Chapter 410 365: Think Tank and the Past, Supreme Command Department of the Pacification War

It was a question that had been debated within the National Church for millennia.

What was the precise relationship between the powerful Wizards who once ruled the entire cosmos for tens of millions of years and the humans of today?

The conservative faction believed the very existence of Wizards was heresy, making them no different from Space Aliens.

The radical faction believed there was no difference between Wizards and humans, a fact evidenced by their identical skeletal structures and compatible reproductive systems.

The true reason all ancient technology was considered 'Magic' was that after the collapse of the Wizard Civilization, technology fractured and their cultural legacy was utterly destroyed. This left the current Human World unable to comprehend the fundamental nature of the power the Ancient Wizards once wielded.

Yet, according to the most secret, sealed archives of the Imperial State Church, the Radiant Divine Emperor and the first humans to awaken their Knight Power were, when traced to their roots, nothing more than laborers and slaves under the rule of a powerful Wizard.

Regarding the issue of the Wizard Bloodline, the Emperor himself had personally presided over a grand conference eight thousand years ago.

But events from over ten thousand years ago had long since turned to dust, eroded by the river of time, sealed away in the memories of the dead and within the mountains of ancient documents that filled the Holy Capital Archives.

Perhaps only the Emperor and the first Imperial Knights knew the truth about the origins of both Wizards and Imperial Humans.

And because the National Church had never passed any official laws on the matter, the Empire was home to countless humans—both discovered and undiscovered—who possessed a diluted Wizard Bloodline.

Psychics, Superpower Users, Mages, Witches...

Regardless of their popular names, those who could truly master this Extraordinary Power were few and far between. Far more common were those who, upon the sudden awakening of their Wizard Bloodline, lost control and went on a rampage.

They would either become corpses, put down by the military force of the Judgment Court, or be brought under effective control.

Of the very few Psychics who were brought under control, only the rare individuals with exceptional talent and stable bloodlines would earn the favor of an Imperial Legion, receive training, and become one of the even rarer Think Tanks.

Without a doubt, Koller had once been one of them.

「A thousand years ago.」

Back when Koller was just a gang enforcer in a Lower City District of the civilized world of Claverest, he witnessed the fall of that world. He saw the bloody history of Demons and Dark Mages slaughtering all eight billion of its inhabitants as a sacrifice to an Evil God.

Mountains of corpses pierced the clouds.

Flowing blood submerged the vast plains.

He first revealed his Spiritual Talent trying to save his family. In the body of a mere mortal, he had torn three Doomsday Demons apart with his bare hands. Afterward, a Think Tank from the Dusk Battle Group, who was already evacuating, turned back to Claverest. It was there, amidst the endless mounds of corpses, that the Think Tank found him, having completely lost control...

But regardless of his past.

「Now.」

He was the Commander of the Vengeful Angels, the Vengeful Think Tank!

"AHHH—!"

Koller roared in a pained, furious cry as he fought with all his might to control his rampaging Spiritual Energy.

BOOM—!

Pure Spiritual Power erupted within the Earth Ring where he and Tulius were battling!

Spreading waves of blue-violet energy shattered the containment formation's forced control, instantly flooding the entire Avenger Flagship!

It was just like the magnificent Spiritual Power Spectacle Matthias and Manon had unleashed when they fought that Dark Mage at Verne Port!

It was an absolute symbol of power and strength.

In the span of a single breath, Tulius—the Four-star Earth Knight and one of the three kings of the Ostia World who had been desperately fighting Koller just a second before—froze like a statue, standing dumbly in place.

Then, the first piece of flesh peeled from his face.

His Power Armor, solid enough to resist cannon fire, eroded into sand, drifting up like ribbons within the Spiritual Power Spectacle.

This Earth Knight, a man who had once single-handedly fought a Domain Level Powerhouse, was reduced to collapsing blocks of flesh. He dissolved into a gory paste that slapped heavily onto the deck with a wet SPLAT!

If Reinhardt's terrifying display of power—sending Sipia flying with a single axe swing—had already been enough to strike fear into the hearts of these suicidal, Holy Boarding rebels...

...then the power Koller unleashed at this moment utterly extinguished the last embers of their ridiculous fantasies of power and wealth.

Sipia, his fate unknown.

Tulius, reduced to a pile of gory paste.

All of these facts hammered home one terrible truth.

They weren't just raiding a Merchant Dynasty tax ship, nor were they making an aggressive play against some newly formed, unknown Battle Group.

This was certainly no small spec-ops vessel they could bully and plunder just by outnumbering its crew.

The blood-red Battle Banner, hanging high from the railing of the upper command deck, was like a final warning before the arrival of death, crystallizing into the cruelest, most terrifying of facts—this was the ship of the Vengeful Angels.

The flagship of the infamous Reinhardt's forces.

The location of the Supreme Command Department for the counter-insurgency war in this Imperial Administrative Region!

'To launch a Holy Boarding against a ship like this... were they... truly a match for it?'

Unfortunately, they were out of time to think, for Koller's terrifying eyes, glowing with purple Spiritual Energy, were now fixed upon them!

Koller gripped the Scepter in his left hand, his right index finger pointing at the Desecrators who had betrayed the Empire. His voice, carried on the raging Spiritual Storm, was iron-willed and solemn.

"The Emperor guides my Scepter. No enemy of the Empire can escape punishment."

The moment he finished speaking, no one saw Koller make a single extraneous move. But in the next second, the boarding enemies—be they Imperial Knights or Technician Soldiers—began to swell as if ship-to-ship cannonballs had been stuffed inside them. They tried everything, desperately attempting to use their Knight Power to resist.

But still, one after another, they exploded where they stood!

In an instant, the entire Avenger Bridge was filled with flying flesh and splattering bone fragments!

An intact eyeball even shot out like a bullet, whistling through the air before striking Reinhardt's Power Armor with a SPLAT, where it flattened into a puddle of liquid.

The bridge command staff, now bathed in a rain of blood, all looked on in terror, some even letting out irrepressible screams.

But the terrified screams died down in an instant.

With the direct intervention of Koller's Spiritual Power, he stripped these mortals of their fear of blood and death.

Lu Jia, who had borne the brunt of the spray, was now a figure drenched in blood. A piece of shredded flesh hung from the corner of her mouth, but the Battle Sister simply raised a hand to pluck it away. She spoke coldly to the three sisters behind her, "Stay calm. Do not panic."

Even so, when had the three of them, still in their fledgling years of service, ever witnessed such a horrific scene? Their sword-wielding hands trembled slightly.

Having cleared the bridge of enemies, Koller gave Reinhardt a firm nod. He then strode over to the barely breathing Technician Priest, squatted down, and placed his right hand directly on the man's head. "Focus on your work," he said in a low voice. "I will temporarily control the Witchcraft Power inside you, but I can't maintain it for long."