You Should Be Glad I'm Not You

Alex watched the Emperor's angel in silence, his gaze meeting a stare as sharp as a sword, as if it could pierce through everything.

He did not blink.

"I trust you, Commissar."

The terrifying pressure dissipated.

The brief standoff ended quickly; Arthur raised his head, looking at every soldier present.

He suddenly felt that there was still hope for this world.

Perhaps this hope would eventually dissipate amidst the endless flames of war and suspicion, but for now, at this very moment—

Arthur sincerely hoped it would continue alongside the lives of these people.

"I trust all of you."

He declared in a loud voice.

"Therefore, the Emperor will not let His warriors die at a victory celebration, nor die on the road rushing toward the next victory."

The Empire's inability to tolerate any threat, to the point of being so obsessed that it would indiscriminately exterminate any existence that had touched or might have touched Chaos—Arthur neither understood nor agreed with it.

"The path of sacrifice for humanity may be short, or it may be long."

"But—"

Arthur removed his helmet. His face was exceptionally young, his slightly long golden hair falling down, and his emerald eyes swept across everyone present.

Everyone's breath hitched. Through those deep pupils, they felt as if they were seeing a red dragon that had retracted its flames and claws.

"No matter how long it lasts, I, Arthur Pendragon."

He clenched his right hand into a fist and struck it heavily against his heart.

"I will walk with you, to witness a glorious death."

Arthur's thoughts were simple: he did not want these soldiers to die just like that, falling into the Warp to become fodder for demons to feast upon.

He hoped these soldiers could live on, fulfill the duties they intended to carry out for a lifetime, and then reach their own final resting place.

"For the Emperor, for humanity."

"For the Emperor, for humanity!"

"Now that is loyalty."

Karna sighed in a low voice; the loyalty of these Astra Militarum to the Emperor was truly unshakable.

As for their own group of lore-nerds...

He gnawed on a chicken wing and tilted his head to glance at the two people squatting in front of the orrery, wondering what they were doing.

When asked, they were all about loyalty, but when called, they wouldn't even show up.

"So, have you finished praying or not? And can't this mutation be studied slowly? Who just jumps into it on a whim? We should perform surgery and replace their limbs with bionics to save their lives first."

In a dark corner, Romulus punched Ramesses in the head.

"Don't you think the atmosphere is just right? Besides, it doesn't conflict; since everyone is gathered together, we might as well give it a try."

Ramesses adjusted his slightly crooked mask.

"By the way, how is Arthur so good at this? I wanted to ask during the meeting earlier—where did he learn to speak in such a cool way?"

"Focus."

Romulus slapped the helmet again.

Thanks to psychic isolation, no one noticed the comical commotion in the corner.

"They're about to finish over there."

"Don't worry, it should be fine. At most, we won't summon the Emperor, but it definitely won't cost any lives. With my strength in the Warp, anything below a Greater Daemon dies if it comes near."

Ramesses held the orrery used to observe the Warp, possessing a mysterious confidence in his own operations.

"Should?"

Romulus ignored the string of qualifications that followed.

"This is my first time operating it, how can I be sure? Let's say eighty-twenty; there's an eighty percent chance it will work."

Ramesses carefully observed the movements in the Warp, striving to increase the various elements belonging to the Emperor.

From the perspective of Realspace, even if the Great Rift had not yet opened and the various monsters and demons had not yet been fully exposed to the eyes of the Imperial citizens, the Emperor's influence on Realspace was certainly no less than that of the Chaos Gods.

The Ecclesiarchy spread everywhere was not just for show.

"If a Chaos ritual can attract the four Chaos Gods, why can't a prayer ritual attract the Emperor? It makes no sense; that's discrimination against the Emperor!"

"I hope so."

Romulus did not like this kind of "surprise attack." Although one should have the necessary trust in their companions—especially since they weren't the type to scream about being "one-shot" or "he's low health" after missing a shot—the feeling of being completely unprepared was truly terrible.

He watched Arthur, who was surrounded by the crowd, with a hint of resentment, terrified that a few Astra Militarum soldiers might explode into a pile of daemons at any moment.

Arthur was the same; he actually dared to let Ramesses pull something like this.

Yet, Arthur was actually quite indifferent about it.

If Ramesses wanted to pray, let him pray. If he could summon Emperor, that would be a good thing, but if he couldn't, did that mean he should just abandon these Astra Militarum soldiers?

He had to take care of them regardless. At most, if there was a response from Emperor, he would have more confidence; if there was no response, he would simply have to do his best.

Arthur had no intention of puffing himself up at his own cost. Most of the Astra Militarum soldiers were severely mutated, and many couldn't even stand on their own. If Karna hadn't scanned the bionic data of those Adeptus Mechanicus members while wandering around earlier, he wouldn't have had much confidence either.

"At the very least, we should try. We'll do as much as we can."

After turning to instruct the Commissar and the Colonel to settle the wounded with the Sisters and to pre-screen and categorize the areas requiring amputation, Arthur summoned the Tech-Priest accompanying the army.

These members of the Adeptus Mechanicus, who worshipped the Omnissiah, were another pillar of the Imperium. From the weapons used by every military department of the Imperium to the warships cruising through space, almost everything originated from the Forge Worlds under their control.

"I do not recommend this, my lord."

Faced with the modification request Arthur proposed, the Tech-Priest draped in orange robes cautioned him.

"The vast majority of them are not elite individuals qualified to receive bionic augmentations. Furthermore, from a statistical perspective, even among elite individuals, the overwhelming majority would be unable to repay the Omnissiah for this mechanical blessing before their deaths."

"Of course, I am not suggesting you completely destroy these individuals. From a more economical standpoint, they should be converted into Servitors to continue serving the Omnissiah..."

How could such cold words come out of a human's mouth?

Arthur took a deep breath, constantly telling himself that this was the nature of Warhammer. The Adeptus Mechanicus personnel in this world viewed humans in exactly this detached manner, and he would still need to rely on these guys to perform the mechanical augmentations on the soldiers later.

In the end, he suppressed the urge to punch this guy's head off and send him to meet the Omnissiah.

The Tech-Priest wisely ceased his speech.

"You should be grateful that I am not you."

Arthur stared at the Tech-Priest, who had already replaced everything below his waist with a spider-like powered exoskeleton.

"I still retain a sense of awe for human life and dignity, which is why you are still standing here in one piece."

"At the same time, I do not wish for any anomalous factors to lead me to judge a Priest as an xenos or some other entity that cannot be called human."

The Tech-Priest remained silent, his tension betrayed by the radiator pipes that trembled slightly from his overloaded systems.

"We will provide the mechanical components for the modifications."

Behind him, Romulus said in a deep voice, "You only need to follow orders."

Upon hearing this, the Tech-Priest immediately nodded.