Blood God Avatar

On the Shattered Planet.

Lu Jin looked around.

Everywhere was brass and lava.

The Fierce Angels hadn't died here. In the instant of the cataclysm, the Chapter Master must have awakened and used his psychic power to teleport everyone away.

Everyone except Lu Jin.

But Lu Jin didn't think Ninos had abandoned him. Just now, amid the pale expanse, he'd seen Ninos's soul reaching out to him—yet the next second, he was back where he started.

Lu Jin stood up, gathering his thoughts.

He could guess what was happening now.

Ahriman had wanted to use Ninos as ritual material to summon a daemon army, primarily to call forth that two-headed bird daemon.

The two-headed daemon was named Karlos, Tzeentch's Herald, the Weaver of Fate.

But Ahriman had failed—because the Chaos God Khorne had driven his Battle Axe into this planet, halting the ritual.

That axe which had just shattered the planet could only be Khorne's doing. No other being could have unleashed such a strike.

"Th-the... Chapter Master... he... he... he... soul... he... can't wake..."

A fragmented voice rang in Lu Jin's ears.

It was Onaas's voice.

But the voice vanished in an instant.

When Lu Jin looked around, he found the environment had completely changed. He was isolated from the real outside world.

The sky had turned blood-red.

The landmasses formed a giant eye staring down at the ground.

The Tzeentch daemons from before had all become skulls scattered across the earth.

A gale howled past.

Lu Jin saw the wind-swept dust coalesce before him into two weapons.

They were the Battle Axe and Warhammer that Ahriman had turned to sand, but both weapons seemed to have undergone some mutation.

On the axe head and hammer head, rivers of molten lava spread like spiderwebs.

The handles of both heavy weapons were studded with densely packed tiny skulls.

When Lu Jin looked at the Battle Axe, he could see the people he'd killed inside begging him for mercy—both the mortals and the Space Marines he'd slain.

Only the greenskins he'd killed were absent.

Lu Jin realized those people weren't mere decorations. They crawled among the skull piles on the handle, knelt facing Lu Jin, bound by red-hot brass chains, seemingly enduring endless torment, lifting their heads to beg for Lu Jin's forgiveness.

He could even hear how those he'd killed pleaded with him.

Lu Jin turned to look at the Warhammer.

Between the skull piles on the Warhammer's handle, there were also souls—not those he'd killed, but the dead he'd saved or cared about.

Damian's family, the Fierce Angels apothecary, and some crew members...

They wandered in groups among the skull piles.

Lu Jin suddenly reached out, grabbed the Warhammer, and brought it close to his eyes. Then he realized that the people between the skull piles on both weapons' handles were souls.

None of them had been annihilated in the Warp. They were trapped inside these two weapons, though their fates differed.

These weapons must have been forged by Khorne.

And the souls within must have been sealed there by Khorne as well.

Whether suffering eternal torment in the Battle Axe or becoming wandering ghosts in the Warhammer, none found rest.

"Release the souls in the Warhammer! Let them find peace!"

Lu Jin roared at the blood-red giant eye in the sky.

His shout echoed across the plain of brass and skulls.

The next second, molten brass flowed from the giant eye like tears of blood, dripping to the ground and slowly coalescing into a warrior clad in crimson armor.

The warrior stood before Lu Jin, holding a long-handled battle axe.

"Are you Khorne's Avatar?"

Lu Jin immediately guessed the other's identity. Then he glanced at the wandering souls in the Warhammer, his expression twisting into a snarl. With a roar, he charged at Khorne's Avatar, wielding both weapons.

"Let them rest!"

Lu Jin swung the Warhammer.

What answered him was the long-handled axe reversed, its shaft slamming into him.

This was a very simple move.

Yet Lu Jin felt that no words could describe its exquisite and miraculous nature, because the trajectory of the opponent's hands made him feel... that move could become any move. With the most perfect force and angle backing it, it would inevitably realize the user's intent.

Lu Jin was struck on the helmet. The helmet shattered, blood flowed from his forehead, and his entire body flew backward before crashing to the ground.

After landing, Lu Jin climbed to his feet, raised the two weapons he hadn't let go of, and charged at Khorne's Avatar once again.

Khorne's Avatar sent Lu Jin flying once more.

"You... I..."

Words emerged from beneath the crimson helmet, shifting several times before Lu Jin could finally understand them.

"How dare you challenge me? Because you are immortal?"

Before the words faded, Lu Jin was kicked flying eight meters, rolling eight times across the ground.

"That is likely not immortality, not resurrection." Khorne's Avatar leaned on his battle axe. "Rather, you seize life force through slaughter. If not used in time, it is stored, reserved for moments of urgency."

Hearing Khorne's Avatar mention his special ability, Lu Jin finally stopped his assault.

After realizing that his power was not immortality, not resurrection, but a stored reserve of life force that would run out once depleted...

Lu Jin suddenly grew even more excited.

Blood surged to his head, his expression twisted with ferocity, and a thrill born of bearing pressure and facing desperation grew within him.

Adrenaline made him ignore the pain Khorne's Avatar had inflicted.

"Therefore." Khorne's Avatar raised his hand, and the battle axe in his grip transformed into a long spear. "Killing you is easier than killing a chicken!"

"Then come kill me!" Lu Jin charged forward on his own.

"Your courage is commendable!" Khorne's Avatar sent Lu Jin flying with a sweep of his spear, roaring his praise as he paced left and right, taunting Lu Jin.

Lu Jin got up and charged again.

This repeated over twenty times, the result always the same—Lu Jin was inevitably sent flying backward, though Khorne's Avatar used different techniques each time.

A few times, Lu Jin was pierced through the neck by the spear or had his head cleaved off by the battle axe, but he consumed life force, climbed back up, and charged forward once more.

When Lu Jin rose again, roaring as he charged, Khorne's Avatar knocked him down with his shoulder, then pressed the axe blade against his neck.

Lu Jin still tried to get up, until Khorne's Avatar turned the battle axe into two swords, pinned Lu Jin's arms to the ground, and stomped on his chest.

"Do you not even appreciate my gift?!"

A voice came from beneath Khorne's Avatar's helmet.

"I could have done this..."

Khorne's Avatar picked up Lu Jin's warhammer and gestured for him to look.

Inside the hammer's haft drifted Damian's family, the crew members who had sacrificed themselves during the greenskin rampage, and the guide crewman and apothecary who had been shattered by Lone Wolf Aels's single shot... They no longer wandered; bronze chains clung to their bodies.

The bronze chains gradually glowed red-hot. They let out heart-rending screams, lowered their heads to look at the immobilized Lu Jin, and begged him to end their suffering.

Lu Jin's face twisted in fury. He endured the excruciating pain, trying to tear his arms free from the swords, but the two blades turned directly into chains, sealing him completely.

"You think falling into another god's hands as a plaything is rest?"

"This is rest!"

As Khorne's Avatar spoke, the dead within the warhammer were no longer bound by chains, no longer tormented. They stood up in confusion, wandering among the endless piles of skulls.

The Avatar picked up the battle axe, examining the tormented souls within: "Your enemies—I give them torment, which is also a gift."

With that, the Avatar looked down at Lu Jin: "Choose. Be my chosen or my enemy? Live or die?"

"I want to duel you." Lu Jin growled. "Not a game—a duel to the death."

Khorne's Avatar slowly raised his head, but the eight crimson eyes on his helmet still fixed on Lu Jin.

"If I lose, I die. A complete annihilation, not the kind of death where I become your pawn." The words squeezed through Lu Jin's teeth. "If I win... you hand over the Bronze Throne for me to sit on, and you become my chosen, my servant."

Lu Jin couldn't think of any possibility of winning, so he made up a victory condition on the spot, his tone almost joking.

Khorne's Avatar was silent for eight seconds.

Suddenly, a deep, rumbling laugh echoed across the entire landmass.

Khorne's Avatar began to tremble, tossing the warhammer and battle axe aside, clenching his fists until they cracked. A low growl came from beneath the helmet: "Mm... utmost courage... utmost courage!"

The chains binding Lu Jin vanished.

Khorne's Avatar raised his hands, tilting his head back to look at the sky.

"Your courage is admirable, but you are unworthy!"

The Avatar scattered into ashes, drifting away.

Lu Jin climbed to his feet and looked down at his arms. Through the two penetrating wounds, he could see the ground.

His hands were also affected by these wounds, making it difficult to grip or move.

Suddenly, the earth shook and the mountains swayed.

Molten lava rained down from the sky, coalescing into an army.

That was the Khorne demon army.

Demons with crimson bodies and slightly slender limbs extended long tongues, holding flaming swords as they appeared. These were Khorne Bloodletters.

Unlike the Tzeentch demons when they manifested, these demons seemed to have marched here, forming into compact phalanxes. Each demon might have been restless, but none strayed from their formation.

A demon nearly five meters tall stepped forward from the center of hundreds of phalanxes to the front, hooves scraping the ground as it let out an agitated roar.

This was a Bloodthirster, a Khorne Greater Daemon.

From its weapons, Lu Jin recognized it as the Greater Daemon likely named Skarbrand.

The two sides stood eight hundred and eighty-eight meters apart.

A rough count told Lu Jin there were about ten thousand demons.

"BLOOD WAR!!!!"

A roar descended from the sky.

Lu Jin stared at the demon army before him, his gaze resolute. A second later, he gritted his teeth and stood up.

The device Little Damian had invented began to operate at that moment. Mechanical arms reached behind his back, pulling out two chains from the sides of the power pack on his armor's back—chains meant to suspend heavy weapons.

Lu Jin walked toward the Warhammer and Battle Axe, picking them up.

War horns resounded across the Skull Plains. The Khorne demon army's phalanxes began to advance in orderly steps.

"Blood for the Blood God, skulls for the Skull Throne!"

"Cut off this mortal's head and offer it to the Blood God!"

Skarbrand swung his twin axes in fury, roaring and bellowing as he advanced.

"Blood for the Blood God, skulls for the Skull Throne!"

"Blood for the Blood God, skulls for the Skull Throne!"

The Bloodletters marched in perfect unison, striking their sword hilts against their chests, producing clanging sounds and guttural roars.

Lu Jin stood still, ignoring the demon army. He raised his left hand first.

A mechanical arm wrapped one chain around Lu Jin's left hand and the Chainaxe, forcibly securing them together.

Lu Jin then raised his right hand, and the mechanical arm fixed it to the Warhammer.

Once both were secured, Lu Jin lifted the two weapons high and began walking toward the demon army. "Blood God's mongrels, bare your necks for the slaughter!"

When the distance closed to eighty-eight meters, the demon army suddenly charged, breaking into a sprint.

Lu Jin sprinted as well.

The Khorne demons let out deafening roars.

Lu Jin roared too.

Seconds later, the two sides clashed.

Lu Jin plunged into the central phalanx, swinging his Battle Axe and Warhammer to cut down several Khorne Bloodletters in succession. Then, from all directions, demons stabbed him with their swords, turning him into a pincushion.

The Bloodletters fell. Lu Jin opened his eyes, leaped up, and fought again.

After several cycles of this, Lu Jin's wounds fully healed, and the speed of his weapon swings became so fast it was as if he were wielding two wooden sticks.

Dozens of Bloodletters fell, and Lu Jin carved straight through an entire Bloodletter phalanx.

Lu Jin roared as he charged into the next phalanx.

He swung his weapons with both hands, cutting down over a dozen Bloodletters in a row and shattering countless swords. But he was also surrounded by demons, forced to fight within a circle they had formed.

As he fought, Lu Jin also sensed himself.

He was certain that as long as corpses were near him, he could fight endlessly without exhaustion.

Here, the only things that could truly kill him were psychic powers, Khorne himself, or being killed dozens or hundreds of times in a row by that Skarbrand.

He had no idea how long he had been slaughtering. The armor on his body had been hacked away until only his groin guard, a section of his right arm guard, and his hand guards remained.

The ground trembled. A larger, leading demon descended from the sky, took two quick steps, and kicked out.

Seeing this move, Lu Jin realized the demon before him was a Khorne Greater Daemon, a Bloodthirster—a higher tier of demon—and its name was "Skarbrand."

As he thought this, his entire body shot out like a cannonball, crashing into the ground.

Just as he tried to get up, Skarbrand caught up and kicked him flying again.

When Lu Jin finally figured out how to adjust his body midair and land steadily, and after landing swung both weapons at the charging Skarbrand, Bloodletters surrounded him from behind and stabbed a sword into his back.

Skarbrand then buried an axe into Lu Jin's chest, lifted him up, and roared at the sky.

"Blood for..."

A Battle Axe fell from the sky, shattering Skarbrand.

Lu Jin climbed to his feet again. As he fought the Bloodletters, he realized that Skarbrand had been punished by Khorne—for ganging up instead of dueling.