"What did you see?"
The heavy black helmet stood on the loose soil, the grenade launcher hung down, and little Herrera was silent.
She tightened her grip on the bolter.
"The corpse of the enemy, Hades."
Hades clapped his hands, half-crouched, and stared at the gray-helmeted corpse lying on the ground with expressionless black eyes.
"They are... soulless."
Hades whispered, finally understanding what was wrong and why this strange feeling had been haunting him during the battle - now he knew.
Fighting the Iron Warriors reminded Hades of his past battles with the Necrons, giving him a vague sense of familiarity.
What happened to them? What happened to the Iron Warriors, the first known Legion to fall
Hades stretched out his hand and pulled out the sword from the corpse's waist, trying to find more clues, but as Hades moved, the belt tied around the corpse's waist moved, and a hidden small bag fell out.
Hades' fingertips paused, he reached out and opened the small bag.
A photo of three young men under a statue of the Emperor. Half of it was soaked in blood. Turn it over and there was a signature and a sentence on the back:
"For the Empire! For the Iron Warriors!"
Hades looked up at the body indifferently, and recognized it as the one on the left in the photo.
A faint green arc of light lit up, and Hades stood up, the flame burning out between his fingers.
"Prepare for attack, southeast."
Hades said clearly as he watched the young Herrera salute before trotting off.
The cold mask covered Hades' face, without a trace of warmth. Even though the data of the entire battlefield had been deduced in his mind, Hades still spent some time thinking about this problem.
Finally, standing among the corpses, Hades came to his conclusion.
Someone has to pay for the blood of these former Imperial warriors.
Whoever did it will be sentenced to death.
Hades looked out into the distance. The images from the warship were very clear. Iron shoes plowed the loess, and a faint roar drifted through the wind.
The big fish is coming.
Although Hades didn't know who gave Perturabo the courage.
He stood in the wind, the stench of psychic sorcery lingering over his nose.
Then darkness fell.
———
Ingler sneered and glanced at Vashtor with its toad-like round eyes. The Lord of the Hearthfire looked deflated.
"They are not pleased with you, worms of iron and bronze."
The Great Demon spoke happily, as if to show the Four Gods’ favor to it. It spread its tiny, fragmented wings and looked back at “Lorgar” who was directing the Word Bearers to build the altar.
"Come on, Uriah."
Ingler said sweetly that its fate was tied to Lorgar's, no matter which branch of fate it was.
Then it turned its head and continued aggressively,
"Have you already failed? Have they decided it's him?"
Sparks burst out of Vashtor's mouth, and he pressed his hammer against the toad's chin.
+Since our cooperation needs to continue, you'd better be polite. +
The scorching heat roasted Ingelser, who snorted and mucus flowed out.
"I can already sense the presence of [First Person], you hate it, don't you?"
The great demon laughed,
+It's just a subordinate,+
Vashtor hissed,
+And I am a collaborator, ma'am, are you aware of that? +
Ingelser smiled, and moved the terribly hot hammer away with his fingers.
"Whatever you want,"
It says,
"You can't even persuade the Rust Doom, do you think he will back down? Or does he know something? He is your only card, isn't he? I know, contract, contract—? But now it looks like he is going to be kicked out."
The densely wound wires climbed up, and the Lord of the Fire stared at Ingelser. Behind the gaps between the swaying flames seemed to be an endless abyss of hell.
+No—+Vashtol said word by word,+—That's right, he is not that person, he is not too deeply influenced by the despised. +
If Chaos wanted this to be more secure, it wouldn't be Perturabo.
Vashtor thought that even though the destiny of the Forsaken of God was in harmony with machinery and steel, darkness still had not touched the Man of Steel.
Steel... Vashtor thought with jealousy, it was a blasphemous existence. It had never thought that the Forsaken of God would be connected to machines. Did that false emperor know what he was doing
Ohm Messiah, he himself was unwilling to bear this crown, so he gave it to others in such a blasphemous way?! This is not the best time for the Lord of Hearthfire to embark on the path of hatred, but if it does not act now... It can feel the declining power in the river of the future!
But... Ignoring the words of the Four Gods' lackey slave, Vashtor thought, it felt the gradually rising power coming from the near future - this was part of the contract.
It means their victory, it means Vashtor's victory.
A gentle and kind voice sounded from behind the two ugly monsters. Lorgar stared at them with his violet eyes.
[alright.]
The believer held up the Illuminator and turned sideways to let the two look at the altar. Blood dripped from the black stone obelisk in the center of the altar. Corpses piled up into an upside-down sculpture of a pseudo-emperor tied to the black obelisk. A sword made of human bones pointed directly at the position of the Forsaken One.
"Love you, darling."
Ingelser said in a pinched voice,
"You always do a great job... Too bad... I wish you were really him."
[It’s not important,]
Uriah said that he was the last believer on Terra. The fire was burning fiercely. He threw himself into the flames under the gaze of the false god and completed the final sacrifice.
[Faithfulness is a part of one’s character.]
Uriah said, his new body twitching as he spoke.
Vashtor stared at Lorgar grimly. The Hearth Lord mused. It couldn't be Perturabo... It thought, there is no connection... Unless... Unless they want to...
The Hearthfire Master was silent.
The next moment, following the sacrifices of the Word Bearers, along with the demon armies of the other four gods, Vashtor also began to summon its army.
————
Come on... Come on...
He stared intently at the dark corner of the map, which was shrouded in darkness, unable to be explored and not being watched. The familiar feeling of being out of control made his eyelids tremble nervously.
Undetectable.
Perturabo thought, but this tiny subconscious was quickly drowned out by tens of thousands of thoughts. The Iron Warriors' army was still marching. He felt the losses on the front line. He lost a lot of people and a lot of armor, but the other side was also bleeding.
If Perturabo wanted, he could use his massive resources to kill Hades before Fernus arrived - but this would make him completely unable to compete with the Lord of Medusa.
No... No, the Lord of Medusa was not Perturabo's primary target, although the Lord of Iron could not tolerate defeat at the hands of Fenus.
Perturabo chuckled inwardly, as if the thought of war with Fenus amused him, and his thoughts refocused on the front lines, staring at the two monsters.
He stared at them, perfect yet incomplete creations, and in a trance, Perturabo thought of the sculpture on Olympia that he had smashed, and the alien creations that he had spent countless days and nights studying but could not learn.
He gave a twisted smile. He would smash them, too.
It's just... it's just that he needed some leverage, he was promised.
Amidst the turbulence, the steel vehicle Tormentor is about to arrive at the front line.
Perturabo stared into the innermost darkness, as if he saw the figure.
The Lord of Steel's lips moved.
———
Hades,
Provocative words rang out.
In the darkness, under the white hair, the scarlet eyes locked onto the enemy in an instant, and the ion blaster gun on top of the divine machine aimed instantly. The next moment, the scorching plasma shot directly into the enemy's formation.
Not surprisingly, after a distortion of space, the intense plasma disappeared. Hades was not sure whether it was witchcraft, void shield, or both.
But he didn't need to know that clearly. The huge machine beneath him roared, and the magnetic soles of the black helmet boots made Hades as still as a mountain. Without any hesitation, they began to charge.
A mountain of tanks rushed towards him, with flames lighting up their gun barrels, but in front of the Titan, they were like babies besieging adults, and were vulnerable.
With every few steps, pulses and storms would alternately burst out from the body of the Doom-class Psychic Titan. The huge shock waves tore a path of iron and blood in the enemy's ranks. The knights followed closely behind, using the gap opened by the Titan to engage the Iron Warriors from the side.
In the darkness, Hades took a deep breath.
"Perturabo—Come out!!!"
Hades roared,
"Come out! Traitor!!!"
The strong wind poured into Hades' mouth, but the hot roar bit off the sound of the wind, and the sound of a sweeping heavy sword resounded throughout the area.
The noisy radio waves sounded, the speaker system started working, and Hades heard the low laughter.
[I, a traitor?]
Perturabo said frivolously,
[Who betrayed humanity? Who covered up the truth with lies, deceived my brothers, and tried to ascend to godhood with the help of the Primarchs?]
Hades shouted, and the Titan beneath him roared with him. A dark lightning exploded, and among the tanks, the deep space tore the powerless war toys apart.
"So this is the truth about why you have worked so hard to become a lackey of Chaos?! How can you blame him for being a slave?! At least he will not make humans slaves - the Empire has never betrayed humans! The Emperor has never failed humans!!!"
"What about you?! What about you?! Perturabo - tyrant! Is this how you treat your trusted offspring?!"
Perturabo chuckled as he waited for the power of the Warp to enter the battlefield, his thoughts briefly lingering on the word "slave", but the Lord of Iron quickly took the initiative to divert his thoughts.
[I am no one's puppet.]
Perturabo said softly, listening to the dripping sound of information transmitted through the pipes connected to his head.
But did I ever have a choice
The Lord of Steel's eyes went blank for a moment, but then he smiled again, and Perturabo said in a mocking voice,
[I just gave them the best life. Instead of spending their lives as waste, they should become the cornerstone of great undertakings. The shallow thoughts of mortals cannot understand great undertakings. They are just fools who only work for their own pleasure—]
Perturabo casually held out his hand as if to illustrate, and at the same time, he opened the door of the torturer, and the wind mixed with sand and gravel hit him violently.
[Empty military achievements, meaningless praise from superiors, so-called loyalty—all of this is a game of war, and we are all players.]
Three Titans stepped onto the bloody soil as Perturabo spoke briskly. The huge cutters roared, the volcano cannons flashed, and countless knights surrounded the iron-gray Titans.
As Perturabo watched, they charged toward the Taita that had penetrated deep into the Iron Warriors.
Perturabo felt the data transmission was slightly stuck, like an attack on a firewall, something was trying to rob him of his control over the Titans. Perturabo strode forward, he suddenly laughed, his words tinged with madness,
[What about you?! Hades—you are also tired of playing this game, so you choose to directly control them? What is the difference between you and me—]
Perturabo's voice turned.
[No! At least I won't deceive them with false beliefs! You are a ghost! ]
Hades had a blank expression on his face. He was trying to seize control of the other side, but it was obvious that these Titans had their own machine souls.
Under Hades' control, the Doom-class Psychic Titan under him rushed forward violently, and the broken engine on his left arm stabbed directly into the cockpit of the Titan that was rushing straight at him from bottom to top like an arm blade. The sound of breaking steel was heard, and a trace of blood flowed from there, turning into a faint blood-colored pattern.
The Doom-class Psychic Titan suddenly pulled his hand away, and after a huge and long roar, the Titan in front of them fell straight to their side. At the same time, two meters in front of Hades's position, the ripples of the Void Shield fluctuated violently, and a dazzling plasma slowly disappeared on it.
The stinky smell of burning cables wafted by. The smoke had just dissipated from the volcanic cannon on another Doom-class psychic Titan behind Hades. Hades glanced casually and saw that in front of him, the left frame of the Titan that had just fired plasma at Hades was burning with flames.
Lift your feet.
Hades thought about it, and the Titan under him took a step forward. A storm carrying violent arcs of electricity suddenly blew up, like a bright crown crowning Hades. The fallen Titan's body was blown away directly, ripples of fear spread out, and the powerless knight floated and scattered in the dark lake.
In the darkness, Hades was looking down from above, and was about to enter the direct shooting range... Pluto stared coldly at the figure standing in front of the dark gray tank.
The shadow of the Titan Machine descended, and along with the darkness, it enveloped the Lord of Steel.
"Who gave you the courage, Perturabo?"
A red light flashed, and Hades spoke softly.
Perturabo smiled.
[The real coward is you, Hades.]
Hades raised his eyes, and the next moment, a psychic storm blew violently in the distance. Not surprisingly, Hades heard the last scream of the Alpha Psychic who was already overwhelmed under his feet as he was dying.
The battery is dead.
Hades stared calmly at Perturabo, as the knights of the Order of Silence marched forward behind him. Fenus was approaching... but—
"You think I can't beat you?"
Yay!
(End of this chapter)