I Aggressively Stack Steel of the Heart in the Knight Order

Sipia sneered.

His roaring Knight Power transformed into a flowing, dark substance. It rose up behind his head and coalesced into a phantasmal gate carved with skeletal skulls, emitting a dim, gray light.

Over three hundred years ago, Sipia had clawed his way out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood on a grand battlefield, starting as mere cannon fodder in the Auxiliary Army. For him to have grown step-by-step to where he was today, his Knight Talent was far beyond that of any ordinary Imperial Knight.

Extraordinary Armament: Black Arsenal.

Thanks to the rare Special Ability of his Extraordinary Armament, the powerful enemies who had died at his hands were countless.

Just as the name of his Extraordinary Armament suggested, Sipia possessed an extremely rare Plural Level Extraordinary Armament, similar to Reinhardt's Extraordinary Arsenal. This kind of Extraordinary Power, stacked from multiple sources, would grant an exponential boost to one's combat strength once fully mastered and applied flexibly in battle.

The Knight's Broadsword in Sipia's hand, emanating a cold aura, swung through the air in a brilliant arc. His cold eyes, brimming with killing intent, stared at Reinhardt.

"We'll see if you have the strength for that, Vengeful Angel."

The brief standoff concluded, and a battle was imminent!

The moment the words fell, Sipia made the first move. He appeared to be gripping his Knight's Broadsword tightly, but he had actually loosened his hold slightly. The next second, without any throwing motion, the Broadsword shot across the battlefield like a cannonball, creating a terrifying sonic boom as it flew toward Reinhardt!

Unlike the standard Knight's Broadsword used by Imperial Knights, the Broadsword in Sipia's hand had a deceptive appearance. In truth, it was a Wizard's Secret Treasure from a bygone era—a Furnace Cast Holy Artifact-Level Extraordinary Creation!

It possessed the unique ability to sever and shield against all Witchcraft Power.

Moreover, after being deeply bonded with his bloodline, this Extraordinary Creation—which he had named 'Wizard Slayer'—could fly out or return to him according to his thoughts.

When used for a surprise attack, very few could withstand it.

This was also how he had managed to save Anand from Koller with just his Broadsword.

However, from Reinhardt's perspective, even though the Knight's Broadsword's explosive speed was approaching one-third the speed of sound, it was still far from a threat.

In a flash, Reinhardt raised his left hand, preparing to snatch the incoming Knight's Broadsword from the air.

But the moment he made this move, Sipia, who had remained standing in place, narrowed his eyes. A smug smile he couldn't suppress spread across his face—the look of a man whose scheme had succeeded.

As a fellow Domain Powerhouse, he knew perfectly well that a surprise attack of this level was barely enough to tickle his opponent. From the very beginning, his target was never Reinhardt.

A thought flashed through his mind as his gaze flickered toward Lu Jia and her three companions, as well as the two Technician Priests.

At the same time, he shouted a command to the men beside him, "Execute the plan immediately! Seize control of the Avenger Flagship!"

As if it had a mind of its own, the 'Wizard Slayer' adjusted its course mid-air, grazed past Reinhardt's fingers, and with a WHOOSH, viciously slammed into the steel-and-concrete structure of the second-level command platform.

Its entire blade sank deep into the structure.

The next moment, Koller and his two Think Tank subordinates, Serni and Havier, who were standing on the second-level command platform, felt as if their Spiritual Power had been locked in a box. It became chaotic and disorderly, sluggish and incredibly difficult to control.

Serni, a former Think Tank of the Emperor Shield First Group, realized their enemy's true target. He whipped his head around to look at the two Technician Priests being protected by Lu Jia, his face paling in horror. "Sir—!"

For Koller, a veteran with a thousand years of service and a former Think Tank Director, handling such sudden crises was second nature.

This traitor, Sipia, was certainly worthy of his origins, having deserted from the Emperor's firstborn's Auxiliary Army.

He clearly understood the consistent combat style of the Emperor's firstborn.

Koller and his two Think Tank subordinates had remained on the second-level command platform not because they were lazy or cowardly, but because the platform was equipped with a unique piece of Imperial Technology: a Spiritual Energy Diffuser.

This Imperial technological creation, built into the steel-and-concrete structure, could amplify the Think Tanks' Spiritual Power to its maximum extent and help them maintain stable Spiritual Energy communication during battle with minimal cost.

In other words, the pressure a Think Tank endured to maintain Spiritual Energy communication was far beyond what an ordinary person could imagine.

Even though Koller was powerful, he was no Raphael. He didn't possess the rare Mind Mage's Wizard Bloodline, which would allow him to permanently maintain Spiritual Energy communication with simple Mind Marks.

Using an Extraordinary Creation that targeted Spiritual Power to attack the command platform, paralyzing the Spiritual Energy Diffuser while suppressing their own Spiritual Power, was merely a means to an end.

This traitor's goal was clearly to bypass their protection and strike directly at Lu Jia and the two Technician Priests!

This battle wouldn't even require a single sacrifice. All it would take was for Sipia's Technician Soldiers to connect their Neural Metal Wires to the Avenger Flagship's control system.

All of their carefully laid plans would end in total failure!

Not only would they die, but without intelligence support, the Eleventh and Twelfth Infantry Legions, the Fourth Fleet, and even the Red Flame Son arriving as reinforcements...

...would all pay a terrible price for the enemy's plot and for the failure of their supreme commanders!

As the Commander of Vengeful, Koller would never allow such a thing to happen on his watch. With life and death on the line, he made a decisive call.

"Abandon maintaining Spiritual Energy communication! Deactivate the bridge's Spiritual Energy shielding! You two, rendezvous with Cultivator Lu Jia immediately and help them protect the two Technician Priests! At any cost—!"