40k: Midnight Blade.

Chapter 505 23. The idol is broken and the dead are resurrected ()
The Night Soul is suffering an unprecedented and huge damage. For a warship that has been in service for ten thousand years, this statement is almost shocking.

The Milky Way has been dark for ten thousand years, and the flames of war and the star torch are the only things that can be called brilliance in this dark space. The latter is rare and almost only appears around the solar star field, but the former is not the case.

The intensity and intensity of the war have already developed to a level that can be called terrifying in these ten thousand years. The Night Soul did not escape any battle that required it. Therefore, just the huge damage to its keel, she I have experienced this a total of nine times.

This time it was different. This time, the attack did not come from the outside, but broke out from within. The people on the bridge didn't even know what was going on. They could only hear the constant warnings from the instruments, and stared blankly at the void shield that could still last for a long time.

The hull was not hit, and the huge battleship that appeared from the back of Litatra stopped even firing at them, but the vibrations on the deck never stopped.
A vague panic began to spread among many people. Although most people still maintained their sanity, sometimes, some things only needed the smallest chance.

Those things grasped the fear placed in front of them without hesitation, and immediately broke into the bridge through the power of chaos that overflowed the entire ship on the Night Soul. The originally calm main bridge instantly It turned into a tragic battlefield.

The crew members whose bodies had been stolen screamed and rushed towards their former comrades, only to have their flesh ripped apart by bolters, plasma, or puny laser guns. The demon laughed cruelly, jumped out from the beaten and bloody body, and began to fight the guards and shadow knights.

But they were destined to fail. The Night Soul's bridge had extremely tight defenses and five complete sets of emergency measures.

As early as the moment the attack started, Captain Seraphim sounded the alarm. When the battle on the bridge officially started, the door of the bridge had been firmly locked, and waves of mist gathered from nowhere. It came, bringing with it many tall, silent shadows.
There was no need to worry about the battle on the bridge, but the seraphim smelled a different kind of dangerous atmosphere.

It has been almost a century since he became the captain of the Night Soul. Perhaps looking at the entire empire, this age is nothing for an officer who can serve as a captain. However, among the many captains of the Night Soul, his service period is considered to be very long.

Its shape is tall and twisted. One hand can still look like a human hand, holding a long and narrow blade, but the other hand has become a ferocious and sharp giant claw. Its entire body was burning with raging flames, and its face showed no trace of being a human being.

What exactly is "Shen" thinking? I'm afraid no one can catch a glimpse of his thoughts from his ferocious bone face. But Samus was different. His strange face, which looked like a beast but not a beast, or a human but not a human being, was actually full of regret.

"There is no sinking here anymore," the monster said clearly. "And it's not perfect either."

This is inseparable from his keen sense of smell.

Their summoner activated this power without restraint, causing the rage to fill Samus's entire body in a short time. The chaotic essence surging in its body was still for a moment, and was quickly swallowed.
They will come back again, and soon. However, at this moment, the power in Samus' body no longer responded to its call.

Seraphim didn't think they could make any waves, and this was the real doubt.

However, half a minute later, Seraphim was surprised to find that the engine room was not damaged at all, and that all the reactors and engines had no problems at all. Only the commonplace drive tube overheating was still emitting a dazzling red light on the self-check list.

"If this is what you look like in the end," it muttered, and the flesh on its face began to twitch in the thick hair on its temples.

Samus roared and pushed Shen to the ground, his eyes glowing red.

"Do you still remember what I said to you six hundred years ago?" It spat out the words with a ferocious smile, waved its sharp claws, and pierced it deeply into the wall.

Such as this.

The jet-black flames spread out from behind it, turning into chains covered with ferocious spikes, piercing deeply into the demon's body.

Then, it waved its clenched right fist.

"Still protecting this ship of weak mortals and your incompetent descendants?!"

He didn't know what the truth was, at least not at this moment, and for him, this was actually a huge good thing.

It received a brutal claw blow, severing the teeth and half of its tongue, and the flames instantly reduced them to cinders. More angry flames poured into Samus's body along the place where the flesh and blood disappeared, forcing it to cry out loudly while experiencing the pain it had experienced many times.

Shen did not answer, or in other words, the monster born from Shen's body did not answer this matter. The angry flames flashed away, and it stood up. A blazing sword appeared out of thin air, and it was held in its hand.

The demon laughed wildly: "Well done, Shen! Perfect tactic!"

The wrathful flames have even begun to destroy the very foundation of Samus' existence.

Before Samus even had time to realize what was happening, he was pushed by a huge force and crashed through three solid steel walls. The fragments scattered, and high-temperature steam erupted from the broken pipe, which was wrapped in flames and began to burn its flesh.

At this moment, even Samus felt a sense of doubt - what on earth is Shen going to do?
Its question was answered after a pair of black burning wings appeared.

"Avoid the engine, avoid the reactor, deliberately lead me to the middle, and limit your own power. What on earth are you thinking, Shen?!"

It raised its sword indifferently, and forced Samus back with just one strike, leaving a terrible scar on the demon's chest that was so deep that it was visible to the bone. Samus didn't care about this, and a smile slowly appeared on the face of the man who looked like an animal but not an animal, but not a human being.

The Dark Apostle shook his head regretfully, sighed, and began to add strength, turning the illusion into a terrifying nightmare that could kill all living creatures.

A powerful battleship like the Retribution class requires a lot of energy. Its entire stern is a complex machine that combines drive tubes, engines and plasma reactors. Together, it even occupies about one-third of the length of the entire hull.

The speed it displayed at this moment was beyond the tolerance of time and space, and a loud sound as loud as an engine starting up was accompanied by a terrifying shock wave.

The steel shattered, and the coldness of the vacuum hit them instantly. The huge traction force caused them to fly a considerable distance in the icy space.

Samus's eyes widened, but the monster just clenched its claws, grasped its bones and flesh, used it as a shield, and flew decisively towards the burning Litatra.
-
Erebus waved his finger, activating the power of Chaos and placing an illusion in front of a beast.

The monster stood there indifferently, slowly raised its claws, and leaned down, as if it were a four-legged beast that was about to charge soon.

In the chaos, the captain held his plasma tightly and strode towards an operating table rising from under the floor. The defense line formed by the Shadow Knight and the crew had already established a foothold and was strangling the remaining demons.

The real problem that caused the instrument warning was actually in the center of the hull, where a large area was completely surrounded by red.
In the end what happened?
The Seraph had no way of knowing the answer, so he could only force himself to calm down and began to try to reestablish the ship's communications so that he could report the news to Chapter Master Kaiul Sahora.

A loud noise came again, the air shook and shattered, and Samus spun and flew out. The entire upper body had been completely shattered, but the monster did not let it go. Instead, it pounced on it, strangled its neck, and led it out of the Night Soul's deck.

It didn't work on the beast, but it was enough to keep it quiet for a while. He didn't want to waste any more time with it, he had a lot of other troubles to deal with.

Made of mixed metals, the thick armor plates that could resist artillery fire began to shatter layer by layer under its brute force and claws from subspace, as fragile as white paper.
The monster still didn't answer the question. It casually dispersed the sword, stretched out its equally sharp claws like a ghost seeking life, and rushed towards Samus.

The voice and words soon turned into a roar containing such great anger that it opened its mouth fiercely and bit the monster's neck.

Samus roared and cut them off one by one with his claws. The spirit of chaos was responding to it with an unprecedented attitude, making this body of the living inanimate extremely powerful.
In just a few seconds, it fought against 'Shen' thousands of times. Claws and claws intertwined, the body was stained with blood, the monster and the demon collided together like two unconscious beasts, biting and attacking each other.

Claws are a symbol of beasts, but fists are another concept. In the process of evolution, humans gave up natural weapons that could hurt prey or enemies, and lost their thick fur and strong muscles. Instead, they replaced them with fingers that were indispensable in the long process of evolution.
Five fingers that can be used to grip and use tools. It could be used to hold a spear or carve a marble statue. Of course, it can also be clenched into a fist and then waved like it is now.

The monster finally sneered, and this sound alone was enough to explain all the previous tolerance and silence. Samus had a mixture of emotions on his face, but finally settled into a smile from the bottom of his heart.

Its performance made Samus laugh angrily, forcing it to raise its claws wide open - at this moment, the monster moved.

Why would the instigator send a bunch of useless demons to the bridge?
They hardly cause too many casualties, and may even arouse morale and anger in people's hearts in advance. Seraphim did not believe that the instigator behind it was only this level, so the first moment he boarded the console, he immediately started Check the specific condition of the engine.

"You should have had a more outstanding form, Shen! You should have killed me here, or been killed by me, and then put an end to this thousand-year feud! I swore that I would give you a heroic death. , but look at your appearance now? You can’t be called a hero at all!”

A mutated power sword appeared quietly from the darkness and slashed towards his neck. At such a critical moment, a solemn chant suddenly sounded from the shadow of Erebus.

The chorus that sung the praises of the gods and the Eightfold Way only uttered one syllable before the sword stopped in place.

Erebus stopped, looked carefully at the Astartes who attacked him, and actually chuckled.

"Your willpower is really terrifying." He praised without hesitation. "I haven't seen many people who can suppress this kind of call from instinct. Your name is, Iharal? Ah, what a good name."

Smiling, he stretched out his right hand from his wide sleeve robe, and a dagger as thin as a cicada's wing gleamed, piercing Iharal's chest. Blood gushed out, but the face of the skull remained expressionless, as if the injury of being pierced through the heart was not worth mentioning to him.

But Erebus withdrew the dagger at this moment, walked away from him casually, without any fear of being attacked a second time - and this was not arrogance, because his shadow had left him and completely enveloped him. It's Iharal.

Illusions that looked like real ones were thrown out one after another, and the huge amount of chaos power easily overturned Iharal's mind. He is still persevering, and his willpower is so strong that it is incomprehensible, but how can he get rid of those layers of illusions? At this moment, even if he wanted to turn into a monster, he might not be able to succeed again.

The demon Dolore looked at Erebas strolling around with a little surprise. He did not expect that he could deal with the two enemies that were very difficult for him so easily.
But what about the next one?

Dolore's worry seemed to be heard by Erebus. The dark apostle stopped again and narrowly avoided a power sword that was deforming in the angry flames.

The thing holding it can no longer be called a human being. Its streamlined body is covered with luxurious golden threads. The dark blue cloak completely covers the creature's body. There are ferocious twisted horns on the top of its head, but its eyes are empty. Like a rotting corpse.

Erebus frowned slightly, showing a little bit of irritation for the first time, but the thing didn't give him a chance to continue casting spells. The blade cuts down like water, and every blow is enough to destroy most things in the world.

If Zell were here, he would definitely be able to identify who this elegant swordsmanship belongs to.
Or rather, who it once belonged to.

"Tricky." Erebus commented with a frown.

He gave this evaluation only after dodging dozens of slashes in a row. Dolor heard his words, but still remained undecided - not that it wanted to see the same thing as the group of fraudsters from the Lord of Changes. Have fun, it just doesn't know whether to help or not.

The Dark Apostle only asked it to spread the plague and promised it all the hotbeds with good quality. He never said anything like asking it to help fight.

While the Great Unclean One was still worrying about this matter, a loud noise interrupted its thoughts. The sound came from the golden light blooming in Erebas' hand. It was not big in size, but as dazzling as the sun.

The flaming sword was unable to move, and was firmly bound in the light - stopping with it was the demon holding the sword himself.

Erebus shook his head towards it and said, "If you come prepared,"

He didn't finish his words, and it ended here. He pushed a dagger lightly into the devil's heart.

The special properties of the ritual dagger immediately began to interfere with the foundation of the demon's existence in the material world - its former body was dying, and the power of the ritual dagger was something it could not resist for the time being.
Chaos roared loudly, and holy chants came from Erebus's shadow again. In the golden light, the devil was banished back to where it belonged.

Full of hate.

The Dark Apostle smiled, then clasped his hands together and pushed the golden light out.

"Stop!" he shouted in completely indescribable language.

These words seemed to have magic power, causing a dark monster carrying a giant sword to stop in place, but could not stop it for long.

Its body was too huge, with horns on its head, and it looked extremely savage. The huge sword on its shoulders was even more ferocious. Dolor, who was behind, couldn't help but shrink his neck, which was completely submerged in fat, and buried himself in his diseased fat, not daring to look any further.

It is completely unable to understand why these similar people living as humans can store such huge hatred and malice in their hearts. There are even enough of them to interfere with the form of the ascended demon queen.
"Ah, a powerful enemy." Erebus sighed, and finally Shi Shiran turned around. "Sir Dolor, I need your help."

"We'll be there soon!" The Great Unclean One replied honestly and honestly, and threw out the diseased corpse in his hand. Its original shape was almost unrecognizable. The armor was corroded, the body was diseased and swollen, and maggots kept falling out of the wide open chest and abdomen.

It was thrown by the Great Unclean One with sheer brute force at the feet of the demon, behind Erebus.

The devil's deep beast eyes inevitably glanced at the corpse, and the flames in his eyes suddenly rose, and the law that briefly imprisoned it was instantly broken free.

Erebus laughed helplessly as a huge sword pierced his chest. This should have been a sign of victory, but the devil didn't feel the slightest joy in getting his revenge.

It trembled and roared, and Gein's diseased corpse actually raised its head. The marks of the past are vaguely visible on its swollen and pale face, while germs and maggots manipulate its vocal cords to produce the voice of the deceased.

"Slor, help me, I'm in so much pain."

At the same time, Erebus, whose chest was pierced by the giant sword, began to dissipate, flying around like fragments. The demon furiously threw away the corpse and began to rampage, looking for traces of Erebus everywhere and wanting to kill him with a thousand knives.

But it never saw the other party, so he focused on Dolor. The fat and white Great Unclean One suddenly became alert. He immediately raised his hands and started to retreat, even looking a little aggrieved.

"Don't look at me, big man, isn't he always hiding behind your back?"

The demon turned his head sharply and saw an obsidian dagger.

Erebus sighed heavily again. While moving away from the demon who was locked in place and fighting against the banishment spell and the unstable space, he twitched his fingers and called his shadow back like a dog.

The blood on the square flew up and spread towards the devil's feet, quickly forming an extremely complex banishment circle. Even if the Demon Judge of the Tribunal were here in person, it would be impossible to do better than him.

Amid the demon's roar, Erebas turned his head and said to Dolor, who was still in fear: "Your Excellency, what did you do before you came out of the garden of your loving father?"

"I'm a fly." Dolor said honestly. "What's wrong? Why do you ask that?"

"It's okay." Erebus said.

He raised his hands high and then swung them down. White light overflowed, and amidst the sound like breaking glass, the magic circle played its due role, banishing the demon back to where it belonged.

The Dark Apostle finally took a deep breath and waved his hand casually. A strong wind suddenly blew up, blowing the corpses in the square everywhere. Whether they were demons or civilians, they were all driven to other places in this same wind.

A pure white road, unstained by any blood, appeared at the feet of Erebas. He smiled comfortably, and there was unconcealable joy spreading in his smile.

Although a dagger was lost, the result was good.

He walked toward the interior of the church.

Dolor carefully stepped over Iharal who was still struggling, swaying his fat body and followed Erebas, while still not forgetting to ask: "Is your plan successful like this, Ereba?" "

"Absolutely," the Dark Apostle replied in a deep voice, and stopped in front of the church door, observing inside. Those bloody emperor statues made him raise his eyebrows, and he slowly withdrew his feet that he wanted to step into.

"What's wrong?" Dolor asked.

"It's nothing, it's just that I think you helped me a lot along the way. Therefore, this opportunity to win glory for my loving father should be given to you."

Erebus answered with a smile, but received only a confused expression. He kept smiling and said, "What I mean is, I want you to be the first to step into this church."

"Is there any difference?" The Great Unclean One, who had always behaved in a simple and honest manner, almost to the point of stupidity, asked at this time. "And I didn't contribute much?"

It looked at Erebus with a blank expression.

The smile on the Dark Apostle's face finally faded a little. He wanted to say something, but he still swallowed it when it reached his lips. At this moment, a fireball streaking across the sky caught his attention.

Erebus turned around quickly and walked back to the square. In the spreading darkness, many voices began to boil.

"The Chosen One!"

"One in a million"

"It's coming to kill you, Erebus! Ha! It's coming to kill you!"

The Dark Apostle sighed and raised his right hand. Clouds and thunder began to gather in the sky. Then, he moved his finger and pointed at the fireball.

Lightning began to gather.

(End of this chapter)