Talos, who has dreamed of becoming a hero since he was a child, never imagined that he would become a cruel and bloody murderer in the future.
Just like he didn't expect that the Broken Eagle Chapter would be cornered by the Origin Chapter.
Or they were almost defeated, outnumbered by the enemy, and if Char hadn't defeated the enemy's champion——
Speaking of Ciel, Talos, who was slumped on the floor, touched the blood on his face with his hand and looked at his brother.
Ciel threw away his sword and leaned against the arched wall with almost insane patience.
He stayed there for a long time, savoring the pain and catching his breath.
The blood flowing from his breastplate smelled so fresh, so pure.
This is soul blood, he understands.
But that's not good, after all, a burst heart would put him in bed for weeks to get used to a powerful replacement, and two -
One of his arms could not move, the other was numb, his fingers were not flexible, one leg could not bend, and the colder pain in his chest spread farther and farther.
After his failed attempt to move his body, he grunted again, unable to move away from the wall.
Maybe just give it a minute to let his regenerative tissue repair the damage.
So be it, that's all he can do.
In the cabin, Selion was the first person to get up—climbing up from the opposite wall.
His armor looked almost as battered as Ciel's, and instead of helping the others, he raised the broken hammer in his hand.
"Its energy battery has been consumed by 80% now. Maybe it will hit us harder than it will hit you."
Charles didn't answer, he just leaned against the wall.
"I have never seen a duel like this."
Cerion added, moving to where his brother was leaning.
"Come on, I need some time to breathe."
"as you wish."
Cerion walked over to Talos, who was still slumped on the deck.
A vial of a chemical stimulant was injected into the Prophet's neck, causing his muscles to spasm.
After a moment, he suddenly stood up with a whimper.
"I have never been hit by a thunder hammer before. Valiel may tell us about its specific effects on the nervous system, but I never want to feel it again."
"Fortunately it was crooked."
"I don't think it's crooked."
"If you're still alive, it's crooked."
One by one, the First-Fireclaws stood up, but there was one last person.
"Ciel."
Talos walked over.
"I can't believe you killed him."
Ciel sneered in glee at his brother.
"this is nothing."
Talos immediately threw the helmet to him, and Ciel caught the helmet with difficulty. This was his trophy.
For a moment, Ciel ran his fingers over the winged crest, the official decoration of the Legion, looking down at the anguished visage he presented to the Galaxy.
There was no blood in his eyes, and even his head had turned into a mixture of broken bones and flesh. The pain caused by just rolling his eyes in his eye sockets was enough to make him kneel, but he would not allow this. Weakness was shown—a blink of an eye so painful that even he himself lacked imagination to describe it.
He didn't even want to know how much of his face was left.
The others looked at him with worry and even sympathy, but that only made him angrier.
"Can you still fight?"
Talos asked, hiding his concern, but his expression betrayed his mood at the moment.
"I feel much better."
Ciel managed to nod.
"It should be okay."
"We need to move quickly."
Ma Kuchen said that he was the weakest among them. After losing power, his armor was almost useless and did not increase his strength or reflexes at all - the joints did not rotate and the backpack did not buzz.
"We need to contact other Fireclaws to prevent us from being ganged up on again."
"Ciel."
Talos said again that he didn't care about anything else right now.
Ciel looked up.
"what?"
"Take the hammer, you deserve it."
Ciel lifted his helmet back into place and clicked his keyhole shut, his voice breaking into his usual inflected growl.
"Talos."
He said with a heavy tone:
"my brother."
"What?"
"I regret arguing with you before... It is not a sin to want to live a meaningful life and to find a way to win this war."
"We'll talk about this later, brother."
"OK."
Ciel slowly stood up, but his blood never stopped, and kept flowing, gathering into a small puddle at his feet.
"--after."
Charles moved his legs, but he only took one step.
Amid everyone's exclamations, his head slowly rolled forward, and his body also fell in a boneless overturn, and the last sound in his helmet was a long sigh.
Ciel just fell into Talos's arms, and the armor could only send out harsh signals feebly.
"Ciel————!!!"
When the problems within are resolved, the cursed echo travels through space with the hunger of a shark.
Officers and enlisted men began their combat missions as the strategic deck descended into familiar organized chaos.
The bridge was filled with rattling sounds and the clinking of levers, mixed with the clicking sounds and the tapping of fingers on keys.
"Any sign of an Origins Chapter cruiser?"
Talos asked from his central throne. On the eyeball monitor, a stripped moon was half surrounded by a new swarm of asteroids, looking pitiful.
"I saw them, my lord."
The auspicious master took a breath of moisture through his ventilator mask.
"Now it's displayed on the holographic projection."
At first, Talos was unable to identify the ship from the wreckage.
The projected building shimmers with its usual instability, offering a scene with hundreds of objects.
The satellite's broken edge is an irregular curve on one side of the image, with stones of various shapes and sizes decorating the space above, and a haze representing fragments of particles too small to focus on individual latches. .
There they are.
The bow of an Astartes warship has a distinct fork, and the runic symbols of its weapons shoot into the void.
The projected ship travels and suddenly finds itself at the center of a swarm of asteroids, leaning its fire on the surrounding rocks as it attempts to carve its way to freedom.
He was almost disappointed that they hadn't been destroyed in the initial blast, but at least he could see it directly now.
"I can't help but feel a little proud."
He told the crew:
"You all did a great job."
The drifting rocks tumbled in space, colliding with each other and shattering into more rubble. Talos watched the projected exhibition to see if there were several large pieces that collided with the flashing ship.
Primitive imaging procedures revealed little of the massive destruction caused by such an impact.
"Let's do a visual confirmation."
Talos knew it would take several hours to close the distance, so he came up with an idea to pass the time and further narrow the odds of the Origin warriors who jumped to the ship.
"Call the enemy ship and filter the information so that every communication channel on the ship carries what we say."
The female correspondent did so.
The bridge, which had been silent after the screaming stopped, now rang out with the sound of enemy cruisers.
The monotonous voice of the attendant formed a background harmony with the sound of rocks hitting the hull, and a booming voice spoke breathlessly.
"I am Captain Aeneas of the royal cloak. I will not listen to your ridicule, heresy, nor will I be misled by your temptations!"
