Godson

Feast Day ended with the gladiators wolfing down their food and the live broadcast.

Before the female slave who had arranged the food delivery left with the other slaves, she handed each gladiator a pill that could digest their meal within minutes, then gave a few words of advice to her own son, who was a gladiator.

The cave was once again left with only the gladiators.

"The evening revelry is canceled," Oeno said, walking over to Qin Xa, who was sitting cross-legged, and Angron. "That lady just told us we'll be facing the Slaughterer tonight."

Oeno hadn't said a word during the meal because he, like the other gladiators, had been too busy wolfing down food to speak.

"Why are you telling him and me this?" Qin Xa pointed at himself, then looked at Angron. "Even if it weren't canceled, any woman who came would be scared off by the sight of us."

Oeno turned, flashed a mysterious smile as he headed back to rest, and left a parting remark: "That might not be the case, buddy."

Qin Xa raised an eyebrow, mulling over the words, then cleared his mind of the trivial matter and looked back at Angron.

Angron felt the gaze and sensed Qin Xa's mood, then shook his head. "I didn't have to fight for food during the meal, but I still did."

"At least you didn't actually eat it all and leave others hungry," Qin Xa said softly, slowly withdrawing his gaze, closing his eyes, and sinking back into a meditative state.

This time, he didn't immediately resume pondering how to develop a new psychic technique as before, but instead reflected on Angron's situation.

From what Qin Xa had read and knew about Angron's deeds...

If he hadn't appeared and everything had gone as normal, then in the future, a Librarian among the Astartes seeded from Angron's gene-seed—a Librarian named Tethys—would delve deep into Angron's memories and witness his past.

In the memories Tethys saw, Angron would sit at a table eating leftovers before a gladiatorial bout.

And before the fight began, when everyone else scrambled for weapons and armor, Angron would wait until the end to pick up what others had discarded.

So in the future, Angron would forge friendships with the gladiators and defer to others.

That was good.

Though a Primarch was no ordinary mortal—a superhuman crafted by The Emperor with advanced bioscience, with immense learning and adaptability—a Primarch was not born with innate knowledge.

Nor were they born with their own worldview and moral code; they needed education and growth.

Angron's talent allowed him to empathize with mortals, so he wouldn't become a superhuman who saw them as livestock. Even after the Butcher's Nails were implanted, he still loved his gladiator brothers and sisters.

But he had his most fatal flaw, one rooted in his talent: Angron was highly susceptible to being troubled and dominated by his own or others' emotions.

Yet who didn't have their own problems?

With that thought, Qin Xa shifted his focus inward and resumed studying new psychic techniques as before.

"Welcome to Fight Day, citizens of Desia!"

"Today, the arena is honored to host a noble gladiator troupe that will bring revelry to all. Let us greet them with the warmest applause..."

"The filth, the Slaugh—Slaughterer—erererer!"

Maggot Eye hovered above the arena's combat zone.

Spectators lucky enough to snag arena seats rose before the massive projection, clapping and cheering loudly.

Fireworks exploded in the night sky above the arena.

Amidst this thunderous celebration, five leaders of the noble gladiator troupe, clad in golden armor and riding mechanical warhorses, teleported into the center of the arena.

Then the knights accompanying these five nobles teleported in as well, lining up neatly on both sides. Their steeds knelt in unison, bowing alongside their riders to pay homage to the five men whose veins flowed with the blood of Nuceria's gods.

"Slaughterers!" Maggot Eye flew before the lead golden-armored knight, the host's voice booming out. "Shout out your glorious surname and those of your four siblings!"

"Tark!" the lead golden knight roared. "I am Marius Tark! Remember my name! Remember my glorious family of gods! My blood carries the High-Riders, the blood of gods!"

The arena's cheers peaked with the golden knight's roar.

Then the golden knight added, "I'm not saying other families aren't families of gods... I don't mean that... Anyway, today is the Tark Family's show."

"Of course, Godson," the host declared loudly. "Today is the Tark Family's show. The other families of gods are watching from the stands, paying their respects!"

At this, the five golden knights raised their arms, basking in the crowd's acclaim.

Amid the cheers, the gates of the arena's combat zone rose. From the building opposite the gladiators' quarters, hundreds of shackled people filed out one by one.

When they reached the field, their shackles shattered into dust in unison, then transformed into weapons like swords and blades.

"As always," Maggot Eye shot skyward. "The Slaughterers' warm-up round... be-be-be-begins!"

Inside the combat zone, the ordinary knights who had appeared with the golden knights remained bowed, their steeds still kneeling.

They stood motionless.

By tradition, only the five golden knights—the scions of the godly families—acted during this warm-up round.

The five golden knights spurred their mounts forward amid the cheers. Their mechanical warhorses were not only larger and stronger than ordinary steeds but clearly more obedient and efficient at executing their masters' will.

Among the five, the lead knight slowly rode ahead.

Before him, the hundreds of armed people realized they had to fight, so they banded together, forming a phalanx, ready for a bloody battle.

The other four golden knights stood still.

The lead knight charged forward, faster and faster, until he launched into the air. His mechanical warhorse clearly integrated anti-gravity devices.

As the warhorse carried its master aloft, its outer shell expanded, its structure shifted, and it transformed into a massive scorpion.

The Mechanical Giant Scorpion descended through the air, flipping and twisting the moment it landed, its tail sweeping in a full circle.

Within the combat zone, crimson sand and soil churned into a sky-filling cloud of dust.

When the dust cleared, shattered fragments littered the ground. Only the mechanical construct, now transforming from a scorpion into a warhorse, and its gleaming golden-armored master standing atop its back remained where hundreds of people had once been.

"This is the power of a god!"

"Three seconds—the rebel captives are completely wiped out!"

Maggot Eye let out a thunderous cheer.