40k: Midnight Blade.

Chapter 638 21. Judgment (Part , The current situation of the empire, and meeting Asmodai when going out)
I sat, waiting, counting my own heartbeats, feeling frozen. The ability to control my heart rate that surgery, training, and meditation had given me seemed to be failing.

So I tried another method to distract myself - I buckled my helmet onto the knee pad on my right knee and rubbed my forehead with my fingers.

This is an ancient custom that comes from the past, when we needed to be fully armed for some ceremonial occasions, and at certain times we even had to take off our helmets to sit down.

Most of my older brothers have this habit, but I think no one does this anymore.

Twenty-six minutes later, the lion returned, alone, without help, with only three servo skulls floating behind him. They were obviously specially modified, I couldn't see what technical means, but those additional fake mechanical tentacles were very obvious.

The skulls used these strong tentacles to hold up three books so heavy that they could be used as armor plates, and followed closely behind the lion. They had crimson covers, and a golden eagle shone in the center.

They were placed on the table in front of me with a loud noise, as if someone had thrown three iron ingots in front of me. After doing this, they flew away without any respect, and the only thing worth mentioning was that they did not forget to close the door.
Unfortunately, it wasn't until this moment that I remembered that I should stand up.

I haven't been in a situation that requires etiquette for so long that I have forgotten my previous instincts. But my Primarch didn't mind. He raised his hand, pressed me down, and opened the first book.

The pages of the book rustled, and the weight of the cover slowly turned the thin first page. His tone remained calm.

"When you finish reading, come find me."

"Is my interrogation over?"

"It depends," he said, and for some reason I thought he was smiling. "Anyway, I'm going to leave for a while. You're not the only one to be interrogated."

I immediately stood up and wanted to ask him something. However, he just nodded at me slightly, silently confirming my guess, and turned and left.

The door closed and I took another deep breath. The good old days in the Legion flashed back before my eyes, and it took me several minutes to calm down with the thought that I was no longer alone.

I turned my eyes to the opened book. The paper used was a type I had never seen before. The surface was slightly yellowed and seemed very delicate at first glance, but in fact, it had many irregular particles.

I was a little confused because this kind of paper was obviously not suitable for compiling books. At least not in my time.

It took me about seventeen minutes to read the first four hundred pages of the book, which is hardly fast for most of us, but I couldn't read any faster.

Every line of these 400 pages can bring me impact and thinking, just in different sizes. But if you look closely, these 400 pages are just about one thing, or one organization, a very large organization.

State religion.

I began to ponder.

I am not unfamiliar with it. During my years in exile, I already knew of its existence, but I still couldn't help but feel angry and disgusted.

How can we accept the fact that an evil thing that we once defeated is making a comeback so brazenly?

People regard the Emperor as a god, worship him, pay homage to him, burn incense and chant scriptures for him, pray and offer sacrifices. Most people I have met call him the God-Emperor, and they are extremely fanatical. The truth of the Empire seems to have disappeared from people's consciousness in an instant, without any trace.

But I had never actually seen the true face of this huge religion, so I must admit that those four hundred pages were a little helpful.

The author recorded the creed, doctrine, power and various departments of the state religion in a relatively calm tone. From it, I learned that the state religion not only worships the emperor and his sons, but also includes some men and women who have been canonized as saints.

Most of them were awarded posthumously for their merits or purity.
I can still understand the former, such as Sister Celeste Hera, a living saint specifically mentioned in the book.

In 699.M33, she single-handedly protected 432 wounded soldiers of the rd Company of the nd Cadian Blitzkrieg Regiment in the Cadian Hive, and repelled a Chaos Daemon that came to attack their rear positions.

In the subsequent investigation, more than one wounded soldier claimed that they saw Sister Hera "grow wings and a halo" during the battle.
Regardless of what these wings and halo are, if this nun is really so brave, then it is only right that she should be canonized.

But canonization for purity?
Forgive me - this is just ridiculous.

And there are actually quite a few such people. The book mentions that there are currently 121 living saints recorded in the state religion, of whom 12 have been canonized as living saints because of their purity.

In the official definition of the State Church, these people are sinless, pure, and uncorrupted by any form of Chaos.

They are vigilant in the face of their enemies and kind in the face of their people. They are compassionate, selfless and generous, humble and powerful, brave with a sword, and generous in life.
However, those twelve absolutely pure living saints were all underage male children. How could they wield swords and repel the enemies?
If that's not ridiculous enough, look at the time they were canonized, with the first case appearing six centuries ago and spreading to the beginning of this century.

This incident really pissed me off.

I thought that religion was still the same as before, doing dirty things under the guise of being upright. However, the section on state religion took up a total of 400 pages, and the section on living saints took up less than 20 pages.

Just like the number of pages it occupies, the state religion itself is also a huge organization. It is very likely the largest religion born by mankind so far. Good and evil must coexist.

The story of Sister Hera and the twelve innocent boys were two vivid examples, occupying the two ends of the scale. After that, every piece of information I learned added chips to the two ends of the scale.

For example, the Healing Church, which provides free assistance to the poor and devotes its body and soul to the way of salvation, or the devout assassins who specifically target the "enemies of faith" identified by the church's top brass.
These contradictory and opposing things continued to accumulate within the state religion.

I saw battle sisters, military chaplains, crusader soldiers, and one genuine blood-stained holy flag after another.

But I also saw the assassins who held great power but only obeyed the so-called bishops, the mandatory weekly worship, and the constant power struggles within the state church.
The author of this book focuses on describing the path of advancement within the state religion.

Generally speaking, members of the state religion come from the Zhongsi Academy or join voluntarily. The former need to discover their qualifications and cultivate them from an early age, while the latter need to pass the review and purification ceremony. Only those who are confirmed to have a devout faith can be allowed to join the state religion.

After being taught some basic scriptures, women will enter the Sisterhood and visit various orders and monasteries one by one. After they reach adulthood, they will choose one to join. Mercy or killing, there are many ways to serve the Emperor.

Men will start as trainee monks, and they can choose to become missionaries, traveling across the galaxy to spread the teachings of the state religion and educate the barbarians in the unbelievers. They can also accept assignments to serve as priests on different planets and devote their lives there.

Some people choose to become military chaplains or crusaders to face the enemies of humanity in a more direct way. I must admit one thing - mortals seem to have found a new power to support their own spirits, and it works. I have seen a lot of descriptions of this.

The pure mark that can weaken the power of demons and various amulets that represent faith. Asking the accompanying priest to pray and bless before the battle can increase the power of weapons against demons. The blood of the jihadists can make demons afraid, and the remains of the devout can be burned and mixed into water to form powerful holy water.
If they were not really effective, I think these things would not have been recorded so seriously, and the lion would not have brought me the book containing them.

However, realizing this had a certain ripple effect on me.

We have faced many so-called gods in the past, and a large number of them are psykers. Those who follow them have very strong beliefs because they have witnessed things that cannot be explained.

But psychic power is not unfamiliar to the Empire, so why are the believers of the state religion so steadfast?
A terrible guess slowly emerged in my mind, and just thinking about it made me shudder. I had to continue reading the book, so that more things could dilute this terrifying imagination of seeking the root of the problem.

However, what I saw after 400 pages shocked me even more. I couldn't understand the terms like 'Terra's shattering' and 'Fortress Wall'.
And the fucking Astartes Chapter.

What is a Chapter? A thousand men? Split into sub-chambers? Scattered across the galaxy?
Roboute Guilliman
I closed the book, put on my helmet and walked out of the interrogation room. The lion told me to go find him after I finished reading the book, but I couldn't obey. I had to find him and ask him about this matter. After that, my brain would probably allow me to do other things.

I think I must have been mad, otherwise the young guy standing on the left side of the interrogation room door wouldn't have immediately drawn his gun and pointed it at me.

He was fully armed, wearing a coat that looked less like a knight's tunic over a fine power armor. He pointed a plasma directly at my forehead, and I could hear a strange creaking sound faintly coming from under his helmet.

He could have shot me at any moment, and I was unarmed.

I looked at him, knowing that words could easily become the trigger for an explosion in this situation - I didn't know why, but the nerves of this so-called Dark Angel were obviously stretched to a limit.

I repeat, he could shoot at any time.
If it wasn't for another voice behind me, I think he would have actually shot.

"Asmodai, put down your damn weapon!"

I heard a low roar and felt a strong wind at the same time.

I lowered my head, a flash of black passed through my vision, and then there was a heavy metal collision sound. When I raised my head again, another dark angel had already controlled the kid called Asmodai.

"Are you crazy?!" he yelled. "Do you want to be punished and sent to the recruit company again?!"

"He is a traitor!"

I heard Asmodai's roar, unwilling to be outdone. This name made me very angry, but it was actually okay for him to call me that.

I am a Fallen Angel, whether I want to be or not, whether I want to be or not. What happened on Caliban tore a gaping hole between the Legions, and I was the one who fell into it.

"Whether he is a traitor or not is up to the Lion to decide."

"Fuck you, Azrael! Give me the gun!"

They started fighting, right before my eyes.

A few seconds later, the young man called Azriel knocked Asmodai to the ground with a fierce swinging punch, and then followed up with a kick, which made him dizzy for a while, and took away all the weapons on him during these precious ten seconds.

Asmodai didn't seem to be willing to accept this result. He stood up with a roar and tried to rush towards me again.
I have to admit that when I saw this scene, I sneered behind my helmet.

An ignorant fool.

I could see hatred in his eyes, a hatred that clearly could not be explained simply. He hated me, or rather one of my brothers.

I don't know who it was, but that person must have done something terrible to him, which made his hatred so strong and even spread to me. I understand these things, but I still plan to teach him a lesson.

The reason was simple, and it wasn't even for myself. He had disobeyed the Lion's orders, and therefore he had to be punished.

"Stop, Asmodai!"

Azrael roared in anger, and I saw him bend his legs and try to run. He probably wanted to stop Asmodai in front of me, but his speed was not as fast as that stupid young boy.

So I stood firm, clenched my right hand into a fist, and planned to teach that fool a lesson. I thought so, and I did so. When he rushed towards me, I raised my fist and planned to break his nose, but I failed.

A hand grabbed mine firmly, followed by a dull sound, and the attacker, who should have been knocked to the ground by me, suddenly fell to the ground.

I looked up and saw the lion's expressionless face.

I tried to explain.

"No, that's not necessary," my Primarch said. "I can hear what's going on here from halfway down the corridor, and even if I can't hear it, I can guess it. Stand up, Asmodai."

"He is a traitor, my lord!"

"I have the final say on whether he is a traitor or not," the lion said coldly. "Now stand up."

He raised his hand and pointed to the room I came out of, then looked at me.

I took a deep breath, he patted my shoulder, and strode in first.

(End of this chapter)