“These unlucky fellows are certainly doomed,” the Black Moon Count commented with an air of aged wisdom. “These knights nowadays are really not up to par! Far worse than the batch that fought their way out of battles half a century ago. At least, their predecessors wouldn’t make judgments after only one or two exchanges when encountering unfamiliar enemy targets.
Even though those androids might have been nerfed, their strength still surpasses these young knights clad in crest devices.
Reality did prove the Black Moon Count’s judgment correct; the gap in strength was not something ordinary tactics could overcome.
One of the androids simply stared down the dense barrage of the energy cannon, stepped forward, and with a sweep of its hand, met the knight’s light spear with its bare palm. The red annihilation light blade, capable of shattering fortress armor, directly submerged into the android’s palm, its heat instantly dissipating as if it were a direct interface to another dimension.
Though the knight’s expression was hidden by the crest device, their sudden stiffened movement clearly indicated immense shock. However, at such a moment, even a split-second distraction is fatal.
The android had already formed its other hand into an extremely sharp steel cone, thrusting forward like a serpent’s maw, piercing through the soft armor at the neck seam of the crest device. The soft armor here was made of alchemical substance fused with elastic composite materials and zero element, possessing extremely high flexibility and excellent hardness. In a sense, it could withstand a direct hit from a light spear a few times, but now it was easily torn through.
The body encased within the armor instantly slumped to the ground, completely motionless. Perhaps due to the mecha’s encasement, not even a twitch was visible.
Simultaneously, the drill lance, still roaring, struck the transparent energy shield. Immediately, there was a cacophony of crackling electricity, thunder, and scattering sparks. The armor wielding the lance trembled violently, as if electrocuted.
However, it was clear to anyone with discerning eyes that if the knight’s lance could not breach the enemy’s defense, their fate was sealed.
An android raised its arm, forming a cannon muzzle, and unleashed a continuous, dense volley of energy beams onto the knight’s face until its head was blown off.
In mere moments, two lives were lost.
Witnessing this, the young knights’ scalps tingled. These elite scions born from the Empire’s distinguished military families had entered the battlefield with the resolve to shed blood and conquer, but they truly never expected that their fellow knights, who were supposed to be capable of fighting a thousand enemies alone, couldn’t even withstand a single blow before the enemy.
However, they were, after all, top-tier warriors trained professionally. No matter how shocked or fearful, they absolutely could not lose their composure. Or rather, even if they were so terrified they lost the ability to think, their bodies should have reacted correctly by instinct. Thus, the two knights, having lost half their squad members, slammed on the brakes, switched the mecha’s gliding function to reverse mode, attempting to regroup with their comrades behind them.
But at this moment, the androids swung their limbs, formed into sharp blades, and launched a counter-charge. They were like hunting beasts now; once they sensed the target’s fear, they became even more ferocious.
What was more terrifying was that their charge speed far surpassed that of the crest devices retreating using thruster counter-force. The blades in their hands whipped like long whips, slashing toward the knights’ throats. By this point, they had no room left to dodge or block, and their comrades behind them would absolutely be unable to rescue them.
And at this critical moment, the androids’ bodies froze, suspended in mid-air, even the blades formed on their wrists halted halfway.
Their bodies seemed to have been pulled into an independent space where time itself was completely frozen, rendering them unable to move any further.
The shaken knights scrambled back into the crowd, finally regaining a sliver of security. Upon closer inspection, they realized with a shock that the shadows of the leaping androids, cast on the ground, were pinned by two steel needles.
Shadow Binding Technique? No, how could Shadow Binding Technique achieve this level?
Yeger Sobac stared at the steel needles with a slight frown. After all, he was Duke Sadouran’s final disciple and had undergone more than a month of high-intensity training, which naturally included a dose of rote learning in occultism. By now, his understanding of various Psionic Techniques surpassed the average Star Realm Knight.
Colonel Sobac still lacked confidence in his strength and courage, but he had some faith in his test-taking abilities, believing he could be considered a semi-expert in occultism theory. Yet now, he couldn't even discern the principle behind the opponent's technique.
‘I really can’t become a master in the extraordinary fields,’ Sobac thought with mixed emotions, but he still cast a grateful glance at the Black Moon Count.
However, their savior shouted, “Don’t think you can win quickly with firepower and numerical superiority! Guardians and Thrones forward, deploy the wide-area activation shield! Maintain suppressive fire! Try to isolate the enemies and find a way to disrupt their formation! Don’t think you’re fighting clumsy mechanical puppets; treat them as if you’re fighting your own Knight Commanders!”
Yeger Sobac hesitated for barely a moment: “Follow his directive!”
“Sir, he… he’s the Black Moon Count!” the Marchioness’s daughter, Celiru Seretin, couldn’t help but exclaim.
“Yes, a bona fide Imperial Count, he has the authority to issue orders,” Sobac replied.
‘Can it be calculated like that?’ the young lady stared, dumbfounded. Upon serious reflection, she realized that legally speaking, he was indeed a legitimate Imperial Sword Count, registered in the College of Heralds with a coat of arms and a legal annuity account. Regardless of whether all this was due to the Emperor’s whim, law was law.
The young lady paused slightly, then as if understanding something, she became solemn and respectful: “I see! We are not cooperating with a major fugitive of the Empire, but rather executing the orders of an Imperial Count. This way, even if the Prime Minister’s Office and the Royal Council wish to question us, there will be grounds to justify our actions.”
‘Well, that’s not entirely what I meant,’ Sobac thought. ‘It’s just that I’m not only bad at extraordinary cultivation, but I have absolutely no experience in commanding extraordinary combat. A renowned figure like the Black Moon Count should be slightly stronger than me.’
Sobac could only grit his teeth and say in a stiff tone, “We’ll discuss other matters after dealing with these ancient puppets.”
“Understood! We, the glorious Star Realm Knights, should distinguish between gratitude and vengeance!” the Marchioness’s daughter gently tapped her chest and said earnestly, “Rest assured, I will personally handle the report for this operation, leaving out no detail. Even if the Prime Minister’s Office and the Council Elders come to find fault, everyone present here will be your witness!”
‘…Couldn’t you omit some details?’
Just as Sobac was about to think this, the androids, whose shadows were pinned by steel needles, had already unfurled their arm cannons and begun their bombardment.
The barrage fired by the androids was much more rapid than the Empire’s fire support platform, but the knights, who were standing ready, had already activated their active shields. These mental shields, summoned by the knights of the “Guardian” star ring, could automatically intercept and track all malicious attacks. Thus, dozens of energy shields, emitting a white glow, leaped and flickered in the air, forming a dense wall of defense.
The energy entanglement created dazzling halos, obscuring the androids’ shadows on the ground, thus the steel needles lodged in the ground naturally lost their ability to bind their physical forms.
Regaining their mobility, the androids directly crushed the steel needles on the ground and charged towards them again.
Sobac watched, dumbfounded. He found it hard to judge whether these ancient puppets had acted intentionally or by chance. If it was intentional, it could only mean that their combat intelligence surpassed that of most rash knights.
‘What the hell is this, still robots?’
Fortunately, although he had shown a moment of incapacitation, the young lady from the Seretin Marchioness’s family was much calmer. The talented graduate from St. Sorro Medical University, the psionic healer of the “Pure” star ring, took a quick step forward to the front line and raised a warhammer that seemed to be made of transparent crystal.
The crystal warhammer emitted a vibrant green light, enveloping all the knights in the front line in a halo of pulsating cellular vitality.
Following this, the young lady let out a fierce cry: “For the Empire! We fight to the death!”
She had enhanced all the knights and was preparing to have them all thrown into certain death. Of course, since the young lady herself also struck a pose as if she were going with them, the young knights present didn’t feel anything was amiss.
The Black Moon Count silently nodded to himself again, then shook his head. He felt that this knightly young lady from a noble family was somewhat smarter than the two who had just died; at least she had mastered the techniques of “Pure” proficiently and understood that she had to cooperate with her comrades and must not fail in her position. Unfortunately, she still lacked combat experience and was employing conventional tactics.
Fighting this way, these knights should be able to hold on longer, but the outcome would likely be unavoidable.
If it were him, he would definitely fight and retreat while scattering mines and suppressing fire along the way. Taking a closer look, these twenty-odd Star Realm Knights only had a total of three fire support robots and weren’t equipped with any heavy-fire weapons, clearly not keeping up with the trend.
However, although these young people of the Empire seemed rather unintelligent, the Black Moon Count felt that after his many years of navigating the world, he shouldn’t let a bunch of rookies die so easily.
‘Hope the other matters can conclude quickly,’ he thought, ten butterfly darts gripped in his hand, his form disappearing into the shadows woven by the crowd.
Colonel Sobac watched this scene, dumbfounded. He had been observing the Black Moon Count’s actions just moments ago, but he hadn’t even seen how the other party disappeared from his sight.
However, before he could say anything, four ancient androids had already charged up to the shields the knights had set up. The full-scale battle between the two sides then commenced.
The turbulent winds formed by psionic collisions and entanglements roared in Sobac’s comms. Even clad in the sturdy, heavy crest armor, he still felt that his skin, even his muscles, ached from the gale.
‘I can never adapt to this scene in my life, let alone enjoy it like my teacher. Speaking of which, what kind of pervert would enjoy such a scene!’
At the same moment, in a sealed space conceptually close to this ancient ship in classical physics, the colossal silver humanoid monster stood in a void devoid of sight and sound, gazing at the surrounding stars, appearing somewhat at a loss, warily observing the mist-shrouded void.
And Duke Sadouran’s booming laughter echoed through the celestial bodies of this space. Though his laughter still sounded like a duck quacking triumphantly, any sound, as long as it's strong enough to create an air tremor and can be heard from any corner of the world, carries divinity.
Now, this duck-like laughter truly sounded like divine pronouncements from a god in his own creation.
“Hahaha, quack quack quack quack! This is my Myriad Aspects of the Nations! The War God Dharma Aspect is the extension of my spirit and body, and is this universe not also so? Brother Lan, are you willing to experience the feeling of being a true god?”
There was a moment of silence in the space, followed by Lan Jiufeng’s voice slowly replying, “The mortal world, the culmination of which is the Galactic Empire. It is already an arduous struggle to stand out. Yet, Old Brother Sa, you still hope to one day rival the gods?”
“Ahahahaha, human dreams have no limits…”
And with the Duke’s laughter, this colossal silver creature seemed to have discovered something, rapidly turning its body and looking up. But before it could react, it saw countless star halos shimmering in the hazy space, transforming into sharp blades of light, relentlessly piercing into the silver giant’s body.
However, these blades of light, like the main energy cannons of a capital ship, sank into the silver giant as if a sword were thrust into a ball of mercury, causing no damage. On the contrary, this light energy continuously condensed within the giant, slowly forming an increasingly brilliant cluster of light.
The silver giant raised its face. The cross-shaped patterns shone brightly, accentuated by the energy accumulating within. A moment later, intense light erupted from behind the silver giant’s face, quickly forming a light band a hundred meters wide and endlessly long, blasting into the gloomy grey mist.
The grey mist then shattered, transforming from a misty world where only scattered light points could be seen, into a vast universe adorned with suns, moons, and stars. It was as if the light band had directly dispelled chaos.
The silver giant let out a wondrous, sonorous cry, a sound never heard before by the civilized races of this generation, like suppressed earth rumbling or a gale roaring.
7017k