Seraphs of the Emperor’s Judgment

Chapter 79: Colony

That Aeldari shrieked, struggling to tumble backward.

But the Holy Flame Sword had already swept out. As the wave of heat rolled past, the tip of the longsword grazed the slender calf raised in mid-air.

In an instant, flesh and blood sprayed from the Aeldari's leg, but the resulting wound was immediately cauterized by the high heat, emitting a distinct burnt odor.

Had the cut been any deeper, perhaps its leg bone would have been severed. However, its superhuman agility had saved its life.

It immediately collapsed, shrieking in shock and pain, as the bizarre rifle clattered to the ground.

Before it could try to pick it up, Soshyan kicked the weapon away.

"Why would a xenos appear on an Imperial planet? I expect you to tell me the answer."

The Space Marine bent down and, amid the Aeldari's shrieks, grabbed its arm and hauled it off the ground. Then, his other hand violently tore open the alien's cloak.

A finely contoured and pale face immediately appeared before Soshyan's eyes—this was a female Aeldari.

She had a weak, pointed chin, and her long, narrow almond eyes hinted at an indescribable sinfulness. Her long ears were a hallmark of depravity distinct from humanity's.No matter from which angle one looked, this was a loathsome xenos that deserved to be immediately beheaded.

"You won't be jumping around for much longer, disgusting mon-keigh!"

Despite being captured, the female Aeldari showed no trace of fear.

"From this day forth, death shall follow you like a shadow!"

Right then, Armin happened to arrive to rendezvous with Soshyan, but his attention was quickly drawn to the wounded Aeldari.

"Sir, although I don't know what it's saying, I'm guessing it definitely isn't 'thank you' or the like."

"I think your guess is correct."

At this moment, Sol also walked over, carrying another male Aeldari in his hand. He then stopped beside Soshyan and unceremoniously tossed the alien onto the ground.

The male Aeldari had merely suffered from the shockwave of the grenade explosion, taking no serious harm. Upon seeing the female Aeldari in Soshyan's grasp, it immediately cried out.

Sol gave Soshyan a look, and the latter, catching on instantly, tossed the female Aeldari back to the male Aeldari.

"Remember to choose your enemies more carefully, Eldar."

Then, amid the astonished looks of all the warriors, Sol offered his advice to the aliens in very peculiar spoken Aeldari.

The two Aeldari were also stunned for a few seconds, clearly not expecting these hulking humans to know their language.

But very soon, the wounded female Aeldari responded.

"This world is ours!"

The female Aeldari glared at Sol. The male Aeldari, who was bandaging her, shook his head upon hearing this but said nothing.

"We shaped and nurtured this world! And we have witnessed how you ravaged it!"

"If we trace history back, any race can lay their own claim to this galaxy. You cannot guarantee that no other life occupied this world before you did. This is the greatest tragedy of your race: aside from clinging to the past, you have nothing."

"No! It was you who sent those steel monsters to attack our colony! It was you who destroyed our gardens and our home!"

"War has always been a part of the galaxy."

"So we have returned now to execute our vengeance!"

"Then you leave me no choice."

With a trace of regret, Sol raised his Bolt Pistol once more, preparing to execute the two Aeldari.

If these two successfully summoned their brethren, billions of Imperial citizens would unknowingly be dragged into disaster.

But before he could fire, another Aeldari silently slipped into the plaza. It raised its rifle, aiming at what it deemed the most valuable target—Soshyan.

"Watch out!"

Sol immediately shoved Soshyan aside. Subsequently, a high-speed monomolecular disc grazed his left shoulder, obliterating his pauldron and simultaneously shredding the carapace and flesh it protected in an instant.

Struck, Sol didn't make a sound. He simply pivoted his weapon and fired rapidly, forcing the Aeldari to dive into cover.

In this momentary breathing room, the male Aeldari suddenly pulled out an object and smashed it violently onto the ground. What followed was a fierce concussive wave and a spreading sensation of dizziness.

"What!"

By the time everyone recovered a few seconds later, the male Aeldari had scooped up his companion and darted out of their line of sight at extreme speed, plunging into the bushes.

"We can't let them escape!"

Soshyan raised his Bolt Pistol and fired a shot toward the movement among the trees, but to no avail.

The chameleon cloaks of the Aeldari Rangers were enough to render them almost completely invisible. Only the faintest shimmers during movement would momentarily expose their tracks, and even the sensors in the Power Armor helmets failed to catch their silhouettes.

The bolter rounds fired by the Space Marines only kicked up a rain of debris, bringing the slight rustling sounds hidden within the branches to an abrupt halt—the impact points were at least close enough to alert the lurking Aeldari.

Conversely, if an Aeldari were holding perfectly still while searching for prey through its sniper rifle, the only sign revealing its presence would be a volley of lethal, razor-sharp monomolecular discs.

"Two o'clock."

Sol, whose right arm had been bleeding continuously, suddenly fired a shot. However, his bullet elicited no obvious reaction; only the rustling of leaves and branches around the impact point seemed a bit too vigorous, clearly not entirely caused by just the wind.

"Why didn't you let me just kill them earlier?"

Soshyan aimed his Bolt Pistol along the path they had come—the sound of running footsteps echoed among the numerous light sources. Though it might be some sort of diversionary trick, they couldn't afford to be completely unguarded against it.

"Because their appearance is too bizarre. I've encountered Aeldari many times. They clearly aren't Craftworld Aeldari; rather, they seem more like those Exodites. We need them alive to obtain more valuable intelligence."

For some reason, the expressionless Sol didn't appear all that vigilant, even though he was currently the only one injured.

"How do you know the Aeldari language?"

"We ran into them plenty of times during the Great Crusade, but it didn't always end in violence... Back then, things were different from now."

Saying this, Sol's voice quieted down.

Suddenly, he half-turned and fired a shot toward the path they came from.

The bolt instantly struck and toppled a high-speed moving target. It was a target that still remained fresh in his memory.

Those human-skin spiders had actually appeared again, and in massive numbers to boot!

"Damn it, those things have caught up. There are too many to exterminate—"

Before Armin could finish speaking, the leading human-skin spider was blown apart by a flurry of shuriken fire, startling him instantly.

"Take cover!"

Even as he gave the order, Soshyan and the squad members fell back behind nearby buildings while scanning the dense surrounding foliage.

Soon, he barely made out the blurry silhouettes of three Aeldari raising their rifles high. Fortunately, in the very moment the Rangers pulled the triggers prior to this, the Emperor's hand pushed a charging human-skin spider into the line of fire, saving Armin from the tragic fate of having his internal organs blown to pieces.

"Suppress those arachnid monsters! Pin them between us and the Aeldari!"

More deadly monomolecular discs screamed past, shredding the surrounding spiders and cover one after another.

Clearly, it wouldn't be long before the concealed Aeldari could lock onto and eliminate their human prey.

(End of Chapter)