Chapter 558: Warrior Rankings and the Mien of a Mighty General

Warrior?

Spacious and bright, with plenty of green vegetation and flowing pools, inside the hall used to relieve fatigue and rest, Artemis frowned slightly, looking ahead at a metal arch bridge.

On the twenty-meter-wide metal arch bridge, ten figures in fitted black hooded robes, male and female……

At least outwardly appearing as warriors of different genders, they lined up in a row from the end of the bridge and walked slowly to the artificial island where Artemis was.

These warriors were generally humanoid in shape, with limbs, torso, and head, but there were some differences.

For example, a male warrior's skin was cracked like muddy ground, and a female warrior's skin was greenish, uneven but textured, yet both hands had only four fingers.

From this, one could judge that this warrior-type establishment was not limited to recruiting humans from this universe, but was open to all races.

Through Spiritual Perception, Artemis sensed that these ten warriors were imbued with strong Spiritual Energy, or what those shock troops shouted about as some kind of 'Force'.

Although she did not possess Sui Bian's multiversal-level perception ability, she also analyzed the so-called 'Force' from what she had seen and heard along the way; it might be how this universe's races refer to Spiritual Energy, and furthermore, the Empire's high command venerates the 'Dark Side', which is likely tied to some evil deity.

Combined with the faint, extremely subtle Spiritual Energy fluctuations emanating from the ten warriors before her, Artemis was certain: it was definitely that treacherous thing.

After all, she was the chief instructor of the Grey Knights, all too familiar with demonic evil gods.

Soon.

Their steps were about the same; eventually they reached the center of the artificial island and stopped simultaneously.

The ten warriors kept about five to six meters apart, forming a semicircle that half-surrounded Artemis; nobody moved first, falling into a silent standoff.

The artificial breeze in the resting hall caused the artificial leaves on both sides of the island to flutter, emitting a 'swish-swish' sound; together with the 'splash-splash' water beside the island, there was an unusual tranquility.

But this tranquility lasted only a few seconds, ending with the ten warriors almost simultaneously reaching for their waist-mounted 'silver sword hilts'.

Immediately after.

At the instant the ten warriors pressed the sword hilt button, they emitted a loud 'buzz! buzz!' electric sound, extending a cylindrical red high-energy energy blade one meter long and five centimeters wide.

At first glance, it looked like a laser sword, but it was actually plasma.

"Who's the close-combat weapons expert? Hah." Artemis chuckled, gripped the hilt of her curved blade with her right hand, slowly drew the blade emitting a faint green light, and pointed the edge at the green-skinned warrior, saying:

"Which of you wants to come die first? Don't worry, I promise not to use Spiritual Energy… or the Force, so you won't be instantly killed."

"Ha!"

The green-skinned female warrior let out a fierce shout, bent her knees and leapt, jumping over ten meters high, then wielding her sword with both hands, she slashed at Artemis at great speed.

"Flashy, with too many openings."

Speaking at the same time, Artemis merely shifted her body slightly to dodge the female warrior's slash, then, taking advantage of the motion, she raised her right hand with a bit of force…

"Sizzle!!"

Before the female warrior's feet touched the ground again, the moonlight curved blade cut her in half at the waist, leaving her in two pieces lying on the ground.

Furthermore, when the female warrior tried to struggle, using her still-mobile upper body to continue attacking Artemis, her head had already been struck by Artemis's left heel.

"Bang!!"

One foot stomped, exploding it.

!

Seeing that Artemis's close-combat prowess far exceeded their expectations, the remaining nine warriors immediately attacked together.

Among them, three warriors raised their left hands, palms aimed at Artemis, releasing some kind of extremely powerful binding stance.

"Crackle!!"

Two more warriors, meanwhile, released lightning from their left hands capable of piercing ordinary energy shields and warship armor, emitting a purplish light.

The last four warriors, meanwhile, wielded their swords with both hands, slashing and stabbing at Artemis from four directions.

"Boom!!"

At the moment the binding stance hit her, Artemis felt as if she were being pressed down by a force of ten thousand tons or even more, causing the metal floor beneath her feet to continually sink.

"Crack!!"

The two bolts of lightning, upon striking her body, linked together, completely enveloping her entire person and emitting puffs of black smoke.

When the four sword-wielding warriors responsible for close combat closed in, the other five warriors finally ceased their Force release, taking up positions on the periphery to observe and stand ready to provide immediate support.

Seeing the red high-energy blades of the four warriors about to cut down the smoke-shrouded Artemis…

"Buzz!!" the fierce clash of blade and blade erupted.

"Bang!!" the heavy thud when fist and foot struck the flesh.

"Pop!!" like a basketball or football bursting violently.

"Splatter…" and fresh blood and chunks of meat rained down like light rain.

In less than a breath, Artemis used Spiritual Energy to disperse the thick smoke, then, at a speed the enemies could see with their eyes but their bodies couldn't follow, she first swung a blade striking the swords of the two nearest warriors, using absolute brute force to fling that warrior away.

Then, with her left hand not holding the blade, she threw a straight punch, followed by a spinning kick that turned her body, directly blowing up and kicking apart the other two warriors…

This was blowing up and kicking apart in the physical sense.

Limbs and torso burst apart, blood and viscera sprayed in all directions.

This method, this scene, somewhat did not match Artemis's appearance and physique…

Of course, having seen this hunting goddess's demeanor on the training field, the Grey Knights, and even Grey Knights' father Sui Bian, all knew that Artemis had a rather violent temper.

As for the combat style of the other legions and the Imperial Guard's Astate, the Grey Knights don't know, but their preference for stomping explosions, kicking explosions, or smashing and blasting enemies is largely due to the influence of their chief instructor.

In fact, Artemis originally intended to try to block the opponent's 'light sword' head-on with her own 'divine body' to directly assess just how destructive the light sword was.

But when those four warriors approached, Artemis's combat instinct told her that her divine body could not absolutely defend against the light sword; she had to counterattack.

Nevertheless, it was not without gain; Artemis probed these ten warriors and found that, if we compare combat power disregarding physical quality and looking only at Spiritual Energy, they are at least on par with the Ghost agents of the Department of Oversight's secret unit, or with Tu Temosi who has just completed the rookie trials.

By rights, these ten warriors would be considered top-notch in the main universe; like a squad of inexperienced assault troops bad at Spiritual Energy, they would only suffer defeat if they faced them, but Artemis is a top-tier combat power in the universe.

She simply couldn't be bothered to continue testing and playing games.

She went straight for the kill.

At this moment, the five warriors on the periphery had not yet reacted, when their outlines were already enveloped in a wave of faint green light, and then…

Pfft!!

Flesh and blood exploded.

As an old god of the Olympian pantheon, the fact that Artemis walks among mortals has only recently, over the past few decades, been slowly opened to the public.

Because in the most catastrophic interspatial storm in the main universe, the fallen gods of Olympus were the main accomplices.

Therefore, to avoid provoking public resentment and curses, the original Umbrella chose to prohibit disclosure of information about gods such as Artemis and Hephestus to the outside world.

But as public opinion waned, and with Umbrella revealing some of Artemis's demon-hunting campaigns, as well as Hephestus being one of the designers of the Terminator power armor, society finally realized that there were still uncorrupted Olympian gods fighting alongside humanity.

Finally, when Hera appeared with Dianka to assist Sparta's 16th Battalion and stubbornly resisted Izekiel Abaddon's full-scale assault, people's view of the uncorrupted Olympian gods completely changed.

Thus, trillions of military enthusiasts have created various rankings on forums spanning galaxies and universes, from ammunition to warships and special forces of different planets, and so on.

Among all these rankings, there are also posts concerning individual combat ability.

Zero, meaning the highest rank is forever the Human Emperor.

And the rank below that, the One (1) class, consists of all OriginalBodies, Plague Doctors, and A-1999.

Indeed, Plague Doctors who have made outstanding contributions to humanity are also made public, entered into histories and textbooks, even in the urban areas of ancient Earth cities and each colony, and there are statues of Plague Doctors.

Although the Plague Doctors say it's optional and don't care about fame or honor, from Sui Bian's perspective, while the Plague Doctors may lack interest, this Human Emperor cannot lack this action.

Otherwise, researchers would lose their fighting spirit in the scientific field.

Furthermore, because in the few battle details released by Umbrella, the Plague Doctor, having the least video and image data, was nonetheless pushed by netizens into the One rank due to its incomprehensible traits.

As for A-1999…

Bai Hou, in order to as much as possible grind down the unknown attributes of interspace, so that humanity would no longer feel fear, confusion, or awe, has the Surveillance Department dispatch A-1999 and Stalker hunter units deep into interspace to hunt demons, and will also appropriately livestream.

Thus, A-1999, which can treat interspace as home, naturally belongs to the top tier.

The number of those in the Two (2) rank began to surge, and Hera, Artemis, Hades and the other old Olympian gods are in this tier.

Even being a Two, casually pulling out one individual grants them the power, by their own authority, to issue an extinction edict against a planet or a star system.

Those ten warriors, deceived by the Heresy and venerating the so-called dark side, are indeed formidable, able to easily destroy several warships, but against Artemis they have only death as an outcome.

At this moment.

The last two warriors blown away by Artemis's single slash have bodies whose bones aren't completely broken, but they have become crippled, with bone fragments and shards piercing muscles and cavities, now undergoing an extremely painful near-death experience.

Artemis merely watched indifferently, without a thought of giving them a quick death.

For those stormtroopers who don't understand the truth of the Force and only know to obey orders, she would give plenty of pity, but these ten warriors who turned to the dark side are naturally outside her pity.

But.

Yet she stepped onto the chest of one of the dying warriors, and with a light bend of the waist, she crushed its upper half, and also picked up the hilt of the 'lightsaber'.

These things look flashy, but Artemis thinks they have some recycling value.

As for the last warrior, he ended his life in pain.

———————

…

Meanwhile.

The star system where Kedisane is located.

If there were a star map, looking down from above, one would see that at the center is a yellow dwarf larger than the Sun, with a total of twelve planets orbiting it.

Kedisane is in the fourth orbit, which is the most comfortable orbit within the habitable zone of that star system.

Beyond that, the sixth orbit, at least three astronomical units away from Kedisane, hosts a planet much like early Venus, wrapped in a thick atmosphere, a terrestrial world.

At the same time, on this planet whose surface is hot and has an equatorial climate like Earth's tropical rainforest, there is docked a conical warship six kilometers long and up to five kilometers wide.

Together with the small fleet group stationed above the equator, it can be known that this conical warship, or the 'Empire Star‑Destroyer', is precisely the flagship of the 332nd Fleet detachment.

The vast majority of planets and regions in this star system are under the rule of the 332nd Fleet detachment, but this planet, due to its complex terrain, still harbors tens of millions of resistance personnel hiding within.

This is why the flagship, escort ships, and destroyers have gathered here, to provide ample naval gunfire support to ground forces.

At this moment.

Deep in the rainforest near the equator.

Late at night.

Due to the thick atmosphere, upon first entering the rainforest one can only feel that one's hand is invisible before one's face, visibility extremely low.

However, the native insects, animals, and plants are fully adapted to this environment, and it does not affect movement or hunting at all.

Many trees and flowers even emit a faint glow on their own, giving the rainforest a fantastical appearance.

Thud… thud…

Magnetic boots striking the damp soil emit a muffled resonance that reverberates through the rainforest.

And many beasts, hearing the sound, rush over, thinking they can again catch exposed prey, ready to feast, but upon seeing the source of the noise

!!

They immediately turned and fled in fright.

Because Ran Min, wearing the Holy Shield Terminator, wielding double‑bladed polearms in both hands, and with his helmet deployed, is deliberately exposing his position to lure nearby enemies.

Ran Min has a standard square face, dignified appearance, complemented by the paperback edition of *Human Truth* as decoration and the gold‑glowing 'Iron Ring' on the back of his neck, giving this gray knight the aura of an ancient Chinese warrior.

Not long ago.

After receiving his father's approval, Ran Min, based on the star map and coordinates given by Bai Hou, directly leapt to one of the military bases on this planet's surface.

With just his twin spears, he charged in alone.

The enemy's plasma gun batteries are actually very powerful; if subjected to concentrated fire, even the energy shield output of the Holy Shield cannot last more than ten minutes.

But how could Ran Min possibly just stand still? After a bout of blood‑soaked carnage, he easily dismantled the base.

However, a few of the black‑robed warriors in the base chose to 'flee without fighting' and went deep into the rainforest.

Obviously using the rainforest to set an ambush, yet for Astate and the Grey Knights' Ran Min, even though they know they are being schemed against, they still actively follow to this point.

Suddenly.

A surge of extremely strong psychic pressure came, actually suppressing Ran Min's forward steps?!

(End of chapter)