Chapter title: Sacred rituals and far-reaching consequences.
A low-key but by no means simple meeting ceremony was held in the atrium auditorium of the Revenant Redeemer.
Every Orpheus noble who was lucky enough to participate will never forget the scene he saw at that time.
Under the bridge of the Revenant Redeemer, the location that was originally used as a library of forbidden knowledge was transformed into a huge palace and auditorium.
Passing through two huge doorways more than a hundred meters high, engraved with the imperial double-headed eagle emblem, a decagonal hall composed of nine high walls and ten columns appeared in front of everyone.
The nine high walls are all made of white gold metal, nearly 100 meters wide and nearly 300 meters high;
Eight of the high walls are engraved with stories about Calvin and the past Gray Knight Grand Masters slaying evil spirits.
The high wall of the front porch is engraved with a golden imperial double-headed eagle flying with its wings firmly grasping the rising silver sun.
That meant that Calvin's rights were granted by the emperor.
In the center of the silver sun is the symbol of a sharp sword inserted in the center of the holy book.
This was the former mark of the Gray Knights Chapter, and together with the newly added silver sun on the periphery, it happened to be the current logo of the Gray Knights Legion.
On both sides, there are carved the famous Roman numeral "I" symbol with a skull on it, and the unknown lion logo belonging to the Order of Omen on the other side.
The Holy Trinity, the emperor's (divine) right to kingship; if there is a scholar proficient in imperial heraldry and theology present, he will clearly know:
This kind of complicated specifications and levels have exceeded the specifications that a high lord of the empire, who is the top mortal man, should have;
Apart from the Emperor himself, this level of emblem can only be owned by legion leaders who have expanded territory for the Empire during the Great Crusade, killed and robbed the lives of thousands of people in the Imperial world, and wielded great power.
And these leaders have another familiar name within the empire - Primarch.
This is not all of this emblem. Countless halberds and broken swords have replaced the position of the national religion angel in this level emblem. (Or maybe this location shouldn’t be owned by the state church in the first place?)
Their two huge wings made of steel and sharp blades spread out around the legion emblem and extended downward, reaching towards the throne below in a lifting posture.
The sacred runes engraved on each of these weapons represent the existence of the Gray Knights who have sacrificed in silence in the past nearly ten thousand years.
The end of the wings extending downward is the huge metal throne that stands on the nine-step high platform.
On this throne, which was made of fine gold and had countless thick cables extending back from the base, a giant was sitting on it.
A giant scepter-like hammer made entirely of psychic crystals was flashing with dazzling spiritual light, and was casually erected by its owner beside the throne.
His sacred face was obscured by the psychic light mist, and only a laurel wreath carved from azure psychic crystal could be seen on his short silver hair. His face could not be seen clearly, but it happened to be in front of everyone's eyes. It shows different faces.
The white-gold giants stood on both sides of the throne, and the mechanical priests from the Order of Omen stood beside the throne.
The ice blue-edged halberd is held tightly in the hand, and the sword emblem on the armor comes from the same door as the relief on the high wall;
The power ax and power staff engraved with the lion's gear emblem of the Order of Omen also echo the lion emblem on the wall, guarding their monarch with their allies.
Further down are more giant figures, forming two wings of the crowd watching the ceremony:
Hundreds of veterans from the four Astartes Chapters, clad in Terminator power armor, stood silently behind their battle standards, once again adding color to the wings of the throne;
Further away, the judges of the Imperial Tribunal, wearing different shades of red robes of their respective monasteries, quietly faced off from a distance with the generals of the Tindaros Army wearing black and gold uniforms on the other side.
What a sacred scene that was!
What a cruel beginning it was!
Juan and the few nobles who were lucky enough to meet him looked at this mythical scene, and their hands and feet were so frightened that they became sore.
Every place in this hall is so sacred and cold, and every detail is exquisite and full of meaning beyond the imagination of these indigenous nobles;
And the nobles with a little knowledge can clearly understand that in such a huge and sacred space, not an inch of space is reserved for weak mortals like them!
But in fact, in a sense, this is the cruelest truth about the universe to human beings:
The enemies the Emperor and his Empire faced were powerful and extraordinary.
Countless aliens and demons constitute the sepsis and sores on the decaying body of the Empire;
Countless conspiracies and the malicious gazes of the gods have made the empire the lord of the galaxy, but it is always on the verge of fragmentation and struggling.
The enemies of the Imperium were so powerful that the Emperor went to great lengths to forge human blades.
These tempered weapons and souls, even if they have gone through many difficulties and dangers, are just for a chance to stand in front of the enemies of the empire and fight fairly.
Mortal Soldiers, Astartes, Custodes, Primarchs;
Astra Militarum, Imperial Navy, Inquisition, Adeptus Mechanicus, Order of Omen;
All of this represents the empire's revenge and roar against its enemies for thousands of years.
Among these sequences representing human armed forces, except for the Astra Militarum represented by the Tindaros Legion, there has never been a position that truly belongs to civilians.
"Hey, why are you here?"
The solemn voice descended from high places, making these mortals who had been entangled in interests their entire lives frightened and at a loss as to what to do.
Yes, why did they come?
For the cause of empire?
Or for the fate of the citizens of the empire in the sector?
Or is it for hatred of heretics and aliens?
Do they dare to say that?
Do they dare to face an existence that can penetrate their rotten bodies and look directly at their rotten souls?
So, what can be said?
That they came for rights?
To say that they have been captured by power, and now only lower animals have the same instinct for food, attracted by the aura of power?
Do they dare?
The nobles slurred their plump lips and wanted to say something, but the last remaining instincts of reason tightly tightened their vocal cords, trying to prevent them from destroying themselves.
Under the gaze of many saints, they fell into a strange but understandable silence.
The suffocating silence continued while the holiness on high lost its patience and waited.
Juan knelt on one knee beside these nobles. His lowered head was filled with nervousness and could no longer care about sympathy or ridicule for these miserable people.
Before he could escape from the shock of the scene he saw, he heard another inquiry from above:
"What about you? Admiral Juan of the Navy, the Eagle Controller in the Empire's skies. Why are you here?"
"I..." Juan raised his head, his eyes extended to that dazzling existence, and then he lowered his head nervously.
Thinking of his previous situation, he saw the epic scene in this auditorium now.
As a high-ranking general of the empire, this middle-aged man who had barely entered the true ruling class did not dare to hesitate anymore and simply told everything about himself to the man in front of him:
"I...come to give me the responsibility that the empire has given me! I come to better fulfill my mission and deliver this precious power to a more meaningful place!"
"you are wrong."
The man who stood high above the clouds denied his words, which made his heart suddenly fall into an abyss.
But the next second his heart was lifted to the sky with that person's words:
"The mission entrusted to you by the Empire can only be undertaken by you! The fate entrusted to you by the Emperor is decided by you yourself! I already know your loyalty, so stand down!"
Juan, who was granted amnesty, felt light all over his body and suddenly felt sore all over;
Among the Gray Knights who were already standing on both sides, two of them stepped forward, pulled him up and placed him on the right side of the crowd, just slightly below the Tindalos Legion.
Those nobles, as stiff as dead people, were dragged away by other Gray Knights. They were completely immersed in fear, and even on the execution ground that followed, they were unable to utter a word of defense...
This small-scale but far-reaching audience continued, and many members of the local tribunal later entered the auditorium;
Waiting behind them were Astra Militarum officers distributed throughout the sector.
The final direction of the audience ceremony is unknown, but judging from the information that was decrypted in later generations, the entire political ecology and norms of Orps for thousands of years were rewritten at this moment.
It was at this meeting that Calvin issued a clear order to the local forces squatting in the wilderness of Orps:
The entire sector will be forgiven and purified for hundreds of years.
Rains of judgment from the stars fell on Amara's sky.
Teams composed of Gray Knights, members of the Inquisition, and the Tindaros Legion appeared almost simultaneously in various functional units of the empire.
They removed from their posts bureaucrats who had long been labeled as worms and turncoats.
In the nearest place where the sun could shine, the decree signed by Calvin was simply read out, and the execution that followed was carried out on the spot.
These few people were shot and most were directly incinerated by promethium flamethrowers, which greatly shocked the onlookers.
They, like the people of Lyac who gradually recovered over the next few hundred years, were deeply impressed by Calvin and his messengers carrying death notices.
And this large-scale internal purge, as people spread it by word of mouth, eventually became the most important classic scene written in the history of Orps, known in history as the Rain of Ashes.
