Thierry's Path of the "Warrior"

After Howard thrillingly killed the sorcerer, he did not pause. Feeling as though he had truly become an "Arbites," he leveled his heavy stubber at the mutants and sentenced them to death.

Seeing their blue-robed psyker slain, the mutants' morale plummeted; they immediately fell into chaos, scrambling over one another to flee.

"Kill them all! Don't let a single one escape!"

The "Arbites" shouted, and the workers instinctively obeyed his command, launching an assault on the mutants.

After the battle ended, the blonde noble picked up his comms-unit and loudly called for the deputy he had appointed.

"Yasin! Yasin!"

Receiving no response, Howard harbored a suspicion as he shouted to the dozen foremen walking toward him.

"Follow me!"

The foremen did not hesitate for a moment, falling in behind the "Arbites."

Meanwhile, in Lukpo Hive City.

Thierry had once again encountered a formidable opponent: a blue-robed figure with eagle-talons as sharp as a Chainsword, whose attacks were eerily unpredictable.

Every one of his strikes seemed to be anticipated by the opponent; he felt like a marionette, forced to dance to the rhythm of the blue-robed enemy.

The enemy's attacks would always land precisely in the brief gaps between his own strikes.

Thierry knew the enemy did not possess a complete mastery of the Way of Osberh-Vaya like Nimrod, but was instead relying on sorcery.

To kill him, I must exceed the limits of his foresight.

The "Warrior" gripped his Power Sword tightly, his eyes flashing with soaring fighting spirit.

He is not my King, I can certainly do this!

Thierry lunged forward, unleashing his combat instincts for the first time since he had taken up the blade.

The "Warrior's" slash was not restricted by the Way of Osberh-Vaya; the crackling Power Sword tore through the air, striking toward the blue-robed figure's right shoulder.

The blue-robed figure's mind did not flash with the opponent's attack as it had before.

His bird-like eyes spun rapidly.

His colorful irises expanded like the aperture of a camera lens.

Conversely, his pupils contracted rapidly.

The blue-robed figure hurriedly dodged to the side, the Power Sword grazing his body as it descended; the crackling disruption field shredded the blue robe, revealing a dense cluster of eyes across his chest.

Though he still hadn't wounded his opponent, the "Warrior's" confidence surged; he knew his intuition was correct.

Thierry stepped forward and withdrew his blade, dodging a grasping left claw before sweeping his sword horizontally.

The "Warrior's" attacks were like a tide, one wave higher than the last; he no longer thought about how to apply the Way of Osberh-Vaya to strike his opponent as he had before.

Yet, every one of his strikes contained the Way of Osberh-Vaya.

After fourteen years of practice, he had long since integrated the Way of Osberh-Vaya into his body, making it his instinct.

The "Warrior's" superhuman agility overwhelmed the blue-robed figure's foresight, moving faster than the limits of his mutated eyes could track.

After a nine-hit combo, Thierry fused the first strike and the twenty-third weak-point strike into a single thrust, driving his Power Sword into the largest, most grotesque eye in the center of the enemy's chest.

With a piercing shriek, the scorching energy of the disruption field incinerated the disgusting mutated body.

Thierry twisted his wrist, rotating the Power Sword to grind every eye into pulp.

As he withdrew his blade, a realization dawned upon him.

I have been practicing, trying to fuse the Way of Osberh-Vaya like my King, but I could never achieve it.

Today, in this moment of crisis, I have done so unintentionally.

I am not a combat Servitor replicating sword techniques, but a "Warrior" who, when faced with a powerful enemy, still believes in himself and finds the key to victory.

Thinking this, Thierry felt his weary body instantly fill with strength, and the Power Sword in his hand felt as if it had become one with him.

Having found his own path as a "Warrior," he immediately brandished his Power Sword and charged into the crowd of mutants.

At the same moment, Howard finally followed the tunnel and found his regiment.

He had just arrived at the scene when he discovered that the tunnel had been blasted into a massive crater, the tracks destroyed, and the train plummeted into the lower levels.

The blonde noble led the workers into the fray, immediately colliding with a middle-aged noble dressed in ornate robes.

"It is you, Bogush! You traitor, how dare you betray my Lord!"

Bogush was shocked to see the "Arbites."

"Howard, you aren't dead? Impossible! The Enlightenment Envoy said he would personally deliver your punishment."

"Could it be? No, that's impossible. The Enlightenment Envoy possesses the power gifted by the God of Wisdom; how could he fail?"

The "Arbites" gave a cold laugh. "Traitor, die!"

He raised his heavy stubber and pulled the trigger, turning Bogush into a sieve in an instant.

After clearing out the traitor's private soldiers and the mutants, Howard found Yasin.

Yashin, with his straight nose and resolute features, walked quickly to the commander and spoke in a tone of guilt.

"My Lord, while I was rushing here under your orders, I encountered Bogush, and he proposed joining our squad."

"I failed to detect the traitor's despicable scheme; the train exploded halfway, and I was delayed."

Howard nodded slightly; the moment he saw Bogush, he had already deduced the general sequence of events.

"You bear responsibility, but it cannot be blamed entirely on you."

"You must reflect deeply and ensure you do not commit the same mistake next time."

"As you command, My Lord."

Nimrod, having returned to Vostonia, did not immediately head back to the Hive City under his control; he trusted in the capabilities of Howard and Thierry to withstand the mutant assault.

His gaze was not limited to his own stronghold but extended across all of Vostonia; to achieve his goal as quickly as possible, he had to win the support of Magos Kivior-2 of the Vostonia Altar 1.

Just as the influence of the Fabricator General of Mars far exceeded that of the leaders of other Forge Worlds within the Adeptus Mechanicus, the Magos of Vostonia Altar 1 was the leader of the local tech-priests.

Through the viewport of his flyer, he looked down at the Mikhailovsk Hive City below.

This largest Hive City in Vostonia resembled a mountain, with Hive Spires piercing the dim, yellow clouds, the dense buildings forming a forest of steel.

The flyer landed in the docking area belonging to the Adeptus Mechanicus, located between the two highest Hive Spires, and Nimrod led Rosicky, Wojciech, and the others toward Altar 1.

A moment later, Nimrod met Magos Kivior-2, who was clad in red robes and possessed not a shred of organic flesh, and he first proposed confirming the agreement.

"Magos, I have come to obtain the star charts in accordance with the agreement previously reached."

Kivior-2's faceplate lit up, and a synthetic mechanical voice rang out.

"Initiating identification protocol; identified as contract counterparty Sovereign Nimrod."

"Requesting exchange of information regarding contractual obligations."

Wojciech immediately took out a data-slate and pulled up the page.

Two beams of light shot from the Magos's faceplate, scanning the page of the data-slate from top to bottom.

"According to the aforementioned contractual obligations, all star charts possessed by the various altars of Vostonia shall be provided to Sovereign Nimrod."

As he spoke, his mechanical tentacles reached into his red robes and produced a data-chip.

"Delivering contractual obligation: data-chip containing the star charts."

Wojciech took the chip, inserted it into the data-slate, and quickly reviewed it.

After verifying that everything was correct, he nodded to Nimrod.

With the star charts in hand, Nimrod looked at Kivior-2.

"Magos, the transaction is complete; now it is time to discuss the mutant uprising."