Chapter 442 391: Inner Turmoil

「Three minutes ago.」

「At the relic excavation site, four thousand kilometers away.」

The star's light sank below the horizon, and darkness surged in like a tide. Pale white spotlights cast dense shadows across the gravel-strewn slopes.

Corpses in the uniforms of the Mechanical Order's Defender Army were scattered about—some were torn into pieces, others were bent backward and hung from pipelines. The acrid smell of gunpowder filled the air.

From the narrow corridors to the wide access roads, bodies were strewn everywhere. Blood soaked into the ground, staining the sand a dark crimson.

「A thousand meters underground.」

A vast cavern, hollowed out by engineering machinery, resembled a magnificent subterranean city.

Or rather, millions of years ago, this place had been the capital of some powerful Wizard Empire. Towering Wizard Towers, arranged by height, rose from the outskirts all the way to the city's very center.

In the central area, a massive, hollow triangle hung suspended in the air. It emitted a faint, ethereal blue light that enveloped the cavern, its Witchcraft Energy rippling outwards in regular, concentric circles, like waves in water.

Whenever these energy waves washed over the Wizard Towers, the ancient structures, which had stood for millions of years, would respond in unison. Complex and esoteric Energy Patterns would light up across their surfaces.

The ethereal blue light resembled a vast tide of energy, making the entire ruin appear as a single, integrated whole.

But in this subterranean city that should have been dead silent, the roar of gunfire now echoed. Numerous walls had collapsed, and dust and smoke billowed everywhere.

"Come out, you traitors! The shadows can't protect you under the light of the God of All Machines!"

"In the name of the Great Sage, purge these rebels!"

"Our reinforcements are on the way! We can't let them get a single step closer to the Sacred Artifact!"

Unlike the Imperial Knights who wielded Mighty Power, the soldiers of the Mechanical Order's Defender Army were merely Mortals. However, after extensive mechanical modification to their bodies, these fanatics possessed combat strength on par with a New Recruit Knight.

Some special bodies modified by the Titan Sequence even possessed the formidable combat power of the Earth Knight Level.

After Urus killed the Defender Army squad blocking his path, a figure emerged from the darkness and walked briskly up behind him. "Sir," the man said in a low voice, "we've located the Wizard's Divine Artifact. It's stored in the central tower, and Great Sage Cassio is in there as well.

But the Mechanist Cult has set up some kind of barrier around the central tower. It's very difficult to get in.

Also, I observed from a high vantage point that a transport convoy, escorted by a Knight Battle Group of about thirty, has already entered the main road on the outskirts of the ruins. Based on their distance and speed, they'll reach the central tower in forty minutes at most."

After hearing Frost's report, Urus knew the plan to seize the Wizard's Divine Artifact would not go smoothly. The fact that Frost hadn't provided details on the barrier suggested it was likely some unknown ancient technology employed by Great Sage Cassio.

His squad had no Technician Soldiers or any specialists skilled in that area.

He feared his own power was far from enough to tear through the Mechanist Cult's defensive barrier by force and seize the Wizard's Divine Artifact.

Although they had formulated a backup plan before their drop-ship landing, the price for executing it was that he and his men might be trapped in this ancient ruin a thousand meters underground forever.

If they couldn't seize the Wizard's Divine Artifact, then they would have to make a last stand here. They'd have to prevent the artifact from being moved out at all costs, holding on until Reinhardt arrived with reinforcements.

Urus had witnessed countless great sacrifices, but now that the burden of sacrifice fell upon his own shoulders, he came face to face with the fear of death.

For the first time, he realized that his faith was not as pure or as indomitable as he had imagined.

After Frost reported on the status of the Wizard's Divine Artifact and the barrier, a trace of fear that should not have been there surfaced in his heart... along with an immense sense of unwillingness!

Since taking command of the Silencers, he and his men had served Sedon and the Imperial Administrative Region in silence for twenty years.

As a successor group to a Rebel Legion, he knew the Silencers had to pay a steep price to regain the Empire's trust.

In their quest to step back into the light and cleanse their tarnished name, the Silencers he led were, to put it nicely, dedicating themselves to the Imperial Administrative Region on the intelligence front. To put it bluntly, they were a pack of sewer rats who could never see the light of day.

Deep in his heart, the position and power of a Commander of Vengeful were not important. What mattered was the chance to lead his brothers back into the light of the Emperor.

To appear before the world openly and with dignity, cloaked in glory as a legitimate Knight Battle Group, as loyal warriors of the Emperor, and not to hide in the sunless shadows.

Sacrifice and death were not frightening.

What was frightening was dying while bearing the shame of a traitor.

Sedon had told him that the intelligence front was crucial to the future of the Imperial Administrative Region. He had also promised that after this protracted war against Grand Lord Kles ended, he, as Grand Governor, would personally wash away the mark of the traitor from them.

He would clear the Silencers' name.

But Urus was no political fool like Nelom.

He knew full well that Sedon was deliberately keeping them in the shadows to minimize the influence of their Rebel Legion origins.

In other words, they had to offer something up to earn the right to prove their Loyalty to the Empire before the Grand Governor.

Urus did not fear death. What he feared was that after he died, everything he and the Silencers had sacrificed would vanish like smoke, becoming an unattainable illusion.

Knowing Sedon, he simply could not trust the ruthless Grand Governor, a man who would stop at nothing for the greater good of the Imperial Administrative Region.

Compared to Sedon, Reinhardt, whom he had known for less than a month, was far more worthy of his trust.

On one hand, there was his honor and duty as an Imperial Knight. On the other, there was the responsibility and obsession of cleansing the traitor's mark borne by the Silencers Battle Group.

These two things intertwined, like standing at a major crossroads in life. The pressure of the choice was so immense that it made Urus's chest tighten.

He had ten thousand ways to preserve himself and the Silencers in this war.

Neither Reinhardt nor Sedon would ever know what happened in the underground excavation site. He could easily use some trick, feign that he had given his all but was simply overpowered, and thus ensure his own survival.

But the pride that came from being a Child of the Night Demon made him feel immense shame whenever he realized such a thought had crossed his mind.

Reinhardt and Koller were still locked in a life-or-death battle against a powerful enemy on the Avenger Flagship. 'If we, the Silencers, use such despicable, deceitful means to evade our responsibility, would clearing our name as Sedon promised even have any meaning under the Emperor's light after the war?'

Urus took a deep breath.

"Have you tried any other methods?"

Frost pondered for a moment before replying, "Based on my observation and analysis, the barrier on the central tower doesn't seem to be a conventional defense system powered by a standard energy source. It appears to stem from the power of the Wizard's Divine Artifact itself.

But we have no intelligence on that thing, so..."

"Understood."

Standing in the ancient ruin a thousand meters underground, Urus looked up at the magnificent triangle hanging high in the air like a blue sun. The noise of heavy machinery rumbled like thunder.

Hearing the sound of footsteps and tank treads approaching from all directions, Urus took a step back into the darkness. As if having made a decision, he said in a cold voice, "Execute the backup plan. Stop the enemy from moving the Wizard's Divine Artifact. At all costs."