Godson

The Feast Day ended amid the Gladiators' wolfing down food and the live broadcast.

Before the female slave assigned to deliver food left with the other slaves, she handed each Gladiator a pill that could digest their meal within minutes, then gave her son, who was also a Gladiator, a few more instructions.

Only the Gladiators remained in the cave once again.

"The evening revelry has been canceled." Oeno walked over to Qin Xa and Angron, who were sitting cross-legged. "That lady just said we'll be facing the Slaughterers tonight."

Oeno had not said anything during the meal because, like the other Gladiators, he had been wolfing down food and had no time to talk.

"Why are you telling me and him this?" Qin Xa pointed at himself, then looked at Angron. "Even if it hadn't been canceled, any women who came would run away when they saw the two of us."

Oeno turned around and, as he went back to rest, gave a mysterious smile and left behind one sentence. "Not necessarily, mate."

Qin Xa raised an eyebrow as he considered those words, then cleared the unimportant matter from his mind and looked at Angron again.

Angron sensed the gaze and Qin Xa's emotions, then shook his head. "I didn't have to fight for food just now, but I still did."

"At least you didn't actually eat it all and leave others hungry." Qin Xa spoke softly, slowly withdrew his gaze, closed his eyes, and entered meditation once more.

This time, rather than immediately pondering how to develop a new way to use psychic power as before, he thought about Angron.

From the accounts Qin Xa had read and knew about Angron...

If he had not appeared and everything had unfolded normally, then among the Astartes who would use Angron's gene-seed in the future, a Librarian named Tethys would delve into Angron's memories and witness his past.

In the memories Tethys saw, Angron had sat by a table eating leftovers before beginning a bout in the Arena.

And before the fighting began, when everyone rushed to grab weapons and equipment, Angron would also wait until last to pick up what others had left behind.

So, in the future, Angron would form friendships with the Gladiators and yield to the others.

That was good.

Though Primarchs differed from ordinary mortals—superhumans created by The Emperor through advanced biological science—and possessed powerful learning and adaptive abilities, Primarchs were not born knowing everything.

Nor were they born with their own values and moral principles. They needed education. They needed to grow.

Angron's gift allowed him to empathize with mortals, so he would not become a superhuman who saw mortals as pigs and dogs. Even after receiving the Butcher's Nails, he still loved his Gladiator brothers and sisters.

But he had his own most fatal flaw, one born from his gift: Angron could be very easily troubled and controlled by his own emotions or those of others.

But who did not have their own problems?

With that thought, Qin Xa shifted his attention back to himself and continued studying new ways to use psychic power, just as before.

"Welcome to Arena Day, citizens of Desia!"

"Today, the Arena is honored to welcome a noble Gladiator team capable of bringing revelry to all! Let us greet them with the warmest applause..."

"The lowborn Slaugh-Slaughterers-ersersers!"

Maggot Eye flew above the Arena's combat zone.

Those fortunate enough to have bought tickets for the Arena's stands rose before the massive projection screens, applauding and cheering loudly.

Fireworks burst through the night sky above the Arena.

Amid that overwhelming celebration, the five leaders of the noble Gladiator team materialized at the center of the Arena, clad in golden armor and mounted on mechanical warhorses.

Then the Knights accompanying the five nobles were teleported in as well. The moment they appeared, they lined up neatly on both sides. Their steeds knelt in unison, joining their riders in paying homage to the five people whose veins carried the blood of Nuceria's gods.

"Slaughterers!" Maggot Eye flew before the leading one of the five Golden Armor Knights, and the host's voice rang out from within it. "Please loudly proclaim the immensely glorious family name you share with your four brothers and sisters!"

"Tark!" the leading Golden Armor Knight roared. "My name is Marius Tark! Remember my name! Remember my glorious family of gods! The blood of the High-Riders—the gods themselves—flows through me!"

The cheers in the Arena reached their peak alongside the Golden Armor Knight's roar.

Then the Golden Armor Knight added, "I'm not saying the other families aren't families of gods... I didn't mean that... Anyway, today is the Tark Family's special event."

"Of course, Godson," the host said loudly. "Today is the Tark Family's special event. Those other families of gods are watching you from the stands!"

Upon hearing this, the five Golden Armor Knights raised their arms high and basked in the crowd's cheers.

Amid the cheering, the gates to the Arena's combat zone rose. From a building opposite the Gladiators' quarters, several hundred shackled people emerged one after another.

Once those people entered the field, their shackles shattered into powder at the same moment, then transformed from that powder into weapons such as swords and blades.

"As always." Maggot Eye shot into the sky. "The Slaughterers' warm-up segment... beg-beg-begins!"

Within the combat zone, the ordinary Knights who had appeared alongside the Golden Armor Knights remained bent over, while their steeds remained kneeling beneath them.

None of them moved an inch.

By tradition, only the five Golden Armor Knights—the descendants of the families of gods—acted during this warm-up segment.

Amid the cheers, the five Golden Armor Knights spurred their mounts forward. The mechanical steeds beneath them were not only sturdier and larger than the other horses, but clearly more capable of obeying and efficiently carrying out their riders' will.

Among the five Golden Armor Knights, the leader slowly rode forth.

Before him, the several hundred people wielding swords and blades had realized that they had to fight. They banded together, formed a square formation, and prepared to battle the enemy before them to the death.

The other four Golden Armor Knights remained where they stood.

The leader continued charging forward, growing faster and faster until he finally even soared into the air. The mechanical warhorse beneath him had clearly integrated an Anti-Gravity Device.

After carrying its master into the air, the mechanical warhorse's shell extended and its structure shifted, ultimately transforming into an enormous scorpion.

The Mechanical Giant Scorpion descended from the air. The instant it landed, it twisted and flipped, its tail sweeping in a wide arc.

The crimson sand of the combat zone billowed into a sky-filling cloud of dust.

When the dust dispersed, fragments covered the ground. Only the mechanical construct, transforming from a scorpion back into a warhorse, and the gleaming Golden Armor Master upon its back remained standing where the hundreds of people had been.

"This is the power of the gods!"

"Three seconds! The Rebel Army prisoners have been completely annihilated!"

Maggot Eye let out thunderous cheers.