As the compartment suddenly depressurized, the rapidly escaping air cut off the sound of the ship's alarms.
Several guards standing farther back braced themselves firmly, watching Zexis, who had been flung into the Starport, float in the vast hall beyond the hatch and struggle frantically.
His floating body also alerted the guards to another problem. The Starport had no air—and no gravity, either. Having prepared themselves in advance, they opened their mouths wide and forced as much air as possible out of their lungs, then pulled open an emergency hatch and scrambled inside.
Amid the hiss of rushing air, the guards gasped for breath, traces of blood spilling from the corners of their mouths. They hurriedly donned protective suits and rushed back into the docking passage.
By then, Zexis was already a corpse floating in the hall.
Although his desperate struggles had succeeded in expelling all the air in his body through his mouth and nose, the drastic drop in pressure had caused his blood to begin boiling almost immediately. The oxygen in his blood ruptured his blood vessels, and blood gushed from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.
Countless droplets of blood spun and drifted through the weightless vacuum of the hall.
No one had expected the newly arrived Audit Team to lose an Imperial noble before they had even done anything.
Soon, another group arrived at the docking passage.
"Guards, why are you still here? Why are you wearing protective suits? Shouldn't Auditor Zexis have entered the Starport long ago?!"
An Inquisitor accompanied by several Tempestus Scions had barely stepped through the hatch when he spotted the guards huddled together. These were the men he had assigned to protect the auditor.
"Reporting, Inquisitor Vane! Lord Zexis's soul has returned to the Throne."
The sudden news left Inquisitor Vane