Saul Taviz lowered his proud head, a head that belonged to the Emperor's Children.
With a voice that was trembling and bordering on pleading, he made a request to Leticia.
Leticia did not answer.
She simply reached out and gently patted Terrania on the back, signaling her to be at ease.
Then, following Taviz's lead, she walked deep into the makeshift camp constructed from the massive wreckage of the Tower of the Loremasters.
It was a completely destroyed temple.
The dome that once enshrined the glory of the Emperor had collapsed, leaving only a few broken pillars that weakly supported the shattered sky like the fingers of a giant.
This place had been converted into a field hospital.
Upon stepping inside, a stench so thick it was nauseating rushed to meet them.
It was the metallic tang of blood, the sweet, putrid smell of rotting wounds, the acrid scent of low-quality disinfectant, and... the foul stench known as "despair" emitted by hundreds of dying souls.
These mixed together to form an invisible, viscous swamp.
The floor of the temple was filled with severely wounded soldiers from different legions.
Some lay on crude stretchers, while others were curled up directly on the cold stone slabs.
Heart-wrenching wails, suppressed groans of pain, and intermittent prayers wove together into a symphony belonging to hell.
A Death Guard had a massive gash torn across his abdomen, with gray-green intestines spilling out, yet he only watched numbly, lacking even the strength to cry out in pain.
A World Eater had both legs severed at the root; using only his remaining arms, he pounded the ground frantically, emitting a beast-like growl.
Several Emperor's Children in purple armor, once the pride of the legion and perfect artists, now lay in the corner like broken puppets; their magnificent armor was covered in hideous wounds, and their eyes held only emptiness.
Terrania's body began to tremble violently and uncontrollably.
Her small face turned paler than the stone slabs beneath her feet in an instant.
She had seen death and seen pursuits, but she had never seen such large-scale, such desperate, and such slowly festering pain.
Every bit of air in this space was filled with wails that could pierce the soul.
Her small hand gripped Leticia's sleeve tightly, her knuckles turning white from the effort, as if that were her only salvation in this living hell.
Leticia stopped and turned her head.
She saw the sympathy, the reluctance, and the empathetic, almost overflowing pain in Terrania's eyes.
She reached out and gently, soothingly, covered Terrania's cold little hand.
A warm body temperature, carrying the fragrance of divinity, was instantly transmitted.
Terrania's violently trembling body calmed down somewhat, as if by a miracle.
Just then.
From the other end of the temple came a roar filled with collapse and unwillingness.
"No—!"
A Medic fell to his knees, his hands dropping helplessly.
On the stretcher in front of him, a World Eaters warrior who had just been groaning in pain twitched violently, then went completely stiff.
The rise and fall of his chest stopped.
He was dead.
Beside him, another warrior from the World Eaters Legion witnessed it all.
He let out a desperate, heart-wrenching roar, a sound filled with anger at the injustice of fate and hatred for his own powerlessness.
This roar was like a fuse, igniting the despair of the entire temple.
Suppressed sobs rose and fell.
The morale of the entire camp sank to the bottom at this moment.
Saul Taviz's body stiffened; he clenched his fists, his handsome face revealing unconcealable pain and powerlessness.
He could gather survivors and organize defenses.
But he could not defeat death.
Leticia let go of Terrania's hand.
She took a few steps forward, walking to the very center of this temple of death.
She spoke calmly, her voice not loud, yet like a clear stream, it instantly pierced through all the wailing and sobbing, clearly reaching the ears of everyone.
"Death is not the end."
Everyone was stunned.
They looked up, gazing with blank, puzzled eyes at this mysterious girl who had appeared suddenly and was beautiful beyond mortal standards.
Then, they saw it.
They saw a miracle that would be etched into their eternal memories, one that would replay in their souls even after death.
Leticia slowly spread her arms.
It was the posture of an embrace.
As if she intended to gently and irresistibly embrace this entire temple, along with all the pain, all the scars, and all the despair within it.
Hum—!!!
Emerald light erupted from within Leticia's body.
That light was no longer as soft as before.
It was so dense it was almost substantial, so brilliant that it could make stars dim in its presence.
She was a green sun.
A sun symbolizing life, rebirth, and infinite Hope.
The warm, green tide of light, filled with the fragrance of vegetation, radiated from her center, turning into an irresistible and compassionate wave that instantly swept through the entire temple.
Wherever the tide of light passed.
Miracles occurred in the most overbearing and unreasonable way.
The Death Guard whose abdomen had been torn open watched with his own eyes as his intestines, which had spilled out, automatically writhed and returned to his abdominal cavity.
Under the illumination of the green light, the hideous wound healed at a speed visible to the naked eye, finally leaving only smooth skin.
The World Eater whose legs had been severed stopped pounding and roaring.
He lowered his head, looking at his empty leg stumps with an expression of disbelief, as if he had seen a ghost.
Flesh was writhing, bones were growing, and nerves were reconnecting.
Two brand new, powerful legs grew back from nothing in just a few seconds.
The Emperor's Children who had been lying in the corners like broken puppets had all their wounds sealed in an instant.
They sat up again, moving their limbs that were as good as new, their faces filled with immense, ecstatic joy at having survived a catastrophe.
Fractured bones made crisp sounds of reconnection inside their bodies.
Damaged internal organs regenerated rapidly.
The excruciating pain that had penetrated to the bone marrow was replaced by a warm, comfortable, and vibrant feeling.
Inside the temple, all wailing and groaning ceased abruptly.
In the air, that nauseating stench, mixed with death and decay, was completely purified.
It was replaced by a fresh fragrance belonging to life, like a forest after rain.
This was not the end.
The green tide of light surged toward the World Eaters warrior who had just breathed his last.
His comrade was holding his cold corpse, weeping bitterly.
The green light gently covered the corpse.
The heart that had stopped beating suddenly and powerfully pulsed once.
Immediately after, it pulsed a second time, then a third.
The fatal wound on the warrior's chest healed instantly.
He opened his eyes wide, letting out a violent, greedy gasp, like a drowning person taking their first breath of fresh air again.
The dead had been resurrected.
The entire temple fell into an eerie, pin-drop silence.
Everyone was dumbfounded.
The healed warriors stared blankly at their bodies, which were as good as new.
The Medics responsible for treatment stared blankly at the medical tools in their hands, which had become meaningless.
The survivors who had fortunately remained uninjured stared blankly at the scene before them, which was like a creation myth.
Time seemed to have frozen at this moment.
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
"The Emperor is above!!!"
A hoarse shout, filled with ecstasy and disbelief, broke the silence.
Immediately after.
A deafening, hysterical roar of cheers and weeping erupted.
"I'm healed! My legs! My legs have grown back!"
"Praise the Emperor! Praise the Emissary!"
"Waaah... I'm still alive... I'm still alive..."
Those iron-willed Space Marines, who had just been pulled back from the brink of death, were now weeping like children.
They struggled to climb up from the ground.
Then, by unspoken agreement, they all made the same gesture.
They knelt.
Facing the center of the temple, towards that god-like figure bathed in emerald divine light, they knelt heavily and devoutly.
One, ten, one hundred...
Throughout the entire temple, all the healed warriors, all the soldiers who had witnessed this, and all the survivors of the catastrophe.
All of them knelt on the ground.
Using all their strength, with the most fanatical, most devout roars from the depths of their souls, they shouted the most sacred words they could think of.
"Goddess of Life!!!"
"Messenger of Hope!!!"
"My Lord!!!"
Saul Taviz stood in the midst of this fanatical, kneeling crowd.
He did not kneel.
He just stood stiffly, his body trembling violently from the extreme shock.
He watched the figure worshipped by the crowd, watching her reverse life and death with a wave of her hand, watching her turn this hell of death into a sanctuary of life.
His proud, rational heart, which belonged to the Emperor's Children, was completely shattered at this moment.
All doubts, all vigilance, all probes.
In the face of this irrefutable, great miracle that was enough to subvert the laws of the universe, they all seemed so small, so ridiculous.
She was not some angel.
She was not some divine messenger either.
She was God.
Clang—
Saul Taviz loosened his clenched fist, and the bolter pistol symbolizing his identity as a Commander slipped from his waist and hit the ground with a heavy thud.
Immediately after.
He put away all his pride, all his reason, all his persistence.
He knelt on one knee.
Towards Leticia, towards the new deity in his heart, he lowered that noble head which had never truly submitted to anyone.
"My Lady."
Taviz's voice no longer held the slightest tremor, but was filled with an unprecedented, completely conquered calm and fanaticism.
"Please, guide our path forward."
Leticia slowly retracted the divine light from her body.
She walked up to Taviz, reached out, and gently helped up this loyalist hero who would one day shake the Empire with his fame.
Her gaze crossed Taviz's shoulder and looked outside the temple, at the ominous sky illuminated red by the flames of war.
She spoke calmly, her voice clearly reaching everyone's ears.
"Prepare for battle."
"Our enemy, your father, is almost here."
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