The Emperor’s Angel of Death

"No problem."

Mazar readily agreed to Bahlram's request for the Ascetics' brain trust to participate in the review of the Relictors Chapter's Librarius, then turned his gaze to the right.

"Brother Zdedno, you will lead the entire Librarius to Victory's Scar with Captain Bahlram."

The chief librarian of the Ascetics stepped forward and saluted.

"Yes."

Bahlram did not linger in the Death Sanctum and returned to Victory's Scar with the Ascetics' Librarius, informing Artukus of Mazar's 'request'.

Artukus did not respond immediately, saying he needed to discuss it with the other company captains of the Chapter. Bahlram was not in a hurry.

After waiting for about a day, Artukus brought his reply, along with the entire Librarius of the Chapter.

Subsequently, the Librarians of the Ascetics Chapter began to conduct detailed exchanges with the Librarians of the Relictors Chapter, a process that took more than ten standard Terran days. During this process, Bahlram, as the representative of the Astral Knights, also accompanied Arash to the Relictors Chapter's flagship, the battle barge 'Sacred Legacy', for friendly exchanges with the command echelon of the Chapter.

When the results came out, Bahlram couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. The exhausted Librarians of the Ascetics Chapter unanimously confirmed that the Librarians of the Relictors Chapter had no fundamental problems. The large number of Librarians in that Chapter was probably related to the genes of the inhabitants of their homeworld, where the psyker mutation genes were more active due to the world's proximity to the Eye of Terror.

However, they did indeed have a secret society researching Chaos artifacts, a point the Relictors Chapter admitted. They stated, however, that this secret society had been terminated after the Inquisition issued its verdict and had made guarantees to that effect.

Upon receiving the results, Mazar led the command echelon of the Ascetics Chapter to Victory's Scar for a brief meeting with Artukus, then jointly announced with Arash that the Relictors Chapter would become an observer of the Alliance of the Penitent, and sent this result to all members of the alliance, pending a unanimous vote by the alliance members after the observation period to determine whether to formally admit them.

A result that was satisfactory to all parties also relieved Bahlram. Since things had been settled, it was time to celebrate. Thus, led by the Ascetics Chapter, representatives from several Chapters held a friendly competition in the arena of Victory's Scar. The prize was a treasure from Mazar's personal vault: a ritual dagger made from the unbelievably large tusk of an Ork Warboss he had slain in the past.

The item was not precious, but its significance was considerable. The competition was structured as a single-elimination tournament, with winners advancing and being drawn again.

The participating Chapters included the White Templars, the Astral Knights, the Ascetics, the Relictors, as well as the remaining warriors of the Flesh Tearers and the Lamenters.

The representative of the Astral Knights was naturally Jacob.

His opponent was a veteran from the 1st Company of the Ascetics, named Boka, with a gray scar on his broad, low brow and pale eyes that gleamed coldly in his deep-set sockets, a veteran of countless battles.

His weapon was a spear, which seemed a bit odd, as Astartes rarely used polearms, but considering the Ascetics' fondness for scythe-blades, it was perhaps understandable.

Jacob was not skilled in the use of polearms, and to compensate for this weakness, he unusually decided to use a two-handed sword.

Moreover, Jacob's two-handed sword was a combination of a longsword and a shortsword, which was uncommon in Astartes swordsmanship, but Mazar had seen it before. In his memory, there were not many Astral Knights who used this long and short sword technique; a champion named Robin stood out in his memory.

Now, it seemed, there was another one.

The two came to the center of the massive arena, the lights from the inner walls shining directly on them, the walls lined with spectators from various Chapters, who silently awaited the coming of the exciting moment.

Boom!

With the sound of a drum, Boka struck first, charging forward with the spear held in both hands. Although it was only a training weapon, the strong wind capable of tearing skin still condensed on the spearhead.

Jacob held his breath, dodging at the instant the spear pierced towards him, countering with his shortsword, but it was immediately deflected by the butt of the spear.

Boka's movements were also very fast, quickly retreating to create distance from Jacob, followed by a series of precise and deadly moves raining down on Jacob's chest and abdomen, with the intensity of a bolter held down.

Against his opponent's overwhelming thrusts and slashes, Jacob continuously used the difference in length between the two swords to parry, the spearhead and blade clashing fiercely between them.

After spinning and blocking three more light strikes to his chest, Jacob suddenly seized an opportunity, crossing his swords to trap the opponent's spear shaft between the sword guards and blades, then pushing the blades forward with force. But the veteran reacted extremely quickly, releasing the weapon and letting the blades graze between his palms, then gently nudging the spear shaft with his knee before turning to grasp the butt end of the spear, swinging it violently from side to side.

With the sound of metal colliding, Jacob staggered to the side.

Boka retrieved his spear, reassuming his stance, the spearhead slightly raised towards Jacob, who looked down at the ribs where he had just been struck by the spear shaft. In real combat, this would not have caused any damage.

But a cheer immediately rang out from the surroundings.

Jacob remained unmoved, changing his stance. Seeing this, Boka also rotated his spear, changing his grip.

The two charged towards each other again. At the moment of contact, Jacob feigned a mistake—he dropped his shortsword, luring his opponent into a minefield. He clearly remembered what Saul had taught him: close combat favors speed, prolonged engagement favors the opponent.

As Boka thrust his spear towards his abdomen, Jacob used the technique Saul had once taught him to counter polearms—he threw his shortsword directly, causing Boka to instinctively dodge.

Seizing this opportunity, Jacob retreated to the side, grabbing the spear shaft, then violently pulling the opponent closer. Boka reacted extremely quickly, trying to push away Jacob's sword arm with the spear, but Jacob bent over, somersaulted through the gap under his opponent's weapon, flourished his sword, and slashed hard at the opponent's ribs. The violent impact released electricity, and the Ascetic veteran staggered.

But this did not defeat him. Boka swept his spear diagonally downwards at Jacob, but the latter rushed forward like a bolt of lightning. In a mere second, Boka blocked four strikes with the spear shaft, but in the end, the opponent's sword accurately struck the back of his neck.

Fatal wound, eliminated.

Thunderous applause rang out from the surroundings. In fact, Jacob was a little embarrassed, because throwing the shortsword was somewhat unsportsmanlike, but since he had chosen such a weapon, it seemed everyone had accepted that such combat tactics were to be expected.

After all, Astartes competitions prioritize practicality over ceremony.

The victorious Jacob, after a brief rest, faced his next opponent: the White Templars champion, Tyann, who had also defeated the Relictors champion.