Chapter 515 - 442: For the Emperor, Punishing Angels

Lady Catherine gripped the railing with both hands, gazing out at the magnificent metropolis she had painstakingly managed for over twenty years.

Its former prosperity was long gone. A mass exodus of merchants, taking their capital with them, had begun last year. The situation was made worse by Interstellar Pirates, who had been blockading the shipping lanes for a long time, plundering at will.

The Golden City’s commerce and trade now amounted to less than a tenth of what it had been at its peak.

The afternoon sun may have been warm and gentle, but against the backdrop of war, an air of desolation and bleakness was overwhelming.

Lady Catherine had long ago considered the worst-case scenario. Even so, she still hoped to do everything in her power to restore the Empire’s former glory in the Ash Soil Star Zone.

This was more than just a lofty, ethereal ideal.

Her family existed because of the Empire’s protection, and it was destined to perish with the Empire’s fall.

No matter how much wealth her Merchant Family possessed, even if they maintained a large private army, she knew with perfect clarity that once a true crisis struck, their destruction was only a matter of time.

Because to survive in this dark Cosmos, military might was the eternal truth.

The noble Emperor’s Angels would never betray their great cause to pledge allegiance to a Merchant Dynasty.

And Wizards, who pursued cosmic truths and eternal freedom, were even less likely to submit to the rule of a family.

Therefore, the only way for a Merchant Dynasty to survive was to use its wealth and resources to form powerful alliances.

Even though survival after the Great Rebellion was so difficult, Lady Catherine still had her principles and her bottom line.

"My family is a Merchant Dynasty chartered by the Great Emperor himself. Noble Royal Family blood flows in my veins. I will not abandon my people and my lands when crisis comes."

"Kles wants to conquer my world?"

"No. All he will get is scorched earth and ruins. Even if I have to destroy everything here, that Wizard who blasphemes against the Emperor’s light will never defile the glory of this world."

Lady Catherine released her hands from the railing. Like a true monarch, she let the fierce high-altitude winds whip around her, her figure standing tall and proud.

"Sacrifice is your great mission. And now, I have come to mine. I will use every means at my disposal to halt Grand Lord Kles’s advance and buy you time to quell the rebellion."

"For our victory."

"For the Emperor."

For the first time, Reinhardt truly studied the dynastic Overlord standing beside him. After a long silence, he replied, "For our victory. For the Emperor."

The topic was perhaps too heavy. Lady Catherine didn’t want this rare—and possibly final—meeting with Reinhardt to be bookended by somber silence and a dead, wordless gloom.

’Compared to the cheap love and boring desires one could obtain with a flick of the wrist, she deeply valued the alignment of ideals and paths she shared with Reinhardt.’

’Because this was something more precious than love.’

’Romance is easily found, but a true kindred spirit is rare.’

’Perhaps some would mock her as pedantic and foolish. The head of a Merchant Family, not considering the maximization of profit, but instead emulating an Imperial Knight, stubbornly defending her family’s territory in a futile attempt to stand against a behemoth like Grand Lord Kles.’

’As long as the family’s assets and wealth remained, with so many habitable planets available, it would take her less than ten years of maneuvering to build the next Golden City.’

’But Lady Catherine knew exactly what she wanted to do. Hurst, the territory bestowed upon the Capet Family by the Great Emperor, the world her family had entrusted to her control.’

’Even if it were reduced to a field of ruins, she would never hand it over to a blasphemous Wizard who consorted with Demons!’

Lady Catherine turned to face Reinhardt, her expression and smile so relaxed it was as if their heavy conversation had never happened.

"Reinhardt, it’s been a long time since the Golden City has welcomed a personage of your stature. Would you perhaps..."

Before she could finish her sentence, the Extraordinary Creation implanted within her body suddenly erupted with an intense wave of Energy. In the next instant, a high-velocity bullet slammed into the Energy Shield covering her body!

The embers that scattered from the shield upon impact resembled faint blue fireworks.

The Energy fluctuations surged, rippling outward like water in an instant.

Reinhardt let out a cold snort. His right hand shot forward, moving like lightning. It reached over Lady Catherine’s shoulder as if grabbing a handful of empty air, and a sickening CRUNCH of breaking bones echoed out.

A humanoid creature grunted in pain as the optical camouflage covering its body gradually faded, revealing its true form.

At the same time, Reinhardt thrust out his left hand and snatched a second incoming bullet from the air. He snapped his head around. Under the power of the Imperial Technology Angel Vision, his sight became like a holographic projection. Within the faint blue interface, two glowing white ballistic trajectories suddenly appeared in his vision.

Elsewhere, the assassination attempt on the merchant caravan leaders had also begun.

A large number of assassins, concealed by optical camouflage, burst into action one after another, lunging at the caravan leaders who were completely unaware of the impending danger.

Even with a large number of Law Enforcement Officers and private family troops stationed around the private port, they were completely unable to handle such an organized and premeditated assassination plot.

Moreover, because they had come specifically to welcome an important figure from the Administrative Region, these caravan leaders—who normally never went anywhere without their bodyguards—had all come alone today.

In other words, in a flash, most of the caravan leaders present would be dead or wounded!

The entire upper echelon of Hurst World might even collapse completely as a result!