On the Blood of Steel, the sound of clanging footsteps was rapid.
The poisonous gas spread unbridled throughout the entire corridor, and the originally metallic gray-white corridor was covered with a layer of light yellow-green.
The Lord of Death strode forward, his dim, tattered cloak fluttering behind him, sweeping past the Iron Warrior standing at the edge of the corridor beside him.
A hissing breathing sound came from behind the mask, like the gasps of a dying man. Under the cloak, the Pale King's eyes were covered with a layer of gloomy white film.
The entire corridor was plunged into a deathly oppression. The wrath of the Lord of Death strangled everyone's throat. They all held their breath as hard as possible, fearing that they would make a sound, and then -
Cause disaster.
Mortarion looked like a seriously ill patient. His walking posture was very strange, like a zombie.
The door at the end of the corridor was closed, the steel blocking his entry and silently expressing its rejection of Mortarion.
The Lord of Steel did not extend an invitation to his "brothers".
Even before boarding the ship, Mortarion had to force the ship to "dock" at the Ironblood's dock.
Now, there is a crater-sized hole on the Iron Warriors' Iron Blood dock.
Yellow and black stripes stood on the door, as if mocking Mortarion's incompetence.
"I'm sorry, sir, the legion commander has ordered that no one is allowed to disturb us."
On either side of the door, two Iron Warriors held their halberds, crossing them in front of Mortarion.
The Primarch tilted his head, as if a skull had fallen from a skeleton.
In the shadow of the hood, those eyes stared at the two poor creatures without any emotion.
Mortarion stretched out his scythe, Annihilation, and the scythe easily pushed aside the halberds. With two clicks, the useless weapons fell to the ground.
Then Mortarion grasped his scythe in one hand and, seemingly casually, picked up one of his censers with the other.
He roughly pulled the incense burner, which was as big as his hand, off the copper chain, and used the hand holding the incense burner to pick out a glass bottle from the bottles and jars tied to his armor.
The black unknown solid filled the entire bottle. Mortarion exerted force with his hands and crushed the bottle directly. The glass shards mixed with the black solid squeezed into the air outlet of the incense burner.
Few people know that Mortarion is proficient in alchemy.
Mortarion's fixed gaze returned to the gate.
Mortarion's mouth moved slightly beneath his breathing mask.
Then the Primarch raised his hand and threw the incense burner directly out!
The incense burner cut through the air with a sudden loud bang and directly smashed through the seemingly indestructible door!
Mortarion held his scythe in his hand and stared at the huge hole in the gate.
Through the big hole that was smashed, a bluish-white flame mixed with phosphide was burning fiercely, and hissing poisonous gas was spewing out of the hole.
"Bang!"
Perturabo angrily opened the door, and poisonous gas hundreds of times more potent than the gas emitted by Mortarion's incense burner suddenly gushed out of the room!
"What the hell are you doing?!"
The Lord of Steel's high-pitched voice blasted across the entire corridor.
Opposite him, Mortarion gave a smile that was uglier than crying, but because he was wearing a breathing mask, Perturabo could only see Mortarion winking at him.
"And what are you doing, Perturabo?"
Mortarion screamed, the god of death questioning,
"That's a reasonable and calculated result! Why do you keep clinging to a necessary death?"
Perturabo shouted. Before this, he and Mortarion had quarreled many times in the communication channel. Mortarion, who had been silent and absent-minded, suddenly became furious when he learned about the casualties of the 106th Ground Commando.
"So-called calculation means indiscriminate bombing of the area where the Death Guard is located?"
Mortarion lowered his head and stared at Perturabo, without blinking.
"According to the data, there is only one Death Guard there! And the sensors on him show that he is dead!"
Perhaps the Death Guard named "Hades" had left some deep and special impression on Perturabo before, but what does this have to do with Perturabo
He is metal, steel.
And now, Perturabo faced his "brother",
"That's a dead body!"
"Don't tell me you care! Mortarion, that's a corpse!"
Perturabo stared at Mortarion without giving in. Look, such a fragile Primarch was furious for a child.
Perturabo suddenly gave a provocative smile, remembering Mortarion's mockery of him, and now he seized the opponent's sore spot.
"Lord of Death, is your name a self-mockery?"
"You care so much about one casualty. Are you really capable of commanding a battle?"
Hearing Perturabo's words, Mortarion was stunned, but then even greater rage surged from his soul, burning in his thin and sickly body.
"I promise death."
Mortarion gritted his teeth and spoke word by word.
"But not this kind of death."
"No, this kind of death!"
Mortarion swung his scythe and chopped. Perturabo, who had expected this, raised his hammer and tried to block this heavy blow!
There was a teeth-grinding sound of metal scraping against each other, and bright sparks flew from where the two primarchs fought.
“Watch your behavior.”
Perturabo continued, looking at Mortarion with a half-smile.
"In an area that is not a duel cage, a sudden attack, I think you know what this means."
If there is intention, this kind of hostile attack between legions is quite "political".
Mortarion ignored him and pushed down directly. The side of the scythe passed by Perturabo, leaving a deep scratch on Perturabo's yellow and black shoulder armor.
Perturabo's eyes darkened, but he refused to engage in a meaningless battle with this barbarian from an agricultural world.
He was right, and even if his brothers came over to judge, he would be the final winner.
A bombing that completely annihilates the enemy's main force, without cost—
Don't tell Perturabo that you are insulting a corpse. In war, life is the cheapest data.
In previous wars, there have been more or less "suicide squads" or "bait squads".
Even if all the members of that air strike team were standing in the area where the planes were bombing, Perturabo would only tell them to take cover, but would continue the bombing.
Perturabo stared at Mortarion. The Lord of Death now looked like a raging, trapped beast, spinning in circles.
"He is not dead."
Mortarion whispered a threat, not sure if he was arguing with Perturabo or stating a reality that he believed was true.
But Mortarion did stop his attack, although Perturabo realized that Mortarion's hand holding the scythe was still shaking slightly, as if he was ready to scythe him at any moment.
Perturabo blinked disdainfully, seeing how fragile and pathetic his so-called insane "brother" was.
Perturabo, who prided himself on his steel, knew that he would never devote too much energy to those foolish mortals like Mortarion did.
"See? Before I gave the order, the Death Guard's life data had already returned to zero."
A straight line as calm as water, without any ups and downs of life.
He saw the number with his own eyes. For a moment, Mortarion felt that he was standing in the deepest and darkest wasteland of Barbarus.
There was no one else except himself.
Hades, Karas, all gone.
Finally, he was the only one left, abandoned in the cold universe, befriending a group of tyrants and kings, and forced to face war and the death of his descendants.
After he was forced to wear the cloak of thorns known as the Primarch, no mortal has ever attempted to understand him.
Each Primarch was a solitary being. Before being found, their superiority over the rest of the crowd made it difficult for them to find a confidant in life, or someone who understood them.
And after being found, the so-called father promised them "brothers".
"Brother" means people with similar interests, means the same people, means the same kind.
Sanguinius and Horus, Magnus and the Khan, Fulgrim and Fainus, Guilliman and Klax
But it is obvious that not all Primarchs are looking for and filling their past gaps among these so-called "brothers".
Maybe some lucky ones have found their mortal friends before this, maybe it's Guilliman Robert's parents, maybe it's Lion El'Jonson's Luther King.
Mortarion stared at his 'brother', the 'brother' he had been promised, but who now destroyed Mortarion's friend.
He shouldn't expect anything from these "brothers", on the contrary, he should be wary of them.
Died, never to return, on a remote, cold, distant planet.
His anger was punctured, a feeling of powerlessness enveloped him, and great sadness and despair filled the air.
Mortarion stood there in despair, wondering whether to give Perturabo another scythe. It was all in vain, everything seemed ridiculous—
A brief message was displayed on the screen projected by Perturabo.
[Sir, Dantioch of the assault team has woken up and his vital signs are stable. The rest are still sleeping and are not in danger of death.]
Mortarion blinked. On the Death Guard ship, the raiding warriors were still unconscious, but the Death Guard's pharmacist told Mortarion that these people were not in danger of life.
This meant that they had no direct witnesses to the battle.
"Send him over here."
Mortarion spoke directly. This was not a request, it was an order.
Perturabo looked at Mortarion coldly, but also issued an order to call Dantioch over. However, Perturabo did not do this out of kindness, but because he wanted to prove that there was no problem with his command.
He wanted Dantioch to stand in front of Mortarion and clearly state the objective fact that Hades was dead.
Perturabo, for his part, would reward the Trident by blocking Mortarion's scythe for Dantioch.
But Dantioch's answer was beyond everyone's expectations.
Dantioch stood straight in front of the two Primarchs. He had just come out of the medical room and was only wearing the simplest combat uniform.
Dantioch tried his best to keep a straight face, but he looked at the pale flames burning in front of him and the poisonous gas gushing out. The two Primarchs didn't care about it at all. Perturabo and Mortarion were staring at Dantioch, as if he would be crushed to pieces if he said something wrong.
It was hard for Dantioch not to feel confused about this situation.
His legion commander, Perturabo, stared at Dantioch and spoke slowly.
"Have you noticed a Death Guard named Hades in this battle?"
Dantioch's heart trembled, and Hades' words seemed to still echo in his ears.
"Yes, my Lord, I have taken notice of him."
Dantioch felt that the atmosphere between the two Primarchs became more tense because of his words.
"Now, report to me the whole process of the battle."
"And what that Death Guard did."
Dantioch swallowed his saliva and sorted it out in his mind, but it seemed that the memory behind it was blurred
But Dantioch knew that Perturabo was not a Primarch who was waiting for him with good intentions, so he spoke, deciding to reason while talking.
The serious, emotionless voice echoed in the corridor.
Dantioch felt that the commander of the 14th Legion was very annoyed, but he still let Dantioch continue his speech.
"After analysis and comparison, Hades chose to launch an attack and consulted with me."
Before Dantioch finished his words, Mortarion let out a huge breathing sound, like a tuberculosis patient struggling loudly for air before dying.
Perturabo glanced at Mortarion. Perturabo's surface was still as still as steel.
"continue."
Dantioch swallowed again and continued.
But compared to just now, Perturabo felt a little more regretful towards the dead Death Guard.
Such an intelligent Space Marine, who can even understand Perturabo's strategy, is rare.
Perturabo also enjoyed the sound of Mortarion's dying breathing, but in his heart, Perturabo probably really hoped that Mortarion was actually as he let on - dying.
"Then."
Dantioch paused for a rare moment, looking confused.
Perturabo's unpleasant voice sounded. Dantioch was about to get to that part, the part that would decide whether he won or not.
"continue."
Dantioch hesitated. His memory seemed like distorted and blurred fragments, with large sections of white and black covering his memory.
Roaring, pure blur of black.
"I I forgot?"
Dantioch murmured something in disbelief, but he immediately reported it in a formal manner.
"My memory is damaged, my lord."
"Except for some depressing black scenes, that's all my memory ends here,"
The two legion commanders opposite Dantioch were stunned.
"What do you mean?"
Perturabo roared,
Mortarion, who had just given up hope, opened his eyes wide. That was the symbol of having come into contact with Hades' black domain on a large scale.
He.But.Why did Hades use the Black Domain on friendly forces and he was there now
But this offered Mortarion a hint of absurdity.
Could the Black Domain rescue Hades from the bombing of the Iron Warriors? But if possible, why didn't they find anything during the search on the ground except for the wreckage that was suspected to be Hades' helmet
Thank you for subscribing, happy reading (_)
Yesterday's bad luck follow-up:
At half past ten, the dormitory manager came back, took the key and entered the house, and my roommate came back at half past eleven.
And! 4k words a day! Even if you add more words every day, it’s still 4k words!! Not short!!! _!
(End of this chapter)