How can a retired savior be considered retired if his price drops to 40,000?

Chapter 397 What are you talking about?
The first sound was the power of Santo's claws. Before Fujimaru Ritsuka could catch sight of the enemy, his vision was completely covered by Maxius's huge body.

There were no shelters for mortals to hide in the empty corridor. This unobstructed view was originally designed to allow the Ultramarines' reinforcements to quickly deal with any disturbances in the corridor, but now it has become a death warrant for everyone present. But it doesn't matter, Maxius can use himself as that shelter. The bolter in one hand roared and spewed out tongues of fire, while the chainsword in the other hand roared and cut through the air. Fujimaru Ritsuka's vision was blocked, and she didn't see where the enemy jumped out from, but she could clearly see that Maxius' bullets forced back a black shadow, and his chainsword met another one.

Probably a Dark Eldar. Fujimaru Ritsuka thought, catching a few details with his well-tested dynamic vision. It looks like he has retired from the slave-hunting team.

She had no confidence in this guess. How to distinguish the subspecies of the Eldar would even stump some of the less experienced Astartes Chapters, and she didn't have time to think about it now - literally. At this juncture, Fujimaru Ritsuka's instinctive reaction, which had been trained by countless life-and-death crises, moved much faster than her brain.

From the sound, Santo was fighting, and Akuldona also turned around and fought, but Fujimaru Ritsuka really didn't have the time to turn around to see what they were fighting. This corridor was not spacious for the Primaris Space Marines, and it was even more cramped after the trigger-type minefields based on the remains of the Ultramarines were set up on both sides. As the party setting the trap, the Dark Eldar could rely on their racial agility and slender body to dance accurately on the safe zone, but Maxius seemed a little flustered when facing two enemies who could cooperate with each other in such an environment.

But this flurry of activity did not lead to any disastrous consequences. When one of the shadows pounced again, trying to bypass the guard while his companions were entangled with the Ultramarines and directly attack Fujimaru Ritsuka who was hiding behind him, the "protected person" who claimed that his "combat power was no greater than that of an ordinary person without transformation" finally pulled his hand out of his skirt pocket.

—Then she instantly raised it to waist height and, within 0.5 seconds, fired four bullets with her .22-caliber revolver.

This American Iai successfully forced back the enemy approaching her. Although it only hit the enemy for a moment because he was wary and didn't really hit any effective targets, and even ricocheted off the wall of the imperial building, it did give Maxius enough time to return to defense.

In this era when armor-piercing and bullet-resistance have reached an outrageous height, pistols of this caliber are generally considered difficult to cause harm on the battlefield. Even with the martial virtues of the empire, some aristocratic families who are more particular will regard similar products as very safe children's toys. But Fujimaru Ritsuka is concerned that it cannot cause damage on the battlefield through pure mechanical energy: even though she has learned how to draw a gun and shoot quickly from Billy the Kid, her talent in this matter is just so-so. After considering the shooting speed, she can no longer consider the accuracy. A gun that "cannot kill anyone" can just prevent her from accidentally hurting friendly forces.

But when the enemy is less than five meters away from you, accuracy is not important. Just shoot in that direction first.

Based on this principle, Fujimaru Ritsuka moved slightly along Maxius' footsteps, trying to put himself in a safer position. He raised his hand and turned the muzzle of the gun, aiming at a position slightly above the shoulder armor of the Extreme Marine, and fired a shot - this shot accurately predicted the timing when another Dark Eldar would show his head from that position, forcing the opponent to swing his sword one more time on his way forward to deflect the bullet, which had doubtful lethality but he really didn't dare to take it head-on.

After joining the Death God's Army, even the Dark Eldar who had lost their psychic powers would soon regain this talent they had once abandoned under the grace of the Death God. It was precisely because of the black stone hidden in the walls of this corridor where any psychic phenomena would be suppressed that they could clearly feel that those unremarkable bullets contained a little unnoticeable psychic power - or something similar.

"Akuldona——" After quickly realizing the crux of Maxius's poor performance, Fujimaru Ritsuka shouted without turning his head. This sentence seemed to mean nothing except naming, but the person named obviously understood the unspoken content:
"No!" The Emperor's Son denied without a second thought.

"What?" Maxius, the only one who failed to connect his thoughts to the encrypted channel by tacit understanding, had to ask. He realized that this simple conversation that conveyed almost no information contained some kind of tactical communication, but because the meaning was too vague, he had to confirm out loud what action he should take next.

Then he felt something small hit the back of his power armor. Maxius glanced back quickly and realized that it was Fujimaru Ritsuka who fired the last bullet in the revolver magazine into his vest.

"Get down and cover me!" The Imperial Saint, who used a very subtle way to attract the other party's attention, ordered so hurriedly.

This command made Maxius pause. The Dark Eldar, who had quickly regrouped, were staring at him, waiting for him to reveal his next flaw. He was sure that it was unwise to squat down in this situation. But then, he caught a glimpse of what Santo was doing on the other side, and couldn't help cursing. He had to obey Fujimaru Ritsuka's order, squatting down quickly, throwing away the grenade launcher in his hand, and using his free hand to pull the person he was protecting into his arms -

——Then, a series of explosions that almost completely overlapped each other shook the entire corridor. The outermost decorative wall stone was shattered in the vibration and fell to the ground, revealing the black base underneath. Various killing methods mixed with loud noises and flashes completely engulfed this part of the corridor.

The Dark Eldar who were not caught in the explosion stopped and gathered around their leader who had jumped away swiftly at the last moment before the gate swung and landed safely. As the party who set the trap, they had already used corresponding defensive measures in advance. The vibrations, flashes and loud noises that were specially designed to overload even the senses of the Space Marines had no effect on them. They briefly admired the scene in front of them, and were sure that what they had to do next was just to wait for the smoke and dust to dissipate, and then use their proud speed to harvest the prey whose reaction speed was slowed down by the overloaded senses.

However, at the moment when the smoke and dust from the shattered plaster and murals reached its peak, the vortex-like airflow was suddenly neatly cut in two. A silver-white silk-like, smooth and stretched blade flashed by, like a long snake spitting out its tongue, and in a moment that the Eldar could not react in time, the beautiful head of an unfortunate succubus slipped silently from her own neck.

At the moment when the blood finally gushed out, the golden single-winged sky eagle, wrapped in anger and stepping on thunder, broke free from the gray smoke. For the vast majority of dark Eldar gladiators standing in this direction, the noble golden and purple armor worn by Akuldona will be the last memory of their lives.
-
When he saw Evelyne, who had come uninvited, again, Guilliman only felt a strong surge of anger and disgust.

"We have nothing to say." Before the other party could speak, the Imperial Regent used all his self-restraint to keep his tone calm and said, "You should be grateful that I did not immediately order the arrest and execution of all the Eldar who are still in my army. I also do not recommend that you continue to try to challenge my reason by any means."

I didn't do this! Evelyne felt wronged, but she also knew that she couldn't just treat the Eldar as a whole when the situation was favorable to her. Moreover, this incident was caused by her failure to control the internal conflicts of the Death God Army and the spillover of the influence. Humans have a shorter lifespan and are more impatient. At this time, the first thing she had to do was not to make excuses, but to try her best to move things forward.

"Ten thousand sincere apologies!" She grabbed the power spear in the hands of the Ever-Victorious Army, and while trying to lean forward, she clumsily imitated the words she had seen humans say when apologizing, "I know this is all my fault, but please at least give me a chance to make up for it, even if it's only a tiny bit - I can at least tell you who the Prophet Eldarad took away from me." Guilliman looked down at the anxious Evelyne. Even though the latter was indeed a chosen one of God, she had come into contact with, and even could exercise some extraordinary powers herself, but when facing the anger of a son of God, she was still so nervous that she couldn't breathe under the violence that symbolized pure destruction. This second of being scrutinized by the Primarch might be the longest second in her life, but then, Guilliman's voice slightly dispelled this heavy feeling:
"Go on." He ordered briefly. This was still not a good attitude, but it did free up Evelene's breath that she had unconsciously held. Theoretically, only one second had passed, which should not have any effect on the Eldar's body functions, but when she spoke again, Evelene still felt dizzy as if she was lacking oxygen:
"He ordered Lylith Hesperax to do it, and Lylith took away five cabal warriors, five members of the Witch Cult - two of whom are succubi - and a Talos Pain Engine. The prophet Aidalad himself was not involved, and he has been controlled by us on your ship." She quickly stated all the facts first, and then added her own inferences, "Among them, I think the only one who could pose a threat to the Chosen One is Lylith herself."

She was not saying this without a purpose, but perhaps it was no better than saying it without a purpose. In Eveleni's opinion, Fujimaru Ritsuka was also chosen by the god of her race from the vast sea of ​​people, so of course he was superior in every aspect, and this "every aspect" naturally included combat power. In the absence of a standard, she had to use her own situation as a standard to measure Fujimaru Ritsuka.

After hearing this, Guilliman obviously thought, "Where do you get this confidence to make such a judgment?" But he seemed to have taken in what Eveleene said, along with some of the implications that she didn't say or even think of. First, Guilliman knew what Lalith, the queen of the Comoros Arena, was like; then, considering some of the things that happened to Parmenio at that time, he felt that what Eveleene said might make sense; then, he had a general idea of ​​what kind of person (or what kind of person) Eldarad was, and all the above information began to react in various ways in his Primarch-level multi-threaded brain.

"Give these notices to Sigismund." In an instant that seemed indisputable to outsiders, the Imperial Regent gave the order without hesitation. "Give him temporary authority. He can transfer anyone in the Hera Fortress who he thinks can help him complete the rescue mission. Let Evelyne come forward. I have something to ask her."

If Eldalad wanted to kill someone once and for all, he would not have been able to simply quickly assemble an assassination team with a questionable success rate, send it out, and call it a day. Guilliman thought so.
-
Ten thousand years is too long, and humans are a short-lived race, so they are good at forgetting. The glory of the Great Crusade, the rational and enlightened ideas, the countless heroes and their deeds, have all been burned to ashes by the war that has never stopped since the Horus Heresy, and slowly fell as the dust of history, and no one cares anymore.

Just like Ionid Hill only left a vague name on some neglected monument, Marius Gage only left his skull in the ossuary of Macragge's Glory, Nasir Amit became a vague story with only symbolic significance in the history that the Flesh Tearers Chapter tried hard to pass on, and Gabriel Santo only left a few ruthless annotations for himself in the corner of the Iron Hands' war history.

Akultona was implicated in a legion that committed high treason, and his name was completely lost in the history of the empire.

But ten thousand years is not that long, and humans are not that good at forgetting. The name of the Black Knight Sigismund still echoes throughout the Empire with the footsteps of the Black Templars' Eternal Crusade, and as a saint of the state religion, he lives on in the books. People in later times can still touch the traces of the past through this name, and know that before the galaxy fell into despair, pain and hatred, humans once experienced a pioneering, unstoppable, ambitious and passionate, full of hope and never-ending, like a golden age.

Akultona was of that era.

He rushed out with a gust of wind, but the wind he created couldn't even catch up with him. The flying smoke couldn't cover his gorgeous and exquisite armor with dust. The purple and gold carvings like the wings of a phoenix still revealed the unstoppable power of the empire ten thousand years ago. Shanabal's long sword cut marks on one round arc after another. The blade's moves were clear and crisp, like a performance that could be seen by all the audience around. There was a kind of precise and perfect artistry in it, but -

No one could escape except Lyris. Within two breaths, the other five sisters brought out by the Arena Queen from her own witch cult were forced to become partners in this deadly dance, sacrificing their blood and lives, and interpreting the art of killing together with Akultona.

After ducking back to avoid the attack, Lylith realised that the Eldar's blast trap had taken effect on this man.

The excessive sound and light effects penetrated the upper limit of the power armor's defense and the physiological protection of the Space Marine's enhanced organs, directly causing damage to Akuldona's senses. Under the Emperor's bio-alchemy's exquisite modification of the human body, this would not last long, but he was indeed unable to see or hear for a few seconds. After the first round of attacks, he stopped, put away his sword, retreated slightly, and re-positioned his stance, which indeed proved this point.

He relied on memory and inference to launch blind attacks, and accurately and skillfully harvested most of the enemies in front of him who were temporarily relaxed. Just like the empire that destroyed many civilizations and regimes carelessly and even regarded this as a common assembly line operation when it was at its peak ten thousand years ago.

But Akuldona was only Akuldona. In the Warp, he had learned from Fujimaru Ritsuka that he was worthy of bearing the corresponding symbol. He laughed out loud, thinking that this was indeed a supreme honor, and then refused.

The Empire was too complex and too large. Even if he did consider himself a brilliant man of his time, and indeed was proud of the glory he had created during his lifetime, he was not arrogant enough to think that he could bear the weight of an era. He was just a war machine under the Great Crusade, a sharp sword forged by the Emperor and wielded for the benefit of all mankind. He was just that simple when he was alive, and he should be the same after his death.

So he was Akuldona. So he let the wind that caught up with him again carry dust onto his armor, just as he let his name fall into the dust of history. He held the Xanabal long sword named "Athena" in his hand horizontally until the blade, which was still spotless even after killing the enemy, reappeared in his sight, until the last enemy he needed to face gradually became clear from blur.

Lylis knew that she had missed the best time to attack, but she didn't care. In the smoke and dust behind Akuldona, there was still noise of fighting, which proved that her mission was not completely over - but she didn't care about it anymore. The long sword in the hands of this Space Marine and the clear and precise attack just now had completely captured her interest. As a warrior, she danced on the edge of battle and life and death to seek excitement, and her blood boiled. She even waited for two more seconds to allow the other party to recover to the best combat condition.

"What's your name?" She drew out two Hecate daggers from her body, and stepped slowly through the blood of her sisters with light and graceful steps like dancing, and asked curiously to the tip of the knife that had been locked on her.

Akurdona just sneered:
"Son of the Emperor, give death to your enemies."

(End of this chapter)