Warhammer 40k: Melee Warriors

Chapter 181: The Fallen Angel is Quite Cunning

Post-war debriefing is always painful, but it has to be done.

After removing his equipment, Azrael buried himself in the documents, personally writing down the names of his fallen comrades. This was the last respect and tribute he could give to these heroes as the chapter leader.

Once his work is complete, the list will be handed over to the skilled sculptors in the warband. The name of each fallen warrior will appear on either side of the glorious, silent corridor, and the name of the battle will be appended below their names.

The Solemnas raid.

A visitor was standing outside the door. Azrael clearly sensed this and pressed a button on the table. The door opened, and Deathwing Archmage and Belial, the wielder of the Silent Sword, slowly stepped into the room.

Although he was the Chapter Master of the Dark Angels and the leader of countless warriors, Azrael would not treat the legend before him with arrogance.

Even before he became a chapter master, Belial was already a seasoned and powerful dark angel, highly skilled in tactics and extremely loyal. His achievements, if detailed, would fill a library.

However, Belial did not like people praising his achievements. He firmly believed that all the sacrifices he made for the human empire were only right and that loyalty to the Emperor and the human empire was the greatest reward. This was a noble sentiment that those traitors who joined the evil god could not understand.

"Azrael...do you remember why we came to this grave?" Belial asked bluntly, glancing at the name Azrael was writing down. The old warrior, who had seen so much death and sacrifice, also showed a hint of reluctance and self-reproach in his eyes.

The Dark Angels Chapter and its many subsidiary chapters suffered truly heavy losses...

Azrael understood the meaning behind Belial's question. The Grand Master of Deathwing was simply telling Azrael that Cypher, the leader of the fallen angels, was using despicable means to lure them into a life-or-death struggle with a powerful enemy, from which he would profit.

The weaker the Dark Angels' power becomes, the fewer people are left to hunt down the Fallen Angels, allowing them to carry out their mysterious and blasphemous plan, which, by all accounts, poses a serious threat to the Empire.

But do they even have a choice?

No...

He couldn't even imagine the calamities that would befall the nearby star sectors if such a necromantic dynasty were not stopped.

Fortunately, they came together for different purposes and struck hard in the chaotic moment before the Tomb of the Dead had awakened, thus achieving this costly victory.

If individual companies or battle groups faced such a powerful enemy, they wouldn't even have the right to force the boss to use Star God fragments.

Azrael sighed deeply. “Mentor Belial... I understand your concerns... but we have no choice. Although we have not found any trace of the leader of the traitors, the threat posed by these space undead means that humanity has gained another powerful enemy.”

Beria did not answer, but simply nodded in agreement.

Before the Solemnas raid began, neither the Dark Angels nor the Dark Angels considered the Space Necromancers, an alien species that had come into the Empire's view in the early days of 41k, to be anything to worry about.

Their weapons are indeed incredibly powerful and advanced, but countless studies by the Cult of Mechanics and reports from the Inquisition have shown that the Necromancers are nothing more than a dying civilization. Most of the Necromancer tombs excavated within the Empire are damaged and contain nothing but death and the passing of time.

Some worlds that cooperate closely with the Cult of Mechanics have even sent personnel to explore the graveyards of the Necromancers in space, claiming it is to destroy the technological creations of the Xenomorphs that blaspheme against the Mechanicus. But everyone knows in secret that this is just an excuse for the Cult of Mechanics to research Xenomorph weapons.

But after this battle, they must now confront the threat of the Necromancers in space.

Not all graves are destroyed by the erosion of time; some graves still retain their original function, and the owners inside may even still be of sound mind.

A vast and ever-resurrecting army, an ancient and elusive history, advanced technology that seems almost magical...

The Necromancers of space demonstrated their threat to the Empire in the most unexpected way, leaving Azrael with lingering unease even after the battle ended.

After a long pause, Azrael asked again, "Can we trace Solemnass's location backwards?"

Beria replied, “No, it disappeared too completely and cleanly, like we were fighting mud and branches in a dream.”

After a long conversation, a psionic communication broke between them. It was the voice of Ezekiel, the chief think tank commander. He had only entered the battlefield in the later stages of the Solemnas raid, accompanying the mysterious and rare Grey Knights to block the advance of Vashtor and his demon army.

While Ezekiel was using his talents to severely damage those demons, he did not forget to direct his subordinates to bring those living treasures back to the fleet. The information he was reporting now was deeply related to these beings from the past.

"Chaptermaster Azrael, they want to see you."

Ezekiel's psychic voice carried the restraint of facing an elder, and his seemingly calm tone even concealed a sense of excitement at witnessing ancient glory.

After finishing the last entry on the list of the dead, Azrael and Belial immediately headed towards the mobilization hall on the ship, which the Black Temple usually called the prayer sanctuary.

Azrael pushed open the door decorated with patterns of knights hunting behemoths and saw a group of ancient warriors standing blankly beneath the emperor's statue. Ezekiel, the chief strategist, led the dark angels to one side, giving these elders enough space and time to ponder the current situation.

Hearing the sound of the gate opening behind them, the warriors turned to look at Azrael.

Azrael's breath caught in his throat; the magnificence of the warrior's armor drew all his attention.

However, this does not mean that the warrior himself was a vain fellow; every decoration signifies that the warrior once distinguished himself on a battlefield.

The blue Extreme Power Armor features an eagle on its chest. This is not the standard Imperial Skull Eagle used by the Space Marine Chapters, but a single-headed giant eagle with more details and a wider, more majestic wingspan.

Below the giant eagle are lightning bolts and olive wreaths, and further down the belt is a pure skull ornament surrounded by a laurel wreath of victory.

The right shoulder armor is studded with service marks that prove seniority, almost completely filled with no extra space, while the left shoulder armor is adorned with the pristine white Ultramarines U-shaped Legion insignia.

The helmet was adorned with a red Roman general's crown, and the facial grille was tightly embraced by magnificent wings. The patterns on the arm armor were even more intricate and dazzling, and even with Azrael's extensive knowledge, he could not decipher the profound meaning behind these patterns.

What's frightening is that there's more than one warrior with such equipment. The five blue-armored elders in front of us all have the same style, holding an ancient military flag in their hands. No one has ever seen the flag bearer put down this gold-threaded battle flag.

Azrael respected these warriors, but he also felt compelled to ask, rather offensively, who they were.

Chapter 182: You mean this? That's a different price.

One of them answered calmly, “We are the victorious Ultramarines, the honor guard of the Four Heroes of Alteramar, and Primarch Guilliman’s personal bodyguards. We only have three questions for you now: How is the Great Rebellion going? Where is our Primarch Guilliman? And what’s the deal with this Emperor statue? I don’t recall him allowing us to emulate those Wordholder traitors in worshipping him.”

After listening, Azrael broke out in a cold sweat, unsure how to answer these tricky questions.

Seeing Azrael so anxious, the elders, though extremely worried themselves, showed some tolerance and reassurance towards the younger generation.

One of the victorious generals pointed to a portrait of an emperor rising from flames and asked, "I'll give you a moment to organize your thoughts. First, answer this question: what does this painting mean?"

Azrael glanced at it, then readily replied, "That's a textile commemorating the Ascension of the Emperor..."

Click...

A sacred candlestick bid farewell to his post forever, and the elders' once tolerant and gentle gazes turned terrifying, making Azrael want to turn and run away.

"What festival does the emperor celebrate?"

“The Emperor…the Ascension of the Emperor…” Azrael repeated, forcing himself to speak.

Click click...

......

Upon returning to the warp, Komi was invited by Vashtor to view the spoils he had collected.

Vashtor's wounds had not yet healed, and the silvery flames were still burning. Vashtor was expressionless and indifferent to his wounds, only scanning his plundered spoils with eyes as fiery as a furnace fire.

"Although all the staff I brought to the museum were killed or injured, I still managed to get the clock you mentioned."

Vastor proudly and happily showed Komi the Great Bell of Saint Gostal. This sacred creation was still cast in gold and inlaid with pure gems and the remains of saints. Unfortunately, Komi could not see any trace of the power of faith in the bell.

“This thing originally possessed some great power,” Vashtor said, then stroked the surface of the holy bell with his flesh-and-iron fingers. “But after I released it from the static field, that intense, nauseating faith vanished.”

Koji remained silent, simply nodding to satisfy Vashtor's social needs.

“This bell is silent and serene, and the power it contains is indeed worth studying. I think I can use this to corrupt those devout temples and religious worlds.” Vashtor looked at Komi and briefly described his future plans.

What else could Komi say? He could only nod and agree that Vashtor's plan was truly...creative.

If you ever actually attack the human empire, this sacred bell will transform into the emperor's terrifying, flaming golden claw and viciously stab you in the backside...

Komi thought to himself, then asked Vashtor if he had found the Overlord's Crown inlaid with fragments of the Star God.

“Found it,” Vashtor replied. “The withering disease I developed is extremely effective against soulless undead. If the Grey Knights hadn’t appeared out of nowhere, I would have brought the crown back with me.”

Ugh...

Why are these Grey Knights intervening now?

If Vashtor really touches the edge of the crown, wouldn't Tarasin immediately rush back to fight this guy to the death?

Koji sighed inwardly, and after a moment of reflection, he suddenly realized something.

If Vashtor fails to seize the crown, wouldn't it be even more infuriating to Vashtor if he jumped in to mock Tarasin and then fiddled with his scepter?

Well... after all that effort, I've only brought trouble upon myself.

Koji curled his lip, not caring about it. Judging from the unique super-large-scale chaos of Warhammer, it was only a matter of time before he and the Necromancers became mortal enemies. It didn't matter whether they fought sooner or later.

Even if Tarasin is furious, does he think he can sneak into the subspace to find him?

Not to mention that his museum is in complete disarray, and it would take a hundred years to rebuild it.

After Vashtor introduced his spoils, he began to ask Komi what his spoils were. Sharing all of this was exactly one of the terms in the contract, and Komi knew he couldn't refuse Vashtor's question.

“Let me think of some good stuff… an old trade license, a badly damaged power boxing glove stained with someone’s blood. The rest is so-so. My men can only carry so much, and Sharon tore the bag while he was running for his life.”

Does he always fail like this?

“He wasn’t like this before, was he?” Komi answered uncertainly, then waved his hand at Vashtor and said, “Let’s not talk about that anymore, let’s talk about the deal. You hand over the locations of the Boneblood Forest and the Edge of the Misty Sector, and we’ll be even.”

"I can only tell you the location of the Bone and Blood Forest."

"Why? Don't tell me you don't even know the location of the edge of the hazy sector?" Koji raised an eyebrow, and immediately harbored murderous intent towards Vashtor, with whom he had just cooperated.

“Of course I know… but the location of the Edge of the Hazy Sector is not in our agreement.” Vashtor answered sincerely, flicking his finger to summon the recently signed contract. He pointed to the densely packed terms and explained, “Look, I used a conjunction here to explain the meaning. The explicit meaning of this word is that I will provide the location of the Boneblood Forest, while the Edge of the Hazy Sector will require further payment.”

"You bastard! This is just playing word games!" Komi shouted. Instead of being angry, Vashtor was pleased and gave Komi an elegant slight bow. He was not ashamed of his word games.

"This isn't playing word games; you just didn't understand the explicit meaning of that sentence. But don't be angry. As a World Devourer, you're already the most clear-headed and outstanding champion I've ever seen, one who plans before taking action."

Are you sure this isn't ironic?

The response from Komi was a long silence followed by a harsh, crackling sound, like a radio being jammed.

Koji saw that Vashtor had truly lost his patience. He narrowed his eyes, wishing he could just slap that trade license stained with the emperor's blood across Vashtor's face and kill him half to death.

But he held back his anger, after all, he had discerned something deeper from Vashtor's subtle actions.

“Vashtor, I don’t have time to waste with you. Just tell me what you want.”

"It's very simple, knowledge for knowledge."

"I've already switched places with you once. Aren't the positions of Solemnas and the attributes of the Holy Bell enough to settle these matters?"

“If you understand what the Bone and Blood Forest is like, you’ll understand that my price is quite fair. It’s the territory of the Blood God, and he won’t allow any area under his control to be without patrolling troops. Your warships will be overwhelmed by the blood army forged from brass and fire. But I know how to bypass the Blood God’s army and allow you to go straight to the most vulnerable core.”

After a moment's hesitation, Komi chose to believe Vashtor's explanation.

"Alright, Vashtor... knowledge for knowledge. Do you know about the Tau Empire?"

"An empire? I'm starting to get interested."

Chapter 183

Titanium Empire.