Him and their stars.

Chapter 2099 Who exactly went mad with killing?
Now, the cacophony of alarms has spread from the port area of ​​Sector C to every corner of Chenxiao Fortress, sounding as shrill as screams of agony.

Amidst such terrifying sonic waves, a group of armored grenadiers who were preparing to provide support to the port stared in disbelief at the vortex that had appeared out of thin air in front of them just seconds earlier.

Then came a heart-pounding "ripping sound—!", as if the toughest fabric had been forcibly torn apart by brute force.

At the origin of that energy vortex, space was once again violently torn open, and violent chaotic energy surged out like a burst dam, eroding and dissolving the nearby ground and walls!

Immediately afterwards, a hand covered in azure spiritual light suddenly emerged from the crack and firmly grasped the "edge" of the real world.

Then came the other hand.

He used both hands simultaneously to push out to both sides!
The spatial rift was torn open like a fragile curtain, and Yu Lian stepped out. His uniform had minor tears at the edges, bearing marks as if it had been gnawed by some ferocious beast. A trace of rainbow light, seemingly not belonging to this dimension, lingered in the tips of his hair, but it vanished the moment he came into contact with the reality of this world.

His eyes were still full of relaxation and ease, and his posture was as leisurely as if he were strolling in a garden. The spiritual energy surging around him had not diminished, but rather seemed to have been tempered by some kind of power, becoming more condensed and more dangerous.

Of course, this is something that ordinary imperial soldiers cannot perceive.

They only saw a young man dressed in an Earthling uniform tear a rift in the void before them and descend upon them in a way that defied common sense.

Yes, that's how those abyssal demons make their entrance when they descend into the mortal world in those ancient costume dramas where ghosts fight each other.

Through the helmet, Yu Lian couldn't see the soldiers' expressions, but he could still sense their panic and helplessness. Considering that he was, after all, leading a kingly and righteous army, and that his actions should be legitimate, he waved to them and greeted them with a friendly smile.

"Hello there!"

Yu Lian thought his expression should be very kind, but for some reason it triggered PTSD in these grenadiers. These armored grenadiers, who could be considered villainous bosses in the eyes of the rioting colonies and ordinary rebels, suddenly let out screams like little girls.

"Weird, monster!"

"Help! Help!"

They instinctively activated all their weapons, unleashing deadly firepower at the inhuman being.

Electromagnetic rifles, rifle grenades, squad-level blast cannons and phase wave cannons, and even shoulder-fired hive missiles—they unleashed everything they could.

Yu Lian passed right through the barrage of bullets unharmed, as if he were in a completely different dimension from the scorching bullets and energy rain.

The explosion happened behind him, but it didn't even stir a single hair on his head.

He lightly brushed non-existent dust off his shoulder, looked up at the soldiers in front of him, and a hint of pity appeared in his smile: "You should know that indiscriminately slaughtering ordinary people is not in line with the basic morality of psionicists. However, we are soldiers after all, so we should consider other concepts of morality."

Whether the Imperial soldiers on the other side understood what she said is unclear, but their screams became even more piercing. If she was a terrified little girl before, she now looked like a groundhog about to be captured.

A few machine guns were still roaring hysterically, but most Imperial soldiers were already fleeing in terror. At this moment, the elite armored grenadiers were no more forceful than they had been in suppressing previous targets.

However, before they could reach Yu Lian's line of sight, they were stopped by another team of Emblem Machines that had arrived.

"Go back! Go back to fight!" the Star Knight shouted.

“Fight to the death! This is our duty, this is our honor!” said another knight.

To be fair, from the perspective of the supervisory team, the presence of the Astral Knights was far too strong. However, even with their presence, some Imperial soldiers stopped, while others continued to flee.

Military regulations in many countries state that "soldiers should fear their officers more than their enemies." However, it has been proven that fear of some enemies can be innate and cannot be easily overcome.

In short, these grenadiers, who had completely lost their minds and only thought about escaping, could not escape the tragic fate of being executed on the spot by the knight lord with his light blade.

"Go back! Fight!" The leading Star Knight brandished the light spear that had just severed two soldiers in half, and then charged towards Yu Lian.

To be fair, executing one's own soldiers is certainly not something to be encouraged, but such a selfless act adds a touch of determination and tragedy.

After all, he didn't apply double standards.

Yu Lian naturally respected this kind of person very much.

He didn't even swing his sword to parry; the psionic energy coiling around his body dissipated from every pore, forming an absolute offensive and defensive domain. All the explosive beams and kinetic bullets fired at him were deflected and neutralized within the domain's effective range.

He strode forward, much happier than his previous stroll, but he still barely moved forward.

An invisible psionic barrier, like an unseen chariot, crashed into the ranks of soldiers. The impact caused metal to twist and deform, and dull thuds of bones shattering echoed from beneath the gaps in the deformed armor.

Grenadiers who couldn't escape were flung out in all directions like bowling pins, crashing into surrounding walls, machinery, and equipment. Some were even thrown off the railings at the edge of the passageway, beginning their freefall into the lower fortress spaces.

This is the massacre of ordinary people by high-ranking psychics. Even if there were thousands or tens of thousands more soldiers on the scene, the effect would be the same.

Of course, in a more open environment, with the availability of powerful weapons, it might make the psionicists put in more effort.

However, to be fair, Yu Lian really did hold back. He didn't specifically target any grenadier; he simply advanced.

As for the accidental injuries along the way, it only illustrates the equality of all living beings. At least subjectively, he had no intention of slaughtering "mortals".

It wasn't until the Star Knights rushed right up to him that Yu Lian finally made a different move.

He raised his left hand, and the crimson light blade that the leading Star Knight was about to stab at him immediately retracted.

The knights were dumbfounded, only to find that they could no longer move forward.

"Monster!" The Star Knight, dumbfounded, gripped his spear shaft in despair, unable to unleash his energy blade no matter what he tried.

Without even glancing over there, Yu Lian casually squeezed with his left hand, and an invisible force molded the priceless emblem machine into a deformed puppet, with fragments of flesh and blood flowing out from the cracks in the mech. Before the other knights could mourn the gruesome death of their comrade, the deformed mech, enveloping the deformed corpse, bounced back like a cannonball, slamming into the nearest knight.

The acceleration space, less than half a meter, seemed to have no effect on the kinetic energy. He was thrown backward off the side railing, letting out a long, agonizing scream. His emblem machine should have gliding and brief anti-gravity functions, but they didn't activate at all; it was unclear whether the person or the machine was malfunctioning.

In this dire situation, the remaining two knights were astonished to find that they had regained their ability to run. Without hesitation, they turned and fled. Despite dragging a three-meter-tall, half-ton emblem machine, they both ran with fear and helplessness, as if they were very good at running, much better than ordinary grenadiers.

When they reached a corner at the end of a passage, they even did a slide tackle and managed to crawl under a falling alloy door.

Yes, the isolation system inside the fortress has been activated, and alarms are sounding in the passageway: "The blast doors of the blast vehicle are closing!"

The heavy composite metal gate slammed down like a stone severing a dragon, sealing off the passage to the inner compartment. It trapped the twenty-odd surviving grenadiers and the seemingly unarmed and unremarkable Yu Lian together.

The surviving grenadiers looked at each other, then huddled to either side of the door, covering their heads. They too were clad in menacing armor over two meters tall, still befitting their role as bosses in most uprising battles, yet they all tried their best to disguise themselves as furniture.

Yu Lian ignored the soldiers who had no will to resist and simply stepped forward and placed his hand on the armored door that had just been closed.

This thing is at least two or three meters thick, and it has a multi-layered, cake-like structure made up of several different types of armor plates. It can still be used as a typical design for warship armor plates to resist naval guns and missiles.

but……

"Om-!"

An invisible shockwave shot out from Yu Lian's palm, piercing through the five layers of the gate's structure. The hundred-ton armored door, like crumpled cardboard, showed obvious wrinkles and cracks, and then...

The grenadiers witnessed up close as the "demon dragon whose name cannot even be mentioned" pierced through the armored gate with a single blow, directly stepping over the defensive structure designed to protect against siege engines.

His demeanor remained calm and natural, as if he were simply opening his own front door.

It wasn't until the dragon had actually passed through the passage that the bewildered grenadier seemed to suddenly realize that his life was probably saved.

It took Yu Lian five seconds to break through the armored gate. When he returned to Sector C of the fortress through the passage, he saw two squads of eight Star Knights who had arrived again.

The emblems on their bodies shimmered with light, their spiritual essence coalescing to form a sturdy barrier. Their postures were resolute and tragic, like a group of warriors facing certain death, attempting to use their mortal bodies to block the gods and demons descending upon the mortal realm.

What a courageous act of going to one's death!

"I have been captivated by your heroic figure at the War God Festival. Now, to die on the path of charging towards you, is that not an honor?" the leading knight declared solemnly.

Why do I always feel like these guys know me?
"Knights! Attack!" With a roar full of authority and determination, the knights began their assault.

Yu Lian looked at the charging knights without any contempt in his eyes, nor any respect or emotion, but just let out a slightly annoyed sigh.

Inside the Chenxiao Fortress, in a command center hidden within a psionic singularity, Star Sight Officers clad in classical robes were operating the fortress's array. Spiritual energy flowed orderly throughout the room, yet it still couldn't lower the atmosphere to freezing point.

Several veteran knights watched helplessly as the dot of light, representing death, advanced in an unstoppable straight line on the fortress's structural diagram.

They didn't know where the "dragon whose name couldn't even be mentioned" was heading, but they knew that it was moving forward.

The old knight commander, Mikaela, took a deep breath and took a step forward.

The ancient-looking, sturdy heraldic machine emitted a soft hum from its hydraulic transmission, as light as the wind. He placed his hand on the hilt of the greatsword that had been with him for over sixty years, as if drawing power from it.

"Your Highness, he is more troublesome than we imagined. The spatial labyrinth of the Eternal Array failed to trap him because there was no powerful psychic present to make adjustments. However, this was actually expected. I have ordered the knights not to linger in battle, but to fight and retreat. All the traps in the fortress can weaken his stamina." The old knight commander's voice came through the visor, sounding somewhat muffled, yet exceptionally firm, with a hint of the scorched earth tactic of executing a scorched earth strategy.

"I will personally take action and rendezvous with my standard-bearers. I will do my best to improve the situation. I ask that you remain in the central command to coordinate the overall situation."

He glanced at the still rapidly moving dot on the screen and added, "Lieutenant General Nobof and Duke Barryen's reinforcements are still 12 hours away. Our goal remains to hold firm."

They were indeed prepared to make the fortress itself, with its eternal array, the price of this battle.

A massive fortress, with a million inhabitants and dozens of Astral Knights, using scorched earth tactics against a lone individual—who can say that isn't an honor?

King Velent had donned the magnificent "Blazing Dragon" armor, its golden-red plates shimmering like the sun under the lamplight. He held a sword that seemed to radiate the same power of the sun in his hands, his bearing as majestic as a deity.

He remains the most perfect human emperor cosplayer; judging by his appearance alone, one could easily mistake him for a nine-ringed emperor or even the emperor himself.

The elector gazed at the old knight commander, his tone still too calm for his own sake: "I should go with you."

“You can teleport here at any time using your Noble Phantasm. This is our home turf,” the old knight commander said. “Besides, I have a bad feeling about this.”

"Understood. Please be careful." The emperor decided to heed the expert's advice.

You changed your mind so quickly.

The old knight commander was silent for two seconds, then tapped his breastplate with his fist and strode away. Judging from his imposing manner, he seemed several years younger than his actual age.

Three minutes after he left, King Werrent heard the message from General Yelik.

The empire's guardian beast, nurtured for millennia, is now scorching the gates of the fortress command post with its dragon breath. The gates, of course, are armored and structurally capable of withstanding naval cannon fire. However, coincidentally, the breath of an adult Flamewing Dragon is indeed on par with that of a cruiser's naval cannon.

"I will not retreat an inch! I am prepared to die in battle! Long live His Majesty the Emperor! Long live the Galactic Empire! Long live Dawnburg!" General Yelik declared passionately.

"Not a step back! Long live!" The officers and guards in the command post responded hoarsely through the communication channel. They had already set up simple fortifications and distributed the mechs and weapons.

Of course, even a sane person would know that these actions are meaningless in the face of a Star Dragon that can go on a killing spree.

Perhaps it would be a more dignified way to die?