The Emperor’s Angel of Death

The bright sun is extinguished,

【I hope readers remember our domain name Taiwan Novel Network → 𝔱𝔴𝔨𝔞𝔫.𝔠𝔬𝔪】

And the stars, adrift in the dim, eternal void,

Without light, without a path,

That ice-bound planet blindly turns,

Enshrouding the gloomy land beneath a moonless sky.

Morning comes and goes—

But day never dawns.

People forget passion in lonely fear;

Those cold, frost-bitten hearts

Selfishly pray for dawn…

In the stagnant air,

The wind ceases, and smoke dissipates.

They remain to no avail,

For darkness—

Is the universe itself. (Excerpt from Byron's poem "Darkness")

Clad in armor, draped in a robe shimmering with starlight, and wearing a winged dragon helm, Giuliuo Pula sonorously recited an ancient Eldar poem, while gently twirling his eyebrow-height command staff. This slender staff, composed of five-colored crystal, had a roaring dragon's head carved at each end. It was granted by the Phoenix King, representing the authority of the Eternal Court's Naval Star Marshal.

He strode across the circular star chart, over a hundred meters in diameter, translucent and barely a few inches thick. Planets, warships, even launched missiles were realistically displayed upon it, allowing him to observe and control the entire battlefield from an almost godlike perspective.

As the most prized flagship of the ancient Eldar empire, each bridge and even the structure of a Nightshade-class vessel was unique. The bridge of the *Tal Anlec* was a distinctive spindle shape, like a giant crystal, connected to countless corridors and open walkways. Huge statues of famous heroes from Eldar history were neatly arranged above and below it. Magnificent arches, shimmering with energy fields, connected the corridors to the domes scattered throughout the ship, so that even though the ship was so vast, it took no more than two seconds to travel from the bridge to any location.

In the center of the bridge, huge wraithbone pillars were shaped into trees by Bonesingers. Interconnected, extending branches looked dazzlingly ornate. Each connected to a platform where small groups of crew members gathered, including Bonesingers, Aspect Warriors, and other technical personnel.

People constantly left on anti-gravity motorcycles and speeders, while others arrived from the arches and returned to the platforms.

The platform where Giuliuo Pula stood was the nerve center of the entire bridge, and the situation on the star chart was now very clear.

The Tau's weak defense fleet had been easily breached, and the *Tal Anlec*, escorted by two Hellscream, eight Starcutter and eight Nova-class cruisers, and thirty escorts, pierced through layers of wreckage, approaching its target.

At this point, even with the naked eye, the massive silhouette of the Tau homeworld, K'san, could be seen through the observation crystal windows. The Court Star Marshal released his grip, allowing the command staff to float beside him, then stood with his hands clasped behind his back, quietly watching the scene before him.

According to the latest battle plan, as soon as the fleet left the Webway, he would command the *Tal Anlec* to activate its warp drives, "dragging" the fleet directly across the short void to the vicinity of the enemy's homeworld. With the psychic engines at full power, they would charge straight for the enemy's heart. Their plan was not only to attack here, but also to force the enemy to frantically recall their fleet, so they could turn around and meet the enemy's main force head-on, while the fleet left in the Webway would strike at the Ly'ralsus kingdom, annihilating the enemy's remaining ships.

The core of the plan was to use their overwhelming strategic and tactical mobility to stretch the enemy's slow fleet, then defeat them one by one.

So after crushing the enemy's weak defensive fleet, he was in no hurry.

【 】

Giuliuo Pula hoped to further consolidate his prestige with this great victory. In fact, not only others, but he himself knew very well that he was able to become a Star Marshal simply because of his background. He was a descendant of an ancient fleet commander's family, but that did not necessarily mean he was an excellent naval commander. In fact, he did not have much military merit, and there were many sarcastic voices about him within the court, and his response was to study, research, and train diligently.

The only pity was that these Tau were not worthy of his efforts.

The enemy's heart was exposed, with only the dying orbital defense facilities remaining. Occasional flashes of light from explosions would briefly illuminate Giuliuo's pupils.

The cold starlight shone on this graveyard, and the wreckage of many warships drifted in the cold void. Most of the wreckage had cooled, and occasionally the engine of an escape pod would ignite, briefly illuminating those mountain-like wrecks.

Giuliuo crossed his arms. The enemy's ships were small and weak, not much of an honor, only a small diversion, especially when Tau warships were destroyed and exploded, it was a comforting sight on the battlefield—silent flames tearing apart the thousand-meter-long steel hull, the flower of death and destruction blooming furiously from the inside of the steel behemoth, possessing a cruel and ultimate beauty.

This kind of flower of death had bloomed countless times in the dark void of the galaxy. The stamen of this flower was mostly composed of the fire from the explosion of the etheric engines, warp engines, and energy systems, and the petals were composed of molten high-speed metal streams and hull fragments. No, no, it should also be embellished with the remains of the Tau crew who had lost their lives.

Since there was no atmosphere in space, when a warship exploded, the fire of the explosion was only momentary. Soon after, this flower would quietly wither, just like those fragile lives, completely sinking into darkness.

Giuliuo hoped he could create more of these flowers. The Tau were an insignificant opponent, and his target was more powerful and magnificent, such as...

Humans.

Unfortunately, he only dared to think about it when he was alone, after all, he also respected that殿下very much. He only hoped that perhaps one day the other party could truly awaken and get rid of that meaningless other identity.

His wisdom and courage would be better used on the Eldar. Humans were not worthy of such a leader, they were only fit to worship a rotting corpse.

"Star Marshal Giuliuo, Captain Kamostin asks if we should attack now?"

Hearing the voice from the floating communication crystal beside him, Giuliuo raised an eyebrow. Kamostin could be considered one of his childhood friends, and also one of his confidants, thus he was able to command the precious Hellscream-class cruiser, *Slayer*. However, this person had a more aggressive personality and was more warlike. He was even more eager to create achievements than Giuliuo.

"Wait a moment."

Giuliuo said, while bringing up a close-range observation image of the enemy planet. At this time, there were very few of the defenders. Only two old cruisers that had been heavily damaged and lost their offensive and defensive capabilities and a dozen frigates were hovering around the planetary orbital facilities, like cubs desperately trying to protect their mother beast.

A cornered beast will fight to the death, but their fate was already sealed.

But it must be said that these Tau were indeed very courageous. Even in the face of such a magnificent Eldar fleet, the only forty or so frigates and cruisers still fearlessly faced the enemy, trying their best to harm even one Eldar warship.

But they were too weak, too small, too slow, too backward. They were called cruisers, but in fact the largest warship was not as good as the smallest ship in the Tears of Heaven fleet. The *Tal Anlec* almost evaporated them all with one blow.

Tomorrow, the usual extra update...