The Emperor’s Angel of Death

This was the first time Soshjan had seen a Custodian Guard in black armor; he had never heard of such a thing before.

Their transport was also painted entirely black. As requested in advance, only Soshjan was there to meet them. All personnel on the route to the designated warehouse were also cleared.

After confirming Soshjan's identity, two Custodian Guards, primarily black with gold trim, emerged from the opened aircraft cabin, one in front and one behind. Their footsteps were silent, like two moving shadows. Throughout the process, they maintained a firm grip on their weapons, and the halberds they held were equally dull.

Sandwiched between them was a massive black metal container, taller than Soshjan, lifted at its four corners by bizarre three-legged machines. The hum of anti-gravity fields could be heard.

The container's exterior was wrapped with chains and engraved with symbols Soshjan didn't recognize. Each of the six faces—top, bottom, left, right, front, and back—had a magnetic lock installed. Soshjan sensed a familiar fluctuation from the four grotesque three-legged robots—they were all equipped with anti-psionic devices.

"Please, follow me."

Without a word from them, Soshjan took the lead.

Trajan had repeatedly emphasized the need for a secure location to place the item. Soshjan had simply chosen his personal armory. The Inferno was hidden there; he doubted anything could cause trouble in its presence.

With the road cleared, there was no one in sight, only the faint sound of footsteps. During the walk, Soshjan felt their gazes were not on him. The two mysterious black-armored Custodian Guards kept their eyes fixed on the container, as if it held something terrible enough to destroy the world, something they had to watch constantly.

The two Custodian Guards didn't speak, and Soshjan didn't know what to say either, so they walked to the armory in an odd silence.

Once the armory door closed, one of the Custodian Guards finally spoke.

"Chapter Master Soshjan Alexey, while I am not authorized to know why it is being sent to you, as its guardian, I am obligated to inform you of its danger."

"Danger?"

Soshjan looked at the massive container.

"Marshal Trajan didn't send a daemon, did he?"

"Far more dangerous than a daemon. In the Dark Cells, this is an S-class object. From the day I joined the Shadowkeepers, I have been monitoring it every second."

Dark Cells. Soshjan noted the term. He surmised this was likely a secret dungeon or warehouse within the Imperial Palace, used to store dangerous items. And the keepers of this warehouse were these Custodian Guards in black armor, who called themselves Shadowkeepers.

"What is it called?"

"The Chalice of Dark Flame."

"The Chalice of Dark Flame? It sounds like an artifact. Why is it so dangerous?"

"I don't know. From the day I started monitoring it, I was told it was extremely dangerous, and leaving the Dark Cells would lead to terrible disaster. But now it has left the Dark Cells."

Soshjan wanted to say that was not helpful at all.

Seeing Soshjan didn't seem very alarmed, the Custodian Guard seemed a little anxious and immediately said:

"You must be vigilant, or better yet, don't open it at all."

"If that were the case, Marshal Trajan shouldn't have sent it. Since he sent it, it means either it's not that dangerous, or I can handle it."

As he spoke, Soshjan walked towards the container.

"Please, be careful."

The Custodian Guard instinctively reached out as if to push Soshjan away, but he immediately realized he was overstepping his bounds and retracted his hand, but his eyes remained fixed on the container.

Soshjan seemed to have noticed something interesting and looked at the Custodian Guard, asking:

"Custodian Guard brother, what is your name?"

The other party was silent, not answering immediately.

Just as Soshjan thought he had hit a wall, the other party suddenly whispered:

"Just call me Porphyrius."

"Ah, Porphyrius, since you are so worried, then stay a little longer and watch me open it myself. That might put your mind at ease."

Porphyrius didn't speak, still staring at the container, but Soshjan took it as a default agreement, so he walked to the side and found the observation hole Trajan mentioned.

He pulled open the finger-width observation hole and looked inside through the thick glass. The inside of the container was filled with a light gray liquid, and a cup-shaped object could faintly be seen suspended within.

"One more question, what is the liquid inside?"

"Filtered and purified Untouchable spinal fluid."

Soshjan's eyes twitched when he heard this. How much spinal fluid does one person have? This is a whole box full. How many Untouchables were drained?

The key is that this thing has an expiration date. Even with low-temperature preservation, it still needs to be replaced. In other words, to seal the thing inside, Untouchables need to be consumed constantly, just like the Throne needs to burn psykers every day.

In a sense, this Imperial Palace is a bottomless pit that devours people.

"How do I open it?"

The two Custodian Guards looked at each other, then walked to either side of the box, each inserting a finger into a slot. After a few seconds, Porphyrius turned to Soshjan and said:

"Do you really want to open it now?"

"Yes, don't worry."

"Please, step over here."

Following the other party's instructions, Soshjan walked to the operating platform that had unfolded from the container.

"Put your eye here. Marshal Trajan has already collected your pupil information."

Soshjan put his eye to the instrument and soon heard a low mechanical sound.

"Operation command, contact, wait."

"Open."

"Executing..."

With a soft 'poof,' a small opening appeared on the top of the container, and cold air poured out. Soshjan also activated the Grey Pith.

At the same time, the two Custodian Guards gripped their weapons tightly, maintained a combat stance, and stared intently at the container.

With a series of mechanical friction sounds, four metal tentacles coiled out of the opened hole and 'arched' the object out, dripping with viscous spinal fluid.

It looked to be about the size of Soshjan's palm, and its outer shape resembled the ritual cup used by the Ecclesiarchy, wrapped in layers of scripture strips.

Soshjan stepped forward and reached out his hand, and the object was gently placed into his hand.

There were no accidents, so calm that even the two Custodian Guards seemed a little confused, but Soshjan's next action made them scream.

"Wait—"

Soshjan, who was about to tear off the scripture strips, turned his head when he heard the two men scream.

"What's wrong?"

"What are you going to do?"

"See what it looks like specifically? I feel like this thing might not be as dangerous as you say..."

"No! It's very dangerous! I'm sure of it!"

Porphyrius's voice sounded a little angry, as if some belief he held dear had been denied by Soshjan.

"Well, I have to take a look, right?"

At this moment, the other Custodian Guard held Porphyrius's shoulder and shook his head, the meaning was obvious—

Do not interfere with Soshjan's actions.