40k: Midnight Blade.

Chapter 603 121. Dark Expedition (Forty-two)

Kabanha couldn't remember how many years it had been since it was so satisfied, but it didn't say anything. Whether its deepest desire could be satisfied depended on what happened next.

In the scorching air, the boundless sea of ​​blood submerged its recurved hooves bit by bit, and the waves continued, bringing an endless sticky touch, but there was no urging at all.

The Blood God - its god - maintained unparalleled patience this time, and Kabanha knew the reason. It understood, respected and fully understood what the Blood God wanted to see.

The death of a warrior, that's all.

It, or Sanguinius. It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter, as long as there is blood, victory, and death, it is completely enough.

However, fundamentally speaking, this battle was just a continuation of the duel ten thousand years ago, and its purpose was only to determine a result. If there was no interruption, I am afraid it would not have continued to this day.

Kabanha knew that this was the biggest reason why the Blood God rejected the conspirator.
Yes, He could plot many things in secret, even plan a coincidence that would take Sanguinius to the Warp, and then stir the stars, tame the beasts, and laugh in the dark.
With the help of these underhanded means, He turned the blood of Sanguinius into a most primitive medium. As long as the Blood God nodded in approval, the portals opened by the summoning array on the Red Tear would become a two-way door, engulfing Sanguinius and his descendants.

But the Blood God refused.

"No." The god on the brass throne sneered. "I swore on my sword. I am different from you."

Then Kabanha came, across the void, crashed through the battleship, grabbed the angel and flew to a planet that did not exist.

It was not as powerful as it had been on Terra ten thousand years ago, but so were the angels. The demon observed its foe carefully, and beneath the golden armor it saw a warrior who was still alive.

Sanguinius, who was once a powerful warrior, was hamstrung by the trivialities of the world and had calluses on his hands worn away by meaningless affairs, but now he has become like this.

But Cabanha was not disappointed.

It even continued to smile.

Under the blood-red sky, humans and demons once again faced off. They were standing on an endless sea of ​​blood, boiling and hot, but the heat could not blur the mountains of corpses not far away.

They held weapons in their hands and wore armor. They once shouldered the great ambition of making great achievements or the heavy burden of defending their country. But now, they are just a group of silent witnesses.

"Before we really get started, there's something I want you to know."

Cabanha spoke slowly, his voice clear and without any trembling or madness.

"This is not the High Heaven, but an asteroid located in the world where you live. It should not exist, but the Blood God has other uses for it. Somewhere on this planet, there is a weapon buried. It was once held in the hands of the Blood God, and it was His treasure and His love."

"For a suitable venue, He threw it to the end of time and buried it here, waiting to be requisitioned today. Just like ten thousand years ago, the battle between you and me will be witnessed by the gods, and His weapon will serve as the carrier of the oath."

"This battle will be absolutely fair."

The demon raised the spear in his hand and threw it solemnly at the angel. The spear of Bigong fell at the angel's feet, the tip of the spear deeply immersed in the sea of ​​blood, and the tail trembled. Sanguinius reached out and pulled it out, and saw the combination of black and gold.

"My bone. I have used it to slay countless men. Hold it, Sanguinius, and feel my deed."

As it said, Sanguinius sensed the howling souls. He silently loosened his grip, letting the Spear of Bigong fall into the depths of the sea of ​​blood.

Cabanha laughed.

"How is it, are you satisfied?"

After saying that, it twisted its neck and began to move.

It had lost the size it had on Terra, but was still seven meters tall. Its wings spread out, blocking out the sun. A pungent smell of blood rose from under its feet, and the sea of ​​blood gurgled, covering the brass armor with a layer of blood-red gauze.

It couldn't help but grinning fiercely, and suddenly raised the steel whip in its hand, causing a loud thunder.

"boom--!"

The sea of ​​blood rolled, forming a real wave of more than ten meters, rushing towards Sanguinius. The angel flapped its wings and took off, smashing the terrifying blood wave, and raised the sword in his hand without saying a word and stabbed Kabanha.

The demon did not choose its preferred direct confrontation, but dodged the stab sideways, allowing Sanguinius to rush away with the sword in hand, then took off again and circled above its head.

"too slow!"

Kabanha raised his head and roared and rebuked, clenching his free left paw into a fist and hitting the sea of ​​blood hard to vent his rage.

It twisted its face and raised its right claw again. A flash of light appeared, and the steel whip stretched out like a poisonous snake, wrapping around the angel's wings with the power of Kabanha. The vicious barbs on it instantly pierced into the angel's wings, and then tightened again, turning the flesh and bones into prey.

This weapon, born from the brass furnace deep in hell, has been stained with too much blood. Without the need for Kabanha to inflict any cruelty, it can inflict torture and punishment on its enemies on its own.

Sanguinius gritted his teeth, resisting the pain, but he couldn't stop the bleeding. His blood immediately flowed out, part of it fell into the sea of ​​blood, and part of it slid down along the lines reserved on the steel whip, gathering at the edge of the demon's forearm armor, shining on the brass armor.

Kabanha grinned and exerted force again, pulling the angel down from the air, causing him to fall into the sea of ​​blood, looking extremely miserable. Blood sank into every perfect curve on the angel's golden armor, tainting his beauty and staining his wings and teeth red.

The demon came over with big strides, stretched out his left claw, and tried to grab the angel, but was pierced by a sword. Sanguinius, with blood-stained blond hair, gritted his teeth and growled, twisted his wrist, and forcibly turned the sword into a murder weapon for slaughter, turning Kabanha's left claw into a miserable state.

"It's not enough!" Facing the flying pieces of his flesh, the devil growled and actually lowered his head and approached him.

At this moment, the scarlet eyes were filled with rage, yet clear as a mirror, reflecting Sanguinius' own face. Then, it nonchalantly stretched out its injured left claw, grasped the angel's head, and sank him into the sea of ​​blood.

It roared angrily.

"You have neglected yourself. You have allowed your blade to grow dusty, your skills to age, your strength and your senses to languish! How dare you, Sanguinius? How dare you?!"

The demon roared angrily and led him out, wanting to smash the angel in again, with hatred all over the beast's head.

Sanguinius turned a deaf ear to its words, but took the opportunity to take a deep breath, then suddenly swung out a sword, cutting off the two sharp claws of Kabanha's left paw, and then quickly flapped his wings, trying to regroup.

However, Kabanha seemed to have already figured out his battle strategy.

At this moment, it tightly grasped the weapon in its right hand, and swung the steel whip with superb skill, causing the poisonous snake that had not left to twist cruelly, turning it into countless monsters with fangs, which began to bite the angel's wings frantically.

But in just one second, the terrifying steel whip had already torn the angel's wings into pieces, with feathers falling off and pale bones exposed. It took several seconds for a huge amount of blood to spurt onto the ground.
The angel was in so much pain that he could hardly stand. He fell again, and barely stood up in the sea of ​​blood, inevitably gasping for breath. The pain was secondary at this moment, he had to breathe, he was thirsty for air.

Cabanha still refused to let him go.

It strode forward again, swung its broken left claw, and a sonic boom sounded. Before it even touched Sanguinius, it had already caused the sea of ​​blood behind him to shake into another huge wave.

The punch hit the angel's nose accurately and fiercely, doubling the pain and causing him to shed tears briefly due to a physiological reaction. His vision was blurred and he could only see a sea of ​​blood.

As a last resort, he began to swing his sword vigorously in an effort to hold on for a while, but the demon laughed loudly, showing a bitter mockery for the first time.

"Is that all? Great Sanguinius, proud Sanguinius? Not only have you forgotten how to swing a sword, you've even forgotten how to fight an enemy!"

"I am no longer the person I used to be. In these ten thousand years, I have never dared to relax for a single day. The Blood God's killing wave always starts with me and centers on me! Haven't you heard of my name? Don't you know about the pitiful worlds I have destroyed?"

It raised its hand again, but did not let the steel whip fall. Instead, it patiently waited for the angel to recover. Its tone also returned to normal, as if it was just two old friends talking.
"War," Kabanha narrated in a low voice. "You understand it, Sanguinius. You understand how a war should start, how it should be conducted, and how it should end - at least you once did, and now, you seem to have forgotten."

"It doesn't matter. I will tell you again and make you remember it deeply."

"Listen, Sanguinius. Information is the most important thing in war. I have fought many of you over the past ten thousand years. It seems to me that your brothers, those warriors who have been stuffed into human skin like you, all understand this truth and use it in their fighting style."

"And you? You hold the most important position in a huge violent organization, but you would rather send this valuable information that you could use to your advantage into the void?"

It blew out two hot breaths in contempt, and the steel whip in its hand suddenly flashed, attacking the angel. This attack was tricky and fierce, and it did not go to the strong side of the angel's sword-holding hand or the folded wings, but hit his feet instead.

The blood sea surged, the waves rose, and the chain reaction that followed completely destroyed the angel's balance. He could have flapped his wings and taken off to escape this dangerous situation, but his wings were already broken.
Cabanha had created a weakness in him, and now it was pursuing that weakness.

The angel realized this, but it was too late. The blood wave suddenly broke, and a completely calm beast smashed it, and the seemingly tattered flesh wings were already raised.

It used both claws to grab Sanguinius by the neck and lifted him into the sky.

The angel gritted his teeth and swung his sword, trying his best to hold on. Each sword strike was extremely fast and fierce. In just an instant, Kabanha's hands and face became a bloody mess, but the demon's eyes were still bright.

The pure blood and fighting spirit were boiling under the nourishment of pain, and gradually turned into uncontrollable rage.
It roared, clenched its claws, and suddenly fell down. Blood flames began to burn on its body, turning it into a terrifying meteor, dragging its tail flame to split the sky straight in two.

A strong wind blew, making the angel's blood-stained golden hair fly everywhere. He continued to swing his sword, but his eyes were fixed on Kabanha. In the demon's eyes, he saw his own reflection again.

Baring fangs, twisting face.
A monster.

"Sanguinius--!" the demon roared his name and plunged him deep into the sea of ​​blood.

Instantly, the ground shook, and the ground hidden under the sea of ​​blood broke into pieces. Countless corpses of people who had died at some point poured out and floated upward. Sanguinius' eyes were blood red, and his back had completely lost consciousness, but Kabanha was still pinching him tightly.

The bodies of the dead surrounded them, and the rusted weapons or clenched bone fingers in their hands were trembling because of the fight between two powerful creatures, as if they were alive again and wanted to join in the battle.
Sanguinius was thus taken to the deepest part of the Sea of ​​Blood.
-
Kalistarius fell to his knees, sweating profusely, and clutching the makeshift statue of the Emperor in his hand, he began to use his psychic powers while aiming at many bolters.

He was willing to be treated like this, and even though Gabriel Seth, who suddenly changed his attitude, strongly opposed it, he still demanded these black gun muzzles regardless of the consequences.

He understood why the Flesh Tearers' Chapter Master had such a drastic change of attitude - it was nothing more than those golden lightning bolts, what other reason could there be?
However, he knew in his heart that it was not his power at all. He was a psychic, that was true, but that did not mean he could summon such a powerful power.
But now there is no better choice.

They had to determine whether Sanguinius was dead or alive.

Calistarius began to take deep breaths, forcing himself to calm down. The ritual array had been constructed and was extremely simple. He was the son of Sanguinius, and the blood connection was enough to overcome any complexity.

He clenched the Emperor's statue in his hand and nodded to the angels around him. Most of them were unwilling to aim their guns at him because they had also witnessed the so-called "miracle" with their own eyes like Gabriel Seth.
The Emperor, Calistarius thought with a wry smile. Is this really your power?

He got no response.

The young think tank sank his thoughts into the deepest part of his heart and began to channel his power.

(End of this chapter)