The Emperor’s Angel of Death

The Star Speaker Spire has always been a quiet place, no matter where it is located. Even in the chaotic and noisy hive cities, it always stands tall and serene.

This is because the Star Speakers must be able to focus without distraction to ensure their minds are safe when opened to the Warp.

However, since arriving here, Illyrian had been constantly agitated, often lingering by the only small observation window. This window didn't actually lead directly to the outside, but rather was a screen projecting external images. Currently, they were navigating through the Warp, so the outside world was only a bizarre and colorful display. During Warp travel, the Star Speaker Spire would typically cease operations, and the Star Speakers would enter a state of dormancy.

Thanks to his extraordinary physique, Illyrian did not require frequent dormancy, but this, in a way, exacerbated his troubles.

He originally thought he would simply fulfill ordinary duties in an ordinary Chapter until he was reassigned back to the Ultramarines. But before he could familiarize himself with the Star Speaker Spire and the Star Speaker community of the Natesan System, he received orders to join the Chapter in supporting the besieged Orpheus Sector.

Well, this wasn't exactly a special mission. He had accompanied the Ultramarines fleet on expeditions to the Maelstrom Zone before.

However, what surprised him was the strength of the Astral Knights.

Although the stories of Sorshan rebuilding the Chapter were widespread, Illyrian, who had always been in the founding Chapter, had high standards. He didn't think a successor Chapter could ever compare to a founding Chapter.

But the reality stunned and shocked him.

Especially when he saw the super-battleship named 'Randall's Vengeance,' his shock was unparalleled, far exceeding his initial amazement when he saw the 'Macragge's Honour.' Back then, witnessing that great Gloriana-class battleship, the magnificent outline of the ship would appear in his mind for a whole week.

But this was even more exaggerated than the 'Macragge's Honour'!

His mind almost crashed when he learned that the warship was an Abyssal-class.

As a Star Speaker who had served in the Ultramarines Chapter for nearly fifty years, he was quite familiar with the history of the Ultramarines, including the history of the Horus Heresy. After the Word Bearers launched their treacherous attack on the Ultramarines, the Abyssal-class super-battleship first appeared in the records—but on the side of the Word Bearers.

That's right, it was a warship used by the traitors, and it caused the Ultramarines great trouble and losses in subsequent operations.

Although Sorshan explained to him that the warship was a derelict salvaged from the Warp and re-equipped, Illyrian was not entirely ignorant of ships. The amount of work involved in salvaging, purifying, and repairing a ship of this size would be enormous. How could a Chapter afford it? And how much time would it take? Sorshan had only taken over the Chapter for a few years!

But this question was soon answered. When the ships of the Adeptus Mechanicus arrived one after another, Illyrian finally realized that he had underestimated the Astral Knights.

He saw the Gryia's Starstriders Legion, the Alateemos' Huntsmen Legion, and the Zhao-Akada's Fighter-Servitor Legion, as well as a fleet and Titan Legion from a forge world he didn't recognize. That made four forge worlds.

What did it mean for a Chapter to call upon reinforcements from four forge worlds at once?

What kind of charisma did Sorshan possess?

In fact, he had felt something was off during his time on Natesan. The system was unbelievably prosperous, comparable to Macragge, but such a prosperous system should not be unknown in the Imperium, unless...

Unless it only began to prosper after the arrival of the Astral Knights, and at a very rapid pace.

Filled with intense curiosity, Illyrian began to pay attention to the military movements of the Astral Knights. When he learned that Sorshan only had three companies to support Orpheus, Illyrian felt some regret, but he could understand the limitations. The Codex Astartes restricted the size of Chapters, making it difficult for most Chapters to exert their full strength.

However, when he saw an entire company of Terminators, he suddenly became suspicious again. After the Tyranid Wars, even the Ultramarines had difficulty assembling a company of Terminators. Then he went to observe the daily transportation process of the Chapter's fortress-monastery. Logically, this should be highly confidential, but they did not stop him, instead showing him everything openly.

Hundreds of Stormhawks and Stormtalons, along with dozens of Thunderhawks and Stormravens, were enough to shock him. But as Javelin Attack Speeders, Brutalis Dreadnoughts, Brutalis Talons, Scimitars, Sicaran Battle Tanks, Kratos and other equipment from the Great Crusade era appeared in large quantities, the doubts in Illyrian's heart deepened. This was definitely not something an ordinary Chapter could obtain. Even the founding Chapters rarely had so much armored power at once. Originally, he thought the Astral Knights' ground armor would only consist of Predators, Land Raiders, Rhinos, and the like.

The things he saw later only became more and more shocking, not just Astartes, but also exceptionally large and elite mortal forces, comparable to all the elite Imperial Guard he had ever seen.

Even more outrageous were the Knight Houses. This was also the first time he had seen Knight Houses swear allegiance to Astartes. This exceeded common sense or reason. He didn't know how Sorshan had done it.

And then there was the powerful fleet, many of which clearly exceeded the regulations of the Codex Astartes. The Codex Astartes not only limited the size of Chapters, but also the size of Chapter fleets. A sign of the Second Founding was the removal of Navy ships from Astartes fleets, but the Astral Knights' fleet was mostly composed of Navy capital ships and ships of unlisted designs, such as the Styx-class.

In the end, he summed it up in two words—

Extravagant!

The power of the Astral Knights had exceeded the scope of a normal Astartes Chapter. Illyrian had keenly realized that a vast organization had formed around the Astral Knights. Especially when he noticed the Saint Fire Cult prevalent in the Natesan System, although in theory the Ecclesiarchy would develop different cults in different regions, this cult had a clear bias. Perhaps fools and simpletons didn't know, but he, a 'high achiever' who understood humanities and religious history, could see at a glance that this was a mortal faith tailored for the Astartes, a spiritual tool used to control the homeworld.

This was a bit excessive.

But Illyrian could understand that in order to save a nearly destroyed Chapter, some unconventional methods had to be used. After all, the current state of the Imperium was like this: if you are weak, no one will sympathize with you, they will only despise and scorn you. If you show strength, then everyone will support you and embrace you. This applies to Astartes Chapters as well. No one cares about a Chapter on the verge of destruction, no matter how great things it has done, how magnificent a cause it has created, how many people it has saved. But everyone will respect a powerful and unmatched Chapter, even if it is infamous, even if it is bloodstained, even if it is bloodthirsty, as long as it is strong enough and does not rebel, it is a Chapter to be feared.