The Emperor’s Angel of Death

The so-called "Seventh Fragment" was a "special force" of over three thousand individuals, specifically created by Viktor to attack the Eternal Court. It was composed entirely of Trueborn and a large number of ancient empire weapons, coordinated with Blood Reapers. However, this main force was unexpectedly intercepted by some mysterious power and slaughtered en masse. According to survivors, they only heard the sound of horses' hooves and the cawing of crows before they were routed. Meanwhile, Koryz Verex, as a diversionary force, unknowingly led a bunch of cannon fodder into the Court, only to run headfirst into a brick wall. Seeing the situation was dire, he immediately organized his cronies and ran away, abandoning the cannon fodder.

Although they were called cannon fodder, these individuals were indeed part of the Blackheart Cabal, notorious for their evil deeds. While the Crimson Forest Cabal also frequently engaged in raiding, their scale was smaller, and their members were mostly pilots and vehicle operators, making them relatively more "qualified."

The question of how to deal with such a large group of Cabal warriors became a problem. Normally, the easiest and quickest solution would be to kill them directly, as they were indeed enemies. However, since the fall of the Eldar empire, even Commorragh maintained a certain bottom line, refraining from large-scale attacks against Craftworlds or Exodites. Similarly, Craftworld Eldar or Exodites rarely engaged in large-scale killings of Commorragh's Eldar. The various Eldar factions were generally able to maintain a state of constant small conflicts without major casualties. If the Court executed tens of thousands of Eldar, even if they were all members of the Cabal, it would cause an uproar in various Eldar worlds, not to mention how the Harlequins would use this incident to satirize the Court—some Harlequin troupes had already begun to create plays that very "ugly" portrayals of the relationship between Soshian and Veronica, and at least a significant number of troupes currently held hostile and opposing attitudes towards the Court.

Of course, Soshian had also considered "secret disposal," a common tactic in the Imperium, but he quickly realized that it was not very applicable to the Eldar. Ten thousand people would be a drop in the ocean in any hive city, and their disappearance would go unnoticed. Hive cities normally have tens of thousands of people disappearing every day, but the Court still doesn't have as many people as a hive city block. Moreover, these Cabal warriors were captured in full view of everyone, and their sudden disappearance would require an explanation. Even if they were secretly imprisoned, interested parties would definitely be able to find out.

If the matter wasn't handled cleanly, the deaths of these ten thousand people could easily lead to Soshian and Veronica being labeled as "tyrants." Doral had once told Soshian that the Seer Council of Iyanden Craftworld had publicly declared that the Eldar did not need a unified tyranny.

The stronger the Court became, the more complex the political relationships became. Soshian was now beginning to understand some of the "drastic measures" the Emperor had taken during the unification of humanity. Damn it, these bastards were all stubborn and unyielding. The more tolerant you were towards them, the more they would push their luck. It was a time of racial survival, and they were still clinging to their own petty interests. He really wanted to beat them up and let them know what true "tyranny" was!

Of course, that was just a thought. The Court was now flying the banner of benevolence and righteousness, and Veronica was carrying the mantle of the Daughter of Isha. Compassion and tolerance should be the main colors of the Court, and the Court's rapid development and the fact that the Craftworlds couldn't openly oppose it were inseparable from this philosophy.

Since they had benefited from preaching benevolence and righteousness, they had to pay the corresponding price. These ten thousand plus Cabal warriors couldn't be killed, but they couldn't be kept locked up forever either. After all, keeping such a large number of people, while not a pressure on the Court, was always a ticking time bomb. But if they were simply absorbed, it would leave hidden dangers. After all, Soshian had always thought that Commorragh residents would be stable after being implanted with soulstones, but in fact, he underestimated the complexity of human nature. The process of implanting soulstones could indeed cleanse most of the souls of Commorragh residents, but there would still be a few who could hide their malice within their hearts. After all, soulstones were just tools, not brainwashing devices that locked in loyalty. It was not unheard of for Craftworld citizens to defect to Commorragh.

For example, most of Vitrek's spies used soulstones, but that didn't affect their betrayal.

At this time, Madail gave Soshian an idea.

Let them undergo the Trial of Asuryan!

This immediately opened up Soshian's mind. That's right! There was no one more suitable for the Trial of Asuryan than them. This was both an honor and a test. Soshian believed that those who survived would definitely be loyal, and those who didn't survive...

Well, they had sacrificed themselves to the fire of Asuryan, nothing more to say.

The only problem was that the Trial of Asuryan could only handle male prisoners, because women could not participate in the trial. But that didn't matter. Soshian's mind was already open. All the women could be sent to the various Shrine of the Howling Banshees, forcing them to enter that path. It would be most appropriate for the Autarchs to "educate" these unruly and promiscuous Commorragh women. Presumably, under the strict doctrines of the Shrine of the Howling Banshees, they should be able to change their ways. At least, Soshian had not heard of any Howling Banshees defecting. In addition, a batch could be sent to the Fateshrine of the Warp Spiders.

And it had to be stipulated that they would only be allowed to change paths after cultivating in their original path for a hundred years.

Once the plan was found, they would do it. First, they would separate the men and women, and then remove Beastmasters and Scourges. They got 6104 qualified men. Before giving them soulstones, Soshian announced the Trial of Asuryan to them—a ritual from the ancient empire. Those who passed would become the true chosen of Asuryan and his personal soldiers, and gain power from the most glorious era of their race.

Of course, there was a price. Once they failed, they would be annihilated.

Those who accepted would receive soulstones, while those who did not would continue to be imprisoned—which was almost equivalent to a death sentence, because the souls of Commorragh citizens would gradually wither in the long absence of pain energy. Even with the protection of the World Tree, it would only delay the process.

The Cabal warriors were a very "motivated" group of people. Hearing that there was such an opportunity, they all enthusiastically expressed their approval, which was very unexpected for Soshian.

Then he had the Soulbinders begin to install soulstones and set up soul tethers for them. In fact, Soshian was also very curious as to why it was necessary to waste soulstones if failure would lead to annihilation, but Madail simply told him that he would know later.

The only captured Drukhari, Duran, also participated in this Trial of Asuryan. He was an unlucky fellow, one of the few non-Trueborn who had climbed from the lowest slave warrior to the middle level in the Blackheart Cabal, and was rushing towards the Archon level. He already had a small force of thousands of people, and he planned to take this opportunity to make a big profit and establish merits to obtain the status of Archon. But he was severely pitted by Koryz Verex. Perhaps this Archon called him up with the intention of eliminating potential opponents. In short, he lost almost all of his men, and his flyer was destroyed by an unknown force when he was preparing to escape. Without thinking, he knew it was Koryz Verex.

More importantly, the old subordinates who had followed him for many years were all dead. Although betrayal and betrayal were common in Commorragh, Duran still cherished the "brothers and sisters" who were born in the same incubation vat as him. It was hard to say that it was an emotion, but they did form a kinship-like bond during the long period of enslavement, because everyone knew that they would die if they left the group.