Chapter 439 388: Arms Race, the Fear of Chaos

The battle between Koller and Chaos God Chaos was like a duel between gods. The two stood motionless, but a horrifying Spiritual Tide manifested as a blue-violet wave over a kilometer wide, completely enveloping the Avenger Flagship.

The overflowing power spread wildly through the clouds high in the sky.

The real world itself shattered like a mirror, terrifying rifts tearing open along its path and connecting directly to the Demon Void Realm!

As the flagship streaked across the skies above Cyrenaica, the local Mortals and garrisons all looked up, marveling at the magnificent spectacle.

Meanwhile, a handful of Wizards—either reclusive or lurking in Cyrenaica with ulterior motives—cast gazes of utter horror toward the sky at almost the exact same moment.

Even from thousands of kilometers away, the terrifying spiritual aftershocks sent a massive jolt through their minds.

However, these spiritual aftershocks were far from a reflection of Koller and Chaos's true power. To protect the others on the bridge and complete the arduous mission of relaying intelligence, Koller had to take an enormous risk.

He dragged both his and Chaos's minds into the Demon Void Realm.

The latter, it seemed, was also intent on preserving the Avenger Flagship, hoping to prevent their battle from blasting the immensely valuable vessel into a pile of scrap.

Within the swirling Void Storm.

Corrupted demonic whispers were everywhere.

Koller's mind materialized as a deep-blue spiritual projection. With his every move, a tsunami of Spiritual Power crashed down violently upon Chaos.

But Chaos merely raised a hand to meet the terrifying attacks head-on—attacks powerful enough to crush a hundred-meter-long ship. Or rather, it was the Furnace Cast Holy Artifact implanted in his brain: the Extraordinary Weapon Prototype·Spiritual Power Coordination Device.

It could block any spiritual attack as long as its intensity did not exceed the armament's tolerance limit.

Although this process consumed a precious 'Knowledge Fragment'—a mysterious creation from the Formless Divine Domain, tainted with the aura of the Four Gods—his goal was never to kill Koller, but to seize control of the Avenger Flagship.

At that moment, not only was the Shadow Temple hacking the ship's control systems, but Chaos was also trying everything he could to spiritually break Technician Priest Palos's mind and force him to alter the ship's course.

Koller had lost count of the times he had found himself in desperate straits, fighting powerful enemies and walking the line between life and death.

For this thousand-year-old veteran, death was less a source of fear and more a welcome release. He longed for his soul to return, draped in glory, to the light of the Divine Emperor.

A millennium of slaughter and war had long since eroded the part of him that could be called 'human.'

The only things that remained constant were his Loyalty to the Emperor and his noble mission as an Imperial Knight.

Whatever the cost, he had to complete the mission Reinhardt had given him: deliver the intelligence on Cyrenaica to the Administrative Region's Rebel Suppression Army.

At this thought, he tightened his grip on the Witch Staff—the same one that had annihilated the first wave of boarders with a single strike.

Broken Wizard Divine Artifact·Supernova Staff.

He had found this Ancient Wizard's Divine Artifact, capable of storing unlimited Spiritual Power, seven hundred years ago in mining site twenty-six on Kata No. 3 Star while supporting the Mechanical Order.

Or perhaps, his ability to snatch a Wizard's Divine Artifact from right under the noses of the Mechanical Order and the Great Sage meant that the Witch Staff had chosen him.

Although this Wizard's Divine Artifact possessed the purest and most violent offensive ability—the Spiritual Storm—it came at a price. Each time he used the Supernova Witch Staff, his mind suffered irreversible corruption.

In other words, if he used it without restraint, he would one day merge with the Witch Staff and be utterly transformed into a Chaos Witch Demon of the Formless Divine Domain.

A blasphemous abomination more powerful and evil than any Dark Mage.

It was just as his mentor had taught him in his first lesson upon joining the Imperial Think Tank: as Psychics, their powers are intimately linked to the Demon Void Realm. On the path ahead, every bit of Mighty Power they could master would come at a price.

The greatest difference between Chaos God Chaos and Battle God Atlas was that before joining the project, Chaos had been a student of Silencer Enok.

As Koller gripped the Supernova Witch Staff again, Chaos immediately sensed the unique power signature of the Wizard's Divine Artifact.

'So powerful.'

'So deadly!'

Realizing Koller intended to end the fight, Chaos cursed inwardly. It hit him then that Battle God Atlas and Night Goddess Nix were already dead.

He knew this invasion of the Avenger Flagship had spiraled completely out of his control.

The power of both Reinhardt, the Master of Vengeful, and Koller far surpassed their estimations!

If he hadn't resorted to a few dirty tricks to boot Reinhardt from the bridge, he probably wouldn't have survived this long.

'The Vengeful Angels…'

It was at this very moment that, for the first time, Chaos God Chaos felt a genuine fear in his heart toward this nascent Knight Battle Group and its leader, Reinhardt, the Master of Vengeful.

It didn't matter what powerful Extraordinary Armament he wielded. The fact remained that the gap in their strength was an insurmountable chasm!

Less than two minutes had passed since he had teleported Atlas and the others off the ship, and in that time, the prototypes for the immensely powerful Night Goddess and Battle God had both been destroyed. How could he not be terrified?!

At that moment, Chaos also realized that the arms race between Grand Lord Kles and the Imperial Administrative Region was most likely destined to end in their failure.

After all, the Gods' Plan, spearheaded by Enok, was their most critical countermeasure to the Administrative Region's own Artificial Angels project!

But he no longer had the luxury of worrying about such things.

Facing a Koller determined to kill him at any cost, Chaos could barely save himself.

He had many ways to escape this fight, but the consequences of mission failure were something he absolutely could not bear!

He was no fool like Alates, who had been tricked into swearing fealty with just a few pretty words. If they failed to prove their value as War Armaments in this first battle…

…then knowing Enok, that powerful, ruthless Wizard who had single-handedly built the Infiltrator Council, he would undoubtedly reclaim all the Extraordinary Armaments implanted within him.

And as the carrier, his chances of survival would be zero.

But escaping was even more impossible. No Wizard would be foolish enough to create a War Armament they couldn't control.

'No…'

'He had endured inhuman torment, clawing his way up from a lowly Wizard Apprentice to wield Mighty Power. He refused to die here like this.'

Just as his battle with Koller was about to reach its conclusion…

…a dim Radiant Power, like sunlight piercing the darkness, appeared in their senses without any warning.

'A Radiant Holy Artifact?!'

Chaos whipped his head around. An unyielding figure, bathed in the Holy Golden Holy Flame, appeared before his very eyes!

In that instant.

An escape plan formed in his mind.