Chapter 641: 15 –

Disembark the passengers.

The pilots then maneuvered the assault craft to ascend quickly, providing the brothers fighting on the ground with machine‑gun fire and "simple" bombing support.

Ta‑ta‑ta!

Ta‑ta‑ta!

In an instant, the shattered, cracked metal floor rang with the simultaneous roar of exploding arrows and laser fire.

Equipped with the latest model power armor, and each helmet bearing a golden olive‑branch ornament, the Spartans and auxiliary troops formed seven‑person squads that charged toward the flank of the palace ruins.

A "seven‑person squad" consists of one Spartan and six auxiliaries; to maximize speed, the Spartans carry no massive shields nor heavy explosive arrows, and the auxiliaries do the same.

However, members of these OriginalBody "straightforward" units possess greater power output.

In less than a blink they surged to the ruins' edge, and the expulsion platforms that tried to block them were precisely blown apart as "mobile live targets" by these straightforward members.

With some aerial support, the few hundred members, at the cost of minimal losses, located an entrance, entered beneath the palace, continued the assault, eliminated the Space Death Spirits trying to block them, and kept searching for the terminal that can control the world engine, attempting to seize it.

Only after exhausting every option— even the legion‑level AI could not breach the system— did the straightforward members tasked with breaching and assault destroy it, then install a nova nuclear bomb capable of annihilating everything.

According to the Human Empire's practice, it's a pity not to seize the enemy's valuable assets; they are only destroyed when absolutely necessary.

After all, what we cannot obtain ourselves should not remain in the hands of others, especially the enemy.

No one will explain the origin of this practice, yet everyone knows it.

More importantly, given the current situation, staying in the relatively cramped underground tunnels—prone to Space Death Spirit ambushes—is actually far safer than the surface.

At least these battle‑hardened veterans need not fear the humiliating death of being "stepped flat."

Dying in battle brings endless glory and the Emperor's notice; but being stepped on and noticed by the Emperor is a thousand‑fold, ten‑thousand‑fold more painful, because even in death you're "embarrassed."

What the straightforward units dread most are the DivineBody engaged in close‑quarter "combat" on the ruined plaza, and an unknown‑model Space Death Spirit giant carrier—or mech.

A giant metal spider appears, using living metal like all Space Death Spirits, but its strength seems fully upgraded, giving it a grayish hue.

Its three pairs of six‑legged walking structures maximize stability for the massive chassis while preserving speed and power.

The straightforward units may not know what this metal spider is, but John, who has higher clearance to view intel, naturally knows its nature.

It is a massive necro‑engine construct called a "Tomb Raider," also known as a "Super Ancient Tomb Hunter"; the only known fact is that such war machines combine size and speed, and even the Emperor cannot foresee their other functions, so all intel is passed to his heirs.

In the Emperor's previous world, the Warhammer 40K tabletop game and related products truly existed; they recorded the Tomb Raider, but in the related novels it appeared only once, and before it could fully activate it was destroyed by a Titan, preventing the Emperor from seeing more firepower.

At this moment.

The cold, green light emitted by the core illuminates the shattered inner‑world, and the central plaza, once battered by direct impact, now must again endure the clash between the DivineBody and the Raider.

Dong‑dong‑dong!

Six‑legged limbs, from thick to fine, pierce the ground and charge at the DivineBody whose arms are already "paralyzed"; simultaneously, the inner world reverberates with the roar of its master, Xun Barachel:

"Humans! Humans! Die! Go to your death!!! Why are you disturbing us! Why!!!"

The DivineBody's arms cannot exert normal strength, but its legs are unharmed; it easily darts to the right, successfully evading the Raider's strike.

Moreover, the still‑seething Spartan leader, upon hearing the opponent question why they were disturbed, replies with interest:

"Ridiculous, you sleep in five‑dimensional space; even when awakened you can ignore each other. Everything can be negotiated, let alone a mere galaxy—if you want it, I can give it to you myself.

Of course, the condition is that you provide the appropriate tribute or payment, otherwise the Human Empire will never engage in a loss‑making deal."

Mid‑sentence,

The Raider, under Xun Barachel's control, brakes at extreme speed, extends a mechanical arm to unleash a high‑power super‑phase blade, then turns and slashes at the DivineBody turned away from it.

"What a pity," the Raider's slash proves futile; the DivineBody easily sidesteps.

Moreover, perhaps mockingly, perhaps because the arms swing inertially, John manipulates the DivineBody to temporarily tuck its arms behind its back and continues:

"But what have you done? Slaughter our human‑occupied, built colonies? Ha, where does that face come from to ask why. Oh right, I forgot you have no face, nor any substantive brain."

!!!

"Aaaah! Humans! Humans!"

Xun Barachel, who intended to demand an explanation, was made even angrier by John's emotionless sarcasm.

It's unclear how Space Death Spirits simulate emotion, but clearly the ruler of the Opatara Dynasty is now so "infuriated" that normal logical processing has ceased, and its metallic brain seems to contain only the directive "must kill that ungrateful human at any cost."

As for why John's tongue is equally sharp, it isn't learned from Rog or Rus; in fact, John's biting wit is innate, merely unused in everyday life.

Seeing the opponent sufficiently "pissed off," John naturally suppresses the unintended jest, darts past another Raider thrust, lifts his right leg, aims the heel at the Raider's back, and slams down.

Buzz!!!

Boom~!!

The protective stance shatters instantly.

Boom!!!

The moment the heel contacts the living metal, it twists uncontrollably, collapses, and fractures.

No matter how strong the necro‑engine construct, against a DivineBody capable of physically issuing an extinction order to an Earth‑like planet's surface, it's merely a single kick away.

Space Death Spirits indeed wield advanced tech, allowing their overlords to threaten an under‑age OriginalBody greatly, but the Human Empire is certain of one thing: in terms of mechs and carriers, the DivineBody can utterly crush any Space Death unit.

After all, the DivineBody grows stronger as the OriginalBody's physique strengthens, and the more Astates there are, the stronger the Human Emperor becomes, which in turn equally empowers all OriginalBodies; the stronger the OriginalBodies, the stronger the Emperor.

It truly is a "bug."

Thus the DivineBody can be called an amplified version of the OriginalBody in every aspect; the Human Empire spent massive funds and resources to forge only twenty‑one DivineBodies, and after An Na Jin and Wokan came of age there are merely twenty‑three, naturally capable of annihilating Space Death units.

After kicking the Raider apart, John immediately ejects the pilot's latch from the DivineBody's rear neck and opens the hatch, leaping down.

"Dong!"

Weighing nearly ten tons, John's feet smash the landing spot into a shallow pit.

Immediately, the spear of terror retracts to about five meters and "floats" into John's right hand.

Meanwhile, the driverless DivineBody, after retrieving the pilot's latch, switches to free‑movement mode, using its mounted heavy cannon to guard the surroundings.

"Dong, dong."

John then walks straight toward the Raider's neck.

Approach, then halt.

Raise the left hand, jam the fingers into the crevice, then with a "Sizzle!" the hand is torn, exposing the internal structure.

Step inside.

John ignores the tangled, maze‑like twists and turns, and directly swings the Spear of Fear to carve a passage straight to the cockpit.

"Human. Human"

At this moment, Xun Barachel, whose mouth had been muttering something, a metallic body over ten meters tall with typical feminine features, completely abandons the idea of controlling the hunter, instead brandishing a staff to confront the OriginalBody that has already entered the cockpit.

Rou~----------!!

Before the female Empress of Space Death Spirit can speak, John hurls the Spear of Fear.

Buzz!!

The protective stance automatically deploys.

Focused entirely on the spear tip about to pierce the protective stance and intending to shift right to dodge, Xun Barachel does not notice that the sprinting John has already arrived at her side and, taking the opportunity, throws a right straight punch at her ribs.

Bang!

Simultaneously struck by two full‑force attacks from the OriginalBody, the protective stance collapses and dissipates beyond its capacity.

Swoosh!

Boom!

Moreover, the spear tip and the fist, after jointly shattering the energy shield without losing force, strike Xun Barachel's torso and left rib.

The core is smashed by the spear tip, and the left rib is crushed.

Whoosh~-----Ding!!

After the Spear of Fear pierces the female Empress of Space Death Spirit's metallic body, it drags her away like a meat skewer, finally embedding her in the wall at the opposite end of the cockpit.

!

Barachel cannot believe it; as an Empress of Space Death Spirit with a metal body tougher and more advanced than a Necro Overlord, why was its defense so easily breached by a mere human?

Even more unbelievable is how the opponent predicted that it would, due to the Spear of Fear's thrust, move its body to the right??

Could it be that the OriginalBody's brain, with computational power superior to theirs, analyzed that moving right had the highest dodge probability?

After all, according to the intelligence controlled by the Space Death Spirit, a single Overlord can theoretically stand against a human OriginalBody, even possibly counter‑kill; if enough Overlords gather, the OriginalBody would be "no concern".

But the current situation seems to exceed its logical calculations.

"I've only fought two hundred more years than my brother," John says, apparently noticing Xun Barachel's astonishment as he approaches, offering a brief explanation:

"Moreover, I forgot to tell you, unless the target is valuable, we OriginalBodies won't easily intervene against a mere Necro Overlord."

"The meaning of this sentence is simple: the intelligence held by the Space Death Spirit.

It means An Na Jin was almost counter‑killed, a purely low‑probability random event.

Necro Overlords can indeed match the rank of a camp commander, legion champion, Honor Guard, and some can even utterly crush a fourteen‑year‑old juvenile OriginalBody.

However, a Necro Overlord that is already adult—especially one like the Lord of Sparta—against an OriginalBody like John who can hold a three‑to‑one advantage in combat, is merely a 'starter dish', not even enough to warm John up.

As for Xun Barachel

One can only say that this female Space Death Spirit Empress was simply unlucky, arrogant, hot‑tempered, overconfident, and even failed to deliberately select a metal body suited for combat; the combination of these factors led to her being killed by John with a single blow.

Approach, halt.

John grips the Spear of Fear again with his right hand, then pulls and releases, hurling the Xun Barachel—twice his size—before his feet, lifts his left foot and steps onto her metallic skull.

"Bang~!" a crisp sound.

The skull shatters into fragments, parts scatter, and a liquid resembling engine oil oozes out.

"Hehe."

Yet without a physical body and unharmed at its core, Xun Barachel's consciousness and logic persist, and through some amplification device, it loudly proclaims again without a hint of memory:

"Humans are indeed a foolish, inferior species; if you bind my body with a static stance, it would cause me some trouble, but now I can focus more on dealing with your brothers

My physical body cannot handle you; can it not handle the cowardly OriginalBody that was nearly killed by Sa Er Ke Si I Sai Er? No, I should imprison it, hmm, yes, using the trade you humans like to exchange for benefits."

Heard that.

John leisurely retracts the Spear of Fear, attaching it to his back, then walks toward the cockpit exit.

?

Watching John's emotions and movements through the monitor, Xun Barachel is perplexed.

Why is the OriginalBody before it so calm?

Shouldn't it be surprised? At least show concern for its brother's safety.

In fact, while John was dueling Xun Barachel, the straightforward OriginalBody troops that had rushed through the plaza ruins into the underground palace have already found a room resembling a main control chamber.

Here the lighting is the same dark‑green hue, and there is also a device resembling a central console.

Seeing this, a veteran whose helmet bears a golden olive branch and whose power pack is adorned with a glowing iron ring steps quickly away from the squad and approaches the Necro Overlord central console.

Then the veteran reaches with his right hand to the back of his helmet, pulls out a square "core", and inserts its semi‑rigid form into a gap in the console, saying:

"Kota Na, the rest is yours."

(End of Chapter)