Chapter 518 Encountering the Vengeful Angels: Monstrous and Unbeatable

Interstellar Pirates never considered themselves Interstellar Pirates.

Just as traitors believe, they alone hold the world’s truth.

...

Orland, a Two-star Earth Knight, was the former commander of the Hurst No. 3 Star garrison Knight legion during the Old Empire Era.

Ever since the Great Rebellion destroyed the Empire’s administrative system and he was freed from the constraints of headquarters, this Imperial Knight—who had once served in the First Legion for half a year before being unceremoniously discharged—completely let himself go.

He loathed the restraints of rules and laws, and he hated the old masters in the Military Affairs Department pointing their fingers at him.

Long ago, he had thought about pulling a big score on Hurst, but deterred by the power of the Administrative Region and the lingering might of the Capet Dynasty, such thoughts were nothing more than occasional daydreams.

That was until a mysterious person found him and offered to purchase their stolen goods at a high price.

It started with small skirmishes, raiding passing merchant ships, then progressed to targeting the Government Hall’s Tax Collection Ships. Finally, they simply took up position in the far orbit of the Hurst World, plundering indiscriminately.

To him, the Administrative Region was too preoccupied to deal with them, and the Capet Dynasty’s military forces couldn’t handle so many Interstellar Pirates. If they didn’t make a fortune now, were they supposed to wait until the Administrative Region was free to come after them?

Besides, the prices offered by that mysterious person were truly tempting. Not only did they pay in Radiant Gold Coins for the stolen goods, but they sometimes also used Extraordinary Creations of equivalent value for trade.

As Interstellar... Free Knights!

Lacking the backing of the Empire and its Legions, the Mechanist Cult rarely did business with them. In other words, those damned grease monkeys looked down on poor bastards like them.

In this situation, the munitions and Extraordinary Creations provided by the mysterious person were a godsend, allowing them to sustain their war with the spoils of war.

As usual, there was no way he and his comrades could just stand by and watch sixteen Tax Collection Ships, fully laden with supplies, leave Hurst right under their noses.

They intercepted half of them and boarded the ships.

Kill, plunder, and flee.

Although this tactic was simple and brutal, it had worked flawlessly for the past year. Even the Imperial Navy escorting the Tax Collection Ships and a tactical squad from the Death Battle Group had recently suffered heavy losses and casualties at their hands.

However, everything Orland had pursued came to an end today.

Because when he led his men to board the Administrative Region’s Tax Collection Ship once more, what awaited him were not Mortal Soldiers armed with guns, nor were they rookie Knights temporarily assigned as escorts.

Waiting for him were three Imperial Knights, armed to the teeth.

The Power Armor they wore was a model so advanced he had never seen it before, their Power Swords overflowed with Witchcraft Energy, and the intricate decorations on their armor all indicated their elite status.

One of them even wore a Full Coverage Helmet adorned with a Victory Crown, a symbol of an Adjutant or a command-level officer...

There were only three of them, while he had sixteen Free Knights who had already boarded. At first, he thought nothing of it. ’With my strength, won’t taking down these three be a piece of cake?’

But in the end, all his men died in the narrow corridor.

He had thought of retreating, but in the face of such a massive disparity in strength, all resistance was futile.

It was only upon his capture that Orland finally realized these Tax Collection Ships were a trap designed specifically for them!

These Imperial Knights escorting the ships were nothing like the regular Battle Group Knights he remembered. This level of combat prowess... they had to be elite veterans handpicked from the major Battle Groups!

Even if his Free Knights couldn’t be called elite, every one of them was a battle-hardened veteran. Ordinary Imperial Knights were no match for them.

The squad of Death Battle Team Knights that had died at their hands was the best proof of their strength—!

But he never would have dreamed that in a sixteen-to-three engagement that should have been a complete rout, they would be the ones who were routed.

...

「The prison cell.」

The lights were as dark red as blood.

Unsettling, strange noises occasionally echoed from the exhaust pipes.

Dried blood matted his hair, obscuring his vision.

Orland glanced up at the Black Armored Knight standing guard outside his cell door, his eyes ceaselessly scanning the small room for any chance of escape.

But his injuries were too severe.

His right femur was shattered, broken ribs had pierced his left lung, and the wound on his waist was still oozing blood. His other contusions and internal injuries were countless.

If not for the powerful Physique of an Earth Knight, he might not have even survived long enough to be thrown into this cell.

The mere thought of the Imperial Knight with the Victory Crown made his heart pound with lingering fear. Having come from the First Legion, he knew exactly what an Imperial Knight with such a helmet signified.

He just never expected the gap in their strength to be so vast.

Although the opponent’s Knight Power was an Attributeless Destruction Force Field, his combat prowess was terrifying, making him the strongest enemy Orland had ever faced in his life!

Not only was his Knight Military Rank lower than his opponent’s, but their skills in Body Techniques Combat weren’t even on the same level.

Even though he had fought with all his might, he was still defeated utterly and disgracefully.

Because it couldn’t even be called a proper fight; it was a one-sided beating. It was as if there was a deep-seated hatred between them, given how heavy-handed the blows were!

Just then, the sound of heavy footsteps echoed from the end of the long, narrow corridor outside the cells. The other Free Knights, imprisoned like him in their own cells, grew restless upon hearing someone approach.

"Let me out—! You cowards! Do you dare face me in a duel to the death!"

"Hahaha! Go on and shout. They’re not going to answer you."

"Hmph—! These running dogs of the Administrative Region sure have some nerve, daring to imprison us all in the same place. Aren’t they afraid we’ll break out and slaughter them all once we’ve recovered from our injuries?"

The only Wandering Mage imprisoned among them, in stark contrast to the others’ arrogance, had been pale-faced and trembling in a corner ever since he’d been thrown into his cell.

Because on this ship, a Spiritual Energy signal that only a Psychic could detect would flash by from time to time.

The intensity of that Spiritual Energy signal, and the person he had glimpsed when he’d tried to probe it, had not only severely damaged his Spiritual World but also made him realize that the place they were being held was no ordinary Knight prison or Judgment Court black ship.

Then came the piercing hiss of steam as a steel blast door depressurized.

The Black Armored Knights stationed inside the prison block turned in perfect unison to face the sides of the walkway, snapping to attention with their bodies ramrod straight.

At the same time, a man’s gruff voice rang out.

"...Sir, Commander Koller’s recommendation is to hand them over to the Judgment Court for public execution, to serve as a deterrent to the other Interstellar Pirates in the Star Zone.

I have them all imprisoned here."

Under the dim, blood-red light, the prisoners could only vaguely make out the newcomer and their Power Armor’s decorations. The heavy footsteps and the grim silence were like a sharp knife plunging into their hearts, a hangman’s noose tightening above their heads.

No matter how much they had been clamoring before, they all chose to shut their mouths now.

Words could deceive a person’s judgment, but Knight Perception could not.

A Six-star Earth Military Rank—!

The entire prison block, aside from the sounds of footsteps and breathing, fell into a terrifying, horrified silence.

Because when the prison’s blast door opened, an incomparably tyrannical Knightly Aura, like a tsunami from a broken dam, crashed into their perception!

The immense pressure was so great it almost suffocated them.

Then, the footsteps stopped outside Orland’s cell door.

This Free Knight who longed for ’freedom’ looked up in terror. What he saw, aside from crimson eyes under a Full Coverage Helmet, was the symbol on the Chest Armor, an emblem of status unlike that of any Imperial Knight—the Golden Flying Wing Holy Sword.