Warhammer: Black Emperor

Chapter 363 The Ghost of the Underworld
Ninglu led the group into the giant stone monument in the starry sky of Yemenga.

The team climbed the long and steep stairs, making their way upwards.

They quickly walked several dozen meters, and before they reached the end, there were still a dozen or so steps. Before they could step onto the red agate bridge, Ning Lu stopped, and the others followed suit.

Gabriel looked over the Black Emperor's towering shoulders toward the archway and saw the still cannons begin to rotate, aiming toward them.

“We need to input the correct control protocol into the pillars at the entrance, otherwise the defensive weapon systems will open fire on us.”

He recalled the memories the Black Emperor had sent him and identified the cannon.

"It's a Gauss gun. If we force our way through the artillery area at the arch, the casualties will likely be considerable."

Gabriel said, frowning.

Miguel Quista, a technology-based psionicist, scanned the Gaussian defense array, observing the charging device and analyzing the connection and operation mode of the kinetic energy transmission system.

After a moment, he spoke.

“I can use the Heartforged Staff to destroy its power nodes.”

Without the Heartforged Staff, he was not confident that he could destroy the power node while his psionic energy was suppressed.

But with the Staff of Heart Forging in his hand, his abilities were greatly enhanced.

“It’s up to you, Miguel.” Ninglu gestured for Miguel to move up and stand next to him.

Miguel climbed the steps, took a deep breath, and swung his staff with the heart-shaped tip aimed at the shimmering green crystal.

Miguel channeled spiritual energy into the staff, and an invisible stream of energy shot out like a thread.

With a muffled thud and a sharp tearing sound, the energy crystal of the power node crackled and popped.

The alloy fragments scattered all over the ground like a swarm of mosquitoes flashing with electricity.

Dozens of Gauss cannons drooped helplessly.

"Well done," Ning Lu praised.

Miguel's face lit up with pride upon receiving his father's praise.

The group moved forward again, climbing to the bottom of the stairs, their boots soaked in a damp, green mist.

Suddenly, a chaotic and jarring noise filled everyone's ears.

That was the clicking of war machine claws, mixed with the roar of gravity engines.

“Leave it to me,” Sanchez stepped forward from the crowd.

A beam of emerald green light shot out from the darkness, clearly revealing the shadow of a spider-like creature.

It's about the size of a crane and is made of metal.

The moment Sanchez saw him, he immediately associated him with the ghostly workers mentioned in the documents issued by the Black Emperor.

He knew that the Ghost of the Underworld was responsible for overseeing maintenance and repairs, and also acted as a Level 1 security protocol robot, serving as the eyes and ears of the central operating system, detecting intruders and dealing with them swiftly.

The ghostly worker projected a sensory scanning grid, its dark green spectrum silently sweeping across his black armor.

The arsonist charged forward, gripping the longsword forged from the fangs of the Fenris sea monster. Spiritual energy enveloped the blade, igniting flames.

A beam of light shot out from the grotesque ghost's jaw, and flames erupted from the "arsonist's" body.

The flames hissed and engulfed the beam of light.

Sanchez's flaming longsword slashed at the multi-legged spider-like monster.

The flaming blade cleaved through the necromancer's unique armor, shattering the green-glowing sensor array and energy coils.

After the "Hunter" shattered the Ghost of the Underworld with several sword strikes, he gained some understanding of the Ghost of the Underworld.

Although he wasn't as familiar with the flesh and blood beings he had killed in the past, it still gave him a direct understanding of ancient machinery.

From the hunter's perspective, Sanchez reminds the Shadows of Order: "Destroy their energy coils, and you'll destroy them."

The group walked onto the bridge carved from red agate and looked around.

The bridge spans the chasm between two high walls, the near wall covered with exposed coil circuits and spiderweb-like runes, while the other end blends into the dark architecture deep within the ancient tomb.

After walking nearly a hundred meters, the ear-piercing scraping and knocking sounds of metal claws rang out, and more tomb guards arrived.

More bizarre spider-like machines crawled in. These constructs not only served as maintenance robots for the Yemenga Starry Sky Monolith, but if anyone intruded, they would be immediately summoned to defend themselves, transforming into terrifying and deadly enemies.

Unlike the machines the Shadow Order encountered for the first time, the new mechanical guards adopted a rather cautious approach.

In their initial encounter, the spider-like machine that Sanchez destroyed had transmitted the intelligence it had scanned and intercepted, including the attack it suffered in its last moments before "dying," to them.

After calculation and assessment, the intruders were deemed to pose a high threat, and the ghosts of the underworld were all in a state of combat readiness, ready for battle.

Their weapon arrays were poised to fire, their arms opening and closing like pincers, and the particle beam guns on their backs began to charge.

The honor guards raised their explosive guns in unison and fired a barrage of bullets at the gleaming metal exoskeleton.

The first wave of spider-like machines was destroyed on the wall and fell to the ground.

Then came the second and third waves, with more ghostly workers hiding in the shadows. They crawled out of the darkness, their countless eye prisms reflecting a sinister, cold light.

The team rushed forward along the bridge, and they saw a large number of mechanical guards gathered at the end of the bridge.

Some of the mechanical guards suddenly opened their mouths, releasing countless tiny metal constructs clustered together.

Thousands upon thousands of miniature machines resembling beetles swarmed up and rushed towards them.

Each metal mechanical insect follows a simple subroutine, using a pre-designed algorithm to avoid each other's flight paths and skillfully dodge the walls on either side.

The alien alloy beetles are densely packed and neatly arranged, like a colorful carpet soaring in the air.

The arsonist raised his hand, creating a "wall of fire."

Two fiery serpents shot up, forming a ring of blazing fire around him.

The ghost beetle fell with a crackling sound, melting away like a mosquito.

The Shadow of Order unleashed a barrage of bullets, shattering the mechanical constructs.

Ninglu stepped forward and began climbing the steep stairs.

As the group climbed the steps, the mist that had been drifting on the steps condensed into water vapor.

The stairs rotated as you ascended, and the walls of several enormous halls came into view.

Countless towering pillars, some thousands of meters high, pierce down from above, and the green pulses generated by the vibrations undulate and surge within the crystal.

Irregular emerald-colored arcs of electricity bounced back and forth between the pillars, crackling loudly.

The group ascended a longer and steeper staircase to reach the end of the pillar, which was an irregularly shaped pyramid.

The pyramid-shaped structure is tens of kilometers high and several kilometers long on each side.

Oily fog rose from the pyramids, and the dust particles in the air shimmered with green fluorescence. The green pulses generated by the vibrations undulated and crackled in the surrounding crystals.

Arsène Dunn stared at the building in front of him, combining the information in his mind to deduce:

"The structure of the pyramids is clearly the most central structure of the megaliths."

"At each of its four corners is a black stone chamber, which, as the base, should be four important components."

Ninglu nodded slightly, gazing at the pyramid that shimmered with dazzling light.

“That pyramid is the energy core of the Yemenga Starry Sky Stele, and I believe that the Supreme Star God is inside.”

The group continued onward, heading towards the black stone chamber.

(End of this chapter)