Block 888, Worker Residential Area 88.
This was originally Block 688, Worker Residential Area 68, but at some point, someone changed the numbers.
"No!"
With a desperate cry, Marrow from Dormitory 8 woke up from his nightmare.
Fear lingered on his weathered face, refusing to dissipate for a long time.
The night-cycle light on the ceiling emitted a dim glow.
The metal grilles of the ventilation fan were mottled with rust, scattering dark red iron filings with each rotation, as if grinding the blood scabs of time.
The rotating blades pushed the smell of smoke and oil into the room, making thumping, scraping sounds.
Marrow swallowed, grabbing his trembling right hand with his left, sweat making his skin slick.
"Just a dream!"
"It's not real."
"A dream, a dream…"
He struggled to stand, letting out a long breath to relieve the oppression in his heart.
He stumbled out of bed and walked to the dormitory door.
After reaching out and opening the door, fresh air rushed in like an invisible tide.
The air carried the scent of frost, smelling clean and pungent.
Humans can't smell things in dreams.
It seemed he had escaped that terrifying nightmare and awakened from boundless hell.
Marrow walked out of the dormitory,
leaning on the wall, and headed towards the Purification room at the end of the corridor.
There was still a good amount of purified water quota left for the month.
He wanted to wash his face before thinking about what to do next.
"Why… why…"
A faint and sorrowful voice sounded behind Marrow, instantly freezing him, his hair standing on end.
He rigidly turned around, looking in the direction of the voice.
A woman, covered in blood, stood in the shadows.
Behind the woman were red blood and burning hell, with desperate souls wailing within.
The woman's hollow eyes fixed on Marrow,
filled with malice and hatred.
She kept asking, over and over again.
Marrow felt his mouth go dry, unable to speak, his legs trembling uncontrollably.
Looking at this woman who had bequeathed the 'Twentieth-Rank Overseer' position to him, his heart no longer held any trace of past affection, only fear.
The woman was Marrow's mother.
Marrow's current overseer position was inherited from her.
Three years ago, a terrifying riot broke out in Block 688.
Rebellious thugs murdered many people, including this innocent woman.
By the time Marrow, who was on duty, received the news and rushed back, his mother's broken body had already been collected.
After his mother's death, Marrow inherited her position as per regulations.
In countless past years, he had missed her,
missing the moments spent with his mother, reminiscing about those joyful years, recalling the warm maternal love she had given.
Marrow had wished countless times to see her again,
but when she reappeared, he felt neither the joy nor the excitement he had imagined.
Only fear, endless fear.
"Why?"
His mother's voice was urgent and hoarse, like sandpaper rubbing.
"Why were you not by my side?"
Marrow retreated, his face showing panic.
He reached out to touch the doorknob, successfully opening the door.
Just as he was about to run inside, another mother stood there, also covered in blood.
She looked at Marrow with bloody eyes and extended a bleeding hand.
"Why? Why were you not by my side?"
"No!" Marrow's face turned pale, and he turned to flee.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The doors were blown open by the wind as he ran past, blood flowing out from behind them.
His mother appeared in every open room, calling to Marrow, reaching out to him, her wails following him closely.
"Why…"
"...were you not…"
"...by my…"
"...side?"
The corridor became infinitely long,
the doors along the way uniformly opened,
blood gushed out like water,
countless hands reached out from the blood, grabbing at Marrow, scratching his skin.
The sound of the wind seemed to laugh wildly, mocking his cowardice and foolishness.
"Who are you? What exactly are you?"
No one answered Marrow,
countless hands seized him, and no matter how hard he struggled, it was useless.
Finally, he was dragged into the pool of blood, dragged to the deepest part of hell.
"No!"
With a desperate cry, Marrow sat up abruptly from his sweat-soaked bed.
The fan rotated slowly, making creaking sounds.
The rotating blades blew fresh air in.
The scenes from the dream were clearly imprinted in his mind.
He reached for the water by his bed with trembling hands, and after taking a sip, his mood calmed significantly.
"It was just a dream."
Marrow slapped his own face hard, the stinging pain.
You can't feel pain in dreams.
This must be Holy Terra, it must be Holy Terra.
Marrow took another sip of water before looking up at the clock on the door.
There were still three hours until his shift.
He didn't want to sleep for such a long time, he didn't want to fall asleep again.
Those nightmares were too terrifying, he didn't want to experience them again.
"I need to go for a walk, it must be because of too many working hours recently, which is why I'm having these continuous nightmares!!"
Marrow adjusted his emotions, letting out a long sigh to compose himself.
After unlocking the door, he pushed it open, and an air mixed with the scent of blood rushed towards him.
A woman covered in blood stood at the door, her bloody hand resting on him.
"We… have… come…"
No!
Marrow stumbled back in fright, falling onto the bed.
An indescribable fear engulfed him, making him unable to think anymore.
His hand touched something cold, a bayonet he had previously kept to ward off thugs.
Absolute fear often gives rise to absolute rage in the end.
Marrow screamed, his eyes turning bloodshot.
He gripped the bayonet tightly, jumped up, and stabbed at the creature disguised as his mother.
The sharp blade easily pierced the creature's flesh.
Crimson blood splattered out, and the monster let out a painful sound, fleeing in disarray, dripping blood along the way.
The roles of hunter and hunted were swapped.
He tasted the sweetness of rage.
As long as he maintained his rage, his fury, he would fear none of these things.
"You forced my hand," Marrow shouted, "All of you, die."
He rushed out with the bayonet, killing every living thing he could see.
This was just a dream.
As long as he killed all these things, he could leave this dream and return to the Holy Terra.
Praise the Emperor, may He bless him to kill all living things.
It wasn't just Marrow.
Countless residents of Holy Terra simultaneously fell into nightmares.
They dreamed of creatures with many eyes, or things crouching in the darkness.
They took on the appearance of the dead, entering the bodies of those who dreamed.
Psykers at the same moment felt a madness and pain strong enough to crush them.
They screamed madly forbidden words like 'blood' and 'slaughter'.
… … … …
Block 888, Worker Residential Area 88.
Screams and wails echoed through the sky.
A group of lunatics were indiscriminately attacking everyone.
Gushing blood stained the ground, and the dead lay sprawled, disfigured, their deaths extremely tragic.
Marrow was one of the violent lunatics.
He held a machete in his hand.
He savagely hacked at his former co-workers while screaming madly,
"Die, you monsters, die all of you."
"As long as I stay angry, you can do nothing to me."
"All of you die, the louder you scream, the more excited I get."
… … … …
Riots erupted, and fires began to burn.
Flames illuminated half the sky, turning it crimson.
Riot control forces quickly arrived.
"Fire."
The commander immediately ordered, and dense gunfire mowed down the workers whose minds were not firm enough and had been transformed into lunatics, tearing them to pieces.
As Marrow's body was torn apart, an indescribable agony brought him back to consciousness.
Seeing the soldiers in Aquila uniforms and the surrounding corpses, he belatedly realized that he was no longer dreaming.
But he couldn't tell the difference, he truly couldn't.
The riot was quickly suppressed.
But the matter was still not over.
They came.
As the number of dead increased, the screaming souls weakened the veil between Holy Terra and the Warp, allowing them to appear.
They appeared in the Holy Terra universe, clad in bloody human skins, and lunged at the riot control forces.
The same thing happened everywhere.
These events were like waves.
They converged, eventually forming a towering tsunami.
The Warp Storm continuously intensified due to these events, finally reaching its peak.
Above the Lion's Gate, the sky turned red, as if burning.
Then the enemies appeared.
Initially there were a few, then dozens, then hundreds and thousands, countless, until finally the entire land was filled with demons.
They wielded weapons emitting a pungent smell of blood, forming massive phalanxes.
The leader of the group rode a monster made of steel, brass, and hellfire.
They formed a massive army.
As scarlet, torrential rain fell, the demons brandished their weapons and screamed, launching an attack on the Lion's Gate.
...
Light of the Emperor
Blessing
Purification
Faith Frenzy
...
The moment Daniel sensed the Warp Storm going out of control, he rushed to the city wall.
He flapped his wings, hovering above the city wall, continuously releasing skills to the Imperial defenders.
Countless rays of light fell upon the Imperial troops, dispelling their fear and imbuing them with courage.
After doing all this, Daniel contacted Arale.
"Arale, immediately gather the players to assist in guarding the Lion's Gate."
"Understood, Master."
Soon after, players from various locations received a mission.
Emergency Mission: Guard the Lion's Gate
The Cultists' ritual has torn open the veil between Holy Terra and the Warp, allowing the Blood God's army to enter the Holy Terra universe and plan to conquer the Imperial Palace.
The time has come to guard the Emperor and the Imperial Palace.
Please proceed immediately to the Lion's Gate and participate in the defense.
Basic Reward: 75000 Contribution Points, 7500 Honor Points, 20000 Faith Points.
Bonus Reward: Awarded based on the number of enemies hunted or battlefield contribution.
At this time, Warmaster was in a work area, suppressing the demons that had entered Holy Terra.
Looking at the newly updated mission in the database, he casually clicked to accept it.
The members of the Emperor Hammers next to him did the same.
"It's time to fight again. Warhammer is just endless fighting every day, it's so exhilarating!" Yuji said excitedly, "This kind of game is truly satisfying."
"The Battle of Lion's Gate, another good opportunity to get exp." Warmaster also looked forward to it.
"Cleanse! Purge! Kill!" SeriousSam shouted, raising his chain-axe.
...
The members of the Emperor Hammers returned to the Lion's Gate aboard a transport ship.
By the time they arrived, the Imperium and the demons were already locked in a fierce battle.
Eight Khorne Greater Daemons were rampaging on the battlefield.
They possessed majestic bodies, with shiny, hard, and bulging muscles, emanating black flames, and clad in brass armor.
Bat-like giant wings spread out behind them, flowing with fire and lava.
Chains wrapped around their arms and waists, with bundles of heads tied to them, swaying with their bodies.
Their huge heads were held high, adorned with intricate, twisted horns on their crowns.
Their mouths were swollen with fangs, and hot saliva dripped from their chins.
Their massive hooves trampled the ground, turning it into hissing rivers of blood.
Each held a double-bladed battle-axe and a greatsword inscribed with blood runes, while some wielded long whips covered in hellish spikes.
They were forged from the oldest fears of living beings, incarnations of the desire for war, blood, and slaughter, mythical Titans of destruction.
As they moved, the earth trembled, and each was enveloped in black flames and lightning.
Roar!
The Blood God's strongest servants let out a deafening roar.
The Custodes poured out from behind the city wall, charging towards the demons.
The mortals operated the weapons on the city wall.
Dense lasers, bolter rounds, melta beams, plasma blasts, etc., formed an overwhelming barrage,
all pouring down on the enemies' heads,
turning them into ashes.
"For the Emperor, members of the Emperor's Hammers, it's time to unleash carnage again!"
The Warmaster raised his arm and shouted, then leaped from the gunship, wielding a greatsword and beginning to slay.
Other players followed closely, shouting the Emperor's name or other random character names, such as Mirko, Rem, Nezuko, and other 2d characters, rushing into the battlefield.
The Hunter Demon Battle Group also returned to the Lion's Gate after receiving the mission.
"Is that a Sister of Silence?"
Bayd, a Demon Hunter, pointed a hand towards a sister on the battlefield.
He sensed the aura of a kindred spirit.
Because they were Demon Hunters, they couldn't see psychic phenomena.
Other players could see flames and light when fighting demons, but they saw nothing.
To them, demons were merely twisted creatures.
"There's a group of scattered Sisters of Silence returning to Holy Terra during the Battle of Lion's Gate; it must be them." a player called Kirito nodded.
"Should we approach them?" Pighead asked.
"No!" Kirito shook his head, "NPCs have their own matters. We'll kill demons first, otherwise, the score difference with other warbands will be too great."
"Alright." Pighead nodded.
The gunship they were on lowered its altitude as much as possible, while also strafing the demons on the ground.
"Go!"
Kirito and the others leaped down, weapons in hand, charging into the tide of demons.
They were some distance from the NPCs, but not far,
and could still respond if necessary.
...
Aletea, who had just returned to Holy Terra, was a Sisters of Silence from the planet Aresa.
While she was on an external mission, the planet where her convent was located was raided by Chaos Warriors.
All Sisters of Silence were slaughtered, and only she survived.
Aletea saw the last words left for her in blood by the psyker who served them.
"He is calling His daughters home."
Alone, Aletea thus embarked on her journey back to Holy Terra.
It was a suicidal mission.
Warp Storms raged, and Aletea only had an old, dilapidated ship.
The Sisters of Silences were once a force on par with the Custodes, one of the Emperor's most trusted entities.
However, they had no seat on the Terra Council, and the Custodes turned a blind eye to their marginalized situation.
As the Imperium developed, they once came to the brink of extinction.
It wasn't until the Beast Wars, to deal with the Orks, that they regained importance.
But as soon as the Beast Wars ended, they were quickly forgotten again.
Due to their Culexus Assassin nature, they were disliked by people and considered a bane wherever they went.
The Sisters of Silence were forced to conceal themselves in the name of the Ecclesiarchy, finding resources through various means to survive and fulfill the mission the Emperor had given them.
During a crisis, Aletea, en route to Holy Terra, unexpectedly met a Custodes force sent to find Sisters of Silence.
Seeing the Custodes clad in golden armor, wielding the best equipment and weapons in the entire Imperium, while she only had a dilapidated set of war-plate, a flamethrower, and a chainsword passed down for centuries, Aletea felt an unprecedented rage.
The Sisters of Silences and the Custodes were meant to be two sides of the same coin; this was the Emperor's original intention.
Yet, they stood by and watched them wander outside, begging for survival in solitude.
Only when the situation became irreversible were they willing to emerge from the Imperial Palace to seek out their former partners.
Were it not for her loyalty to the Emperor, Aletea would have wanted to ignore these former allies who had abandoned them.
But in the Emperor's name, Aletea still cooperated with the accompanying Custodes, slaying the demons.
The Custodes and Sisters of Silences were the perfect partners.
The Sisters of Silences could easily destroy the demons' auras and psychic powers,
while the Custodes' strength and combat skills could easily sever the enemies' iron-hard muscles and sinews.
They carved a bloody path and converged with other Custodes and Imperial forces.
When the null players entered the battlefield, Aletea felt a stirring.
She looked up in surprise and found those guys shouting strange slogans, incredibly excited.
"Are they mad? Fighting demons makes them so happy?"
Aletea momentarily couldn't tell whether these roaring red monsters or those guys screaming with excitement from battle were the true pawns of the Blood God.
Aletea's gaze quickly shifted from those people to the magnificent city wall in the distance.
A man with white wings flapped them, standing tall on the wall, like Sanguinius from myths.
"Is that Sanguinius?" Aletea asked a nearby Custodes.
"There was no such person when I left Holy Terra." The Custodes swung his halberd, slaying a charging Khorne demon.
Soon, another eye-catching presence appeared.
He was a giant, clad in azure war-plate, full of rage, his roaring voice no less than that of the Khorne Greater Daemons.
In his hand, he held a sword that made demons shriek and fear.
"A Primarch?" The nearby Custodes expressed his confusion even faster than Aletea, finally stating the opponent's identity and name with certainty, "It's the Primarch of the Ultramarines, Roboute Guilliman, he has returned."
Aletea looked at the fighting Primarch, showing shock.
The Primarch's power was unimaginably terrifying.
Greater Daemons that could easily kill Custodes were struck down by his giant fists.
With a horizontal sweep of the sword in his hand, the swarming demons were all burned to ashes.