Fresh blood dripped from the edge of the Black War Axe.

A landing waymark flew over the young Defense Army soldier’s head.

He no longer felt the ease he had just moments ago. He looked up, staring blankly as his home, the metropolis, burned and crumbled amidst the slaughter and war.

The landmark towers collapsed one after another, like mountains crashing to the ground.

The steel bridges connecting the districts snapped, collapsed, and plunged into the endless darkness of the Lower City District.

Fully armed invaders swarmed in.

The cries and screams of civilians were endless. The fear of death was frozen on faces that had once been so full of life.

As the smoke and dust before him gradually cleared, he saw a Radiant Waymark landing ship embedded in the ruins of a building. Nearby, the dust-covered bodies of a family of five lay half-buried in brick and rubble.

Veteran soldiers of the Defense Army, wearing the same primitive Leather Armor and carrying the same basic weapons as him, darted through the rubble-strewn streets, doing their best to evacuate civilians. Their eyes were filled with fear of the unknown.

More and more landing waymarks blotted out the sky, howling as they smashed into the Desolate Wasteland Ruins. The once-wide streets and districts were reduced to rubble, completely drowned in the thunderous roar of destruction and collapse.

Far in the distance, a woman carrying a child ran in a panic toward Lord Raphael, seeking shelter. But a Crossbow Arrow mercilessly pierced her chest and the infant in her arms. She collapsed to the ground, drenched in blood.

The young Defense Army soldier could even hear the furious roars of a Combat Priest and the woman’s agonizing cries as she lay in a pool of blood, cradling her infant and praying to the Divine Emperor.

A colossal ship, powered by ancient Wizard technology, appeared in the skies above the Desolate Wasteland Ruins.

The cruel, merciless voice of Great Lord Kles echoed from a broadcast, reverberating throughout the Stereoscopic City.

"I am Great Lord Kles, Lord of a Hundred Worlds. You dared to refuse my gift. In return, I will grant this world death and destruction..."

Screams, cries, the clash of metal, the Great Lord’s death sentence... this cacophony of destruction grated on the young Defense Army soldier’s nerves, plunging him into a fear from which he could not escape.

An old veteran slapped the young Defense Army soldier hard on the shoulder and roared, "Laslo! Stop spacing out! Grab your weapon! The enemy’s here!"

Laslo hurriedly adjusted his crude Leather Armor helm, tightened his grip on his Longsword, and stared toward the end of the street.

A unit of over a hundred heavy infantry, armed to the teeth, finished slaughtering every civilian in sight and turned their attention toward them.

These infantrymen carried Shield Towers and were equipped with Crossbow Arrows and Longswords. Their gear was so exceptional that not even the Governor’s Guard of the Desolate Wasteland Ruins could compare.

Laslo glanced at the crude gear he and his comrades carried. ’Compared to them,’ he thought, ’we look like primitives.’

He swallowed nervously, his heart pounding. ’Can we really stop their attack? Just us?’ He even wondered if his old weapon would just break against their Shield Towers.

Staring at Reinhardt’s imposing back, a thought began to form in his mind. ’Lord Angel will protect us. He’ll protect this world... right?’

「At that moment.」

A young woman, exquisitely dressed but covered from head to toe in dust, stumbled out of a small alley and fell into his arms.

She had a pitiable look in her eyes and a beautiful face that could only belong to the nobility.

Laslo’s heart skipped a beat. ’She’s beautiful!’

"Help me... please, help me... I..."

He rushed to support her, and their eyes met. Maybe it was fate, or maybe it was love at first sight. In that single moment, Laslo had already decided what they would name their future children.

Faced with the beautiful girl’s plea for help, the young Defense Army soldier who had always dreamed of being a hero wanted to comfort her, to tell her that he and the Lord Knight would keep her safe, that they would protect this city.

But her petite body was a dead weight; he couldn’t seem to lift her. Then he saw it: the Crossbow Arrow buried deep in her back and a horrifying gash from a Longsword that had sliced her back almost completely open.

A knot formed in Laslo’s chest. He clutched the girl’s body and roared, "Hey—! Wake up—!"

However, the girl, beautiful as a character from an oil painting, simply stared with wide, terrified eyes. One hand clutched his arm, her blood staining his Leather Armor as she slid to the ground. Her gaze, locked on his, slowly lost focus until all life had fled.

Helplessness, sorrow, terror... Laslo felt his very soul begin to tremble.

And then came an endless, boiling rage and indignation.

He snapped his head up to stare at the propaganda ship cruising above the ruined city, the voice of Great Lord Kles, filled with contempt and cruelty, ringing in his ears.

’Bastard...’

A furious heat surged in his chest.

He lowered the girl’s body and let out a hysterical roar. All this, just because his people were poor and loyal to the Empire. All this, just because they refused to kneel and submit to that damn Great Lord’s rule.

And for that, this Lord sent his army to attack their home, to slaughter the city’s people just to display his might...

Laslo drew his Longsword. All fear forgotten, he followed the veterans and his comrades, charging fearlessly toward the fully armed invaders.

As Laslo charged past Reinhardt’s towering figure, his gaze met that of the Divine Emperor’s Vengeful Angel. The sublime, sacred feeling of that gaze, like being watched by the Divine Emperor Himself, became an unshakeable conviction and courage that flooded his soul!

Filled with a courage he didn’t know he possessed, Laslo raised his Longsword and screamed as he ran.

His cry was a horn of unyielding defiance, ringing to the heavens throughout the Desolate Wasteland Ruins, deafening all else!

"For our home! For the Divine Emperor—!"

The other veterans, inspired, joined his cry and roared as one!

"For the glory of the Divine Emperor!"

"For the Divine Emperor—!" 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

「At that moment.」

An elite ten-man squad of Knights leaped down from a bridgeway in the Upper City District, shattering the ground as they landed. They fell with immense weight, like the Death God himself descending, blocking the path of the Mortal Defense Army’s desperate charge.

Just as an elite Knight with a Four-star Military Rank swung his Knight’s Broadsword, intending to slaughter these foolish Mortals who dared to resist...

Reinhardt let out a slow breath.

He looked out upon the Desolate Wasteland Ruins, now completely lost to a sea of fire and death.

He felt the courage of these Mortal Soldiers who charged past him to their deaths. Even in this hopeless situation, they erupted with a brilliance that was in no way inferior to that of a Knight.

As if in answer to the courage and sacrifice of these Mortals, Reinhardt tightened his grip on his axe, his voice low.

"For the Divine Emperor."

As the Knight’s Broadsword shattered a Defense Army soldier’s weapon, its blade, imbued with Mighty Power, tore through the man’s flimsy Leather Armor.

As the Defense Army soldier’s eyes widened in defiance, ready to bravely meet his death...

A roaring shockwave, like the unleashed fury of the Divine Emperor, swept over them. A Giant Axe, descending with the force of an avalanche, viciously tore through the Knight’s Steel Armor and his Mighty Power!

Reinhardt’s towering form appeared before the Defense Army soldier.

Like a God of Slaughter, he stepped on the enemy’s corpse and pulled out his blood-soaked War Axe.

His furious roar was like a blessing from the Divine Emperor, completely igniting the fighting will of the Mortal Defense Army!

"Fallen! You face me now—!"