The Emperor’s Angel of Death

"O Eternal God-Emperor, we shall prevail with You, for You have already triumphed!"

The speaker roared the last sentence, raising his warhammer high.

"God-Emperor is supreme!" (Old Mo had to comment, 'For XX, it doesn't sound like a religious slogan.')

The response to the speaker was a tsunami of praise, even drowning out the roars of the cannon fodder and the Tyranids in the distance.

"God-Emperor is supreme!"

The soldiers chanted while bowing down, all kneeling three times in unison, each time pressing their foreheads to the ground, then picking up their guns, hanging the Aquila emblem on the gun stocks, standing up, and roaring in unison.

In the name of the God-Emperor! We fight to the death!

"Incredible, the Ecclesiarchy actually has such elite troops hidden away."

Murad, clad in Terminator armor, stood on the corpse of a destroyed Executioner, watching the Faith Watch, as this unit was called, form up, marching mightily to the battlefield, his face showing undisguised surprise.

Initially, he thought the Faith Watch was a slightly better militia, but when Sorsky told him that the Ecclesiarchy had invested heavily to turn this, in principle, quasi-militia into an elite force, Murad was quite surprised.

After all, apart from a few Chapters, most Chapters had little contact with the Ecclesiarchy and would not seriously understand this faction, which held a pivotal position in the Imperial system.

As it stood, even before engaging in combat, what they displayed was indeed not the level of ordinary militia, whether in terms of action efficiency, discipline, or fervor for battle, they already possessed the level of the Astra Militarum.

"Captain, isn't this violating the Decree Passive?"

The standard-bearer standing behind Murad asked. Murad thought for a while and replied:

"The Decree Passive is already something from five thousand years ago. In this time, the Ecclesiarchy can probably find enough loopholes to exploit, although this loophole seems a bit too big."

Then, a commotion attracted his attention. Watching the armored formation rumble past, Murad blinked.

Hundreds of Leman Russ and Macharius tanks formed an assault formation, stirring up clouds of dust. Each of them could be called a work of art, with beautiful hymns inscribed on the armor, as well as torches, small metal statues, and script scrolls.

Especially the Macharius tanks, these ancient tanks had basically been retired from the armory of the Eleventh Legion. The Macharius formations that helped the Star Knights fight in the early days had become relics, but here in the Ecclesiarchy, a huge number of Macharius heavy tanks suddenly appeared.

Some of the Macharius heavy tanks had their turrets removed and replaced with a gorgeous preaching platform surrounded by blazing torches. Standing in the preaching platform was a flagellant, bare-chested and wearing a black pointed hat, whipping himself with a barbed iron whip while uttering a passage from the countless classics praising the Emperor in an extremely fanatical voice.

His voice was transmitted in all directions through the twelve huge brass speakers of the preaching platform, even audible kilometers away.

At the same time, on both sides of this mobile preaching platform, hung upper-torso-only cherubim, mostly choir members who had committed crimes. Their only redemption was to retain their original perfect voices, continuously chanting hymns praising the Emperor.

The flagellant servitors who followed the preaching platform also echoed the cherubim's rhythm with low, hoarse, and ambiguous songs as they walked stiffly.

The fanaticism and cruelty of the Ecclesiarchy's faith were perfectly fused at this moment.

On the flanks of the armored assault group, there were also a large number of armored vehicles, Sentinel walkers, especially Sentinel walkers. The Ecclesiarchy seemed to favor this equipment, as their numbers were unusually large.

Murad observed with his own eyes that there were double-digit Sentinel walkers in action in every infantry formation. Moreover, the Ecclesiarchy's Sentinel walkers had some unique improvements. For example, Murad saw a model with a heavy bolter as the main weapon placed in the center of the chassis, with two chainswords on both sides.

It should be known that most Sentinels only have one weapon. He was curious how the driver inside would control three weapons, but he couldn't see the real situation because it was a closed cockpit.

In addition, he also saw a very small model of Sentinel walker. At first, he didn't even notice this small machine, thinking it was some kind of Adeptus Mechanicus's protectors. On closer inspection, he found that it was a light Sentinel walker, extremely rare in the current Imperium - the Hermes Light Sentinel.

This was an extremely ancient piece of equipment, said to have been heavily equipped in the Imperial army since the early days of the Great Crusade. Its height was only half that of an adult, about the same as Murad himself in Terminator armor. The entire cockpit was almost completely open, with only a baffle in the front. Its weapon was deployed on the front, looking like a weapon rack with legs. Murad didn't know where the Ecclesiarchy got such an ancient piece of equipment.

However, that wasn't the most shocking thing.

Murad suddenly felt a tremor under his feet. Looking down, the dead Tyranid was shaking. Then he realized that the vibration was coming from the ground. What could make the ground shake...

"They even have Baneblades?"

Murad stared blankly at the steel behemoths hundreds of meters away, arrogantly trampling the earth. The huge Baneblade tanks were almost decorated into a temple. Not only was the exterior painted gold, but there was even a small, independent shrine at the rear of the vehicle. At the same time, a fanatical preacher stood in the turret, repeatedly reciting classic quotes from the Scriptures with a huge megaphone.

While the Seventh Company Captain of the Star Knights watched in astonishment, at least thirty Baneblade tanks painted in gold rumbled past in the Faith Watch's armored formation, and this was just one battle line.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, really exaggerated."

Murad shook his head and clicked his tongue for a moment, then said to the adjutant beside him:

"Notify all units to proceed according to the planned plan."

"Yes."

Soon, the horn of counterattack was first sounded by the gun line led by Prince Andrea of the de Bondelin family. Continuous explosions spread towards the Tyranid tide, and smoking fragments rolled to the ground in an avalanche of rubble, wreckage, and dust, even mixed with hundreds of injured alien creatures, their hook-shaped limbs waving in the air as they fell.

As always, the armored forces took the lead, forming a powerful iron fist, slamming into the Tyranid clusters. The infantry initially provided covering fire on the still-intact protective walls, but soon they also left the cover and began to head towards hell.

With the help of the powerful assault force, the Imperial legions successfully formed a strong and powerful counter-push, and while annihilating millions of enemies, expanded a salient that was thirty kilometers long and more than ten kilometers deep. Then huge transport ships began to descend from outside the atmosphere with scorching residual heat. Although a large number of Tyranid creatures tried to interfere in the air, gargoyles and harpies could not form a real threat in the face of the overwhelming Imperial air power.