The Emperor’s Angel of Death

Chapter 2802: A Battle of Wills

Although the Relictors Chapter explained themselves reasonably well, the Inquisition wasn't buying it.

After all, for most Inquisitors, right or wrong was sometimes irrelevant; what mattered was the objective.

Undoubtedly, Aleksei Kochev's death severely damaged the interests of the Ordo Hereticus, especially the authority and power of the monopolists. Someone had to be held responsible, and it couldn't be just any Tom, Dick, or Harry; it had to be someone with weight.

Griffin IV belonged to the Adeptus Mechanicus and was a powerful Forge World, making it difficult to move against. That left the Relictors Chapter, a penitent crusade that had abandoned its mission halfway through, as the perfect target for venting frustration.

The Relictors Chapter knew they were in deep trouble, so they simply holed up in Victory's Scar, resolutely ignoring the Inquisition's repeated summons.

This put pressure on Arash, the rotating Chapter Master of the Covenant of Sorrow. Inquisitorial letters of inquiry flooded him like a tide. The nicer ones asked him to hand over the Relictors immediately and demanded that the Covenant of Sorrow cease interfering. The harsher ones demanded that the Covenant of Sorrow immediately disarm the Relictors Chapter, detain them all, and hand them over to the Ordo Hereticus.

The Inquisitors stationed in Victory's Scar also knocked on Arash's office door daily, engaging in endless conversations, discussing everything from ancient history to current events, using threats and enticements, all to get him to hand over the Relictors.

Of course, the Inquisition had threatened to use force directly, but Victory's Scar was no ordinary space station; it was a space fortress. After years of construction by the Covenant of Sorrow, its size had increased by 15% compared to its initial state, and it was equipped with terrifying defensive weaponry. Even a fleet would struggle to take it, let alone with hundreds of Astartes inside.

But Arash's life wasn't easy either. He certainly didn't want to hand over the Relictors, but the pressure from the Inquisition and other Imperial institutions was real. Crucially, the other members of the Covenant of Sorrow had differing views on the matter.

With Seth's return, the situation became more complicated. The Flesh Tearer's attitude was extremely tough. He publicly declared that he would cut down any Inquisitorial dogs who dared to come, and he even wandered around the Inquisitorial quarters in Victory's Scar with his massive chainsword, scaring them so much that they didn't dare leave their rooms. This at least gave Arash some peace and quiet. Mazhar, on the other hand, believed that the matter would inevitably attract attention from Terra. The affair between Aleksei Kochev and the Relictors Chapter was already a clandestine deal. Now that the man was dead, it didn't mean the Relictors Chapter's unauthorized termination of their penitent crusade would simply end. Furthermore, the Covenant of Sorrow was not founded to oppose Imperial institutions but to help struggling Astartes Chapters. The Relictors Chapter's situation clearly had personal reasons behind it, their plight largely stemming from their own actions, essentially being self-inflicted.

As for Arash himself, he actually regretted taking on the hot potato that was the Relictors Chapter. But he was the one who brought them in, and if he threw them out now, his reputation would be ruined, along with the reputation of the Covenant of Sorrow. But he couldn't solve the problem either. The Inquisition was shouting louder every day, while the Relictors Chapter refused to admit, accept, or comment, adopting an attitude of 'bring it on if you dare'.

In this situation, Arash had only one option—

Delay!

In his heart, only one person could untangle this knot: Sorshyan, his Chapter Master.

So, Arash sent a message to the Ordo Hereticus, saying that he was about to step down and that Sorshyan would take over soon, at which point he would handle the matter. He also told the Relictors Chapter that the Covenant of Sorrow's meeting was about to begin, and if they didn't want to be branded as traitors, they should stay put and not go anywhere.

After hearing the whole story, Sorshyan was speechless, helpless, and a little disappointed in Arash.

→

This matter could have been resolved quickly at the beginning, but it had been dragged into a stinky, hard lump of Ork dung.

Looking at the whole thing, there was a very important third party: the salvage fleet from Griffin IV. Their Protector Guard was also in the derelict ship at the time, and they were even looking for the same thing as the Inquisition. According to the general rules of the Department of Justice for investigating cases, determining the suspect usually involves identifying who benefited and who is suspicious. Griffin IV even benefited from the Inquisitor's death. Furthermore, whether the technological relic was lost in the Warp or stolen by Griffin IV was unknown, but Griffin IV's hasty firing on the derelict ship was a very suspicious move.

If Arash had been smart enough to instruct the Relictors Chapter to bite back at Griffin IV, it would have been easy to muddy the waters. Even if it couldn't wash away the suspicion, it could divert the Inquisition's fire, turning the 'Inquisitor murder case' into a 'mysterious Inquisitor death case'. The nature of these two cases is completely different. This would only require delaying, and the matter would slowly pass. Instead, the Inquisition is now concentrating its forces to bite down.

But this matter must be timely. It must be brought up at the first moment after the incident. Based on the Mechanicus's reaction speed, they may not be able to react immediately. But now that half a year has passed, Griffin IV has definitely cleaned up the mess. It's too late to say it now, and the Inquisition and the Covenant of Sorrow have clearly become locked in a battle of wills. After the matter has turned from a simple investigation into a battle of wills, the truth is often not important.

But Sorshyan didn't blame Arash, because the other party hadn't been a Chapter Master for long and lacked experience in management and foreign affairs. It was inevitable that he would lose his composure when faced with such a thing. So, he even comforted the other party, telling Arash that he had done a good job, at least not allowing the situation to further deteriorate.

After that, Sorshyan briefly met with Seth and Mazhar, talking about the recent situation. However, the Stormwild Sector is currently mainly plagued by various small alien threats and occasional Chaos uprisings, making it the most peaceful of the five major Imperial sectors. Then, he asked the two Chapter Masters for their views on the Relictors Chapter.

Seth was relatively simple. As long as they weren't traitors, everything was fine. Moreover, the Astartes Chapters had endured the Inquisition's long-term harassment for a long time and should not back down. He even bluntly stated that the Flesh Tearers had dealt with Inquisitors who didn't know what was good for them and tried to pry into the Chapter's secrets.

Mazhar and Sorshyan talked for a longer time. His attitude towards the Relictors Chapter wasn't that he disliked them, but that their words and actions always seemed to be veiled or disguised, with a sense of secrecy similar to the Dark Angels. This often meant that the Chapter was hiding some dark secret. Mazhar admitted that his speculation had no evidence to support it, and it was all his personal intuition. Later, when talking about the derelict ship incident, Mazhar said that the Relictors Chapter's Librarians were all quite strong, and the Fourth Company was accompanied by two Librarians. They shouldn't have been unaware of the thing hidden in the derelict ship. Of course, it was also possible that the daemon was hiding very well. In short, this was already a mess, and what needed to be dealt with was no longer the issue of right or wrong.

Mazhar was indeed one of the most experienced Chapter Masters in the Imperium, and his views were basically close to Sorshyan's, even more profound.

More updates tomorrow~!