Chapter 493: Take Up Your Weapon and Fight Me

“Stearns, send a Combat Boat to take Nelom to the eastern part of Surt’s Stereoscopic City, reference coordinates 76.33, 20.79. The Lord of Vengeful wants to see him.”

The voice of Koller suddenly rang in Stearns’s mind. Stearns, who had been glaring daggers at Nelom, trembled slightly. His hand instinctively tightened on his Knight’s Broadsword, and his brow furrowed.

‘The Master wants to see that traitor? I… I’ll make the arrangements at once.’

Stearns’s power was already nearing the Four-star Earth Military Rank. And though he was only the commander of the Vengeful Angels Second Company, when it came to actual authority, this former second company commander of the Death Battle Group arguably wielded more than Reinhardt himself.

Koller wasn’t one to privately pass judgment on such matters, but the Grand Governor’s attitude toward Stearns was unmistakably biased.

The cruiser, which far exceeded standard specifications, was one thing, but the personnel allocation was also excessive. The entire Second Company was made up of barely a hundred Imperial Knights, yet its logistics and supply staff, Technician Priests, and Auxiliary Army personnel totaled more than twenty-eight thousand.

The vast hangar bay of the Second Company’s cruiser was packed to the brim with Combat Boats and Assault Boats.

If one weren’t aware of Stearns’s official posting, it would be no exaggeration to call him the commander of a second-line Battle Group, given the power he wielded.

By contrast, Matthias, who held the title of First Company Commander and served as Honorary Guard Captain, was a general without an army, having only three veteran Imperial Knights under his command.

Koller could hear the resistance in Stearns’s tone and attitude, but their Second Company Commander had one excellent quality: he would resolutely carry out any order from a superior.

The Grand Governor had clearly paid a steep price, pulling such an outstanding commander from the Death Battle Group just to advance the Vengeful Angels project.

No wonder, then, that the Administrative Region had been not only efficient but also so blatantly partial when forming the Second Company.

Upon receiving the order, Stearns immediately used the Radiant Beacon to transmit a command to the Strike Cruiser *Battle Axe Two*, parked in low orbit over Cyrenaica. He ordered the Knights stationed at company headquarters to dispatch a Combat Boat as soon as possible.

He then turned, glanced at Nelom, and strode toward him.

Stearns’s three Personal Guards exchanged a look and quickly followed.

Stopping before Nelom, Stearns’s tone was exceptionally cold. “I just received an order from Grand Governor Koller. The Lord of Vengeful wants to see you. I’ve already arranged for an Assault Boat to come over. And I will personally be taking you there.”

Nelom’s gaze swept over the four menacing figures. Ignoring Stearns’s provocation, he simply replied, “Understood.”

Seeing his resigned and preoccupied demeanor, Stearns frowned deeply. He knew, of course, that the surrendered general before him was the legendary Ash-Burning Tyrant, Nelom.

But he hadn’t expected him to be like this.

Not only was he unfazed by the provocation, but his mind seemed to be in a trance.

‘This guy…’

Stearns reached out to clap Nelom on the shoulder, but in the next instant, a powerful grip seized his wrist, and a sword’s edge was leveled at his throat.

Nelom’s expression darkened. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Seeing their commander under attack, the three Personal Guards behind Stearns instantly drew their Broadswords and surrounded Nelom, their Knight Power flaring to life.

The fifty Second Company Knights stationed in the distance also sensed something was amiss. Had an Adjutant not taken charge and forcibly ordered the Knights to stand down, the consequences would have been unthinkable.

The exchange had been brief, but Stearns was now keenly aware of the vast gap between their strengths—especially in their Body Technique Abilities.

If Nelom had truly wanted to kill him, he would already be a dead man.

Even though he inwardly despised this two-time traitor and longed to cut him down, Stearns was still the Second Company Commander, and he knew how to weigh his priorities.

His expression darkened as he glared at one of his Personal Guards and snapped, “What do you think you’re doing?! Put your weapons away!”

Having defused the conflict, Stearns said with a dark face, “I was just making sure you heard what I said. This isn’t about what I want to do to you. It’s the Lord of Vengeful who wants to see you.”

Nelom was no fool. The Second Company Commander had provoked him with his glare more than once. His words might have sounded like a reprimand for his Personal Guard, but both of them knew perfectly well who they were truly meant for.

But this man was a subordinate to Reinhardt, the Master of Vengeful. So even though Nelom wanted to teach Stearns a lesson, he suppressed his anger and let the matter drop.

“I was thinking. And I’m not deaf.”

Nelom slowly lowered his Knight’s Broadsword and released the other man’s wrist.

He took three steps back, putting distance between them. Turning his head to look at the eastern skyline, his right hand tightened slightly on his sword hilt. ‘After all this time,’ he thought, ‘are they finally going to kill me?’

Although the Lord of Vengeful had accepted his surrender, as the war in Cyrenaica drew to a close, his value had dwindled to nothing. He found himself subtly ostracized, pushed to the margins.

He had been in Surt for three months, and during that time, the great lord had paid him no mind.

All signs pointed to it: what he feared most was finally happening.

But this time, Nelom had no intention of running.

The true reason he had left the Holy Temple of Justice was known only to him and the Hand of Justice, Lord Seth. No third person knew. As for betraying Claudius?