I summoned the Fourth Scourge in Warhammer

Chapter 171 May all traitors die!

The air in the central command center was thick with the stench of blood, the acrid smell of ozone, and the deathly silence. It had been turned into a mausoleum.

Ether curled up beneath an overturned tactical command post, shrinking himself into a ball as much as possible. He covered himself with a star map veil stained with dust and unknown dirt, holding his breath, his heart pounding as if it would stop. Outside, the dense, suffocating gunfire and the incessant screams of the dying were closing in relentlessly. Each sound was like a cold chisel, pounding at his fragile nerves.

He closed his eyes and prayed in his heart to the ethereal "path of supreme goodness," praying that he would not be found by those demons from hell.

But the titanium tiles clearly did not favor it.

With a "whoosh," the curtain covering him was roughly ripped open by a heavily gloved hand. Blinding beams of light shone on his face from several directions simultaneously, causing his pupils, which had been dilated with fear, to suddenly contract.

The leader of the group, his gas mask visor reflecting a cold light in the sunlight, tilted his head and let out a flippant whistle: "Look, who have we found?"

"Squad leader, what do we do?" a soldier next to him interjected in the same flat tone, his automatic rifle muzzle casually pointed at Ether's head. "Just take it out?"

“No, no, no,” the squad leader shook his head, his voice muffled and distorted through the mask, “This is a big deal, and we can’t just do whatever we want with this squad. Besides, the merit of taking down an Aether of the Tau Empire… just thinking about it, it’s probably terrifying. Even if we really have to take it down, every one of the people going to their deaths should come up and slap it before the execution, that’s fair.”

After the squad leader finished speaking, he turned around and pointed his scratched automatic gun at the trembling Ether: "Stand up yourself? I don't want to make things too ugly."

Ether shakily rose to his feet, gripping the edge of the command platform. His gaze swept across the surroundings, taking in the mangled corpses of the Fire Clan warriors and Water Clan liaison officers who had loyally protected him. A wave of nausea rose in his throat, but he forced it down, struggling to maintain the last shred of composure befitting a leader.

"Very good." The squad leader nodded in satisfaction and waved his hand casually. "Keep an eye on it for now!"

……

In the strategic command center of the flagship "Sorrowful Blade," Inquisitor Grand stood with his hands behind his back, staring intently at the blue area on the main tactical screen that had been largely rendered inoperable by EMP.

“The enemy has activated a large-scale EMP,” his squire reported in an almost whispered voice from behind him. “Now, apart from the relatively lightly equipped Deathbringers, most of the Astronauts and Astartes Chapters are affected and will need some time to regroup. We… cannot continue the offensive.”

“I knew it,” Grand muttered to himself without turning around, his voice low and venomous, “I knew it… those guys, they’re all traitors! They’re all heretics! I knew it from the very beginning!”

His voice suddenly rose, and he turned and paced on the cold deck, his fists, adorned with the insignia of the Inquisition, clenching so tightly they creaked.

“Lucius Gerrit, Wendell Gage, Luhman… Brimlock, Krieg, Kadian, Lakarsan… and those Astartes! They should all have been labeled ‘to be cleansed’ ever since they started that damned rebellion ten thousand years ago! The same goes for the Mechanicus; they betrayed the Emperor too!” He stopped, his eyes bloodshot with rage, looking incredibly ferocious.

"What EMP electromagnetic pulse... an excuse! All excuses! Everyone is treacherous, not one is truly loyal to the Emperor! Even those who went to their deaths! Their rapid, superhuman speed of advance clearly indicates their own ulterior motives... They think I can't see through them, but in reality, I know it all perfectly well!"

He suddenly waved his hand, pointing to the tactical screen.

"Otherwise, why has my extermination order been issued but not yet carried out?!"

Grand took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing his anger, and turned to walk towards the door: "Everyone, follow me... I want to go to the bridge of the 'Blade of Sorrow' myself to confirm and have the captain launch the Cyclone Torpedoes immediately!"

Just as Grand was leading his private guard, clad in armored suits and wielding hellfire guns, menacingly advancing toward the bridge, some figures suddenly emerged from the passageways on either side of the wide corridor ahead, forming a silent human wall that blocked his path.

Grand instinctively placed his hand on the explosive pistol at his waist, wanting to order it to fire immediately, but he hesitated when he noticed the other man's signature gas mask and black armor.

Those going to their deaths?
Just then, a voice he recognized came from behind the group of soldiers, tinged with amusement: "Judge Grand? What a coincidence... Heh, why are you in such a hurry? What are you going to do?"

"The leader of the Oni-Dancer Corps?" Grand narrowed his eyes, recognizing the familiar voice. "Shouldn't you be on the ground right now, commanding your Death Squad against the aliens?"

“Yes, that is theoretically the case.” Ghost Face slowly stepped out from among his soldiers, his hands behind his back. “However, just recently, Commander-in-Chief Wendell and Lord Lucius summoned me urgently, saying they had something extremely important to discuss.”

The masked man paused here, his eyes beneath the mask seeming to pierce through layers of obstruction, staring directly into Grand's soul: "Grand, I've heard that you intend to use the Extinction Order to bombard me, my warriors, the other nineteen Astral Legions, the four newly formed Astartes Chapters, the two Astartes Sub-Chapters, and the Tanatalis Titan Legion, who are fighting bravely for the Empire on the planet Dalis?"

Without hesitation, Grand drew his explosive pistol from his waist. He answered with a deafening gunshot and a whistling bullet.

Ghostface dodged to the side like a phantom, the bomb exploding where he had just stood, leaving a charred crater in the metal wall. Almost simultaneously, the Deathbringers and the Inquisitors' Guards engaged in a fierce firefight, dense laser beams and the energy beams of the Hellfire Guns clashing wildly in the narrow corridor, each determined to annihilate the other.

Judge Grand, hiding behind a massive metal pillar, roared furiously, "If you all get out of the way right now, I can give you all a clean and quick death!"

Ghost Face responded loudly, "The Legion of the Dead will resolutely strike down all enemies of humanity! Traitors, die!"

(End of this chapter)