Warhammer: My buddy has too many secrets!

Judge Declan stood on the bridge of his flagship, the Eternal Flame, gazing through the reinforced glass at the Weeping Warrior warship outside the porthole.

The flagship of the Lamenters Chapter, the Mother of Tears, hovered quietly in the Imperial Starport. Although its hull bore the marks of battle and scars, it did not give off any sense of unease.

The Empire's double-headed eagle emblem is exceptionally pure.

"All the scan data is ready, Your Honor."

Technician Mel-7A's mechanical whiskers retracted from the data port, and his half-metal face flickered with dense streams of data.

"Energy readings are normal. The subspace contamination index of the flagship 'Lamenter' is 0.3, which is 0.1 units below the standard threshold. No traces of chaotic corrosion were detected inside the hull."

"Bio-scans show that all Astartes on board have vital signs within the normal range."

Declan didn't turn around. He stared at the warship, his fingers unconsciously stroking the rose knot on the Inquisition's emblem at his waist. He had already verified the identities of the Lamenters through special means long ago.

The details could not be disclosed, but he was certain that the once-cursed Holy Blood Angels had broken free of their restraints.

Their ships carried the blessing of the great son of the divine emperor, Saint Jereth.

If this procedure weren't mandatory, Inquisitor Declan would have preferred to speak directly with Malakin, the Chapter Master of the Weeping Ones.

But he was too old. This judge had once been extremely ruthless, even feared by his colleagues, and he had almost ruthlessly eliminated the aliens and chaotic demons in his star field.

His orders have already caused the deaths of hundreds of billions of citizens of the empire... Whenever he arrives on a planet, those chaotic demons tremble at the mere mention of his name.

But he's gotten old.

The whispers and fears from countless nightmares tormented his heart, both body and soul; he had reached the limit of his loyalty to the God Emperor.

When someone gets old, someone will naturally take their place.

He welcomed his student, just as he had when he first became a student of his teacher... Severin was an excellent student, but being an excellent student is not necessarily a good thing for a teacher.

A month ago, the old judge issued an extermination order for the planet. The Cyclone Torpedo penetrated the planet's core and blasted the entire planet into pieces.

Billions of imperial citizens died without even knowing it, but the executioner, Judge Declan, who had done all this, just stared at the whirlwind torpedo with a grim face, and then a huge crimson creature roared amidst the rubble.

That was a great demon of Khorne.

He arrived in this world long ago through the sacrifice of mortals. This great demon did not immediately begin his killing spree. He meticulously planned and accumulated power on this planet for 888 years.

He originally planned to tear open the veil between the real universe and the warp, leading his demon army to fight his way through the land, with his goal of reaching the Ultramarines' homeworld, Macragge. However, in the ninth year before his plan was about to be completed, what awaited him was a whirlwind torpedo fired by the Inquisitor without any hesitation.

All the hard work and effort was wasted.

However, the warp power accumulated over a century prevented Him from being banished back to the warp immediately. Even so, this defeated demon was almost driven mad, roaring in the universe and using psychic energy to shout the name of Inquisitor Declan, cursing that after He died, the demon would come to harvest His soul.

However, the judge simply ordered a volley of light spears.

Although, during the process, seeing that abominable demon actually able to move through space by using warp magic to forcibly withstand the bombardment of the ship's light cannons, Inquisitor Declan admitted that he was so terrified that he almost fainted.

But... in the end, he still completely banished this great demon back to the warp.

All the fleets involved in this extermination order praised Inquisitor Declan. Even the Ultramarines involved were astonished and presented him with an Iron Halo to express their appreciation for Inquisitor Declan's astute judgment.

All the honors were nothing but a drop in the ocean for the judges; only Declan himself knew that they came at a price.

Some things he had carefully hidden were eventually exposed to the people he cared about.

His successor, his apprentice, and even, in a sense, the continuation of his life, the student who would take his place and inherit all his resources, discovered the unspeakable things hidden behind his glorious side...

That blasphemous demonic power.

The judges of the Demon Tribunal actually borrowed the power of demons?

It sounds like some kind of hellish joke, but it's true. If it weren't for the information from the demon host with the mutated blue feathers, Inquisitor Declan would never have discovered the Khorne Demon's plan.

And at this moment, it was the same. The demon hosts and chaotic evil beings he imprisoned would emit ear-piercing screams just by facing the Weeping Warship, and warp magic would be suppressed as soon as it came close. Such signs had already made the Inquisitor declare the purity of the Weeping Warships.

Tragically, he couldn't say these things outright, since he had obtained this information from the demon, and he couldn't even directly interfere, because his disciple didn't trust him.

Furthermore, the matter of reviewing the return of Space Marines had already been entrusted to his disciple, and trying to interfere now would only exacerbate his disciple's suspicions about this Space Marine chapter...

The offspring of Saint Geres.

Born from the cursed army of the Weeping Legion... As a seasoned inquisitor, he knew some of the legion's secrets, as well as the curse flowing in their blood, and the insane hunger they would experience during the most intense battles.

Black fury...thirst for blood...

Beneath the elegant and noble surface of those warriors lies a deep abyss, and a wise inquisitor must be extremely cautious when dealing with these secrets related to the Space Marines.

Some foolish colleagues, relying on the power bestowed upon them by the God-Emperor, recklessly attempted to peer into these abysses, but in the end, these foolish fellows will bring about their own destruction.

Declan remembered that he had taught all of these things to Severine, and now it was time to put them to the test.

And so, Declan waited and waited... only to have a sudden, urgent red alarm burst from the sound array's communication channels.

"Buzzing!"

The urgent alarm instantly triggered a preheating of all the weapon systems near the ship! The signal's intent couldn't be clearer: the inquisitor's apprentice was calling for armed support!

Inquisitor Declan felt his breath catch in his throat. This signal was all too familiar to him; it usually meant conflict. If he issued this order, it meant he was prepared to wipe this chapter completely from the Empire!

But this Lamenters Chapter is not one that needs to be wiped out! It has the blessing of Saint Geres above it! Although he didn't know the specific reason, Declan only felt a word pierce his brain in that instant...

—Disaster is imminent.