"Bang, bang, bang!!! Earth Destruction Bomb!!!"
A round hand emerged from the wooden door, holding an aerial bomb roughly the size of a small promethium canister. Its casing was dark green to black, seemingly made of enameled aluminum alloy, and it had a circular tail fin.
Earth Destruction Bomb?
Erebus, who witnessed this scene through the ritual linking the entire planet, was stunned. His mind, hidden within his tattooed bald head, couldn't immediately grasp the meaning of this boon.
But the round hand had already thrown the bomb towards the ground. The spherical warhead pushed aside the air, smashing heavily onto the ground, displacing earth, and skewering into the muddy soil, like a thick greatsword plunged into the planet Heroshima.
Then, the round hand retreated back into the wooden door, slamming it shut. Subsequently, it and the wooden door vanished into thin air, as if they had never existed.
Only the bomb, stuck in the muddy ground, proved that everything Erebus had just seen was not an illusion.
Hot air, scorching hot air, spewed from the bomb's tail, exploding into scalding steam that diffused outwards, burning the air on this planet.
"Thank you for purchasing the 'Earth Destruction Bomb produced by Future Department Store'. Your recognition is the driving force behind our quality service."
"This item is dedicated to thorough, decisive, and traceless rat extermination. It has received over twenty thousand positive reviews in the 22nd century, solving rodent problems for countless families."
"A discount promotion is currently underway: five credits cashback for a good review."
A voice emanated from the bomb, speaking words Erebus couldn't understand.
"This bomb will begin the rat extermination procedure after counting to five. Please quickly hide in a safe location to avoid being accidentally injured by this bomb."
Erebus gasped. Although he didn't understand what exactly this situation was, he had to quickly stop this bomb—
"Five."
"Rat extermination is all about catching rats off guard. If you are accidentally injured as a result, please purchase the Doctor's Briefcase from Future Department Store."
Huh?
A scorching light erupted on the horizon, like a star rising from the earth, piercing the atmosphere in the blink of an eye and spewing into the void, turning into a wave of light and heat that began to spread across the entire planet.
The interwoven red, green, blue, and purple sky was ignited by the rat extermination fire. Under the rolling heatwave, the crystal maze was instantly melted away. The bird-headed behemoth, which hosted a large number of Tzeentch daemons, was incinerated into ashes in the sea of fire before it could even resist. Millions of Tzeentch daemons wailed and shrieked.
Nurgle beasts, like fungi in the forest, continuously diffused spores into the air. These spores grew from the ground, forming giant mushrooms, attempting to block the divine fire that rose from the far end of the earth, simultaneously igniting both sky and ground. But it was ultimately a futile effort, like a mantis trying to stop a chariot; in the rat extermination fire, all life turned to ashes and vanished.
In the opulent palace, a bull-headed, snake-bodied creature, holding a poisoned goblet and writhing its body, ascended to the highest point of the castle, driven by primal, frenzied hunger and desire. Everything on the horizon was consumed by the raging fire, as if a star was kissing this world. Slaanesh, the beast, spread his arms, bathed in the inferno, enjoying the pain and pleasure of being burned to ashes by the fire.
Fire, light, and heat were the final themes of this planet. Rocks melted, continents collapsed, oceans boiled. The crust was peeled away layer by layer, the mantle was thrown into the void, and the core was engulfed by an explosion hotter than itself.
Erebus let out a horrified wail.
Rat extermination, this was just rat extermination.
The voice before the Earth Destruction Bomb exploded still echoed in Erebus' ears.
How could this just be rat extermination? And rat extermination with cashback for good reviews?!
Such an explosion, even the cataclysm that destroyed Cadia, could not rival it.
His painstaking efforts, the accumulation of ten thousand years, the fulfillment of many promises from the gods, the consumption of a vast amount of sacrifices, and the slaughter field he forged were all destroyed just like that.
Vulnerable, so vulnerable.
A malicious sting emanated from Erebus' leg, like his thigh had been pierced by thousands of sharp blades. He let out a sharp wail, but his will suddenly became clear.
A ritual dagger, made from the annihilus blade that once caused humanity's first murder and killed Horus, sharply pierced Erebus' thigh.
The ancient artifact restored Erebus' sanity. He knew he couldn't be buried with this planet.
No, absolutely not.
Erebus hurriedly took a step to the nearest Khorne beast, pulled out the ritual dagger from his waist, and prayed that this ancient artifact could protect his life.
Then, in the next second, fire consumed the entire world.
Minutes later, the Light Lord emerged from the Webway, floating in this dark star system, looking down at the burning fire.
Such a powerful explosion completely and thoroughly destroyed this planet corrupted by Erebus. It almost no longer had any solid components, all melted and incinerated into an ion or gaseous state, forming a fiercely burning mass of fire floating in the void, and continuously cooling in the cold vacuum.
But for it to truly cool down, it would likely take a long process, so long that life might even forget about this planet before it solidified again.
Through the Light Lord's porthole, Khârn silently watched the shattered, utterly destroyed planet.
He clenched the axe in his hand, his expression twisted with rage, becoming exceptionally terrifying.
"He escaped, that Erebus."
Khârn said in a low voice, his tone devoid of emotion.
"Such a world-destroying blow, and he actually survived?" Titus, standing beside Khârn, was horrified.
He tightly gripped a Chainsword bearing the Blood Angels' mark.
This Chainsword was given to Titus by the true Lord of Baal (conferred by Sanguinius), the Vice-Regent of Imperium Nihilus (conferred by Guilliman), and Chapter Master of the Blood Angels, Commander Dante, after they entered Imperium Nihilus.
The name of this Chainsword was innocence, and it belonged to Yor, the Chapter Master of the Blood Cavaliers Battle Group, who sacrificed himself on Baal Prime.
The Blood Cavaliers fought against the Tyranids and Angron, the Chief Greater Daemon of Khorne, until only one person survived. This Chainsword was also broken in the battle.
Dante ordered the Chainsword to be reforged. During the reforging process, Sanguinius dripped his own blood into it. After it was reforged, Dante listed it as a holy relic of the Blood Angels and changed the Chainsword's name from 'Atonement' to 'innocence'.
Because the Blood Knights had proven their loyalty on Baal Prime, atoned for all their sins, rejected Khorne's temptation, and as humans, walked towards destruction with dignity, their souls were innocent.
"But this Chainsword still yearns to fight for humanity, for the Emperor, and for Sanguinius," Dante said when he presented the Chainsword to Titus: "Please wield this sword for Yor."
Titus could feel the scorching, insane, terrifying machine spirit within the sword. Many had tried to pick up this sword, but without exception, they couldn't bear the fear brought by the machine spirit itself.
Everyone who picked up this sword would see visions of their flesh mutating, becoming mutant monsters, not daring to remove their helmets, unable to suppress their bloodlust, and being declared traitors by the Imperium.
Faced with such a future, can you still remain loyal? Can you still maintain courage? Can you still fight for the Emperor?
The Chainsword would question them thus, awakening the fear in people's hearts.
Those who couldn't face this illusion, who felt fear towards it, or who simply couldn't remain loyal in the face of the illusion, could not wield this Chainsword.
But Titus would not fear; he was perfectly suited for this Chainsword.
As for why not choose one from the Ultramarines' relic vault... the Ultramarines' relic vault was a bit meager now.
"He didn't withstand such a blow," Khârn said in a low voice: "Erebus ran, like a rat."
"Ran?" This made Titus frown deeply.
"It was the ritual dagger," Alexander said softly, sitting on the command throne and staring at the planet: "That is an artifact forged by Erebus using the annihilus blade."
"That weapon once killed the Emperor's father, completing humanity's first murder."
"That weapon also killed Horus and corrupted him into a puppet of Chaos."
"After that, Erebus used ancient secret methods from the Davine Temple to break that obsidian blade into eight pieces, forging them into eight ritual daggers."
"One of them was obtained by the Emperor, reforged, and used to kill Horus."
"Having participated in so many murders, that dagger accumulated unparalleled power. It not only had the effect of protecting the user's soul and corrupting the greatest heroes, but it could even cut through the veil of reality and manipulate the very fabric of reality."
"Erebus escaped by relying on a ritual dagger."
This was entirely within Alexander's expectations.
He threw this Earth Destruction Bomb purely because he didn't want to step onto a planet that he knew at a glance was filled with many blasphemous things.
Alexander had no intention of stepping into the trap Erebus had prepared in advance; he wanted to hold the initiative in his own hands.
So Alexander threw out the Earth Destruction Bomb he had been hoarding in his four-dimensional pocket and hadn't used.
Of course, another reason was that the Earth Destruction Bomb had been exchanged by him early on, but Alexander had never found a suitable opportunity to throw it.
Since there was a rare opportunity this time, he naturally had to use it.
Alexander moved his hand slightly and took out the Locator Wand from his four-dimensional pocket again.
"Let me see where Erebus ran off to?"
Conqueror. A rift appeared in reality, and Erebus stumbled out of it, gasping for breath, falling onto the ground.
The Khorne beast he had created also emerged, much smaller in size, covered in terrifying burns.
Erebus also had similar scars on his body.
It seemed that this beast had protected Erebus for a brief moment, allowing Erebus to find an opportunity to teleport away using the ritual blade.
"My ten thousand years of accumulation!!! Most of my possessions!!!"
Erebus let out a painful wail. All his accumulated wealth as the Hand of Fate for ten thousand years was piled on that planet.
But that one, still confined within a mortal body, still resisting apotheosis like the Emperor of old, could still easily destroy all of it.
This forced him to urgently leave the planet Heroshima, and he couldn't go to Luther's side to avoid drawing Saint Doraemon's wrath to Luther too early. He could only come to the aid promised by the Blood God—that is, this Gloriana-class Battleship, the Conqueror.
Then, he heard a commotion from within the Conqueror.