Chapter 118

Karnoen had thought of many things, even suspected everyone.

But he had never suspected that Garken—the hero who had been born on the same remote planet as him, fought countless bloody battles alongside him, and been awarded countless honors by the Empire—could be the true mastermind behind it all!

“How could this happen… my brother… Garken?”

Karnoen’s heart turned to ash; he collapsed onto the red carpet before the Emperor’s sacred statue, eyes wide with fury, summoning every last ounce of strength to let out a mournful, agonized roar: “Why… why you, Garken Hadley!!!”

He didn’t understand.

Why had that former Star Militia hero, a child who had risen from a desolate backwater world, survived the galaxy’s most brutal wars, and been granted the title of Planetary Governor, become this monstrous thing?

“Why?”

Hearing this, Garken couldn’t help but laugh loudly: “Do you think I did this because I was afraid of death?”

“Isn’t that exactly it?!”

Karnoen glared at him, though his life was draining away rapidly—he still stood like an enraged lion, desperate to tear apart the Empire’s enemy before him.

“No, you’re wrong, my brother.”

Yet Garken shook his head, his face twisted with scorn: “I’ve never feared death. I simply refused to be deceived.”

“Deceived… what did the Empire deceive you of?”

Karnoen clenched his teeth so hard he thought they might shatter; the familiar face before him now seemed alien: “You’re a Planetary Governor—the Empire never failed you, Garken!”

But at these words, Garken erupted in rage.

“I gave the Empire everything! But what did I get in return?” He was utterly hysterical, veins bulging in his temples and neck, dark and swollen with fury; he grabbed his chest medals and yanked them off with all his strength, hurling them to the ground: “Nothing! Nothing at all! Just these damn medals—nothing else!”

The sharp clang of metal hitting stone.

Dozens of medals awarded by the Empire as honors for heroism lay scattered on the floor, discarded like trash by Garken.

Among them: Iron Eagle, Mortal Eagle, Winged Skull, Crimson Sash, Triple Holy Skull.

Undoubtedly, these were the very honors that most Star Militia officers could never earn in a lifetime.

To call him an Empire hero was no exaggeration.

“What return to the Golden Throne? All lies! Deceptions! The Empire’s vermin’s falsehoods!”

Garken’s emotions were wild; as if to prove his actions were justified, he roared: “Do you know, my brother… every night, when I close my eyes, those horrific visions of Chaos appear—haunting me, tormenting me, never letting me rest!”

“So… this is why you betrayed the Emperor?”

Karnoen suddenly stopped being angry. He looked at the hysterical Garken with pity, even a faint sneer curling his lips: “All… for this?”

“No, you understand nothing, Karnoen.”

Seeing his former close comrade now wearing nothing but mockery, Garken sneered: “You’ve never been touched by Chaos’s demons, so you don’t know… how terrifying they truly are. I’m afraid… I gave my life to the Empire, sacrificed everything for the Emperor—why should I, in my old age, suffer this torment?!”

Karnoen remained silent, coldly watching the utterly insane Garken, his eyes filled only with deep disappointment.

“Yes… you’ve never experienced it, so you can’t possibly understand…” Garken’s face contorted in pain, his temples swollen, his pupils bloodshot: “How horrifying those Chaos illusions are—and I know for certain… the moment I die, they’ll become real!”

“I gave everything—for the Empire, for the Emperor!”

“But what did they give me? Aside from the title of Planetary Governor and these worthless medals—what else?!”

“Once, I believed that if I remained loyal to the Empire, fulfilled the Emperor’s trust, and governed my world well, I would return to the Golden Throne…”

“But I was wrong. The Great Deceiver told me… I was wrong.”

“There is no Golden Throne!”

“Brother, after death, we return only to the Warp—our souls eternally, endlessly tormented!”

“What good is being a hero? This is an inescapable fate. I didn’t want this… it was the Great Deceiver who showed me the truth!”

As he spoke, Garken’s entire face and body began to twist grotesquely—sacrilegious symbols spread across his skin, grotesque, revolting flesh sprouted; he glared with monstrous fury at the dying Karnoen and sneered: “Let me tell you the truth—the so-called Emperor? Just a necromancer made of salted meat. He’s dead! Dead! Dead!”

“What damn Golden Throne!”

“What damn divine glory of the Emperor!”

“All lies! Lies! Lies!”

Garken raged, cursing the Empire, cursing the High Lords, cursing the Interior Ministry, cursing the War Department—and above all, cursing the Human Master, seated for ten thousand years upon the Golden Throne, never opening his eyes to witness humanity’s cries.

He craved validation, seeking an “excuse” to justify his actions.

Garken desperately hoped to see even a flicker of fear on his old brother’s face—but he was doomed to disappointment.

Karnoen’s face was expressionless, staring at the hysterical Garken, his eyes thick with mockery—as if watching a ridiculous clown: “How pitiful… this is your faith? A laughable Deceiver, fooling a fool.”

“Shut up! Shut up!”

Garken roared in fury.

“Hahahaha…”

But Karnoen didn’t stop—he laughed louder, his voice echoing through the cathedral’s dome: “Garken, you’re nothing but a fool tricked by Tzeentch. How ridiculous—you’re a pitiful clown!”

“Stop! Stop! Stop!”

Garken, as if struck in his guilt, flew into a frenzy.

“Look at yourself now, Garken.”

Karnoen clutched his abdominal wound, his eyes filled with disdain, contempt, revulsion—“How ugly. Is this what you sought? No… you’re afraid of death, Garken. No matter your excuses—you’re a coward!”

“Shut up! I told you to shut up!!!”

Shame, rage, hatred—tangled in his heart, Garken refused to accept Karnoen’s accusations. He would never accept… that it was because of his own cowardice!

“You’re a coward, Garken!”

Karnoen laughed, dripping with mockery: “The Empire will defeat you. Your plot will fail—I believe this with all my soul. And you… coward… you’ll forever cower in Chaos’s shadow, trembling before the Emperor’s wrath!”

“Aaaaaaah!”

Enraged, Garken moved like wind, smashing his fist straight through Karnoen’s fragile heart, piercing his body—but even this wasn’t enough.

He crushed Karnoen’s skull, tore his body apart, letting blood and flesh rain down like a storm, drenching his own twisted, sacrilegious form.

Blood mixed with organs flowed across the red carpet before the Emperor’s sacred statue. Karnoen, who refused to kneel to Chaos even in death, perished here at the hands of the traitor “Garken Hadley,” his final rest claimed.

“The Emperor? Just a necromancer made of salted meat!”

Garken, fully fallen to Chaos, gazed up at the grand Emperor statue and laughed wildly: “I’ll prove to you… who is right, Karnoen!”

Karnoen’s soul drifted through the Warp.

He was exhausted. He closed his eyes.

“Ah… Your Majesty, I have betrayed your trust.”

“I could not stop my brother’s fall, nor halt the spread of Chaos. I failed to hold the Empire’s borders. I… am a failure. But… I held fast to my faith.”

As his soul began to dissolve.

Karnoen seemed to hear the prayers of the Ecclesiarchy priests.

“May the Emperor’s loyal warrior return to the Great Golden Throne. May the Great Emperor protect His warriors.”

In a haze.

He seemed to see… a cold sun.

Brother lords~ drop some monthly tickets to feed me~