Magnus Must Die! (Seeking Follow-up Reads)

Mal Koya

On the massive high platform, World Eaters clad in blood-stained blue and white Power Armour were taking turns piling up the skulls captured from the previous war.

There was no stench of decay in the air, only a thick, nauseating smell of blood. Perhaps judging whose spoils were fresher was part of the competition.

Blood had dyed the originally snow-white platform red, constantly flowing down its edges.

Below the platform, the World Eaters' eyes were fanatical, their chainswords still roaring, their trembling bodies enduring and suppressing the frenzy brought on by the Butcher's Nails.

Gazing at the pile of spoils, which resembled a throne, the crowd grew more restless.

Once everyone had finished piling up the skulls, the grand ceremony began.

"First Company, 1,112,530 enemies slain!"

"ROAR!!!" A thunderous roar erupted from the direction of the First Company of World Eaters.

"Second Company, 1,001,373 enemies slain!"

"ROAR!!" The roar from the Second Company was significantly smaller.

"..."

"Eighth Company, 3,178,600 enemies slain, precisely!"

"ROAR ROAR ROAR!" The Eighth Company erupted in a massive roar, far surpassing all previous companies.

"..."

The warrior presiding over the ceremony began the next step of the ritual – the warrior tradition for the company with the fewest kills.

"All warriors of the Second Company, ascend the platform and begin the death match!"

The warriors of the Second Company, upon receiving the order, walked onto the high platform, put down their weapons, and removed their Power Armour.

Only some would survive this death match.

Standing within the circle surrounded by skulls, the thick scent of blood made them gradually lose themselves, their bodies beginning to sway uncontrollably.

Until one person stepped on the blood.

Splat~

Everyone suddenly looked up and roared, "KILL~!"

Their eyes, crimson like a beast's, they lunged at each other, fists and feet flying, each blow accompanied by the sound of cracking bones and tearing flesh.

One warrior threw a heavy punch, striking his opponent directly in the abdomen. With a loud "BANG," the opponent was sent flying backward and crashed to the ground.

However, the warrior quickly got up and launched another fierce assault on his opponent.

In the midst of the fierce exchange, one skilled in wrestling used his opponent's momentum to grab him by the collar and slam him to the ground.

Meanwhile, one skilled in boxing quickly dodged his opponent's attack and then, with a flurry of combination punches, shattered his opponent's spirit and will.

"Fight harder! Kill him! Kill him!"

"Tear him apart! Rip out his liver!"

"Where the hell are you trying to pry?! Is that even a place you can pry?!"

"Poke his eyes! Poke his eyes!"

Even the warriors below became excited and shouted, and some even started fighting among themselves.

"Come on! You wanna fight?!"

"You think you're so tough!"

With a bang, a chainsword collided with a greatsword, sending deadly sparks flying.

The scene descended into chaos. The warrior presiding over the ceremony had already joined the fray, the situation was extremely chaotic, and blood flew everywhere. Some World Eaters even died, but a hint of release was on their faces.

Angron, seated high above, rested his chin on his hand, watching the scene with a placid expression.

Only when constantly facing slaughter could he feel somewhat comfortable.

Until he sensed a force approaching from above!

Suddenly.

Magnus's voice reached his ears. "Angron, you are saved. Francis awaits you on Terra."

A hint of confusion flickered across Angron's face. In that brief moment of pause, before he could look up at the sky, a massive Psykers energy beam instantly struck him.

RUMBLE~

The terrifying energy directly shattered the high platform, instantly reducing the Second Company warriors on it to bloody mist by the shockwave.

The ground began to crack, and the violent earthquake shook the frenzied World Eaters awake!

A mushroom cloud rose from the high platform. Just as everyone craned their necks to look at the platform.

"Magnus! I will kill you!"

"You just wait for me!"

Angron, lying in the deep crater, roared in fury. Rage consumed his reason. Angron seemed to have not heard a word of what Magnus had said.

And Magnus, far away on the battleship, also saw this scene.

"Hiss~ Just as Francis said, but you can't blame me for this."

"Should I explain?"

After a long while, when the earthquake finally stopped.

Angron, covered in dust and dirt, crawled out from a hundred-meter-deep hole in the ground.

The Butcher's Nails on his head writhed incessantly, and waves of deadly pain surged again.

"Ahhhhhh!"

With blood-red eyes, Angron charged towards the World Eaters below. Disregarding whether they were his own sons, he swung his chainsword fiercely, and countless screams erupted.

Angron was like a maddened lion, tearing at any living creature in front of him.

Until—Clang!

A warhammer met the chainsword, sending the person opposite Angron flying backward.

"Primarch, stop this at once!"

"Snap out of it, you bastard!"

Kharn, the Eighth Captain of the World Eaters who had been sent flying, spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Librarian! Where are all the Librarians!"

"Captain, we're under your feet." Kharn finally noticed someone below him. He had thought he had become stronger.

Just as Kharn was rallying the Legion's Librarians, a familiar energy fluctuation struck again.

Seeing this, Kharn immediately ordered all his warriors to retreat.

"Angron, this is all Chaos's doing. I didn't mean to attack you."

Facing Magnus and the psychic energy pillar once more.

"Magnus!!!"

"I will kill you!"

Angron's reason was completely consumed by madness. He raised his chainsword and slashed towards the sky.

Boom!

When the chainsword met the psychic energy pillar, dazzling sparks and intense energy fluctuations erupted instantly.

The blade of the chainsword gradually turned red from the continuous cutting, while the psychic energy pillar gradually dimmed in the sustained confrontation.

Finally, with a deafening roar, the chainsword finally broke through the psychic energy pillar, splitting it in two.

"Ahhhhh!! You all deserve to die!!"

Angron had completely descended into madness!

Meanwhile, on Prospero.

When Forge Lord Kelbor of the Adeptus Mechanicus finished a day of scientific research and was preparing to relax.

He saw the Ork Lie Detector he had crushed earlier. Thinking of that painful memory, Kelbor decided to repair it and keep it as a personal collection.

He would show off to those old geezers later!

"Sigh, my second brother's gene technology is too good to be wasted on the Emperor. He should have been with me. Together, we would have propelled technology to new heights."

Kelbor sighed incessantly. After Francis left, he had also tried to replicate the gene sequence of the "Beast Brain."

However, it was completely unsuccessful. It seemed that some special genetic material had changed during the cultivation process.

Thinking of this, Kelbor even felt a sense of frustration.

It was at this moment that several of Kelbor's deputies approached him and saw him fiddling with a pile of junk.

"General, what are you working on?"

"Why have we never seen this before?"

Seeing their fanatically eager eyes, Kelbor felt very pleased. He held up the "Beast Brain" and said, "Do you see what I have in my hand? With this, we can greatly accelerate the research progress of Ork Technology."

"Revered Machine God!! This is simply divine skill!"

"General, do we have one too!"

Several deputies moved closer to Kelbor, the sound of metal clashing emanating from them as they looked at Kelbor expectantly.

Facing hundreds of eyes, Kelbor cleared his throat. "This was made by my second brother. It's not ready for mass production yet."

"Oh!"

Hearing this news, they looked a little dejected.

"However, he will still make them in the future when he has time!"

Upon hearing this, they immediately became excited again. Then, they saw the repaired helmet in Kelbor's hand and asked, "General! What is that in your hand now?"

"This? This is a lie detector used by Orks. Its power is immense. If you're not careful…"

As he spoke, Kelbor felt the helmet's true purpose through the Beast Brain.

Ork Perm Helmet?

This thing is for perming Ork hair?

The red heat was for heating, and the dinging was music?

Seeing Kelbor trail off, his several deputies looked confused.

Did the General want to hide it from them?

At this moment, all of Kelbor's neurons were firing rapidly, finally arriving at an answer.

"Who wants to try this thing?"

Deputy Lucas Chrome immediately stepped forward and pounced.

"Me, me, me!!!"