The Ring, Part Two

Several light-years away from Planet 228.

In the dark, star-strewn expanse of space.

A white spacecraft spread its wings like a bird, trailing four jets of white light as it flew toward a colossal fortress warship in the distance, vast as a mountain.

The warship was entirely black, with fine flecks of white light occasionally flickering across its surface.

Its construction style was completely different from that of the Penza Empire.

The entire warship resembled a giant vessel carrying a black cathedral on its back as it slowly drifted through space.

Its architecture was dominated by circular rings of thorns studded with spikes. Above the warship, on either side, stood a magnificent statue of a thorned angel.

They held ornate black greatswords, their faces devoid of features, their wings spread wide, like messengers guarding the warship.

Behind the angels were still the thorned rings that represented the church.

The hundred-meter-long white spacecraft spread its wings and gradually approached the enormous church warship.

Like a speck of drifting dust, it slowly neared a giant whale in the sea—utterly inconspicuous.

The spacecraft entered through an open passage at the bottom of the warship, passed through a lengthy scanning corridor, and landed at an isolated dock.

Hiss.

The hatch opened. The Baron in the purple body frame removed his helmet, stepped out, and swept his gaze outside.

His eyes quickly settled on a group that had come to receive him.

The group wore black, armor-like body frames from head to toe. These were the Knossoss Empire's unique swordsman-type body frames, equivalent to the Penza Empire's Liva-class.

"Jose Lucis. Long time no see."

The swordsman body frames moved apart, revealing a man slowly floating over from behind them.

The man held a short silver staff. His black beard hung down to his thighs, and