The Emperor’s Angel of Death

Faced with the enigmatic creation's meaningful words, Talos responded with a contemptuous laugh.

"Ah, the main act finally arrives. Is it because you're afraid to face Sorsky?"

The massive daemon unleashed a cruel laugh.

"Why do you assume I fear it? Or, why do you think we are enemies? It is you who has been masquerading for how long? Does Sorsky know about the thing hidden inside you? If he knew, how would he view this mad dog? Does that cold sun still watch over you?"

"What? Do you want to use your little bit of so-called 'truth' to hide your weakness? The master of the Soul Forge is just a stray dog surviving in the cracks between the gods. Only failures like Huron, at the end of their rope, are willing to accept your cooperation."

"Oh? Is that so? Shall I tell you which powers are at play within you? They conceal themselves with veils of deceit, draining the strength of the ignorant masses like leeches to swell their own power. Humanity places its faith in these weak parasites, and they are the ones manipulating everything happening to this Sorsky. That ancient, hateful power within him is not unfamiliar to me; I have dealt with some of their kind before. As for you, I doubt you have good intentions, do you?"

A hissing sound attempted to corrupt Talos's soul, drawing out all the doubt and fear within him.

"Know this, I do not belong to any Ruinous Power, nor am I as fickle as they, or perhaps as generous and merciful. If you are willing, we can still cooperate. I am also interested in Sorsky. Do you think I am helping Huron? If I hadn't intervened, would he have meekly offered himself to the executioner's block? I didn't even interfere with what happened on the Blackstone Fortress. You, I, we both know what happened there, don't we? After all, you possess unparalleled prophetic powers. Don't you want to go further? You, Sorsky, I, we can all go further. The power of the warp is tightly held by the four Ruinous Powers, but if we unite, we have a chance to carve out our own domain. Godhood is not an unattainable dream."

But its lengthy discourse earned only a scoff. Talos raised his chain glaive, swinging it violently.

The moment the war glaive fell, the clash of power between the two, separated by a dozen meters, sounded like a thunderclap from flat ground. A shockwave rippled out from the center of the battlefield.

"You seek to kill that which is eternal, Forsaken? Do you know what stands before you? You dare oppose me, mortal? Never mind that you are not a true Son of the Curse. Even if they were——"

At that moment, Vasko Gore repaired its body. It suddenly stood up, charging towards Talos. In a blind impulse to tear and torment, it ignored the power halo surrounding Talos.

As the massive daemon engine charged at him, Talos turned and pounced. When he reached the daemon's underbelly, he plunged the glaive into its body. The daemon prince howled in agony, silver tendrils writhing from the wound.

Talos gripped the haft tightly, twisting it to make the teeth churn and tear through the daemon's insides.

Then, with a violent slash, he exposed its innards.

Under his gaze, a violent power erupted from within the daemon prince. Its massive torso was instantly hurled into the air and then torn apart, as if an invisible giant with terrible claws had snatched it into the air and ravaged it.

The entity that had spoken to him also moved forward, but its target was Vasko Gore, likely to reclaim the soul.

Talos had no intention of allowing it to succeed. He charged forward, driving the chainsword deep into its forelimbs and face.

The teeth bounced and bit into bone and metal, showering fragments and oil. The creation staggered backward, its limbs losing coordination. Moments later, it looked as if it would fall and cease its attack.

"You will regret this day's decision!"

But then the thing roared again, using its massive claws, imbued with soul-poison, to try and slash Talos, but it didn't even touch his shadow.

Talos had already leapt up, then, ignoring the burning dark fire, plunged the war glaive deep into the creation's skull, all the way to the haft.

The thing twitched and howled, finally collapsing to the ground, spewing oil and sparks as the entity attached to it departed.

Talos withdrew his weapon and turned towards Vasko Gore, whose head could still move.

"You belong in the eternal prison."

Amidst the daemon prince's wails, he stomped on its head, and the thing exploded.

Standing at the center of the daemon engine's explosion, Talos was neither affected by the daemon's rage nor its destruction. Instead, he held the dimensional prison cube before his face, watching the fragments of Vasko Gore's essence being sucked into the depths of the emerald green rift. Such an end was fitting for a monster that had brought so much pain to the galaxy.

"Talos, you——"

With the daemon prince's death, the surrounding enemies quickly crumbled. Kasati then came to Talos's side, glanced at the wreckage on the ground, and said in a low voice:

"What was that power? Are you hiding something from me?"

"Why don't you ask Corax?"

"Ah, I told you, the last message he sent said that I should find my own path. The Night Lords belong to the night, not the treetops. I'm unemployed. You're my new boss now. That ability you used to attack from a distance wasn't psychic, was it? I didn't sense it. And what that thing said——"

Talos glanced at him.

"I'll tell you when the time is right. Let's take care of the matter at hand first."

"Okay, what was that thing? The Soul Forge? I always thought that was Khorne's domain."

Talos shook his head, then lightly waved his hand, using the war glaive to bisect a daemon engine that was charging out of control.

"That place is far deeper than you think. In theory, it doesn't belong to any Chaos God. It's just that it mostly provides war machines for Khorne's legions, but in terms of status, the Soul Forge is independent. It's just that its actual controller is well hidden and rarely shows its face or demonstrates power."

"Hiss, how do you know so much?"

"Have you forgotten who I used to follow?"

"Oh, Fanzore, that daemon-possessed guy. He had time to chat with you about this?"

"Believe it or not."

Having said that, he raised his war glaive.

"Lads, don't stop, keep pushing forward!"