The Emperor’s Angel of Death

"Wow, I heard that thousands of Titans fought here during the Horus Heresy?"

Li Lin of the 11th Company was as usual making a fuss. During Talos' absence, Sablin would lead them, assisted by Cassati.

"Maybe not here, but the total is about right."

Cassati looked up. On the crimson land, countless metal wrecks formed hills stretching for dozens of kilometers. This was after the traitors had recovered some of it after the war, and the Adeptus Mechanicus had recovered some more after the victory, resulting in what you see now.

If it were the original state, these young soldiers simply couldn't imagine the iron hell that it was back then.

Perhaps thinking of something, the old veteran of the Great Crusade let out a long sigh.

"What a terrible war."

Sablin crossed his arms, gazed at the ancient battlefield, and then turned to Cassati.

"How does Istvaan V compare to this place?"

Cassati shook his head.

"Both are nightmares, and both are tragedies. You wouldn't want to experience either firsthand."

"Hey, that—"

Li Lin suddenly pointed to the most conspicuous "hill" on the battlefield. If you didn't look closely, you would think it was a natural hill because its surface was covered with a thick layer of dust. But if you looked carefully, you could still see some outlines. Beside it stood a giant marble statue, estimated to be over a hundred meters tall. It was sculpted into a heroic, long-haired angel wearing armor, with wings on its back, holding a sword and spear, seemingly stabbing angrily at the enemy.

This image was also one of the most common in Imperial iconography, belonging to only one Primarch—

"That Titan-sized outline, could it be—"

"According to war history, the Imperator-class Titan *World's Axis* was the only Imperator-class Titan personally destroyed by a Primarch, and it was destroyed by the great Sanguinius!"

Faisal, wearing a respirator, seemed a little too short among the Space Marines, especially compared to Shoshyan, but this did not prevent him from eloquently "popularizing" history for Shoshyan.

"The great Angel single-handedly plunged into the corrupted Titan, sweeping away the evil like a golden hurricane—"

Shoshyan didn't pay much attention to what Faisal said after that. He just stared at the fallen Imperator Titan. He knew better than anyone how magnificent and powerful that thing was, but now this true machine of the gods was lying on the ground, presenting a bowing posture, as if paying tribute to its conqueror.

Perhaps the internal damage was too severe, or there were not enough resources to transfer it. The traitors, eager to march on Terra after their victory, did not recover the Titan even after occupying the planet.

Due to its strong symbolic meaning, the High Lords of Terra did not allow the Adeptus Mechanicus to move this Titan, which actually looked relatively intact on the outside. After reclaiming the planet, a statue of Sanguinius was transported here, forming a unique landscape.

However, Lysander poured cold water on the situation, stating that Beta-Garmon II, which Sanguinius wanted to attack, was just a lure set by Horus. While Sanguinius and his army almost completely annihilated the rebels on Beta-Garmon II, the space station above the planet was detonated by the rebels, and countless fragments rained down from the sky like a meteor shower, and almost all of Sanguinius' army was wiped out.

This is also the reason why the planet is full of impact craters and debris.

Of course, for the current Imperium, this is already an eternal mystery. The truth is quietly lying in the ancient archives of the original founding Legion.

"It's a pity that if the Imperium could still muster such power, it wouldn't be fighting so pathetically on various battlefields."

Jacob stared at the ancient battlefield with a telescope, genuinely awed by the ruins.

"Even if the Imperium still had such power, it might not have the courage and brains to use it."

Robin, who was not far away, suddenly blurted out a sentence. Jacob looked at the Champion, wondering why the other party suddenly chimed in.

And his words were a bit strange.

"The ones who commanded such power back then were the Primarchs. Who in the Imperium can bear such responsibility now?"

The other party's next sentence made Jacob slightly stunned, and then he subconsciously looked in Shoshyan's direction.

Robin just smiled faintly and said nothing more, continuing to gaze at the ancient battlefield.

After leaving Beta-Garmon II, the fleet went to Beta-Garmon III to visit the ruins of the collapsed Astropathic Relay Spire. It was also transformed into a commemorative site, with six Titan statues from different Legions distributed around the hundreds-of-meters-high ruins, still maintaining the posture of raising their muzzles high, as if ready to fight the surging enemies at any time.

At that time, the planet's defenders fell for a feint, resulting in only six Titans from the Nova Guard, Void Walkers, Flame纹, and Imperial Hunters Titan Legions defending the Astropathic Relay Spire. They had to face the entire Death's Head Titan Legion, but the defenders were not afraid and fought to the death against the enemy with absolute numerical inferiority.

But in the end, the defenders were defeated, the thousand-meter-high Astropathic Relay Spire was destroyed, and Beta-Garmon III was no longer able to organize resistance, opening the passage to Terra.

The day the Astropathic Relay Spire of Beta-Garmon III collapsed was also recorded as the end of the fate of this star cluster, and the day the Warmaster's army began its final advance towards the heart of the human empire.

At this time, Faisal was not in a hurry to let Shoshyan go to Terra, allowing the other party to visit various "historical sites."

However, just as Shoshyan spent more than a week preparing to end his tour of the Beta-Garmon star cluster, an astonishing message was delivered to the fleet by human means, and this message came from the Phalanx. A messenger from the Imperial Fists brought terrible news.

Chapter Master Vladimir Pugh of the Imperial Fists Chapter was ambushed by Tyranid Genestealers while leading two companies to deal with a derelict space hulk that had crashed on Dyrhian, and was unfortunately killed in action!

As soon as the news arrived, everyone was stunned. A Chapter Master of a founding Chapter ended his service to the Emperor in this way. Lysander was even more grief-stricken and immediately bid farewell to Shoshyan and rushed back to the Phalanx.

Vladimir Pugh had given Shoshyan a lot of help when he first became the Chapter Master of the Astral Knights Chapter, and later sheltered the Astral Knights, avoiding a lot of trouble from Terra. His sacrifice not only shocked Shoshyan but also saddened him.

So Shoshyan also wanted to rush to the Phalanx immediately, but Andar Scayrian persuaded him to stay.

Outsiders should not immediately intervene in this matter, because with Pugh's death, another very sensitive issue will soon be involved—

Who will succeed the next Chapter Master of the Imperial Fists?

There is no doubt that Lysander, as the First Captain, has the highest probability. If Shoshyan returns with Lysander at this time, it would be suspected of interfering in the internal affairs of the founding Chapter.