The Emperor’s Angel of Death

“Thank you, then I won’t be polite.”

After thanking him, Fabius picked up a fruit and found it was hot, as if it had just been taken out of a fire. The outside was soft, but the center was still hard.

He took a bite, and the pulp was so hot that his tongue and the corners of his mouth twitched, but it hadn't been cooked at all. It was naturally in this state, but it was absolutely delicious.

After eating it in a few bites, he reached for the golden roast meat and devoured it, tearing at it very rudely and inelegantly. Sorylian just watched indifferently not far away.

While chewing, Fabius poured the wine from the flagon into an empty glass, raised the glass to smell it, and then exclaimed in admiration. Then he took a big gulp, poured himself another glass, and even his stomach almost sang.

“I heard you wanted to see me after you were caught.”

More than ten minutes later, when Fabius's gluttony finally slowed down, Sorylian slowly asked:

“So who sent you here? Was it guidance from Slaanesh or another Chaos God?”

“I do not worship Chaos.”

Fabius nodded slightly, raised his glass as if in celebration, and then drank it all in one gulp. After putting down the glass, he casually wiped his greasy hands on his prison uniform.

“I only believe in human reason and scientific empiricism. This is my eternal proposition.”

Sorylian sneered.

“What a hypocrite. You hang out with Chaos believers every day, like a maggot crawling out of a cesspool, yet you claim you’re not tainted at all.”

“Oh, my god, Lord Sorylian, could you please be more refined in your language, considering I just finished eating.”

“Because this is the most appropriate example. In fact, in my eyes, you are just a dirty maggot, even worse than other Chaos believers. At least they can generously proclaim their faith, while you are not only depraved, but also hypocritical and self-deceiving.”

Fabius burped, then shook his head.

“I didn’t expect that even though we’ve never met, you could still have such a bad impression of me.”

“Because any self-justification of yours is vulnerable in the face of your actions. Okay, now you just need to answer the questions honestly.”

“Then let’s get straight to the point.”

“Who sent you here?”

“I came here on my own.”

“But Fulgrim summoned you, but I guess you wouldn’t listen to him. In other words, you came specifically to find me? Then how do you explain your alliance with N’Kari to attack the Royal Court?”

“If I didn’t do that, how could the things Fulgrim sent to monitor me be eliminated?”

“Oh? So you wanted to banish N’Kari, because she was sent by Fulgrim to monitor you? Hmph! Tell that to the ghosts! Your attack on Veronica’s operation doesn’t look like a disguise. If it weren’t for Mardel in Fabius, you would have had ulterior motives, right?”

Fabius raised his hands, making a peaceful gesture.

“Don’t be nervous, I’m a person who likes to make multiple backup plans. I just think it takes a strong enough action to get you to show up.”

“Okay, let’s assume that’s the case. So what do you want from me?”

“I want to know the secret of you.”

Sorylian looked at the other party, and after a moment, he suddenly laughed.

“Hahahaha! Spider, some small successes in the past seem to have made you too self-righteous. Do you think you are worthy of interfering in this game of the gods? Do you know what the secret of me represents? The Emperor, the Eldar Gods, the Ruinous Powers, the Star Gods, the Necrons, the Old Ones, so many, none of these forces can be touched by you now, a mere mortal.”

Fabius sat cross-legged on the ground, calmly staring at Sorylian, and then slowly said:

“Then have you ever asked yourself, why should mortals be subject to so-called gods?”

Sorylian blinked.

“What?”

“I usually don’t talk about the concept of so-called gods, because that is the delusion of fools, the illusion formed by the troubles of mortals themselves. Whether it is the Chaos Gods, the Eldar Gods, or the God-Emperor worshipped by the ignorant, whether great or small, these illusory tyrants are indulging their ruthless will in the fragile souls of mortals, and these mortals are subject to these ideas with the concept of ‘god’ simply because they are weak. But I firmly believe that we are not inferior to these things of consciousness, not inferior to the gods worthy of love and worship, nor inferior to the extraordinary who possess magical powers or realize unfulfilled potential! We are born, we live, we die, and in the brief gap between our first and last breaths, we are always subject to various forces that make our existence insignificant, make our struggles incredibly cheap, and wield their power on our bent and sun-scorched backs. However, this is not the path that humanity should take.”

Sorylian frowned slightly. Although he had long known that the other party had a different way of thinking from ordinary Chaos Space Marines, these remarks from Fabius had a unique sense of weirdness.

Could it be that he is really a firm atheist?

Strange.

After pondering for a moment, Sorylian replied:

“Since the birth of civilization, all social forms have emphasized one thing, that individuals must serve a cause or someone. It is not disgraceful to serve a powerful existence that sees further—”

“No, no, no, this is extremely disgraceful.”

Fabius raised a finger like a professor in an academy.

“Because we rarely have a choice. Although we can choose to feed which god with our blood, sweat, and tears, labor and sacrifice… but what if we don’t want to feed any god at all? What if we seek to serve a simple idea, a nobler goal, a deeper abstract concept, without offering service or loyalty to any god?”

He said these words easily, as if he was declaring a simple fact: fire is hot, water is wet, ice is cold…

Sorylian probably saw that Fabius really believed in these things.

“Since the birth of the Empire, all life and glory belongs to the Emperor, you should know better than anyone.”

“But the Emperor is not a god. He has always been the existence I yearned for. I once walked with him and breathed the same air as him. To tell you the truth, he never wanted to become what he is now worshipped by fools! He doesn’t want to be a god, he hates the idea! If he still had eyes, this broken, ignorant slave empire would definitely disgust him! Humanity needs a leader, there is no doubt about that, and I once firmly believed that he was the best choice. But the Emperor failed, due to his mistakes, caution and conservatism, and ultimately fell into the flames of the warp, so we can no longer be cautious, otherwise humanity will have a second unbearable failure.”