Warhammer 40: Doom

Chapter 329 Never Betray
"Your unwavering human impulse saved this mortal."

The emperor remained expressionless, sending golden light into the mortal's body as he looked down at his son with a scrutinizing gaze: "Let me also re-examine your existence."

"Saint-Gilles".

The thirsting water flowed from the mortal's body, and life force filled his parched body. The Lord of Mankind dispelled death and gave him new life.

Saint Gilles remained kneeling, understanding that his father was testing his character with the life of a mortal.

If the slightest hesitation is shown, the Lord of Humanity will not hesitate to deliver a thunderous judgment on the faith in this planet.

"What if I hadn't saved him?" The angel looked up, her beautiful face gazing at her father, hoping for an answer that suggested another possibility.

"He was a kind and good man." The emperor lowered his finger, pointing at the mortal in his son's arms, his voice as majestic as the heavens, infinitely awe-inspiring yet cold and ruthless: "If he dies, the illusory faith will be buried with a true heart of kindness."

"You saved him, proving that beneath your seemingly holy and mutated exterior, there is still a glimmer of humanity, and you have earned the opportunity to defend yourself."

The emperor made no attempt to conceal his feelings, nor did he consider Saint Gilles's emotions; his cold words were filled with disgust.

When Saint Gilles prophesied to him, the emperor knew everything about his son through psychic powers.

He could not bear the thought that his son, whom he had so much to look forward to, had unclean organs growing on his body.

Those pure white wings were too dazzling; they were a desecration of the Empire's truth and a direct manifestation of the nature of the warp.

What troubled the emperor even more was that he saw through his son's twisted exterior, yet he possessed a sincere heart, and his act of saving lives shone with the brilliance of humanity.

Suppose Saint Gilles hesitated and did not save the mortal life, the Emperor would not hesitate to take action, erase his son's distorted form, and reshape him at the right time.

But the truth is, Saint Gilles did not hesitate and risked his life to save mortals, proving his noble soul.

In the emperor's eyes, a mutated body and a shining heart contradict each other in his son.

Such a contradictory being, entangled with the inner conflict of an emperor, felt a surge of bitterness, leaving the ruler of humanity at a loss...

"His appearance is not something he can decide for himself."

The atmosphere was terribly tense; the scorching desert seemed to turn cold as the father and son confronted each other, when a low voice sounded from the side.

Doom, from a third-party perspective and as an outsider, offered relatively objective opinions.

"Get up first." He walked to the kneeling angel, stretched out a hand from under his cloak, and looked at her beautiful face with his black eyes under his hood. He said, "You are not wrong. There are many things that you cannot decide, and this is not the place to talk."

Saint Gilles glanced at the large hand in front of him, his azure eyes trembling as he looked up at the handsome, expressionless face beneath the hood.

He knew all too well that a relatively fair statement, falling into the ears of the emperor at this moment, would undoubtedly be a serious bias.

Snapped!
With their hands clasped together, Saint Gilles felt the warmth of the friendly hands as they pulled him up from the scorching sand.

The emperor glanced at the pure white wings, shook his robe to express his displeasure, and turned to walk back the way Saint Gilles had come.

Doom nodded to Saint Gilles, indicating that he should leave first, as he had other matters to attend to.

Because of the emperor's displeasure, Saint Gilles dared not fly. He carried the unconscious mortal behind him, walking one after the other towards the vampire tribe.

Seeing the two figures disappear into the distance, Doom crouched down beside the thirsty water and sent the drop coordinates to the Voidship.

This kind of conscious technological creation has extremely high research value. Collecting samples and deciphering its functional structure may come in handy someday.

As the shuttle landed, Doom got up and left, leisurely chasing after the two who had left earlier.

The vampire tribe. The scattered buildings, constructed from ancient ruins, are surrounded by city walls and perched on massive rocks. The buildings are a scorching yellow, bearing witness to the marks left by the blazing sun and sandstorms over the years.

Looking along the horizon distorted by the heatwave, there were many people at the tribe's gate, wearing radiation protection suits, their subtle body movements filled with anxiety.

They are waiting for Saint Gilles to return.

Never before had such a thing happened; the angel left without a word, weapon in hand, as if going to keep a promise of no return.

The vampires waited a long time, until the stars set and the departure of the angels cast a dark shadow over the hearts of the believers.

But strangely, the star seems to be setting very slowly today, lingering on the edge of the rolling, barren dunes, reluctant to descend.

There seems to be an illusion that the star has turned golden and is approaching the tribe?

The mortals polished their protective goggles, stared wide-eyed in disbelief, and then knelt before the golden sun. A colossal figure slowly approached, radiating golden light. In the face of that great being, the people saw perfection and hope, and hot tears streamed down their faces.

The angel they longed for folded his wings and walked alongside Him, his white feathers tinged with gold, cradling a sleeping mortal in his arms.

"Woo~wu~wu~"

Upon witnessing this sacred scene, the crowd could no longer contain their sense of redemption. They banged their heads on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably, and burst into loud, wailing cries.

They worship, they repent, they yearn for salvation.

“Faith is so fragile.” The emperor’s gaze was cold, his expression indifferent, and his words were neither a reprimand nor a whisper: “They worship you, but when they encounter another image that better matches their expectations, they immediately change their object of worship.”

Saint Gilles remained silent, her beautiful face devoid of joy or sorrow, offering no rebuttal to the emperor's words.

Human worship has always been like this, like an abyss of desire, with no end or bottom line, constantly pushing the limits in pursuit of something more sacred and beautiful.

He did not blame the vampires for shifting their worship; in the galaxy, no one could resist the Emperor's radiance.

“I embrace faith, not for religious rule.”

Amidst the weeping and worship of the people, Saint Gilles spoke for the first time about the faith of Bavaria, explaining why faith exists.

His voice was clear and bright, like a gentle stream: "In order to defeat the enemy, I must unite people. A real idol is more real and practical than any dogma."

"I will set a good example and use my words and deeds to set lofty goals for ordinary people."

As Saint Gilles spoke, a hint of struggle appeared on his captivatingly beautiful face, and then he sighed and asked, "Father...aren't you the same?"

Upon hearing this, the emperor stopped in his tracks, and everyone's heart skipped a beat, as if an invisible force had gripped their throats and hearts.

He slowly turned his head, his eyes shining with golden light.

On this issue, Saint-Gilles did not back down. He looked up and met his father's gaze without yielding an inch.

The air froze instantly, and a question unveiled the emperor's true colors.

He strictly forbids faith and rejects religion, resists personality cults and idol creation, yet he himself uses the same methods to continuously win over people's hearts.

This problem has always existed: emperors who opposed faith were objects of worship for the entire human empire.

rustle…

The sound of shoes crunching on the gravel abruptly broke the standoff.

Doom glanced at the two staring at each other, then pointed at the vampire tribe and said, "Aren't you going in for a seat?"

The emperor ignored him, looked down at Saint Gilles, and said in an unquestionable tone, "I will destroy your faith."

There was no room for negotiation in his tone; the Lord of Humanity, in order to eradicate faith, ruthlessly issued his judgment.

Saint Gilles did not condemn his father's cruelty, nor did he defend himself; he simply gently put the mortal in his arms down.

Approaching the Lord of Humanity, he drew his longsword from his waist, spread his wings to shield the vampire tribe behind him, and said with even greater determination, "I cannot stop you, nor can I defeat you, but I will continue to protect them."

"Don't you understand?" Faced with stubborn ignorance, the Emperor raised his voice: "Faith is a slow poison; once you use it, the backlash will be even more ferocious!"

"Without external enemies, faith will slowly decay, then be reshaped and distorted, ultimately destroying everything built upon it."

“Of course I understand!” Saint Gilles’ expression was firm and unyielding, his longsword held in front of him. “That’s why I will not abandon them.”

"Although mortals are extremely fragile and become despicable in order to survive, when they kneel before me, an inescapable responsibility falls on my shoulders."

"In this world radiated by radiation, the faith you despise is everything that mortals have except life itself; they have nothing but faith."

"They did not betray me, and I will never let them down."

“If you want to strip them of their faith, I can teach them to face themselves, but I will never allow you to destroy them unless you step over my dead body.”

The clear, resonant words fell with unwavering force, and the blue eyes did not yield under the gaze of the Lord of Humanity.

(End of this chapter)