How can a retired savior be considered retired if his price drops to 40,000?

Chapter 220 Won, but lost everything

Chaldea was victorious in this war on Skeros.This will also be recorded in the imperial archives.

But what did they win?

Kaelia pondered this question among the burning ruins.

Thanks to Fujimaru Ritsuka who likes to meddle in other people's business, and thanks to the fact that the current empire does have a lot of "nosy things" that they can "meddle with", she has gone through a lot of things since Parmenio was carried aboard the Storm Frontier. In more than half a year, this is not the first time she has faced such a dangerous battlefield.

Even so, she had just barely adapted to the roar of artillery fire in her ears, to the powerful recoil of a mortal-sized bolter when fired in her hand, to the cold and illusory feeling of actively channeling the Emperor's spiritual energy. burning sensation.

There are two things that she still can't adapt to: one is the slight dizziness caused by the surge of adrenaline when she is on the line between life and death, and the other is - a large number of meaningless death and destruction laid out in front of her eyes. .

But that's what war is like.

This scattered tentacle of the Tyranids was successfully wiped out by Chaldea within five days.After confirming that they could kill with one strike, the entire team was divided into four groups and attacked simultaneously, completely destroying the hive mothership and all the node creatures it dropped on the ground in one fell swoop.Without command and organization, and unable to reproduce on its own, the Tyranids were at the end of their tether, but there was no one alive on Skelos.

Unarmed civilians have long been turned into supplies for the abominable Devourers, and all organic structures have been transformed by the Tyranid into biomass that drives the hives; the Astra Militarum as professional soldiers have not been able to avoid a similar fate, according to Hayes. According to the information obtained by Inquisitor Tins from the cogitator arrays of several government agencies that were still barely functioning, at least two full-scale Imperial regiments once fought bravely against these space locusts on the surface of Skelos - and No one remembers their bravery, and only the military equipment corroded by acid can prove that it all once existed.

Before the warp of the system was completely sealed by the Hive Shadow, only half a company of Blood Angels managed to arrive for support.But even these biological warfare weapons, designed by the Emperor himself and capable of maintaining combat effectiveness in all kinds of extremely harsh environments, obviously could not maintain their advantage when facing the Tyranids that filled the mountains and plains.If Sanguinor had not appeared here, the emperor's death angels would have been annihilated here - and even if the living saint came, there would only be 12 descendants of the angels who survived to the end, and one person. A complete corpse.

From the start, they were late.

"What are you thinking about?" Fujimaru Ritsuka's voice came from behind her, "The smell of Tyron's body burning is not good. I strongly suspect that the gas produced by the burning is poisonous."

Kaelia ignored the words that were obviously meant as a joke and only answered the first question: "I'm thinking, what did we win?"

She had already asked this question to a few other people.The answer given to her by Inquisitor Hastings was "the elimination of a group of aliens that may continue to harm the Empire"; the answer given to her by the Dreadwing Captain Zantik Afpa, who happened to be her professional counterpart here, was "successful" "Guarding the territory of the empire from the ravages of aliens"; the answer of Yago Savitarion, who was wandering on the edge of the battlefield seemingly doing nothing, was a bit off-topic in comparison. He asked Kaelia: "Are these man-eating monsters Don’t you deserve retribution?”

Kaelia didn't know how to answer.She is too young.She originally wanted to ask the Imperial Guards again, but then she gave up the idea: in the past six months or so of contact, she could already guess what these emperor's guards would say to her.

And Fujimaru Ritsuka's reaction was somewhat beyond her expectations - she also asked Kailia: "So, what do you think we lost here?"

Kaelia was stunned for a moment, and then immediately replied: "Everyone on this planet has..."

She didn't finish her words. The sadness brought about by her strong empathy choked her throat, but this did not hinder Ritsuka Fujimaru's understanding.Once again beyond Kaelia's expectation, the latter actually nodded: "Indeed, this is a serious failure. We arrived too late, not to mention the people on the planet, even the history and culture of Skelos , we couldn’t keep much.”

Fujimaru Ritsuka pointed to the burning ruins and wilderness in front of them - they were not originally ruins and wilderness. Judging from the records saved in the local meditator array, there was originally an extremely prosperous and huge city at this longitude and latitude.Like any imperial metropolis, it has a huge area, advanced infrastructure, and a dense population.Buildings of various purposes should have stood here, but under the ravages of the Tyranids, this place has become a deserted and dead place.

The Tyranids' "digestive system" is so terrifying that even inorganic substances such as ceramic, steel, earth and stone can be corroded by them and reduced to some kind of "biomass" such as stinking mud or mucus that can only be used by themselves.The magnificent man-made structures that should have stood here were also razed to the ground by countless insect swarms, and those that were left became unrecognizable.

No wonder some people in the empire call it the "devourer of civilization". "However, victory and defeat are relative terms. It is too easy to drive yourself crazy by always looking at the part where you failed." Fujimaru Ritsuka added in a scripted tone, "There is no doubt that Skye Los is completely destroyed. Even if the Mechanicus can restore the ecology here and the Empire brings a new batch of colonists here, the culture and civilization on this planet will indeed be completely eradicated. In the future, Skelos It will no longer be the Skelos it once was—but, we finally succeeded in destroying this Hive Fleet, forever cutting off the possibility of it bringing similar disasters to other Imperial worlds."

"..."

Kaelia paused subtly for a moment, and then asked: "Sister, do you really think so now?"

"Not entirely." Fujimaru Ritsuka answered, but the answer was off topic: "I am thinking now, if you see too many such things in the future, when will you become an alien like Sibylla? All of them deserve to die, the inquisitor..."

"Li-xiang-sister-sister-"

"Okay, what I just said is an 'official' view. If you ask me what I actually think, it's actually 'it's not too late to make up for it before it's too late.'" Fujimaru Ritsuka said with a wry smile, "What happened on Skelos Things are indeed sad, but people who die are dead, and things that disappear are gone - the past is the past, and we who cannot easily go back to the past to change everything, the only thing we can do next is It's a plan for the future. Although it's helpless, this kind of 'victory' is the best result we can achieve."

With a small hope - or a sense of luck, Kaelia tentatively asked: "...Isn't there a way to do it better?"

"I can't do it anymore." Fujimaru Ritsuka shook his head, "Could it be that our previous journey was a little too smooth, giving you the illusion that Chaldea is omnipotent?"

"But just like this time, facing a hive fleet that almost left Skelos completely unable to fight back, we only used five standard days to successfully finalize the situation..."

"That's because the power in our hands is indeed too luxurious. Although there are few people, from the perspective of effectiveness, there is no doubt that Chaldea can still function as a sharp knife force in a war." Fujimaru Ritsuka replied, "Even so, you must remember that in a conventional war, the role of a small number of elite sharp knife troops is still limited. We were able to end the battle of Skelos so quickly because our opponent was a Tyranid swarm. , their habits determine that as long as their 'command' and 'herald' are successfully removed, the remaining parts are nothing to fear."

She paused and then added: "Don't forget, in the final analysis, we are just 'field workers' who exist to allow the Emperor to take the stage. In this universe, there are many things that even the Emperor can't do anything about. You It would be better for me to accept the fact that 'manpower will eventually be exhausted' sooner."

The dejected Kaelia was silent for a while, and then said: "I always feel that if I work harder, I can do better..."

"It's a good idea to have this idea, but if the gap between the ideal state you expect and the reality is too big, one day you will drive yourself crazy." Fujimaru Ritsuka sighed, "However, this is every day A problem that all inquisitors must face—again, be careful to become Hastings—"

"What happened to me?" Judge Hastings' dissatisfied voice came from behind the two girls.

Half a year should not leave too many traces on a mature man who has finished growing up, but now, Judge Hastings's eyebrows have obviously more wrinkles than half a year ago.Obviously, his life on the Stormbound was not very satisfactory, at least he frowned much more frequently than before——

——But at least, he finally learned to reserve his opinions to a certain extent. Although he was still cold and unkind when he spoke to Fujimaru Ritsuka, no one knew what he thought of this "Imperial Saint" now. .

"You shouldn't turn off the communication system on the armor. Your doctor is looking for you about the Blood Angels." The judge said this to Fujimaru Ritsuka abruptly, and then turned to Kelly. Ya, "Have you finished your homework for today? Come with me to the simulation room. I want to check your meditation progress."

As soon as he heard this, all the sad emotions on Kaelia's face, who had officially become the "Acolyte of the Inquisitor" in every sense of the word, disappeared in an instant: instead, the students were excited about the upcoming inspection of their homework. The natural fear of a teacher.

　Miwu (peaceful)

　　
　
(End of this chapter)