Warhammer 40k: Melee Warriors

And then I ended up with this ring? And inexplicably, a cold, impersonal throne?

The eldest has a golden throne, the second has a bronze throne, and the third... pure white... platinum throne?

Unable to contain his wild thoughts, Gu Jian's tense face revealed a bitter smile.

Ah... Khorne, Khorne... You really are a straightforward person. I only wanted to leave you with a whole corpse after I stabbed you in front of me, but who would have thought you would give me such a big gift.

But Koken thought about it again and realized that Khorne's generosity was more about taking advantage of his own arrogance and pride.

Alone, even if he fought tirelessly from the beginning of 41k to the end, how many people could he kill in a thousand years? The blood and skulls he could collect would be nothing more than a fraction of the Blood God's countless years.

It's like a seabird that can dive into the ocean and catch a fish to fill its belly, but even if the seabirds go in flocks and bring many companions to hunt together, they still can't catch as much as a single catch from a deep-sea fishing boat.

The demon army, warbands, mortal believers, and even the unbelievers are all providing Khorne with a constant stream of power. Giving Khorne this small advantage is not a serious loss for him at all.

Komi felt increasingly that Khorne had seen through his disobedience and was therefore using this method to lure him down the path of ruthless slaughter, using bloodshed and the growth of power to make him lose his last remaining humanity.

Sigh... not to mention He even wore a collar on Himself...

Gu Jian sighed, touched it with his hand, and sure enough, he felt a ring of scars around the neck.

This place seems unlikely to heal; the slightest touch leaves your hands covered in blood, and a pungent smell of brass and sulfur emanates from it.

The challenger is the eternal hunter...

Like Guts from Berserk?

Koken was not alarmed by Khorne's earlier warning. As someone who understood the future development of the galaxy, he knew all too well how the war would escalate step by step. Even if he wasn't being hunted, he would still be busy and breathless in the future when the apocalypse was approaching.

Instead of worrying about Khorne, I should think about how to get out of this damned throne room and find out who the god with the number five is and what he wants me to do.

He subconsciously slammed his fist against the armrest, causing a large amount of blood to gush from the blood-red gemstone on the brass ring, staining one side of the throne and giving it a cruel and mysterious beauty.

Komi tried to retrieve the blood on the throne, but after flowing off the throne, the blood condensed into a ball on an open space in front of Komi, eventually turning into two mirrors that reflected Komi's image.

The mirror rippled, and a scene first formed in the mirror. Komi saw his own body, the World Eater named Markus, being helped onto the Captain's Throne by Elaine, who was using everything she knew to save Komi's life.

“Master...we will bring you back...as long as we find a pure and weak soul...you will surely be able to awaken..."

Elaine's voice drifted into the pure white world and disappeared, which made Komi realize that if he wanted to leave this space, he would need to obtain some soul power.

But I am so weak right now, how can I do that?

Koken shook his head, thinking with utter lust that Khorne, this passionate god, was truly thirsty, pulling at him without a second thought, leaving him no extra strength.

Lost in thought, his gaze shifted to another mirror. When he saw the reflection in the mirror, his eyes widened in surprise, for he recognized the figures of several familiar faces.

The psionicist Falla, Sergeant Miyan, and his personal guard Stone.

The three of them were dressed very differently from when they fought side by side with Komi. Miyan's green military bulletproof armor had a lot of holy wax markings on it, and she looked more like a fanatical nun from a convent than a dutiful soldier.

Stone's attire was similar; his communication backpack carried a brazier, and his solemn and dignified expression made Koji feel as if his soul had been replaced.

Finally, there was Nafaya, dressed in a pure white saint's robe embroidered with gold thread, her eyes gleaming with a faint psychic light, and every gesture she made radiating boundless rage towards the traitors.

Who are the traitors? Whom are they enemies?

Another corruption scandal has erupted at Red Mining World.

Komi looked closely and found that his vision was shifting and changing with Faya's movements. At that moment, he suddenly realized what the first body his soul had possessed had become.

The remains of a saint, reduced to mere bones, were transformed into a psychic icon under the adoration of fanatical believers, offering inexplicable buffs.

Komi's gaze followed the empty eyes of the skeleton outwards, where he saw the Inquisition soldiers pouring down from the armored vehicles. They cursed Faya and the remains of the saint she was guarding, while Faya's fanatical followers responded with even harsher insults.

Despite their many differences, the warriors on both sides fought and clashed with the same battle cry.

"For the Emperor! Eliminate the traitors!"

Looking at all this, Koken felt it was both absurd and perfectly reasonable.

The internal strife within the human empire may only cease after the emperor rises from his throne.

Chapter 197: Offer me your blood and victory!

Red Mining World, a world in the hazy, peripheral sector that supplies mineral resources to the forging and civilized worlds near the Empire, has been ravaged by successive waves of war.

Greenskins, Chaos traitors, and a civil war with differing ideas.

From this small world, one can glimpse a corner of the suffering that the entire human empire has experienced in the Milky Way. The only spiritual support that keeps the people of Red Mining World from surrendering to the Inquisition's strike force is the skeleton of a saint standing deep beneath the rock layers at the end of a complex tunnel.

The devout crowd regards the skeleton that saved the Red Mining World as one of the incarnations of the Emperor, and expresses their utmost respect and worship for the skeleton in their own way.

Precious minerals excavated from the rock strata formed a sanctuary for the skeletons to rest in peace. Gold blessed by the nuns of the convent was used to make a throne for the skeletons to sit on. Komi's soul eye peered out from the skeletons' hollow eyes, watching the fanatics of the Red Mining World fight against the Inquisition's forces with weapons they had captured or even left over from the last war.

The location of this sanctuary was eventually exposed. The Inquisition's forces, using an underground excavator blessed by the mechanical priests, probed into the place. Several turrets were hidden inside the huge drill bit, and the moment it broke through the rock wall, it opened fire on the praying crowd. Under the cover of this firepower, the Inquisition's forces poured out from both sides of the excavator and charged forward fearlessly.

The Inquisition's forces were far better equipped than the fanatics of the Red Mining World. The warship hovering outside the planet's orbit carried Astral Army soldiers from other worlds, all of whom had outstanding battle records that would be appreciated by the Inquisition.

The Stormtroopers, mixed among these astral armies from different worlds, are elites from the Loyal Academy. Their full-body armor, their Hellfire Guns that can ignite an entire enemy squad in an instant, and their exceptional training and combat experience combine to ruthlessly bring annihilation upon the defenders of Red Mining World in the name of Imperial Judgment.

Komi had no intention of stopping this civil war. It was impossible to stop a group of people loyal to the Inquisition from wielding their swords. Even if Komi could transform into the body of a true saint, with boundless golden light shooting from the back of his head and his wings fluttering as he flew to the top of the Nest City, the Inquisitor who commanded the army would, after a few seconds of doubt, regard Komi's newly formed body as a conspiracy of evil.

You can't reason with these madmen. The only way to have any chance of negotiation is to use more force, pin them to the table, and cut off one of their arms with a knife.

Watching the believers who were burned to ashes by the Hellfire Spear while protecting this sanctuary, Komi was thinking more about how to make good use of the gifts Khorne had given him, so that more blood and souls would fall into his empty Platinum Throne Hall.

Without the support of a soul, even a true god is not as powerful as a chicken.

Komi tried to connect with his first body, plunging his hand, adorned with a brass ring, into the blood-formed mirror, hoping to transcend the limitations of time, space, life, and death and land on the skeleton.

The skeleton thus gained some vitality. Koji could feel that he could control one of the skeleton's arms and the chin that was tightly closed on the skull. He carefully controlled the arm that was reflected in the mirror, wanting to contact Faya to verify an idea in his mind.

Facing the fierce offensive of the Tribunal's raiding force, Faya showed no fear, only a hint of disdain for the foolish and faithless.

The laser beams crossed the battlefield and landed on her, only to be blocked by a hazy golden shield. These scorching lasers, which ignited flesh and vaporized metal, could only cause a negligible ripple in Falla's psionic shield.

Faya was furious that the Inquisition soldiers had interrupted her prayer. As she raised her hand to kill them with a raging storm of psychic energy, the skeletons behind her, which had been silent for years, made a soft clicking sound.

Faya was taken aback, then looked back with some suspicion, only to see that Komi's bones were emitting a pale white glow, possessing a hazy, holy beauty in this sanctuary filled with the flames of war.

"Saint...is that you?" Faya murmured, sensing through her psychic eyes that the skeleton was rapidly expanding, regaining its original faint life force.

Komi adjusted to the discomfort his skeletal body caused him, and then used his psychic powers to communicate with Faya.

"Faya."

The voice that penetrated her soul made Faya tremble. She forgot the fierce battle in front of the sanctuary and turned around to kneel down. "Holy one! I knew you would come back! You will not forget those believers you saved."

Faya's piety and trust made Koji feel somewhat ashamed. His ability to manifest here was completely unplanned and purely a matter of fate.

Explaining these things to Faya was pointless. Komi pondered and carefully considered his words, trying to figure out how to get Faya to fight in his name.

When they start fighting, they will definitely shout that they are fighting for the emperor.

Will this shout cause some of the gained power to be uncontrollably shared with the emperor?

But if I don't let Faya and the others shout "Fight for the Emperor..." it would make me, a saint, seem very strange and suspicious.

The only reason Falla worshipped Komi was because she worshipped the Emperor. If this psychic were to discover even a hint that Komi wasn't the Emperor's chosen one...

Koji clicked his tongue lightly, remarking that faith is truly a double-edged sword. Used well, it can gain a large group of believers who are not afraid of death; used poorly, it can bring trouble upon oneself.

But then I thought, is there really a clear procedure for worshipping emperors?

The worship of emperors varies across different worlds, and even within state religions, there are differing views on what kind of image an emperor should have.

The vast territory and bloated population meant that the human empire did not achieve perfect unity in terms of terminology and culture. At least in the world of Red Mining, no one would find it strange if someone carried a statue of the four-armed god-emperor to preach.

Komi felt that he could very well use this small loophole to disguise himself as the emperor and walk among the people, a method that would be acceptable to ordinary people and various departments of the human empire.

Even the Chaos Gods, when they tempt mortals to serve them, do not clamor about their destructive nature, but rather reveal a seemingly benevolent side of themselves, enticing people to fall deeper and deeper into depravity.

For example, Magnus, just before all the disasters erupted, still believed that the beings he met in the warp were kind and generous good people.

The silence didn't arouse any doubt in Faya's mind, as she knelt before Komi's skeleton and felt that the saint was testing her loyalty and purity. This made her feel excited and uneasy, afraid that she was not enough to satisfy the saint or even the emperor behind him.

"In the name of humanity's savior, offer me victory and blood..." Komi said in a deep voice, watching Faya's reaction.

Chapter 198: Those who believe in religion really have a vivid imagination!

Hearing Komi's desire for victory and bloodshed, Faya had no doubts whatsoever. After all, in the vast territory of the human empire, there were worlds that celebrated the Ascension of the Emperor with a bloody conflict, and the line between worshipping Khorne and worshipping the Emperor was not so clear.

Faya raised her head, her eyes filled with fervor and devotion, silently waiting for Komi's next instruction.

Ah...the savior of mankind.

This is indeed a very subtle word. Komi couldn't help but feel pleased with his quick thinking. This word could refer to the emperor on the throne, or to the many warriors who fought for the survival of mankind.

Therefore, the flow of faith will become less precise, and Komi felt that he only needed to construct a small ritual to bring faith and soul into this throne room.

What is the simplest form of guidance?

Nature is a collection of rituals built around sacred numbers, including six kinds of pleasure, seven kinds of corruption, eight skulls, and nine kinds of betrayal...

Is a skull altar constructed with the number 8 as its core?

No, no...

Komi shook his head. Although Khorne had made it clear that he would not take the souls Komi had hunted, the altar's purpose was too obvious, and Khorne had no reason to refuse the many lives offered by the altar.

Finally, the number 5 appeared in his mind once again. Komi controlled the skeleton and continued to say to Faya, "...Remember the number 5, Faya."

Komi awaited the influx of souls, while Faya used her sparkling eyes to tell Komi that she was thinking.

Why is it 5?

Why the number 5?

Falla had read many religious books, and these literary masterpieces not only contained beautiful words praising the immortality of emperors and mankind, but also the interpretations and analyses of human civilization by wise men.

The interpretation of numbers is naturally one aspect of this; everyone inevitably needs to understand the numbers of human empires. These numbers, created by the great emperor himself, along with the emperor himself and everything he created, are so full of philosophical meaning. The more one studies the emperor's creations, the more deeply fascinated one becomes by the emperor's sacred greatness.

Scholars who deciphered the numbers compiled a library of documents for this purpose, just as they did for other matters concerning the emperor.

Serious and meticulous, with self-consistent logic.

His choice of words and sentence structure were among the best in the empire.

Before reading these documents, Falla never imagined that the numbers used in everyday life could be used to analyze the logic of the entire universe's operation or even its existence.

The hexagram fills the space, and the six rings that follow are intertwined with the seventh, forming a cyclical and interwoven system. This is the abstract structure of the universe.

The number 0 represents the space that contains the beginning; without the space to contain things, nothing can be born.