Seraphs of the Emperor’s Judgment

Chapter 22: Escape

"Hah—hah—"

Amulad panted heavily and trembled. His vision flickered, and the sounds in his ear canals became a distant echo.

He grabbed his wound with one hand, but even his advanced Larraman cells could not stop the blood pouring from his torn body. At this moment, he felt a hand under his arm, helping him stand up.

Meanwhile, the servo-motors in his power armor complained in agony.

The one who saved him was Soshyan, the person he had been waiting for. But now, this strong recruit was so weak he could barely hold his bolter, and he almost fell over while supporting Amulad.

"He... helmet."

Amulad tapped Soshyan's helmet lightly with his finger. Although the recruit did not understand the Chapter Master's meaning, Soshyan held his breath and removed his helmet anyway.

Upon seeing Soshyan's face already covered in gray veins, Amulad's eyes widened in shock and fear.

"No... it's not time yet, it's too early."

He then gestured for Soshyan to put the helmet back on, then clutched his stomach and slowly walked toward a Space Marine leaning against a broken pillar. Soshyan saw him too, immediately recognizing him as the chapter's Chief Librarian, Helarshi.But he had thought it was a corpse.

At this time, sporadic battles continued everywhere, but there were fewer and fewer surviving Space Marines. The C'tan ascending into the sky had torn most of the entire World Engine apart, leaving only the main body struggling to hold together, while those "stars" in the distance were closing in.

"Helarshi, Helarshi."

Accompanied by Amulad's hoarse call, the motionless Chief Librarian leaning against the pillar twitched his fingers violently, and then his head slowly turned.

"Amulad."

After walking closer, Soshyan discovered that a large hole had been charred through the Chief Librarian's chest. Two broken hearts hung inside, having already stopped beating.

So in principle, he really should have been a corpse.

"You... found him."

Helarshi stood up in a stiff and slow manner.

"Yes, you can prepare."

"Alright."

With that, a short scepter flared into existence in Helarshi's hand, its tip adorned with a spreading double-headed eagle.

Soshyan was utterly bewildered throughout this process. He looked at his Chapter Master, not knowing what kind of expression lay behind his helmet.

So he asked,

"Chapter Master, shouldn't we continue fighting?"

"Yes, we must continue fighting, but your battle is over."

"What?"

Soshyan could hardly believe his ears.

"Over?"

"Yes, you have a new mission, Soshyan Alexey."

Amulad said, struggling to raise his hand to take off the Iron Halo behind him and hang it on Soshyan's power armor backpack.

"You will be the next Chapter Master."

Soshyan froze in place as if struck by lightning, his throat seemingly blocked, unable to utter a single word.

"I know you have many questions, but I cannot answer you now. Return to the Obsidian Fortress, find Brother Zayd—"

Amulad's words were cut off by a violent fit of coughing. A spurt of dark red blood sprayed from the grille of his helmet, dyeing his entire neck and chest red. Meanwhile, the wound on his abdomen continued to bleed, but the volume was decreasing...

Not because the bleeding had stopped, but because his blood was about to run dry.

"Chapter Master, I will fight with you to the death! I will be buried here with all my battle brothers!"

Finally, Soshyan forced out what he wanted to say most.

But Amulad merely shook his head, carefully pulling a prismatic, ruby-like object from his power armor backpack. A dark green glow flowed across it.

"This is the Red Talisman. You must keep it safe. The sacrifices of all of us were just for this!"

After pushing the object known as the Red Talisman into Soshyan's hand, Amulad looked at Helarshi, who was shrouded in an aura of light.

Seemingly sensing his gaze, a cold, low whisper drifted from Helarshi's helmet.

"It's ready over there..."

This voice made Soshyan doubt whether the figure inside the power armor was truly the chapter's Chief Librarian, as he remembered the man having a crisp, clear voice.

"Helarshi has already fallen."

Amulad answered Soshyan's doubt.

"But for this final mission, he used forbidden power to temporarily bind his soul to his corpse, but it won't last long."

Dark sorcery—these two words immediately leaped into Soshyan's mind.

This blasphemous sorcery was strictly prohibited. Even Astartes Librarians were not allowed to dabble in it.

Perhaps sensing Soshyan's erratic breathing, Amulad sighed and said,

"For a certain noble cause, sometimes we must do things that go against principle. This might be explained as an expediency, but Alexey, you must remember, there is a boundary between utilization and complicity. Never cross that line."

Then he activated the storage compartment on Soshyan's backpack, allowing the other to slot the Red Talisman inside.

"You must never tell anyone that you have this. Return to the Obsidian Fortress and find Brother Zayd. He will tell you everything!"

Huge tremors transmitted through the soles of their boots, with flashes and explosions occurring incessantly. That was the signal that the distant fleet had begun destroying the World Engine.

"I'm opening the portal..."

Hearing this cold whisper, Soshyan abruptly spun around. At the same time, the scepter in Helarshi's hand fell like a cracking whip.

A corner of the veil of reality was torn open.

The scepter cut through both reality and illusion simultaneously. To mortal eyes, nothing existed in that vacuum.

However, the incision was real. Soshyan could feel another distant presence, an indescribable sensation, as if emotions had been jumbled into a physical entity, letting out a thirsty clamor.

Just as Soshyan was stunned by this bizarre occurrence, Amulad, from behind, suddenly pushed him forward with all his might.

In an instant, his world plunged into pitch darkness.

He wanted to move, but as if plunging into the deep sea, his limbs bore immense pressure; he could even feel his organs being squeezed.

He wanted to open his mouth to speak, but the response was an indescribable, blurred howl.

A tangible darkness clung to him, winding around his neck, wrists, and joints until the gray veins appeared on his face once again.

Then, he heard a chatter of curses and taunts, as well as agonized shrieks, and the substantial darkness swiftly receded from him.

His vision returned. All he could see were churning nebulae being torn apart, and asteroids colliding, unleashing white, purple, and a thousand shades of red.

He even thought he had been cast into the void, yet everything had transformed into a vibrant cascade of colors: anger, joy, pain... A torrent of numerous emotions swept him up, heavily impacting his mind. If he had not been resolute enough, he would have lost his reason long ago.

But this absolutely could not last too long.

Just as he gritted his teeth and endured it, everything returned to silence.

He was standing on a beach. Fine, warm sand lay beneath his feet, and the ocean waves gently lapped at his ankles.

A strange woman opened her arms to him.

Who...

Who was she?

Soshyan was confused by this scene, but at least the torment was gone, until—

"He's out!"

A steel-clad hand grabbed his pauldron and dragged him heavily to the ground.

Soshyan's helmet hit the ground, the visor shattering into pieces. Then his helmet was removed, allowing him to take deep breaths of the stale, recycled air.

Propping himself up on the floor, he raised his head, only to be met first by the grim face of Ventilius, the Captain of the Ultramarines' Seventh Company.

"Are you Soshyan Alexey?"