Warhammer 40: My Fiancée Fulgrim

Page 449

"Although we have ordered everyone not to look out the window, I have already heard rumors of the 'Tide of Blood' on the ship's deck..."

Mortalian's expression grew increasingly solemn.

"If I'm not mistaken, it's very likely that there are cultists secretly lurking in our fleet, and that they are spreading among the fleet's crew members."

"Due to interference from the other side, there are limited places we can go now."

No matter how large the orc empire was or how many beasts it possessed, it was still an opponent that could be defeated.

But now that they are truly facing a warp god who is willing to risk everything, everything changes dramatically.

"The power that comes from Khorne himself..."

"Kaska murmured."

To wage war against a god.

Although he had faced Khorne ten thousand years ago, what he truly fought against was the fragment of Asuyan within his body.

If you really asked him to face Khorne head-on, even in his current state, he wouldn't be confident that he would definitely win.

In pure warp combat, his power surpasses that of the Primarch, making him like a newly born warp demigod—though he doesn't have much faith from the mortal realm, his power is not to be underestimated.

However, compared to [Heartless Killing], Kasgar's power is still somewhat too weak.

His psychic power could sense that at this very moment, the wrath of the God of Blood was raging towards Casca from eight directions and eight paths.

The killing power emanating from the warp is about to descend upon the ships of Casca.

As if Khonored would soon appear on the ship in person, a feeling of extreme panic, unease, and anxiety was spreading among the crew.

Having just defeated a powerful enemy in the Urano system as part of an expeditionary fleet—whose warships weren't even fully repaired, only undergoing basic maintenance—they are now exhausted, and now they must face an unknown and terrifying entity...

It was a tremendous challenge for everyone in the expeditionary fleet.

"However... if my calculations are correct, our turning point may very well be right now, right before our eyes."

As he spoke, Mortalian pointed forward.

There, a faint glimmer of light actually appeared; amidst the churning sea of ​​blood, a trace of light still shone.

"That is......"

Almost at the same time it appeared, Casca pronounced its name.

"【Hymn Engine】"

......

Red Sand Republic.

Originally located on the edge of the galaxy, it was led by Angron, the former Primarch of the human empire, the World Eater.

During the Great Crusade ten thousand years ago, weary of the Emperor's endless expansion of the human empire and disgusted by the various negative effects the human empire had on the world, he ultimately decided to break away from the human empire after the warp storm engulfed the Angron expeditionary fleet, never intending to return.

According to his will, several surrounding star sectors will be brought under the defense of Angron and his World Eater Legion. This new nation was named the "Red Sand Republic" by Angron.

In order to create the world without slave owners that he envisioned, Angron established an administrative system for every human being in the Red Sand Republic.

With the help of the Primarch's great second-in-command, Karn (who had entered the Dauntless Contempt), the entire Red Sand Republic was well-governed under the joint rule of the Primarch and his second-in-command. The legions from the World Eaters also successfully defeated every force that attempted to pull the Red Sand Republic into their territory—whether it was the Xenomorphs, Heretics, Chaos, or the Empire of Man itself.

This remarkable governance stands in stark contrast to the planets around it, located in remote parts of the human empire's territory.

In places far from the reach of the emperor, even the black ships used to collect tithes only come once every few centuries—one can only imagine the extent of the exploitation of the common people by the local planetary governor and hereditary families.

Therefore, a saying often circulates on those planets.

—Even if we have to crawl, we have to crawl to the other side of the red sand.

It was under the effective governance of Primarch Angron and Karn that the Red Sand Republic, along with the Iron Empire, remained independent of the human empire for thousands of years until today.

"We have received a request from the stars—a massive human expeditionary fleet, having conquered the Orc Empire of Ulanor, is about to land here under the guidance of the [Hymn Engine] due to the sudden impact of the Warp Blood Sea."

The one who said this was a blue and white painted Dreadnought.

Kahn, a warrior who rose from the ranks of the World Eaters, not only possessed formidable combat abilities among the Space Marines, but also displayed exceptional talent in war logistics and strategic planning.

Therefore, even when he sensed that his body could no longer support him to continue serving the Primarch, he resolutely chose a Defiant Dreadnought (at least this one wasn't hot) to continue serving Angron and the Red Sand Republic.

"..."

However, in the face of the information conveyed by Kahn, Angron, who was in the capital of the Red Sand Republic and stood in front of the Hymn Engine, remained silent with his eyes closed.

This isn't Angron's style at all.

Primarchs are always swift and decisive in their actions.

Fearless Kahn looked at the other person again and asked with some doubt.

"The ones who made the friendly diplomatic request are Kasgar and Fugrim. They claim to have awakened from a long slumber and are requesting asylum in your Red Sand Republic."

"..."

"Primarch, what's wrong?"

"I......"

Angron tried to relax his tense face.

As the original form of the World Eater, although he often charged to the front lines in the war, surprisingly, he also possessed powerful psychic energy.

He can sense the emotions of others and absorb the negative ones to help every kind-hearted resident of the Red Sand Republic live in harmony and share peace.

But... unfortunately, in the universe, whether it's the glorious and brilliant past or the dark and distant future...

There has only ever been war.

Especially now, with the sudden anomaly—the churning of blood in the warp constantly affecting Angron's heart, causing his pain, anxiety, and hatred to replay repeatedly in his mind every moment.

Even with his eyes closed, he could see and feel the scenes that had happened on Nukelia ten thousand years ago playing out repeatedly in his mind.

He can indeed absorb negative emotions from the universe.

But this universe has always been filled with conflict, and even more conflict.

Even if Angron is a patient and empathetic Primarch, this universe has never shown the slightest sympathy for the weak or the innocent.

When the world is filled with anger, hatred, and blood, it means that Angron's mind will be constantly entangled and disturbed by these things—until he completely descends into madness.

He has never stopped, not even for a moment, from his malice toward the entire universe.

"—Kasgar and Fugrim? I understand."

After a long silence, Angron slowly spoke.

"Let them in, but tell them not to bring their customs into my country."

......

The pressure from terrorism is growing stronger.

After Nurgle's defeat and the complete destruction of His Garden, as a Chaos God, He harbored considerable wariness toward the resurgent Casgar and the human empire.

But—at this moment, he could find no help.

One of the Chaos Gods has been lost.

The remaining two, Tzeentch and Slaanesh... didn't get along very well with the second brother.

One is Khorne's mortal enemy, the cowardly wizard he despises the most;

The other, however, possessed the murderous pleasure that should have been his, and was a precious being whose power had been robbed of a portion of His authority since His birth due to the struggle for [Kane]...

Although the four Chaos Gods are often referred to together in name, the relationship between some of the evil gods among them is as incompatible as fire and water.

Only during the Emperor's Great Expedition, at a critical juncture of life and death, could Chaos set aside all its differences and join forces to fight against the Emperor's attempt to divide the Primarch.

If it weren't for the urgency of the situation leaving no room for His disagreement, and the fact that there were three limited characters (Angron, Sangilius, and Dorn) waiting for Him to obtain in the gacha pool, Khorne would not have wanted to work with the other three Chaos beings.

The problem is, he ended up getting nothing.

Even a guaranteed Angron, a demonic archetype, slipped away.

Having lost the Chaos Astartes Legion and the Primarch, and severely weakened by forcibly initiating Horus and creating a warp storm, with countless Smurfs waiting to shove his ass under his Bronze Throne—Khorne's current situation is not optimistic.

Even so, He was the most powerful warrior.

He will personally face the challenge.

He would rather die in battle as he wished, even if the final result was utter destruction, than live a life of mere survival.

In this situation, He only has one ally left.

Junior, Vashtor the Creator.

Vashtor, who is currently navigating the world in search of the key fragments aboard the Ominous Ark, is unlikely to let go of such a powerful ally.

—On the eighth day, as the sea of ​​blood churned in the warp, and as Kasgar led the human expeditionary fleet to land in the Red Sand Republic, the Ominous Ark, which had followed the Hymn Engine, was about to launch its first wave of attack.

......

The Black Legion, under Vashtor's guidance, had long been hunting down and mutating massive, wrecked spaceships.

After spending many days and suffering heavy casualties clearing these buildings infested with various enemies, Vashtor used his technological sorcery to further corrupt the wrecked ships.

Following this, the Chaos Champions, either commanded by Abaddon or allied with him, were appointed to lead these reborn space wrecks and tasked with attacking worlds across the galaxy amidst the chaos of the Orcish rampage in order to acquire more Key Fragments.

Each ark is commanded by a Chaos Champion, either one of Abaddon's own subordinates or a Chaos Lord who has sworn allegiance to the Raiders.

The locations where these abandoned spacecraft appear are not fixed.

Sometimes, they completely ignore the Imperial world and instead target the worlds inhabited by orcs, Tyranids, or even other alien species to seize their spoils.

In order to protect the last remaining glimmer of light in the sea of ​​blood, Angron's legions also assembled around the Hymn Engine.

Angron's conversation with the two Primarchs who had been dormant for millennia was abruptly ended by their current predicament.

Although they still have much to say, looking at the turbulent warp, Khorne is about to carry out a major operation in the real world.

We must cooperate.

After learning that this place was about to become the main attack target of Chaos and its allies, the Mechanicus Sages from the expeditionary fleet, with the cooperation of the other side, built a star fortress called the Fortress of Light around the Hymn Engine.

For the expeditionary fleet, which possesses the strongest firepower that the human empire can currently muster, the defense against the Anthem Engine is impregnable.

As for what arrived first on the eighth day, it was not Khorne's demon army.

Instead, it came from the Ominous Ark of Vashtor, the Heart of the Styx. This massive fleet included not only conventional warships but also demonic engines the size of warships.

Not only that, the Ominous Ark also formed a surrounding network and launched a fierce attack on the direction of the Anthem Engine.

Then, there is a second branch, where the warbands of the Black Legion, who believe in Khorne, pilot battle barges and quickly ascend to the plane of the galaxy, at the edge of the planetary asteroid belt, to launch a frontal attack on the defenses of the Anthem Engine.

Finally, there is a mysterious third branch, which is an extremely mysterious flagship.

No one knows what's inside that flagship, but all detection is distorted when you get close to it, and even psionicists who get close will go into a frenzy and attack their surroundings.

They first approached the star of the galaxy along an arc-shaped trajectory, then launched themselves from below the bottom plane to deliver a fatal impact to the planet.

War is imminent.

Chapter 275 Guilliman: Minion, Minion, Grandpa Lion is really a minion.

The river murmured silver notes: its murmuring was endless and chaotic.

It seems to contain a complex, fantastical melody, captivating yet just out of reach for the listener. He could forever explore its essence here, and even if he failed, it wouldn't be a waste of time. The sound of the river flowing over the stones, the interaction of energy and matter, create a quiet symphony, both ordinary and unique.

He didn't know how long he had been there; he was just listening.

As if waking from the deepest dream of slumber, he felt a force lifting him from beneath him, awakening him from this idyllic, pastoral world.

I decided to walk along the riverbank, following the current, listening as I went.

Without any reason, as if someone had suddenly told him the right path forward, he walked up the riverbank.

Since he didn't know where he was, it didn't matter which direction he went. Beside him on the riverbank where he sat was a helmet, the same color as his armor.

I picked it up.

After instinctively hanging the helmet around his waist, he continued walking.

He didn't know how long he had been walking.

It felt like a fleeting moment, or perhaps countless years had passed along this riverbank—

His mind was filled with nothing but contemplation, reflection, and recollection of everything about himself—but there were no answers.