The Emperor’s Angel of Death

The Skinners' camp was set up in a deserted square, their leader even building a throne before the great statue of the Emperor of old, covering the seat with black and brown fur, the armrests and back adorned with bones and teeth. Each armrest featured a skull on its rounded head, and the skulls of the slain 'cai ren' (菜人, literally 'vegetable people,' a derogatory term for those regarded as food) were mounted on the crossbar above the entire structure.

This so-called Skinner King was once just a gang leader, but as famine escalated into riots, riots turned into rebellions, suppression became slaughter, and the Imperium finally abandoned the area, he seized the opportunity, declaring himself the new ruler here—in the Emperor's name.

He even created his own religious theory: that this chaos was the Emperor purging the weak, and that the true strong would feed on the weak, becoming the Emperor's chosen champions when the end times arrived, to participate in the eternal holy war in the distant stars.

But in practice, their goal was only one thing—

To capture as many living people as possible and eat them, because there was almost no food here, and it was impossible to restart any factories due to the energy outage.

In a sense, everyone was trapped in a dark forest, forced to cannibalize.

Several huge bonfires blazed in the square, surrounded by metal spears impaling dismembered human bodies. Those with tattoos on their faces, wielding various weapons and constantly growling, were greedily eyeing the 'meat.' Beneath them, a thick layer of bones had accumulated, large and small—

And at the edge of the square, a wall was hastily erected from various scraps, complete with watchtowers and mounted heavy weapons.

In the darker corners, huge iron cages echoed with sobs and mad mutterings.

The Skinners did not raise food, because they themselves did not have enough food, so the captured 'cai ren' were consumed very quickly, and then they had to continue hunting.

The Skinner King sat on his throne with immense pride, flanked by two close subordinates.

The first was a man in his twenties, with a shaved head and tattoos. One of his hands was missing, and the other clutched a string of beads, embracing a thick, tattered copy of the Ecclesiarchy's 'Sanctioned Scripture' as if no harm could befall him as long as he touched its damaged surface.

The former priest, in order to survive, had ultimately become a preacher for cannibals.

The other was a young man of similar age, his hair dyed purple and blue, hanging down from his head like tears, a black cloak draped with human skin, his hands bent, gripping a sniper rifle.

His eyes were constantly alert, ready to kill anyone who dared to challenge the authority of his master at a moment's notice.

As the number of cannibalizations increased, some madmen began to appear in the gang. Some said it was a curse, others said it was a disease, but they could find no other way to survive.

Without energy, it was difficult to even leave this hive wasteland.

Perhaps when everyone outside had been eaten, they would have to turn on each other.

Thwack—

Suddenly, in a barely perceptible sound, an invisible blade pierced a watchtower, simultaneously cutting the cannibal inside in half.

The first drop of blood fell, and time seemed to stop.

The next moment, all the watchtowers simultaneously turned into piles of shapeless fragments, toppling to the ground, trailing oil and dust, the screams from within quickly escaping through the torn bodies.

"Hmm!?"

In an instant, the Skinners' camp was in turmoil. There were hundreds of them, and they had never been raided.

Then, lasguns opened fire, the cannibals emitting piercing screams, howling like wolves after a kill.

A disdainful sneer echoed from the darkness, and then something jumped down from the edge of a high platform, like a whistling shadow.

The panicked cannibals wildly fired ammunition into the darkness, the bright muzzle flashes exacerbating the dizziness, rendering the darkness even more impenetrable, while those waiting to be slaughtered in the iron cages also screamed.

In the chaos, a cannibal was snatched into the sky by something huge, his rotating limbs and blood splattering onto his comrades.

The scream lasted for less than a second, and entrails and limbs rained down. The cannibals shouted, collapsing mentally from extreme fear. More and more people tried to escape, but no one could escape.

"Don't panic! Don't panic!"

The Skinner King also drew the laspistol he had stolen from an armory during a weapons transfer, pressing the trigger at the black shadow streaking across the sky, glaring at the besieged cannibals.

Suddenly, something crashed down in front of him.

It was his sniper, his limbs twisted into grotesque shapes, his eyes wide, as if he had seen something terrifying before his death.

In an instant, the self-proclaimed king's inner fear was completely ignited. He heard cheers blooming in the darkness, and hissing laughter, each accompanied by the screams of blood splashing.

Just as he turned to flee, something descended from the sky, smashing his throne and towering before him.

When the Skinners realized what they were facing, their eyes widened, their pale faces stunned—

"No... this..."

A silver-grey giant stood before them, the Deathwatch badge on his chest so dazzling.

"Scream, for we have come for you."

At the same time, eleven warriors with jump packs landed one after another, grabbing the surviving cannibals, their claws cutting through bone and sinew like blades through water, flesh separating from the joints, being torn apart alive.

There were no loud explosions, no clanging of swords, and no fierce gunfights, only the pervasive, boundless shadows, and the flames lowered by the shadows, and the looming claws in the shadows, destroying the targets like dead leaves in a storm.

"Have you ever screamed? I guess you've never really screamed."

The man almost lost control of his limbs. The moment the laspistol slipped from his hand, the other party grabbed his chest, then five fingers fiercely clasped the flesh and clothing inside.

The cannibal leader immediately let out a painful hiss.

"You thought you were the master of darkness? Scum, even you are just pigs and dogs waiting to be slaughtered."

The giant's hand tightened, and the man spat out blood.

Then the giant turned, staring at the Emperor statue covered with bones and skulls, and uttered a whisper that only he could hear.

"Can you see this, all of this."

Saying that, he violently pulled his hand out of the man's chest cavity, taking out bones, internal organs, and flesh all at once. Some of the splashing blood splattered on the Emperor statue's mottled face, like a line of bloody tears—

And the incomplete body had already fallen to the ground, rolling down the steps, like a puddle of boneless rotten meat.