Seraphs of the Emperor’s Judgment

Chapter 99: Brothers

The whistle blew, and the two began their race.

From the very beginning, Dadd followed closely behind Oscar, his pace identical to the one set by his brother.

Even though his limbs were exceptionally weary and his body was on the verge of exhaustion, he knew one thing full well: the competition between him and his brother would continue indefinitely. Even if he was utterly spent, he would never give up the chance to defeat Oscar.

For the first lap around the training grounds, neither of them encountered any trouble. Although their physical stamina had already been near depletion, they could still endure one or two more laps.

But after the fourth lap, both boys felt tired, and their breathing became heavy.

Suddenly, a commotion broke out across the training grounds. The sprinting Oscar caught a glimpse of an Astartes appearing on the high platform. The Space Marine seemed to have been attracted by their race.

Noticing the Iron Halo behind his head, Oscar realized who had appeared.

The current Chapter Master of the Astral Knights Chapter, and the pride of the Soms Nobles Academy: Lord Soshyan Alexei.

This discovery made his heart surge with emotion.

"Tired yet!"Dadd suddenly asked while gasping for air.

"Not tired at all!"

Oscar answered while panting, as he began to run the fifth lap.

He tried hard to control his breath, ignoring the sensation of burning fire in his chest, and focused all his energy on maintaining his rhythm.

He only had one thought left in his mind now: he could not fall behind, nor could he succumb to the pressure of pain!

Pain is an illusion of the senses; despair is an illusion of the mind.

Both of these are obstacles on the path to success.

With these words flashing through his mind, Oscar began to draw upon his very last reserves of strength.

Soon, he felt his body miraculously lighten, as his limbs were filled with strength drawn from an unknown source.

By the seventh lap, Oscar had already left his younger brother far behind. The newfound strength allowed him to increase his speed, breaking the previous stalemate. The sound of Dadd's heavy breathing behind him invigorated his spirit even more.

The gap between the two grew larger and larger.

The eighth lap and ninth lap were completed in the blink of an eye. Oscar gradually felt the joy of triumph. The taste of this victory thrilled him endlessly.

It seemed that his brother's desire to defeat him was about to fall through.

While Oscar was running his final lap, Dadd was still running his eighth.

When he passed by his younger brother, he could actually have struck a blow to his confidence by clapping him on the back. But he did not put this into practice; he only squeezed out the last of his breath and lunged forward, pulling the distance between them further apart.

"Oh no—"

Dadd looked on with some panic as his older brother dashed toward the finish line.

Turning his head and seeing his brother's expression of disbelief, Oscar almost wanted to burst out laughing.

The next second, his feet crossed the white line on the ground.

"Hah— Hah—"

Upon reaching the finish line, he immediately sat down on the ground, greedily breathing in the air and desperately massaging his thighs.

When he saw Dadd stumbling across the finish line, he shouted:

"It's over, brother! Rest!"

But the other boy merely shook his head and continued his arduous run.

On one hand, Oscar admired his unwavering determination to finish what he started, but on the other hand, he felt somewhat disappointed by his proud foolishness.

Even though he had absolutely no strength left in his entire body, Oscar still forced himself to do a few relaxing stretches so that his muscles would not cramp up from fatigue.

After all, who knew when the Astartes would put them to the test.

Oscar had just finished his first set of stretches when he saw Dadd staggering over, before collapsing beside him.

His younger brother's chest heaved continuously, and sweat poured from his body like floodgates opening.

"You didn't manage your breathing rhythm well."

Oscar said, his voice carrying a hint of reproach.

Dadd shook his head, momentarily unable to answer.

Then Oscar reached out his hand.

"Come on, you need to loosen up your body."

But Dadd waved his hand, gesturing that he was completely incapable of moving, and then closed his eyes, gasping heavily.

Oscar could only half-kneel on the ground and began to massage his brother's legs.

His fingers pressed forcefully into the muscles, acting just like kneading dough.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow!"

Dadd cried out.

"If I don't do this, it will hurt even more."

Oscar continued his motions, and Dadd could only grit his teeth and endure it.

After a while, his breathing gradually stabilized, and his body began to relax from its tense state. Oscar's technique was indeed experienced.

Finally, Dadd was able to sit up on his own. He began stretching out his limbs while Oscar massaged his neck and shoulders.

At this point, Oscar noticed the look of wounded pride on his brother's face, but he didn't say anything further. He merely felt some regret for pushing his younger brother too hard in the race just now.

But they were men now, no longer children. Because they were striving to possibly become Astartes, to become Angels, Dadd had to know how to face setbacks.

Both of them understood each other and had faced this kind of situation in the past, so the awkwardness would not last long.

Suddenly, Oscar heard heavy footsteps sounding from behind. He snapped his head back, seeing an Astartes clad in ornate power armor walking toward him.

"Child, you run quite fast."

The imposing warrior asked:

"What is your name?"

"Oscar Herman, my Lord."

"Stand up when answering my Lord's question!"

Behind the Astartes, the headmaster of the academy roared.

Dadd and Oscar immediately stood up, looking at the Astartes.

His face was weather-beaten, yet his gaze appeared very young. Oscar did not recognize a single one of the sigils decorating his armor; he only felt they resembled a brewing thunderstorm.

The helmetless warrior wore an Iron Halo behind his head, and at his waist hung a strikingly impressive crimson longsword.

"How did you win?"

While Oscar stared at the Astartes, the Astartes was also sizing him up.

"I... I just ran faster."

"Is that so."

The Astartes nodded.

"But where did this strength come from?"

"I don't know, I simply tapped into my deeper potential. I..."

"Perhaps."

The Angel smiled noncommittally.

"But I think, your strength should have come from your competitiveness, your desire for victory."

Dadd took a breath, feeling quite unwilling to concede.

"Do you know who I am?"

Oscar shot a glance at his younger brother. He wanted to see if the other boy would try to answer first. Sure enough, under his gaze, Dadd loudly declared:

"Of course I know! You are the Chapter Master of the honorable Astral Knights Chapter, the pride of the Soms Nobles Academy, the unparalleled genius of Nathan IV in a thousand years, Lord Soshyan Alexei!"

Soshyan chuckled and shook his head.

"I do not hold so many titles. Over thirty years ago, I was just like you, undergoing training right here."

As he spoke, he gently placed his hands on the shoulders of the two young men.

"At the preliminary selection one week from now, I will be expecting your performance."