Man in Warhammer, starting Primarch.

Chapter 233:40, High King Caligus
Hearing his battle brother's words of trying to make fun of something, an unknown fire rose in Mabo's heart. He felt his own anger and was determined to do something. The culprit must pay the price.

The Catachan Legion was ambushed and had to stop here for a short rest.

But Ma Bo no longer had the patience to wait. Driven by anger, he left here alone.

Most people didn't notice his departure, except for the commandos who had been following him.

The commandos only suffered some minor injuries in the ambush and were in good condition. When they saw Ma Bo leaving alone, they easily guessed what the legendary hero was thinking at the moment.

Because they share the same anger as this hero.

Without much hesitation, they also quietly broke away from the main force and followed Ma Bo to continue charging towards the core of the royal palace fortress.

They were alone, but fearless.

Fortunately, although the Catachan troops suffered heavy losses in the powerful explosion just now, the rebels were not having an easy time either.

The explosion did not distinguish between friend and foe, and the huge energy destroyed the last defensive position of the palace fortress.

Ma Bo and his companions sneaked into the High King's residence with almost no effort.

Here they encountered the last of High King Caligus's guards.

As the king's personal guards, they are all Darok's most elite warriors.

But facing the furious Ma Bo, they soon became corpses covered in blood.

These guards wore silver armor covered with amazingly intricate textures and delicate patterns, and draped behind them were priceless red silk cloaks.

This set of armor could be called a work of art, but Ma Bo disdained it. In his opinion, only those noble lords who complained without any reason would like such flashy protective gear.

Instead of spending a lot of money to find a master craftsman to carve patterns on the armor, it is better to consider how to make the armor stronger. If their armor can be more practical, perhaps these agile warriors can survive longer in his hands.

After the Guards found that they could not defeat Mabo and his men, they began to retreat quickly. They no longer chose to confront Catachan's warriors head-on.

Instead, he chose to use the firepower points inside the palace to block the advance of the assault team.

"Kill them all!" Facing these guards who kept hiding, the commando leader roared on the communication channel.

"For the Warmaster, and for the ideals he and all of humanity share."

Hearing the commando captain's battle cry, Ma Bo also roared in his heart.

He growled and swung the dagger with all the strength in his arms. Even the Destroyer I-Type Armor made a sound as if it was overwhelmed.

The knife slashed fiercely at the enemy, accompanied by a sharp cry of pain.

A guard wearing a red silk cloak had his exquisite armor chopped off in an instant, and his entire body was ripped open, with his bloody internal organs flowing out of the wound.

The guard fell to his knees helplessly, feeling his life slipping away. His eyes were filled with despair. He held up his internal organs with both hands in vain, trying to stuff them back into his stomach.
"I can't die yet"

With his last whisper, he collapsed.

"Ma Bo, keep moving forward!" the commando captain shouted in the voice channel.

Under his command, the assault team formed a defensive formation, guarding the entrance to the palace and blocking the guards who wanted to pursue Ma Bo.
"Don't stop, glory to us, victory to the Warmaster!"

Accompanied by the roar of the commando captain and the roar of guns and cannons, Ma Bo moved swiftly through the palace with the pace of a hunter.

He stepped over the bloody corpses and at the far end of the passage, he saw a wide nine-story staircase.

At the top of the stairs is a tall stone gate with a gorgeous and elegant porch carved with intricate and exquisite carvings.

Ma Bo climbed the stairs, the light was dappled, and as he passed through the many flickering phantoms cast by the porch, the noisy sounds of the outside world suddenly became quiet.

It was extremely quiet here. Even the thunderous sound of artillery fire surrounding the palace could not intrude here.

It was an extremely quiet place, and Ma Bo could even hear the dripping sound of blood on his dagger.

A row of scarlet spots was left on the nine steps behind him.

Coming from the noisy battlefield to this quiet environment, Ma Bo found it difficult to adapt for a while, but he soon adjusted himself and walked through the porch. The tall towers on both sides of the road reached up to the sky.

Finally, he came to the tallest and most majestic Gothic spire. This incredibly tall tower was more than a kilometer high.

Ma Bo stepped onto a platform made of rare gems. The entire platform was made of various rare gems in the universe.

The gemstones here, even a piece the size of a fingernail, are enough to allow a citizen of the empire to live a wealthy life for ten years.

When you reach the upper floors of the spire, you can see the battle outside clearly, but you can't hear any sound.

Walking along the edge of the platform, Mabo discovered a stone staircase that merged into the wall.

He walked along the stairs leading to the upper level, crossing platforms one after another, always staying alert and careful of any enemies that might appear.

But nothing was found. It seemed to be a lonely and independent world with no enemies, no shadows, and no sounds.

Only the strange flashes of light refracted by gems shine brightly in this world.

Mabo went forward, and when he came to the second to last floor of the tower, he saw the royal city of Darlock.

Darok's most prosperous capital has now been set ablaze by the red flames of war, and some buildings are glowing blood-red under the glow of destruction.

Gunfire flickered, energy beams danced in the darkness, and the sky above was also lit up by the flames of war.

The explosions of battle could be heard from every corner of the city, and as time passed, the imperial army had already established victory.

But the anger in Mabo's heart still did not subside. In this civil war, many soldiers paid their lives and countless civilians were involved. These sacrifices were meaningless. Their deaths were just to pay for the greed of some ambitious man.

Mabo looked at the last staircase and held the dagger firmly in his hand. He would personally cut off the head of the High King and put an end to the war in this world.

Ma Bo came to the top floor, where many petal-shaped crystals formed a flying dome, which could sense the tracks of the stars and rotate slightly to adjust the angle.

An iron throne stood on the other side of the platform with its back to the window. It was quite spectacular, with nine crystal steps on a thick base leading to an iron throne with slightly curled handrails and a tall backrest.

On the throne sat a king in a robe that reached the ground.

The king had thick, lush blond hair and a strong build, but at this moment, his expression was extremely bitter. He stared at Mabo and the Catachan assault team that arrived later with despair and pain.

"High King Caligus? It's time to end it and make final payment for your foolishness." When the commando captain arrived here, the first thing he saw was the king on the throne.

The High King sneered. "I have nothing left, and yet you keep pressing on. The Empire slaughters my people, massacres my soldiers, and pours its flames of destruction upon my world, destroying the legacy my ancestors have protected for generations. I have lost everything. Death cannot frighten me, soldier."

"Nothing has ever belonged to you. Darok belongs to the Empire, to the Human Emperor on the Golden Throne. You are only guarding this place on behalf of the Empire, but you want to take it for yourself. It is your foolish idea that has caused countless people to die because of you."

The commando captain had no sympathy for the High King, and Caligus had it all his own fault.

But such words drew the High King's disdainful sneer, "My ancestors were the first to come to this planet. My ancestors guided the people. Before your warmaster arrived in this world ten thousand years ago, this was my people's territory."

"When your warmaster came here, he planted the flag of the empire on the top of the world, robbed everything of Darok, and called it expanding the territory. How is this different from robbery? The empire took away the land we have cultivated for generations, and asked us to willingly submit to it. I can't do it!"

The commando captain frowned slightly. "Is this the reason why you betrayed the Empire? How ridiculous. Your soldiers died for you, and the loyal men of Darok dedicated themselves to the Empire. At this time of crisis for mankind, as a lord, you only think about a little self-interest? The nobles of Vigilant Star have a longer-term vision than you."

Caligus waved his hands. He seemed not to want to argue, but he seemed to have made up his mind. Then there was a hint of madness in his voice.
"Of course you don't care. You have never truly owned a world. If someone wants to deprive you of your honor, what choice will you make? I am the same. There are always some things more noble than life and worth everything!"

Then he took out a crystal ball and smashed it hard on the ground.

There was one thing that only he knew. Long before the siege of Vigilante, Abaddon's Chaos Legion had sent messengers to contact him secretly.

At that time he was still loyal and far less ambitious than he is now. During that secret contact, the messenger handed him the crystal ball and told him that this inconspicuous crystal could fulfill all his wishes.

At first Caligus did not believe it, but due to an accident, the crystal got the opportunity to show him miracles, and after that, it gave predictions again and again.

As the predictions in the crystal ball were confirmed one by one, Caligus looked at the glorious scene in the final prophecy, and his ambition grew uncontrollably.

But even so, he still thought he was rational and sober.

The Empire is not without enemies, Chaos is the biggest threat to the Empire. Darlock World has a unique position, in this position, both the Empire and Chaos will try their best to win him over.

The messenger's presentation of treasures to him was undoubtedly a gesture of goodwill in his view, and in his opinion, the empire's attitude should be the same.

Under such circumstances, Darlock can survive in the gap between the two behemoths and live quite comfortably.

This is indeed the case. With the help of the crystal ball, Caligus once became the most wise king in the history of Darok. After he declared Darok's independence, he lived in peace with the empire for quite a long time.

Caligus took it for granted that this was a silent compromise of the empire.

But what he didn't expect was that with the return of Primarch Dukel and his re-assumption of the duties of the Imperial Warmaster, the style of the Empire became incomparably radical and tough.

Destruction was imminent, and everything was taken away from him in an instant.

And this crystal ball became his life-saving straw to turn the tide.

The crystal ball hit the ground and shattered into countless crystal fragments.

A blasphemous fog of chaos spread out, and Mabo and Catachan's soldiers immediately raised their weapons, carefully watching out for this abnormal scene.

And Caligus' eyes were full of anticipation. He expected that an incredible power would emerge from the fog and help him take everything back.

But he was disappointed. The chaotic fog soon dissipated, and the only thing that came out of it was a series of sharp and joyful, mocking laughter.

"——Everything is going as planned."

Faintly, he seemed to hear an indescribable and nameless existence whispering in the unpredictable sky.

Caliguice finally realized that he had been fooled.

All the great achievements he thought of were nothing more than tools that could be toyed with at will in the hands of Chaos and the Empire.

"Hahahahaha, so that's how it is. Destroy me, soldier. Just as you expected, everything about me, my ideals are just ridiculous bubbles, hahahahahaha"

High King Caligus laughed crazily, but a drop of turbid tear dripped from the corner of his eye.

"Captain, he's crazy." A Catachan team member nearby observed the High King carefully.

"Let me show him mercy," he said to the captain.

In this war, all the sacrifices were caused by the stupidity of the Supreme King. Every soldier wanted to kill him with his own hands.

"As long as we report after the battle with one voice, saying that the High King was killed on the spot for attempting to resist, no one above will pursue the matter - no one will care whether the rebels live or die."

Another team member was also persuading the captain.

This kind of thing is not uncommon in Catachan's war experience.

No matter who the other party is, he is a defeated rebel at this moment. No one will care if they kill him to vent their anger.

"You can't kill him." At this time, Ma Bo, who never spoke actively, suddenly said this.

"That's right." The commando leader agreed, "These crystals are extraordinary and are related to Chaos. We need to take him back and let the Inquisition squeeze all his value out of him."

As the commando captain spoke, he took out a special device from the Destroyer Armor's tactical backpack, then carefully picked up the crystal fragments on the ground and sealed them inside the device.

"Bring him back with these crystals and bring him before the Saint to stand trial. We should not make our own decisions regarding the secrets of the Warp. The Warmaster will make the final decision himself."

(End of this chapter)