Chapter 437 386: Imperial Superman, Suffering Walks With Me

The aftershocks of the powerful Psychic's battle, the blade that had torn through her Power Armor and pierced her abdomen—it all tolled like a death knell in her ears.

The blue and purple neon of the Spiritual Power Spectacle tried again and again to drag her soul into chaos and madness. The agonized cries of eternal war relentlessly invaded her mind, whispering a Demon's seductions.

The residual Witchcraft Energy from the broken Power Sword transformed into countless steel needles that ran rampant inside her, piercing flesh and bone. Every second was torture.

Lu Jia could clearly feel her sword hand beginning to tremble uncontrollably, and her breathing grew increasingly ragged. Every exhale was like fire, scorching her throat and sinuses.

As she lifted her head, for a split second, her vision went black and the world swam around her.

But she still raised her weapon on instinct, parrying the enemy's attack based on the last image she remembered.

BANG—!

A Power Sword from the Shadow Temple's Defender Army slammed her Knight's Broadsword aside. The soldier's iron-cast right leg, though lacking any enhancement from Knight Power, was propelled by Magic. It shot out like a cannon, viciously smashing into Lu Jia's abdomen.

The sensation of weightlessness was fleeting for Lu Jia. She slammed into the steel pipes to the left of the control console, and her Power Armor shrieked as metal tore. She coughed up a great spray of blood, the sheer force of the impact nearly suffocating her!

Although Delanxi and the other Battle Sisters were deeply unhappy about Lu Jia's betrayal of Eleonor, and had privately speculated endlessly about the reasons, they were still, in the end, former comrades—Battle Sisters of the Holy Rose Order.

Seeing Lu Jia so grievously wounded, Delanxi's youthful face turned deathly pale, and her blue eyes trembled uncontrollably. It was the dark despair of watching a former comrade about to be brutally killed right before her, helpless to do anything!

She made to abandon the Technician Priest, but a soldier from the Shadow Temple's Defender Army had already broken through the line, charging at her with a Power Sword that glowed an eerie blue!

"Lu Jia—! Dammit… Caroline!"

"Watch the Technician Priest!"

Caroline Othello.

Unlike Lu Jia, who was an orphan, this Battle Sister—with her high cheekbones, shoulder-length white hair, and blade-sharp gaze—was a scion of a proper Provincial Governor's family.

Becoming a Battle Sister had not been her choice, but after her grandfather and siblings died in a riot orchestrated by a Cult, she was the sole survivor. She swore a blood oath to personally execute the mastermind behind the plot.

As the eldest of the four Battle Sisters, she had served in the Holy Rose Order for fifteen years. Her Knight Talent, the Attributeless Destruction Force Field, limited her potential for growth, but her combat experience was something Lu Jia and the other two could not hope to match.

Before Delanxi could finish her sentence, Caroline had already driven back her own opponent and was rushing over, sword in hand, to provide support.

From the brief engagement, she could confirm that the soldiers of the Shadow Temple's Defender Army were no longer human in any true sense. They were blasphemous monstrosities—a hybrid of machine, flesh, and demonic anatomy—that felt no pain and had no fear of death.

Each one possessed power equivalent to a Three-star Official Military Rank.

And there were so many of them. Eleven had already stormed the bridge, and from the corridor beyond the shattered blast door, she could still hear the heavy tread of more enemies from the boarding party.

Although Lu Jia had taken on four of them and managed to cut down two in a desperate fight, the price she paid was devastating.

In a split second, Caroline's gaze swept across the battlefield, instantly assessing the situation.

Grand Lord Kles's people had used a trick to teleport Lord Reinhardt and Nelom off the bridge, and Lord Koller was locked in a confrontation with the enemy Wizard, completely unable to lend them support.

Other than themselves, the only combatants left were two members of the Think Tank, but they had collapsed after the first shockwave from the Spiritual Power Spectacle… or rather, their consciousnesses had been dragged into the Demon Void Realm.

'Even I, with no Spiritual Talent whatsoever, can still hear the terrible whispers from the Demon Void Realm.'

'For those two from the Think Tank who actually have Spiritual Talent, just keeping their souls from being corrupted is likely the only contribution they can make in this Demigod-Level battle.'

"Emperor guide my blade—! Die, monster!"

Caroline roared. Her Knight's Broadsword, wreathed in her Destruction Force Field, hacked viciously at the enemy's back. But the defensive properties of its Demon Skin, fused as it was with steel, far exceeded her expectations.

In the instant she closed in, she keenly observed that the Demon Skin of this blasphemous monster—the one that had gravely injured Lu Jia—was subtly different from the others.

Furthermore, the Witchcraft Energy flowing from its body was far stronger than the one she had killed earlier.

'An Elite Level enemy?'

She stomped on the monster's back, kicking it away from Lu Jia as she rapidly fell back to create distance. At the same time, a completely unexpected figure charged fearlessly onto the battlefield. Seizing the life-or-death opportunity, he snatched up Lu Jia's body and began to run.

But that wasn't what shocked her most.

The old veteran, wearing only a standard Imperial Navy uniform, had hauled Lu Jia off the ground with his bare hands, thrown her over his shoulder, and was now making a desperate run for it!

'You have to understand, with her Power Armor, Lu Jia weighs over five hundred kilograms!'

'How could a Mortal just...'

But she had no time to ponder such things. Having been blindsided, the soldier of the Defender Army whipped its head around to face Caroline. Twisted veins pulsed around the Mechanical Eye implanted in its socket, and curved Demon Spikes pierced through its skin, growing gruesomely from its face.

Unlike a self-aware human, the monster's face showed no change in emotion; its vacant eyes revealed nothing but an empty shell.

As Caroline locked into combat with the Elite-Level soldier from the Defender Army, Lu Jia was slung over the shoulder of the Navy veteran, Kurs. Her resolute eyes—which had endured so much suffering yet never lost hope—were now growing vacant, their light fading.

Her injuries were too severe.

In her fading consciousness, memories began to flicker past like her life flashing before her eyes: a tragic childhood, countless brushes with the Death God on the battlefield, the sunless years in a secret prison...

In a daze, she heard someone whispering, telling her to release it all, to let go of her convictions and her faith.

Tragedy and suffering shouldn't define a person's entire life. She was devout and loyal, but what had she ever truly received?

The material comfort of money?

The admiration of the masses that comes with power?

Or even a peaceful, ordinary life?

Then, a sliver of light bloomed in her mind. She was back on that snowy, windswept night in the Lower City District. A magnificently dressed woman stood outside a warm house, just like the mother who had only ever existed in her dreams, smiling and waving to her.

'Welcome home, Lu Jia.'