Emperor's Outburst

Within the utterly devastated arena, the broken corpses of the Deathwatch Space Marine were gathered together and laid out in neat rows along the spacious corridor.

The sisters chanted hymns in low voices, covering the bodies with ritual robes torn from their own habits before igniting the flames.

In these extraordinary times, there were no grand cathedrals or choirs to bear witness to the deaths of these warriors.

Arthur pondered for a moment before placing his own Power Sword and shield—relics that clearly stood out—upon an altar constructed from pauldrons etched with inscriptions.

"Emperor, my Lord, I pray You mold me into the instrument of Your will."

"The son fears not death, the son fears not the demon, for the Emperor comes to claim him."

"Grant the son a path of absolute righteousness, grant the son a path of absolute glory."

"Make me the gale of Your wrath, to scatter all Your enemies."

Canoness Arabella's clear, devout voice dispelled the scarlet miasma.

Arthur stared into the flames ignited by holy oils, watching as they enveloped the warriors' remains. The originally crimson fire shifted during the burning, turning into a brilliant, dazzling gold that consumed the bodies with supernatural intensity.

The rising dust clung to the flames like a liquid river of gold, converging toward the altar.

Seeing this, the surrounding sisters felt the fire of faith ignite within their eyes; they lowered their gazes to hide the glowing light, chanting with even greater fervor.

As expected, the Emperor has manifested.

Arthur, witnessing this, had anticipated it, watching as the molten golden fire swallowed his sword and shield.

The Warp's territory never belonged solely to the Chaos Gods. Unlike the conflicting theories regarding the Emperor's status within the Imperium, they—the transmigrators—possessed a more comprehensive understanding of who He was.

He was capable of absorbing the faith of humanity just like the Chaos Gods, possessing a majestic projection in the Warp equal to theirs, and a vast, boundless divine domain known as the Golden Throne.

After the Great Rift tore through the galaxy, He could deploy the Legion of the Damned into the material world as easily as the Chaos Gods deployed their daemons. In fact, because of humanity's faith, it was far easier for the Emperor to project His power than it was for the other four.

Well, if the Emperor says He is not a god, then He is not a god; whatever He says is the truth.

Arthur offered his respects to the warriors who had fought to the death with a silent gaze, waiting quietly for the flames to dissipate. The sword and shield had been tempered, now coated in a layer of matte black.

"Hmph!"

The Blood God, currently focused on Immaterium, noticed the actions of the cursed one.

He did not care.

Because He was furious.

An inexplicable feeling of having missed something made His already raging spirit even more violent; it felt exactly like those Champions who accepted His blessings only to eventually head toward the Golden Throne.

He slammed His fist against the armrest of the Brass Throne, causing the tower of skulls to collapse and a rain of blood to fall from the sky.

Within the chaotic Great Game, the stakes had been raised once more.

Clang.

Arthur stepped forward and picked up the sword and shield. Though their imagery was obscured, they appeared even more restrained and magnificent. Embedded within the pauldrons bearing the names were the ashes of the warriors.

It seemed the Emperor had already cast His gaze upon them.

Arthur breathed a sigh of relief, feeling fortunate for his decision to have the sisters lead the ceremony.

In this godforsaken world, being able to return one's soul to the Golden Throne was a decent final destination.

Faith in the Emperor was always better than falling to Chaos.

"My Lord."

Canoness Arabella spoke up.

"I wish to forge reliquaries for the angels. These reliquaries will carry their honor back to their brethren."

"...Very well."

Feeling his tone was a bit stiff and his grasp of the language still unrefined, Arthur added, "Thank you all."

"...Thank you for the honor you have bestowed, my Lord."

Arabella swore to the Emperor that she had never seen an angel like this.

It wasn't that such an angel was bad, but—it left her feeling deeply unsettled, as if a demigod were treating you as an equal, and a true equal at that.

This was an equality of soul to soul, not a facade born of etiquette.

As soon as Arthur finished speaking, the sisters began devoutly lifting the pauldrons containing the ashes, wrapping them in holy shrouds before activating their Promethium Flamer.

The armor fragments melted under the intense heat amidst the sisters' hymns, then were reshaped and carved into silver caskets bearing the distinct style of the Order of the Sacred Rose, finally inlaid with the pauldrons of the fallen warriors.

"..."

The craftsmanship was exquisite.

Arthur did not quite understand these rituals for mourning the dead, but he respected them.

As long as it wasn't some abstract sacrifice involving flaying skin, weaving grass, or using artificial infant corpses to bathe in incense, it was fine.

At the very least, in Arthur's view, the process of the Order of the Sacred Rose felt quite holy and not at all sinister.

"Does Emperor mean He will provide us with cover?"

Romulus came to his side, noticing at a glance that Arthur's equipment had changed to the same color as his armor.

Everyone was mentally prepared for the possibility of being noticed by the gods of the Warp.

After all, they had landed directly in the Warp; none of them were arrogant enough to believe they were the chosen ones, capable of punching C'tan and kicking the Chaos Gods upon arrival.

It could only be said that those who transmigrated to the Warhammer World were very self-aware; true chosen ones would never end up in such a shitty place.

"Children of the Forsaken" would be a more fitting name for their group.

However, as transmigrators who knew countless secrets, it was somewhat incredible that they had survived in the Warp until now without being noticed by a Chaos God or turning into a Chaos Spawn due to the information in their heads.

"I don't know."

Arthur didn't know if Emperor had sensed their existence. He had initially just wanted to add something significant to the warriors' farewell ceremony; who knew that a simple prayer would give his weapon a new skin.

Emperor really loved gifting Black Sword.

"Is the field alright?"

Unable to figure it out, Arthur stopped thinking and asked aloud.

"Done."

Romulus shook the object he was carrying.

"It's all because of this guy."

Arthur nodded, noticing the corpse of the psyker Romulus was holding, and immediately felt a chill.

"Does a Geller Field Generator really burn people?"

"A Geller Field is essentially a thin film of psychic energy stretched across the Warp to wrap a warship; what else could it burn if not a psyker?"

Casually revealing the secret that the T'au had always wanted to uncover, Romulus threw the corpse onto the ground and pointed to its back.

On the skin destroyed by a Bolter round, the pattern of a Chaos Star was still faintly visible.

"The psyker inside the generator was tampered with; there was a pre-set summoning ritual on his body. That's why the Deathwatch guarding the field were ambushed and wiped out. Besides, I checked the generator's logs, and it has a complete audit record—there are bad actors in the Adeptus Arbites and the Administratur."

"That is not something we should worry about right now."

Arthur narrowed his eyes; his instincts told him that the ship itself might be caught in a massive conspiracy.

"The top priority is to get this ship out of the Warp."

Even if they cleared out the enemies occupying the Geller Field, the ship's hull had already been torn. If they couldn't return to Realspace in time, they might as well wait to become a Space Hulk dungeon in the future.

Orks, Genestealers, daemons, mutated Imperial citizens, and Space Marine—they would surely provide infinite surprises for whoever stepped onto this ship in the future.

"Correct, our primary goal now is still survival."

Romulus agreed, then called out to the Canoness.

"Sister Arabella."

"I am here, my lord."

"My comrade and I will return to the Navigator Sanctum to ensure the ship can safely exit the Warp."

Romulus said solemnly, "Before that, I hope the Order of the Sacred Rose can take on the responsibility of guarding the Geller Field. The guard will also provide you with assistance."

"I shall not fail you, my lord."

"Thank you for your trouble."

Politely expressing his gratitude, Romulus led Arthur back the way they came.