Howard's Risky Decision

"My lord, House Boleslaw's Hive Spire lies in that direction."

Bukayo came to Nimrod's side and pointed toward the front right.

"My lord, my full name is Bukayo Arshavin. King Boleslaw had my family slaughtered on fabricated charges. In truth, he merely coveted my family's printing business."

"I could only flee to the Lower Hive. If I hadn't met you, I would still be worrying about food."

Nimrod nodded slightly. No wonder the youth possessed a maturity beyond his years; he had once come from the Upper Hive and received a good education.

The freight elevators went up and down rapidly. After transporting all eight hundred and forty subordinates to the Upper Hive, Nimrod suddenly heard the sound of vehicles moving.

He immediately grabbed a nearby metal pillar and charged toward the source of the noise.

As Nimrod leaped and ran, he displayed agility utterly at odds with his giant frame. Cargo containers and other obstacles in the freight district did not hinder his advance in the slightest.

He sprang into the air and swung the thick metal pillar in his hand, sending the lead vehicle of the convoy flying.

The tumbling truck crashed into two other trucks.

When Bukayo was the first to arrive at the scene, he saw that more than a dozen trucks had all been smashed over by his master.

Even though he had expected it, the sight still left him frozen in Shock.

Nimrod realized he could not wait any longer. His advantage was not troop numbers, but time.

Once the enemy reacted, the forces they could mobilize would outnumber the subordinates still waiting for transport by hundreds or thousands of times. More importantly, they could seek aid from the Adeptus Mechanicus.

Nimrod did not want to exhaust all his loyal forces in the campaign to conquer Tezwork Hive. This was only the beginning.

He gave an order to Rawlslev, who had rushed over. "Leave eight squads behind to guard the elevator entrance."

"The rest of you, attack the Hive Spire with me."

"Yes, my lord."

Rawlslev immediately obeyed. If someone had told him a month ago that they would rely on fewer than eight hundred people to attack the royal Hive Spire, he would have laughed and called that person insane.

But if that person was Nimrod, a giant as majestic as a god, then he believed it could certainly be done.

Just as Nimrod led his forces away, a luxury sedan with a golden lightning emblem painted on its side arrived belatedly.

Kaminski, who had just been promoted from a personal butler to House Finde's steward, reclined against the leather seat with his eyes closed.

His personal secretary suddenly cried out, "Steward, something happened at the freight station!"

"What?"

Kaminski opened his eyes in displeasure, then immediately saw the blazing fire ahead.

"Dammit, retreat!"

The steward secretly rejoiced that, because he had been preparing for the banquet and had sent the freight convoy ahead first, he had narrowly escaped disaster.

A moment later, Howard received the news and immediately switched to the communication channel of the family's intelligence officer.

"The family freight convoy has been attacked. I want you to find out what happened immediately."

He then switched to the guard channel. "Gather the family's armed forces."

After ending the call, he frowned deeply.

"Brelon?"

"No! He's just trash."

"Estupinian... possible. It could even be the royal family acting personally. This isn't the first time they've seized someone else's property. Perhaps the Fifth Arbiter is merely Boleslaw's puppet on the surface."

The blond young noble rose and paced around his desk several times.

Just then, a beeping sound rang out.

Howard took a deep breath before connecting to the intelligence officer.

"My lord, my people pulled surveillance footage from near the freight station. We found a force of fewer than a thousand advancing at high speed. They have already wiped out several Hive City security units."

"Is their target our Hive Spire?"

"No, my lord. Judging by their route, their target is the royal Hive Spire."

Howard froze, then asked in Shock.

"What?"

He suspected he was hallucinating. Only the most insane people would attack the royal Hive Spire.

He remembered reading in the family records that one family had once sent over sixty thousand elite members to attack the Hive Spire, yet they had not even managed to break through to it.

And now, the attacking force numbered only a thousand.

"My lord, their leader is unusual. I have never seen a human so tall. I think you should take a look."

Howard took out his Data Slate and viewed the footage sent by the intelligence officer.

His azure pupils contracted. He had assumed it was merely a muscular man over two meters tall, but through the footage, he saw that even an Ogryn was far shorter than him.

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When he saw the man's majestic face in the slowed footage, he suddenly felt it was familiar.

In Howard's mind, a youth's handsome face enlarged and overlapped with the giant's face. He cried out.

"Nimrod!"

"How did he become like this?"

After recognizing Nimrod in Shock, the blond noble was even more astonished to see him slaughtering Hive City security troops with a combat style completely unlike the one he remembered.

He charged directly into speeding vehicles. Fast assault craft shattered against him, and metal wreckage scattered across the ground.

He grabbed a security officer as though lifting a chick, flung him into the air, and smashed him into an Automaton Bee equipped with a Stubber.

Several words surfaced in Howard's mind: simple, brutal, efficient, cold, ruthless, unstoppable.

Nimrod was not a person. He was a god of war.

Howard suddenly snapped out of his Shock. This was not the time for admiration.

The key question was how House Finde should respond.

[Even if Nimrod's armed uprising fails, House Boleslaw will suffer severe losses.

Given their methods, they will surely shift those losses onto others and seize the assets of other families. That is also how they intimidate others after unrest.

Tracing backward from his route will lead them to the Khanty-Mansi Dome, and then to me. Even my earlier request for him to help with my defense will be linked to it.]

Howard clenched his fists. He realized that House Boleslaw would make him the scapegoat, claiming that he had provided Nimrod with intelligence and might even name him as the mastermind.

The truth had never mattered. As long as they concealed the fact that Lower Hive people had attacked the Hive Spire, they could continue maintaining the royal family's prestige.

Howard clenched his fists and made a risky decision—to join Nimrod's force and attack House Boleslaw, which had been feeding on House Finde's blood.

Nimrod had given him the courage to decide. In less than four minutes of watching the footage, the giant had actually torn through the defenses of an entire street. He was only 5.2 kilometers from the royal Hive Spire.

As Howard led House Finde's guard force in vehicles toward House Boleslaw's family Hive Spire, Nimrod encountered trouble for the first time.

Four Fixed Turrets opened fire. Their devastating mortar barrage blanketed his force.

Amid deafening explosions, more than a dozen battle-hardened gang members were torn apart by the shockwave like ruptured sandbags, their bodies scattered in pieces.

"Spread out!"

"Find cover!"

Nimrod roared and charged toward the turrets through the rain of shells.