Warhammer: Hail to the Void Lords!.

Chapter 960, page 08.959: 'The valuable man's fiancée?'

Whoosh! Thump!
With another dull thud, the last headless corpse was dragged off the guillotine by two expressionless law enforcement officers, like a heavy sack, and thrown onto the top of the already overflowing hearse.

The last head was raised high, but this time, before the cheers of the soldiers could even begin, they were interrupted by a melodious military band performance.

A new procession slowly made its way from the main entrance of the monastery.

The ornately dressed flintlock musketeers stood in loose formation, lazily carrying their gilded rifles; they looked more like a ceremonial guard attending a celebration than an army.

In the center of their ranks were a group of Sintira conservative noble officers, dressed in even more luxurious clothes and with their faces covered in thick white powder.

They stared in astonishment at the bloody execution taking place on the guillotine, their mouths agape.

Immediately afterward, this astonishment quickly turned into undisguised anger.

"By the Divine Emperor! What are you doing!" The leader was a heavily made-up man whose face was as white as a corpse due to rouge and lead powder, while his lips were as red as if they were soaked in blood.

The Cintira noble officer, with his bizarrely flamboyant makeup, rode a tall horse, pointed his whip at the guillotine, and let out a piercing scream.

The voice was sharp and unpleasant, which made Horatio feel irritated.

He detests this kind of androgynous screaming!

"Who is he?" Horatio turned his head and asked Colonel Jadwiga, who was standing behind him.

"..." The female colonel looked at the man, her brows furrowed, and remained silent for a moment.

Horatio keenly noticed that the muscles in her cheeks were twitching slightly, a sign of her suppressing her anger and gritting her teeth.

"What's wrong, female citizen? Do you know him?"

“No, I don’t know him.” Jadwiga’s voice was icy. “All I know is that he is a Major General in the Astral Army named Charles-François-Dimourie de Orléans. He is a notorious opportunist in the military. He pretended to support the military reformers, but after being entrusted with important responsibilities, he immediately turned his guns on the conservatives, causing the military reformers’ plans to fail. In the end, the achievements of the military reforms were like a healthy person having a leg forcibly removed, forcing many reforms to be overturned and started all over again.”

"A political fence-sitter," Horatio thought to himself with a contemptuous "Pah."

"Stop! Soldiers! Take control of this place!" The Sintira man named Dimoulier continued to shout in his harsh, high-decibel voice.

"Stop him! Since when has the Empire's judicial process allowed armed interference from outsiders!" Horatio could no longer hold back. He stood up abruptly and waved his hand.

The next instant, the naval boarding members and armed sailors responsible for maintaining security and discipline at the monastery sprang into action, forming a solid human wall that blocked the path of the flamboyant flintlock musketeers toward the guillotine.

Rumble, rumble...

Before the naval soldiers had even firmly established their human wall, the ground began to tremble slightly.

A troop of cavalrymen clad in heavy silver-plated breastplates, accompanied by the roar of several Leman Rustanks, approached from the flank.

These equally proud noblemen, carrying sabers, stood guard alongside the silver and blue battle tanks, forming a taller and stronger steel wall that blocked Dumourie's path.

Immediately afterwards, tall grenadiers emerged from between the warhorses, their grenade launchers gleaming dangerously, further reinforcing the human wall.

Brigadier General Rana stood silently at the front of the formation, holding his drawn power sword.

With a furrowed brow, he slowly and unequivocally shook his head at the Sintira conservative officers who had come to shout. His silence before the towering ranks of grenadiers, cavalry, and armored soldiers was more intimidating than any harsh words.

“Young man,” General Nansuti finally spoke, his voice calm but filled with unquestionable authority, “I think it’s not your place to question my decisions.”

He adjusted his bicorn hat and calmly rose from the dock.

“General Nansutti… You’ve already retired, why aren’t you enjoying your retirement in Sintira? What are you doing here on the front lines?” Dumoulier had to tone down his arrogance when he saw the old general.

"Enjoy your retirement?" The old general scoffed, his voice filled with disdain. "You've almost lost the entire front, and I think I can enjoy my retirement?!"

He slammed his double-headed eagle scepter on the ground with a thud: "I think you want me to go with you to the guillotine!"

[A classic case of an incompetent general causing the death of his entire army. He ruined the old general's reputation in his later years, almost losing his head, and yet he blames the general for not retiring peacefully in the rear.] Horatio couldn't help but sneer inwardly after hearing this.

“The situation is not as bad as you think.” Dumoulier raised his overly drawn eyebrows. “Our valiant Sintira warriors are fighting bravely on the front lines! Before long, we will drive out the aliens and traitors and reclaim our lost territory.”

"Heroic fighting? Is this what you call heroic fighting?" The old general threw the parchment scroll containing the list of deserters at him. A servant quickly dismounted, trotted forward, picked it up from the ground, and respectfully handed it to Dumourie.

"Deserters! Passive service! Evading national defense obligations! This is what your soldiers are like!"

Dumourier picked up the parchment and quickly scanned it. He took a deep breath, and his face immediately spread with a fawning smile, like a Sichuan opera face-changing act: "Please rest assured, General Nansutti, the Astral Army is so large that there will always be a few cowards, even the legendary Cadian Blitzkrieg."

“If Louise were here, she would tear his mouth apart with her own hands,” Horatio whispered to Falida and They beside him, receiving nods of agreement from the latter two.

"In the next battle, your men will be the vanguard! Where is Billon? Where has he gone?!" The old general shouted the name of the lieutenant general who had previously communicated with Horatio on the orbit.

"Lieutenant General Biron won't arrive here for another three days. He's currently in the rear... uh... maintaining discipline!"

"Not a single one of them is easy to deal with!" The old general was furious and stormed off.

The Imperial Guards, maintaining their military aristocratic pride, silently turned their horses around and followed General Nansutti, who mounted his warhorse, away from the blood-soaked and gunpowder-filled ground.

After the executions were completed, Brigadier General Jean Lannes signaled his troops to make way for the flintlock musketeers.

"Long time no see, my friend. Oh no, I should call you my brother-in-law, hehehe." The heavily made-up man rode slowly past Brigadier General Rana, laughing in a effeminate and nauseating tone.

"Where is my lovely little fiancée? Ah, Jadviga, I've found you, my dear fiancée..."

brush!--

A sharp metallic sound suddenly rang out, startling the jurors who were still seated.

Horatio, They, Falida, and Grand Solicitor Javert all turned their heads to look at the woman who had been standing behind them, and in full view of everyone, she drew her long, silver sword.

Her pupils instantly contracted to pinpoints, and her long, slightly pointed ears trembled slightly with rage. The gleaming silver power saber was now humming, its tip pointed directly at Dumourie's nose.

“If,” her voice was low and dangerous, each word seemingly squeezed out between clenched teeth, “I will hear that word from your disgusting mouth again, and I will chop your head off the next second. I mean it, Charles-François-du-Mouriès de Orléans citizen.”

I have absolutely no relation to you whatsoever! Now, get out of my sight!!!

(End of this chapter)