How can a retired savior be considered retired if his price drops to 40,000?

Chapter 353: The normal Great Secret Keeper is of this difficulty level

Sanctum II, at the top of the hive, the Cathedral of the Blessed.

If Heselius realized, they were doomed to fail this time.

The clerk was now lying on the ground, with a splitting headache and a bloody smell in his nose. Most of the combat brothers they brought here were dead or wounded, and Captain Antago was kicked to the ground. The team runes showed that he was still alive, but there was a very obvious dent on his chest armor, so Heselius was not optimistic about the state of the contents that should have been protected.

The laughter of the Slaanesh demon whispered in his ear, and he could hear it without any psychic talent. He had warned early on that the reality curtain near the church was already very weak, but none of them had expected that not long after they entered the church, the army of the Unliving from Paradise rushed directly in front of everyone. In fact, if Heselius's statement had some slight deviations: it was not that the reality curtain here had been weakened to a very weak point, but that it had been successfully torn apart by the sacrifices that were unknown to the outside world under the spire of the hive city again and again, and then it was disguised into its current appearance.

If it were only these rabble, they would naturally be unable to stop the heirs of the Blood of Sanguinius from advancing. Although these ordinary demons in front of them were a little strange in nature, chain saws and explosive bombs were still useful to them. The evil existence that truly hindered, or in other words, slaughtered these sons of the Holy Blood, was still behind these servants of Slaanesh who were wantonly mocking and playing with the dead.

The Great Keeper of Secrets, Kelis. Perhaps it was not bluffing when it claimed to be one of the six personal attendants of the Lord of Debauchery. If Heselius had seen it once not long ago, specifically, not long before Mephiston performed the Primaris operation. At that time, it was indeed exiled by the Chapter Master and the Chief Librarian, and it should have been seriously injured. However, it appeared in the material world in a few short decades. It seems that its master really favors it.

But this favor did not bring it any good mood.

The appearance of the Grand Keeper of Secrets completely stripped the surrounding environment of its precarious disguise. The Unliving Ones, laughing and sipping their own or the enemy's blood, comfortably immersed themselves in the thick energy of the Warp. The power of the High Heaven poured into reality along a crack maintained by a ritual that must have existed and continued. The psychic senses clearly told the clerk that the location of the ritual was right below them. Unfortunately, perhaps none of them could successfully reach that location.

In the name of the angels, the sons of Sanguinius should slaughter all enemies of the empire - but in practice, the figure of the Grand Keeper of Secrets, Kalys, is like an insurmountable mountain. If Heselius knew that he was not as good as his old friend, who had endless waves of psychic power in his soul; Captain Antago was not as strong as their chapter masters who had been forged into living legends, with strong enough military power and rich experience. Most of the battle brothers had to do their best to deal with the lesser demons surrounding Kalys, not to mention that the Grand Keeper of Secrets could easily turn all of them into corpses in an instant.

The only reason it hasn't done so yet is because it's a Daemon of Slaanesh. Daemons of Slaanesh are always looking for ways to amuse themselves, including "properly" toying with their prey.

"You know, I could have boarded that cursed little boat." The demon complained to the listeners he had deliberately kept.

Its head was a huge bull's head, with horns that were carefully decorated, and its hollow tongue, like that of an anteater, was moving quickly and irritably. There was no doubt that this thing had a monster face, but on this monster face, everyone present could read the emotion of "boredom": "The lies of the fraudulent counselor are not credible at all - if I, not Andusias, had successfully used the ritual, everything would be over now! How could the damn bitch Xia Laxi Mo Zai be able to ask for credit and reward without doing anything!"

It said these words with a dignified manner, but in fact, these words were not meant to be spoken to the Blood Angels present. It didn't have to be the Blood Angels. Anyone who successfully broke into the church, whether it was the church militia, the local law department, the defense force, or the battle sisters, would be forced to listen to the complaints of dissatisfaction and resentment from these great secret keepers. Therefore, Kellis didn't care whether the words he said could be understood by the enemy in front of him. Anyway, his purpose in doing so was just to vent.

Joheselius struggled to prop himself up from the ground. This thing's psychic power was superior to his, but that was no reason for a Blood Angels Librarian to be afraid of fighting. The strong, smelly musky smell in the air had nothing to do with blood, but under the influence of the evil energy of the warp, it could still arouse the deepest desires of everyone present. If it were a mortal, perhaps he would have been driven crazy by this cognitive interference. The Primaris Space Marines had enough resistance to similar influences, but even a Librarian clerk like Joheselius, who was good at meditation and self-control, could not control his fangs from sticking out of his lips.

Not far away, a battle brother, driven by the scarlet thirst, roared with unbearable anger. The Primaris Astartes were indeed not so corrupted by such pollution, but their relatively shallow experience made it difficult for them to remain rational under such interference. This thirst from his essence made him reckless, making him forget how to cooperate with his teammates in such a situation. The low effect of lasers, bombs and plasma under the immunity of the warp also made him more irritable, so that he was quite irrational, just waving the chainsword in his hand and roaring forward.

The lesser demons in front of him were indeed eager to try, but under the tyranny of the more powerful, they had to obediently split up their formations and let the too-young Holy Blood Angel march straight in. If Heselius wanted to warn him, at that moment, his trembling and twitching throat under the pressure of the psychic energy would not obey him, and it was obvious that even if he could say something, it would be too late:
Kelis barely paid any attention to the reckless bird, but the outcome was decided in an instant. The young battle brother raised his chainsaw sword and slashed at his target, but there was only a stream of blood in the arc he swung. Under the effect of the surging adrenaline, the pain was a step slower to be transmitted along the nerves, but when the electrical signals entered the brain, these warning signals were already mixed with the strange pleasure brought by the Slaanesh toxin.

The loss of a limb caused the battle brother to lose balance. He turned his head in surprise, trying to find the reason for this, but a moment of distraction - no, perhaps without this moment of distraction, the result would not have changed. The battle brother was kicked to the ground almost gently by the Slaanesh Daemon the next moment, and his chest armor was stepped on by the hoof of an even-toed ungulate. The furious struggle of the Blood Angel could not shake the decisive power of this creature that became increasingly huge under the infiltration of the warp. A kind of innocent and cruel pleasure appeared on the bull face of Kaelis. Amid the creaking sound of the ceramic steel under pressure and the crackling sound of the broken circuit, the Daemon intended to crush him to death slowly and firmly, so as to taste the anger, pain, and despair of the Blood Angel in the last moments before his death.

Having finally found his voice, Jorgeselius tried to use a spell to save his brother, but he failed. The psychic lightning was shattered by the ornate sword before it reached Kalis. With a burst of noise, Captain Antago, who had successfully stood up again, also operated the flying bag to rise from the ground, shouting the battle cry of "Not worthy of the blood of Sanguinius", and tried to directly attack Kalis's head and face - but it was useless. The next second, he was grabbed by the big demon in mid-air. Fortunately or unfortunately, Kalis did not think about killing all the enemies immediately, but planned to slowly enjoy the blood, life and soul of the angel's offspring. It took action, just like a bored child pulling off the wings of an insect, and easily pulled the flying bag off Captain Antago's back from him, without caring at all, or perhaps its purpose was to see how much pain this action would bring to the Blood Angels whose flesh and armor were connected by nerves. It threw the wreckage in its hand, but this seemingly careless action was obviously perfectly and carefully calculated: the entire armor lost power, and Captain Antago fell heavily from mid-air, almost hitting the head of Jorge Selius who was rushing forward. This made the think tank instinctively change its goal, giving up the attempt to kill the enemy immediately, and instead began to use telekinesis to save the captain who fell from a high altitude.

He is not Mephiston. Joheselius roared in pain in the blue aura. If there was something that could immediately give him the power of the Librarian, save his brothers from the current predicament, and regain victory, even if he was pressed under the rocks to fight the Black Rage for seven days and seven nights, even if he was cursed forever, even if he died immediately afterwards and his soul was thrown into the evil fire to burn and suffer forever, he would agree without hesitation - but he is not Mephiston. Such a miracle will only happen once in this universe. Joheselius cannot obtain the same power by the same means.

Rationally, he knew that the most important thing for him to do now was to pass on the message and ask for help from the mother group. Emotionally, he was still praying instinctively for the situation before his eyes. The chest of the battle brother who was trampled by the great demon had completely deflated, and the fragments of the rib plates must have pierced and destroyed all his important organs, but he was still alive due to the Belisarius furnace unique to the Primaris Astartes. In this situation where it was obvious that he would not live long, this powerful and effective transformation organ might only prolong his suffering. There was no fear and despair that the enemy desired in his broken eyes. Even though he was dying, he was eternally fixed on hatred and anger——

——Suddenly, a piece of white feather fell silently, blocking the sight of Joselius, which was almost burned by anger.

He looked up instinctively, and the demon looked up for the same reason. The Empire's advanced materials science allowed the architect to place a transparent keystone on the towering vault of the church's main hall, allowing the sunlight from Sanctum II to shine directly onto the altar and shrine at certain times of the day while still keeping the building's interior a closed environment. People illuminated by this sunlight are often considered blessed - but, is it that time now? Is the sunlight on this planet such a golden color?

The church's chime clock played a hymn at this moment. But just like the golden light and the feather that floated down from the sky, the chime clock of the Blessed Cathedral had been damaged and defiled by the cultists a few weeks ago, and it should not have retained such a function. At the moment when everyone realized what was happening, Sanguino, covered with divine light like molten gold, appeared under the dome of the church and swooped down in an instant -

——Visually, what happened under the dome was just a sword fight between the Living Saint of the Empire and the Great Demon of Slaanesh, but in terms of hearing, Joscelius felt that it was as if some high-energy explosives that could overturn an entire fortress had exploded. The air wave caused by this attack almost blew him over, and under the buzzing sound in his ears, the think tank heard the Great Demon raising his voice dramatically:

"Ha! I've been waiting for a dance partner as big as you!" It stuck out its long tongue and excitedly faced the majestic golden mask of Sanguino. "My dear, I'm sure we can have a great time together!"

"But I have no interest in you." For the first time, Sanguino spoke to his enemy. "Move aside. I am not here for you."

Kaelis wanted to say something, but when the swords began to cross, it was destined to lose all chances to speak under the violent attack of the living saint. After a dazzling attack and defense that even the dynamic vision of the Astartes could not catch up with, Sanguinor made a feint and seized the opportunity to get behind Kaelis. The Slaanesh demon turned around immediately, but realized that the opponent did not want to fight, but directly passed him, lowered his altitude, turned his wings sideways, and flashed into the passage behind the main hall of the church leading to the next floor.

The living saint was indeed not here for the Slaanesh demon in front of him - in fact, he was not here for the Blood Angels brothers who were almost all dead or injured. His behavior, in the eyes of the observers, might cause a crisis of faith in the chapter in the future, but for some reason, at this moment, Kaelis was... exceptionally cooperative, making this unexpected behavior explainable:
The Great Keeper of Secrets screamed in shock and anger, and immediately ran away from where he was, chasing after the shadow of Sanguinor who had disappeared into the building. He shouted something like "You must defeat me first", and carelessly abandoned the remaining remnants of the angel's descendants, trampling directly among the panicked lesser demons, without even a glance at the slower-dodging succubi.

After the departure of the Great Demon, chaos spread among the lesser demons who had lost their unified command. Even though these supporters of Slaanesh still occupied an overwhelming majority, the number of people did not have any decisive significance if they could not form a unified force.

Captain Antagu, whose armor had lost power, struggled to get up again and took a deep breath. "What on earth is going on?"

Joachim Heselius was also a little confused, but as a think tank, he had his guess: "The Living Saint has appeared. Perhaps he wants to go directly to close the subspace rift below, so as to cut off the source of the Chaos enemy."

"Then it's clear what we have to do." Antago took one last look at the battle brother who was thrown on the brink of death, and drew out the grenade launcher from his waist again, "Hold this place! Don't let these damn enemies leave and cause trouble for the Imperial Army or the Living Saint - whether they flee to the square or flee underground!"

(End of this chapter)