Warhammer: Hail to the Void Lords!.

Chapter 1049, 09.1048: 'Countdown to the End'

Where am I...?
Horatio finds himself standing in a desolate world shrouded in thick fog.

Ashes, like endless black snowflakes, fell silently and slowly from the dim sky, bringing a cold, deathly touch to his bare skin.

A continuous buzzing sound, similar to an air raid siren, echoed in the air.

The sound was piercing and powerful, as if it came from the heavens themselves, vibrating his bones and trying to crush his soul from his body.

[What just happened...who shot me...]
As he pondered, he began to walk toward the street that was faintly visible in the mist.

This place seemed to be a small town, but it had long been completely destroyed by an unimaginable fire.

On both sides of the street, only the charred, leaning beams of the buildings remain, resembling the skeletons of giant beasts.

Everywhere were curled-up, carbonized, gray-black corpses, frozen in their last moments before death, silently stretching out charred fingers toward the sky, making this eerie silence even more desolate.

"What kind of place is this? What forgotten town is this? Why am I here...?"

Tap. Tap.

Suddenly, Horatio heard light, crisp footsteps behind him.

The sound was very soft, almost drowned out by the siren's hum, but it reached his ears clearly.

He subconsciously reached for his waist, where the relic bolter 'Lukulus' was still hanging. Its heavy, cold touch actually reassured him quite a bit.

Click.

Without the slightest hesitation, he drew his bolt pistol with lightning speed, pointing the muzzle steadily at the source of the noise behind him.

"Who are you? Stop." He threatened in an unquestionable tone.

Tap. Tap.

The footsteps stopped abruptly after taking a few more steps forward.

A blurry, tall figure appeared in the smog a little distance away from Horatio.

She possessed a graceful figure that was beyond the reach of ordinary people, wore a hood on her head, and her face was completely covered by a mask composed of countless colorful and ever-changing points of light.

Horatio's brow furrowed. He remembered seeing descriptions of such beings in top-secret files.

"gceilfi... Fhirinne..."

A clear, ethereal voice came from behind the mask; it was a non-human language composed of countless syllables.

[Ida language?]
“Speak, Sprout. What did you bring me here for? I don’t have time for guessing games.” Horatio’s thumb slowly released the safety.

"The fog... is the truth..."

The graceful figure continued forward, Horatio's finger already on the trigger.

"As the sun begins to collapse, the black sun will gradually replace the sunlight. Phaethon's hands are about to strike twelve, and the old world is being destroyed."

The tall, mysterious Adaling before them spoke in an ethereal voice, devoid of any emotion, as if proclaiming a divine decree.

"Speak clearly, stop playing games!"

The figure, an Ada Shadow Prophet, did not answer Horatio's question, but continued to speak to himself: "The apostles of God begin to proclaim the end, and the lost lambs rush toward the last light before the end arrives."

"The chapter has been turned, and the time you had to prepare... is over. The test is about to begin."

"No matter how well you prepare, calamity never waits." "Prepare for your first trial, child of darkness."

"There is no time to waste."

Wake up...

Wake up...

Wake up...

Horatio heard the ethereal female voice whispering in his ear.

His eyelids twitched, then he suddenly opened them wide.

The warm, floral sunlight instantly shone into his eyes, making him dizzy.

Horatio briefly observed the surrounding environment.

This is an extremely spacious bedroom, with one wall entirely composed of white, elegant arched floor-to-ceiling windows. White sheer curtains flutter gently in the breeze blowing in from outside.

He gasped for breath, the fear and panic he felt after waking from his dream subsiding somewhat after smelling the sunshine and the scent of grass.

Sweat soaked the soft sheets embroidered with golden irises beneath him.

"you're awake?!"

A woman's voice, filled with relief and a hint of surprise, rang out beside Horatio.

He slowly turned his head in the direction of the sound.

Not far away, Sister Arabella, dressed in silver power armor, was resting against a red velvet armrest on a sofa.

Hearing the noise, Louise beside her immediately rubbed her sleepy eyes. When she saw the figure sitting up on the bed, she immediately covered her mouth in surprise, tears welling up in her eyes instantly: "Thank God... he's awake."

The first person to notice Horatio waking up and speaking was Jadvig.

She was dressed in a military uniform with a mix of armor and knighthood, her hand on the sword at her waist, looking every bit like a knight who was always on guard.

“We were worried you wouldn’t wake up, and we even prepared for the worst.” Yadwiga said with a sigh of relief, her voice hoarse with relief. “You were badly injured. An alien piercing bullet entered your chest at an angle, pierced your back, and finally embedded itself in a sculpture behind you.”

Sister Arabella stopped your bleeding immediately and temporarily suppressed the worsening of the wound with her healing magic.

Finally, your ship's chief technical priest had to take you away urgently. You stayed in the nutrient solution tank for seven days and seven nights without waking up.

"So, where is this place?" Horatio asked, having no idea what had happened afterward.

“This is Polaberia.” Jadwiga looked out the window through the light gauze that was being lifted by the wind at the endless grasslands and hills that swayed gently in the wind like a green ocean, and said, “We are at the royal palace in Władysław. You woke up not long after we arrived here today.”

The environment here is quite nice; I think it might be suitable for your recovery.

“This is truly a miracle. This place must be blessed by the Emperor!” Sister Arabella approached, her dark circles under her eyes even more pronounced, showing that she hadn't had much rest lately. “The Emperor has indeed protected you, Captain. Your two children are both safe and sound; they are currently in a side palace on the other side of this estate. To be honest, I truly thought that such a fatal wound would never wake you up. Your body is far stronger than we imagined, brimming with vitality.”

"By the Divine Emperor, I truly believed... I truly believed that Albert and I were going to lose you."

Upon seeing Horatio awake, Louise, unusually, could no longer contain her emotions. She bit her lower lip, covered her face, and sobbed uncontrollably, "Welcome back... I swear, this will never happen again! Whoever it is, we will kill him before he can even make a move!"

Her tone turned gritted and resentful towards the end.

“What happened? I had a very long dream, I was lost in a town that looked like it had been burned by fire, ashes were falling like snow, and there were many burned corpses on the ground... Luckily it was just a dream, and I didn’t actually end up in such a hellish place.”

(End of this chapter)