The Emperor’s Angel of Death

"荣格啊 your family is doing well. Your mom and dad are healthy. I saw your paintings; you really are a genius. →"

With a smile, Hayes took out a handkerchief and gently wiped the dust off the tombstone engraved with Jung's name.

Taiwan Fiction Website →𝓽𝔀𝓴𝓪𝓷.𝓬𝓸𝓶

"These people are so lazy, not even cleaning up a bit. Look at this, just like you never liked washing your face."

Hayes laughed, tears rolling down his cheeks.

"Bell, your wife works really hard. You need to appreciate her and stop gambling."

"Fish Head Bro, I met your family; they're all doing well. I left them some money; hopefully, it'll help. Don't be so foolish next time."

"I'm sorry, Habry."

Hayes froze in front of Habry's tombstone, his hands trembling. The promise to Habry ultimately remained unfulfilled.

"Hayes..."

Habry, lying on Hayes' back, spoke while blood trickled from his mouth. Hayes carried his comrade, crawling arduously across the hellish battlefield. Habry's lower body was gone, his insides scattered across the floor. His intestines dragged behind Hayes, like a scarlet cloak.

Suddenly, he felt something slippery under his feet. He looked down and saw what appeared to be half a lung. His stomach churned, but he had nothing left to vomit.

Hayes moved his foot away. The ringing in his ears seemed to drown out everything, making it impossible to distinguish directions. The muddy trenches were now covered in blood and minced meat. There wasn't a single complete corpse to be found; arms and legs were scattered everywhere...

The screams of heretics and mechanical daemons still echoed in the wind.

Hayes continued walking, continued crawling.

"Hayes..."

Habry's breathing grew weaker and weaker, his face turning purple, as if he were only groaning unconsciously.

Minutes ago, he had fought a Chaos Space Marine with an empty heavy bolter, unsurprisingly getting bisected at the waist by the enemy's chainaxe. However, he bought time for the squad's only remaining melta gun to obliterate the enemy.

After crawling for half a minute, Hayes arrived at a place piled high with corpses—the battlefield's only "morgue." He didn't want his comrade's body to be trampled on meaninglessly.

"Hayes..."

Habry extended his only remaining arm, with only two fingers left, the blood already dried.

Hayes quickly grasped his comrade's hand.

"Habry, I'm here! I'm here!"

"Mom... Dad... Mom... Dad..."

Habry's consciousness was fading, but Hayes understood what he meant and nodded forcefully.

"I will find them! I will! I will take care of them for you! Habry! I swear!"

"Mom... Dad..."

Habry's last gasp disappeared into the sound of another explosion.

"Huff."

Breaking free from the memories, Hayes took a deep breath and came to Pike's tombstone.

"Pike, I promise you, I'll take good care of Mom. Also, you once said you found a really delicious biscuit in a trash can, and you never found it again no matter how much you searched. I brought it for you."

After wiping Pike's tombstone, Hayes took out a small cardboard box from his pocket. Inside were several stacked light yellow biscuits. It was just the most ordinary biscuit from the underhive, available in any store, with almost no sweetness and very hard.

Yet, this was the delicacy Pike had longed for for so long.

"Father."

Standing in front of Hashet's tombstone, Hayes lit a cigarette and placed it in front of the tombstone. Then, he lit another, took a deep drag, and choked with sobs in the smoke.

"GET DOWN!"

Hashet had just finished shouting hoarsely when, BOOM!!! A shell landed in the center of the trench, blasting countless small fragments.

After the dust settled, the soldiers who had been hiding there were gone, turned into dissipating blood mist and minced meat everywhere.

There was no more time to think. More shells began to fall. Hashet ordered the remaining plasma weapons team to move, dodging the insane daemon engine's fire. Hayes, covered in blood, followed him with his rifle.

At this moment, several Chaos Space Marines emerged from the smoke and began to unleash a rain of death. The bolters in their hands roared, the muzzle flashes particularly distinct, weaving a barrage of death, strafing the figures running behind the dust.

Boom—

With a loud noise, the hidden autocannon opened fire, the blast of air kicking up the dust on the ground, raising a cloud of dust.

The sudden volley directly knocked down a Chaos Space Marine. The remaining marines were shocked by the resilience of these soldiers, turned and sought cover. Colored beams and bullets crisscrossed in the air, forming a bizarre and motley picture.

After finding the insane daemon engine, they advanced to within twenty meters. Hashet personally operated the plasma gun.

"Die!!"

The moment it was fully charged, the scorching plasma blast burned a large hole in the constantly firing metal daemon, causing it to collapse to the ground with a roar.

"Son, go! Go!"

Throwing the weapon to the person next to him, Hashet immediately waved for Hayes to leave. However, after only a few steps, the collapsed daemon engine suddenly turned its head and opened its mouth.

"Not good!"

Realizing the opponent still had a final trick, Hashet shouted and lunged at Hayes.

Then the daemon engine self-destructed. Instantly, everything within a hundred meters was engulfed in flames. Hayes was blown far away, his coat on fire.

But more terrifyingly, when he realized that Hashet was lying on top of him, the other was as hot as a burning coal. Hayes quickly threw handfuls of loose dirt on his father's face, head, and clothes to put out the flames, then dragged him from one crater to another.

Hashet was charred all over, with only his teeth recognizable. His back was burned to the point of exposing bone.

"Son..."

He hoarsely grabbed Hayes' hand, the pain of deep burns making him gasp with every word.

"Run... run... run..."

"Okay! Okay!"

Hayes nodded quickly, carrying Hashet's scalding body on his back. However, he didn't notice that as he moved, the other's legs fell off like charred deadwood.

"Father, let's go together, let's go together... I..."

"Son... run... away..."

The foul stench of burning flesh assaulted Hayes' nostrils, and he felt unprecedented panic.

"Put... put me down..."

"Okay, okay!"

Hayes quickly put Hashet down, only to realize that the other's legs were gone, so he picked up a water bottle.

"Father, water! Water!"

Twisting open the lid, he trembled as he poured the remaining water towards the other's almost vanished lips.

"Emperor... if... if... you pity me... save... save my child..."

Hashet gasped, clutching the aquila on his chest, muttering a prayer. Then, he weakly felt for his pocket. Hayes immediately knew what he was looking for and quickly took out the crushed cigarette case from his father's coat pocket. Trembling, he opened it, revealing only one cigarette left.

"Son... help... help me..."

"Father, I'm coming! Wait! I'm coming!"

Hashet's lighter had long been broken. Hayes searched himself for a long time, finally spotting a pile of burning debris ten meters away. He quickly ran over to light the cigarette.

However, when he returned, Hashet had already stopped breathing. In his final moment, his head was turned in Hayes' direction.