Emperor's Bane

Chapter 569: Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill...

When Ahriman draws his pistol, he sees the world differently than everyone else.

The eyes of mortals can only see the ashes and blood of the real universe, but Ahriman's non-existent third eye allows him to see more: the vanity of the etheric world and the hustle and bustle of the real world gradually overlap in his consciousness and finally merge into one, depicting hundreds of possibilities for victory.

The Thousand Son raised his bolter, calling upon the power of the ether in his mind, and in an instant, traced out the paths his bolter would take from countless possible futures, and carefully chose the one that would maximize his benefits.

This was not difficult: although the entire Imperial army was pinned down by a permanent fortress and the tens of thousands of defenders inside, the Thousand Sons were able to see through the disadvantages in the real universe and accurately lock onto those keys in the Sea of ​​Souls that were enough to turn the tide of the battle.

A moment later, he fired two shots: both were the best routes predicted.

Before he could pull the trigger for the second time, the first bullet achieved its goal, accurately piercing the enemy commander's heart. The hot metal beads in the micro cluster warhead scattered due to the impact, tearing the entire chest and head into pieces, ensuring that these enemies who mastered unknown technology would die completely.

After the broken body fell, the second bullet finally arrived and hit a target farther away: a primitive-looking void shield engine. The previous fierce attack exposed it to the firepower range of the Thousand Sons, and a bullet wrapped in the prophecy successfully destroyed its control system.

The effects of the two bullets affected the defenders at the same time, followed by the Dawnbreakers' finishing blow: the Mechanical Priest following Ahriman poured the virus into the fortress's communication network at the moment the Thousand Sons pulled the trigger.

So, first the commander fell, then the void shield shattered, and finally the entire communication network turned into a screaming distortion: the triple blow came at the same time, causing the huge fortress to fall into silence and shutdown in an instant.

Before the resistance fighters could react to what was happening, the next wave of attacks from the Dawnbreakers arrived: the mortal psyker troops, who had already advanced to the designated position under the cover of the Sons of Morgan, took advantage of the moment of silence to sneak out of the fortress and launched a long-planned psychic volley.

Lightning, ice, fire, as well as invisible shock waves and impact waves: the [Psychic Guns] placed in the hands of these psychics had long been adjusted. Under the premise of being as safe as possible, they maximized the power of these mortal psychics, and finally gathered into an unstoppable wave, covering the huge fortress in destruction.

Ahriman witnessed everything with satisfaction: lightning shattered the solid walls, ice and fire knocked down the soldiers who were still resisting, invisible shock waves brought heavy firepower to the ground, and tens of thousands of lives were ruthlessly harvested. The damage caused by this round of psychic volleys was almost the same as the firepower coverage of the artillery positions, and the deterrent effect on the enemy was three points better.

All this was the result of decades of hard work by him and Yesugei.

Feeling superior, Aliman took up his sword and joined the charge, merging into the silent silver wave.

The cooperation between the Dawnbreakers and their mortal auxiliary forces was seamless, and even more communication was not needed: when the last psychic shock wave had just landed on the heads of the resistance fighters, reaping the last fruits of victory, the first wave of Morgan's vanguard had already taken advantage of the chaos to sneak up.

The Dawnbreakers' vanguard and the last psychic flame rolled into the fortress at the same time. The resistance fighters didn't even have time to raise their heads before they lost their first line of defense that they had held for so long. Then there was an avalanche of collapses: although they did not lack the courage to fight, when the Astartes rushed into the fortress with sharp blades in hand and turned the battle into a close hand-to-hand combat, no amount of courage could stop the roar of the chainswords.

At this point, less than ten seconds had passed since the Dawnbreakers were pinned to the spot by the fortress’ heavy firepower: the vast majority of the resistance lost their heads before they could even react to what was happening.

Ahriman wielded his Chanabal saber and bolt pistol, harvesting thirty-four victories for himself, and then used a psychic shock wave to cleanse the entire trench, turning the remaining resistance into a bloody mud. The ground also became as sticky as melted butter, which made people feel sick.

So, he gave up this place and continued to follow the footsteps of the Dawnbreakers: the mortal troops behind him had caught up. They were accustomed to this bloody scene and only focused on picking up guns to kill the remaining enemies, and by the way, knocked out the cowards who raised their hands to surrender and threw them to the back.

Within fifteen minutes, the entire outer area of ​​the fortress was cleared, and five hundred Dawnbreakers and three thousand mortal auxiliaries killed opponents that were twenty times their number, without any casualties themselves: the last stronghold was resolved by the giant Hector single-handedly.

The fully armed Dawnbreaker Captain, who looked like a tank, rushed to the outside of the still resisting fortress under the cover of firepower. He raised his fist, which was a circle bigger than the head of the orc warlord, and with a deafening roar, he blew down the fortress that could withstand artillery shells: it was as easy as puncturing an ice cream cone.

From beginning to end, only one punch was used.

This scene caused as much shock to Ahriman and the other Dawnbreakers as it did to the defenders in the fortress. Before these unfortunate guys could react, open fire or surrender, Hector reached out his hand again, and with a light pinch, the cannons in the fortress broke in two: a gun barrel as big as a mortal head fell to the ground with a dull sound, and then, six real mortal heads also fell to the ground.

Hector cut the six men neatly in half with just one knife. This brutal scene broke the psychological defense of the defenders. They abandoned all the strongholds on the outside and hid in the mountain fortress. They didn't even dare to retaliate and launch any firepower at Hector.

"Even Warhound-class Titans rarely act as exaggerated as you do."

When the Empire's army regrouped on the devastated battlefield, Ahriman took the opportunity to slip to Hector's side. Looking at the silly face smiling under the short silver hair, it was really hard to connect this face with the wild face a few minutes ago.

For some reason, Hector's performance just now always gave Ahriman a sense of déjà vu: he remembered the movie that the Primarch Konrad, who refreshed regularly on the Aurora, had asked them to watch a few years ago.

Well, what was the name of that movie where a giant gorilla grabs a mortal woman and fights a bunch of antique planes on a high-rise building: Hector does look a bit like the male protagonist in that movie.

"We must make good use of deterrence. Even if it causes a moment of bloodshed, it is worth it."

Morgan's pride just patiently wiped the blood off his legion badge.

"This is what Lord Conrad taught me."

"It makes sense."

Ahriman nodded.

"Are we going to launch an assault on that mountain fortress next?"

"It depends on the situation. I just sent someone to try to persuade them to surrender."

As Hector answered, he prepared his company for battle, even the mortal psykers were no exception: Ahriman saw that the Dawnbreaker withdrew half of its strength and prepared to devote it to the next offensive operation, and the remaining half of the psykers had to stay here until the follow-up troops arrived.

The lucky ones who were chosen took off their winter coats and handed them to their companions. Under the coats was a very thin set of mortal power armor. This mortal power armor, which was researched by Riza and exclusive to Avalon, was called [Hummingbird] and was specially provided to psychics in the Avalon Auxiliary Army.

This power armor is as light and agile as its name suggests. It is the lightest and thinnest power armor known. The lack of defense is supplemented by the disposable personal shields carried by mortal psykers.

Ahriman could see that these armors were all uniformly engraved with the [Universal Runes] jointly researched by Morgan and Leman Russ: in addition to the common strength runes, health runes, and toughness runes, there were also high-temperature runes temporarily drawn for fighting in such low-temperature environments. Mortals carefully wiped these runes, which indirectly demonstrated their effectiveness.

These runes are good things, and they are quite popular in the Great Crusade, but apart from the Dawnbreakers, the White Scars and the Space Wolves, no other legion will use these runes as standard equipment for their mortal auxiliary forces.

The reason is very simple: whether it is these universal runes, or the psionic guns and hummingbird armor that are also standard equipment for the Avalon Psionic Troops, they are all expensive disposable products with a service life that is usually only the time of one battle. To achieve standard equipment, they must be continuously produced and replaced, and few legions will do this for their mortal troops.

The only exception who met the criteria of being wealthy and powerful was the "dangerous element" who was tacitly known to Morgan, Chagatai Khan, and Leman Russ and did not reveal these secrets to the past: even that person's constant hints were fooled by pretending to be stupid.

this is correct.

Ahriman nodded mentally.

If he were given a thousand such warriors, he would be confident that he could capture any fortress.

Including the one in front of you.

"It won't even take half an hour."

Chizi turned around and declared victory to his friend.

"Do not."

Hector shook his head in denial.

"Not even a second."

After saying that, he pointed to the bottom of the mountain fortress: the Dawnbreaker who was in charge of persuading the surrender was waving his hands and walking back excitedly, and beside him was a mortal who looked like an officer. The military uniform on his body showed that he was a high-ranking official among the resistance.

……

"I am the commander of this fortress."

This mortal stood in front of Hector and Ahriman with a tired look on his face. He was first amazed at the tall stature of the two Astartes warriors, then lowered his head, trying to suppress the trembling in his voice.

"I am here, on behalf of all the defenders of the fortress, to pray for peace from you."

“There is only one way to peace.”

Hector was neither sad nor happy.

"You could have gotten a relatively more decent outcome, but now, our legion and primarch only accept unconditional surrender: let your people leave the fortress and hand over your weapons. Any resistance will make this war continue, and there will be no mercy next time."

"I...I understand."

The officer hesitated for a moment, then slowly took off the sword from his waist, placed this treasure that might have been passed down for a thousand years between his hands, and raised it high above his head.

"We will surrender, we will lay down all our weapons and flags and obey your orders: I only beg you to withdraw your troops, we don't want to fight anymore, we beg you to save our lives."

The officer's voice was tearful, which was completely different from his resolute expression, but it was the last sentence that really caught Hector and Ahriman's attention.

"Save your lives? What do you mean?"

"Your comrades, the ones with the wolves, have already headed for the town behind us."

The officer lowered his head even lower, his gesture no longer different from a humble plea.

"I surrender to you. I will hand over the fortress and the town to you. I only hope that you can show mercy and stop their wolves from killing everyone. Our wives and children are still in the town..."

"..."

Hector and Ahriman looked at each other.

"can."

——————“Leave it to us.”

Olperson nodded to Hector and Ahriman, and behind him, a team of psykers and mortal soldiers surrounded the town that had just raised the imperial flag, but their guns were facing outward.

"No need to worry."

Qianzi smiled and comforted the warriors who were obviously feeling uneasy.

"There will be no conflict. You just need to make sure that the Space Wolves don't run into the residents of this town. We will handle the rest. Keep your soldiers calm. I don't want to see anyone accidentally discharge their guns."

"Don't worry, Chiko."

Among the Auxiliary Armies of Avalon, some were dissatisfied with Ahriman's contempt.

"We have fought alongside the Astartes countless times, and we will not be weakened by the Emperor's Angels standing opposite us: do your job well, and if there must be a bloody conflict today, even if it is the Space Wolves, they will break their stinking teeth in front of us."

This arrogant Ayan caused warm cheers among the mortal army of Avalon, and even Orpesson smiled: Ahriman did not comment on this. He turned around and stood next to Hector who was further ahead, with 500 Dawnbreakers lined up next to him.

"You're not surprised by this?"

Qianzi felt that Hector seemed to have anticipated all this.

"of course."

Morgan's pride nodded.

"These mortals behind you are from a meritorious army, Ahriman. This means that they have at least completed a mission that should have been performed by the Astartes. Even without the transformation surgery and the care of the Primarch, the power of mortals cannot be underestimated."

"Yeah, I always forget that."

Qianzi turned his head: he could already smell blood and wolf in the air.

"Hopefully the mission they pull off will be a little more terrifying than the Space Wolves."

"That would be too much to ask."

Hector smiled, wiped the blood off the giant green blade, then took a step forward and stood in front of his company, standing alone against the enemy: his tall figure cast a mountain-like shadow on the ground, which was more oppressive than the raging wolves.

In the solemn silence, Russ's wolf pack finally appeared.

First there was the smell of blood and the howling of wolves, followed by a herd of gray-haired beasts: the sons of Leman Russ had brought these giant wolves from their home planet Fenris to the galaxy, letting them roam the battlefields of the Great Crusade and devour the corpses of the defeated. The real wild wolves followed behind these four-legged wolves, led by a rune priest covered with wolf claws and strange tattoos.

"Wardmaker."

Chizi whispered.

"I know him. He's a rune priest from the 5th Company. He's pretty calm."

"That's good."

Hector nodded and faced the surging wolf pack without hesitation. He just stood there silently, and the dozens of four-legged wild wolves in the front stopped. In addition to the greed for food, there was an additional layer of uneasiness in their amber pupils when facing higher-level predators, which came from the instinctive uneasiness of wild animals.

And when Hector raised the blade and thrust it fiercely into the ground, not only did the gray-haired beasts quickly retreat to their master's side, but even their two-legged masters had to come out of the frenzy of killing: the beasts that had slaughtered the entire valley stopped running, they looked at the five hundred Dawnbreakers who remained silent, and the scene fell into deathly silence for a moment.

After a moment, Wardmaker pushed aside the guards beside him and walked out.

He only took a cursory glance and understood what the Dawnbreakers meant.

"interesting."

The Rune Priest laughed.
"Dawnbreaker, do you want to protect these enemies of the Empire?"

"They aren't anymore."

Hector pointed to the double-headed eagle flag flying above the town.

The Rune Priest's disdainful sneer could be heard by everyone.

"Do not make jokes!"

His voice was hoarse.

"If you regard this as an excuse to fool me, I will accept it, but if you really think so, then you are an idiot like the Thousand Sons: are all descendants of the great Soul Drinker as stupid as you? "

Soul Drinker...

This familiar nickname made Hector frown, but he was not angered by Hedemaker's words. Even among the 500 Dawnbreakers behind him, there was no sound of dissatisfaction: they just silently loaded their guns.

"I'm not being evasive, Wolf."

Morgan's pride was too lazy to argue with these unreasonable Fenrisians.

"I am only stating the facts: the resistance fighters in this area have laid down their weapons. All the soldiers have entered our prisoner-of-war camps, and the women and children have left their rooms. There is no chance for them to resist. They have officially surrendered to the Human Empire. You have no right to let your butcher knife fall on their heads."

"Is it?"

Wardmaker seemed to accept this explanation very reluctantly. After all, the iron-clad facts were right in front of him, and he could not continue the massacre in front of the Dawnbreakers. Instead, the wolves behind him made legitimate complaints, as if they were really worried about the end of the massacre, but they were suppressed by the Rune Priest's roar.

"I don't know what caused you Dawnbreakers to be so merciful. Perhaps the rumors are right. The Soul Drinker's weakness in certain aspects has indeed been passed down to you, his descendants, causing you to go against the righteous path of the Astartes."

This time, Wardmaker's words finally caused a reaction among the Dawnbreakers: the disguised accusation against Morgan made many people in Hector's company draw their swords gloomily, and it seemed that they wanted to have a fight of honor.

"Don't be so pretentious here."

The Rune Priest saw all of this.

"If you really want to fight me, it's not now. I don't think the descendants of the Soul Drinker are stupid enough to kill each other before the war is over. If you really want to fight, then come to the Heracleofenr. I will wait for each of you in the Legion's arena."

The Rune Priest wanted to say something else, but a strange sound in the distance interrupted him: it was a long horn sound, which sounded as if it came from the farthest mountains, but it set off a fanatical response among the wolves, and dozens of wild wolves howled in a group towards the sky for a long time, and even Hedmaker joined in.

"You're lucky today, kid."

After the wolves finished howling, the Rune Priest turned around and looked at Dawnbreaker. The wild wolves behind him were already retreating in an orderly manner, and it seemed that they had completely given up their plans for this town.

"Russ is calling us, and we will follow him into the real battlefield."

"As for this town of yours?"

The wolf laughed cruelly.

"You'd better make sure they surrender to you sincerely, rather than surrendering to us with resentment, waiting for the opportunity to retaliate: if they are really foolish enough to want revenge on the Empire, then we will return and let these guys know the price of breaking the oath."

"I will."

Hector nodded.

"But please know that war is not the only way to achieve total destruction. If the Empire did not allow every opponent to surrender, but instead killed them all, then this Great Crusade would not be completed even after another five hundred years."

“What a brilliant speech.”

The Rune Priest roared and turned away without any reluctance. However, before leaving, he left a word to Hector with a mocking face.

"But remember this, boy."

"It's just like you said: our enemies have only two options: surrender or extinction."

"And when you, the Dawnbreakers, accept their surrender with dignity, you'd better not forget whose massacre made these people surrender to you willingly, and whose frenzy drove them to your side: they surrendered to our massacre, not to your mercy."

"And when we leave."

“I hope that those who kneel at your feet will remain as humble as they are now.”

The wolf sneered.

"See you in the winter, kind man, son of the kind Soul Drinker."

"Wish ya'll good luck."

(End of this chapter)