The bloodson roared, tearing at Erebus' thick skin. Blood and shredded flesh splattered onto Cawl's arm.
Erebus shrieked, but a moment later, the shrieking, decapitated figure turned into a blank-eyed Tzeentch Great Unclean One Wrestling Eagle Person.
Fate took its most twisted turn; a Tzeentch Great Unclean One took Erebus' place in death.
Although the Wrestling Eagle Person's mind was completely emptied of knowledge, their identity as a Tzeentch Great Unclean One remained. The power of fate, from Tzeentch, still flowed within them, allowing them to be sacrificed to bear Erebus' deathly destiny.
One less bird-shaped tattoo remained on Erebus' body.
This was completely unexpected for Erebus.
How could it be such a coincidence?
The door he entered led directly to Cawl's location, and he had rushed through it ahead of Be'lakor to escape the Greater Daemon's pursuit.
At this moment, Erebus also realized that his luck was clearly amiss.
Was it a curse? Or the effect of Saint Doraemon's tool?
Erebus hastily swung the ritual dagger in his hand, cutting open a portal.
This portal did not lead to other rooms or places; it was merely a short-distance teleportation within the same room.
Because Saint Doraemon's tool had sealed off the entire Blessed Lady, using the ritual dagger to teleport to other rooms or the outside was completely forbidden.
Erebus merely used this to create some distance from Cawl, preventing a close-range axe strike from killing him.
Erebus emerged about a dozen meters away from Cawl, which was the furthest distance Erebus could create from Cawl within this ship compartment.
Cawl let out a low growl, crossing the dozen meters in the blink of an eye to appear before Erebus.
Erebus hurriedly threw a blood-red pearl from his hand. The pearl's luster suddenly flashed, reflecting a figure bathed in a million drops of blood.
The figure appeared from the red pearl, taking shape between Cawl and Erebus.
It was a daemon shrouded in black smoke, larger than a typical Bloodthirster. The black smoke condensed into crimson flesh, its teeth were as large as swords, it wore Khorne's brass collar around its neck, brass armor on its body, and a cloak woven from a thousand Space Marine skulls. In one hand, it held the Axe of Khorne, and in the other, a skull scepter bearing the mark of the Blood God.
"Cawl! Cawl! My brother!" A barbaric laugh emanated from the daemon's mouth, seemingly delighted to see Cawl: "It's exhilarating to see you!"
The Axe of Khorne and the bloodson collided, and the scent of blood permeated the air.
"Seed of Destruction," Cawl growled, speaking the daemon's name.
Seed of Destruction, one of the Blood God's earliest daemon Princes.
It is said that he was a terrifying general who ravaged Terra around the first and second millennia of mankind, leading armies to devastate many ancient nations on Terra, slaughtering several human races, destroying countless cities, and leaving a profound impact on humanity. Such slaughter naturally caught the attention of the Blood God.
The Blood God rewarded him, elevating this bloody general to his daemon Prince. He is now the Blood God's strongest daemon Prince besides Angron, much like Skarbrand in his prime among the Khorne Greater daemons, or Cawl among the Khorne Chosen.
Cawl knew this was a formidable opponent. Seed of Destruction had once, in a fit of rage, severed the 'head' of an Enchanted Warlord-class Titan.
"You look well, my bloodthirsty brother," Seed of Destruction cackled, constantly spewing the scent of sulfur, almost overpowering Cawl.
Cawl didn't hesitate, taking a sudden step back. Then, Raum, parasitizing his body, surfaced. Cawl's body expanded to three or four meters in size, a pair of grotesque fleshy wings grew from his back, and his power armor fused with his body, his bare arms transforming into monstrous daemon claws.
"Seed of Destruction," Cawl again swung the bloodson, colliding with Seed of Destruction.
"Excellent! You've been mad for the past ten thousand years, lost in the false rage that nail gave you. I haven't had a proper fight with you like this," Seed of Destruction laughed, clashing and colliding with Cawl.
Cawl was silent for a moment, but Raum, within Cawl, spoke Cawl's thoughts: "For half of the past ten thousand years, you've been sealed. What kind of fight could we have had?"
Seed of Destruction had annihilated two loyalist Space Marine Chapters during the Fifth Black Expedition, then was overturned by the Blood Angels and sealed on a statue of Sanguinius for a full five thousand years. Cawl had barely seen him in the Blood God's domain.
Not familiar, truly not familiar.
"I thought you would condemn me for betraying the Blood God's path," Cawl said with a hint of sarcasm.
He had now received Saint Doraemon's blessing, his axe burned with the Emperor's Psyker flame, and his body had undergone Primaris modification by Belisarius Cawl. This somewhat betrayed the Blood God's blessing.
"How could that be, my bloodthirsty brother!"
Seed of Destruction let out a wild laugh. The bloodson left a gruesome mark on his chest, and Seed of Destruction left a similar wound on Cawl's chest:
"No one can condemn an avenger."
"When I was a mortal, I once heard a saying from the Southerners."
"Is revenge still possible after nine generations? Even after a hundred generations, yes!"
"Slaying to end slaying, no forgiveness for death! A gentleman's revenge must make the villain know fear!"
"Come on, Cawl, let's see if you succeed in your revenge, or if I lop off your head!"
Unlike the passionate clash between Cawl and Seed of Destruction, the atmosphere between the Greater Daemon and Be'lakor was more subtle.
The Greater Daemon swung his baseball bat, smashing the Wrestling Eagle Person to pieces in short order.
Then he looked at Be'lakor, who had just broken free from Erebus' spell.
Be'lakor, standing before the light-portal, showed a chilling smile to the Greater Daemon.
The First daemon Prince, wielding the Shadow Blade, exuded a terrifying aura.
In an all-out fight, the Greater Daemon might not necessarily be Be'lakor's match.
But Be'lakor also narrowed his eyes slightly. He looked at the baseball bat in the Greater Daemon's hand, which was burning with the Emperor's Psyker flame.
If Be'lakor was accidentally killed by this bat, he would truly die. The risk was a bit high, Be'lakor muttered to himself.
".." The two daemons stared at each other.
Then, Be'lakor turned sideways and pointed to the light-portal behind him.
"Together?"
Be'lakor wasn't planning to backstab Erebus.
After all, he was currently burdened by the Gods' curse, unable to achieve an independent status in the Warp, and could only be reduced to a servant, serving those favored by the Gods, like Abaddon and Erebus.
Although Khorne and Tzeentch had loosened the shackles of the curse a bit, they still hadn't completely removed it, and Nurgle and Slaanesh clearly intended to keep Be'lakor chained until his death.
A new God needed to be born to break this balance and unbind Be'lakor. To achieve this goal, Be'lakor still needed Erebus.
The reason Be'lakor invited Greater Daemon to pass through the light door together was entirely because he didn't want to take risks.
In Be'lakor's view, it was too dangerous for him, a single daemon, to face an enemy who could wield the Emperor's fire and kill him completely, without anyone to help share the risk.
After passing through the light door and meeting with Erebus, it would be much safer for them to fight two-on-one. In times of danger, Be'lakor could even make Erebus go in as a shield—after all, Erebus had received Tzeentch's blessing and still had eight lives left. What was wrong with sacrificing a few for Be'lakor, his partner?
The only thing Be'lakor was worried about was whether this Greater Daemon in front of him would be stubborn and insist on fighting Be'lakor to the death here.
Gouda Greater Daemon's lips curved into a smile, and he nodded at Be'lakor: "Together."
Be'lakor immediately breathed a sigh of relief, subtly turned sideways, and gestured for Greater Daemon to pass through the light door with him.
Gouda Greater Daemon nodded politely, walked side-by-side with Be'lakor, and together they passed through the light door.
The scene changed, and in the blink of an eye, Be'lakor found himself in another cabin.
Then...
Huh?
Be'lakor looked at him, almost like a daemon, his entire body highly mutated, the chainaxe bloodson wrapped around his arm was spewing the Emperor's Psyker flames.
And across from him, the famous Khorne daemon Prince Seed of Destruction was locked in battle with Khârn, a struggle that was difficult to resolve for a time.
Be'lakor's expression instantly froze.
This... this situation isn't quite right, is it?
How could Khârn be here?
Such a coincidence?
Damn it! Erebus, that unreliable guy, clearly has bad luck!
Be'lakor's original plan was for Erebus to summon Seed of Destruction, and with Be'lakor himself, they could take down this Greater Daemon without risk.
But now, he also had to bear the risk of being struck by Khârn's axe, which was burning with the Emperor's fire.
Gouda Greater Daemon, standing beside Be'lakor, hesitated almost not at all, directly wielding the baseball bat in his hand and lunging at Erebus.
Seeing this, Erebus hurriedly chanted a spell, trying to stop Greater Daemon, but...
"Hakimi Na Merudo Ashihaya Ku!!!"
A sharp, piercing song burst forth from Greater Daemon's mouth, transforming into an endless tide that rushed towards Erebus' face.
The sound instantly froze Erebus in place, the spell in his mouth shattered, and the Psyker energy within him surged chaotically—
"Save me! Be'lakor!" Erebus let out a terrified shriek at Be'lakor.
Be'lakor smiled, nodding at Erebus: "Hold on, just like before, you hold him off, and I'll open the door."
'I'll f*ck your—' Erebus didn't even have time to finish the sentence, because Greater Daemon was already in front of him, the baseball bat in his hand smashing straight down onto Erebus' head.
Caught off guard, Erebus' head exploded with a boom, blood splattering everywhere.
But in the blink of an eye, the one who fell under Greater Daemon's hand turned into a Wrestling Eagle Person with dull eyes, and the bird-shaped tattoos on Erebus' body decreased from seven to six.
Erebus, almost without hesitation, brandished the ritual dagger in his hand, weaving an extremely malicious rune. The Khorne beast created by Erebus, like a Hecatoncheires, emerged from the void, wielding hundreds of weapons and clashing with Greater Daemon.
Gouda Greater Daemon wielded the baseball bat in his hand, fighting with this Khorne behemoth.
Erebus hastily breathed a sigh of relief, looking with resentment in Be'lakor's direction.
But just then, a locked door suddenly opened by itself, and a light door appeared in the cabin.
Erebus was first overjoyed, instinctively wanting to rush forward, enter the light door, and proceed to the next cabin.
But just then, an Astartes in pitch-black power armor walked out of the light door.
The Astartes wore Mk6 Raven Guard power armor, with "XIX" written in faded paint on the left chest of the power armor. The helmet, as its name suggested, resembled a Raven's head, and above the helmet was a small, toy-like propeller.
Raven Guard Sarojin!
Erebus' face instantly showed terror, his entire body stiffened, and a shadow-like fear spread through his heart.
But soon, Erebus suppressed his instinctive fear.
He believed that the current Sarojin was nothing to fear.
Sarojin's true danger lay only in his miraculous sniping skills and shadow step. This cabin was not large, providing no environment for Sarojin to snipe, and Sarojin himself was already exposed to Erebus' eyes, unable to hide his figure.
When a Raven is exposed to the sunlight, he is just a common bird.
Erebus held the ritual dagger, enhancing his Psyker power, and whispered rapidly to Sarojin.
But to Erebus' surprise, Sarojin actually threw away his sniper rifle at this moment, quickly drawing two pitch-black blades from behind his waist.
Foolish!
Erebus sneered. The world only knew Erebus by his title of Hand of Fate, but they didn't know that Erebus was also a master swordsman.
In pure swordsmanship, Erebus could even reluctantly match Lucius, not to mention that Erebus also held the divine weapon, the ritual dagger, in his hand.
The spell in his mouth instantly changed, transforming into a Psyker energy that wrapped around the ritual dagger.
In the blink of an eye, the ritual dagger transformed into a pitch-black obsidian longsword.
Erebus temporarily used sorcery to make the ritual dagger appear in the form of the former annihilus blade.
Back then, governor Tamba, merely a mortal blessed by Nurgle, could use this sword to harm Horus.
Although the ritual dagger was only one of the eight fragments of the annihilus blade, with Erebus' spell enhancement, it was more than enough to deal with a Sarojin—
Huh?
Erebus froze, feeling his perspective suddenly rise, and he could no longer feel his body.
Then he saw the propeller on Sarojin's head spin, and Sarojin, he didn't know when, was already standing in front of him, his two pitch-black blades crossed, directly cutting off Erebus' head.