The Emperor’s Angel of Death

Chapter 3430: Scandalous Rumors

Just as Iliyan was waiting with apprehension, the door opened. First, he smelled the fragrance, including a faint perfume, the high-quality incense occasionally found in the church, and a subtle frankincense, possibly the scent of holy oil. Then came the sound of footsteps, followed by a gentle female voice.

"Ah, is Iliyan the Astropath also here? Am I disturbing you?"

He had heard this voice a few times. Soshian replied:

"It's alright, let's talk over there."

Iliyan also stood up and bowed respectfully:

"Greetings, Ms. Viletts."

"Greetings, Astropath Iliyan. Please wait a few minutes, I have some urgent matters to discuss with Chapter Master Soshian."

As the two walked to a compartment on the right side of the office, Iliyan sat back in his chair, but he was somewhat disturbed. The question that had been dormant in his mind for a long time surfaced once again.

This woman was someone he found difficult to understand. Based on the information he had gathered from private contact with various high-ranking servants of the Chapter, there had been several "ladies" with extraordinary status in the Chapter, who also had very close relationships with the Chapter Master. For example, the most mysterious Ms. Veronica. Some old servants had secretly told him that she was privately called the "Gray Lady" by everyone – Soshian's nickname was the Gray Eagle, the meaning of which was self-evident. But this Ms. Veronica suddenly disappeared at some point, and no one had ever seen her again. Of course, there were rumors that she occasionally appeared on Naysan IV, but who would dare to investigate such a thing?

Besides her, there was also this Ms. Viletts. Although her background was not as mysterious, it shocked Iliyan greatly.

She used to be a member of the Adepta Sororitas, and even reached the position of Abbess. It is said that she remains youthful and beautiful after decades. Soshian had known her very early on, and she left for a period of time. The servants had many scandalous rumors about her and Ms. Veronica. After the end of the Great Maelstrom expedition, she reappeared, but was no longer the former Battle Sister, but became a figure similar to Ms. Veronica. But it didn't end there. More than a decade ago, she established a new order called the Sacred Flame Order, which has now become the main, or rather, the only religious order in the Naysan system.

This was very extraordinary, and it was also the point that worried Iliyan. He knew that the Ecclesiarchy had many sects, or rather, the Ecclesiarchy was a melting pot of sects. In order to establish faith on planets with different cultures, environments, and levels of development, missionaries often had to "modify" the original teachings of the Ecclesiarchy. This was not uncommon, but for an Astartes to lead the rewriting of doctrines and the creation of a religious order was somewhat rare, even taboo.

Iliyan knew that many Chapters had their own unique beliefs and Chapter cultures, which in a sense could be regarded as independent sects, especially the Blood Angels lineage Chapters. However, the Astartes Chapters themselves were extremely closed off. What happened internally was difficult to transmit to the outside world, which was completely different from this kind of religious order dominated by mortals.

But did this violate the rules?

Iliyan couldn't say for sure. The Codex Astartes certainly didn't stipulate this matter, and the Ecclesiarchy didn't seem to have any similar rules. For the sake of missionary convenience, the Ecclesiarchy had long been laissez-faire towards religious orders and the modification of scriptures. Imperial law certainly wouldn't mention this matter.

Therefore, upon careful consideration, Soshian's actions seemed to have no "procedural" problems.

But this was the most terrifying thing. Iliyan realized that this Chapter Master was very good at playing with rules and laws, and even better at using the existing framework. Such a person was bound to be meticulous in his work, making it difficult for others to find fault. Only the Inquisition, an extrajudicial force, could directly slap the label of heretic on him and that might be effective.

So what was his purpose in creating a religious order?

In Iliyan's view, its core was probably in the word "secession". Because as an Astartes Chapter Master, and a highly honored governor, he had the power to start anew in the marginal areas where the central power of the Imperium could not reach, achieving de facto independence in politics and military affairs. The only uncontrollable thing was ideology, that is, religion. Once this aspect was also controlled, it would mean that the territory under his control had almost formed an independent "vacuum chamber".

This was chilling to think about. It seemed that a new Huron was forming. However, Soshian at least currently showed considerable obedience to the High Lords of Terra, making it difficult to accuse him of anything.

It was still the same reason, there were too many people doing this now. Turmoil would lead to the contraction of the core power of the Imperium, but power would only transfer and not disappear. The governors of the frontier areas naturally had greater and more unmonitored power. How many pocket kingdoms are forming, who can say? After all, the power structure of the Imperium is feudal, and Soshian is at best a more excessive "lord".

So the focus of his curiosity or attention was still on Viletts herself. Why would a Battle Sister choose to join an Astartes Chapter?

Originally, as someone who had been active among the Astartes for a long time, Iliyan didn't believe in any romantic rumors. These superhuman warriors were isolated from such possibilities on both physiological and psychological levels. However, as time went on and Iliyan's understanding deepened, his belief was shaken.

This was no small matter, and could not be explained by rules. If an Astartes was really like that, then in big terms it would be two words -corruption.

But, Iliyan had thought about this matter many times during his rest, but something still felt off.

Corruption(堕落: corruption) is a very broad concept, but it has many examples, but without exception, they all have one characteristic, that is, an Astartes has abandoned his duties or clearly crossed the red line.

Soshian certainly did not abandon his duties. In the entire 41st millennium, there are few Astartes more "dutiful" than him.

As for the red line...

The red lines of the Astartes basically involve the powers of the warp, or the fundamental principles of the Imperium, such as Huron's resistance to the tithe, or the massacre events caused by some Chapters succumbing to the flaws in their gene-seed. The matter of men and women, upon careful consideration, doesn't seem to be enough.

After all, to say that one would be corrupted by the warp because of the matter of the crotch sounds unlikely. After all, the extravagant and decadent lives of the Imperial nobles are much more exaggerated. It is common for a governor to have hundreds of concubines. If the matter of men and women is considered a red line, then 70-80% of the Imperial governors would have to eat bullets.

Of course, Astartes would be special, after all, from a moral and doctrinal level, they should resist this low-level desire, but the Imperium has no precedent for this, and it is not easy to spread the word. In fact, everyone defaults that Astartes are "eunuchs" and will not think about what to do if an Astartes crosses the line. This can be said to becorruption, explained as a mental distortion, but there is certainly no standard.

That leads to another question, if an Astartes is morally questioned and condemned, does that count ascorruption?