The Emperor’s Angel of Death

"Since signing the defense contract with the Dupont-Derlin family, we have provided them with twenty-five Paladin-class, twenty Ranger-class, eight Warden-class, eight Crusader-class, one Castellan-class, thirty Punisher-class, and twenty Lancer-class knights, along with 192 servitor robots of various types."

Upon hearing these numbers, Saul Tarvitz looked genuinely surprised.

This book is first published on 𝚝𝕨𝕜𝕒𝕟.𝕔𝕠𝕞.

"That many? I remember that Ulan Huda only started supplying the Dupont-Derlin family with knights twenty or thirty years ago, right? That adds up to 104 knightly machines, plus nearly 200 servitor robots."

"You may not know, but before the Horus Heresy erupted ten thousand years ago, we were originally supposed to provide armaments for two knightly houses. After the production order was issued, the forge world began mass-producing all kinds of parts needed for knightly machines. Although the assembly and production of knights was interrupted after the Heresy broke out, those large quantities of spare parts were still there and have been kept in huge stasis warehouses. Only the Forge Director has the authority to open them. Restarting the factory this time is just resuming the assembly work from ten thousand years ago."

"Oh, I see. I remember that the Lancer-class and Punisher-class were rare models."

"Asp-class."

"Yes, yes, Asp-class. I saw them when I was looking at historical data on knightly machines."

As a complex and ancient class of knightly machine, the Asp-class knight's intricate frame system is efficient and agile, granting it astonishing speed far surpassing that of the Ranger and Paladin classes. This allows the Asp-class to engage enemies extremely quickly, eliminating them in close combat before they can react. This is also the biggest difference between the Asp-class and the Errant-class. The Asp-class design was purely for war from the very beginning.

The Errant-class is more of a guardian symbolizing responsibility for defending territory, while the Asp is purely a warrior and conqueror, a tool created for destruction.

Saul Tarvitz couldn't help but feel a sense of emotion and concern as he recalled that during the pre-Crusade parades, the Dupont-Derlin family only had 13 knightly machines and 32 escort machines, but now they were close to the size of a third-rate family.

Sensing Saul Tarvitz's emotions, Bangura opened his mouth at the right time:

"Lord Commander, with all due respect, knights need to be tempered in the fires of war. Prolonged ease will only cause their armor to rust and their swords to dull. You didn't allow the Dupont-Derlin family to participate in the Crusade because you were worried that their strength was still weak, which is understandable, but now they have grown up. Grand Duke Olga's adopted sons have produced many offspring, and a new batch of knights will soon grow up. They need blood and death to feed them so that they can grow into eagles on the battlefield, otherwise, the Dupont-Derlin family may disappoint your expectations."

Saul Tarvitz pondered for a moment. As the anti-gravity platform slowly moved, he stared at those giants whose huge metal skeletons were still exposed, and slowly said:

"How has the Dupont-Derlin family been doing these past few years?"

"Overall stable, but with slight complacency."

"Slight complacency?"

Saul Tarvitz fell into thought. At this time, the anti-gravity platform stopped in front of a knightly machine that was basically completed but not yet painted. This thing was nearly 10 meters tall and had a 'slender' shape that was very different from the common knightly machine models. Its relatively slender waist, hips, and legs accounted for most of its body. The lower half of its legs had a very unique reverse-joint design. One could imagine how fast it would be when it ran. Its torso looked much simpler, with only two pieces of thick armor combined together. The narrow head was surrounded by dome armor and chest armor, and the shoulder armor was also small, without any weapons, making its arms visibly flexible. Saul Tarvitz liked this simple and capable militaristic style very much.

"This is the Asp-class?"

"Yes."

"A very pure machine. Presumably its weapons are all on its arms."

"The Lancer-class's main weapon is the shock lance."

Under Bangura's command, the anti-gravity platform turned to the side of the test site, where a huge spear was dragged in front of everyone by a hook.

"This is a power lance with combined electromagnetic and hydraulic assistance, capable of attacking enemies at a relatively long distance in close combat."

As he spoke, the power lance was brought to a machine. As energy was input, the tip of the giant spear burst out with dazzling electricity.

The next second, with a soft thud, the tip of the spear slid out of the electromagnetic sleeve at an extremely fast speed, creating a sonic boom ring, and protruded about three or four meters before quickly retracting.

"With the dual assistance of hydraulic and electromagnetic devices, the tip of the spear, which is attached with a disruptive energy field, will thrust out at an extremely high speed. Experienced knights will perform this action one second before hitting the target. At that time, the terrifying speed and power, combined with the disruptive energy field of the spearhead, make it capable of breaking through almost any armor, including the leg armor of a Titan."

Saul Tarvitz raised an eyebrow.

"Pure close combat configuration? Isn't the risk too great? This machine doesn't seem to have very strong defensive capabilities."

"Not entirely."

Soon, energy was input into the shock lance again. As the spearhead flashed again, it was different from before. At the same time, thick alloy shields rose in front of the test site.

It became brighter, but there was not as much electricity, as if the energy was being suppressed.

"By adjusting the output and decomposition mode, combined with the structure in the spear shaft, the electromagnetic field acceleration mechanism at the head of the shock lance can fire plasma jets."

With a crash, the surging plasma stream swept out like a raging serpent, instantly penetrating several layers of alloy armor plates and fading away two to three hundred meters away.

"This powerful high-temperature jet is extremely powerful. Although its design prevents it from having a very long range, it is still sufficient to deal with most threats and obstacles at intermediate distances."

Before Bangura could finish speaking, a huge, sturdy, semi-transparent shield descended.

"In addition, in order to compensate for the Lancer's defensive shortcomings, it will also use a large plasma arm shield, which is generally equipped on the Lancer's right arm armor, but it also depends on the knight's own habits. The ion arm shield has a more concentrated energy in the protection area, resulting in extremely excellent protection within the shield's projection range, and it can also withstand melee attacks, which most existing shields in the Imperium cannot do."

"Ha, the knights of ten thousand years ago were really classical. But once a group charges, I can imagine the power and scene would be devastating against enemies who favor melee combat like Orks or Tyranids. But its charge requires ranged cover fire. I suppose that's the Punisher-class's role?"

"Lord Commander, there is one improvement to the Punisher-class that you must see."

Hearing Bangura say this, Saul Tarvitz smiled slightly.

"What new invention is it? I'm looking forward to it."