Chapter 62: This Is Outrageous!
*Dong—*
The battle bell hadn't completely dissipated in the air.
Eileen felt she had only blinked.
About a fraction of a second? Or even less.
When she opened her eyes again and looked at the arena, the short sword she had been using as a cheering stick nearly fell to the ground.
In the center of the arena, dozens of elite guards who had just been having seizures, and the four gladiator champions who were like mountains of flesh…
Gone.
It was as if someone had slapped a drawing paper hard with an eraser.
On the vast sandy ground, only Cole remained.
The Commander remained in a motion resembling the recovery position after a two-handed swing of his Guardian Halberd to the right. Not even a speck of dirt remained on his golden armor.
And within a thirty-meter radius around him.
The air had turned red.
That was the blood mist formed from dozens of human bodies, utterly pulverized and vaporized after being struck by a weapon at a frequency invisible to the naked eye, in an extremely short period of time.
No body parts. No severed limbs. Not even fragments of armor remained.
Eileen swallowed hard. She pointed downwards, her finger trembling slightly.
"Um… Uncle Sicarius."
Eileen turned to look at the Second Company Captain beside her, arms crossed, his face filled with regret and frustration.
"Where… where are they? Weren't they just a bunch of people there? Where are all those huge groups? Did I suddenly… temporarily go blind?"
Cato Sicarius leaned slightly forward. His face, covered by a visor, betrayed no emotion, but his voice held a darkly humorous seriousness.
"No, Madam. Your vision is perfectly normal."
Sicarius pointed to the slowly dissipating red mist below.
"They just…"
Sicarius paused, seemingly searching for the right words to explain the Custodes' irrational slaughter to Eileen.
"…They've simply become more 'uniform' and 'thinner' in this physical universe."
"Commander Cole just helped them achieve a… physical sublimation in their life forms."
Eileen's mouth gaped open, the four completely incomprehensible words "physical sublimation" echoing in her mind.
Off the field.
Cole slowly sheathed his halberd.
Not a drop of blood stained the blade—because the speed of the swing was so fast, the blood was evaporated the instant it touched the blade by the high temperature of the power field.
He turned around, bowing slightly to Eileen in the stands.
"The lowly dust that hindered you has been swept away, Saint Bearer."
Cole's voice resounded throughout the arena through the loudspeakers, as calm as if he had just drunk a glass of water.
Before Eileen could recover from this shocking scene,
*Buzz—!!!*
A chilling wave suddenly enveloped the entire arena.
The air, initially tinged with the stench of blood, instantly changed color.
It turned a thick, eerie pink.
A cloyingly sweet aroma, so overpowering it made one want to vomit, overpowered the bloody stench and filled everyone's nostrils.
"Hehehe…"
"Ah… it hurts… it feels so good…"
The noble spectators in the surrounding stands, who had been screaming at the carnage below, now spoke in a different tone.
The screams quickly transformed into blush-inducing, yet chilling groans and maniacal laughter.
Eileen watched in horror as a nobleman in the stands saw his skin melt like wax, his features contorted, his fingers becoming long and soft like tentacles, scratching at his own body, leaving bloody marks, yet his face was filled with enjoyment.
"What… what is this smell?"
Eileen covered her nose, feeling nauseous.
*Whoosh!*
A flash of golden light.
Cole, who had been in the center of the arena just moments before, appeared almost instantly in the VIP box.
His massive golden body stood like a wall, blocking Eileen's path.
The bolter muzzle on his halberd rose, his red electronic eyes flashing wildly.
"Warp Incursion."
Cole's voice was no longer calm, but filled with the chilling intent of impending battle.
"Threat Level: Medium-High. Source of contamination confirmed… nearby."
"That… that pervert called 'Slaaneshi Champion'?" Eileen recalled Old Huang's previous explanation, her face turning pale.
"Everyone! Move closer to me!"
Sicarius drew his power sword, the power field on the blade hissing.
"Protect the Saint Bearer! Varo! What are you doing?!"
Inside the private compartment.
Sergeant Varo was carrying the young master Lars, who was nearly foaming at the mouth with fear, like a dead chicken.
"He's still alive, Company Captain," Varo reported in a muffled voice. "This kid doesn't seem to react to this environment; he's just completely terrified."
Eileen peeked out from behind Cole's cloak and glanced at Lars.
Sure enough, everyone around them started growing tentacles or crab claws, except Lars remained the same, except his pants were soaking wet and his eyes were rolling back.
[Take him.]
Old Huang's voice suddenly rang in Eileen's mind.
[This smell is coming from up there! It should be in that governor's mansion!]
[There might be traps or secret passages in this place. This kid may be a good-for-nothing, but he's still a local strongman. Let's use him as a talking human key.]
Eileen immediately understood.
"Uncle Varo! Take this good-for-nothing!"
Eileen shouted, pointing at Lars.
"This disgusting smell is coming from up there! It must be his gang leader dad's doing!"
"Let's go for it!"
"Yes, sir!"
Sergeant Varo tucked Lars under his arm, his other hand holding a roaring chainsword.
Eileen skillfully scrambled onto Sicarius's broad left shoulder armor—one of her most familiar and cherished thrones.
With one hand gripping Sicarius's helmet (Varo dared not speak his anger), she drew the short sword, now ignited with a burning flame, and pointed it towards the arena's exit.
"My lads!… No, my uncles!"
"Charge with me! Drag out that freak who created this disgusting thing!"
"For the Emperor!!"
"For the Saint Bearer!!"
Five moving hills, protecting the girl seated on the shoulder armor, surged forward like an unstoppable armored train, smashing through the compartment doors, crushing the mutated nobles, and charging towards the passage to the surface.
…
[At the same time, on the *Macragge's Honour*, in the Chapter Master's office]
Behind a massive mahogany desk, Marneus Calgar sat upright.
He wasn't wearing heavy combat armor, but rather light armor and a robe, revealing his renowned bionic hands.
Even seated while handling official business, this Ultramarines Chapter Master exuded an awe-inspiring authority.
"Chapter Master."
A clerk entered shakily, placing a data slate on the desk.
"This is… a report just submitted by the Training Hall's technical officer. A report on… the facility damage and the large-scale internal fighting incident the other day."
Calgar frowned.
Internal fighting?
The Ultramarines were the most disciplined Chapter; how could such a thing happen?
He extended his mechanical arm and picked up the data slate.
His gaze swept over the text.
[…Participants included veterans from the First, Second, Third, and Fourth Companies, and members of the Honor Guard…]
[…Personally presided over by Saint Bearer Ms. Eileen…]
[…Purpose: To select two of the strongest warriors to carry out an 'extremely dangerous and classified' ground mission alongside Commander Cole and Company Captain Sicarius…]
*Crack!*
A crisp sound rang out.
The sturdy military-grade data slate turned into a pile of scrap metal in Calgar's hands.
Not only that.
*Bang!!*
Calgar slammed his fist on the table.
The century-old desk, carved from a single piece of Macragge oak, instantly split in two, splinters flying everywhere.
The clerk was so frightened that he collapsed to the ground.
Calgar abruptly stood up, his eyes bloodshot, his chest heaving violently.
"Outrageous!!"
The Battle Brother's roar shook the battle flag on the wall.
"Such glory… no! Such an important military operation!"
"Why didn't anyone inform me?!"
Calgar paced back and forth in the room, each step pounding on the floor.
"Cole's all gone! Sicarius's gone! Even that guy Varo went!"
"They're even holding selection trials in the training hall?!"
"Is my fist, Marneus Calgar's fist, not hard enough?!"
"Do the Saints think I'm not trustworthy?!"
A sense of being ostracized, forgotten, and filled with resentment and anger overwhelmed the Chapter Master. He felt like he was left home with his parents to do homework while his brothers went to the amusement park.
But soon.
The rationality of a tactical mastermind (or rather, excessive overthinking) regained control.
Calgar stopped, stroked his chin, and his eyes deepened.
"No."
"Ms. Eileen isn't that kind of person. She clearly likes to ask me for snacks."
"Who did she bring this time? The Custodes Commander, the Second Company Captain, and a Terminator veteran."
"This is a typical 'tactical squad' configuration."
"And it was a secret selection process on the loyal planet Estut, deliberately avoiding me, the Chapter Master…"
Calgar's brain began to race, automatically filling in the blanks of a shocking conspiracy.
"This means… the enemy has infiltrated very deeply! Perhaps even at the higher levels! She's afraid of leaks! Afraid of alerting them!"
"She didn't call me because I'm the Chapter Master; I have to stay and oversee the fleet, using this to lull the enemy into a false sense of security!"
"She's using this method to hint at something!"
"That's right! It must be!"
Calgar abruptly looked up, his eyes gleaming with a knowing light.
"This must be a distress signal! The highest level of warning!"
"The Holy Knight has already led the advance team deep into the lion's den!"
"I can't betray her trust!"
He grabbed the communicator on the table and pressed the red button that connected directly to the Primarch's office.
*Beep—*
"This is Guilliman." The Regent's slightly weary voice came from the other end of the communicator.
"Regent! Urgent military intelligence!"
Calgar's voice was urgent and serious, even carrying a sense of tragic impending doom.
"I've detected a 'covert strategic signal' left by a Saint Bearer!"
"There's something wrong with Estut! Something terrible!"
"Ms. Eileen has already led Commander Cole and his entire force into it! According to intelligence analysis, it's highly likely to be a Chaos Nest!"
"We need immediate support! Now!"
There was a two-second silence on the other end of the communicator.
Then came the sound of a chair overturning.
"What did you say?!"
The Primarch's voice held a rare hint of panic and rage.
"Wasn't she just taking a bunch of guards to… go shopping on the planet?!"
"How did it turn into an attack on a Chaos Nest?!"
"Calgar! Assemble the First and Second Companies! We're going down too! Now!"
"Yes!! For Macragge!!"
Calgar roared as he hung up the communicator and rushed towards the hangar.
"Wait for me, Saint Bearer! Calgar is coming to clear the way for you!!"
Meanwhile, on the planet below, Eileen, on the shoulder armor of Sicarius, suddenly sneezed.
"Achoo! Who's talking about me?"
She rubbed her nose, looked at the group of crab-claw-like monsters blocking her path, and brandished her short sword.
"Never mind! Uncles! Charge! Smash their heads!"