Emperor's Bane

Chapter 572 Racial Characteristics: Delicious
"Before you crawl into the dueling pit, I'm warning you one last time, Bloodspitter."

As Kagos the World Eater breathed in the cool air on the Heracleofen through his metal teeth, he heard the Centurion calling him: At some point, Kahn left the Primarch's side and stood in front of Kagos, looking at him with a non-provocative look.

"All ears, sir."

Kagos, also known as the "Blood-Spitting Man", smiled at Kahn. They both belonged to the 4th Assault Company of the World Eaters, but Kahn was the centurion and leader of the company, while Kagos was the company's pharmacist: although he always forgot his job and spent more than ten times more time in the duel pit than in the infirmary.

"Don't give me that frivolous grin here, you idiot."

Karn rubbed his temple, his lips trembling, and he grabbed the railing with both hands, making a horrible sound of compressing his knuckles: the centurion's pupils were full of fatigue as he looked forward, and even Kagos felt a little sympathy for him.

Khârn was always tired, as he was always responsible for more things than he imagined. Perhaps this was the price of being the Primarch's chief attendant: Kagos felt sympathy for this, but he never dared to show it. After all, Khârn did not like pity from others.

If discovered by the Centurion, the consequences would be serious: Although Kharn's performance in the duel was mediocre, as a flesh and blood brother in the same company, Kagos had witnessed his performance on the battlefield with his own eyes. He knew how crazy his Centurion would become and how much energy he would burst out in order to keep up with the Primarch on the battlefield.

That is a force that can shock the legion.

In a word: When Angron focuses on charging into battle, Khârn is one of the few who can keep up with him. Even the Void King's personal guard, the Devourer, finds it difficult to do so. This is enough to make Khârn respected and feared by the Devourer and bloodthirsty men like Kargos.

What's more, the Devourer Guard, which was envied by the entire XII Legion, had taken the initiative to invite Kharn to join: this was a good thing that even Kagoth could not fight for, but the Centurion simply refused indifferently, as he believed that serving in the Devourer Guard would affect many of the things he could do for the Primarch.

So, the Blood-Spitting Man was obediently taken away from the Primarch by his Centurion, and they stood together at the bottom of the audience stand, watching the [FM Void Shield] used to isolate the dueling stage and the crowd slowly rise up less than five meters in front of them: in the World Eaters Legion, the function of this Void Shield is to prevent those angry spectators from jumping into the arena and beating the duelists.

And here in the Wolf Group, its function seems to be similar.

This new discovery put Kagos in a good mood, and he began to think about when he should go on the field and meet the elites from other legions: he heard that the Dawnbreaker Legion never lacked good players in duels, while the Space Wolves were pitiful.

Kahn noticed the expression on his pharmacist's face. He rubbed his temples again and felt a little more tired. Kahn did not continue to beat around the bush. He faced the blood-spitting man and gave his warning in a concise and clear manner.

"Listen, Kargos: The Primarch asked me to stand beside him. You know, there must be a retainer behind all three lords, so I can't stare at you like I did before. You'd better bring your brain to the duel arena and think about where this place is and who are the big shots on the stage. Don't think about your bloody duel while fighting."

"You are a little too worried, Kahn."

Kargos smiled. He had to admit that when he heard that Khârn was chosen by the Primarch, he felt a pang of jealousy in his heart: any World Eater would feel the same way, but Kargos's feelings ended there, not because he had no desire for a position beside the Primarch, but because he knew that Khârn deserved this position.

No one was more qualified: the centurion was a source of pride to them.

"Or are you worried that my madness will affect your future promotion, sir?"

The blood-spitting man laughed viciously, but Kahn's serious expression made him happier.

"Don't worry, sir. You don't have to worry about this problem in the short term. Don't forget that more than a decade ago, you were only the commander of the eighth company, but now you are the commander of the fourth company. Even we old subordinates have benefited from your influence and have risen to prominence with you."

Kagos was amazed.

"But even so, if you want to continue to climb to the position of first captain, the only one standing beside the Primarch, you will have to continue to work hard for decades: Our old legion commander, Sir Kiel, although he has no talent in command, he is very good at using double axes. There is no one better than him in the entire legion. You may not be able to beat him, sir."

"Oh, yes: I forgot that you don't seem to have any talent for conducting."

"..."

Kahn was silent for a moment, then mercilessly slapped the blood-spitting man on the forehead.

"At least I'm making progress."

He did not deny Kargos's accusation.

"Unlike you, a pharmacist who has never saved a few lives: if you dare to embarrass our company on this occasion, I will cut off your head first without waiting for those devourers to come to me, blood-spitting man, in a completely reasonable way."

"You get it, idiot: This isn't a fight to the death. This isn't a blood fight."

"Don't bring Juexue in!"

"clear."

The blood-spitting man nodded, but his constant glances towards the arena made Kahn feel that he was wasting his efforts: he could only pray that this guy would not really do something stupid. After all, within the restraint shield, what Kagos wanted to do was really his own business.

"Let's assume you understand."

Kahn was silent for a moment, then he clenched his teeth and turned away without mercy.

"But don't forget what I said, Bloodspitter, and don't forget the Primarch..."

"I know, and I won't forget."

Before Karn could finish his words, Kagos nodded impatiently.

"Everybody knows."

"..."

"Our Primarch hated the Bloodless."

------

"Isn't this natural?"

Leman Russ stretched out his arm and put it around Angron's shoulders: the World Eater Lord looked uncomfortable with such an enthusiastic gesture, but he still managed a smile, approving of this long-lost brotherhood.

This was once his most precious thing.

Now, too.

"Welcome, Angron: we brothers are reunited on this Night of the Wolf."

The Wolf King winked at his World Eater brother, then turned and pointed his other finger at Morgan, as if he wanted to draw Angron into his camp to fight the powerful Spider Queen together in language.

"I mean, brother, you came at the perfect time: just in time to arbitrate the debate between Morgan and I. She can't convince me, and I can't convince her either. We've been deadlocked here for a few minutes."

【Don't be shameless. 】

[You obviously can't win the argument with me, so you just want to find reinforcements, Russ.]

"Give me some face, Morgan..."

The Spider Queen giggled as she leaned against a buttress balcony, from where she could see the entire arena, overlooking the tens of thousands of warriors below and the brave warriors who couldn't wait to climb onto the duel stage. Most of them were unknown men from various legions, and the truly powerful ones would not come on stage so early.

Even Kagos was quietly blending in with the crowd, pouting as he watched the crude skills of these newcomers, while waiting for a strong guy worthy of his attack: he hoped he wouldn't have to wait too long.

"What a terrible devil."

The Wolf King turned to Angron and, with a playful smile, pulled him to the edge of the balcony. The three Primarchs waved to the people below, which brought thunderous cheers: the first batch of duelists saluted their legion leader, and the Primarchs responded in their own ways.

Morgan looked at her offspring and waved her hand simply and gracefully, like a queen among mortals. However, in the air about ten meters away from the Spider Queen, a string of glittering words floated by. Those were the names of several Dawnbreakers on the field, written precisely with the light of psychic energy: although they were all new recruits who had joined the Legion only a few years ago, their Primarch still remembered their names.

The Dawnbreaker fighters cheered, and so did the other two legions: Leman Russ raised his arms high, and the howl of the Wolf King shook the entire arena, attracting tens of thousands of wild wolves to howl in unison. This wild power was like strong alcohol, intoxicating the hearts of the fighters and making Kagos on the sidelines foam at the mouth with excitement.

Angron raised his arm and pounded his fist on his chest, showing his respect to everyone on the dueling stage at the same time, without any favoritism: however, when his eyes met those of the World Eaters fighters, the Void King would nod slightly, as a special care for the warriors of his own legion.

Kargos longed for that kind of look.

As Angron's eyes flicked away from the last fighter, the first bell rang amid the excitement of the crowd. The fighters on the field formed teams and began a group melee: the last one standing would become the champion, waiting for the new challenger from the audience. This round of melee would continue until the end of the Night of the Wild Wolf.

The final winner would not be the person standing on the dueling stage to the end. After all, this kind of defending battle had a great deal of instability, and those present were all experienced warriors like the Primarchs or Astartes, who did not need the rules of mortals at all: which fighter performed better on the dueling stage, basically everyone present could tell at a glance.

When the Night of the Wild Wolves ends, the strongest person will naturally stand in the hearts of the onlookers.

“I like this rule.”

Angron nodded to Leman Russ.

"You have a good idea, brother: now can you tell me about your dispute?"

【It’s not a complicated matter.】

Morgan was lazily half-lying on the bench that Lana had pulled for her, observing everything on the field with her psychic perspective. Half of her calves were exposed from the hem of her long skirt, and she was smiling at her two brothers.

[I just heard that Rus sent an envoy to Heliosa to persuade him to surrender.]

"Heliotha?"

Angron was stunned for a moment before he remembered what the name meant: in the marginal Ark Cluster where they were, the Ivan Galaxy where Heliosa was located was the only enemy that had not surrendered to the Empire, and was also their next target of action.

In theory, there is nothing wrong with trying to persuade the enemy to surrender before the battle begins.

only……

"You don't want to wait for Magnus?"

The Lord of the World Eaters quickly understood this simple truth. Magirus's legion would take about five days to arrive, and Leman Russ's envoy would take three days at most for a round trip. If the Thousand Sons Legion came all the way here, only to find that the war was already over, it would undoubtedly be a great humiliation for the Fifteenth Legion.

"But it's none of my business."

The wolf king grinned.

"I sent my envoys to the Aven system three days ago. According to the time, they should be back soon. Since Magnus and his cubs deliberately dragged their feet on the journey and even refused our call several times, even if they can't catch up, it can only be regarded as a humiliation for themselves."

"That's inappropriate, Ruth."

After understanding the whole story, Angron defected to Morgan's side without hesitation.

"In any case, we should wait for Magnus before taking action."

"Yeah yeah……"

The corners of the wolf king's mouth twitched: the pincer attack clearly exceeded his original expectations. "Anyway, I don't think those Aven people are likely to agree..."

【Isn’t that all?】

The Wolf King had just comforted his gladiator brother when Morgan on the other side started laughing again. This situation made King Fenris, who had been calm just now, break out in cold sweat on his forehead: Morgan's smile was much more frightening than Angron's frown.

【Let me guess, Ruth.】

The Spider Queen was slow and measured.

[According to the information Angron shared with us, the planet Heliotha stores a large amount of forbidden knowledge passed down from the Age of Strife, and also has a large library that would rank among the best even on Holy Terra: Is this what really scares you? ]

"……Hold."

The wolf king spat.

"Nothing can be hidden from you."

"That's right: that's it."

"So you're afraid that Magnus will disrupt our next military operation against Heliotha because of the great library on Heliotha and the knowledge inside it. Isn't this worry a bit exaggerated, brother?"

Angron also figured it out, but he thought the Wolf King was being overly pessimistic.

"exaggerate?"

Russ's voice rose in pitch, causing Kahn behind Angron to frown.

"Trust me, brother: if you were fighting alongside the Thousand Sons and suddenly heard that Magnus and his bastards had withdrawn from the battle line for no reason in order to protect some damned ancient treasure, causing one of your companies to be wiped out, you would have a much better opinion of them than I do."

The Fenris people licked their teeth, still thinking about what happened decades ago.

"And that bastard actually apologized to me with a chuckle afterwards."

【At least there is some attitude. 】

Morgan's smile did not extinguish the anger in Leman Russ's heart.

"Fuck that attitude. My envoys have already been sent out. If those Aven people can surrender, I would rather let Magnus make a wasted trip. At worst, you can tell that guy the whole story and make him and his legion hate me."

"If those Aven people still don't know what's good for them, then I'll just take it as bad luck. But I also want to remind you two, if you fight alongside the Thousand Sons, you'd better be careful on your flanks. Who knows what kind of ancient treasures those guys will find on the battlefield."

【Snacks?】

"Yes, snacks!"

"……I will."

Angron nodded.

【……All right. 】

Morgan also smiled.

Then she turned around and whispered something to Lana.

【Tell Aniya.】

【Come and give me some snacks. 】

------

"Eat, eat, eat."

"All you think about is eating."

"No wonder you're so fat."

As soon as Ahriman sat down, he smelled a unique aroma from beside him: he would never mistake this aroma, because Ahriman ate this for breakfast almost every day, and occasionally he didn't eat it because he had no more.

Turning around, I saw Captain Hector, who occupied three seats by himself. As soon as he sat down, he happily took out a few cans of Titanium from his arms. There were also a few bottles of fermented grape juice next to him. The only thing missing was a napkin around his chest.

"Are you here for a picnic?"

Ahriman hit Hector's shoulder unhappily, and the Dawnbreaker Giant didn't feel anything yet, but Thousand Son felt his palm was numb with pain. He couldn't help but get angrier and angrier, so he glanced at the food in Hector's arms, and then rudely snatched a can of Titanium.

You know what, this stuff is really delicious, but it's a pity that the blue-skinned beasts that serve as the raw material seem to only survive in certain worlds, resulting in a very low supply. There are also some other small problems: for example, when Ahriman took a look at the can he had snatched, he found that it was packaged in a fiery red color.

"Spicy?"

Ahriman frowned.

"Give me a change, bro."

"You don't like spicy food?"

Hector took the can and glanced at the packaging: it was a burning flame, like the color of a warrior.

"It is said that if you eat too much of this flavor, your close combat ability will deteriorate. In the end, you may not even be able to defeat those mortal soldiers. That would be too sad."

Ahriman rubbed his face.

"A blue one with a watery taste would be fine, or a yellow one with a mineral taste would be fine."

"You're still picky about free food and free drinks..."

Muttering to himself, Hector actually pulled out a picnic basket from the other side.

He really did come for a picnic!

Ahriman's brows twitched, and when he turned around and found that the other Dawnbreakers also had similar picnic baskets around them, this Thousand Sons elite couldn't help but start to reflect on himself: Why didn't he bring a picnic basket?

Wouldn’t this be too unsociable?
"Green vanilla flavor or: the package says it will smell like wind."

"Okay, give me one."

Ahriman took the can, then he realized that he seemed to have overlooked something, then Qianzi turned his head and looked to the other side: there were not only two of them present, but the other audience member brought by Ahriman was accidentally ignored by Qianzi.

"Sorry, Hedemaker."

It's ok.

The Rune Priest of the Wolf Group nodded. He didn't care about these trivial matters, but was more interested in the can in Hector's hand: Through his colleagues who had studied abroad with the Dawnbreakers before, the Rune Priest had actually heard of the reputation of the delicious Titanium Titanium can.

Everyone was full of praise.

"Would you like one?"

Noticing the Rune Priest's gaze, Hector greeted him in a friendly manner: Although they had some unpleasantness on the battlefield, this did not affect their brotherhood in private, and the Dawnbreaker knew that Ahriman had brought the two of them together specifically this time in order to resolve their conflict in private.

As a mutual friend, we still have to give Ahriman some face.

"……also."

Old Wolf was silent for a moment.

"Then pick it up."

Hector threw a can with a completely different packaging. Ahriman, who was sitting in the middle, shifted his gaze and found that this new can was a reputation he had never heard of: and it seemed to have some...

"Psychic power?"

Hedmaker discovered that, too.

“Is this edible?”

"Of course."

Dawnbreaker smiled brightly.

"This is a new product that the Mechanicus has just developed. When they were making the new cans of Titanium, they used some psychic energy for the first time. They also consulted our Primarch and guaranteed that there would be no side effects. This new can will be chewier and more chewy."

"What specific psychic means are they?"

"Don't worry. We don't use psychic means when canning the food. We use psychic energy during the breeding stage. Specifically, when breeding the blue-skinned beasts, the Mechanicus uses psychic hypnosis to make them develop a regular activity pattern. Through this scientific law, we can enhance the quality of their meat and even make them consciously walk into the slaughterhouse, making the entire breeding world semi-automatic."

"Hmm, interesting."

Ahriman nodded.

"So, what does this smell like?"

"Well, this one doesn't have any special taste, but it tastes better."

Hector picked up another can of the same packaging and studied it carefully.

"If you really want to ask, this package says..."

“Ether flavor?”

(End of this chapter)