Chapter 483 Rebirth From the Ashes: Petronilla's Battlefield Record (Part 1)
Chapter 483 Reborn from the Ashes: Petronilla's Battlefield Record (Part 1)
"In the battle of the Ministry of State Affairs, the Marshal took the lead. He descended from the sky, bringing down judgment with golden lightning. The demons of Tzeentch were helpless in the face of him, and could only die and flee. Above the Marshal's head, iron wings spread their wings and flew, dropping judgment and death from time to time. Behind him was Lancelot from Cologne, holding a knight's sword and chopping thorns with the Marshal. On both sides of them were Don Quixote and Charlemagne Knights from the Nameless Land, as well as more iron knights."
- Excerpted from "The Marshal's Expedition, a Record of the Indomitable Expedition, the Battle of the Great Rift" by Petronilla Viva
To be honest, Petronilla was very embarrassed when she wrote this sentence, because she did not personally experience that wonderful battle. All she heard came from hearsay in the future, and she pieced together a barely complete story.
In fact, she later found out when she recalled that although it was her first time to step into the battlefield and the first time to face the hideous demons of chaos, she did not remember much about the war.
The deep memory of facing the demons became insignificant with the repeated encounters with the demons, and finally blurred in many memories. The various fragments of the battle also became similar, mixed with other memories, making it difficult for her to distinguish.
On the positive side, this can prove that she has experienced many battles and can be called a qualified recorder, but the disadvantage is that it is difficult for her to write down practical and reliable content when writing the record.
But this is not absolute, because she can still recall some scenes after a long time, some scenes that impressed her.
"Are we not there yet?" Petronilla asked the Knight Commander Don Quixote who was leading the way, but the latter responded to her again with cold words.
"We're almost there. Stop complaining. You're still alive, aren't you?" he said. "Compared to the others, you're already lucky enough."
Perhaps I'm not lucky enough, Petronilla thought to herself. She thought the journey wouldn't be too long, but she obviously miscalculated the speed of the Stormbirds and hers. For those steel raptors, a distance of a split second was a long journey for her.
Petronilla couldn't remember when the battle ended. She only saw the Stormbirds blast open the roof of the government building, and then they jumped in. Then there was a burst of gunfire and shouting, but then it suddenly stopped.
Next, Petronilla was summoned. She was led by Don Quixote through the ruined streets, passing through various difficult-to-pass broken walls, and heading to the government building, which seemed close at hand, but in fact it was not the case at all.
"Why don't we take the Storm Bird?" Petronilla asked, her ankle aching from the uneven ground. "We could have reached there in an instant."
"The Storm Birds have all left. They need to return to refuel and replenish ammunition." Don Quixote continued to look back coldly, and his attitude made Petronilla very dissatisfied.
She looked at the tall knight leading the way in front of her. He was quite similar to Lancelot. They both had golden hair and straight hooked noses, handsome and burly.
"Knight Don Quixote, how long have you followed the marshal?"
"Not long." He said coldly.
"You are the Primaris Space Marines, right? The first batch? I heard that you are not from the Dark Angels' recruiting planet. Where are you from?"
"You ask too many questions, Petronilla Viva, and you don't expect me to answer you."
Don Quixote stopped talking. They finally passed through the long ruins and streets and came to the gate of the Ministry of Administration. There was still an obstacle blocking them here, which was also a roadblock that impressed Petronilla. Even if he recalled it many years later, he still remembered it.
Because it was not a broken roadblock made of bricks or rubble, but made of demon bones.
A large number of demons piled up into a hill, blocking the door. There was no passage in between, and there was no place that looked easy to pass through.
"What is this?" Petronilla asked in surprise, looking up at the towering ridge in front of him.
"We haven't had time to move them away, so we have to climb over. Can you do it?" Don Quixote's voice was still indifferent, but the smile was a little ironic, at least Petronilla thought so.
She snorted, raised her nose high, and then began to climb the demon hill in front of her. It was not easy. She had to admit that she felt the difficulty after her arrogance passed.
The bodies of these demons were full of blood, which made them flowery, difficult to step on and even more difficult to climb. When Petronilla climbed halfway up the mountain, her legs slipped and she fell backwards.
But fortunately, Don Quixote grabbed her in time. He stood on the corpse, "Are you okay? Do you need me to hold you?"
The words sounded like a mockery. She would not surrender. After shaking off Don Quixote's hand, Petronilla continued to climb up, climbing up the hill with difficulty but determination, and then sliding down from the other side.
Only then did she realize that going down the mountain was more difficult than climbing up. She slipped after a while, and then rolled down from the top of the mountain and fell to the ground in a mess. She climbed up on all fours on the broken floor.
When Don Quixote landed, he became much more decent. Petronilla glared at him fiercely, but the latter did not look at her but looked away and shouted something to another knight from a distance.
Petronilla got up quickly, patted her trouser legs, looked up and looked around at the government hall that had been damaged after the battle. The bodies of demons were lying all over the place, and the blood was greedily sipped by the broken marble, gradually dyeing the stone with a faint red.
The knights were all around, and they seemed to have suffered losses. Petronilla didn't know the exact number of casualties, but she thought that for this victory, the knights of Caliban also paid a considerable price.
But their achievements were also remarkable. Petronilla activated the memory spiral and memorized the mountain of demon corpses behind her in her mind, as well as many other scenes here.
While recording, she followed Don Quixote through the devastated hall. Her feet suffered again. The rubble and bricks on the ground made her almost twist her foot, but fortunately, she didn't get embarrassed again and passed through the warriors and came to an arch at the end.
To be precise, this used to be an archway, but the surroundings had collapsed and collapsed, but a road was blasted open in the middle. Petronilla carefully studied the door. She initially suspected that it was done by the Holy Coffin-shaped Dreadnaught next to it, but this argument was doubted.
She looked at the charred marks on the ground, and the blasted rubble was also full of similar charred marks. It was pierced by a lightning, and she knew who the owner of the lightning was.
"Go in, go to the end." Don Quixote pointed to the door. He glanced at her in the dark door. Maybe he was waiting for her to ask for his escort? But she was wrong. She was not afraid at all.
Petronilla nodded slightly, and then bravely walked into the corridor that was full of demons before. She walked in the dark tall arched corridor, surrounded by collapsed ruins and bricks, and dead demons could be seen from time to time on the broken floor.
As Petronilla looked at them, she could not help but feel a trace of fear in her heart. She pressed her hand on the pistol and prayed in her heart that these demons would not suddenly get up.
But she soon passed through the vaulted corridor and walked into the library. She looked around the tall bookshelves with surprise. She dared to say that this must be one of the largest libraries in the empire.
But this is also in the past. Now it is difficult to call it a library. It has been destroyed. There are few intact bookshelves. Most of the books have been burned, or only charred fragments are left lying on the ground, waiting for the coming sobs.
Petronilla looked at the books and did feel a trace of pity in her heart, but soon that pity was dispersed by the remains of the demons in front of her.
In front of her, in the center of the library, there was a huge eagle-headed demon lying. Its wings were broken, and its beautiful blue feathers were soaked with blood. It fell in the burning book debris, as if it had already died thoroughly.
Petronilla mustered up her courage and walked up to the demon carefully. She looked at the monster's head and reached out to touch its head. She was very careful, and her fingers kept stopping and moving forward.
Anyone standing in front of a demon would be afraid, even if it was a dead demon, but human curiosity could always overcome fear, and Petronilla was even more so. Her palm touched the demon's face and gently brushed its feathers.
Her eyes recorded every detail she saw into the memory spiral. This was a rare opportunity. I am afraid that except for the Astartes and the soldiers of the Astra Militarum who fought side by side with them, she was one of the few lucky people who could observe a demon so closely. She could write a wonderful article that was even worth studying.
She had already thought of the title, which was called "The Complete Works of Demons".
But just as Petronilla was imagining this, the demon bird in front of her suddenly opened its eyes, its eyelids slid down from its orange-red eyeballs, and a big eye stared at Petronilla.
She was startled and immediately pulled her hand back, retreating back repeatedly in fear, and hastily pulled out her pistol. At this moment, a big hand pressed on her shoulder from behind, and she instinctively raised the muzzle of the gun and shot.
She missed, and the muzzle of the gun was deflected by a smooth long sword, and the laser beam hit his ear.
"Hello, Miss Petronilla, the reaction is good, but the shooting is a little off." Vito said with a smile, "Otherwise you can do something that many people dream of, kill me."