Return to the City of Perfection.

The thought made Anglel Tay feel creepy, and admittedly, he shouldn't have felt that way. After all, he was actually prepared.

Ingrell Tay knew early on that one day, he would return. Or rather, he never really left the City of Perfection at all.

But it's not enough to just be 'ready', it's not enough.

At some point, preparation is just self-deception, like going to war for the first time, or killing someone for the first time.

When the cannonball hurtles past your ears, blasting up the earth with unstoppable force, when the blade of the sword stabs deep into someone's abdomen or across the throat, and the blood rushes, you will know how powerless it is to prepare.

Angel Tay silently retracted his thoughts and brought himself back to reality. Right in the real world, he was sitting in the fourth seat of a shuttle, strapped himself to the cold iron chair with six restraint straps.

Hemot Lacruz, who was chanting in a low voice, sat to his left with Batusa Narek. They are heavily armed and dressed in scarlet armor. This was not the standard livery for the Whisperers, and Loja Aurelian ordered the color of their armor to be changed.

Carlil Lohals stood at the back of the cabin, and from Angle's point of view, he could only see one of the backs of the other party. Shadows surged over the giant's back like living creatures, seemingly harmless.

The deck shook, and the new shuttle, programmed on autopilot, began to descend slowly. Angler Tay reached out and untied his restraints and stood up from his seat.

The shuttle's built-in program is alerting them with a mechanical sound, whether it's the opening time of the cabin door, or the reading of the surrounding environment. The former is understandable, but the latter is not what a shuttle should do.

Angle-Tay has ridden at least a thousand shuttles, both standard and privately modified, and none of them can foretell their surroundings like this one.

Is this the power of Adamantite? The Bearer thought self-deprecatingly. The deep cooperation between the Nightblades and the Mechonists was no secret in the Empire, but he didn't expect it to be so deep.

Twenty-three seconds later, the hatch slowly opened, and they walked out, the smell of dust and ash rushing to their faces, excitedly welcoming the visitors.

Carlil lowered his head, observing the atrocities that the Midnight Blade and the Ultramarines had teamed up to do.

They executed people and burned their homes here. They were so determined, too serious, that even after all these years, the City of Perfection was still in ruins.

Ash covered the earth, and dust covered the devastation. You can hardly see any sign of the word 'life', and as far as the eye can see, it is a false emptiness.

Hemot Lacruz, on the other hand, was still chanting, without stopping. He began with the Emperor's rescue of Terra and continued until the return of the Primitives.

Batusa Narek was silent, his right hand pressed against his waist, the hilt of his sword trembling.

Ingres Tay thought of some of the ideas that Lorja Aurelian had written down more than a decade earlier, some firm words.

It is not enough to know that there is a fall or a betrayal, you must stand up against it. In the same way, it is not enough to be aware of ignorance and ignorance, and if left uncorrected, they can degenerate into deeper darkness. Sooner or later, the galaxy will one day belong to humanity, so we must fight as an example. When the dust settles, if someone chooses to gaze into the past, then our actions have meaning. ”

Example.

The Bearer chewed on the word bitterly, silent.

"Back then, I was there." Carlil spoke softly. "The destruction of the Perfect City was referred to in the Terra's paperwork as 'the Emperor's punishment for the inefficiency of the Seventeenth Legion', but of course, this was not the case. Ingrell Tay, did you ever wonder back then? ”

"It's resentment, my lord." Batusa Narek replied angrily in place of his temporary commander. "We hate you."

"And now?"

"It's probably the same."

"This is normal, this is a blood feud." Carlil looked at him gently. "It's just that you don't know the truth. The perfect city is not perfect, Wai Sayers. It was beautiful before it was burned to ashes by the flames, but it was by no means perfect. ”

"So?" Batusa asked emotionlessly. "Why was it destroyed back then?"

Carlil didn't answer the question, he just stepped forward. Angel Tay followed, as did the other two.

From this moment on, the world was plunged into cold, and the sun hanging high in the sky was white and dim, not like the sun, but like the lifeless eyes of a dying man.

Karil Lohals walked silently above the ruins, blue light surging through the cracks of his armor, like a sea of fluorescent light in the night. Five seconds after the psionic light appeared, the Whisperers' bodies began to shiver with cold.

The Power Armor did not resist the cold, and their own genetically engineered supernatural physique could not resist its power. Anglel Tai's teeth began to chatter, but he still followed Carlil Lohals.

The smell of the air began to change quietly, no longer a waste of dust and ashes, but a more vivid and welcoming taste.

The silent ruins also began to change, and the sound quietly rose. There is the sound of hawking, the sound of children playing, and the sound of people talking peacefully and friendly.

The ashes rose backwards, clenched by invisible hands, and transformed into pale buildings. High-rise buildings have risen from the ground, streets have been restored to their original state, churches have appeared out of thin air, and the bustling market has been restored.

Everything swims against the current, returning to its original appearance in an unreal chill. And they also appeared abruptly on the top of a tall building.

Looking down at the scene below, Angle's teeth stopped chattering. Batusa stood beside him, a sound close to vomiting coming out of his throat.

"O God-Emperor," Hemoth Lacruz murmured unconsciously. "What is this?"

This is a place that the Whisperers are familiar with, who have lived, preached, and spoken with pride to everyone who passes by.

This is their home, at least it once was. Every corner is not wrong, and every inch of detail is so lifelike. Except that it was empty and pale, this place was exactly what it used to be.

"This is the perfect city, priest." Carlil spoke softly. "It was before it was destroyed, and now, let me reveal the truth to you. Look over there. ”

He stretched out his hand to a corner of the city, and looking in that direction, Anglel Tai saw a towering tower. And Carlile's instructions didn't stop there, it was just the beginning.

From towers to churches, watchtowers, city walls, schools, water towers, a statue, a fountain in the center of the square. He pointed them out one by one, linking them all together without pause, as if he had done it all before.

Angel Tay's jaw began to tighten, and a strange sensation began to spread in his mouth.

He was frantically secreting saliva, but that still didn't exempt him from the strange feeling. It felt like someone had stabbed him between his lips and tongue with a knife, and then another awl came in and writhed wildly.

"A pattern?" Hermot Lacruz burst out laughing. "A star?"

"Yes, a star." Carlil said. "That's why."

Batusa Narek wants to speak out against this kind of rhetoric – how can a star be the cause of the destruction of an entire city or even an entire world? But he couldn't say it.

He couldn't speak.

The eight-pointed star, which is made up of buildings, is just an abstract pattern, and the things that make it up do not even exist at all, but are only illusions created by psionic energy. He could feel the essence of this thing, at least partially.

Batusa Narek smelled charcoal.

Angler Tai clenched his right fist and then released it. Hold it again and release it again. He turned it into a boring job, and he stared at the star, and some plausible memories began to emerge in his mind.

A third of a second later, the Bearer fell to his knees, took off his helmet and retched—just like Batusa Narek, he could vaguely see the star's essence.

He could see, and fear and disgust swept over.

The Hermit's laughter lasted for a few seconds before turning into a roar.

"I knew it!"

His face flushed, anger flowing naturally through every pore. The wrath of faith is so cruel that the devout cannot tolerate any pagan to go wild before them. The old priest frantically waved his arms and spoke like a madman at the top of the tall building.

"I knew something was wrong with God's herd, I knew it! Heresy and the devil are gnawing at our foundations, and the shepherds are not responding to them! O God Emperor! Bring down your chastise. ”

Carlil didn't stop the old priest from venting his emotions, nor did he say anything to remind the other two to stay calm. He understands them, and all those who speak have the right to doubt the destruction of the Perfect City, but only a few will be able to see the truth.

The three men saw it, and it was only natural that they would collapse - whether it was Hemot, or Batusa, or Ingres Tay, they had probably thought of the word 'grievance' to a greater or lesser extent in the years before.

They probably all thought more than once that the destruction of the Perfect City was an intricate conspiracy, an unjust, false and wrongful conviction. It wasn't the same thing as them coming to him with Luo Jia's orders, the City of Perfection was a thorn in their hearts.

And now, the thorn has been pulled out by Carlil's own hands. The wound was rediscovered, and the rotting flesh and poisonous pus began to emit the stench of decay

But this is not the end, this is just the beginning.

Karil reached out to remove the psionic energy, and in the cold, they returned to the surface, ash and dust once again covering the ground. He turned his head and looked in a direction not far away. What used to be a mountain is now a hollow.

Turning, he began to stride in that direction.

Updated.

Don't guess, there's no way something could happen here

(End of chapter)