The man looked at the strange figure that was rippling like water.
I couldn't help but feel the urge to turn around and run away.
Coming face to face with the devil is not something that should be encouraged.
Even the most confused religious believers will remind their followers to stay away from demons in their teachings.
Those weird and evil things are definitely not good things.
They will only bring endless pain and despair to people.
Any salvation promised by the devil is a complete lie.
Anyone who dares to believe them is a person with a broken brain.
The appearance of the demonic entity caused the air temperature to drop significantly.
The raindrops became icy cold.
Some rain fell on the ground and immediately condensed into a layer of light frost.
There are all kinds of scary stories and legends circulating in this world.
There are quite a few about demons among them.
Many religions have detailed descriptions and warnings about demons.
If you see demons, you should shout at them and drive them away. Never let them blind your mind.
There is such a warning in the religion that men believe in.
But he witnessed the strange figure without issuing an order to expel it.
Before experiencing such a desperate thing, the man could not understand why those people would choose to cooperate with the devil even though they knew that the devil represented fraud and pain.
Now he understood the feeling.
The God he believed in had abandoned him.
Those who claimed to be kind and advised him to stay away from the devil were unable to provide him with any useful help.
But the devil came out, not caring about the hostility and resentment he had shown, and was even willing to give him power.
Who could resist such a suggestion
If you don't have the one you love, what good is it even if you have a soul? Isn't it just a walking corpse
Lucy is so innocent and kind that she can't bear to crush even a tiny insect.
Now she has to marry a man who killed her adoptive father and become one of someone else's ten wives, working hard all day just to please him.
Every religion says that their God loves believers and that all suffering in the world is a test given by God.
Believers should abandon everything and abide by the doctrines, so that they can receive God's salvation.
If Lucy suffered, it was a test from the God he believed in.
The man would rather not have such faith.
Believers give their souls to God, but all they receive is suffering called trials.
So why not leave it to the devil
That way, at least the source of your suffering can be completely destroyed.
"Can you really give me strength?" the man asked.
The strange figure gave a twisted smile.
"Of course, the power you desire is nothing to me."
An unpredictable sound rang out and flowed in the air.
"Sign the contract, you will gain the power of protection and become a powerful professional."
"Mormons have the protection of the god they believe in. How do I know that you can defeat them?" the man asked cautiously, "What if you just want to deceive my soul and fail to fulfill your promise after I sign the contract?"
Hearing the man's question, a sharp, vicious laugh like a whip drowned out the sound of the heavy rain.
"In a way, I am also a god." Cherubel responded softly: "I know what those mortals believe in. I promise that you will gain the power to defeat them. If you want, you can even kill their gods."
"Words are not enough," the man said. "I need some proof."
“That’s not too much to ask.”
As the words fell, the figure disintegrated in the rain.
A burning pain shot through the man's arm.
He cried out in pain subconsciously.
When he raised his hand again.
I saw with my own eyes that my arm seemed to be burned by invisible flames.
A complex, charred symbol emerged on his arm.
An invisible force surged into his body.
With a thought, the air stopped flowing and the raindrops stopped in mid-air.
It was as if the time of all things had stopped flowing and stopped at this moment.
"As long as you sign the contract, you will gain supreme power. It will be easy to control time and reverse the magic of those believers. Those guys will tremble and cry at your feet, and those mortals will beg for your forgiveness and mercy."
A voice of unknown origin rang in the man's ears.
Like the hissing of a poisonous snake.
Sleek and full of temptation.
The man said nothing, as if he was weighing the options offered by the demon.
After a moment, he asked, "What do I need to pay?"
"Of course it's your soul. Isn't this bargaining chip known to everyone?" Cherubel said.
The man clenched his fists, but after a moment, he loosened them.
"I agree to your contract. You give me the power to rescue Lucy. After the task is completed, I will give my soul to you."
"You made the right choice. Happy revenge, mortal."
The biting cold wind caused by the devil's words became more and more violent, and the eternal malice contained in them seemed to be a mockery of real fate.
The good qualities in people's hearts are the root cause of their going to hell.
The stagnant time began to flow again.
The rain began to fall again and thunder and lightning flashed in the sky.
With a loud bang.
A bolt of lightning appeared in the sky.
It illuminated the man's young, pained face.
The wounds on his body healed quickly after receiving the power promised by the devil.
He is now healthier than a healthy person.
The man identified the direction and started running in the heavy rain.
He wanted to rush back as quickly as possible.
"Wait for me, I will definitely save you from suffering." The man shouted firmly in the heavy rain: "No matter what the cost, I will never allow such a miserable fate to fall on you, my love."
... ... ... ..
... ... ... ... ... ... ...
Organizing a grand welcoming ceremony is not a difficult task for the imperial bureaucracy today.
The new Prime Minister of the Empire, Terra LeBlanc, has coordinated the allocation of resources among various departments very well with her strong organizational skills.
Get everything ready before the expedition fleet returns.
Of course, not all soldiers who fought in the war received this honor.
After all, the scope of the solar system is limited, and Universe 04 also requires a certain number of troops stationed there.
Only a part of the officials and generals can participate in this holy parade. In addition, for the sake of local unity, some indigenous peoples of Universe 04 can also participate.
As for the orcs, they did not participate in the ceremony as they were not enthusiastic about it.
Instead, they were eager to engage in the next battle.
Compared to the grand ceremonies and parades that can bring satisfaction to people, they prefer WAAAAGH expeditions where they can fight to their heart's content.
Mantian brought his tribesmen to attend the ceremony.
The little kid who once loved chasing butterflies has now become a veteran who has experienced many battlefields.
Outstanding military achievements.
Responsible for commanding a native army of Universe 04.
He has swept through many worlds, killed countless aliens, and his hands are stained with countless blood.
The Shicun tribe, which had once been at loggerheads with him, was eventually conquered by this killing god and became his veterans.
Those who came this time were basically the younger generation born after the advent of the empire.
The human race in Universe 04 is not treated well among all races because their path to spiritual practice has been cut off, and the older generation has a natural fear of alien races.
The younger generation grew up under the protection of the empire, and witnessed the era when the empire swept across the world and exterminated all races. Naturally, they also identified more with their own identity as human beings.
In addition to Mantian, who is in charge of military affairs, Roger, who becomes the representative of the Empire's alien universe government, is also among the invited guests for this ceremony.
At this time, Roger was no longer the child struggling to survive in the ruins.
Rather, he is a governor who holds supreme authority over Universe 04.
Collins, the political commissar of the 103rd Krieg Regiment, took him in and arranged for him to complete an initiation course.
Roger has a great talent for study, but he has another hidden talent that is even better.
That talent has gotten him to where he is today.
Everyone in this world has their own strengths.
Some people are born to be warriors.
It is very difficult to get them to study quietly.
But there are some people who can sit there quietly, endure the boring and tedious study, and get happiness from it.
Letting the right people do the right things is what the Empire has always advocated.
This world is destined to be unequal.
If the eagle is required to fly as high as the sparrow, it will be painful and oppressive for the eagle.
Roger has a gift for seeing into people's hearts and using it to his advantage.
He is versatile, able to handle interpersonal issues well and win over his allies with a minimum of words.
More importantly, he has also experienced the hellish world after the Immortal Emperor destroyed the Beihan Immortal Realm. He has a better understanding of the selfish nature of intelligent creatures and knows how to use this human nature to achieve his own goals.
Being selfish is not something that is difficult to talk about.
The key is how to cleverly use this selfishness to achieve one's own goals.
Roger is good at doing this kind of thing.
He could tell what others needed at a glance and knew how to guide them to achieve their goals and make them give their all to the great cause of the Holy Emperor.
As a result, he became the most outstanding archon in Universe 04.
... ... ..
Asakami Shion and her companions from Universe 03 also got a seat in the audience.
When witnessing such a grand welcome ceremony is about to begin.
Asakami Shion's reverence for the Holy Emperor also reached its peak, to the point of near madness.
One after another, ships as big as planets were anchored in the void.
Those huge space cities are also fixed at certain coordinates.
Those magnificent sculptures are suspended in space, so huge that they are shocking and unbelievable.
Even at a distance, you can see clearly.
The Holy Emperor is a supreme god who descended to the earth to guide ignorant people and establish the kingdom of heaven on earth.
Except for the god he believes in, that is, the Holy Emperor.
Asagami Shion couldn't think of anyone else who could rule such a huge empire?
The number of people in this empire has become too large to be counted.
Any attempt to calculate the population of the Empire and the number of worlds it controls would be a madness.
Every day, a large number of worlds are conquered by the expeditionary forces and brought under the command of the Holy Emperor.
The number of children who die and are born naturally every day is enough to make any attempt to count the population meaningless.
Populations are constantly changing.
It is impossible to get an accurate number.
For people like them, being able to sit in the audience and enjoy such a grand ceremony is an unimaginable blessing.
When Asakami Shion was escorted to the audience seats belonging to their group, she kept performing the Sky Eagle Salute to express her excitement.
... ... ..
Sigismund, Lane and others also got such a lucky opportunity.
They had just completed their recuperation and were receiving normal combat training, and were also invited to participate in this ceremony.
The ceremony was held on Terra and the Emperor's Supreme.
The parade will pass through several roads of the Imperial Palace in turn, and finally enter the portal to arrive at the Emperor Supreme.
His path is similar to the path that the Holy Emperor took, starting from the Imperial Palace and finally ascending to the title of the Supreme Emperor and becoming the Holy Emperor.
This is an unimaginable honor, and only those who have made great contributions can take such a journey.
The seats for the audience are placed above the two sides of the road, and stable anti-gravity and force field devices provide suspension power and maneuverability.
The technology is provided by the Mechanicus and is very mature and reliable.
From Terra to the Emperor Supreme, the booths were densely packed and all suspended.
Of course, the places where they are located are all limited areas.
The real sky should be left to the flying troops.
Sigismund looked out upon the broad avenue.
It stretches from the huge portals that tower into the sky on the horizon to the distance, all the way to the pyramid where the throne of the Holy Emperor sits.
The pyramid rises from the ground, majestic and magnificent.
The majestic pyramid is said to be a mechanical creation that allows the Holy Emperor to command the power of mankind.
The throne on it is just a trivial decoration.
What matters is what’s inside.
The Mechanical Throne is the center of the Lighthouse Network and the most important control device of the Warp Protection Barrier.
Guilliman can control everything in the empire from his seat.
Guide human ships to travel through the subspace, and guide the souls of the dead to return to the human world so that they will not get lost in the realm of evil gods.
Sigismund did not know whether these rumors were true or not.
But he could indeed feel the terrifying power surging in the pyramid.
The mechanical throne is indeed not that easy to sit on.
The avenue is unimaginably wide.
The other end stretches all the way to the end of the horizon.
Sigismund's body was forged using the empire's latest technology.
Possessing extraordinary eyesight.
He could clearly see the people at the booths along the way.
They come from every world, even every universe.
All of them are representatives of high positions and power.
Each of them has a very noble identity.
Of course, there are also many ordinary people on the surface.
They were crowded together, huge crowds of people.
There are also a large number of servo skulls and cherubim floating on both sides of the avenue, ready to transmit real-time images through the imperial network.
"Are those people from another universe?" Lane moved closer to Sigismund and gestured in another direction.
Sigismund looked over and saw Asakami Shion and others.
The other party's attire was very strange.
Full of personalization.
It is incompatible with the native culture of the empire.
"Don't talk nonsense, that could be a living saint." Sigismund whispered, signaling Lann not to talk too much.
The earliest living saint was the recorder - Euphrates Kele.
It was because of the prophecy given to him by the other party that Sigismund did not lead the Punishment Fleet, but instead let another battle brother replace him.
Dorne initially accused him of arrogance, but when the wall of limits was broken, Dorne had to acknowledge Euphrates Keeler's prophecy.
He did need Sigismund's help in defending the last wall at the last moment, while he went to the Great Arctic Fortress to hold the chain of command.
Later, state religion emerged and the status of living saints was recognized.
The alien that Lan En just mentioned exudes an aura very similar to that of Euphrates Qile.
The other party seemed to notice the gaze and looked over.
But the other party had no ill intentions. He just smiled and nodded as a greeting.
The two nodded and smiled back.
"Legion Commander?" Gedvo, who was standing by, also looked over with Asakami Shion and discovered two Primaris warriors.
They stood there, emitting the cold aura that belonged only to the messengers of death.
Gedwo had seen their kind in action.
Players are like grass, and gods are like chickens and dogs.
"They have no ill intentions." Asagami Shion said, "They may just be curious about us."
... ... ... .
People were talking about it until the celebratory cannons were fired and then they quieted down.
A loud bell was rung, continuously and resoundingly, shaking Terra and the celestial-class battleship Emperor Supreme.
When the bells ended, the imperial celebration ceremony began.