This World Has No Gods

The priest was incredibly ferocious, his eyes wide, and he raised his dagger high.

The crowd below the altar showed fear and anger.

Some were restless, but ultimately, they didn't dare to resist.

The terror of the Bloodkin had long been deeply ingrained in their hearts.

They worried that resisting now would lead to bloody retribution later.

Some turned their heads away, no longer daring to watch.

"In the name of the gods, die."

The priest shouted in a sharp voice.

"There are no gods in this world; the so-called God of Blood is merely a monster."

A voice interrupted the priest's actions.

The surrounding crowd showed expressions of disbelief.

Who dared to speak such blasphemous words in this situation? Were they tired of living?

The priest's movements froze.

His body trembled with rage.

He turned his head towards the source of the voice.

Wanting to find that damned blasphemer.

The next second, he saw a sight he would never forget.

The Emperor, clad in golden armor and enveloped in radiance, walked from the crowd towards the sacrificial platform.

The crowd spontaneously parted to make way for him.

The people along the path watched him with expressions of shock, surprise, and confusion.

If there were gods in this world, the one before them was undoubtedly a true god.

"What nonsense are you spouting?"

The priest shouted nervously.

"You know nothing of gods, how dare you question His existence."

"There are no gods in this world," the Emperor said. "The God of Blood you speak of is just a monster that adorns itself with lies."

The priest pointed at the Emperor and shouted at the guards standing beside him.

"Seize this damned heretic."

"Execute him, he must be executed."

The Bloodkin soldiers, clad in armor and wielding spears and swords, swarmed forward.

Waldo and the Adeptus Custodes behind him activated their Halberds and switched their Gene Engines to combat mode.

"How dare you disrespect Our Lord."

They charged at the Bloodkin soldiers with incredible speed, unleashing indescribable destructive power.

The heavy Halberds were covered in bright arcs of electricity, sharp and as heavy as mountains.

With just a swing, they possessed astonishing destructive force.

The Bloodkin soldiers, armed with crude weapons, were cleaved like ants.

In just a few seconds, the square was littered with piles of shattered flesh and blood.

Those powerful Bloodkin warriors were all eliminated in mere breaths.

The priest, still holding his dagger, showed a look of terror.

He turned to run.

But the next second, he was lifted up like a chick by Waldo.

"Who exactly are you?" The priest's body trembled with fear.

The Emperor stared at him coldly, "I am the one who judges you, a believer in a false god."

"Do you know who I am? I am a regional priest of the Scarlet Church."

"If you dare lay a hand on me, you are challenging the entire church, challenging the God of Blood."

"Oh wow, still threatening people even now," Raven flapped its wings and landed beside Waldo, observing the blustering fellow.

"Let's make a cross, big guy. Roast him until he's sizzling, and let's see if his god will save him."

The Emperor ignored Raven's wicked whisper and ordered Waldo.

"Execute him."

The priest's eyes widened, unable to believe the words.

The next second, his head flew off, then landed on the ground and rolled several times.

"The priest is dead, and the Scarlet Church won't let us go."

"The whole town will surely be massacred. We're all going to die."

"Run! The Bloodkin army is coming. If we escape into the wilderness, maybe we'll have a chance."

The bloodiness and cruelty of the Bloodkin had long been ingrained in people's hearts.

Seeing the priest dead, the townsfolk didn't rejoice; instead, they were terrified and wanted to flee.

Even fleeing into the wilderness to live among those terrifying monsters was better than facing the Bloodkin's wrath directly.

"You all need not fear."

The Emperor spoke, his voice full of magnetism.

His body glowed, its brilliance illuminating the dim world like the sun.

"I am the Lord of the Human Empire, your savior."

This divine image gave the townsfolk, who were about to turn and flee in fear, a glimmer of hope.

They didn't fully believe the Emperor, but at least it stopped their panicked flight.

They didn't flee into the wilderness in a state of panic, causing unnecessary casualties.

"Big guy, aren't you afraid they'll mistake you for a new god?"

Raven asked curiously.

"To break the faith in false gods, one must display an image more noble and sacred than theirs."

"If I walked around as an ordinary person, these people would never believe me. They'd just think I was a tyrant."

The Emperor replied to Raven through telepathy, his tone laced with helplessness.

He was a staunch atheist.

But humanity had been deeply poisoned by the Warp.

The tumor of religious faith had long been deeply bound to humanity's fate.

To destroy faith and promote scientific truth, he had to present a god-like image.

He knew that maintaining this appearance would surely trigger a new wave of worship.

But it was the best solution he could think of.

If faith were truly so easy to eradicate, there wouldn't have been so many wars in human history.

He couldn't possibly kill every person who held faith, could he?

"Alright, big guy, your grasp of human nature is truly exceptional."

Raven, recalling the various contrarians she had encountered, could understand the Emperor's actions.

It wasn't that the Emperor wanted to maintain that golden, radiant image.

He had no choice but to do so.

The Bloodkin ruler of the town soon received news of the priest's gruesome death.

Enraged, he rushed over with his soldiers.

He wanted to show these damned humans who the true masters of this world were.

The Bloodkin possessed strength and speed far exceeding that of humans.

They could also use their blood to recover from injuries.

To ordinary humans, the Bloodkin were an unbeatable nightmare.

But before the Adeptus Custodes, who were implanted with the Empire Engine, these Bloodkin soldiers were no different from weeds by the roadside.

With a mere swing of their Halberds, they could reap them in swathes.

There was no suspense in this battle.

The Bloodkin soldiers charged forward, shouting various slogans, only to be slaughtered by the Adeptus Custodes.

The entire town was littered with dismembered limbs.

The air was thick with the smell of blood.

The town's ruler, terrified, turned and fled, attempting to escape into the sky with his wings.

When he reached several hundred meters in the air, he was impaled by a Halberd thrown by Waldo and brought down.

Upon landing, he was pursued by the Adeptus Custodes and chopped into dozens of pieces, dying a complete death.

The woman and her companions were rescued.

They were ragged and weary-eyed, but possessed an unyielding will.

Through questioning, the Emperor and his party learned that these people were rebels.

The woman who had shouted "Long live humanity" earlier was named Lucina, and she was a Cursed One.

Her parents had also been members of the resistance, dying at the hands of the Bloodkin years ago.

"Cursed One? Untouchable?"

The Raven could directly perceive Lucina's soul.

It was a black hole, continuously devouring the surrounding aether and soul power.

The Emperor asked Lucina, "What happened on this planet? Why do those mutants rule over you?"

Lucina showed a hint of sadness.

"It all began in the early days of the Age of Strife."

"Humanity's own hypocrisy almost led this civilization to extinction."

PS: I was criticized by readers for a plot point, so I need to form the Sisters of Silence and give them some buffs.

After all, the Sisters of Silence hold a very high status, being the Emperor's right and left hands. Without loyalty to humanity, one cannot achieve such a high position.

I've checked the information; the Sisters of Silence were established much later than the Adeptus Custodes, only being formed during the Great Crusade.

I've made some changes to Perdita's Calamity, making it the origin of the Sisters of Silence, and I'm preparing to equip them with Silence Engines.

There's only one more chapter until the main plot of Perdita's Calamity concludes, so don't worry about it dragging on.

Thank you to Five Elements Delusional Demon Realm, Mihoyo's lead artist and art designer Puppet, and reader 20230109223956143 for their rewards.