The Emperor’s Angel of Death

After Karyan left, Soshjan found that many things really couldn't do without Veronica. He was now waiting outside the interrogation room and could feel the seemingly weak but unusually stable psychic energy spreading inside.

The captured Chaos Space Marine knew what was coming, so the moment he was brought into the interrogation room, he tried to shut down his mind.

But it was useless, and he soon fell into a deep sleep.

In his dream, he returned to that perpetually barren planet, devoid of civilization, with thin clouds congealing in the sky. Savage tribes scattered across the surface slaughtered each other bloodily. He recalled his childhood, immersed in violence. His teeth were still stained with the blood of the last person he had killed when those angels in black armor with huge, sharp horns came for new recruits.

He was only ten years old then.

Then there was endless training, near-torturous modification surgeries, then he held a gun for the first time, the first kill, the first bloodshed—

His nostrils were filled with the stench of spores from burning Ork corpses.

His ears were filled with the screams and wails of dying human traitors.

His tongue tasted the acidic corrosion of Tyranid blood splattering in the air.

His eyes saw—

Black, barbed armor, the sky cracking open, the enemy arriving in a storm of warp energy, so purposeful, so swift and cunning.

The Dark Eldar.

Battle, death, battle, death, battle, death—

After what seemed like an eternity, he stood on a desolate world, the purple sky spreading and raging like a bruise, painful clouds swirling and gathering—seemingly defying the natural laws that still allowed a slight breeze. Faces leered from the wind, asking half-lit, grotesque questions.

Pain, anger, ambition, sadness, distrust, isolation, bitterness.

Suddenly, he seemed to see a pair of narrow eyes watching him.

He tried to resist, though it was futile.

The ground cracked, and he fell into the icy sea of consciousness, sinking deeper and deeper—

Down, down, down... through layers of foamy, slippery memories, instincts, and dreams, formless vines slithering between secret desires and repressed rage, then starlight fingers suddenly closing on a tiny seed, perhaps initially just the faintest rebellious emotion, but ultimately becoming a towering tree.

He became a traitor.

Interrogation stung his nervous system, and those vines fueled his paranoia.

Suddenly, like cracking an egg—she easily cracked it open, releasing it.

He realized something was in his mind, clinging to him, but he was powerless to resist, like an insect caught in a Venus flytrap, little by little, slipping away. Every certainty crumbled beneath his feet.

Every belief, every trust, every loyalty, all of it dissolved, leaving only residue burning in his soul.

He could not believe anything.

He could not tolerate anyone.

The whole world was against him—

Finally, his defenses were completely destroyed, his beliefs utterly shattered, and he could only lie motionless, his brain shut down, entering a chaotic, compulsive deep sleep.

"How is it?"

When the door to the secret cell opened, and he saw Veronica's solemn expression, Soshjan quickly asked.

But what she said shocked him.

"The ones who killed Warband Leader Landal have arrived."

Afterward, the two returned to the office, and Veronica explained the situation in detail.

"This person is called Baltmar, indeed a warrior of the Black Dragons Chapter. He followed their chaplain and defected from the chapter, forming a warband called the Dragon Warriors. The current warband leader is a Salamanders Librarian named Nihilan. Not long ago, a Black Legion warband claiming to be descendants of the Second Legion approached them. The leader of this group is Sarpedon, now called Garmonbozia. He seems to have really found some relics of the Second Legion, and his strength has expanded greatly, with as many as a thousand warriors. Also, Garmonbozia often carries a long sword in his memories, which should be the Snow Lotus Blade taken from Warband Leader Landal. They arrived in the Maelstrom not long ago but have been staying on the edge of Endymion. This squad was sent to Colchria to scout our movements. Originally, they shouldn't have taken any action, but a Shadowseer in the scouting squad named Tenzin Dondrub wanted to use a large number of pure souls to consecrate an evil witchcraft item in his hand called a Kapala, instigating the other two to create destruction to collect souls, which is how they slipped up."

"As expected!"

Soshjan's fist slammed on the table.

"Occam's analysis was correct. These people would definitely come to meddle!"

Then he looked at Veronica.

"Is it convenient for the Eldar to take action?"

Veronica pondered for a moment and said:

"Taking action is possible, but now the power is spreading in the direction of the Blackstone Fortress. Those people are also quite strong. If we fight a big battle, it may cause a relatively large disturbance, alerting both the Inquisition and the Red Corsairs."

Hearing his wife say this, Soshjan also felt that he was indeed anxious.

"What are their goals?"

"It seems they are after Huron. It is said that they have also secretly contacted some warband leaders in the Red Corsairs, but this person's status is not high enough to access core secrets. However, I speculate that this is highly likely. You now hold such a large force in your hands. Unless that Second Legion abomination has a problem with his brain, he will definitely avoid you, after all, his strength is not even a hair of the Red Corsairs. By the way, they also seem to have some unique skill to bind demons, which can put demons into an orb and use their power at will. This thing sounds quite terrifying, but it is not a threat to the Eleventh Legion, but it is necessary to increase the number of Grey Slayers to cope with possible large-scale conflicts in the future."

"Yeah."

Soshjan stood up, walked back and forth a few steps, then came to the star chart, looking at the location of Endymion.

"Will they be detrimental to Arashesh?"

"Probably not. Think about it, they must think you regard the Red Corsairs as the culprit, so they will inevitably hold the attitude of sitting on the mountain to watch the tigers fight. If they attack Arashesh at this time, the difficulty is high, and they will also expose the lies they have woven."

"That makes sense, but we can't relax our surveillance of them. Since they want to get some benefits from Huron, there will inevitably be a time to take action. Once they come, I can't let them leave. Tell Dorar to keep an eye on these people."

"Surveillance is no problem, but the proportion of psykers among these people is very high, and that Garmonbozia seems to be much stronger than in the past. If we keep too close an eye on them, we may startle the snake. It is better to monitor their general movements from a distance first, and then keep a close eye on them when they act."