Chapter 372 336: The Terror of the Infiltrator

Attack on Lundnia World, Holy City Standard Time, 06:47.

The Vengeful Angels' first war since their expansion—a surprise raid and rescue mission on a secret stronghold belonging to the Rune Faction Judges of Blue Rock Island—came to a swift and devastating conclusion.

They must have been tipped off.

Urus had scoured the entire secret prison. Throughout the vast City of Repentance, everyone of importance was gone; aside from the inmates and the Mortals who worked there, all mid- to high-level personnel had long since vanished.

Even all traces of the unauthorized sacrifices performed by the Rune Faction Judges of Blue Rock Island, along with the evidence of the vile creations they had hoarded, had been completely erased from the secret prison.

When it came to intelligence-gathering of this caliber, Urus could think of no one else responsible but the Infiltrator Council.

It seemed these lunatics, radical to the point of madness, must have been cooperating extensively with the Infiltrator Council behind the scenes.

...

The Holy Judgment Arc, Holy Judgment Cathedral.

The smoke from the naval bombardment had yet to clear. The ground was riddled with craters—a vast expanse of scorched earth littered with bodies.

The once magnificent Holy Judgment Cathedral, which had also been the Holy Judgment Arc's most formidable military fortress, was now nothing but shattered ruins.

The intensity of modern warfare had long surpassed the clashes of Sword and Shield and cavalry from a millennium ago.

Even compared to the war Reinhardt had fought in at Grillers more than two decades ago, weaponry and fire support systems had already completed their foundational development and begun to grow exponentially, iterating to a terrifying new level.

Thanks to the Mechanical Order's ceaseless excavations of Ancient Wizard Civilization ruins, weapons that only a few battalions within the main Infantry Legions were qualified to wield during the Old Empire Era were now commonplace. Mass production had begun three years ago in the Imperial Administrative Regions, and they were now being deployed in batches to the major Infantry Legions.

Against a traditional infantry assault, the Holy Judgment Cathedral would have undoubtedly been a terrifying Fortress.

But now, facing the naval bombardment of the Third Fleet, the Holy Judgment Arc was hopelessly outmatched, lacking any ground-based anti-air weaponry. Coupled with the relentless assault from the Red Flame Son and the Vengeful Angels Second Company, its stubborn resistance was brief. In less than an hour and a half, the cathedral that had stood on the Lundnia World for a millennium was completely breached.

Stearns not only captured the commander of the Judgment Court's private army alive but also nabbed a disguised Infiltrator attempting to flee.

After handing things over to the relieving Ninth Infantry Corps, he immediately boarded a vessel and returned to the Avenger Flagship.

...

The gate to the bridge hissed open with a release of pressurized steam.

Power Boots clanked crisply against the steel deck.

"Lord Reinhardt—! Lord Urus, look what I caught outside the Holy Judgment Cathedral!"

His voice preceded him.

Stearns's coarse voice was exceptionally booming.

After stepping onto the bridge, he threw the two captives he held in each hand to the floor. Then he removed his Full Coverage Helmet, the grin on his face harder to suppress than the kick from a heavy-recoil Explosive Arrow Gun.

"Haha, this idiot disguised himself as a corpse, trying to slip past right under my nose. But I smelled the Demon stench on him from a mile away."

Seated on a bench, Lu Jia was draped in a dark brown military greatcoat that Reinhardt had 'borrowed' from the commander of the Ninth Legion. She held a cup of hot tea in her hands, a rare treasure amidst a war.

She looked up.

The look in her eyes—once so bright it seemed to shine with the light of faith as she charged fearlessly forward—had gradually become more subdued.

One could say it was a sign of her maturing from a new recruit; or perhaps, while the hardship and betrayal had solidified her faith, they had also changed the way she looked at the world.

Although she had been interrogated under torture in the prison, Lu Jia was still a Battle Sister possessing a Knightly Physique, and her powers of recovery were far beyond what any Mortal could compare to.

Besides, the harm from these flesh wounds was nothing compared to the vile potion Judge Chadwick had originally used on her.

As for Reinhardt.

Reality had confirmed what she'd suspected when they first met: this man was clearly no ordinary Imperial Knight.

Even though no one had ever mentioned it to her, she had still heard the title 'Great Tutor of Vengeful'—a designation symbolizing supreme authority and martial might.

As for the captured commander of the private army and the Infiltrator.

As mere Mortals, they sat on the ground and looked up in absolute terror at the Imperial Knights who had gathered around them. The veterans' battle-hardened, iron-blooded aura became a tangible pressure, crushing the prisoners until they could barely breathe.

The commander of the private army still put up some resistance, shouting with a bluster that belied his fear, "I serve Lord Chadwick! I serve the Inquisition! You warlords who have betrayed the Divine Emperor! If you don't want to die, then have your... AHH—!"

He didn't get to finish his sentence.

Urus had already seized him by the neck, hauling him up from the floor.

"Chadwick is already on his way to face judgment. And so are you, soldier."

The Infiltrator, on the other hand, was on his knees, begging incessantly for mercy. His mouth overflowed with praise for the Divine Emperor, hoping the great Emperor's Angels would spare him. He claimed to be just a pitiful man misled by heretics, an honest-to-goodness local farmer.

"They're holding my wife and daughter hostage, my lord! I was forced to..."

This pitiful wretch also failed to finish his sentence. At a signal from Urus, a Silent Knight strode forward, yanked the man to his feet, and gagged him.

Once the two captives were secured.

Urus looked at Stearns and admonished in a grave tone, "Your actions were too reckless, Second Company Commander. The Infiltrator Council is not something your abilities are equipped to handle."

"If there is a next time, request support from the Avenger Flagship or the nearest Silencer immediately. Understood?"

Stearns had been hoping to be commended, but instead, he received a reprimand from his superior. Of course he felt indignant, but he couldn't act on it in the face of authority.

After all, Urus was just a commander who'd been dropped in from above. He wasn't Reinhardt or Sedon, men Stearns would obey unconditionally.

Their cooperation within the Vengeful Angels was a matter of duty and mission, nothing more.

But Stearns's subtle shifts in expression did not escape Urus's notice.

For the sake of unity within the Vengeful Angels, and to prevent Stearns from holding a grudge over the incident, Urus paused for a moment, then signaled one of his Silencers to act.

The Silencer understood the unspoken command.

Then, as the farmer-like Infiltrator screamed, the Silent Knight ignored his pitiful act. With a short blade, he forcibly dug a hideous, terrifying, centipede-like brain parasite out from the back of the Mortal's skull—a Mortal who had been controlled by a Void Divine Artifact.

Urus held the brain parasite in his hand, meeting Stearns's shocked and disbelieving gaze. "The first rule of dealing with the Infiltrator Council," he explained, "is to keep your distance. Then, believe nothing you see or hear."

"The power of a Void Divine Artifact is far more terrifying than you can imagine."

"Have you ever stopped to consider how you, a man with no Spiritual Talent, were able to sense the Demonic aura coming from this Infiltrator?"

"It's a lure designed to help it switch hosts, Commander Stearns."

"If you had been in contact with this Infiltrator for too long, this thing would have burrowed into your body without you even noticing. Then, it would have taken control of your thoughts and actions, step by step."

At this, Urus's expression grew solemn. He turned to Reinhardt and Koller, who was walking over. "This is also one of the most terrifying things about the Infiltrator Council. This kind of viral proliferation cannot be countered by ordinary intelligence measures."