Warhammer 40k: Melee Warriors

A cold smirk appeared on the judge's lips, filled with mockery and distrust of Komi's words.

In his view, if a demon helps humanity, it only means that what they want is greater.

Not to mention the cunning and treacherous Tzeentch right in front of us; look how perfect his plan is!

First, he possessed the body of a lowly conscript who no one would care about. Then, relying on the blasphemous knowledge bestowed upon him by Tzeentch, he roamed among the orcs, causing them to split and fight, which greatly reduced the defensive pressure on Red Mining World.

Then, he slightly revealed his power in the upper nest, weaving a lie about being the chosen one of the Emperor with light and sound, and then took the opportunity to erode the real sacred artifact.

After severely damaging the Nurgle cultists, the Tzeentch demon went even further and began setting traps for the Slaanesh cultists, luring them into activating a sacrificial array when they were unprepared.

The severely wounded Slaanesh demon must have been closely related to the schemes of this Tzeentch demon. The demon spared Falla's life in the bottom of the lair because he wanted to use her to drive out the Slaanesh demon and preserve his own strength.

Unfortunately, this treacherous demon's scheme, though meticulously planned and flawless, was ultimately outmaneuvered by Faya.

Who would have thought that a psychic who possessed the power of an emperor could have a complete corpse?

The judge had no doubt that if Falla had died in the Emperor's power, the demon would have led his deceived servants to intercept and kill the Inquisition's forces.

In this way, he would become the sole ruler of the Red Mining World, and in a decade or two, the people of this world would follow Komi's conspiracy and become believers of the evil god.

Finally, the corruption expanded outwards, infiltrating the fleet that would come to collect taxes from the Red Mining World in the future, and following the footsteps of the tax fleet, the corruption spread to every corner of the edge of the hazy sector.

What terrifying ambition! What an insidious scheme!

As the judge pondered this, a cold sweat broke out on his body. If he hadn't possessed that wondrous Spirit Clan jewel, he might not have been able to detect the demon's existence, and might have even treated Gu Jian as the Emperor's chosen one, just like everyone else.

However, the demon ultimately failed.

Seeing Komi growing weaker and weaker, the judge, whose body was being supported by mechanical modifications, also showed a slight smile.

This victory belongs to the Emperor! It belongs to his eternally vigilant Court of Justice!

Komi lay on the ground in a very disheveled state, barely able to control his eyelids.

In the end, Koken couldn't help but hate his own indecisiveness and questioned why he had to shamelessly help the human empire.

You knew perfectly well that this was a hopeless mess, and you knew the courtroom was full of extreme psychopaths, yet you still went there... How shameless of you!

It would have been better to go with the red-cloaked man; at least those sycophants wouldn't have betrayed him so quickly...

Damn judges...damn courtroom...damn wishful thinking...

Koji cursed inwardly, thinking that if he could regain his composure, he could definitely offer a different perspective on the judge's betrayal.

Demons are ever-changing and insidious, and judges must do what mortals cannot in order to even slightly curb their infiltration and spread.

They cannot see the future, and they are unaware whether this momentary indulgence and relaxation will lead to the fall of a planet or even a star sector.

Therefore, the judges will use the most ruthless and extreme methods to eliminate those they suspect, employing a style of "better to kill a thousand innocent people than let one guilty person go free" to cleanse the human empire.

However, Komi was now filled with resentment and anger at being betrayed. He knew very well that he was innocent and clean, but he also knew that it would be useless to shout such an explanation at the damned judge.

Even if I'm a demon, I'm still a demon who cares about the lives of humans...

If he were to shout these words out loud, Koji could only imagine the judge giving him a disdainful sneer.

That's fucking damn good!

Gu Jian could only grit his teeth in his mind. He reminded himself that if he didn't perish in front of this damned exorcism zone, he would definitely come back to settle scores with this damned judge.

Not only that! The human empire isn't helping either! Let whoever wants to deal with this shitty mountain of infighting go ahead and do it!

Forget that nonsense about "with great power comes great responsibility," act solely on personal whims, and let the whole ship roam the Milky Way! Like the Endless One Tarachin, let's travel and have fun.

Or they could follow the example of the ruthless King Huron and establish their own kingdom in a chaotic region that the human empires are too busy to manage.

Komi really doesn't want to experience that kind of awful situation again—working for someone for free and then getting stabbed in the back by their henchmen.

His soul grew colder and colder, a sign that it was about to completely detach from his body. With his last bit of strength, Koji roared out the resentment and anger in his chest at the pale-faced judge.

"I'll be back one day. You'd better live a long life and get your neck clean so I can chop it off!"

"Heh...you finally couldn't keep up the act anymore. I knew you demons would be enraged after your plans were exposed. The Emperor's power protects his loyal servants, you fiends."

The judge was dismissive of Komi's threats, and in the end, Komi's head slammed hard against the ground, making a loud thud like a bowling ball hitting the floor.

His soul was stripped away by the Exorcism Death Zone, and fueled by his last rage, he went to some corner of the Warp.

Chapter 90: Time Will Tell Who is Loyal

With a heavy sigh, he quickly pressed down on the eagle statue in his hand to interrupt the energy supply to the obelisk.

The judge was pale and nearly collapsed like Komi. He trembled, deeply grateful for the resilience bestowed upon him by the Emperor. If Komi had held on for just three or five more seconds, the judge would have been the one to meet the Golden Throne first.

After inputting the command, the judge walked forward clumsily and mechanically, drawing the explosive pistol from his waist and aiming it at the attendant who had come with Komi.

Mi Yang, Shi Tou.

They were both panting heavily, lying on the ground, shocked by the conflict between the judge and Komi.

Stone raised his head, his gaze climbing up the judge's boots and finally settling on his cold, indifferent face.

Stone yelled, "You damned bastard... what have you done?"

“I offer my loyalty to the Emperor,” the judge replied coldly, then prepared to shatter the stone’s skull with a gunshot.

He didn't want to gamble on whether the stone was pure, what if the demon left an imperceptible demonic mark on him?

You must die so that more people can live.

Stone's dreams and hopes were about to be smeared on the ground with his charred brains. He was even allocated a nesting house and a lover worthy of building a family because of his merits.

Now it's all gone, and the woman who didn't marry the stone will die in the judge's next purge.

"You... damn... traitor..." Mi Yang's curses came intermittently as she crawled forward, trying to grab the judge's ankles tightly with her hands.

Her hand was pressed down hard by the iron boot, and in an instant, her hand was mangled and her bones shattered. Mi Yang bit her lip tightly and glared at the judge. She did not want to show her weakness in front of this damned traitor.

“A Kadian…” Looking at Miyan’s purple eyes, the judge’s face showed a hint of regret. “You have guarded the gate of the Eye of Fear for the Emperor for generations, yet you have never realized that the saint you are loyal to is a deeply hidden demon?”

"He saved the world, he received the Emperor's reward... We all saw it, we saw it clearly..."

"That's a lie, a lie to deceive you."

"No...you are the one who is blinded by lies...you killed a saint, you disgraced the throne."

The judge was surprised by Mi Yang's persistence and gained a deeper understanding of Komi's bewitching abilities.

Finally, he aimed his gun at the two men's upturned heads and answered calmly, "The true saint is Falla; she is the prophesied savior. What a disgrace it is for you to fight alongside a demon! Your deaths are utterly dishonorable and will bring shame upon the throne."

Mi Yang stared with his mouth agape, tears of resentment streaming from his purple eyes, which had always been filled with bloodshed.

"The Emperor will witness who the true loyalists are..."

"It's obvious, it wasn't you."

boom!

A gunshot rang out, but instead of leaving a pool of blood on the floor, the explosive pistol that the judge had been carefully handling exploded.

The judge was startled, suspecting that Komi's corruption had not completely dissipated, so he put away his explosive pistol and drew his sword, preparing to kill the two men.

The sword's edge approached Mi Yang's throat, then remained firmly planted, unable to advance an inch further; powerful psionic energy halted the judge's execution.

The judge's face was solemn, and unease was gnawing at his soul. Even now, he felt that he had done nothing wrong.

"Judge! What are you doing!" The door was suddenly pried open, the heavy mechanical lock unable to stop the destruction by psionic energy.

Faya, her face filled with panic, stood at the open doorway. When she saw the lifeless, cold corpse inside the house, tears immediately streamed down her face.

"What have you done! You secretly killed a saint!" Falla's scream at the judge was filled with surging psychic energy, forcing him to back away.

The judge replied righteously, "He is not a saint! He is merely a devil skilled at deceiving others. Do not be misled by him, Falla!"

"Go to hell! Don't I know whether he's a saint or not?" Faya used her psychic power to force the judge to retreat step by step, then threw herself in front of Komi's cold corpse and wept bitterly.

"Oh...my saint...please answer my prayer, please cover my ears with your hands..."

Koji did not reply, and Faya did not hear the vibrant sound of his life. The judge did not dare to provoke Faya further. He sheathed his sword and looked at Miyan and Stone behind Faya with cold eyes.

“Traitors will pay a bloody price,” Miyan and Shitou said with their eyes.

"And time will tell who the true loyalists are," the judge replied.

The world of Red Mining is engulfed in war again, but this time there are no aliens or cults involved; it is merely an imperial civil war caused by suspicion.

This is nothing new for the human empire.

In the deep, dark universe, a laugh echoed, mocking the terminal illness of the human empire.

......

In some unknown corner of the warp, a destroyer so dilapidated that even the orcs couldn't muster any desire to salvage it drifted on the chaotic sea.

Judging from the remaining hull structure, the ship should be a Blind Faith-class raider, a relatively small warship with lighter armor and weapons.

The style of the ships is distinctly different from that of the Imperial Fleet. They are simple in style and lack the cumbersome Gothic church elements. The bows are long and flat due to the lack of armor protection.

The ship's paint has been weathered and worn, and its original color is almost unrecognizable, with only rusty reddish-brown and copper green covering it.

Long-term lack of maintenance has left this Blind Faith-class raider in a dilapidated state, with some gaps that have been barely sealed with large amounts of iron plates.

However, these patches that exposed the ship's poor condition were far less significant than the massive damage to the stern, which looked as if it had been bitten by something, with the engine and power source being torn off.

The ship is still able to sail through the warp only because of the perverse pleasures of certain demons, who propel it from one location to another, hoping that the creatures inside will bring them more amusement.

A Chaos Space Marine, with a Chaos Eight-Pointed Star welded to his chest armor, tossed aside the crackling, sparking cables and traversed the chaos of the bridge.

Judging from the armor's decorations and the man's mannerisms, this Chaos Space Marine has a very deep relationship with the Word Bearers.

"Ah... the Chaos Gods have protected us! We actually survived that Void Whale's attack! Hahaha!" The Word Bearer laughed, the laughter amplified by the built-in megaphone in his helmet and echoing throughout the bridge.

Another voice came from the shadows, venomously blaming the Word Bearer for his previous foolish behavior, "Shalang...you damned idiot! Your voice is too noisy, can't you keep it down!"

“My megaphone is broken, I can’t adjust the volume,” Sharon continued loudly. “It’s all that state priest’s fault. He’s too stupid and rigid, unwilling to acknowledge the greatness of the Four Gods and the hypocrisy of the Corpse King.”

"So you turned the megaphone volume up to the maximum and used praise to literally kill that skinny old man? To be honest, your preaching ability is no different from your psionic power—it's utterly worthless!"

"Shit? Speaking of which, has anyone seen my little cutie?" A deep, hoarse voice, clearly tinged with disgust, came through the stench. Just hearing this person speak made one feel as if their nose was being violently assaulted by the foul smell.

Sharon covered his face with his helmet, and the venomous voice from the shadows also emitted bursts of dry heaving.

The obese, bloated Death Guard, with his intestines spilling out of his tattered armor, searched the bridge for any other disgusting little creature like himself.

Sharon warned, "Ferren... don't touch those devices with your filthy hands! Do you know how many slaves we'll have to die just to clean up the mess you've made?"