Soshyan clearly felt that the lungs in his chest were slowly expanding, gradually freezing into hard and useless pieces of meat, and his heart was beating heavier.
Nowadays, they are more like stirring up viscous ice water in vain, rather than performing their original function of dutifully pumping blood to where it should go.
He started to run, silver liquid dripping from the broken skin, and it slowly flowed down the gray skin.
Soshyan could no longer remember where these wounds came from. The cold wind made it difficult for him to think. They poured into his mind and swept away the few remaining thoughts.
The ground cracked again, but this time it no longer slid away quietly from his boots - instead, it collapsed unexpectedly, leaving nothing to start with.
He found himself slipping to the ground, and the rocks falling one after another made it impossible for him to stand up. Only the hand he instinctively stretched out in panic saved his life, preventing him from falling into a place that did not exist three seconds ago.
In the cracks of the abyss.
At this moment, he was hanging in the air, his whole body weight supported only by his arms, and the muscles there were already so sore that they seemed to be torn apart.
But below there is only deep darkness and howling wind. This is an abyss whose width and depth cannot be measured. It may be the maw of the hateful alien god devouring the world.
It seemed extremely easy to give up life. Even if he persisted, the outcome for his scarred body would be to endure the pain of frostbite for a few more minutes before being swallowed by the storm, or to be killed by that terrifying existence.
The giant jaw tore it into pieces and died under its hot and sharp blade.
In the teeth.
No! As a warrior, he must not regard falling into darkness as his ending.
Just as he felt his fingers gradually slipping loose from the edge of the rock, a large shadow fell on him.
He raised his head, thinking that he would face the gleaming teeth of the metal giant, or its huge palm.
But what caught his eye was neither of the two.
An incredible man appeared on the edge of the cliff, fully armed, with a silver-gray cloak flapping behind him.
"Soshyan."
The speaker was Anto Amurad, and he stretched out his hand to the warrior hanging in the air.
Soshyan did not hold the other person's hand, nor did he speak back. Frost sealed his lips, and his tongue was frozen and numb.
Amurad smiled and stretched out his armor-clad hand again.
"Come on, young man, it's time to go."
For a moment, he fell into a brief dream, which was not real sleep, but more like stagnant darkness.
Consciousness surged up intermittently, like a tide. Suddenly, he felt some kind of ethereal warmth. It was weak, indifferent, and could easily arouse people's drowsiness. When it gently brushed the surface of the skin, he opened his eyes and vaguely glimpsed the corner.
There is a cluster of swaying orange flames inside.
"Soshyan?"
Amurad's voice came to his ears again,
Soshyan still didn't answer.
It's not that he's unwilling, but that he can't. His tongue is currently lying between the painful gums, and he seems to have completely lost consciousness.
At the same time, his thoughts were still trying to take shape on the edge of consciousness.
"do you know--"
The voice asked:
"How close were you to death just now? And how far away are you from it now? Cheer up, you little one."
His eyes were closed, and at first he felt nauseated, and then everything turned into nothingness.
When he woke up again, what he saw was the broken gray-black metal bulkhead, most of which were dyed amber by the bonfire.
The fragmented scenes he experienced not long ago fell from his consciousness. He saw the destruction of stars, saw the silver power god, and then it let out a terrifying roar...
Then there was nothing.
This time he finally succeeded in standing up, pain spread along every bone, and at the same time, his joints also made a low noise.
The space here is small, but after seeing it clearly, Sosh was horrified.
He was very convinced that this was the bridge of the Chapter's former flagship, the Storm.
But now only the torn bulkheads and domes of the bridge were left. Some of the remaining walls were bathed in the light and heat emitted by the flames. After being tortured by the cold for a long time, he breathed greedily, as if he had swallowed the right food in his lungs.
It's life itself.
The hot air carries the smell of blood and ashes. Even so, for a throat that has tasted the bitter taste of frost, this is a rare blessing.
"I began to think that you had already gone to the Emperor's side."
The huge figure sitting by the fire said to himself,
Soshyan stared at his Chapter Master, the older warrior stirring the center of the flames with a thick, dead stick.
When those words poured out of his mouth, Soshyan knew that this was not what he really wanted to say.
"A long time has passed since the last time I saw you, Chapter Master."
Amurad smiled again, his eyes still staring at the fire in front of him.
"What are you observing, Soshyan?"
"Corpse."
answered the young warrior.
"You are dead, Chapter Master."
"is that so?"
Amurad let go of his hand and threw the branch into the fire. The dancing orange-red light and shadow instantly swarmed up and swallowed it up together with the unburned fern leaves.
"I am reviving the Chapter."
Soshiyang said softly, and countless chaotic thoughts began to gather. They collided and connected with each other, and they were either true or false, false or true. He began to doubt whether he was really awake at this moment.
"We will be stronger than...we were before."
"Oh, that's great."
Amurad grunted, maybe it was laughter.
"You are such a hero."
Soshyan struggled to stand upright, walked to the fire, and sat opposite his long-dead chapter leader.
"Am I in a dream?"
"That's your first question? I thought you were going to ask something more practical, do you know where you are?"
"where am I?"
Amurad's eyes lit up, deep and dim, with a look of pleasure flashing in them.
"A refuge."
"I see, so where is this shelter?"
"Right here."
Soshyan felt an instinctive irritation. He grinned and took a long breath.
“What is ‘right here’?”
"This is where we all ultimately belong."
Amurad laughed loudly in response, and he lifted up his cloak, revealing his scarred power armor.
The opponent's chest was completely reduced to a horrific ruin. The gaping wound spread from the throat to the abdomen. Below were the ruined internal organs and fragmented flesh. They were frozen in the frost, with almost no trace of distortion or deformation.
"Tell me, how is the war group doing now? How is the situation of the Astral Knights?"
"We are stronger than ever."
"Emperor, I really miss you. The scene of you being recruited and trained keeps appearing in front of my eyes."
Amurad sighed and turned his gaze to the flames.
"Soshyan, do you remember what I once said to you?"