The Emperor’s Angel of Death

Just as Bakhram was about to teach Jacob a lesson, a recruit walked over and tapped Bakhram's shoulder.

“Sergeant Bakhram, that—”

Bakhram turned his head and saw a figure leaning against the equipment rack at the entrance with his arms crossed, a handsome but slightly gloomy face, and hair longer than the others tied behind his head, staring intently.

“Robin, when did you arrive?”

The visitor was Robin from the Second Company. He was also wearing training clothes. He then lowered his arms and walked leisurely into the training ground.

“Came to see you.”

Walking to Jacob's side, Robin suddenly flicked the tip of his foot, tossing the training sword into the air and catching it.

“It seems we haven't trained in a while?”

Bakhram pursed his lips, then forced a smile:

“Sorry, Robin, today might not be convenient. I have to take everyone to the shooting range later. If I'm late, the captain will scold me again.”

“It won't take long, Bakhram. Why have you been avoiding me?”

“I haven’t.”

“I know you don't want to have a one-on-one training session with me in a crowded place, but here—”

Robin glanced around.

“There are only Tenth Company brothers here. You don't need to worry about anything, and it's also an education for them, isn't it?”

With the words said to this point, when Bakhram realized that the battle brothers' eyes were all focused on him, he knew that this "duel" was inevitable. As Robin said, he had been deliberately avoiding this champion, especially after the other party received the most valuable medal in the Great Whirlwind. Robin's invitations to the arena had been rejected by him for various reasons.

This brought him some bad reputation, but Bakhram did not back down. It was not that he was afraid, but that he believed he was just a sergeant of the Tenth Company, while Robin was a champion recognized by everyone, including the Chapter Master. Whether he won or lost, it would cause waves within the Chapter. After all, in a sense, he represented the Tenth Company, and failure was not the result he wanted, but victory—

Therefore, he would rather others say he was a coward behind his back.

But as Robin said, this was a relatively "private" place, and it was in front of the company's warriors.

“Okay, it's true that we haven't had a one-on-one training session in a long time.”

Robin's face lit up with a smile.

“That's right, brother.”

The recruits formed a circle, anticipating the champion's duel. This was not a scene that could be seen often. In some people's minds, they did not think Bakhram was worse than Robin—such as Jacob.

After the two saluted each other, they rushed towards each other almost without assuming any stance.

Amidst the recruits' exclamations, the two training swords danced into a dazzling array of light and shadows. The exchange between the two sides was so swift that the sound of weapons clashing was as dense as an alarm bell.

Robin's unnatural speed was legendary. He would sometimes nimbly approach his opponent, forcing Bakhram to retreat with a series of thrusts and slashes, and sometimes adopt feints or a combination of reality and illusion, constantly turning sweeps into downward cuts or upward picks, with the blade pointing directly at Bakhram's heart.

In response, Bakhram's intricate and dazzling swordsmanship was no less impressive. Focus and determination shrouded the slightly thin face of this recruit company officer like a mask. Facing the wave-like surging offensive, he was like a huge reef, fearlessly facing it head-on and using skillful parries and well-timed counterattacks to resolve it.

As the two sides began to move, the white-hot sparks also left intricate trails in the air.

“That's right, that's right, that's how it is, brother. You've been hiding it too well.”

To outsiders, it seemed that Bakhram had begun to exchange blows with Robin, but Robin's face not only did not show impatience or frustration, but instead showed a rare smile, a heartfelt smile and excitement.

The next moment, his attacks became more deadly and swift, all aimed at the target with the determination to kill.

He first slammed away the sword that Bakhram was slashing towards his neck, then changed his move upwards, and then changed direction for the second time. The movement was so fast that it seemed that everything was planned.

As Bakhram tried to disrupt his opponent's swordsmanship, a clear flaw suddenly appeared in his swordsmanship. Robin's sword keenly seized the opportunity and stabbed hard at Bakhram's chest.

However, this was also a trap. Bakhram's blade also resisted Robin's abdomen from bottom to top.

In an instant, a strong electric current forced the two to bounce away from each other.

Bakhram glanced at the mark on his chest where the training suit had been ablated, shook his head with a smile, and put away his sword.

“Robin, you are as powerful as ever. You won.”

Robin did not have the joy of victory. He just looked down at the small ablation mark upwards on his abdomen, frowning.

In his mind, he was deducing what would happen next if the two of them were fighting to the death—

His sword would pierce one of Bakhram's hearts, yes, but a Space Marine has two hearts, and Bakhram's sword would cut him open from the chest to the neck from top to bottom.

Robin's face was uncertain, then he let out a long breath and threw the sword to Jacob.

“Bakhram, I don't understand, why have you been hiding yourself?”

Bakhram was silent for a moment, then slowly said:

“Robin, I don't quite understand what you mean by hiding. If you mean on the battlefield, my primary responsibility is to guide and protect the recruits of the Tenth Company, not to rush to the front and fight the enemy. This is, duty.”

“So you let it bind you like a chain, and your sword?”

“Duty is never a shackle, it is the meaning of our existence.”

Robin looked at Bakhram, and finally turned around and walked towards the slowly opening training room door.

“I'm waiting for the day you can unload your duties and have a good fight with me.”

After Robin left, Jacob walked to Bakhram's side.

“Sergeant, you didn't actually lose just now, did you? If it was real—”

Bakhram turned his head and glared at him.

“Is there any point in arguing about this kind of victory or defeat?”

“Uh... I'm also very curious, why are you unwilling to show yourself in the arena, Sergeant? Maybe this way you can go to the First Company or...”

“What? Are you annoyed by me?”

“No, no, oh, right, the question I wanted to ask just now is, why does only the Sacred Hammers Chapter have a base like Saturn? What about the other two Chapters?”

“Because the Sacred Hammers Chapter has the earliest and oldest history. How did you learn your Imperial history class?”

“Okay, but I really want to go to Saturn and see it.”

“Dream on! Immediately organize everyone to go to the shooting range for training!”

In fact, not only warriors like Jacob, but even Saul Tarvitz wanted to go to the mysterious Saturn to see it. It is said that every one of its satellites is covered with fortresses and prisons, and the prisons filled with anti-psyker equipment hold countless enemies captured by the Daemonhunters from all over the galaxy, including probably many Chaos Space Marines and Daemons.

Maybe, some acquaintance that Saul Tarvitz knew is also among them? (In the original work, Kai Yan should also be imprisoned on Saturn instead of Terra)

But it can only be a thought now. He doesn't want to provoke those plague gods now, especially since the Grey Knights seem to have some special views on him.