Warhammer: Hail to the Void Lords!.

Chapter 1038 09.1037: 『A Determined Assassin』

The pilgrimage procession was like an out-of-control torrent, violently crashing against the fragile dam of the checkpoint.

The air was filled with a strange, mixed odor of stale sweat, expensive incense, and sandalwood boxes containing sacred objects.

The prayers and chants of the crowd mingled with the shouts of the bailiffs, creating a deafening cacophony.

Fortunately, these Imperial bailiffs, transferred from a densely populated Tith's Nest like Abyss Harbor, possessed ample experience in maintaining stability among large groups, honed in the crucible of human suffering.

At the Chief Justice's command, they immediately activated the emergency plan.

Black armored walls rose from the ground, forcibly separating the flow of people like a comb.

Religious believers, property owners, ordinary citizens... different groups were guided to different channels and subjected to different levels of checks according to the threat level.

The enormous float carrying the sacred relics was then directed to a newly opened, exclusive fast lane that only they could pass through.

“Hey, Sister Arabella, joining the social event?” Horatio asked from his high perch on the parapet, looking down at Sister Arabella as she was being pulled from the chaotic crowd by the bailiffs.

“That’s right, Captain.” Arabella looked up, saw him, and gave a gentle smile.

In that instant, her smile was like a ray of holy light, briefly dispelling all the fervor, filth, and gloom of the place.

"Today is the Feast of the Ascension of Saint Drusus. On this holy day, Attorney Diana and I are preparing to hold a consecration baptism for your newborn son Albert at the Cathedral of Enlightenment, hoping that he will one day become a great hero like Saint Drusus."

She continued, "I was just about to contact you, but Captain Louise said you went to a military meeting. I never expected to run into you here."

"Where is Judge Diana?"

"She has already gone ahead to the Cathedral of Enlightenment to set up the venue. I am responsible for representing the Holy Rosary Order, organizing the procession with the sisters of the Sisters of the Martyrs, and escorting the relics and pilgrims to the cathedral."

“Greetings, Saint.” A nun in black armor standing next to Arabella greeted Horatio in a clear, warm voice, full of a warrior’s confidence. “I am Sister Ageta. Sister Arabella often tells me of your deeds and war history, which are truly impressive. Welcome to Callisis.”

The nun was wearing the black armor and robes that were the hallmark of the Sisters of the Martyrs, but her robes were still all black, not yet the classic style of later times, which was specially designed to commemorate all the sisters who were martyred in the Third Battle of Amoghasiddhi.

At this moment, the tragedy has not yet occurred, and the timeline has not yet reached that tragic juncture.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sister Ageta.” The name 'Ageta' sounded familiar to Horatio. “What a magnificent float! It must contain a great relic.”

“Yes, this contains the treasures of the Calicus parish, the brilliant legacy of the human empire, and is worth protecting at all costs.” The black-armored nun’s eyes gleamed with a devout and fanatical light.

“Then you’d better be careful, nuns,” said the High Priest Javert, who had appeared at some point. His tone was extremely serious. “I must remind you that the security situation in Sintira has been quite serious lately.”

From the perspective of a professional law enforcement officer, I absolutely do not recommend that you organize such a large-scale pilgrimage procession while escorting such precious relics.

"Everyone has the right to offer their faith to the God-Emperor, High Priest." Sister Ageta maintained her approachable and enthusiastic demeanor, yet her words carried an undeniable pride. "Moreover, my order is renowned for the exceptional martial arts skills of its nuns. We are the guardians of the Imperial Relics! If even we cannot protect these relics, what will become of those blessed relics of heroes?!"

“I believe you without a doubt. But my duty compels me to inform you.” Javert snorted coldly and said no more.

However, the moment he finished speaking, a shrill scream, so piercing it was inhuman, suddenly erupted from the crowd!
Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw a gentleman dressed in a magnificent Cintira Baroque style outfit suddenly convulsing violently as if he had been under the most vicious spell, foaming at the mouth.

Then, under everyone's horrified gaze, he let out a beastly roar and viciously and without hesitation stabbed his own fingers into his eye sockets!

"Pfft!"

Two streams of blood gushed from his eyes like fountains, staining his face, which was contorted with extreme pain and ecstasy.

"By God the Emperor! What is he doing? He's going to kill himself! Stop!!! Don't move!" Sister Arabella's expression changed drastically. As a Holy Rose Sister whose duty was to save lives, her instinct to save lives drove her to rush toward the man, trying to control him before he could kill himself completely and to stabilize his wounds.

She must not allow blood to stain such a sacred and memorable day.

"Wait! Arabella!" Horatio shouted from his vantage point, but his voice was drowned out by the screaming and clamoring crowd. Arabella had already charged headlong into the increasingly chaotic crowd caused by the sudden turn of events. The crowd screamed in terror, frantically fleeing the horrific scene, and the slightly easing flow of people instantly spiraled out of control.

Amid the chaos, the Martyrs – the fighting nuns of the Order of Proteus – immediately formed a defensive formation to protect the relic, drawing their slingshots and chainsaws, faithfully fulfilling their mission to safeguard it.

"Open the fence! Quickly!" Chief Justice Javert made a decisive decision, issuing the order he least wanted to give.

To prevent a large-scale stampede, the bailiffs had to open all the physical barriers.

The out-of-control crowd surged forward—it's better to let them rush through the checkpoint than to let tens of thousands of people get stuck here, trampling and suffocating each other.

For these fanatical believers who stumbled and staggered toward the Qiming Cathedral like zombies, their only hope was that the checkpoints in the middle and at the end of the passage could hold back the surging crowd in sections.

"Are you alright?" Arabella rushed to the side of the self-harming victim immediately.

He was covered in blood, the blood staining his respectable Baroque scarf, and he kept screaming in a tone of horror and terror: "I saw it! I saw it!!!"

“What did you see?” Arabella asked, trying to hold down his still frantically waving arms.

"Radiance! I see radiance! Look! Look! That black sun radiating a purple halo! Oh, save me! Save me!! I can't take it anymore!" The man's voice quickly changed from trembling excitement to a sobbing sob.

"A black sun radiating a purple halo?" Arabella's face instantly turned strange and stern. "Don't move! Whatever you see, you must treat your wounds first. Afterwards, we'll take you away and ask you some questions. Don't worry, we'll make sure you're safe."

Sister Arabella immediately went into her usual medical nun mode, kneeling on one knee and quickly taking out painkillers and sterile gauze from her silver-white medical kit.

Kaka! !
Just as she was about to bandage the injured person, a slight, metallic scraping sound clearly reached her ears from the noise around her, and she keenly noticed this unusual movement.

Arabella's gaze instantly turned icy cold, and she abruptly glanced to the side—a deadly glint caught her eye.

Before she knew it, several people dressed in ordinary pilgrim hooded robes had mingled into the crowd around her.

At that moment, they simultaneously drew a poisoned short sword hidden in the wide sleeves of their robes, like several venomous snakes silently and rapidly approaching her!

The blade gleamed with a malevolent, eerie green light, aimed directly at her neck and the vulnerable joints that her power armor couldn't fully cover!
"Arabella! Watch out! There's an assassin!" Horatio and Sister Ageta shouted at the same time, pushing aside the crowd in front of them and drawing their weapons as they charged toward her.

boom!
However, before the assassins could make a move, Arabella reacted even faster than their warnings.

She swung the heavy medical kit backward and smashed it hard on the head of one of the attackers!

With a sickening thud, the assassin's forehead shattered instantly, and a mixture of red and white matter and blood stained the silver-white ceramic steel box.

Immediately afterwards, the angel of purity danced a magnificent dance of death on the edge of a knife, making a perfect spin and narrowly avoiding another short knife that was thrust at her neck!

Om-!
As she turned around, she drew her chainsaw sword from her waist.

The engine was activated in an instant, emitting an angry roar.

With a swift upward thrust of her sword held in both hands, the rapidly spinning serrated blades gnawed deep into the abdomen of the third attacker.

Flesh, entrails, and bone fragments were instantly churned into a blurry blood mist, spraying onto the ground and staining the filthy ground a dark red.

Horatio suddenly realized something was wrong.

These assassins completely ignored him, a high-ranking officer in the Imperial Navy, and also ignored the more threatening martyr, Sister Ageta of the Order of Protus, who was dressed in black armor.

For reasons unknown, they had only one goal, strange yet unwavering—the Holy Rose Sisters clad in silver armor.

(End of this chapter)