The Emperor’s Angel of Death

"Maybe the Mehnirks really aren't here for a massacre this time."

Amonak voiced his opinion.

"Otherwise, they have no reason to clean up the battlefield. The only possibility is that they took everyone in the city away."

"Took away?"

Solarian frowned.

"What would they do with them?"

"You should be able to guess."

Amonak said, and Solarian immediately understood, narrowing his eyes.

"Reverse-engineered transformation, have they started..."

"Not necessarily, perhaps just for experimentation, or some other purpose."

"If that's the case, doesn't it mean there won't be any Flayers here? Did we come here for nothing?"

Solarian said as he walked, feeling somewhat troubled. It was the first time he felt so constrained, as if his every move had been anticipated.

Soon, the two arrived at a seaside plaza. One side of the plaza was a huge cathedral, flanked by equestrian statues of commanders. Around the other side were many dilapidated stalls, and the roads leading away from the plaza were deserted.

Like everywhere else, the plaza was empty. Even the trees were bare, and the marble tiles, washed by the rain, reflected the sky monotonously.

"Let's check the cathedral. People often choose there first when disaster strikes. If there's a cellar, we might find surviving people hiding, and we'll know what happened."

On the way to the cathedral, Solarian saw a three-story mansion. Usually, people who lived in such a location wouldn't be of low status, so he turned to check it out.

He opened a door, and a cloud of foul air rushed out. The interior was covered in dust. The house extended from a central corridor, with a staircase spiraling to the upper floors.

"The internal structure of the house is intact, the tables are still in place, and there are no signs of struggle. Strange, even if they were captured, there should be some movement."

Then the two approached the cathedral. Its main entrance was tightly closed. The two bronze doors were engraved with images of marching soldiers. Solarian noticed that the doors and the surrounding stones were deformed by some force. The statues on both sides of the door were also destroyed. Parts of the bronze statues seemed to have been erased by some force. "This is..."

Solarian touched the missing part of the statue and then got the result.

"Gauss weapons, it seems there was resistance."

Then he put his hand on the door and gently pushed, and the heavy and magnificent bronze doors opened with a bang.

The interior of the church was a ruin. In the hall under the ancient and magnificent central spire, the walls and floor were inlaid with black and white marble patterns. The wooden benches were in pieces, and wisps of pale light shone through the cracks in the dome.

"They fought here, but were defeated, and then... the people disappeared."

Solarian said as he examined the frescoes on the nearest wall, which showed angels and thrones, or the coronation of lords, and scenes of armies parading through the streets of the city.

"Something's coming."

Amonak suddenly whispered, and Solarian raised his head, sensing something.

Something flew down from the spire. It swooped down, hovering above the two, making a metallic buzzing sound—it was a huge metal insect, suspended in the air with silver wings, dragging bladed limbs. Small red lenses focused on Solarian, and its shiny mandibles clicked.

Soon, the scarab flew away again, disappearing into the hole in the spire.

"It seems someone is indeed waiting for us."

Through the circular opening at the top of the spire, a low, loud crackling and buzzing sound could be heard in the sky. Solarian walked out of the cathedral door and saw thousands of metal scarabs gathering in the sky into a vast torrent, which was extremely spectacular, and all were rushing in one direction.

"Since we've been invited, let's go take a look."

Following the torrent all the way, the two came to a huge amphitheater. It should be a landmark building of the city, looking quite magnificent. The scarabs gathered on it and then disappeared into the white dome.

What might be inside?

An ambush by the Mehnirk Dynasty?

Some kind of super weapon?

A trap to imprison space and time?

However, Solarian didn't feel anything. He glanced at Amonak, who scanned left and right for a while, and said:

"I don't see anything, but it's hard to say with the Necron's technology. Why not choose a more direct route."

Hearing him say this, Solarian came back to his senses and smiled slightly.

"That's right."

With that, he slightly bent his knees and then jumped up suddenly, while Amonak beside him also dashed forward, rushing onto a lion statue, jumping up tens of meters high.

One after the other, the two directly crossed to the top of the theater. As they fell, the eggshell-shaped top suddenly collapsed into a large hole. Solarian jumped directly into it, followed closely by Amonak.

With two loud booms, the two fell to the ground, stirring up a cloud of dust.

"Hmm?"

Solarian found that they had landed on a grandstand on the second floor of the theater. Looking around, the densely packed auditorium was filled with sluggish figures.

Those were all people, humans with wide eyes and closed mouths, like soulless dolls, but Solarian could feel their breathing, but he couldn't feel the heat of their souls, it seemed... devoured by something.

Suddenly, eerie green lights lit up, pointing to the stage.

It was decorated as a palace, with hundreds of puppet actors in unique costumes arranged in various shapes, gardeners, servants, poets, musicians, ministers... without exception, they were all humans, soulless humans, as stiff as puppets.

And they were surrounded by a solitary king, wearing a golden mask, his outline both noble and angry, draped in a snow-white robe, without a trace of skin showing, but able to make people feel the aura of overlooking all beings.

The moment it slightly raised its head, a strange and melodious music sounded, a foreign tune that Solarian had never heard before, sad, desperate, with the resentment of death.

"...I am an observer, but surprisingly discover that people are saying what I want to say."

Suddenly, a low, metallic voice echoed in the theater. Solarian frowned slightly, just about to jump down, but was stopped by Amonak beside him.

The other party smiled and whispered:

"It seems quite interesting, watching won't take much time."

"Which is more painful, reality or illusion? When you feel pain for a noble reason—at least a reason you think is noble—but people denigrate you, lower the height of your pain, what will you do? More painful? Freedom? That's impossible, but what's sad is that some people naively believe it's possible, while others clearly know it but still build a magnificent palace for the blank? Our only freedom is to admit that freedom does not exist, to obey the fate of unfreedom, but this unfreedom brings new pain, or rather, all the pain in this world, when it comes down to one's own perspective, is death."