, driven by hydraulics, and as massive as a heavy truck, came howling straight for him!

In the moment before impact, Frost’s eyes were wide, filled with horror.

He could feel the arrival of death with absolute clarity.

’This thing...’

His Extraordinary Armament, the Transformer, gave him the ability to create a perfect, seamless disguise of another person. In exchange, however, his combat power was barely half that of Stearns, who also held a Two-star Earth Military Rank.

Although the Night Demon’s Legendary Power, Assassin, greatly enhanced his mobility, Frost had no way to evade this sudden attack from the deceptively clumsy machine!

In other words, from the moment the Harvester Titan launched into the air to the moment it kicked out.

The entire sequence took less than a second.

BOOM—!

The enormous noise of the Titan landing completely drowned out the sound of Frost being sent flying and crashing through a series of Wizard High Towers.

The violent tremors were like an earthquake. Dust and rubble rained from the ceiling as the surging air currents whipped into a gale, kicking up a monstrous cloud of sand and debris!

”[Machine Spirit voice]... Rebel Legion member detected. Initiating Purge Protocol Two. Requesting authorization...”

The cold, robotic, monotone voice that echoed from within the swirling dust was, in that moment, like a true Wind Demon. Urus’s pupils contracted as he violently twisted his head to look in the direction Frost had been sent flying.

He knew the Mechanist Cult’s Titans were difficult to handle, but he never imagined they could be this powerful. This thing was nothing like the clumsy machines he remembered striding across grand battlefields.

No one can witness the death of a Battle Brother and remain indifferent.

Even an ambitious man like Sedon would be moved by the death of his childhood best friend.

But in this moment, the only thing Urus and the other three could do was remain silent and continue to fight!

They gave their all, trying to break free of the War Titan’s obstruction, to breach the enemy’s line, using their very lives to delay the transport of the Wizard’s Divine Artifact.

They would pay any price, even for a single minute’s delay.

And every move they made in this suicidal battle was a fulfillment of their Battle Group’s creed, just as their name implied: the Silencers.

Loyalty is not just empty words.

To keep the secret, and then to die alone in silence.

This was the Silencers’ creed, unchanged in the thousand years since their Battle Group’s founding. It was the highest conviction for which every Silencer fought, and died.

Urus might have wavered once, but now, with the mission and responsibility truly on his shoulders, the ideals of an Imperial Knight and the honor of the Silencer Warlord had long since driven all previous doubts and worries from his mind.

Dodging the Reaper’s Power Sword swing, Urus once again attempted to break through its defenses.

Moving like the wind, his gaze was fixed solely on the distant Wizard’s Divine Artifact.