Kingdom Come: Deliverance, but Warhammer 40k

Chapter 100 Pure Humans

worship?

Henry stood at the edge of the cheering crowd, watching the rows of refugees kneeling on the ground ahead.

The fervent cries grew louder and louder as they prayed to Henry with unrealistic wishes, hoping that he could replace their emperor and save them from their suffering.

Henry felt only a sudden, inexplicable irritation—there was no joy in his heart, which was not a good thing, especially given the name "Henry's Church".

Just hearing those words being sung in the crowd made him feel like he had thorns in his back, and he felt extremely uncomfortable.

It doesn't sound like an extension of the Imperial State Religion; rather, it sounds like a heretical sect that has been distorted and proliferated by using the Imperial State Religion's beliefs.

Just as the evil god Tzeentch and his demons did on countless planets, when faith in the Emperor was skewed and grafted onto other religions, and fanaticism for the individual exceeded normal thresholds, extreme emotions provided sustenance for the birth of chaos.

Even though Henry didn't see any trace of Tianqi at the moment.

In this idealistic world, faith itself leaves its mark on the subspace.

Currently, the influence of the "By Henry Church" is enough to affect the decision-making of the upper class in the area, and the number of believers is showing a trend of expansion.

If we allow absurd religious sects to expand unchecked—

Sooner or later, the massive ripples of consciousness will tear through the veil of reality, and be detected and exploited by the demons in the warp.

Henry, however, is a "mortal".

Nor can he, like some giant from the Tibetan Plateau, establish his own divine kingdom in the warp, illuminating the warp with immense psychic energy and protecting the souls of these so-called "believers" within it.

And they themselves do not possess the ability to utilize faith.

Henry had no idea.

Given time, a warp demon resembling Henry might indeed be born in the warp.

But this is not something that can be easily handled right now. It's impossible for Henry to turn his sword against these innocent people. Besides, it's always better to trust yourself than to trust Chaos directly.

They finally managed to escape the crowds and entreaties of the refugees.

As the noisy crowd gradually dispersed, the surroundings returned to a state of tranquility.

Cass led the group through the quarantine zone to the center of the camp, where the command post was located.

The metal gates slid open to both sides.

The boat owner, Orion, paused involuntarily as he gazed at the scene behind the door.

He was very familiar with the layout of the surrounding structure.

Once upon a time, this place was the most luxurious den of iniquity and ballroom on the Voyager, hosting countless aristocratic banquets.

Even someone as noble as him would often come here to raise a glass in celebration of the end of yet another long journey.

This place now feels both familiar and strange.

On the massive crystal chandelier in the dome, which had long since lost its power supply, hung upside down clusters of translucent, fleshy sacs emitting a ghostly green glow.

The four mottled metal walls were completely covered by densely intertwined, mutated vines.

The thick stems rose and fell in rhythm with the music, making the entire hall resemble the belly of a living, enormous beast.

腔。

And at Orion's feet.

It was a huge carpet with an unusually emerald green color and an unusually soft texture.

With each step, a rhythmic, elastic feedback came from the soles of my feet.

Anastasius spoke up at the opportune moment, his words tinged with pride.

"It's my skin; it sheds every so often. It would be such a waste to waste it."

Orion silently ignored the demon that emerged.

He swallowed back the polite compliments that were about to come out.

The others nearby seemed unwilling to respond to the enthusiastic devil's words, making the situation somewhat awkward.

But Anastasius clearly didn't care about any of that.

On the bronze candlesticks on either side of the hall, candles were lit one by one by the power of the demon.

The leaping flames had an eerie pale green hue.

"That's also oil that I refined. It burns longer and has a fragrance."

Immediately afterwards, several servants filed in carrying trays and arranged the dishes in order.

These are pork chops, pork chops of various shapes, and pork chops prepared in various ways.

Stir-fried pork strips with sliced ​​pork, stewed pork strips, dried pork strips.

Even without the demon's explanation, everyone present could roughly guess the source of the raw materials.

"Apart from the alcohol, it's basically all me," the devil said.

The mechanical priests standing nearby, who still retained their digestive systems, looked somewhat embarrassed.

The mechanical prosthetic limbs gripped the knife and fork, yet the plate remained untouched.

Orion stared at the table full of "delicacies" and remained silent for a long time.

In the end, he shook his head slightly and gave a helpless laugh.

I really think so.

"It felt like I had stepped into the palace of some evil god, and was about to enjoy a blasphemous banquet."

Cass casually pulled out a high-backed chair.

His expression was calm, clearly indicating that he had been eating the demon's flesh for quite some time.

"grown ups."

"This ship was already on the verge of becoming the territory of an evil god."

"At least here, people can sit down and eat with peace of mind, without worrying about being killed by the food in their mouths."

"That's true."

The ship's owner, Orion, was not one to be pretentious and took the seat that Cass had offered him.

Everyone took their seats in turn.

Orion picked up his glass and suddenly looked at Cass.

"Mr. Cass".

"Have you ever thought about what would happen if one day you actually returned to the Empire alive?"

"How do you plan to face the courtroom?"

Cass held his wine glass, silent, the dark liquid inside rippling.

The contours of his profile were rendered in a way that created a play of light and shadow.

Cass's expression turned somewhat grim, clearly indicating that he had not yet made up his mind about the matter.

Orion didn't urge him, but just smiled helplessly.

The human empire, whose territory spans the galaxy, is far too vast.

Some people are utterly loyal to the emperor on the golden throne.

Some entrust their honor to their own legion.

However, not everyone is willing to be meticulously loyal to the empire's complex and strict laws.

A typical example is a wandering merchant like him who operates in the gray area.

Cass, standing before us, probably also wants to temporarily defect from the human empire in order to continue his loyalty to the empire.

Such actions are not uncommon even within the empire.

After all, it's within the empire.

There are also some complete lunatics who, while shouting "Long live the Emperor!", throw themselves into the embrace of chaos without any psychological burden.

They believed that only the power of chaos could save their God-Emperor, and that the survival of the empire was of no importance to them.

Compared to that group of completely insane people.

What Cass did wasn't exactly unorthodox; it was merely a matter of adapting to survive.

Thinking about this...

Orion raised his glass, breaking the silence between them.

"Mr. Cass".

"Then, what are you fighting for?"

Cass seems to have a definite answer to this question: "To live."

After he finished speaking, he added another sentence.

"Then, fight for my God."

Orion raised his glass in a gesture of respect.

"To the Divine Emperor?"

"To the Divine Emperor."

A crisp clinking sound rang out as the two wine glasses gently touched together, splashing a little wine.

After a few drinks.

Orion suddenly changed the subject.

"For knight Henry."

What do you think?

Cass followed his gaze to the other end of the banquet hall.

Beside the long table in the distance.

Henry was sitting there, being chattered on by Balula, with the devil occasionally interrupting their conversation.

"A knight of unknown origin, shrouded in mystery."

"Based on information pieced together from survivors in the camp, he was picked up from the spaceship graveyard by scavengers."

"They claim to be from Bohemia II and belong to the Carlos Knight Family."

Orion frowned, searching his mind for relevant information.

"Carlos—?"

"I've never heard of this name, but the empire has lost too many colonies over the long years, and there are countless nameless and faceless families."

There are countless examples, so it's normal not to recognize him; he is most likely a knight.

Cass felt that these words coming from the ship's owner were somewhat sacrilegious, and asked in return.

Do you really think he's human?

"Young man—within the Empire, the definition of 'human' is far broader than you think. I imagine you've already tested him, haven't you?"

The high-ranking "President" was momentarily at a loss for words, seemingly struggling to find the right response.

After a long while.

He then slowly opened his mouth.

"Of course I checked—"

"When he was in a coma, seemingly possessed by a demon."

"But none of my doctors found any signs of mutation or decay in him."

"His gene sequence is incredibly pure; we can't find a single flaw from radiation or genetic modification."

"His psionic reaction index is also completely at the level of an ordinary mortal."

"even----"

Cass paused, seemingly finding his own conclusion absurd.

"If you only look at the test results given by the instrument..."

"He is closer to the original appearance of humans in ancient times than all of us here."

Orion's expression didn't change much, as if he had expected what he said.

Cass gazed at the figure in the distance holding a wine glass.

The emotions in his eyes were inevitably somewhat complex.

"That's why I've never been able to understand it."

"Henry".

"Are you an angel sent by the Emperor—or a demon who disdains disguise?"

Just as the two were talking.

On the other side of the hall.

Henry seemed to realize he was being watched and turned to look towards the bar.

Their gazes met briefly in mid-air.

Before Henry could even ponder the meaning of that gaze...

Baru had brazenly shoved a glass full of liquid into his hand.

Stop spacing out.

"Henry".

"Would you like a drink?"

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