Chapter 86: Khorne: Dammit, how am I supposed to get the action figure with these insects around?!
A world of blackness, an endless, dark world.
Aside from the faint light of the rift behind them, this world contained nothing.
SQUELCH!
The black sword fell, and a spray of pink, fluorescent blood arced through the air as a Daemonette of Slaanesh fell with a wail. Then, before Arthur could take another step, reinforcements from the Nemesis Chapter and the Order of the Bloody Rose arrived through the rift behind him.
Arthur turned his head. But before they could speak, a cloud of crimson mist washed over them. The mist, filled with an endless ecstasy, enveloped everyone, instantly creating countless illusions before their eyes. Within them were their deepest desires, a world entirely their own, a world where their ideals could be realized. It was enough to swallow the most indomitable warrior, because it was so real it was impossible to distinguish from reality.
CLANG!
Arthur struck the ground with the flat of his blade, trying to awaken them.
Everyone started, jolted back to reality.
"My Lord!" The warriors, realizing what had happened, all looked ashamed. They had been distracted. Under the influence of Chaos.
"Guard the gate," Arthur said, turning his head and pressing forward.
Letting the endless crimson mist drift past him, Arthur fixed his gaze on the creature posturing in the smoke ahead.
Whoosh, whoosh—
The knight's pace quickened, until he was dragging afterimages through the dark domain. He then swung his black sword forward.
The Keeper of Secrets froze. Clearly, its usually infallible illusions were having no effect. It remembered a time when its mists had enthralled an entire Space Marine Chapter of nearly five hundred men in the Eye of Terror, causing them to fall into the embrace of the Lord of Pleasure.
"Heh heh," it let out a light laugh, then retreated with an elegant step, evading the sweep of the blade before gracefully closing the distance again. "My dear, what are you doing?"
The decadent voice lingered in the air, like the gentlest caress of a lover, making one want to lose oneself within it.
CLANG!
Holding nothing back, the black knight closed the distance and swung. The black blade met the slender rapier, but the clash erupted in sparks of equal force.
Only then did the Keeper of Secrets have time to look at the black knight's face.
Indifference. Pure, absolute indifference.
Hiss~
The Keeper of Secrets began to drool. It slithered closer.
The knight swung his blade.
It deftly dodged to the side, a silk ribbon obscuring its form, then thrust with its rapier.
One advance, one retreat. One bind, one thrust.
It was a battle of life and death, yet it was as beautiful as a dance.
Hiss~
Not just the Keeper of Secrets, even Slaanesh was about to start drooling. Unlike the Keeper of Secrets, who was merely a pawn on the board, the Prince of Pleasure, who surveyed the entire game, could see more clearly.
Unaffected. Completely unaffected.
From the very beginning of their contact, the knight had shown no other emotion besides a cold desire to kill the enemy before him.
This being... huff... where did the Anathema find such a being? His mind was that of a normal human. He could laugh, he could rage, he could feel sorrow. But how could he be so restrained?
Too restrained. So detached, as if he existed in another world, far from this one, holding no illusions about this galaxy.
So restrained that it made one desperately want to see what his world was like, what was in his heart, what he—
—would become after he fell.
The Prince of Pleasure wanted to bestow a blessing upon the Greater Daemon he had worked so hard to get into the fight, but his gown was immediately singed by an approaching cloud of foul, acidic smog.
"Nurgle!" He shrieked, flinging a shattered mirror at the Lord of Corruption. This oaf, who had no respect for the young and beautiful, had stolen his Isha, and now he was trying to take the new collectible He had His eye on?
"Hahaha." Nurgle, not to be outdone, with a gentle and cheerful laugh, poured his power into the rift. He was also quite fond of the knight's unconditional trust in his partners!
And into the stage created by the lithe elf and the stern knight, a corpulent figure squeezed its way in.
The Keeper of Secrets quickly dodged, preventing the filthy maggots from touching its body. The knight did not retreat a single step. He met the Great Unclean One's descending blade with his shield, an unseen barrier deflecting the filth that poured from its massive belly. The knight swung his sword.
SQUELCH!
A large chunk of rotten flesh fell away. The Great Unclean One, much larger than the knight, took a few steps back, clutching its wound in pain.
"Father, Father does not wish for his family to kill each other," it cried, maggots and pus flowing from the corners of its eyes.
You didn't seem to be holding back when you were trying to chop me up.
Arthur warily watched his enemies. Countless lesser daemons were avoiding their battlefield, swarming madly towards the portal. And the two Greater Daemons were focused on the knight. They knew very well that if they could not deal with this knight, their masters' power could not penetrate any further.
'Slaanesh, Nurgle.'
Flicking the rotten flesh from his blade, Arthur's eyes locked onto the Keeper of Secrets at his side. He saw it thrust its rapier. The rapier was nimble, a fusion of the techniques of countless master swordsmen, and it guided the black sword into a spin.
"I am the embodiment of skill, Merydes," the Keeper of Secrets hissed.
Sword and sword intertwined, each stabbing at the other's chest. As the rapier struck the shield, the Keeper of Secrets wrapped itself around him like a mollusk. "Of course," it moaned, "my skills are not limited to swordsmanship."
But before it could continue its long-desired "embrace," a rain of acid from the sky shattered its plans.
"I am Maaku. I am the rain that guides you home at dusk," the corpulent body charged forward, slamming down its flail. "Come with me. Our home will welcome you."
Arthur's movements paused, and then he retreated. A head-on clash with a Nurgle daemon was not a good idea. Better to maintain distance and bleed it out. The poison clouds and viscous slime couldn't touch him anyway.
Arthur calmly observed his enemies' characteristics, then frowned. It wasn't that the enemies were too strong, but that they were weaker than expected. Arthur and Ramesses's knowledge was basically synchronized. Although he didn't know all the details, he knew how the power levels of Greater Daemons were classified. And these two before him... he didn't even recognize their names, and their combat power wasn't outrageously high. In Ramesses's simulations, any one of them would have been overwhelmed by a top-tier Greater Daemon in the Warp, because the physical limits of a material body were what they were. But now, two nameless Greater Daemons—
Arthur let out a breath. His conviction in victory grew even stronger.
It seems we haven't reached the point where the Four Gods are willing to go all-in for us yet.
And on the outside, Slaanesh, watching Nurgle pour countless forces into the rift, was going mad. He wanted the knight too, but if He could have just squeezed An'ggrath in, He would have done it already!
Slaanesh began to directly attack Nurgle's true form. And Nurgle, not to be outdone, raised a tide of corruption against the Prince of Pleasure. He had his eye on this collectible too. If Slaanesh hadn't interfered, He would have long since had His gentlest child, Ku'gath, bring the knight to him.
CRACK—
A new crack appeared on the arm of the Brass Throne. The Blood God stared intently at the two-on-one battlefield.
He wanted him too. But by paying a moment's attention to the angel's location, He had lost the initiative in this scramble.
"Great God of War, my Lord," An'ggrath, the Exalted Bloodthirster, who had been trying to win a new champion for the Blood God, said with frustration as he withdrew from the rift. "I have failed. I cannot reach that glorious battlefield."
As powerful as he was, with Slaanesh and Nurgle occupying the ritual's pathway, An'ggrath couldn't squeeze through. He was too strong. Now, let alone the top-tier Greater Daemons, even a regular Bloodthirster couldn't get in. Slaanesh and Nurgle were madly pouring their daemon legions into the battlefield. When these legions died, their power would be absorbed into the bodies of the Greater Daemons already there. As for ordinary daemons, throwing a few Bloodletters in now would just be feeding the enemy. He couldn't see how they would be of any use.
"Fools!" the Blood God roared, smashing his fist on the arm of his throne.
Looking at Nurgle and Slaanesh, who were still fighting over the prize, the Blood God felt he was dealing with children. If these greedy fools had just been willing to completely clear the path and let Him dispatch An'ggrath, the knight would have been His. But look at them, fighting and fighting, and in the end, neither of them could gain a decisive advantage against the knight, only allowing the battle to fall into a stalemate.
No, this wouldn't do.
"..."
The Blood God noticed that the Lord of Change was also silent. Since the ritual had stalled, Tzeentch had fallen quiet, as if this interrupted scramble no longer concerned Him. He then looked at the chaotic planet. The interruption of the ritual had scattered the souls, and the large rift could not be opened. They had to rely on daemons to constantly hunt those souls. Even the Anathema was participating in this activity.
Of course, nothing was absolute. The reality-barrier of Pierdra was already very thin. If a god was willing to pay a small price, using those scattered souls, he could still project his power into it.
Khorne looked at Slaanesh and Nurgle, who were now in a full-blown brawl in the Great Game. He wasn't going to wait. He would open a door himself.
The Blood God was the first to place his bet.
Grabbing a greatsword from before his throne, the Blood God threw it into the material universe. The blade began to dissolve the moment it pierced reality, but as souls constantly flowed into it, the disintegrating sword began to exude tissue, constructing the body of a Khornate Greater Daemon. But this body did not seem to belong to An'ggrath.
The god's gaze had been fixed on An'ggrath, but they had all forgotten the Greater Daemon who had always been chasing the Blood Angels, Ka'Bandha.
'Fight, fight. The remaining two are mine.' The Blood God sent down a divine edict, then looked with satisfaction at the Bloodthirster who had now fallen to the planet, its form gradually taking shape.
"Ah, great Lord of Blood! Is it you who calls me?!" In the endless blood-red wasteland, Ka'Bandha, who had been tearing the head off an Angel's son with an iron whip, let out a joyous howl. A portal surrounded by blood opened before him. The Bloodthirster heard the command of the Blood God. "Yes! I will capture the crimson angel for you! I will add another untamed slayer to your throne!"
Ka'Bandha beat his wings and charged into the portal with boundless fury. How many years had it been? Another angel the Blood God wished to add to His ranks. The Blood God's decision was not a bad one. His reasoning was flawless. No one would be paying attention to Ka'Bandha, who was always focused on Baal. At this moment, he was a surprise attack.
"Face me, Angel!" He burst from the portal of skulls, his material body solidifying in that instant. He then descended from the sky, the shockwave of his landing alone killing countless lives and sending up a fountain of endless blood. "Face the 'Bane of Angels'! I will be your eternal foe!"
Ka'Bandha bathed in the blood of the weak and roared.
Ah, blood, the souls of the departed! I will offer everything to you, my Lord of Blood!
Huh? Why is this blood green?
A flicker of confusion appeared in Ka'Bandha's mind. He felt not a single shred of the ecstasy of slaughter from this blood.
Where is your fear?
He fixed his gaze on the creatures that were now swarming towards him. White exoskeletons, deep purple carapaces. Every creature's eyes held the same will, a greedy hunger called "famine."
Not human.
Ka'Bandha's expression instantly grew grim. No wonder the Blood God had sent him here. The Blood God's angel had already been targeted by another rival.
"Come, you soulless, hungry things! Let me teach you fear!"
Ka'Bandha charged forward! A warrior of the Blood God does not retreat!
"Tzeentch!!!"
In the Empyrean, the Blood God let out a soul-shattering roar. His hand, which held infinite power, had already cracked a corner of his throne.
8,888 Bloodthirsters led their daemon legions towards the Crystal Labyrinth.
"Hee hee, an unexpected change. I have found it." Tzeentch also responded to Khorne's invitation to war, gladly taking the blame, his heart filled with joy.
From the moment those four had landed on Pierdra, not a single one of His futures had been correct.
But, as that sorcerer delved deeper and deeper into the Warp, the Lord of Change had found him.
'Fight, fight. The sorcerer is already mine.' Tzeentch sent his daemon legions out without a care.
The intensity of the Great Game escalated once more.
'Fight, fight. You won't get a single one!'
Hiding in the safe house, Ramesses, who had seized the opportunity created by the Blood God's mistake, couldn't help but smile. At the same time, the shadow he had placed outside as a decoy also revealed a faint smile.
Besides the Great Betrayal and the Fall of Cadia, when had the Four Gods ever actually succeeded at anything?
(End of Chapter)