Interlude: Daemon and Daemon

Kargio pulled the trigger, and a barrage of explosive bullets rained down on the Daemon's breastplate like fire. 😡🎀 🐊💚 Explosions, shattering, fragments flying through the air— the Daemon nonchalantly reached out and caught them all, then popped them into its mouth.

The steel was devoured like food, its savage grin never ceasing, and it remained oblivious to the shots fired by the Calth's Sons, as if those deadly bombs were nothing more than pebbles to it.

And that is indeed the case.

No bullet could make it bleed; instead, it tore its skin open with its claws, blood spurting out and steam rising. A crimson mist emanated from the wound, instantly enveloping the entire outpost.

Several warnings immediately popped up on Kargio's goggles, all of the highest level. The air had turned into a poisonous miasma, Chaos filth was everywhere, and ghosts and evil spirits surged and shrieked in the bloody atmosphere.

Ka'Bandha's sinister laughter echoed through the crowd, resounding like thunder.

"Come out, stop deceiving yourself as an assassin, Bat! Don't let your kin be disgraced in the Eternal War. Countless skulls have already piled up beneath their feet. And you, how much longer will you languish in this mortal world before you catch up with them?"

Kargio drew his sword and walked deeper into the blood mist. The ground became soft and wet, like flesh and blood trampled many times, making his progress slow and difficult.

He ignored the Daemon's words. Long ago, Kargio learned one thing—no matter what the enemy said, they were still the enemy, and every word they uttered was a lie.

Kargio knew these tricks all too well; the people of Calth were born to face many hardships, and Daemon and their shadows were just one part of it.

He walked calmly, his knees smeared with bright red mud, fully prepared. However, in the next second, a flash of light suddenly appeared before him.

The pale light pierced the fog, revealing two entangled figures like silhouettes on glass. The roar of chainsaws followed closely behind, accompanied by the maniacal laughter of Daemon emerging from the fog.

Kargio immediately began to run, but all the eyepiece could capture was a blood-red blur. Thunderous crashes rolled in, one after another, each louder than the last.

The mist surged as a giant sword clashed with a much smaller, long-handled weapon, stirring up the wind and tearing through the clouds, revealing the battlefield completely to Kargio.

He saw the enormous, ferocious beast, and Jago Sevatarion, who was far more terrifying than ever before.

His eyes shone with a blue light representing psychic power, while the chainsaw in his hand, which clashed incessantly, was wreathed in dark, lifeless flames. The clash of weapons between him and Ka'Bandha was so fast that it was almost incomprehensible.

Kargio was astonished to discover that, apart from that brief moment, he couldn't see any of their movements at all; he could only see two Shadow flashing alternately.

The fog quickly surged in, once again enveloping the Chapter Master's path. He frowned, and before he could think, he heard a barking sound. He immediately drew his sword, and two scarlet beasts leaped out of the fog from the left and right, lunging at him.

Kargio roared and slashed horizontally with his sword, the blade slicing smoothly through the bodies of the two Khorne, entering through their wide-open mouths and sliding out from the very back of their spines.

The elastic flesh and blood slammed to the ground, the exposed pale bones, along with their nerves, twitched. The two beasts howled in agony, yet they did not die. Kargio took a step back, raised his left leg, and crushed one of them completely.

Blood and flesh splattered everywhere. The other creature seemed to foresee its own death as well, and somehow mustered a burst of strength to get up and run back into the depths of the mist.

Kargio caught up with it in a few strides, threw his sword and pinned it to the ground, then strode forward, grabbed the hilt, twisted his wrist, and pried it open.

At that moment, the ground began to tremble again, and a raging beast charged out from the depths of the blood mist.

The Calth's Sons recognized it at a glance—the Steel Bull, the Khorne's savage beast, a terrifying Daemon whose single charge was enough to destroy a battle formation, and this one was especially enormous.

It hadn't found him yet, and was unleashing its violent nature, trampling back and forth in the fog, searching for an adversary.

Kargio drew his sword, pulled a plasma weapon from his chest belt, and began to aim.

A gust of wind swept past him in that instant, and a scarlet shadow roared as it charged toward the steel bull.

He dragged a giant axe in each hand, his white hair fluttering, his cloak stained with blood, and bits of flesh stuck in every seam of his armor, a testament to the countless killings he had endured.

Kargio recognized him, which reassured him even more.

"I'll cover you!" he roared.

Skaradrik answered with a savage grin, a low, monstrous sound.

Steel Bull immediately noticed his presence. Regardless of the commotion he had caused, his mere presence was enough to make a creature like Steel Bull hard to ignore.

The beast immediately turned and raised its hooves, aiming at the charging Scarlet Lord, intending to bring it down heavily and turn him into mincemeat. Little did it know that Skaradrik was not fighting alone.

A dozen or so Crimson Claws leaped out of the darkness, landing on its head or back, their fists, blades, claws, single-edged swords, and longswords all piercing straight into the gaps in the steel bull's brass armor.

Blood splattered, steel bulls roared, they had struck hard but were not satisfied, the most ruthless of them even began stuffing stun grenades into the gouged wounds.

In the explosion, Steel Bull roared and shook its body, trying to shake them off, but how could Skaradrik let such a good opportunity slip by?

Illuminated by the preheated, blue-white incandescent plasma, he leaped up, his double axes crossed, the plasma precisely evaporating half of Steel Bull's lower jaw, his achievement completely severing the beast's head.

Skaradrik landed lightly with its still-open head, and without stopping, he casually threw his left-hand Power Axe.

It roared as it cleaved into the chest of a Bloodletter, and continued its momentum through its body, sweeping away more Khorne Daemons with shattered flesh and blood, instantly shattering their infantry formation.

Of course, this was not the end. Skaradrik followed with a maniacal laugh, wielding an axe in both hands, and cleaved a Bloodletter in two, sword and all.

Steaming hot entrails fell to the ground, and the two sides of the torso slid stickily off the axe, but he immediately swung it around, sending the corpse flying like a cannonball, landing all around and splattering blood and flesh.

Kargio put his gun back, strode after them, and joined the bloody battle. He couldn't match the speed of the Crimson Claws in the killing, but he was no less ruthless and ferocious.

The sword fell, Khorne's servants roared at him, surrounding him, but Kargio chopped them into pieces in a few strokes. His speed wasn't fast, but his strength was immense and his precision extremely high.

He could usually block or dodge the Bloodletter, blood-craving attacks, and even the few attacks that were truly unavoidable were cleverly blocked by the thickest part of his Power Armour.

His enemies lacked such skill, but their sheer numbers allowed them to quickly surround him. They roared with immense excitement, and the loudest of them received a bomb personally gifted by Kargio.

The Chapter Master stood there coldly, sword in hand, and casually drew a horizontal line under his feet with the sword.

He watched them coldly, but would the Night Lords abandon their allies? The Crimson Claws' slaughter soon descended from behind them, Kargio seized the opportunity, beheading the nearest Bloodletter with one strike, and then cleaving another in two.

Suddenly, a whooshing sound came from the sky, and Ka'Bandha fell straight down like a world-destroying meteor. Its scarlet wings, full of cracks, suddenly unfolded, and a gust of wind descended, blowing the corpses and pieces of flesh scattered all over the ground.

It laughed and swung its right hand, the greatsword with its cruel curve and hilt like angel wings slashing down. Three veterans of the Crimson Claws were unable to dodge and were struck instantly.

The Terminator Armour offered no protection whatsoever, and that wasn't even due to the sword itself, as it was too wide, too thick, and too blunt. Ka'Bandha simply used brute force to cut the three veterans in half at the waist, armor and all.

Skaradrik roared and charged forward, Ka'Bandha laughed and swung his sword again, blocking all his attacks with one hand.

The Daemon's eyes gleamed with admiration. It brandished its sword, then pressed down, forcing the Crimson Lord to begin a struggle with it. Words, thick with the aura of bloodlust, flowed from between its sharp teeth, its accent as noble as that of an ancient aristocrat.

"You have great talent, Skaradrik. Why not embrace that deep-seated desire for violence within you? My god and I have no demands of you; we only want you to embrace yourself, nothing more."

"Never!" the Great Khan roared, his pale face completely illuminated by the crimson light deep within his Daemon eyes.

Ka'Bandha smiled and nodded, not surprised by this expected answer.

It suddenly exerted its strength, sending the Great Lord flying completely away. Then it turned and swung its tail, the iron hammer at the end of its thick tail sinking deeply into Skaradrik's breastplate, adding a new force to his forced flight.

Then, it swung its sword again, as if it had foreseen the future, blocking a chainsaw halberd that had shredded the mist.

The weapon was insignificant compared to its own capabilities; even being hit once wouldn't be a big deal. However, simply because the person wielding it was Jago Sevatarion, Ka'Bandha adopted a more serious attitude.

"Make up your mind quickly, Bat," it urged. "I don't want to waste time on these weaklings. Order them to retreat."

"I can also order my army to be restrained and let your men pass. I have no interest in what you're going to do; I have only one request—you must abandon your fragile body. How about it? Isn't that a fair trade?"

Sevatar's only response was a contemptuous sneer. Psychic Radiance emanated from his hands, and Ka'Bandha roared in disgust as his skin suddenly exploded.

Its armor became the best conductor of electricity at that moment, completely channeling the supernatural lightning to every corner of its massive body. And it couldn't even retreat; Sevatar didn't give it that chance.

His chainsaw remained in contact with the greatsword, its serrated teeth wreathed in black flames firmly wedging the blade.

"Let go," Sevatar whispered to her mountain-like enemy. "If you let go, you'll have a chance to fight back."

Ka'Bandha did not answer. Its appearance this time was not entirely sudden, but it was certainly not something it had prepared for. The strength of its physical body had decreased significantly, far from being comparable to the battle on Terra.

But it also has its own pride; would a warrior voluntarily let go and throw away his weapon during battle?

"Unless I die." As the lightning destroyed him, Ka'Bandha coughed up blood and grinned maliciously as he answered.

Sevatar narrowed his eyes. At first glance, he seemed to have the upper hand and could even kill Ka'Bandha instantly with his unreasonable psychic power.

However, this was merely a beautiful illusion; upon closer inspection, one would discover that his skin was trembling and disintegrating.

He can use his power without restraint, but the barriers of reality will still force him to pay a price. This is an ironclad rule that no one can avoid, unless they venture deep into the Warp, where nothing will matter.

The Daemon was well aware of this, and it never crossed that line, briefly pulling Calth into the surreal world.

With the support of the Khorne, it wouldn't be difficult for it to do this, and doing so would bring about a qualitative change for it and the other servants of Khorne, making victory easy. But it will not do so.

Ka'Bandha was never stupid.

"Come on."

The Daemon chuckled softly, proudly raising its head. The blood energy around it surged and boiled, like magma, completely obscuring it and Sevatar. No one could even get close; they could only watch helplessly as they disappeared into the approaching mist.

Sevatar sneered and increased his psionic energy output, joining this unusual struggle without a care in the world.

He received an approving smile, an admiring look, and a roar.

"Brave! Dreadnought!" Ka'Bandha roared in praise. "You deserve the blessing of the Khorne for this, Jago Sevatarion!"

"I don't think much of it," Sevatar replied with a forced smile.

Ka'Bandha laughed loudly, flapped his wings and took off, carrying him up the previously broken cave, and in an instant they arrived at the horribly devastated surface of Calth.

Here, those savage mutants are being slaughtered, and a blood-red ocean has long since submerged this land.

The Daemon growled proudly, "Behold, my adversary, I shall begin here to sow the seeds of war."

Sevatar didn't answer, a sense of annoyance rising within him. The power of Chaos was pervasive, passively tempting him—or perhaps it shouldn't be called tempting, but rather some kind of instinct.

This instinct told him to summon his kin. Sevatar knew, of course, that he could do so; he could summon the Daemon he knew so well from the altar of Calth, which had been tainted by hatred for ten thousand years, with just a thought.

But he couldn't do that. Chaos is Chaos after all, and every named and Vengeance Daemon will passively bring a spiral of hatred to the world around them.

Moreover, this is Calth.

If he summons here, Sevatar is 100% certain he will summon Van Cleef.

By then, Ka'Bandha could die and be done with it, but what about the world around Calth? What about the Calth's Sons and those Calth who are still alive? In fact, not only them, but even the Night Lords might not be able to escape that terrible influence.

What should I do?

He continued to struggle in silence, when a calm, very familiar voice rang in his ears.

"You can also summon the Soul of Night."

Amidst the howling wind, toxic sunlight, and radioactive dust filling the air, Sevatar abruptly turned his head and saw a familiar Daemon.

That was Shen; he recognized him at a glance.

Ka'Bandha laughed ecstatically, while Sevatar roared in fury, releasing his weapon and shouting, "Who summoned you?!"

"Does it matter?" That's the answer from Shen, the former Daemon.