Seraphs of the Emperor’s Judgment

Chapter 70: Within the High Walls

All the high-ranking members of the city were waiting.

Finally, as the inner wall gates began to rise, the first sounds that arrived were the trembling of the mag-locks releasing and the whistling of steam.

The Decathlon family was the wealthiest and most powerful landowning family in the city of Cetis. West Decathlon, as the representative and patriarch of the family, stood at the very forefront of the group.

Right now, however, he had not a shred of honor or splendor; fear lingered around him like a specter.

Suddenly, accompanied by a blast of oncoming air, an eruption of pressurized steam blurred West's vision. Whatever stood tall within the darkness, he could not see it.

A stinging premonition struck him; he felt as though he might be about to die.

Soon, the vibration of heavy footsteps echoed across the courtyard, and a silhouette materialized deep within the dark archway.

West's expression froze, and fear stayed the hand gripping his cane.

Emerging from the darkness were entities that a mortal like him could not possibly imagine.

Giants clad in massive armor strode toward the crowd like prehistoric colossi.Steam swirled around the foremost figure as it evaluated them, its soulless black eyepieces seemingly intent on pinning everyone to the stone slabs of the ramparts.

On the chest of the giant's armor was an emblem of a glaring skull and metallic eagle wings, while two upward-crossed black swords rested on its shoulder pads.

When it reached a distance of fifty meters from the crowd, its trembling footsteps halted.

Subsequently, more colossal warriors walked up behind it, spreading out to both sides to form a semicircle. They all wore similar silver-grey battle plate covered in mottled battle scars. Most gripped bolters, but one had only a longsword and a bolt pistol hung at his waist.

Without exception, they were all completely silent.

No one dared to move. Everyone held their breath; it was so quiet one could hear a silver pin drop.

West stared fixedly at the entity as well.

He knew that a single erroneous twitch would result in them being turned into a smear on the wall by a massive volley of bolter rounds in an instant.

At this moment, no bodyguard or guard could save them. Right now, those men were even kneeling on the walls, facing these Angels and praying. To them, this was tantamount to a miracle.

After the silence lasted for about a minute, the first giant—the one holding that red longsword—took a step forward.

"Greetings, citizens of the Imperium."

A dry, deep, and jarring voice erupted from the vox-grille of its helmet, as if coming from an abyss.

A moment later, West realized that the giant was speaking High Gothic.

Sweat instantly poured down his face like rain. To answer, he racked his brain, struggling to recall his days studying at the aristocratic academy in the upper levels of the Krist hive city.

"How... should I address you?"

As soon as West spoke, he immediately wanted to slap himself.

He knew his vocabulary was absurdly mixed up, and this was not the right occasion to speak like that. He should have bowed first, then offered greetings, and then prayed.

Fortunately, these giants cared little for polite etiquette.

"We are the Astral Knights, loyal servants of the Master of Mankind. We have come to your world to execute a classified mission. This is our right."

West could only understand the prominent part of the giant's words—they served the Master of Mankind.

But this did little to ease his fears. Recently, nothing remained as it seemed, let alone the fact that those idiots had just fired upon them.

"We also received your distress signal,"

When West didn't answer, the giant continued.

"You are plagued by a rebellion."

"Supremely venerated Angels, you have deigned to come here to assist us?"

West stammered. The giant paused before answering, as if pondering his words.

"Provided that time permits."

"The Emperor protects! Praise be to the Emperor!"

West immediately began a sincere prayer and dropped to one knee. Seeing this, the others quickly imitated him, praising the Emperor while prostrating themselves before the Angels.

"Are there ancient ruins here?"

The giant asked next, ignoring his prayers and praises.

"This..."

West thought for a moment, then spoke in a highly uncertain tone:

"When I was young, there was a mine outside the city primarily producing iron. The age of that mine was said to be very ancient. Legend had it that the workers once discovered a deep chasm down there, and there were artifacts inside... However, not long after I became old enough to remember, the mine was completely sealed off due to a collapse. That was over thirty years ago."

"It is forbidden to spread word of our appearance. Lead the way."

Hearing the other's dull words, West was stunned for a few seconds before hastily waving his hands.

"My Lord, you may not know, but a massive rebel force is lurking in the forest. They have already launched several surprise attacks on the city. Although we repelled them, they are currently still prowling the perimeter. The situation at night is unclear; venturing out of the city rashly might result in an ambush."

"We can wait until dawn."

Seeing the Astartes' firm attitude, West knew that saying anything more would be useless. Thus, he stood up, bowed humbly, and said:

"On behalf of all the people of the city of Cetis, I express my apologies for the incident that occurred tonight."

"Let this not happen again."

"Yes, yes, yes..."

Sweating profusely, West nodded repeatedly. This hurdle was finally passed.

"I almost forgot. I am West Decathlon, Speaker of the Cetis Agricultural and Municipal Federation Council, and also the current Acting Mayor. May I ask if I am qualified to know Your Lordship's name?"

"I am Soshyan Alexei, Chapter Master of the Astral Knights."

West took a deep breath to keep himself from passing out.

A Chapter Master of the Adeptus Astartes—what immense nobility and honor that was.

From childhood to adulthood, the most noble figure he had ever seen was only at the level of a Planetary Governor, but compared to a Chapter Master of an Astartes Chapter, the disparity was simply greater than that between mud and clouds.

"Esteemed Chapter Master, we have hastily prepared a banquet. Al-although it is simple and crude, it possesses some local flavor. I hope you can—"

West lacked confidence as he said this because the banquet was truly too impromptu and too simple; they couldn't even hire acrobats.

"No need. We shall temporarily garrison at the cathedral. Go about your business. Lead the way early tomorrow morning."

With that, the giants turned in unison toward the direction of the city's cathedral, leaving behind the bewildered landowners and gentry.

"My Lord! My Lord! I-I will go make arrangements for you!"

West was dumbfounded for a few seconds before hastily chasing after them. He ordered his family members to notify the cathedral's priest to immediately clear out enough space for the demigods and to drive away any irrelevant personnel.

During this period, due to the rebel unrest outside, quite a few serfs and refugees had flooded into the city. Having no fixed residences, they could only temporarily shelter beneath the eaves of the cathedral.

Perhaps spurred by the demigods, the "initiative" of the family guards also increased significantly.

While the Astartes were still on their way, the guards had already charged into the cathedral with rifles and swords in hand, viciously scattering the bewildered, ragged refugees.

In an instant, the former tranquility of the cathedral was shattered by waves of roaring and crying.

As the guards drove the refugees away, they tossed out all the belongings the refugees didn't have time to pack and committed them to the flames.

Using the elegant excuse: Cleansing the filth for the descent of the Angels.