Chapter 280

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Protagonist:

Lin En

Lena

In the haze, Luna discovered she was standing in the midst of a burning ruin.

Around her lay the debris of the Saint Galus Underground Palace.

Flames soared skyward; thick smoke billowed.

Countless corpses lay strewn haphazardly across the ground.

There were her maids, her escorts, and those nobles who had once supported her.

"Luna, you traitor!"

A familiar voice rang out.

Luna turned her head toward the source of the sound.

She saw Lei Ou, clad in a magnificent suit of Power Armor, standing on the Platform, a Chain Sword pointed at her.

She recognized that armor — only the successive Supreme Kings of Saint Galus were qualified to wear it.

The last time Luna had seen this armor was when she was very small.

Back then Karadong was still in his prime, the strongest pillar of Brevis.

But how, how could it have appeared on Lei Ou?

Beside Lei Ou stood Lin En and Dominic.

"You colluded with Chaos, betrayed the Empire, your crimes are monstrous!" Lei Ou's voice was cold and furious.

"Today, I, representing the Saint Emperor, representing Brevis, representing Saint Galus, sentence you to death!"

"No, it's not like that!" Luna shook her head desperately, shouting.

"I didn't collude with Chaos! It's Lin En, Lin En who colluded with the Tyranids, he's the Heretic, believe me!"

"Hahaha!" Lin En burst into laughter. "Evidence? Luna, who would believe you?"

He waved his hand.

Several Machine Cult Priests walked out, holding thick Documents.

"We can testify," the lead Priest said coldly.

"Luna Saint Galus, long-term collusion with the Tzeentch Cult, engaging in activities harmful to the Empire."

"No! Impossible!" Luna screamed in despair. "You promised me! You promised you'd support me!"

"We only support the victor," the Priest said expressionlessly.

"And your memory seems poor; Agreement B-T41 clearly states that upon discovery of your Chaos ties, the Machine Cult has severed all contact with you."

Dominic also nodded, his tone cold:

"In the name of the Imperial Navy I testify: Luna Saint Galus, the evidence is conclusive, execute the Burning Stake immediately."

Soldiers rushed up, pinning Luna down tightly.

They dragged her before the Burning Stake and bound her with iron chains.

Nine soldiers simultaneously activated their Phosphor Flamers.

Roaring flames instantly engulfed her body.

Intense pain spread through her entire body.

She could feel her Skin being charred, her flesh melting.

"Ah~~~!!"

Luna let out a shrill Shriek.

Even more despairing, as the flames scorched her, she saw Lei Ou ambushed from behind by Lin En's treachery.

That Valyrian Sword pierced through Lei Ou's chest, and then a sky-covering Bug Swarm descended.

And she could only watch helplessly as Saint Galus Castle was trampled into ruin by the Bug Race.

The once-glorious Knights fell one after another beneath the claws of the galaxy's most terrifying Predators.

She knew, she knew only she herself could protect this Clan.

But right now she could do nothing.

Luna struggled and begged madly in the flames.

"Lord of Change! Save me! Please! Save me! I am your most loyal servant!"

But the only answer was the crackling of flames and the angry roars of the surrounding crowd.

"A traitor like you — what qualification do you have to be Saint Galus's Savior?"

That despair of losing everything, that agony of being burned by fire, was terrifyingly real.

Luna felt her Soul was about to be burned to ash.

She was unwilling!

She truly was unwilling!

Again and again she prayed to that Master who governs all change and Fate, hoping for Redemption to occur.

Just as she had prayed to the Lord of Change nine times and was about to lose Consciousness completely.

All sound suddenly vanished.

The flames vanished too.

Luna discovered that she was lying on the bed in her own bedroom.

She was panting heavily, her whole body soaked in cold sweat.

It turned out to be just a nightmare.

Luna let out a long breath, raised her hand and wiped the cold sweat from her face.

Her heart was still beating madly, as if it wanted to jump out of her chest cavity.

That nightmare was too real.

Real enough that she could still feel the pain of burning flames even now.

But when she touched her own face, she discovered that the flames on her body had not yet extinguished, merely no longer burning so scorching hot.

Just then, she suddenly felt that the temperature in the room had become abnormally low.

In the air, a faint, secluded fragrance permeated.

Luna's body stiffened at once.

She raised her head with difficulty.

Only to see in the center of the bedroom, at some unknown time, a cluster of hazy purple mist had appeared.

Within the mist, a bird-headed, human-bodied figure could be vaguely seen.

He held a staff inlaid with countless eyes, and a pair of giant feathered wings grew from his back.

Even separated by the mist, Luna could feel the suffocating, chaotic and powerful aura emanating from him.

It was Him.

Luna's heart instantly rose to her throat.

With a "thump", she knelt on the ground, her whole body trembling.

"Mas, Master......"

Her voice trembled incessantly because of fear.

Yi Su looked at Luna kneeling on the ground trembling, and let out a pleased laugh.

His laughter, like tens of thousands of ants crawling into Luna's brain, gave her a splitting headache.

"Hehehe, pitiful little thing." Yi Su's voice was sharp and strange, "Were you satisfied with everything that just happened?"

"Just now, was it a nightmare?" Luna said weakly.

"That was not a dream." Yi Su's tone carried a trace of teasing.

"That was the future. If you do nothing, that is your ending, and Saint Galus's ending."

Luna's body shook even more violently.

She kept kowtowing until her forehead bled.

"Please, Lord of Change, I know I was wrong, I should not have failed!"

"Please, give me another chance, I will definitely defeat Lin En, I will definitely seize back the Fragment for You."

"Oh?" Yi Su looked at her with interest, "You really want to defeat him that much?"

"Yes! I dream of it!" Luna raised her head, her eyes filled with resentment and madness.

"I will make him disgraced and ruined, let him also taste all the pain I have suffered, I will make him and his insects go to Hell together!"

"Very good." Yi Su nodded, "I quite appreciate your obsession."

As soon as the words fell, a strand of black mist flew out from His fingertip.

The mist circled once in the air, then flew swiftly toward Luna.

Before Luna could react, the mist drilled into her seven apertures.

"Ah!!!"

A heart-rending shriek came from Luna's mouth.

Violent pain once again swept through her whole body.

A hundred times more painful than the burning flames in the nightmare.

She felt her brain, as if being stirred by countless red-hot knives.

Countless mad, chaotic, distorted pieces of information rushed into her narrow brain like a flood bursting a dam.

Knowledge of Witchcraft, schemes and tricks, fragments of the future.......

She rolled on the ground in agony, screaming, her body convulsing non-stop.

Her eyes rolled back, foam spilled from her mouth, the blood vessels under her skin all turned a strange blue color.

This process lasted a full ten minutes.

When everything finally ended.

Luna lay on the ground, motionless.

Her whole body was soaked in sweat, as if just fished out of water.

Her gaze became hollow and confused, foam continuously spilling from her mouth.

After a full two days, Luna finally recovered her senses.

She slowly climbed up from the ground.

Walked to the mirror, looking at the person in the mirror with pale complexion, disheveled hair, and mad eyes.

The corner of her mouth actually slowly curled into a strange and brilliant smile.

"Lin En, hehehehe~~~"

She softly recited this name, her voice as gentle as lovers' whispers, but the laughter at the end carried a bone-piercing chill.

"Did you think you won?"

"Did you think with the Imperial Fleet helping you, you can rest easy?"

"The game has only just begun."

She reached out her hand toward the mirror, gently caressing her own face.

That beautiful face, deliberately left unmodified by mechanical prosthetics, had already been burned by the fires of nightmare into the likeness of a hideous evil spirit.

But in her eyes, there was a reckless, desperate madness.

She knew this was the Lord of Change's punishment, an eternal lashing.

"This time, I will make them know what true despair is."

Outside the window, a streak of purple lightning tore through the gloomy sky.

Thunder rolled on and on, as if it were the Lord of Change's mockery.