147 Terra (22)

Something is laughing, very happy, very happy. ↤↤↤↤↤ ㄖм ↦↦↦↦↦

Its voice pierced the darkness, reaching everyone's ears. It was a voice that shouldn't exist, yet it did. If we were to trace the reason back, perhaps it would be due to the endless depravity of the Xenos who called themselves the Eldar; they were the ones who created this voice and its master.

The serpent demon, panting, stood up from the ground. It had just been knocked away, its tail severed by the sword. The cut surface was a clean pink, filled with vulgar and obscene metaphors.

Its muscles trembled, the ornaments buried within its tall, robust body shook, and the metal rings and spinning, pointed objects embedded in its flesh collided with each other, creating a monotonous yet pleasant and seductive sound.

Their original purpose was to create pain and pleasure for it, to engulf it with waves of joy that accumulated little by little, but now, they are nothing. The blasphemous creatures that resemble snakes can no longer feel any joy.

Countdown: 14:15

"He is urging me on," it said softly.

Its forked tongue emerged from its wet lips and licked around the glistening skin. It swallowed the blood, a simple, unremarkable gesture, yet it contained the ultimate in tenderness and allure.

Its eyes were filled with utter sorrow. If someone unaware of its true nature were standing here, they would probably have already knelt down, crawling restlessly towards it, trying to kiss its snake tail.

For Fulgrim and Ferrus Manus, this so-called beauty only evoked extreme disgust.

"Don't get up again!" Fulgrim roared.

"I want to too, darling."

The snake demon wept, uttering an intimate word as if by instinct. But it quickly frowned, shook its head, and surprisingly added the second half of the sentence in a more normal tone.

Unfortunately, this is something I probably can't decide for myself.

It said nothing more, but stared intently at Ferrus Manus's face, carefully observing his expression.

A faint sense of satisfaction began to appear on the creature's elongated face, and a longing shone in its narrow eyes, painted with eerie eyeshadow—not a desire in the sense of lust, but a very simple yearning.

The person who had committed a grave mistake begged for forgiveness, and for this, it even secretly promised to give anything.

Ferrus Manus's answer to this was very simple.

He just swung the hammer.

The Forgebreaker traced a deadly arc through the air, unleashing a deafening roar from its Iron Hands that could shatter an ordinary person's eardrums.

Fulgrim's eyes narrowed, and he immediately understood what Ferrus intended to do. He stepped forward, his sword flashing, and with one stroke, he severed the serpent demon's head.

The Forgebreaker struck the head precisely the next second.

His power, together with the Forgebreaker, created a burst of blood mist. Bone fragments, blood, and vaguely discernible facial features flew freely in the air, while those two agate-like eyes remained fixed on Ferrus Manus.

It's truly chilling.

Jaghatai witnessed the entire scene during a lull in the killing, and at that moment Chogoris had only one thought in his mind.

Ever since his encounter with Horus, his simple understanding of the world has been crumbling one by one, and now it's shattered beyond repair.

He thought he had seen enough and knew what the so-called Warp and Daemon were all about, but now he realized that he probably still knew far too little.

"Continue!" Phoenix shouted sternly.

Enraged, the sword flashed out with incredible speed and power, like a thunderous symphony. He slashed again and again until the serpent demon's beautiful body was completely reduced to mangled pieces.

Ferrus followed closely behind, with five servo arms extending from behind him, unleashing explosives and Phosphex flames simultaneously, interspersed with the distinctive firing sounds of weapons not belonging to the standard weaponry of the Imperium of Man.

Destruction soon descended upon that mass of flesh and blood, and an irresistibly enticing yet terrifying aroma of meat somehow managed to break through the gruesome spectacle of carnage, beginning to permeate the surroundings.

The laughter from the darkness grew louder, and He even spoke again.

You two are so in sync!

As soon as the words were spoken, a flash of light appeared, and the snake demon was resurrected once more.

It itself didn't know how many times it had died, but it would no longer plead with its master. It was determined to see the end, and the serpent demon understood this perfectly.

It could sense His resolve from the power that permeated the surroundings—a terrifying resolve to pay any price for a brief moment of bliss.

But the question is, why would He do that?

"I am but a non-existent echo, a reflection, master," it said to the darkness, letting the raging flames erupting from behind engulf it completely.

Its body gradually dissipated in the raging flames, its bones and flesh intertwined, intimately holding hands, resisting the burning flames on its remains.

It opened its mouth, as if to say something, but a Warhammer suddenly struck, smashing its upper body to pieces. Bones shattered, skin bulged, and internal organs splattered out from its back.

It instinctively let out a muffled thud from its throat, and its four arms stretched out one after another, not to attack, but to reluctantly stroke the Forgebreaker had not yet been retracted.

Its speed is fast enough for it to do many other things, such as launching a deadly attack, but it is only used for this purpose.

Ferrus's gaze grew even colder. He delivered a final blow, completely destroying the serpent's upper body. Blood splattered, leaving mottled stains on his armor. A flash of black flame burned it away.

Fulgrim walked past him.

"You're welcome."

"Don't mention it," Ferrus asked.

Aren't you going to thank me?

"If necessary—" Ferrus looked at him, "—I'll punch you in the face again."

Phoenix curled the corners of its lips into a silent smile. Musk-scented miasma swept in, enveloping the corpses on the ground, from which the serpent demon rose, dripping wet.

Even if you get another outcome from this drama through me.

It questioned the darkness in bewilderment, letting the blade pierce its chest.

The presence in the darkness immediately invigorated them, like an artist itching to create a masterpiece.

And so the blood slowly slid down in a way that completely defied the laws of physics, creating drop after drop of alluring deep red liquid on the smooth skin that was changing color, with an aroma as enticing as wine.

Xenos beautiful, slender, serpentine creature, its white hair disheveled and lips crimson, gazed at the darkness with a tearful expression.

Behind it was another face, a similar yet different face, not beautiful, but rather grotesque in some ways. Its eyes were dry, like the earth cracked by drought, and its lips were tightly pressed together, showing no trace of confusion or weakness, only the coldest anger.

A scream came from the darkness.

"Whatever!" he shouted, losing his composure. "Just keep acting!"

Countdown: 10:23

"Act?" The snake demon spat out a mouthful of blood, then laughed bitterly. "How can I act out the emotions I feel right now? I just want to apologize to you, Ferrus, I betrayed you. You were my best brother, yet I killed you with my own hands—!"

A bright light flashed from the side, and the White Tiger Dao slashed down, cleaving the beautiful head that had been speaking in two.

Jaghatai nodded politely to Fulgrim: "No need to thank me."

Phoenix nodded in response, her face grim.

"How many more times do we have to kill it like this?" the Khan asked.

He had only just freed his hands—in the past few minutes, he and his men had already made several trips back and forth through the horde of rotting corpses.

The monster, believing itself to be Mortarion, was furious, but it was not truly stupid after all, and still used the power of the plague.

Interestingly, the pinkish miasma drifted past, halting the disease's advance. What was this? Internal strife?

Jaghatai didn't know how to view this matter; he simply found it absurd.

"It has died sixty-one times already," Ferrus Manus said calmly. "If necessary, I wouldn't mind doing it a hundred more times."

As if to agree with his words, the serpent demon stood up once more. It still stared intently at Ferrus Manus, its gaze extremely unwavering.

Jaghatai felt that its eyes were like a pair of mirrors, or perhaps a phonograph—in short, inextricably linked to imprisonment and longing.

The Chogoris immediately understood that its focused gaze was essentially a possessive desire; it wanted to possess him.

The Khan swung his sword in disgust, killing it, and then asked, "Am I the only one who realized it was a liar?"

"I'm not surprised," Fulgrim said. "It apologized, but the apology was aimed at gaining forgiveness, not genuine remorse—it's still selfish, still only thinking of itself."

"You speak so grandly, but what about you?! You incompetent piece of trash! I have never allowed my offspring to die in droves!" the snake demon roared venomously.

It revived and, by sheer coincidence, overheard those words, causing its previously non-resisting stance to suddenly change in that instant.

It leaped out with lightning speed, the scales on its tail scraping against the ground with an extremely terrifying noise. Jaghatai intended to intercept it, but the White Tiger Dao was blocked in mid-air by two curved blades.

A fierce wind swept in, and Fulgrim squinted as he watched the two curved blades slash towards him, yet he remained remarkably calm—he didn't even consider raising his hand to defend himself.

"Boom--!"

The twin swords clashed with the Warhammer, the clash of metal producing a deafening roar like a bomb, but Ferrus Manus remained unfazed as he swung his hammer to force it back.

The serpent demon looked at him bitterly, and the hatred that had just arisen in her towards Fulgrim instantly dissipated.

Jaghatai attacked from behind, his blade stabbing at the snake demon's back at a sinister angle—his goal was simple: since the snake demon had already aroused its fighting spirit, he would first render it incapable of fighting.

He believed that rather than constantly killing an enemy that would keep returning, it would be better to find a way to keep it in a state where it could neither move nor die.

However, his attack failed. The snake demon, as if it had foreseen the future, twisted its tail and instantly left the spot.

His pupils contracted sharply as he sensed a fragrance like orchids wafting from behind him. At the crucial moment, Khan calmly lowered his shoulders and knees, forcefully changing the trajectory of his longsword, swinging it in a wide arc and twisting his waist to slash back.

"Clang--!"

"Don't interrupt me at this time, Jaghatai," the snake demon called to him grimly. "I don't like this."

"You prefer wallowing in filthy desires, don't you? You depraved and vile thing." Khan retorted with a sneer, beginning a struggle with it from an awkward angle.

He could still hold on, and he wasn't worried, because he could already hear footsteps behind him. Sure enough, the next second, Fulgrim tore off one of the serpent demon's arms with his greatsword.

He silently swung his sword, but the serpent demon let out a piercing scream. Its jaw split open in a bizarre way, revealing sharp teeth and strong pink muscles mixed together, from which a wet, sticky substance splattered.

It arrived with incredible speed, forcing the phoenix to halt. The serpent demon then successfully vanished into the darkness, remaining silent, yet everyone knew what it was about to do.

Ferrus Manus calmly turned his head and, unsurprisingly, saw a face with red-rimmed eyes.

"Ferrus." It called softly, its voice becoming indistinguishable from Fulgrim's. "I will do anything to make amends."

"I don't care," Iron Hands said. "And I don't need your so-called compensation."

"I will prove it to you," it said firmly.

How can this be proven? At least at this moment, no one has the answer.

Fulgrim continued his charge, flames of fury seeping from the gaps in his armor. The Daemon named Laerhe was enraged beyond anything he had ever seen.

It's hard to say whether it's because of a shared empathy for Fulgrim's anger, or because it can't tolerate anyone harming Ferrus Manus at this moment.

Jaghatai followed closely behind, holding a knife in his right hand, his eyes slightly narrowed, while his left hand was already resting on the pistol at his waist.

Ferrus Manus remained standing calmly in place, even as the Forgebreaker had just begun to speak. How could he remain so composed in the face of a monster? No one knew the reason.

Then, in the next second, two curved blades sliced open a soft chest.

A twisted heart beats quietly within it.

Blood splattered, and a satisfied chuckle echoed from the darkness.

"Yes," He said. "You finally understand that the essence of love is not selfishness, so—"

He walked out of the darkness with a smile, and time stood still at that moment. The thing that emerged from the darkness had an extremely simple form, nothing more than a tall, human-shaped shadow, yet it could simultaneously reveal millions of different and beautiful figures through the refraction of light.

As He dissolved, His body disintegrated naturally. The serpent demon lay lifeless on the ground, and a glass rolled in from afar, a drop of blood glistening within it.

"--The drama has finally reached its climax." He sighed contentedly. "But I want more."

A sudden gust of wind arose.

This chapter is 4,000 words long. I'm going to have a meal. There will be another chapter of about 3,000 words to wrap things up later.