I Aggressively Stack Steel of the Heart in the Knight Order

CRASH—!

The thud of a heavy impact echoed dully through the underground cavern.

In the vast underground ruins, the Wizard High Tower in the southwest corner was already a pile of rubble. Urus’s body, like a cannonball fired at a terrifying, sound-barrier-breaking speed, tore through dozens of shorter towers at once before violently slamming into a wall.

Vast amounts of dust rained down from the cavern’s ceiling. The vibrations from the charging War Titan—like an unstoppable, impending cataclysm—grew steadily closer in Urus’s senses.

Towers crumbled, and dust flew.

In the dim underground, only a piercing white spotlight cut through the dust, hurtling toward Urus with extreme speed.

After a grueling fifteen-minute battle, even though the Silencer Warlord had given his all, the immense gap in their strength was an insurmountable chasm.

All the assassination techniques he once prided himself on were useless against a steel behemoth like the War Titan. Not only was there no room to employ them, but he couldn’t even shatter its Annihilation Shield.

He had tried to retreat, but he had clearly underestimated the Titan’s weapon loadout.

Even with the boons of Legendary Power·Assassin, this was the first time in battle he’d tasted the desperation of having nowhere to hide. As a result, his most powerful combat techniques were rendered useless, and his strength was greatly diminished.

He lay briefly paralyzed within the massive crater in the wall.

’Urus’s initial fears upon joining the Vengeful Angels were now becoming a reality. Even though he served as a Commander of the Vengeful Angels, and even though he had never been weak, the enemies the Vengeful Angels had to face far surpassed the sum of all the powerful foes he had encountered in his many years of service!’

’Nelom, Sipia...’

’He wasn’t strong enough to defeat any of those powerful enemies.’

’And now, facing Great Sage Cassio’s Elite Specialized War Titan, grievously wounded and in a daze, he felt as if he could hear death calling to him.’

’Ever since the Night Demon Legion started the rebellion and the Silencers were devastated, ever since he personally witnessed their Battle Group Leader die in the uprising—Urus had already died once back then.’

’The only reason he kept fighting wasn’t for some noble ideal of a Knight or for the truth of the Empire. He just wanted to wash the ”traitor” label off the Silencers and, in the end, die as one who was loyal.’

’He knew perfectly well that if he couldn’t break the shackles of an Earth Knight and ascend to a Sky Knight by mastering the ”Seed of the Extraordinary,” then one day, under the influence of the corrupting Night Demon’s Power, his soul would irrevocably fall to darkness.’

’All Silencers were the same.’

’Three years ago, he had even personally executed six of his Battle Brothers who, their souls tainted, had actively sought death.’

’This irreversible betrayal happening to the Silencers, he called it the Darkness of the Fallen Night—just like the Night Demon rebellion on the cruiser, it was cruel, bloody, and utterly lightless.’

’He knew the real reason Grand Governor Sedon distrusted them, and it had little to do with politics.’

’The Grand Governor and his Death Battle Group had also come from a Rebel Legion, but they didn’t have this problem.’

’The Seventh Group Army had a loose structure, and while it lacked the buffs of a Legendary Power, that also meant it wasn’t constrained by one.’

’The only way out was if he, or a more powerful Imperial Knight, bestowed upon them a new Legendary Power to suppress the Seed of Corruption, a ticking bomb buried inside every Silencer.’

’Unfortunately, the chance of such a miracle was slim to none.’

’If his death in battle could earn the Silencers a moment of acceptance from the Lord of Vengeful and the Grand Governor, winning them a measure of glory, perhaps that was the best ending he could hope for.’

Urus raised his head.

Through his blurry vision, amidst the roiling dust and smoke, he vaguely saw a terrifying black shadow that looked like a true demon. The Titan’s piercing white searchlight rose and fell with its movements.

No...

Urus spat out a mouthful of fresh blood. His caved-in Chest Armor had already snapped most of his ribs, but he still gritted his teeth, struggling to pull himself out of the crater in the wall.

His eyes became vicious and cruel once more, as if he were still that Child of the Night Demon who walked in darkness to serve the light.

’He refused to die so easily at the hands of a traitor.’

’Even if he died, he would use every means at his disposal to grievously wound this damned War Titan and make the rebel Great Sage pay a heavy price!’

’He knew full well what immense pressure this thing would exert on the Vengeful Angels landing in Cyrenaica. Seizing the Wizard’s Divine Artifact was an unrealistic goal...’

’...but grievously wounding this War Titan was something he was fully capable of, provided he was willing to pay any price.’

’It was just as the Lord of Vengeful had said in a brief speech on the command bridge before the landing: Let my broken body become a raging fire to incinerate every last enemy in this world.’

’In that moment, Urus completely understood the true meaning of those words: If justice is on our side, then all enemies in this world must pay the price for their actions!’

’As Vengeful Angels, they would fight on, no matter the cost, even if it meant burning away everything, until their enemies paid a painful price they could not possibly bear!’

’Great Sage Cassio betrayed the Imperial Administrative Region and killed his Battle Brothers.’

’His duty was to follow the path laid out by the Lord of Vengeful and make the traitor Casio pay—even if it cost him his life!’

’Even if it was only to sever one of the War Titan’s arms, or to shatter a layer of its hull.’

’He would not stop fighting until death itself claimed him.’