Seraphs of the Emperor’s Judgment

Chapter 75: Terror in the Mine (1)

The journey to the abandoned mine was as uneventful as Soshyan had expected.

Since leaving the city, they had only been attacked once by blindly enraged rebelling peasants, along with the occasional local wildlife stupid or starved enough to launch an assault on the Astartes.

If Soshyan had summoned a mortal escort and let them handle everything, the journey would have been much less of a hassle, but doing so would have also caused news to spread quickly.

They would have been known to everyone before they even found their target.

Ultimately, he judged that it was better for them to proceed on their own. He only had West send a few men and a butler, commanding them to keep their appearance and itinerary strictly confidential until permitted to make it known.

Soshyan believed that, at least for the short term, that man would not dare defy his orders.

This mine, known as the "Corpse Pile", was a typical primitive vertical excavation site. Its main body was situated beneath a mountain range with an average elevation of over a thousand meters. Passing through the tunnel used by the workers, one could see the mine's living quarters perched on the edge of a massive crater. The faint specks of light from the roof of the colossal cavern offered extremely limited illumination, far from enough to light up the entire crater.

A massive network of wooden tracks and elevators densely covered the crater's edge. This was where the workers descended to the bottom to mine the minerals exposed outside the rock strata.

Aside from iron ore, this place also produced copper, lead, and precious metals like gold and silver. According to West's butler, this mining area once boasted thirty thousand miners, excavating these deeply buried riches day and night.

Although this was an Agri-World, it still possessed the most basic smelting industry. Much of the excavated minerals were turned into farming tools or daily utensils, while the precious metals became ostentatious decorations for the landlords' families or themselves.However, several decades ago, accidents began occurring frequently at the mine. Miners would often disappear underground without reason, and the mineral yield dwindled steadily.

In the end, after a large number of miners had gone missing or died, the mine's owner abandoned it. Having lost their jobs, the miners also left one after another.

To prevent further accidents, the nearby landlords chose to seal it off, establishing the barricade of rocks and logs that had been piled at the entrance before Soshyan and the others came in.

"There is a hole there."

Standing at the edge of the massive crater, Armin suddenly pointed at the rock wall a hundred meters below.

"It looks like it was chiseled out, but... it's a bit too smooth."

"I see it."

Soshyan kicked a pebble off the cliff. It should have reached the bottom after a dozen seconds, but the ceaseless roar of an underground river nearby swallowed any possible echo.

"Proceed with caution."

Sol followed Soshyan, walking carefully to the edge of the cliff.

"I estimate the bottom must be at least two kilometers down."

"Sure wish we had a ladder."

Soshyan sighed, trying to make it sound like a joke.

Naturally, there was no ladder.

But at the end of the cliff face, there was an elevator that the butler claimed was still usable, extending all the way down to a series of rock terraces that formed a crude and irregular passage.

This gave Soshyan a breath of relief.

It was simply too deep here to discern whether those surfaces were rock or extremely aged concrete. Regardless, they were loosely covered with a layer of moss, making every step somewhat slippery.

Looking at the elevator swaying gently in the breeze, Soshyan felt slightly uneasy. However, after inspecting the power system and finding it still functional, he set his mind at ease.

Fortunately, the thing had been built solidly to begin with—someone had driven rivets into the top to secure it. It easily supported the weight of four Astartes standing on it. It had likely been used as a freight elevator for transporting minerals in the past.

"Leave two men on guard up here, the rest go down in two batches. Sol and I will lead, Galvin and Levi will follow, and Armin, you take the second batch."

After making this simple deployment, Soshyan boarded the elevator with the other three.

The moment the Astartes stepped on, the iron elevator groaned in agony, and large chunks of rust and dust from the long-unused framework rained down onto the silver-grey armor.

Soshyan stood for a few seconds. After confirming there were no issues, he nodded to Sol.

The second Space Marine stepped on, and the elevator platform instantly sank a little.

But it held firm.

Then came the third, and the fourth.

Confirming there were no further issues, Soshyan made a hand gesture to Armin, who promptly activated the elevator.

Accompanied by the roar of the engine and thick black smoke billowing from the exhausts, the power system that had slumbered for decades roared back to life, turning the winch and slowly lowering cables as thick as an adult's forearm.

The lifting platform slowly sank down with them.

Everything went smoothly. Two minutes later, they arrived at the first rock terrace.

From here on, they would have to travel on foot. The miners had constructed many small iron rails here for transportation.

There was still at least a kilometer of depth below.

After the elevator was pulled back up, Soshyan waited on the rock terrace for a while, and the three men led by Armin soon arrived as well.

"Which way do you think we should go?"

After observing the terrain, Soshyan looked at Sol beside him.

The path split. The main road followed the iron rails, continuing downwards ahead, while another narrow, broken path, barely wide enough for a person to stand on, snaked off horizontally into the darkness.

"I suggest we take the main road."

Sol fell silent for a moment before stating his opinion.

"That small path can barely be considered a road. Our squad would be forced into a single-file line unable to support the front and rear."

"Agreed."

Armin nodded.

"This just looks like a rock fissure that people mistake for another path."

"Wait a moment."

Soshyan shone his helmet's tactical illumination light down the small path.

"There are tracks on the path, and they look quite fresh. Someone might have walked along there."

"Sir, there are footprints on the main road too."

Armin also pointed his illumination equipment at the main path, where there were indeed tracks resembling footprints.

"They still look like intact footprints, unlike those on the small path which might just be marks left by falling rocks."

"Could someone have come here recently?"

A new question arose in Soshyan's mind, but every moment they hesitated delayed the completion of their mission.

He then swept the light deeper, hoping to illuminate more tracks.

Faint reflections came from a pool of water emitting toxic fumes and filled with mixed sewage. Shadowy spots were clearly imprinted on the cliff wall, moving unsettlingly just outside the beam of light.

Soshyan panned the light outward and followed the trail, discovering a long line of stepping stones spanning the pool.

"We need to be careful. It looks like those pools are not shallow."

"Without a doubt."

Sol agreed.

"I estimate the average depth is between ten and twelve meters."

Soshyan turned around, deciding to continue downwards. He then swept the beam across the cliff wall one last time to check the route down.

Suddenly, he noticed a large section of the cliff face seemed to be moving. At first, he thought it was a landslide, but then he realized what was actually happening.

"Enemy attack!"

Before he could even finish speaking, he had already drawn his Bolt Pistol.

At this moment, those shadowy spots he had noticed earlier were crawling up the cliff face at speeds almost defying common sense. He aimed his helmet's light at one of the spots, confirming his suspicion.

"It's a swarm of subterranean creatures!"