The Planetary Governor's order was carried out at once. A platoon of the PDF received their instructions, boarded troop carriers with their weapons, and arrived at the noble's estate.
Jumping down from the troop carrier, Corporal Dmitri adjusted a metal badge on his chest before blowing his whistle and ordering his squad to form up.
The soldiers noticed Corporal Dmitri's gesture, but their eyes held nothing but deep envy.
Because it meant that Corporal Dmitri had killed at least one xenos.
Every Imperial Guard soldier knew about the xenos in the city sewers.
After all, General Gregory was not a merciful man. He had truly sent all ten PDF regiments to the front, rotating them through the sewers so they could witness firsthand just how terrifying those dreadful metal xenos were.
The Imperial Guard had suffered considerable casualties for it.
But it had also allowed the survivors to rapidly grow into qualified soldiers. Men like Corporal Dmitri, who had successfully entered the sewers and hunted xenos, were the elite among elites.
Outstanding soldiers like him often earned considerable respect among the Guard, because their regimental Commissar had told them that only the bravest and most exceptional Guardsmen could earn the honor of hunting xenos in the sewers.
Although many of them had never returned, those like Corporal Dmitri who came back alive quickly received the honor of promotion, along with the envious gazes of countless others.
Feeling those envious stares, Corporal Dmitri thrust out his chest even farther, stretching the bulletproof vest over it taut.
He indeed had every reason to be proud. Though he and his comrades had paid a tremendous price to kill that dreadful xenos, and he had even lost an eye, the glory of that battle made him and his comrades feel that every sacrifice and hardship had been worthwhile.
Thanks to that achievement, the Commissar no longer called them burdens upon the God-Emperor. They were now qualified to call themselves His valiant warriors.
For the same reason, Dmitri was filled with anger when he heard that they had been ordered to raid the estate of a heretical noble.
How dared they betray the God-Emperor's grace?! As nobles, instead of devoting themselves to the God-Emperor and dying for the Imperium, they actually believed in heretical faiths?! What blasphemy! What an unforgivable crime!
Dmitri had never read many books. Or rather, most commoners' children on Rostov II had little opportunity for education.
Yet as children, they could usually still come into contact with Ecclesiarchy priests. These kindly clergymen taught children some reading and writing in Low Gothic, so they could understand Ecclesiarchy scriptures and learn of His Divine Majesty's holiness and greatness.
For the sake of proselytizing, these priests usually used Ecclesiarchy classics as teaching materials when educating children in reading and writing.
This allowed Dmitri to clearly understand from childhood the greatness of His Divine Majesty, and that all Imperial citizens depended upon the God-Emperor's great grace to live within this galaxy.
Any act of abandoning faith in the God-Emperor was shameful, utterly blasphemous.
As a child, Dmitri had once been fortunate enough to witness a White Phosphorus Execution. The agonized wails of the heretic begging for mercy had frightened him for a long time, lingering in his young mind so deeply that they often became material for his nightmares.
But now, Dmitri felt that White Phosphorus Execution was somewhat too merciful for heretics.
Their crime of blaspheming the God-Emperor could not be cleansed by a single White Phosphorus Execution.
"Move it! Search everything carefully! Don't miss a single clue! They are heretics who abandoned the God-Emperor—we absolutely cannot let them go! They are not innocents; they are sinners who blasphemed the God-Emperor!" Dmitri loudly berated his subordinates. The platoon commander did not stop him, because he was personally leading men to arrest the noble's family.
They were all women, noblewomen who normally would not even spare men like them a glance, but they were heretics—or at least family members of heretics.
So they were roughly dragged into the courtyard by their arms or hair. Some were brutally beaten, while others were spat upon. One particularly delicate-looking young lady had been knocked to the ground, her face covered in dreadful bruises as tears streamed down her cheeks, a pitiful sight to behold.
Under normal circumstances, this would surely have drawn protests from a great many justice-minded young men. Even Dmitri himself might have felt that these men had been too harsh.
But the moment he remembered that she was a heretic who had blasphemed the God-Emperor, Dmitri could not help spitting a mouthful of phlegm onto the noble girl's luxurious clothes.
He had wanted to spit on her face, but for some reason, a flicker of pity had suddenly stirred within him.
Yet the various blasphemous things discovered in the estate soon wiped out that last trace of pity in Dmitri's heart.
This noble young lady maintained her youth and beauty by bathing in the blood of living people. In the estate's basement, they found imprisoned girls and other innocent people, most tortured to the brink of death.
Especially one imprisoned girl—nearly all the blood had been drained from her body, and her skin was as pale as a corpse's.
As for the others, most had endured torture so cruel it was appalling. The majority had lost intact limbs; some had less than a third of their original bodies remaining, transformed entirely into ornaments for some dark art.
The most blasphemous creation found in the estate was a painting—a living painting.
These blasphemous objects sent chills through Dmitri's entire body. Even when confronted by the terror aura of Flayed Ones xenos, Dmitri had been able to bravely shout the God-Emperor's name and face the horror. But before this, he did not dare look any longer.
Because he was afraid—afraid that he would lose control and kill these heretics outright.
That would be letting them off too easily! They had to pay the cruelest price for their blasphemous crimes!
At the same time, Dmitri felt intense shame and guilt that he had actually pitied a heretic moments earlier, making him want to treat these blasphemous heretics in the cruelest possible manner.
And White Phosphorus Execution was still too merciful for these heretics who had blasphemed the God-Emperor.