The Emperor’s Angel of Death

"Something's wrong! Something's really wrong!?"

Urged by Matting, his wife finally snapped out of it, nodding frantically, then went to comfort their two children. Matting walked to the window and gently pushed it open. Their home was a two-story building, outside of which was a dirty alley. His gaze swept over the scene, seeing nothing unusual, just an unsettling calmness.

Just then, as if realizing something, he turned and said.

"Wait a little longer and see what happens."

The couple waited anxiously for another twenty minutes, confirming that there were no enemies nearby. Matting, known for his cautious actions, finally made a decision.

"We'll go through the back door. Don't let the children make any noise. There might be enemies coming."

After making the final preparations, Matting gripped his pistol and tucked the machete into his waist. His wife also had a pistol and a dagger. After reaching the first floor, they carefully pushed open the back door of the house. Confirming that no one was there, they pushed the stroller covered with thick cloth and moved cautiously.

Matting was very familiar with this area, which was about half a mile away from the pick-up location the commander mentioned, not too far. For safety's sake, he didn't plan to take the main road, but rather the small paths between the buildings.

Along the way, both were highly nervous, constantly alert to their surroundings.

Yet, strangely enough, neither of them heard any sound.

"Honey, if there are enemies, why isn't there any movement? Not even gunshots..."

Hearing his wife's whisper, Matting was silent for a moment, then came to the corner ahead. He stuck close to the wall, took out a mirror, and extended it to confirm there were no enemies. Then he turned around and said:

"That's what's most terrifying. We can't contact any of our comrades right now. In other words, we can't even be sure if the people standing in front of us are comrades. It's possible that those oppressors have returned to counterattack. So, we can't easily trust anyone from now on, unless they have the mark of the Emperor's blessing!"

"But haven't the angels of the Star Emperor already arrived?"

The woman raised her head, looking at the huge silhouette looming in the dark clouds.

"With the angels here, how dare those vampires return?"

"Who knows? Let's get to a safe place first, and we'll have the answer then."

Just as they turned the corner of the alley, several desperate screams drew their attention to the entrance of the curved alley to the right. Continuous gunfire and painful cries echoed between the dilapidated buildings.

Soon, more than a dozen people rounded the bend thirty meters away from the alley, shouting in terror as they rushed toward the two. Behind them, three Cult Guards with three arms were firing their automatic weapons at targets Matting couldn't see, then turned to chase the others.

Matting immediately waved his arms.

"Brothers and sisters! Brothers and sisters! What's happening!"

Before the others could respond, he saw them.

Two enormous figures appeared around the bend. They resembled gaunt scarecrows used to frighten birds in fields, their hunched, bent bodies covered in dirty rags. Their long, slender limbs ended in razor-like claws, and ruby-like lights flickered in their hollow eye sockets.

"Run! Run!"

The three-armed Cult Guards, seeing the two, immediately shouted at the top of their lungs. Matting noticed that one of the guards had three deep claw marks on his face.

"Get out of here! From the other side!"

After saying that, they turned around again and fired at the two approaching monsters. The bullets tore through the dirty rags, hitting the bodies inside but only raising a few sparks.

At this distance, Matting finally realized that their towering bodies were entirely composed of metal skeletons, and that the so-called ragged pieces of clothing were actually human skin... He could even see one of the faces, which belonged to a pure-blooded angel.

Perhaps enraged by the bullets, one of the monsters instantly accelerated from that leisurely, slow posture to a speed that was difficult to capture with the naked eye. In the blink of an eye, it crossed the distance of a hundred meters and arrived in front of the Cult Guard whose face had been scratched. Amidst the other's screams, it directly sheared off both arms.

Then, each lightning-fast swipe of the claws would strip flesh from the Cult Guard, accompanied by discordant noises, and a scarlet energy crackled and danced on the claws.

In Matting's trembling gaze, the creature shook off its arms and used chilling fluidity to cut through the Cult Guard's armor, flesh, and bones, performing a living dissection on the screaming victim with surgical elegance, and draping the victim's flesh, tendons, and skin on its own gaunt body.

"Run!"

With a jolt, Matting directly lifted the thick cloth of the stroller, picked up one of the children, and stuffed the other into his wife's arms. The two ran back as if their lives depended on it.

He once thought he was fearless, that he no longer needed to be afraid of anything with the Star Emperor's blessing.

But everything just now seemed to bring him back to those days of being flogged. Fear re-entwined his heart. Let alone fighting, he couldn't even face those things anymore.

As the two ran without looking back, the other two Cult Guards were also cut to pieces. The two monsters did not pursue, but leisurely enjoyed their "food", but three more monsters appeared in the alley. They didn't have much fresh flesh on them, and were obviously very hungry. After quickly climbing on the walls, they jumped directly into the middle of those dozen people.

Amidst desperate screams, each strike of the sharp claws was accompanied by the splattering of arterial blood, crackling hisses, and cackling death shrieks.

Although their legs were weak, the two couldn't turn back, nor did they dare to. They even silently prayed in their hearts that their compatriots could "hold on" a little longer, or that the monsters would stop chasing them once they were full.

Perhaps the prayers to the Star Emperor worked, as the metal monsters seemed to really slow down their merciless pace.

They passed through the maze-like alleys in the city ruins, past the half-collapsed church, the overhanging balconies of which were decorated with gargoyles, and the tall arched windows, but the windows had long been smashed when the Cult entered, and shards of glass covered the cobblestone streets, reflecting the gray and gloomy sky.

The ground was wet, with pools of congealed blood seeping out of the potholes, and skinned corpses were scattered and piled up in the alleys.

During the run, his wife asked breathlessly:

"Star Emperor above, what exactly are those things? I've never seen anything like that."

"I don't know. They don't seem like humans. In any case, they must be something worse. Don't worry, dear. I will protect you."

After confirming that there were no pursuers behind them, the two cautiously slowed down, not only to conserve their strength, but also because they were worried that the sound of running footsteps would attract more monsters.