The scorching wind brought puffs of ash, and the last gunboat whistled through the layers of smoke and dust, landing in a great sadness and incomprehension.

The hatch opened, and Luojia stood in the shadows, so hasty and helpless, he stood there, among the ashes of the City of Perfection, among his equally confused heirs.

He...... He looked slowly, he saw the wraissers who were still rummaging in vain through the ruins and embers for a possible remnant of the texts, he saw the priests kneel and pray among the ashes, and a crack appeared in the indestructible hearts of the people.

Gradually, a voice sounded.

"Aurelian,"

They cried out,

"Aurelian, my father."

Roja Aurelian, they called his name, and above this fiery wasteland, his name spread far away with the wind, and they stood up, and looked blankly at him, at their father.

Why, they're asking? Why is this the case?

The confusion and pain of the heir surrounded him, and Luojia felt that somewhere in her body was broken and incomplete—why? He also wanted to ask, why?!

They have done nothing wrong, so why do they rebuke them abruptly? Why humiliate them with the City of Perfection? So far, Luojia has not received any explanation other than the Ultramarine's communication.

Is it an Ultramarine......? Luojia's reason is boiling, he is unwilling to think about another possibility, which is the abyss that the mind cannot accept, Luojia would rather accept another possibility—not ...... Instead of......

But he can't...... No...... At least not now, Luojia looked at the Bearers, he tried to squeeze out a smile, as a representative, the original body could not reveal weakness, they were the spiritual support of the heirs—they were perfect.

In a sense, always be calm, always be sane, that's the weight that the primordials have to bear, and if they can't, then at least behave like that.

Angeltay stood in the ruins, looking at his original form.

Luojia stepped out of the gunboat, he seemed so calm, but the calm revealed anger and sadness, and Erebus and Colfaron followed the original body.

Angeltay's teacher, the Chief Priest, Erebas, was smiling gently and wearily at the Whisperers, who still seemed to struggle to accept the bad news of the Perfect City, unlike the other warriors, the Forepriest of the Whisperers was always soft-spoken in most cases, but the power of his words was hard to ignore - which was why Erebass earned the respect of most of the Whisperers, and the Primordial held him in such high esteem.

Angeltay still had the necessary respect for his teacher.

On the other side of the original body, there is the first company commander Colfalen, except for the original body himself, the waiers generally dislike this "internal promotion" of the company commander, Colfalon is wearing a silver-gray, shiny Terminator armor, a guy who is greedy for life and afraid of death, his armor thickness is comparable to tank armor, any soldier wearing that kind of armor, will have a dazzling record - instead of wasting this set of good equipment on such a person who has not even done all the surgery of the Space Marine.

Angeltai didn't want to comment on this person, and just as he looked at the two people next to him, the original body spoke.

We will always remember this moment, my son. 】

Luojia lowered his eyes, his golden eyes darkened under the ashes of the City of Perfection.

[Something incomprehensible happened, but I swear to you that if the Empire, if the Ultramarines can't explain what happened this time, then we'll make them pay.] 】

The price, the word echoed in Angeltay's head, and he felt the touch of the ashes brushing his face, so what would be the price for us? He thought, "O'Leon, my father, what will be the price for us to accept all this?"

He stiffly obeyed the original body's orders, and the team of Wai Men scattered in the ruins began to assemble, even if they were shocked, confused, and puzzled by the scene in front of them, they were still the Wai Ones, the most elite warriors of the Empire, and soon, the army of 100,000 Wai Men was gathered in this area.

As First Company Commander and Chief Chaplain, Colfaron and Erebus had the authority to be outside the queue, standing one left and one right behind the original body.

The last of the Bearers returned, it seemed like some kind of signal, but it wasn't for them, and there was some restless agitation in the air, which Angeltay hoped would be the roar of an airship, but unfortunately, he guessed wrong.

The sun was about to set, and on the other side of the ashes and embers, the orange sky was burning hot, and some kind of golden light that was difficult to see enveloped the land, no, it was not the light of a star, it was far brighter than a star.

He is coming.

Angeltay saw the incredulous expression on Luojia's face, it was some kind of ...... The sound of the mask as it broke, Aurelian, you are also looking forward to Killiman, Machado...... Or is it some other imperial official? Except for Him, who came here, on this great ruin, that is a complete confirmation......

…… Prove that they did it wrong.

Luojia's cheekbones tightened, he turned around slowly, the light was so dazzling that even the original body had to squint, Luojia looked directly at the sun, stared directly at the ...... The being who came out of a piece of light.

[Father.] 】

Luojia trembled and pronounced the word, the word that represented everything.

The Emperor looked at him, he was the one that Luojia had never seen before, he was no longer dressed in the heavy and glorious golden armor, his long dark brown hair hung down, he was dressed in a rough and simple linen robe, olive leaves tied on the crown of thorns, and his eyes were cold—

There's nothing in there.

"Get on your knees."

He said.

This is not a request, this is not a command, this is a far stronger and primitive existence than a request and a command, Angeltay's brain went blank for a moment, his muscles tensed, the power armor creaked, and finally, he knelt down, kneeling between the ashes, and when he knelt down completely, the moment of total obedience, an indescribable peace and comfort emerged in the brain of the bearer.

Now, 100,000 Whisperers, 100,000 Warriors, all kneeling in the ruins of the City of Perfection.

Luojia looked back at his heir in disbelief, his pupils trembling, and then he turned back, his voice barely audible,

【…… Father? 】

His father, who was looking at him at the moment, did not have a trace of emotion in his eyes.

"Get on your knees."

He repeated, the word squeezing Luojia so hard that he felt like he was running out of breath, his brain trembling, his back bent in an unimaginable arc—and finally, he fell to his knees.

"Luojia Aurelian,"

The voice came from above them,

"I'm disappointed in you, I'm disappointed in your legion."

Luojia felt a buzz in his head, the blood seemed to stagnate, he couldn't breathe, he couldn't understand, why-why?!

He wanted to look up at his father, but his attempt failed, and the great disappointment strangled him, and he couldn't lift his head.

"You think I'm God."

The God Emperor said lightly.

The corners of Luojia's mouth pulled out a twitching smile, could it be that because of this, is it because you are still refuting that you are not a god, that you have destroyed the Perfect City? You want us to kneel? The truth belongs to us, and you can't—

"Then why can't you and your legion live up to my hopes for you, Aurelian?"

Luojia's pupils narrowed suddenly, and he... What...... Could it be that He ...... No...... He is not...... Why is He......

Did He acquiesce?

Luojia's mind went blank again.

In great shock, Luojia slowly raised his head, and he saw the God Emperor standing there, the sun that was about to set was his aura, and an incredible golden light enveloped him, cold, but—

But it gave him a familiar warmth?

Luojia opened his mouth dumbly, and the gods were interrogating his followers, and he should ...... And how should he answer?

【Us...... We have spread your truth to the universe without slackening, and the Legion has conquered world after world, Father, why are you ......]

O gods, why are you so mean and cruel?

The last words disappeared between Luojia's muttered lips, and he looked straight at the Divine Emperor with great incomprehension and despair.

The God-Emperor raised a hand, his eyes dazzling gold, as if he were making Luojia look at the ruins of this perfect city, the embers of this burned faith.

"Roga Aurelian, do you think you've followed my word?"

Isn't it? Luojia trembled.

"Your progress is the slowest of all the legions, Luojia, the pace of the Great Expedition cannot be slowed down in the slightest."

Luojia felt that her vocal cords were oozing blood,

[The world behind the Whisperer is never a ruin!] Worlds we conquer can be put into production in no time – and they are absolutely loyal to you! Loyal to the Empire! 】

"Loyal to me?"

The Divine Emperor said these words slowly, and a huge sense of suffocation and pressure choked Luojia again, and an indescribable uneasiness and panic enveloped him, and he suddenly remembered the abnormality of the prayer he had prayed the other day.

"Look at me, my child."

Luojia stared at his god with a shudder, and the sun behind him burned almost like an explosion, staining the entire sky with brilliant gold. His face was shrouded in shadows, except for his eyes, which were equally dazzling red gold.

"My child, Luojia, answer me with your sincerity, are you loyal to me?"

【I am loyal to you!】 I am your most loyal believer! God-Emperor! My father! Why are you——]

Luojia roared, but he saw a golden teardrop slowly slide down the corner of the god's eyes, and the god lowered his eyes, which contained too much sadness and sighs.

"Then see for yourself."

Luojia's expression flickered, everything around him was twisting, changing, and in a trance, he saw people smashing at the statue of the God Emperor, he wanted to roar to stop it, but the next moment, the pus gushing out of the sculpture made his words stuck in his throat.

This-this-why?!

He saw the perfect city bustling with people, he saw the squalor hidden in the alleys, he saw the cultists in human skins dancing wildly and spilling blood at the pile of holy candles, he saw ...... He saw......

Luojia shuddered slowly, and he bent down his upper body, almost fainting—in those images, he saw a corner of the Gray Armor of the Bearer.

He was about to drown in this great place of self-reproach and despair.

"This is what you offer me, Loga Aurelian."

The calm voice of the God Emperor sounded,

After a desperate silence, Luojia's hoarse voice sounded,

[God Emperor, my lord, please ...... Please give me another chance, and I will personally cut up the carrion, and please give me, to the Bearer, and to your heirs, a chance to atone for your sins...... Father...... My father ......]

The God Emperor shook his head slightly,

"I can't trust you."

Luojia felt like he was dead—he knelt stiffly, as if his breathing had stopped.

"But I'm willing to give you and your legion a chance to atone for your sins, you are smart, Luojia, you have led you and your legion on the right path, even though you have done too much wrong on this path."

Luojia looked up sharply, he looked at the God Emperor in disbelief, his eyes were bloodshot, the scorching sun was about to set, and behind them, the night began to take over the power of the day.

"Yes, Roga Aurelian, there are gods in this world."

Heavy footsteps rang out from far behind the legion, with a slight, crisp metallic thump.

The sudden outsider couldn't bear too much Luojia's surprise, and he wanted to turn back, but the power of the God Emperor strangled him and everyone in the legion.

"I don't want to lie to you anymore, Roja Aurelian, I don't want to see you go astray again."

The Divine Emperor said lightly, golden tears glistening, and he closed his eyes, unwilling to look at him again.

"I am God, Lorga Aurelian, I am God, but you can never comprehend what acknowledging this will bring me."

The Divine Emperor sighed slightly, and it seemed that it had consumed him too much to utter these words, and he became tired.

"You need to do the right thing again, my son, and now, bow your head and feel your sins, Aurelian, you need to repent."

Feel my sins? What do you feel? Luojia opened his mouth to ask again, but the God Emperor closed his eyes, he was so disappointed in him that he didn't want to look at his heirs anymore.

Luojia still had endless doubts, endless repentance and self-reproach in his heart, but now it was useless, helpless, he followed the instructions of the gods, and he bowed his head reverently.

Both were silent, and now everything was quiet—

Except for the footsteps, He got closer and closer.

In Luojia's vision, everything began to dim.

As night fell, the dark and icy waters of the River Styx slowly rose up, patting the gray boots of the Bearer, and the people became weaker and more awake.

Luojia held his breath as he tried to look up and ask what was going on, but he suddenly found himself unable to move—the gods wouldn't want him to do anything more.

Footsteps walked into the ocean where the hundred thousand Bearers knelt, and darkness swallowed them silently.

People want to look up, they want to see who the hell is this? What is he doing? But just as they felt in their original form, they couldn't look up, and they weren't allowed to snoop.

Angelay held his breath, he felt the voice get closer, he was behind him, the darkness almost completely enveloped him, Angeltay struggled to keep his sanity under the wash of the sea of darkness, he saw a pair of black-armored feet walk past him, accompanied by faint green teardrops.

That...... What is that?

Hades walked silently among the kneeling legions of the Whisperers, holding two wrist-sized black stone spears—or long spikes—and the three intricately carved hounds at the tops, in Hades' hands, they were looking down on the crowd mercilessly.

Eventually, he stopped at the front of the queue, behind Colfaron.

Colfaron was wearing heavy Terminator armor, and he knelt, his finely maintained armor gleaming.

Hades listened to the accelerated breathing of the three people nearby.

He raised the spear in his right hand.

Stab!

"!!"

The sharp sound of metal piercing sounded, followed by a dull thrust into flesh, then the sound of stabbing flesh and metal, but Colfaron's screams drowned it all out—

"Ahhh——!hhh

He struggled to clasp his hands behind his back, trying to pull out the spear that had been nailed to the ground, and it pierced the back of his neck with precision, piercing his lungs, piercing his thighs, and firmly grounded in the ground.

He couldn't look up, he couldn't look back, the spear shattered his spinal cord, he couldn't do that—he could even feel the spear coated with poison, they amplified his senses and stopped the blood from clotting.

Before the executioner left, the cruel monster held the spear, and an indescribable sense of fear and powerlessness slowly fell down the spear.

"Uhh

Colfaron gasped and screamed loudly, but he hadn't even finished the Space Marine's operation, blood foaming out of his mouth, and he could only let out a broken gasp like a rag doll.

Luojia lowered his head, he listened to Colfaron's screams on his right, no- no - he realized something, it was his adoptive father - no -

Scarlet sweat ran down his skull.

On the other side, Erebus felt a roar in his ears, no, no, no, Colfaron was discovered! Then he is probably already exposed - he is going to run, he is going to run! But how did he run?! As if sensing his thoughts, the psionic glow around Erebus's body intensified.

I don't care about you! Erebus called out the names of the gods in his heart, and he offered himself to them, and he promised to offer to them the Bearer, Luojia, that they would not abandon him! He is necessary! The fate of the shattered empire has the name of his Erebas, and not the end here, no——!

The footsteps began to move, passing behind Luojia, who would never admit that he was relieved in that moment.

Erebus listened desperately as the monster approached him, and he began to babble about the will of the four gods, and he violently broke free from the psionic power of the Pseudo-Emperor, and finally, Erebus jerked his head up, and the violent struggle made his head jerk back—

He saw a monster in the darkness staring directly above him, with a cold glint in his eyes—

In an instant, Hades raised his spear and stabbed it violently!

He heard the crisp sound of a shattering skull, then metal, the sound of his spine shattering all the way.

Finally, the three-headed Cerberus stood firmly at the top, blood flowing from the lower end of the spear.

"Ahh

Erebus began to scream, he began to shout, he began to roar, he tried to pull out the spear that pierced his face with his hand and avoided the deadly brain tissue, but it was all in vain.

The monster looked at him with a blank face, its spear held firmly, and Erebus watched in despair as the darkness that made him want to flee and wail ran down the monster's hand toward the spear, and they hung down slowly, like Erebas's drooping organs.

"Ahhhh!!!h

Erebus let out a terrible scream that pierced the sky, and the scream rang in Luojia's ears as Colfaron gasped for a dying wail.

Luojia hung his head down, and he knelt down, feeling like he was going crazy.

The sun is about to disappear, and the last rays of light will fall into the earth,

The God-Emperor opened his mouth,

"Repent."

The next moment, the Divine Emperor vanished, and with him the psionic coercion that had previously made them kneel - but one hundred thousand, all of them, not one dared to stand up, they bowed their heads stiffly, and felt beads of sweat slowly roll down their faces.

A soft, icy darkness enveloped them, as if to say that He was not cruel and that He only punished the sinners.

Is that...... What is that? That's not a forbidden army...... It can't be the original either...... What is that?

The sinner's screams continued, but the screams accentuated the terrible silence of existence.

Hades stared at Erebus indifferently, Colfaron was almost dying, letting out a dead man's gasp, but Erebus was obviously more energetic, he shouted the believers of the four gods, called the name of the Great Demon, and after realizing that none of this would work, he began to try to spit on Hades, scolding Hades, trying to provoke Hades.

Hades only thought he was ridiculous.

He watched calmly as Erebus struggled, and the chief priest tried to pull out the spear, but that only made him more embarrassed, his eyeballs almost bursting, and shredded flesh spurted from the seven orifices along with blood.

Hades walked behind Luojia in silence, he stood still, drew the broken sword from his waist, used it as a scepter, and rested his hands on the sword without saying a word.

He listened to Luojia's sudden and rapid breathing, to Colfaron's ho-ho, to Erebas's shouting, to the trembling hearts of the hundred thousand Whisperers behind him.

Darkness enveloped him, and it was dark time.

Luojia trembled, he was going crazy, he listened dumbfounded to the foul language of the cult coming out of the mouth of his most trusted chief priest, he listened to the dying cries of his adoptive father, and Colfaron seemed to be calling his name - no, don't call him.

Except for the sinners, everything that remained was silent, and the wreckage of the City of Perfection watched them in silence, as if in silent tears.

As the planet's moon rose right in the sky, Colfaron's smaller and smaller ho-ho finally stopped, and the faint sound of armor scraping against the sand sounded - it was the sound of muscles twitching automatically.

Erebus began to insult Luojia, to the Speakers, and he scolded each of them with his mouth open, and Erebus called Luoja a weak lamb, and the Speakers as a bunch of fools who would not know anything without the Book of the Word.

The executioners remained silent, and Luojia and the Bearers did not dare to move.

When the moon streaked three-quarters of the way across the sky, Colfaron was completely silent, not even the sound of dripping water had disappeared, and Erebus began to repent, crying out that he had only been deceived by the evil gods, but now he had awakened to the pain of punishment, and had given him a chance, a chance to atone for his sins, even if it had made him a servant!

Erebus cried out loudly, deliberately in the direction of the executioner, his voice so earnest and affectionate, that for a moment he whimpered like a wounded beast in the desert.

Luojia felt like she was about to be shaken by Erebas's confession, but behind him—

The executioner remained motionless.

An hour later, Erebus began to shout again, but in a noticeably quieter voice.

As the moon vanished and the night grew brighter behind them, Erebas's voice stopped, and finally, he let out two loud groov screams, and then lowered the hand he had been holding on to his spear.

The sinners died in the darkness, and they did not survive the night.

There was a slight sound of metal colliding, and Luojia felt the executioner behind him, the silencer acting.

Luojia's brain was in disarray, what was he thinking about the long night when Colfaron let out a near-death howl and Erebus cursed, and the executioner stood behind him?

Hades raised his broken sword and swung it down, he saw Luojia's limbs tense suddenly, but he didn't stand up and resist in the end—

"Ding—"

The sound of the broken sword striking on the armor was clearly audible.

Hadiston paused, then retracted his sword, and he turned, ready to leave.

【You...... Who are you? 】

Luojia's faint voice sounded behind him.

Hades glanced back at the still kneeling giant, he didn't say anything, he didn't say anything, he walked straight away.

The footsteps left along the way they came, and the sky lit up with a bright white belly.

It's dawn.

I don't have a subject, if I have my fucking Valentine's Day code, don't say killing two people scum to relieve my anger.

(End of chapter)