Days returned to the dead cycle of training, abuse, and treatment.
It wasn't until Albert received orders to go to the Vigilance Star that his suffering finally ended.
As a Company Captain of the Watchers Chapter, Raymond did not receive a transfer order and was temporarily required to be stationed in the hive city of Roselle until the Imperium resumed reconstruction and governance.
Thus, Emrys' mentor was replaced by Raymond, who taught him courses on strategic planning, troop deployment, and other strategic-level subjects.
This was by no means easier than swordsmanship training; every day Emrys opened his eyes, he was greeted by mountains of books, and according to Raymond, these were just abridged versions—the real content could fill an entire warehouse!
life as a noble... it wasn't as wonderful as he had imagined.
Although he no longer worried about food and clothing, his troubles seemed to have multiplied.
Besides studying strategy and tactics and reviewing swordsmanship, Elsa added two more subjects for him: first, memorizing the glorious history of the Merlin family, and second, understanding the history of the Imperium, the history of the nobility, and various other histories that urgently needed to be supplemented.
Gazing at the 'family History' which looked like a mountain, Emrys immediately felt overwhelmed.
He thought that since it wasn't a knightly family, he wouldn't need to recite family history all day, but he didn't expect the Rogue Trader Dynasty to have this custom too, and it seemed even thicker!
No wonder it was a family passed down from the Great Crusade era; this history was longer than his life!
Learning was extremely tedious, but Emrys still calmed himself down, knowing that to grow into a qualified Rogue Trader, these were all necessary experiences.
For a whole week, Emrys confined himself to the planetary governor's Mansion until the lessons concluded that day.
"lord Emrys, we have found the 'target'."
Elsa, as always, was cool and detached, delivering good news to Emrys after the lesson.
Galarion Hadley had been found!
That bastard thought no one would find him hiding in the Necron Tomb.
But alas, he guessed many things, yet he never guessed he would be backstabbed by his former 'collaborator'.
Rosales' servo-skull had long since tracked Galarion's whereabouts; subsequently, Emrys only needed to appropriately disclose some information to Elsa, the butler.
As for the reason?
No, from the moment he became the heir of Merlin, he didn't need to explain!
Elsa would not have any doubts; she would only faithfully carry out the tasks Emrys assigned her.
From the moment she was appointed as the butler, her actions only needed to be accountable to Emrys, not even needing to report to family Head Arthur—this was the power and rules of 'nobility'!
"Heh, not easy, huh?" Deep within Emrys' eyes, a chilling killing intent brewed.
Elsa next to him seemed a little shocked; this 'lord,' who usually appeared gentle, seemed to be a ruthless killer as well!
But then, recalling the legendary deeds of 'Emrys,' Elsa no longer found it strange.
After all, this lord was someone who could single-handedly challenge a Khorne Chosen!
"Currently, a kill team is on standby, lord," Elsa gently reminded, "You can summon them at any time, but I suggest you seek help from Company Captain Raymond."
In fact, the implied meaning in her words was for him to stay put in the planetary governor's Mansion and not think about running to the front lines.
Did the heir of the dignified Merlin family really need to personally deal with a piece of scum who had fallen to Chaos?
It was simply a joke!
If Emrys hadn't specifically instructed otherwise, the moment the target was discovered, a macro cannon would have already blasted him.
Heretics, Chaos, blessings... even if you were a Chosen, before a macro cannon, all beings were equal!
Anyway, the outskirts of the hive city of Roselle were already almost destroyed; destroying it a bit more thoroughly wasn't a big problem. At most, they would pay some compensation to the Imperium.
"I understand what you're saying, but... Elsa, I can't swallow this!"
Emrys' hand, gripping the pen, had prominent veins, and his pupils seemed to burn with angry fire, as he suppressed his voice, saying, "I won't feel at ease until I see him die with my own eyes!"
"I understand your feelings, lord Emrys."
Since Emrys had said so, Elsa seemed a little helpless, reluctantly nodding in agreement, but still not forgetting to instruct, "But you must promise me not to be impulsive, and certainly not to accept provocations and duel with the Chaos scum, okay?"
Her worries were not entirely unfounded.
Looking at this 'lord's' astonishing resume, he was prone to getting carried away. She worried that if he got angry, he might grab his power sword and go duel the target.
Although nobles had honor duels, she believed there was no 'honor' when dealing with Chaos scum.
Either use a macro cannon to directly vaporize them, or use absolutely overwhelming military force to directly crush them!
Martial virtue?
What martial virtue to speak of with Chaos scum!
"I understand your concerns, Elsa."
Emrys' demeanor had been subtly changed a lot by his studies during these days.
He looked more refined, but only Elsa knew that the lord's essence had not changed; he was just better at disguising himself.
This was good; as a noble, especially a Rogue Trader, 'disguise' was even more necessary!
"The transport plane is already waiting outside, lord."
Elsa said lightly, "I contacted Company Captain Raymond for you in advance and told him you needed help. He is willing to send a tactical squad. I hope you don't blame me."
"You did very well, Elsa."
Emrys praised.
Having such a considerate butler indeed saved him more energy and time.
Galarion cautiously hid in the Necron Tomb, while simultaneously plotting a 'bigger' conspiracy in his mind.
He hoped to gain the favor of the great 'Lord of Change' to earn more blessings.
But unfortunately, the first step of the conspiracy was stumped.
He wanted to use the Necron Tomb to stir up another war, but the problem was... how to get into the Necron Tomb?
Galarion worked tirelessly for more than a dozen days and nights, almost digging through and hollowing out this hard rock mountain with his bare hands, but apart from a few annoying metal beetles, he saw no shadow of a 'Necron Tomb' at all, as if it didn't exist!
In fact, he had no idea what Necrons were, nor did he understand ancient ruins.
Rosales had approached him, and he deliberately pretended to know a lot, originally planning to play a bluff, but who knew the other party wouldn't play with him anymore.
Now, Galarion was embarrassed. He knew that the tomb was sleeping in this mountain, and he knew it was an extremely ancient civilization, but besides these two pieces of information, he knew nothing else, let alone finding the Necron Tomb hidden in hyperspace!
"Ah ah ah ah—!!!"
Galarion finally broke down, roaring in impotent rage in the empty tunnel he had dug out.
He had dug for more than ten days, his claws almost broken, and he hadn't seen a single hair of ancient civilization. How could he not collapse?!
He even suspected that Rosales had lied to him and that there were no ancient ruins here at all.
But then, he remembered that he still had to present an astonishing conspiracy to the great Lord of Change, and he had no choice but to grimace and bury his head back into digging.
"I will definitely find it! I will definitely find it!"
Galarion was completely obsessed, placing his last hope on that ancient ruin.
While Galarion was busy working as a gold miner.
Unbeknownst to him, several transports had quietly landed, and the Merlin family's Kill Team followed closely behind the Watcher's Third Tactical Squad.
Last time in the Ecclesiarchy's Dome of the Saints, because their protected target was abducted, they could only watch as the heretical scumbag slipped away right under their noses.
The Third Tactical Squad, seething with anger, immediately volunteered for the extermination mission upon learning that the target was Galarion.
Besides the Third Tactical Squad, there was another big surprise waiting for that 'lord' 'planetary governor'.
A 'Terminator' who participated in the last beheading mission, also applied for this mission for a simple reason: revenge!
Last time, that bastard ran off right in front of him, causing his companions to mock him for half a month when he returned. This time, Tarloss was burning with fire, intending to give that damned heretic a power fist to the face when they met, to make him remember what it meant to face the Emperor's Angel!
Thus, to eradicate a mere heretic, Emrys actually put together a grand formation!
"If this still doesn't kill you, then I'm truly impressed!"
Emrys was full of confidence. To prevent any accidents, he specially donned a full suit of 'Oath Armor' and casually carried his execution greatsword.
With bio-armor inside and Oath Armor outside, he refused to believe that Tzeentch, that old schemer, could pull any more tricks!
Fully prepared, Emrys strode forward, with the Terminators guarding him, and entered the tunnel.
"There are traces of manual excavation." One of the Astartes squatted down to examine the tunnel carefully, then said in a deep voice, "This guy should be hiding inside."
"This bastard, he ran here to be a gold miner?"
Looking at the obvious claw marks and excavation traces on both sides of the tunnel, even with Emrys' reasoning, he found it a bit hard to follow.
Galarion went through all that trouble, specifically coming to the entrance of a Necron tomb to dig a grave, and this is all the commotion he caused?
Wait, he wouldn't not know that Necron tombs are all hidden in hyper-dimensions, would he?
Thinking of this possibility, Emrys' expression suddenly became a bit strange, and he felt a little sorry for Galarion. He worked so hard to dig such a long tunnel, which, besides being prone to causing landslides, was completely useless. He wondered if Galarion would collapse if he were told the truth?
Hmm, killing the heart. Not bad, he could try it later.
As he pondered, the entire team continued to advance deeper. The damp air inside the mountain was somewhat oppressive.
Suddenly, a point of light burst forth in front. Leon clenched his fist and waved. Two Astartes stealthily moved forward and, at the corner, discovered the target of this extermination.
"Come out! Come out! Get out here, ahhh!"
It was none other than the somewhat deranged Galarion, desperately digging at the rock wall.
He was covered in mud from head to toe, and at first glance, he didn't look like a Tzeentch-blessed daemon at all, but rather like one of those miners toiling hard in the underhive.
It was too abstract. Emrys wasn't quite sure how a Tzeentch-worshipping heretic could fall to such a state.
No wonder Tzeentch couldn't be bothered with him; he was simply too embarrassing!
Looking at the disheveled Galarion, Emrys' accumulated anger and desire to vent suddenly became somewhat ethereal and uninteresting. He waved his hand, "Kill him."
"fire!"
Leon gave a low shout, issuing the command.
In an instant Galarion didn't even notice, the roaring bolter rounds, like a torrent, illuminated the somewhat dim tunnel!
Crackling!
The bursting fire directly knocked Galarion off balance, making him let out a miserable howl.
He turned his head in horror to find that, at some point, the passage was packed with people. Besides the tall Astartes, there were even many Kill Teams, outflanking him from other positions!
Just as he was about to resist with all his might, he was again knocked down by a shock grenade.
Then, the Kill Team, as if seeing an immense 'merit', all drew their monomolecular blades and stabbed him without regard for their lives!
Although the monomolecular blade looked ordinary, as if it were no different from other swords, in reality, its monomolecular oscillation could easily cut through tank armor. The meager blessings Galarion had received were simply not enough to withstand the thrusts of the monomolecular blade!
In the blink of an eye, Galarion's two wings were brutally 'dismantled' by the frenzied Kill Team.
Before participating in the mission, the members of the Kill Team were well aware that as long as they could gain the approval of this 'young lord', they would surely be given important positions in the future, so each of them risked their lives to fight for a future.
This led to Galarion almost being torn apart by the Kill Team before the Astartes even engaged, merely suppressing him from a distance.
"Wait, wait, this isn't fair!" Galarion, struggling with all his might, had already expended a lot of physical energy during the excavation, and was then suddenly ambushed. Moreover, those Kill Teams were fearless, so he immediately became agitated and shouted, "I am a noble! I want to challenge you to a duel of honor!"
Elsa's eyes turned cold, and a terrifyingly chilling killing intent surged forth: "You are not worthy!"
What kind of riff-raff was worthy of dueling the heir of the Emrys Rogue Trader Dynasty?
Not to mention that he had already fallen into Chaos and become a heretical scum, no longer considered a noble. Even if he were still a planetary governor, he would not be qualified to talk about a duel!
However, to everyone's surprise, upon hearing Galarion's 'duel request', Emrys uncharacteristically nodded: "Alright, I accept."
These words immediately made Galarion see hope.
As long as he could capture this young man, he could escape from here. Then he would lie low and plan an even bigger conspiracy!
"Young lord Emrys!"
Elsa's expression suddenly changed drastically. She bit her lip tightly, staring at him intently: "You promised me!"
"Don't panic."
Emrys smiled and waved his hand, then stared at him playfully, waving his hand to call the Kill Team back: "You want to fight me one-on-one, right?"
"Ye-yes, that's right!"
For some reason, looking at the young man's 'gentle' smile, Galarion suddenly felt a bit scared.
But it had come to this, he could only grit his teeth and agree.
However, Emrys, who had been smiling gently just a second ago, his smile in his eyes suddenly turned cold, like an unmelting iceberg of ten thousand years: "You thought I would say that, didn't you?"
The sudden change caught Galarion off guard. He stared at him with wide eyes.
But unfortunately, Emrys had completely lost interest in him. He turned and walked coldly towards the Terminator, a slight curve on his lips: "Mr. Tarloss, the rest is up to you. Consider it a small gift; I hope you like it."
"Don't say I didn't give you a chance." Emrys tilted his head slightly, giving Galarion a cold look: "If you defeat him, I'll fight you one-on-one."
"Thank you so much, Mr. Emrys!"
The Terminator Tarloss took off his helmet, revealing an extremely ferocious smile.
Then, rubbing his huge power gauntlet, like a daemon from hell, he stepped forward with a sinister grin towards Galarion.
He wanted Galarion to taste what it meant to face the righteous iron fist of an Imperial Angel!
In the narrow mountain tunnel, Galarion's screams echoed.
Each dull power fist strike from the Terminator was filled with rage and astonishing power.
Galarion's bones and flesh were pounded into a pulp by the Terminator's storm-like onslaught!
Honestly... Teochew beef balls aren't even this chewy!
If he hadn't been corrupted into a daemon, Galarion would have surely died long ago, but even so, the Terminator had beaten him until he was barely clinging to life.
Aside from his head, everything below his neck could be blanched and thrown into boiling water to be used as 'pissing' beef balls.
After venting his anger, Terminator Tarloss let out a long breath, disdainfully wiped his meat-pulp-covered power gauntlet on the mountain wall, then looked at Emrys, his voice full of gratitude: "Mr. Emrys, thank you for giving me the opportunity to wash away the shame of last time... As for this heretic, I specifically left him one breath for you. He's all yours!"
Look at the Watchers; no wonder they're Guilliman's sons. Their foresight is something even the Space Wolves next door can't learn!
Clearly, the Watcher had understood the enmity between Galarion and this heir of Emrys, which is why he deliberately controlled his strength, beating him to a half-dead, broken-boned, pulped mess, 'specifically' leaving him a breath for Emrys.
Elsa's eyes lit up slightly, and the corners of her lips curved upward.
Her impression of the 'Watcher' improved significantly; such considerate Space Marines are rare.
Emrys naturally wouldn't pass up Tarloss' good intentions. He turned to Elsa: "Give me your gun, Elsa."
Although Elsa was a little surprised, she still obeyed the order, handing over the bolter, not forgetting to caution: "Please be careful, lord. The Chaos heretic is very likely to lash out before he dies."
Lash out?
Emrys sneered. He was wearing the Armor of Contempt.
If even that couldn't stop it, unless Tzeentch himself personally intervened, there was no way Galarion, who had been hammered to an inch of his life by a Terminator, could threaten his safety.
After checking the ammunition and confirming it was fully loaded, Emrys slowly walked towards the dying Galarion.
"Governor Galarion, as per your invitation, I've come to duel you. Don't say I didn't give you a chance." He pressed the bolter directly against Galarion's forehead.
"Desp... despicable..."
The dying Galarion was so enraged he almost died.
He had never seen such a shameless bastard—letting a Terminator beat him half to death, then jumping out to declare a duel?
Compared to Emrys, he seemed pure!
Galarion even suspected who the true follower of Tzeentch was. How could this young man on the other side act even more despicable and shameless than him!
"Wait, wait... I have a secret!"
Suddenly, Galarion struggled to speak. He firmly believed this secret would definitely buy him a moment of distraction from the other party, and that would be his last chance!
Followers of Tzeentch never give up!
Until the last moment of his life, Galarion's mind was still full of schemes, fantasizing about how to gain the favor of the Changer of Ways, at least so he could be resurrected in the Warp after death!
"Sorry, not interested."
However, Emrys gave a gentle smile, then pulled the trigger, embedding the bolt shell deeply into Galarion's hard skull!
Bang!
At extremely close range, the bullet collided with the hard skull, erupting in dazzling fire and a shocking explosion!
"No! Don't kill me!"
Galarion finally panicked, terrified.
He didn't understand. Did the other party not have even a tiny bit of curiosity?
"I have a secret! A big secret!"
To buy time, Galarion desperately blurted out: "It's a secret about Vigilance. You can't kill me. This concerns the future fate of the Imperium; I saw it in the future revealed by Tzeentch!"
This time, he chose to betray Tzeentch.
It wasn't surprising, after all, few followers of Tzeentch don't betray It in the end, which perfectly aligns with the rules of the Changer of Ways—how marvelous.
But unfortunately, Galarion encountered Emrys, who wasn't interested at all, especially not in Vigilance!
Bang bang bang bang... A volley of bolts hammered Galarion's skull, drilling through his bone and pulverizing his brain matter with explosive gunpowder!
Only villains let protagonists ramble on for ages, then stage a cliché comeback.
He wasn't a villain, and Galarion wasn't the protagonist, so why listen to nonsense?
Besides, even an idiot could guess what kind of scheme this bastard was cooking up; only a fool would fall for it!
Being a Tzeentch follower to this extent was too disgraceful; he might as well go find Nurgle next door!
"I said I'm not interested. You talk too much."
Emrys, his face cold, threw away the bolter, drew the Executioner Greatsword from his waist, his arms tensed and muscles bulging, his eyes sinister as he looked at the dying Galarion, and said: "Before you die, let me tell you one more thing. The tomb you've been searching for is actually hidden in hyperspace. Even if you dig for another year... you'll never find its location!"
Killing someone should also be about breaking their spirit!
Galarion, his skull fractured, his eyeballs suddenly contracted.
Whoosh!
The Executioner Greatsword swung down.
It cleanly and decisively severed Galarion's head!
Until the moment of his death, Galarion's eyes were wide with rage, as if extremely unwilling, staring at him, unable to rest in peace.
"Too bad Winnie isn't here..."
Emrys looked at Galarion's severed head, feeling a slight regret. If the 'Living Saint' had been present, this bastard could have been completely annihilated at the soul level!
"Our grievances... are settled."
Emrys let out a deep breath, then no longer looked at Galarion, striding towards Elsa.
As he passed, he paused for half a second, instructing Elsa: "Later, remember to burn his body until not a speck of ash remains, then have an Ecclesiarchy priest send him off!"
No Winnie, but there were still Ecclesiarchy priests, weren't there?
His main goal was to pulverize him, leaving Galarion no possibility of resurrection, a complete process arranged!
"Understood, lord Emrys."
Elsa nodded lightly, noting the matter in her book, drawing several circles around it.
When they returned, the Cardinal was still there, so they could directly send Galarion's ashes for 'purification,' and then press them under the Ecclesiarchy's Imperial icon!
The operation concluded successfully.
This place wasn't safe, so Emrys told everyone to leave as quickly as possible, to avoid any more trouble.
The way back was still led by the Space Marines, with Emrys following closely behind the Terminator. However, near the exit, several metallic beetles suddenly emerged from a crack in the wall.
The Space Marines immediately formed a defensive line, vigilantly watching the beetles, but for safety reasons, they didn't fire immediately, instead looking back at Emrys.
After all, he was the mission commander.
Emrys was also startled by the sudden appearance of the beetles, but observing that they seemed to have no ill intent and made no further moves, he frowned: "Ignore them, leave quickly."
Better to avoid trouble than to seek it.
Provoking Canoptek Scarabs here, if they really woke up the Necrons, then the fun would really begin.
Fortunately, the Canoptek Scarabs did not actively attack, quietly clinging to the rock wall, their tiny eyes, glowing eerie green like Will-o'-the-wisps, watching them leave.
Suddenly.
At a location no one had noticed, an extremely special Canoptek Scarab, even tinier, almost the size of a grain of rice, quietly evaded the detection radar.
The Scarab climbed up Emrys' pant leg and onto his body!
If it weren't for the system's prompt, Emrys probably wouldn't have noticed that a Canoptek Scarab had suddenly appeared on him!
[Item detected: Living Scarab (Fine)]
[Made of living metal, in the initial activation stage. A special program is embedded within it, which can be used to contact a mysterious Necron. Contains unknown risks, use with caution.]
[Energy provided: 0 units]
"..."
Emrys' eye twitched slightly.
A certain, mysterious Necron... it shouldn't be the big shot he was imagining, right?
But no matter what, the fact that this thing made the 'Traveler' specifically mark it with risk meant he could guess a thing or two—this thing was definitely not simple, it was a hot potato!
Emrys shook his hand, directly throwing the beetle out.
Then, he pulled out his plasma gun and fired a plasma blast at the still-moving living beetle!
Boom!
The living metal beetle was directly melted by the plasma.
The others seemed somewhat surprised by Emrys' intense reaction, but seeing his extremely grave expression, he lowered his voice and said: "Go quickly, don't linger!"
How unlucky... The Necron tomb on Rosales, could it not be a tomb at all, but their temporary base?
If he thought about it that way, maybe they weren't asleep at all from beginning to end, but had been awake the whole time!
Emrys then thought about the character of that Necron, wondering if he was hiding nearby, quietly observing him, and immediately felt a chill down his spine, wishing he could get away immediately!
It's going to be the death of me... Why did I have to run into that collector?
Rosales was no place to stay. Emrys made up his mind that once Rosales was done with the refit, he'd tell the old man to run!
This goddamn place was too dangerous!