Chapter 118: Skarbrand, the Exiled One
"I… I will join as well!" Aspice's excited voice rang out from the side.
She could feel her own death approaching; if she didn't receive treatment soon, she was done for. That feeling of being infinitely close to death had caused a shift in her mentality… she actually felt this was an excellent opportunity for her to achieve martyrdom and go on to serve the God-Emperor.
She was indeed the ruler of a Rogue Trader Dynasty, but after personally witnessing Lucan's power, an obsession had formed in her heart.
Most of the Imperium's Living Saints had sacrificed their lives. If she did the same, and accomplished the great feat of purifying a planet with her life, perhaps she too could gain the God-Emperor's favor.
She also wanted to return to the Imperium with a stronger body, to possess even greater power, just like Lucan.
Only then could she purge more filth for the God-Emperor!
She stared intently at Lucan, her eyes filled with longing. She hated it; why wasn't she the one who had become a Living Saint?
And the prerequisite for martyrdom was that Lucan's Medics had to heal her first.
Looking at the two of them, Lucan only thought for a moment before agreeing to their request. Seeing the current state of this planet, it no longer had any value for occupation.
The entire planet, under the influence of the Warp's power, no longer had any possibility of being completely purified. There were only two things they could do: stop the sacrificial ritual from continuing, to minimize the Warp's influence on physical laws and prevent it from becoming a full daemon world.
Then, completely destroy this planet to prevent it from becoming a bridge linking the Warp to the material universe.
Lucan could perhaps deal with the ritual, but he did not have the ability to destroy this entire planet.
Under treatment, the injuries of Scyvilla and Aspice healed, and even the power armor on their bodies was restored to its original state.
"My predecessor Inquisitor was also once embedded on this planet. I have obtained some intelligence about that giant void shield, and I also know its approximate location!" Scyvilla said.
"I will dispatch some troops to assist you in getting there."
When Lucan said this, it also meant that the soldiers accompanying Scyvilla and the others were very likely to die, but these were necessary sacrifices.
These soldiers would assist the remaining forces of the Imperium and the Kourda Dynasty to break through to the location of the void shield generator.
Lucan then began to arrange for Pavian and his Tech-Priests to find the Winterscale Dynasty's tech-center and to scavenge the Dynasty's technology reserves as much as possible.
And the most important thing was the massive dockyard in orbit. Wolteng and his traitors had not destroyed it, perhaps because he was also thinking of waiting until the planet was transformed to use this dockyard to build warships for Chaos.
If he used it to trade with those Dark Mechanicum hereteks, he might be able to attract a considerable number of traitors to follow him. Then he too could have the ability to manufacture his own daemon engines and warships.
But now, all these technologies belonged to Lucan.
The teams began to move out separately. Scyvilla headed towards the underhive, where there was an elevator leading to the subterranean shield generator. The support troops Lucan dispatched consisted mostly of his StarCraft warped-in soldiers, allowing Lucan to observe the progress of Scyvilla and the others through their eyes.
If that fellow lost his mind and overloaded the generator ahead of schedule, Lucan would have time to evacuate beforehand.
And Lucan also led his own army to continue advancing towards Caligos's palace.
Whether on the ground or in the air, Lucan's forces crushed all enemies with absolute superiority.
Even when Bloodletters charged into their ranks, the soldiers in combat suits would show them what the "hymn of human courage" was with their chainswords.
The flames from the Firebats also had an excellent effect on these non-material entities. The battle line was advancing every minute, every second.
However, near the skull mound, an unusual change was also occurring.
The palace trembled continuously. A large amount of debris fell from above. The magnificent dome, already cracked under the bombardment, looked as if it would completely collapse at any moment.
But Wolteng no longer had the energy to care about these things. He clutched his arm tightly.
His face was also twisted abnormally with pain.
He looked at his arm; the flesh was continuously mutating, and the mutated flesh had completely burst through the armor he originally wore.
Wolteng had never thought that the price of this gift of power would be so great.
Those household guards who had followed him had already completely transformed into fleshy monsters – Chaos Spawn.
They had all become mindless monsters because their bodies could not withstand the infusion of the Ruinous Powers' energy. They would attack any living thing, and their lifespans were only a few short hours.
Then, their bodies would completely disintegrate.
And Wolteng himself was now transforming into a Chaos Spawn.
The power he had constantly pursued had now become his death warrant.
"Great Blood God… enough! I no longer need power! It's really enough!"
Wolteng squeezed out a few words through his teeth.
But the transformation continued, showing no signs of stopping.
And the cause of all this was not Khorne's deliberate action, but that the skull mound had already transformed into a Warp portal.
The horn of war sounded from within the gate. As if connecting to the realm of Khorne itself, from within the gate, one Khornate daemon after another was impatient to arrive in the material universe.
One stronger and more powerful Bloodreaper after another emerged from the portal.
They were Bloodletters who had proven their existence to Khorne. Only after sacrificing enough worthy skulls would Khorne infuse them with more power.
And their combat effectiveness was enough to be on par with a sergeant from an Astartes Chapter.
But the terrifying entities emerging from the gate were not just these Bloodletters. More Bloodletters, and even Bloodcrushers – knights riding Juggernauts – also arrived here.
This was not a scattered group of daemons; this was a damn Khornate daemon legion!
The ferocity of Lucan's soldiers had attracted the attention of more daemons.
And that wasn't all.
A roar, devoid of reason and filled with eternal wrath, came from within the gate.
The overwhelming rage even made these Bloodletters unable to help but retreat to the sides.
And with this roar, Wolteng could no longer control his mind and completely transformed into a Chaos Spawn.
Bloody hands gripping two battle-axes were the first to emerge from this Warp gate.
Then, a massive Bloodthirster actually passed through the Warp gate and arrived on this planet.
If Lucan were here, he would have instantly recognized this Greater Daemon's identity.
Skarbrand?
A face stripped down to the skull, as well as missing daemonic horns. The crimson flesh wings on his back were tattered and torn.
His broken body was even held together with brass metal.
The twin axes in his hands, "Slaughter" and "Carnage," still contained the sealed souls of two Bloodthirsters he had defeated.
Skarbrand, the one who was once deceived by Tzeentch, who ambushed Khorne, and was finally wiped of his self-awareness.
And his broken body was the result of being pummeled by Khorne.
After having his consciousness erased by Khorne, Skarbrand was more loyal than ever, though his mind was still not right.
He could no longer be deceived by any words, only purely spilling seas of blood for Khorne upon the world.
He appeared on various worlds, as if to atone for the mistakes he had once made, continuously conquering various worlds for Khorne.
And this time, he had come to this remote world in the Expanse.
He sensed the battle here. Countless slaughters and powerful warriors made him eager to join.
And the Blood God had also told him that there were some interesting warriors here.
And these targets of interest were precisely Lucan and his Night Sentinels, as well as those Astartes.
The moment Skarbrand appeared, Lucan sensed his presence.
"This… this level of Warp energy… is too absurd?"
(End of Chapter)
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