27. What is true?

The world went from silence to clamor in an instant, but it took hundreds of times longer for it to quiet down again. Human blood meandered and seeped into the mud of the trenches, indistinguishable from one another, whether the original blood belonged to Stormtroopers from Loyalty Academy or local soldiers of the Armageddon Steel Legion.

Corpses were scattered all over the ground.

Starting from the gates of the Inquisition camp, twenty-nine Stormtroopers and forty-four Iron Legion soldiers fell. Those still alive remained wary of each other, but this did not include Logan Grimnard and Ald.

The former stood before the stormtroopers, Mokai's Axe in his right hand, his armor stained with blood; the latter stood protectively in front of the still delirious soldiers, his greatsword raised high, smoke from countless laser beams emanating from its broad blade...

They were all staring at a woman dressed in black with a deathly pale face.

She stood deep within the camp, holding aloft an Inquisitor's badge in her left hand. Two seconds earlier, her voice had resounded throughout the camp with a psionic spell.

"Stop!" she shouted again, this time at a normal volume, but loud enough for everyone to hear. "Ceasefire! In the name of the God-Emperor, ceasefire!"

No one responded to her, and indeed, no more beams of light swept through the air. The woman took a deep breath and made a firm and swift gesture to the stormtroopers. Without the slightest hesitation, they immediately lowered their weapons and retreated. She then strode quickly to Logan Grimner.

The latter, with a half-smile, hoisted the giant axe and focused his gaze on the inquisitor's belt. There hung a throwing axe with a white wooden handle. It didn't seem like a weapon that should be on the inquisitors, but the main reason wasn't because it was backward or primitive, but because of a line of text engraved on the bronze axe blade.

That's Yuvik.

The woman lowered her head and spoke in the Fenris dialect: "Annika of the Frozen Tooth tribe greets you, Alpha Wolf."

Logan Grimner grinned and replied, "I thought I'd seen plenty of strange things already..."

"It was merely a coincidence, my lord, nothing to boast about," said the judge who identified herself as Annika. "I must apologize to you for my colleague's recklessness; he acted too impulsively."

"Oh? You're not planning to avenge him?"

Annika glanced quickly at the headless corpse: "I believe Marcus Delken has learned his lesson—he shouldn't have tried to be presumptuous in front of the alpha wolf."

"Flattery won't work, Frozen Teeth." Logan's smile gradually turned cold. "Or should I address you by your current surname? Tell me, it must be a noble and lengthy word."

"Justuttil, inherited from..."

“I’m not interested,” Logan interrupted her rudely. “Let’s get down to business, Your Excellency Justtutil. I’m sure you have something to say about calling for a ceasefire.”

The judge licked his lips, took a deep breath, and slowly began to speak.

"First, I must admit one thing, Alpha Wolf: we did interrogate those soldiers... even four hours ago, the relevant intelligence was already being sent out of the camp. My superior, Lord Gesme, issued a summons for this purpose, and an Astartes Legion and nearby Imperial naval forces responded to the call."

Logan sneered.

"That mongrel dog certainly knows how to put on an act. Ha, but whatever. As for you, Justtutil, what made you choose to tell me all this? Are you perhaps planning to return to Fenris's embrace? I don't believe your soul can still be accepted by it..."

The judge remained unmoved by his insults and simply continued calmly.

"There are two reasons, my lord. First, the soldiers' testimonies are remarkably consistent. We used drugs and psionic magic for interrogation, but no matter how we questioned them, not a single person believed that the dragon slayer was a demon. In fact, many people thought he was an emissary of the God-Emperor... Inquisitor Marcus suspects this is some kind of mass brainwashing, but I disagree."

Why?

"Because of you," the judge said. "I don't know what he really is, but I know that the Son of Ruth could never be allied with the minions of the Lord of Chaos. Furthermore, even if he were, the evil magic involving mass brainwashing could never work on the entire wolf pack."

Logan slowly nodded and raised his left hand, signaling her to continue.

Annika Justutier looked relieved. She paused for a few seconds to gather her thoughts before continuing immediately.

"I say this because the whole thing is gradually evolving in a direction that none of us can control. I will not lie to you, so I admit that I also believe it is necessary to investigate, isolate, and even execute the civilians and soldiers on Armageddon. The Inquisition must take preventative measures; we have too many precedents that prove that momentary mercy only brings more bloodshed... However, Lord Gesme's actions have far exceeded the scope of our duties; he is simply trying to start a war."

At this point, the judge's expression even carried a hint of pleading.

She stepped forward and said in a humble voice, "This matter must end here, Alpha Wolf."

Logan looked at her calmly.

"You make it sound like this can be changed at my whim. Isn't this the responsibility of your crazy superior? But you're not entirely wrong either, just wait here."

Having said that, he turned and walked toward Olde. The latter had already lowered his sword, but the smoke still lingered, making his eyes appear blood-red against the white haze.

Behind him, the bright yellow of the Steel Legion surged continuously—before the alpha wolf gave the order, they had taken it upon themselves to organize a team to come and rescue their tortured comrades. Logan was not only not angered by this, but even quite pleased with it.

He approached Olde and asked softly, "Did you hear everything?"

Old did not answer immediately; he was watching the soldiers gradually leave.

In the aftermath of the gunfire, their condition worsened, with most needing assistance to walk. One, who appeared young and even somewhat immature, couldn't even stand. His eyes were lifeless as he stared blankly at the sky, unresponsive to his surroundings. An older veteran was carrying him out of the camp, each step leaving a deep footprint in the mud.

Ald looked away, turned back, and replied, "I heard you."

What do you think?

“She’s right,” Old said calmly. “But this is going to be difficult to resolve. If all that Gasme Kisnaros cared about was the truth, he wouldn’t have deliberately provoked you on the bridge. Clearly, he has ulterior motives. And I think what he wants is war. He wants you to submit, Logan… but I don’t understand why.”

The alpha wolf took a deep breath and grinned, revealing its teeth.

"You've already said it. Submission, that's the reason. The Inquisition always wants to control everything; in their eyes, everyone is unreliable. And we've been living in seclusion for far too long. All along, many accusations against us have circulated among the various administrative departments of the Empire, but we've never bothered to pay them any attention."

At this point, he turned slightly to the side and waved to Judge Annika.

The latter walked over with a slight hesitation. She had tried her best not to look at Olde, but she couldn't help but glance at his face quickly when she had steadied herself.

"I need you to call him now," Logan told her. "Have him come to the ground and tell him you've discovered a problem that requires his personal attention."

Annika paused for a moment, but didn't say anything. She just nodded firmly, then walked to the side and took out a portable data tablet.

Logan glanced at her and began summoning his pack of wolves. Just ten minutes later, he had gathered two hundred wolves, completely surrounding the camp.

Annika ended the call at that moment, took a deep breath, walked back, and spoke softly.

"I managed to persuade him, and he agreed to come, but I don't think he'll fall for that so easily... I'm worried he'll just land with the Grey Knights, Alpha Wolf."

"Of course he would do that. I don't like people like him, I would even say I loathe them, but I wouldn't go so far as to belittle their intelligence."

"Then you...?"

"I will do my best to remain calm." Logan smiled meaningfully, then suddenly gripped his giant axe tightly, and the wolves growled behind him. "But I feel that the outcome of this matter is probably not up to me."

The judge initially didn't understand why the wolves were displaying such a threatening posture, until she also caught a low rumble in the air. It wasn't very noticeable at first, but it quickly turned into a high-pitched howl—followed by a huge beam of blue light and a sonic boom.

A young man emerged from the holographic projection, his face identical to that of Gesme Kisnaros, except for a faint smile playing on his lips... Then came a hundred giants clad in gray armor, fully armed, one of whom was helmetless, with short, gray hair and a somber, solemn expression.

"Annika..." Gesmay began with a smile. "You didn't need to lie to me. Just tell the truth. I understand your concerns. That's why I'm here."

The judge was taken aback, clearly not expecting such a response, but Guessme continued, giving her no chance to reply.

"But let me tell you something else—I completely agree with the thoughts of the deceased Inquisitor Marcus Delken in his report to me. In the face of chaos, no amount of vigilance is ever enough. How many outwardly virtuous individuals have we encountered in the past, who were inwardly wicked? Not to mention an obvious warp being. Or do you believe that the memories we extracted from the subjects' minds are insufficient to prove this?"

“But, sir, the purity checks on the subjects all came back negative!” Annika Justuttier jerked her head up, attempting to argue her case. “The Hyperion brothers of Castien’s squad can vouch for me!”

Upon hearing this, the gray knight who was not wearing a helmet suddenly spoke up.

"He certainly could, if he were here, Judge Annika, but he has already been punished by me for accepting your transfer without authorization."

Annika pursed her lips, remained silent for a few seconds, and then called out his name in a hoarse voice: "Lord Joros..."

The gray knight, known as Joros, ignored her and looked at the alpha wolf. He then nodded slightly in respect before speaking again.

"It's a pity we have to meet formally in this setting and atmosphere, Chief Logan."

The alpha wolf calmly raised his right hand, indicating that he didn't need to say anything more, and then said, "Let's get straight to the point, what do you want?"

"Is there even a need to say it, Lord Alpha Wolf?" Gaithme Kisnaros laughed. "Of course it's that dragon slayer who infiltrated your pack. He's not Fenris's son, is he? Hmm? Yet you've dressed him in that armor bearing your chapter's insignia and emblem..."

The Grey Knights' Grand Instructor frowned noticeably at the laughter, but said nothing, letting the Lord Inquisitor continue.

"Strictly speaking, this is a serious crime, Alpha Wolf!" Gaismee suddenly became serious. "Not to mention that his true identity is not human, but a highly dangerous subterranean being! Yet he disguised himself as a human and mingled among you. What is his purpose? This is a question I, as an Inquisitor, cannot ignore in investigating the truth!"

Logan Grimner stared at him without saying a word, his gaze utterly calm, as if he were already dead.

A voice came from behind him.

"You want the truth?" Old asked.

At this moment, everyone was watching him: the Inquisitor, the Grey Knight, the Stormtroopers, the Iron Legion, the Wolf Pack... Their expressions and reactions varied.

Excitement gleamed in Guiseme Kisnaros's eyes, while Annika looked worried; Grand Master Jolos scrutinized him, his hands still hanging limply in front of him, showing no intention of gripping his weapons; the Stormtroopers remained unmoved and on high alert; the Iron Legion, however, had raised all their weapons, as if they had made their decision.

The wolves simply waited.

They made no response; they had already handed that power over to Alder.

"Then," the warrior said slowly, "I'll give you the truth."

As his words fell, a deep rumble of thunder echoed from beneath his chest. A dazzling light, a tapestry of gold and red, burst forth from the suddenly illuminated mark, instantly enveloping him. His form began to transform within it; his armor metamorphosed, his flesh mutated, and the golden horns of his crown pierced the sky…

In the blink of an eye, he transformed from the wolf clad in gray-blue armor into a silent, ferocious creature.

Joros stared intently into those eyes.

They were no longer simply red; a gilded hue, unforgettable to him, was surging beneath them, and he could hardly look away.

A few seconds later, he slowly exhaled a breath of stale air, then lowered his head and spoke slowly to Guesme Kisnaros.

"He is not a demon."

The smile on the lord's face vanished.

"What?" he asked. "What did you say?"