Chapter 124: A New Journey

PS: The following will touch upon some of the Warhammer 40K storyline, for readers unfamiliar with it, please watch patiently, and I will try to describe this segment of the story as simply as possible.

The banquet hall quieted down, everyone's eyes were on the sudden turn of events.

The crowd gathered around, but most of them looked at Julius with hostility. After all, starting a fight directly at a banquet is not something a noble should do. Julius had been too impulsive.

Only Ryan calmly approached the Archbishop of the Sea Church: "Your Excellency Archbishop Odric, I believe there has been a significant oversight in the Upper Senate of Marienburg. The chaos corruption on Baron Edmund's person was clearly not purified. Instead, he is devoted to spreading his degenerate thoughts."

Before the Sea God Archbishop could reply, Schultz appeared, the Grand Duke of Marienburg spoke in an angry voice: "I said before that we should deal strictly with Edmund, but you all disagreed. Look at the trouble he has caused now!"

The members of the Upper Senate lamented their misfortune and were angry at their lack of struggle. Their reason for not punishing Edmund was also because these merchants had more or less dirty things in their hands, who knows what other scandals could involve them one day?

The favor of Old Count Huron was one aspect, their self-preservation was another.

Ryan highlighted Edmund's statements, then he spoke to everyone at the banquet:

"Ladies and gentlemen, may I ask, on what do humans survive on this continent? What has led humanity to thrive and prosper? Is it what Mr. Edmund says? To cherish life? Is it to act cautiously as Mr. Edmund suggests? Is it by applying makeup to one's face to scare off the chaos army?"

No one dared to agree, nor did anyone dare to speak for Edmund.

Because this guy had touched an absolutely wrong area. Perhaps some nobles might think this way in their hearts, but at this critical moment, they must be clear-cut, even more determined than everyone else.

"Absolutely not!"

"Humanity has come this far through war, courage, and faith."

"He is a corrupter!"

"Eliminate him!"

The banquet's attendees began to denounce Edmund, and when Duke Ivan of Griffon also questioned the Upper Senate members about this matter, the Senate knew they had to do something.

"We will give an explanation to the Empire, the soul of the corrupter must be thoroughly purified in the flames." Edmund had already been knocked unconscious by Julius's furious punches, his nose broken, so the senators "kindly" made a decision for him: he would be executed by fire, and the title of Baron Huron would be inherited by someone else.

This resolution was barely acceptable, so the Duke of Griffon nodded in agreement.

"Marquis Julius of Winfort, although we can understand your feelings, we cannot accept your extreme actions. We hope you can remain calm elsewhere." Similarly, Julius, who had acted excessively, was also to be punished. He was asked to leave the banquet, and the kingdom's knight left without a word, heading outside.

In the Empire, the ranks of nobility are Baron-Viscount-Earl-Duke-Elector-Emperor, in Bretonnia, the ranks are Baron-Earl-Marquis (special title)-Duke-King. Normally, the first heir to a great noble is referred to by the rank below that of the noble, so both Julius and Surya can be addressed as Marquis.

Apart from the hereditary titles specially granted by the Duke and Emperor, Ludwig decreed that the titles of military nobles would decrease by generation, so most nobles serve to ensure their status, and in Bretonnia, it is rare to hear of a great noble who cannot ride a horse or wield a lance.

Seeing this, Ryan also left the banquet with Julius. Following him were the Grail Knight Ulysses and his sister Surya. The lady knight, lifting her dress, hurried out, her high heels clicking: "Brother, it's my fault! Brother, wait for me."

"Come here, Julius!" Grail Knight Ulysses was angry, he called Julius over and scolded him furiously, Julius just bowed his head and took it silently.

The nights of early spring are still very cold. The lady knight was anxious and even felt very guilty. She began to speak: "Sir Ulysses, it's all my fault..."

Ulysses and Ryan spoke at the same time: "This is not your fault."

"???" The two Grail Knights looked at each other, then Ulysses said to Ryan, "You tell Miss Antree."

"Cough, cough~ This is not your fault, Miss Surya." Ryan coughed, organized his language, then continued: "Julius had good intentions, he didn't want you to be corrupted by that degenerate, but his method was wrong."

"Wrong method?" The lady knight lifted her head to look at the man before her.

"Firstly, he underestimated your judgment. He thought you might be influenced by that guy's corrupt speech, but in fact, I can tell, you were not affected by Edmund's words at all, Julius was too impulsive." Ryan frowned, then continued: "Also, he should not have resorted to violence, just from this point, he went against the teachings of a lady, he was just too concerned about you."

"Because my brother cares about me, I..." The lady knight was about to say something, but Ryan just shook his head: "Everyone must be responsible for their actions, he is already a twenty-six-year-old kingdom knight, if he's wrong, he's wrong, there's no need for you to share the blame, you know it, Julius knows it too."

Surya fell silent, Ryan's words were clear, each person is an independent individual and must be responsible for their actions. The lady knight did nothing wrong in this matter, the wrong was Julius's, he was blinded by rage, hence his incorrect approach.

"Lord Ryan, please don't take it to heart, my brother is just concerned about me, he's not that kind of person." Surya, in turn, spoke well of her brother to Ryan, the lady knight softly apologized.

"I know, the bond between you siblings is truly wonderful." Ryan showed a slight smile: "I understand."

"Thank you."

...

After the night's drama, Ryan returned home, where the three maids had already tidied everything up. Ryan didn't have many belongings, he also had a spatial ring.

He finally sat in the living room of the house at 53 Amber Street in Marienburg, zoning out.

Last October, he and Teresa came to Marienburg, to pursue Bertrand.

Afterward, he went through a series of events, one battle after another, including many instances of wits and courage against various places and people. He had slacked off, briefly relaxed, and then the great battle against the Greenskin army marked a rather perfect end to his journey in Marienburg.

There's still much awaiting him, he never forgot his mission, he knows why he came, his heart holds too many secrets, but Ryan knows all these cannot be rushed. Step by step, he went from being a foster child of a Nordland rural lord to a Grail Knight of Bretonnia, Baron of Gisoreux, his fame now unmatched on the continent, many bards tell his story, his heroic deeds are adapted into poems by many artists, even the High Elf envoy came today to have a drink with him, expressing congratulations from the High Elves.

It's time to embark on a new journey. Marienburg is prosperous but not a place to stay for long. He will head to the realm beyond the Grey Mountains. His identity makes it difficult to advance in the Empire, so to Bretonnia it is! There lies his opportunity.

He will return the house to Schultz, the Grand Duke of Marienburg agreed to keep in touch, cooperating with Ryan's actions.

The next morning, Ryan packed up his things. He had already ordered a large carriage, which could not only carry goods but also his three maids. Among the three maids, except for Emilia, basically, none had combat capability, so it was better for them to stay inside the carriage.

At noon, the satiated Bretonnian army officially set off from Marienburg back to their homeland. Although Marienburg is not far from Bretonnia, it still takes more than ten days to travel.

The questing knights were somewhat surprised to see Ryan's maids. They were not surprised that Ryan had three maids; rather, they thought it was too few. In these times, which knight didn't have several maids in their household? They were surprised that among the maids was a dark elf.

Heading south, the early spring season saw farmers busy everywhere. Spring plowing is the most important moment, a year's harvest depends on it. This is why the Empire lacked enough troops to face the Greenskin horde and had to seek Bretonnian reinforcements.

After spending several days passing through Lemanburg and the previous battlefield at Kholer, the knights entered the Pale Sisters mountains.

Today, they would camp in the mountains.

"Rangers! Come with me!" The camp was bustling, knights loudly ordered serfs to set up camp and cook, while rangers followed the knights for reconnaissance around the area. On their journey, Ryan had not seen many enemies; small bands of bandits often fled upon seeing the army, so the journey was relatively quiet.

Ryan's tent and Grail Knight Ulysses's tent were placed in the safest and innermost part of the camp, showing respect for the two Grail Knights. Ryan's tent was slightly larger, about fifteen square meters.

When Ryan finished his patrol, the sky was filled with stars. As he opened the tent curtain, he was greeted by a strong aroma: "What smells so good?"

"It's baked bread! Mr. Ryan." Emilia handed a freshly baked bread to Ryan, then brought out a metal box: "This is roasted chicken."

"Master!" Miranda and Olica also bowed, the dark elf was still not quite accustomed to her situation.

"Ah, you've all worked hard." Ryan nodded to his three maids with a smile. Outside, they reverted to their normal attire, warm cotton clothes and leather pants with boots, as the early spring weather was quite cold, especially when passing through mountainous areas where snow could still be seen on the Pale Sisters mountains during the day.

After a simple dinner, with nothing much to do in the dark night but to rest, Ryan, concerned for Olica, arranged for the dark elf to sleep next to him, while Emilia and Miranda slept on the other side of the tent.

But just after lying down, a strong throbbing and psychic shock pained Ryan's nerves. The Primarch grimaced, struggling to sit up, clutching his head.

"What's wrong? Master?" The camp outside was quiet, with only the sound of burning flames and the voices of the night watch knights and soldiers. Olica was awakened by Ryan's movement, dark elves typically have light sleep.

"It's nothing, continue sleeping, I can't sleep, I'll go out for a walk." Ryan patted Olica's shoulder, speaking softly.

The dark elf found it strange, but knowing she could do nothing, she nodded in agreement and went back to sleep.

Ryan changed his clothes and left the tent, disturbing the night watch knights: "Mr. Ryan? Is something wrong?"

"Nothing, I just want to take a walk." Ryan was heavy-hearted, he could feel his blood and bones resonating strongly, his psychic powers and spirit constantly reminding him that something significant was happening, yet it was like a fog, unclear.

The Primarch looked up at the starry sky, the vast expanse of stars displayed their splendor and brilliance to Ryan.

"It seems, something big has happened?" Ryan murmured to himself.

...

Across the eternal giant warp storm, through countless galaxies and the void of the universe.

The Milky Way, the Solar System, Holy Terra.

The human empire created by the Emperor, the Master of Mankind, faces another crisis of extinction.

The Cadian Gate has fallen.

This planet has always guarded the link between reality and the warp, "The Eye of Terror." With the complete destruction of the Cadian Gate, even greater darkness descends upon the entire Milky Way.

The Empire has never seen a warp storm like this before, a horrifying shock that affected hundreds of planets, their final desperate calls received just before all communication—and even astral telepathy—went silent.

Billions of scribes and librarians searched for answers. They studied long-neglected records, even opened the oldest vaults. No explanations or consolations were found, only some filtered comparisons. This destructive storm had torn the galaxy apart during the Horus Heresy, but humanity had only been split like this once before: during the Age of Strife. The scant statements about that nightmarish era frustrated scholars. Very little is known about that period, a time when civilization ended, humanity almost destroyed, the few survivors enslaved or regressed to barbarism.

The roiling chaos nearly split the galaxy in two, endless armies of chaos pouring out from the Eye of Terror, countless sectors sending distress signals...or falling completely silent, half of the galaxy lost contact.

In this dark age, in this age of despair, humanity could only pray to their supreme Emperor for salvation.

Yet at this moment, a terrifying message from the Mechanicum nearly drove the High Lords of Terra and the Inquisition mad.

The arcane machinery sustaining the Emperor's decaying body has stopped working. Completely stopped.

Endless darkness spread in everyone's hearts, even the most pure and devout believers of the Imperial Cult were enveloped by the deepest and most terrifying fear.

Has our supreme lord, our God-Emperor, forsaken us?

No, according to the Adeptus Astra Telepathica, the Astronomican's light emanating from Holy Terra has never been as bright as it is today.

What was often a long and intense meeting fell into silence, and in the end, the supreme lords controlling the empire made a final, desperate decision.

They requested an audience with the Emperor.

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