Angelica opened her eyes and felt tears stinging her eyelids.
The first thing she felt was the severe, unfamiliar, tear-like pain, everything below her spine aches with her pulse and disgusting heartbeat.
Soon, training instincts replaced the disorientated physiological instinct, and she had to know her position and then escape, without other more preferred targets.
Then her eyes focused, turning the blurry gloom into a clear illusion.
It was still the same hall, but she was facing a cold wall that seemed to be hanging upside down.
Angelica wanted to stand up, but her limbs were out of control. She couldn't even lift her head.
Finally, she heard a harsh breath, the toothache rumble of the power armor.
"Don't try to struggle."
The sound was still roaring as sharply as before.
"Your legs are dismembered, both arms are tied, and you can only stay conscious when chemical painkillers are injected into the blood."
A figure in armor appeared and strode to her.
It was the one who caught her, her face was painted as white as a skeleton, and her forehead was engraved with a rune of forgotten language.
"You can't escape here."
The figure said that she guessed that this was the Talos that Soshiyan had always called.
"No matter where you come from, you will never be able to go back, and there is no other fate, so I'll give you some choice, the judge, tell us what we want to know, let you die quickly, or tell us after I torture you for a few hours."
Angelica's mouth was covered in blood when she spoke, but her voice was as powerful as before.
"I would rather die than tell heresy."
Hearing Angelica's stubborn answer, there was a crackling sound from Talos' helmet, and there was a hint of smile in his voice.
"Everyone says that."
"Pain... Yes, pain is nothing to me."
"When the residual anesthetics in your body flood, the pain makes no sense to you, but it's not absolute, I know the body of mortals very well."
"I am the Eye of the Throne."
Angelica's provocative answer.
"I am the Emperor's verdict, you will not get anything from me, the Fallen One, but curses are piled up on your worthless life! Don't think I don't know, you are by no means Astarte of the Empire, you are filled with a stench unique to the heresy!"
Talos smiled, laughing happily.
"Do you know that in the past, countless souls stronger than you have collapsed in my claws. For Soshiyan likes you very much, don't force me to do this."
"You...how do you know where my equipment is hidden?"
"I saw it, I am a think tank. Don't forget that I can see the future path clearly when I am in pain."
"Witchcraft, black magic!"
Angelica cursed loudly.
"Maybe, but it works, right?"
"My death will not make you proud for too long. I have been serving the Golden Throne all my life, so do whatever you want, and pain will never turn me into a traitor."
"Then you chose, this is the last moment when you recover from your sanity from pain, and enjoy it while you can still enjoy it."
Suddenly, another heavier footsteps came, and then Angelica, who was originally upside down, was suddenly liberated. Someone untied the rope on her only remaining leg and placed her down along the wall.
This time she saw that the Astral Knights gathered together and stared at themselves, like spectators waiting on the execution ground, each of which was extremely cold.
And naturally, the only one who released her was the one.
"Judge Angelica, who do you serve?"
Soshiyan's tone kept calming normally. He looked down at the bloody judge. His previous anger was no longer visible, but only regrets.
"I serve the Golden Throne, the remnant of the Eleventh Legion."
"You don't have to do this."
Soshiyang shook his head.
"Whether you intend to anger me or not, I will give you a happy death. I have no interest in torture and I don't intend to waste time to torture you."
Then, he raised the storm blaster on his arm.
"Whether you say true or false, may your soul return to the throne, and may our sins be forgiven."
"etc--"
Suddenly, Angelica spoke up in a breath.
"There is something I want to tell you, you are the only one."
Soshiyan hesitated for a few seconds before looking at Talos.
The prophet shrugged and walked away.
Then he squatted down, pulled himself towards Angelica, and tried his best not to let his armor touch the other party.
"Soshyan, I can see that you are not a fallen man."
"Whether you believe it or not, I have never betrayed the Empire, nor have I betrayed the Emperor."
"So...I want to remind you...Little Spirits."
Soshiyang looked at her and nodded.
"I will."
"Then, there's only one last sentence left..."
Angerica's bloody face burst into a bright smile.
"See you again if you are destined to be."
While she spoke, colorful patterns also appeared on her skin, spreading like ivy growing on the walls under sunlight.
In the blink of an eye, the emerald green lizards covered Angelica's neck and face, their bodies, tails and legs were pressed against each other without a gap, while the blue-green feathers covered her forearms, and the slender red and black spirals spread out on the palms and fingers.
At this moment, Angelica's smile seemed to open a crack in the jungle made of tattoos on her face.
Soshiyan was stunned for a moment in the face of this sudden change. When he wanted to act, he found that his armored server was locked.
"you--"
Behind him, Talos suddenly roared.
"Damn it! She's Alpha's agent!"
Angelica suddenly reached her hand into her throat and took out a small red glass bottle and crushed it.
After a disgusting moment, a bright object emerged from the void, like a centipede wearing a pitch-black shell, with slippery pseudopods on its body.
The thing flashed out of thin air, then wrapped around Angelica and began to coil and shrink.
In shock, Soshiyang forced the armored metal fibers to obey him, and then suddenly swung his fist and smashed it away.
But the thing had tightened its entangled body and began to fluctuate, and Soshiyang's iron fist only hit the air.
Angelica had disappeared, only a pool of shiny black mucus and broken glass remained in place.
"Uh...this thing."
Loken also hurried over at this time. After searching Soshiyang for a while, he found a tiny, spider-like machine in his back. This thing was tightly clamped on his armor and hacked into the Terminator's server.
When Loken took off the machine, Soshiyan finally stood up.
At this moment, the hall suddenly began to tremble violently.
“What’s the situation?”
Soshiyang turned around suddenly.
"Captain of the Battle Team, it suddenly began to sink here!!"
"sink?"
The vibration became more and more obvious, and the soldiers had to activate the magnetic lock to fix themselves in place, while Loken simply hugged a pillar.
Soshiyang suddenly thought of a previous conjecture, which now seems to be confirmed.