Warhammer 40k: Melee Warriors

"How can we get through this area and rendezvous with the main force?" Stone asked, looking at the communicator in his hand with pleading eyes, hoping that his machine spirit would return to normal instead of continuing to emit the piercing buzzing sound.

Komi carefully observed the situation at the fortress and then said, "I only saw Major Faraday. Who knows where Commissar Tran went? He can't be dead, can he?"

Miyan thought for a moment, then replied, "A few days ago, we re-edited the information about the Holy Monastery in Grace City. The members of the state church there want to talk to Commissar Tran. Maybe he went to the monastery."

"What are you talking about? Reassigning personnel from the reorganized battalion to guard the monastery?"

"No, it seems to be related to some kind of prophecy."

Komi nodded, not dwelling on the matter, and continued to survey the battlefield.

The cultists suffered heavy casualties when they attacked the fortress; the piled-up corpses could even be used as cover.

Their pause in the offensive was not for retreat, but to construct a blasphemous ritual using these corpses.

Koken could see it clearly: at the edge of the battlefield, there was a group of fat men, slightly thinner than the fat chef whose belly had seven folds, hiding behind large shields.

They were constantly being fed through a tube, and even when food was stuck in their throats and coming out of their nostrils, the cultists who were force-feeding these fat men did not stop.

As these people formed a literal ball, some more well-dressed individuals stepped forward and shouted at the cultists.

"My suffering believers! We are just like you, suffering from the oppression and persecution of the Golden Silk Family. This family, which has existed since the Red Mining World and has been recorded in the books of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, has now become the biggest obstacle to the city's victory over foreign enemies and its prosperity. The patriarch of this family is unimaginably greedy, and his indifference to human life would put even the most cruel orc warlords to shame."

Fortunately, our suffering has been heard by the merciful Father, who wishes to save us from this corrupt and cruel system. But before that, we must make many sacrifices and fight against the Corpse King's lackeys.

As the man spoke, tears welled up in his eyes. He seemed very sincere. If Komi hadn't been so familiar with the warp and the nature of demons, he might have thought this man was a hero who was rebelling against the tyranny of the empire.

"These compatriots voluntarily gave their insignificant lives for the great cause of love and justice. Let us bless them and curse those lackeys of the Corpse King!"

Amidst the rousing speech, the round, fat men were slowly pushed out, like tanks made of flesh, blocking all the firepower fired from the fortress.

Neither lasers nor bullets could completely penetrate their thick layer of fat, and these fat balls could continue to roll and grow larger while sticking to the remains on the ground, never stopping even after they themselves became disgusting meatballs pieced together from scraps of flesh and severed limbs.

This thing was far more awe-inspiring than the orcs. Koji could already sense that the morale within the fortress was being severely damaged by this evil, desecrated creation.

Even Miyan, a Kadian who had been gazing at the Eye of Fear since childhood under the guidance of his parents, felt an uncontrollable nausea at the slowly rolling spheres of flesh on the battlefield.

Jumping off this tall building would surely result in being half-dead, so Koji could only look for other ways to deal with these horrible fleshy spheres for the fortress's defenders and free the mad souls within them.

My shooting is no different from a pile of shit, but I seem to be pretty accurate when I throw it.

Komi suddenly asked the two, "Were those cultists we just encountered carrying spears made of steel bars?"

Yes, do you have any thoughts?

"Gather some of these for me; I want to nail these fleshy lumps to the road."

Chapter 57: The Support of Spear Throwers

The cultists' uprising was quite hasty. If Komi hadn't noticed something amiss after eating a few bites of food and swiftly destroyed the blasphemous hideout, these people might have had to wait a while before launching their attack.

Stone and Miyan collected a bundle of steel bars to make simple spears, which were then used as weapons after their tips were sharpened.

Komi weighed the steel spear in his hand, then stood by the window, aiming at the fleshy mass rolling toward the fortress.

With a sudden burst of force, like a cannonball being fired, his arm swung through the air with a crisp, explosive sound, while the steel bar pierced the air with a distinctive whooshing sound.

The spear fell from the sky, piercing the fleshy ball's body at an angle. The tip was even still hot and red from the friction with the air, but this detail was unknown to anyone except the almost numb fleshy ball.

The spear pierced through the outer layer of corpse fragments, penetrated the thick, greasy fat, and finally remained deeply embedded within these fleshy spheres.

The burning steel bars did not cool down from being soaked in blood and pus; instead, they fueled the violent boiling of the filth.

The fleshy lumps were in great pain, but their overly obese faces made even opening their mouths to groan a luxury. They could only spit out their pain little by little from their slit throats and mouths.

Koji kept moving, throwing those steel spears at the ball of flesh one after another.

A fleshy ball, riddled with spears, finally came to a stop, its interior expanding further under the scorching heat of the spear tips, the boiling stench stretching its body to a dangerously large size.

Major Faraday was puzzled by the mutations that had occurred in these tough and hard-to-kill creatures, but he did not stop what he was doing. He shouted the Emperor's name and fired at the swelling ball of flesh.

With a loud bang, the fleshy ball exploded, spraying gas and liquid everywhere, even igniting everything around it due to Major Faraday's laser shot.

"I'll have to stock up on throwing knives and spears from now on." Seeing that the effect was indeed good, Koken was in a much better mood.

Although he was incredibly bad at using guns, he dared to say that even a Space Marine couldn't match his skill in javelin throwing.

"Damn it! What heavy firepower does the reorganization battalion have? I don't recall their heavy weapons supplies arriving this week!" The leaders who were addressing their followers were furious; their faith in Nurgle the Merciful Father had not broadened or softened their hearts.

"My lord, it doesn't seem to be fire coming from the fortress, but from a building over there." A cultist who suddenly developed three eyes pointed at the building where Komi was standing and said, "I saw many dark figures bursting out of a window. Someone is helping the Corpse King's lackeys."

"Damn it, who could it be? Those guys from the Inquisition?" The cult leader looked over with a ferocious expression and ripped off the three-eyed believer's ear.

As if speaking into a phone call, he roared into the ear of the Three-Eyed Believer, “When will you finish cleaning up the building! There are lackeys supporting the Corpse King inside, and they have even launched an effective attack against us.”

"Don't rush us! Showing the beauty of a compassionate father to the suffering people is an art. Crude preaching will only gain us a bunch of skeptical fence-sitters."

"Damn it..." Upon hearing the reply in his ear, the cult leader cursed, shoved his ear towards the three-eyed cultist, and looked back, loudly commanding, "Alright, believers who have been savoring the beauty of the benevolent father, now is the time to preach to those ignorant fools on the other side."

A group of people, walking unsteadily, followed their leader's instructions and came up. They looked more like a group of drug-addicted zombies, their eyes showing no trace of humanity.

They stood in three identical circles, inhaling canisters of exhaust gas into their bodies, stimulating their souls to connect further with the existence of the subspace.

Then they began to hum the song in seven beats a verse, and a blasphemous force suddenly rose from their core and swam toward the more filthy battlefield.

All the corpses and stench were drawn by this power, eventually coalescing into a bloated little mountain that smiled at the reorganized battalion within the fortress.

Some soldiers went berserk upon seeing it, only to be shot dead by Major Faraday, who remained stern-faced, a second later.

"For the Emperor! Destroy that damned thing! Understand?"

Major Faraday ruthlessly maintained the increasingly fragile morale of the reorganized battalion, while Komi, in the upper floors of the building, heard more and more footsteps approaching them.

It was another cultist in the building. Komi made the judgment in an instant, and as soon as a cultist came into view, the spear in his hand flew out and was instantly embedded in the cultist's head.

"The current battle situation is extremely unfavorable to us. The entire city has become a breeding ground for cultists!" Mi Yang roared as he opened fire, his bullets completely blocking the narrow stairwell.

The cultists hid behind the walls on either side of the door and hurled bombs made from the heads of starving babies from their waists.

The sight of these small, damp skull grenades sent chills down Komi's spine. His anger was fueled by the horrific scenes, and if Faya were here, her eyes would surely be burned by the blazing light of Komi's soul.

The explosion splashed some filth onto the three people, and their dirty cloaks and clothes were corroded to varying degrees.

Mi Yang and Shi Tou's skin also developed unhealthy lesions, while only Gu Jian's body remained intact and he even became more robust, as if the filth was nourishing him.

Komi grabbed the stone's machete as well, brandished the two swords, roared, and charged towards the cultists behind the stairwell.

The cultists trembled slightly from the malevolent aura emanating from Komi. If the pus-sucking chaotic runes on their faces were removed, they would be no different from the ordinary people struggling to survive in Grace City.

But for some of the red-eyed ancient warriors, the unnatural stench emanating from their bodies proved that their bodies and souls had been stolen by demons from the warp, and even if they felt remorse, they could not escape the clutches of the demons.

Komi's twin swords spun like windmills, swiftly decapitating the cultist beside him. He continued charging forward, severing all the steel spears aimed at him.

The cultists were driven back step by step; they even trampled and shoved each other in the stairwell, falling over the railings.

Some cult members were terrified, fearing they would become the next victims, and turned back to their rooms, locking the doors behind them. No matter how the missionaries among the cult members preached the power of the Father, they could not ignite the fighting spirit in their hearts.

As Falla said, their courage was taken away by Komi, and they could only cowardly beg him not to target them.

Chapter 58: The Grail of Remains

“I saw it, I saw the chosen one, the one watched over by the Holy Emperor, right here in this hive.”

In the sacred monastery of the city of Grace, an elderly high nun was explaining the Emperor's sacred prophecy to Commissar Tran amidst the chants of the other nuns.

The cultists besieging the Holy Monastery had retreated under the counterattack of the priests and the automated defense turrets with ancient machine spirits, and they only dared to curse the monastery bathed in imperial light with their blasphemous eyes.

Commissar Tran knelt on one knee before the High Sister, his calm face filled with respect and piety for the Emperor. He asked, "Will the Emperor's chosen one be our hope for ending all the chaos in the Red Mining world?"

"Yes, this person is not only the only hope to end the chaos of this world, but also the only salvation for this hazy frontier sector!" The High Nun was so engrossed in the revelation the Emperor had given her that she could not extricate herself from it. "The Sage will liberate this region on the edge of the Emperor's Light from darkness, and a grand expedition against heretics and aliens awaits us."

Honored by the bright future envisioned by the High Sister, Commissar Tran asked a more practical question: "So, High Sister, how do we find this person? Grace City has now fallen into the clutches of heretics, and finding one person is as difficult as finding a needle in a haystack."

“Take the Grail of Remains; it will guide you to the Emperor’s chosen one.” The High Priestess raised her hand, and four nuns respectfully and devoutly brought over a sacred artifact placed on a purple velvet rug.

Commissar Tran examined it closely. The Grail of Remains was made of the finest gold and decorated with rings of bones left by saints. A consecrated, pure skull and blood sealed in gemstones adorned the front of the Grail.

What a solemn and majestic sacred object! Even a well-traveled person like Commissar Tran felt an immense sense of honor upon seeing it.

The Holy Grail was empty. When the High Sister saw that Commissar Tran had accepted the Holy Grail, she reminded him to leave quickly and not keep the Emperor's Chosen waiting too long.

"High Nun, and you..."

"We will stand firm here and not allow those heretics to defile this sacred land in an inch."

Hearing the High Nun's resolute reply, Commissar Tran gave a salute to the Eagle and took his leave, leading the elite soldiers of the reorganized battalion he had selected back to their base.

Returning via a safe and secluded route, after encountering several attacks by cultists along the way, and with several teeth of his chainsaw sword broken, Commissar Tran finally reached the fortress where the reorganized battalion was stationed.

The fortress is now ravaged by the plague, and its once sturdy walls, which were estimated to last for tens of thousands of years according to the Mechanics, are now as brittle as uncooked biscuits, easily torn off with a strong force.

"The throne is above them, they've held it." Seeing the reorganized battalion's flag flying high on the fortress walls, Commissar Tran couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. This undoubtedly proved that the reorganized battalion's combat effectiveness was reliable.

The area around the fortress was deathly silent, with only the traces of the battle proving the ferocity of the previous fighting. Commissar Tran and his remaining troops approached the fortress, and Major Faraday on the city wall almost burst into tears upon seeing Tran.

"Commissar, you're finally back! The fighting these past few days has been truly despairing. If it weren't for him, we might all be in the cultists' cauldrons." Major Faraday, whose face had become much thinner, tightly grasped Commissar Tran's hand.

"Him?" Commissar Tran frowned. He had never heard Major Faraday talk about a person with such excitement before.

Major Faraday nodded and pointed in the direction where Komi was resting, describing in unadorned words how Komi had single-handedly saved the reorganized battalion in the fortress.

This description deepened Commissar Tran's doubts, but it also reminded him of the remains of the Holy Grail in the small shrine behind him.

Could this person be the Emperor's chosen one? The one destined to save the Red Mining World?

Commissar Tran didn't waste any words and directly ordered Major Faraday to take him to meet the legendary Komi.

Komi was sitting on a chair piled with ammunition boxes, deep in thought, with his handy machete, which he kept in the dormitory, lying to the side.

How did those cultists collapse?

It was as if he had killed many cultists, and then chopped one of their leaders into mincemeat with a machete, before the cultists who had surrounded them in the building scattered and fled in terror.

Komi couldn't remember the details clearly, but he could recall that on the eve of the cultists' morale collapsing, their eyes were filled with despair and indescribable fear as they looked at him.

That fear was branded directly onto their souls, accumulating into an emotional bomb, and killing their leader was the spark that ignited it.

The feeling at that moment was quite strange; an invisible fear spread from the cultists in the building, penetrating through numerous obstacles and landing among the cultists on the ground.

The battlefield fell silent the next second, followed by the chaotic sounds of people fleeing for their lives.

Looking at Komi, who was covered in blood, Miyang and Ishi said in admiration, "You saved us, once again..."

Am I acting strangely...?