Clang—
A heavy sound rang out—the Apothecary had dropped to his knees.
Naturally, this caught Arthur's attention. He swept his gaze across the battlefield, confirmed that no living enemies remained, shook the blood from his arm, then lowered his shield and reached out to steady the Apothecary.
Smack~
But the Apothecary slapped away Arthur's supporting hand, then took a long, narrow case from behind him and pressed it heavily into Arthur's palm.
"My lord."
His blurred gaze withdrew from the ornate armor and shield as the Apothecary spoke.
There was a distinct wheeze in his voice. The massive gash in his chest had clearly severed his windpipe.
"..."
Arthur wanted to say that this was not the time to talk, that he should lie down and treat his wound. But looking at the wound across the Apothecary's chest, one that had nearly split him in two yet was only beginning to slowly seep blood, Arthur did not know what to do.
"This is... my brothers' legacy. I... cough, cough... I protected their honor."
Arthur dropped to one knee. He noticed the Deathwatch warriors around him, their bodies almost completely hollowed out, then looked at the case in his hand still emitting a chill. He could roughly piece together how this duel had worked.
After claiming victory, the Space Marines of Khorne's warband had used the warriors' corpses to forge this Arena. The Apothecary, as its defender, would face one heretic challenger after another. The prize was his battle-brothers' Gene-seed—and an even stronger opponent.
Yet neither the Apothecary himself nor those Gene-seeds had been anything more than parts of this blasphemous ritual.
The moment the Apothecary lost, both he and the Gene-seeds he had won would be sacrificed to the Blood God, becoming part of the sacrificer's strength.
It had been a duel doomed to end in failure.
But now, at the moment his life was about to run dry—
A warrior had descended from the sky, shattering this blasphemous ritual. Countless Bolter rounds had come screaming in, dragging the spectators who believed themselves victorious back into a bloody battlefield.
The explosive flames reflected in Cypheris's eyes. In a daze, he seemed to see a cold sun.
He had won.
"Mm."
Arthur nodded solemnly.
He reached out to take the Gene-seed, only to find that his palm would not move at all.
"My lord, please swear it."
Cypheris met Arthur's eyes and said weakly, "You will remain loyal to the Emperor and fight for humanity until your final moment."
Arthur could not imagine how he was still able to keep speaking.
He fell silent for a moment, then nodded seriously.
"...I swear."
"You will guard the secret of your brothers' Chapter Gene-seed unto death and never allow heretics to glimpse even the slightest part of it."
"I swear."
"You will carve a bloody path through hordes of enemies without hesitation to reach your brothers, and even if you spend your final drop of blood, you will bring back your brothers' honor!"
"I swear."
"Hah—"
Cypheris let out a long breath. It was as though he had lost all his strength in that instant, and the right hand holding the Gene-seed sank slightly.
"My lord, for the Emperor... for Macragge..."
Arthur listened patiently until that threadlike voice faded away, until his superhuman hearing told him that this body no longer rose or fell in the slightest.
The scar-covered gauntlet slipped to the ground. Arthur could clearly sense that the heroic soul within the shell had departed.
"..."
Ignoring the numbers that were surging wildly upward at that moment, Arthur laid down the Apothecary's body.
He picked up the Apothecary's instrument, connected it to the system, and, following the operating manual built into his armor system, carefully extracted the Gene-seed from his body.
Bzzzt, bzzzt~
After dealing with the enemies in the duel pit, Romulus directed the Space Marine force back to reinforce the Astra Militarum. He himself entered the Geller Field core and began investigating.
Aside from the blazing fires the Sisters had set to burn the heretics and the low prayers filled with fury and sorrow, only the sound of chainsaws cutting through steel remained.
As the chainsaw gradually cut open the armor of the fallen warriors, Arthur learned from the information transmitted to him by the Apothecary which Chapters these Gene-seeds belonged to.
Gene-seed: Crimson Fists—4, Mantis Warriors—4, Nemesis—3, Astral Claws—2, Space Wolves—2, Blood Angels—1
And—
The needle pierced the gland and drew out the Gene-seed. A string of data appeared before Arthur's eyes.
[Cypheris Gage] [Apothecary of the Deathwatch garrison at Eternal Hunt Watch Station.] [Former Chapter: Ultramarines.]
Click—
The storage case sealed shut, and the data before Arthur's eyes refreshed.
Ultramarines—2
He rose to his feet, holding the storage case as carefully as though it were a piece of fragile glass.
Eighteen Gene-seeds in total.
He placed them in a compartment at his lower back, beneath the Power Pack, where weapons were least likely to strike. Only when the storage case's system connected to his armor and began displaying the Gene-seeds' data in real time did Arthur let out a long breath.
Recovery complete.
Then he rose and looked toward the Sister nearby.
"Sister."
"My lord!"
The Canoness, who was still using Promethium to burn the heretics, ejected a smoking canister and loaded a fresh fuel tank into her flamer.
Hearing the angel of the Emperor call to her, she set aside her work, came before Arthur, and gave him a devout Aquila Salute.
"Your name, Sister."
"Arabella, my lord."
Saint Arabella, founder of the Order of the Holy Rose and the Living Saint worshipped by the order.
Those who bore this name were usually Sisters of great virtue and prestige within the order.
"Sister Arabella, please pray for my brothers and guide them upon the road to the Golden Throne."
Arthur felt that these warriors should not depart silently beneath the shame of having been defiled. But he did not understand Space Marine rites very well, and having never believed in religion himself, he could not arrange a fitting farewell for these warriors whom the Ecclesiarchy had granted sacred status.
So he could only seek the Sisters' help.
In a world where faith truly had power, no one was more professional at prayer than devout Sisters.
"It would be my honor, my lord."
The Angel's words were stiff and concise, but to Arabella's ears, they were an immense honor.
Space Marine Chapters all possessed their own cultures, and the differences between them far exceeded those among the various factions within the Ecclesiarchy.
Combined with the unique existence of Gene-seed, Space Marines placed immense importance on death. Few besides the Chaplains within their own Chapters could preside over a Space Marine's death prayers.
Therefore, for any citizen who believed in the Emperor, being able to officiate the death rites of an angel of the Emperor was an immense honor.
Even a Canoness capable of directly commanding more than a thousand Sisters of Battle would never refuse.
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