Thirty Sickle Battle

Chapter 31 30. Scythe Warfare

Barbarus, Northern Mountains, Alien Lord Nac'Lare's territory, mountainside.

Present.

.

The gloomy sky pressed down, the thick poisonous gas like a substantial river, slowly flowing around the warriors.

Mortarion swung his war scythe, the chains wrapped around the lower part of the scythe clattering.

The blade flashed, unparalleled in its sharpness, each swing of the scythe spraying a rain of blood and gore.

Countless pieces of corpses piled up and scattered at his feet, large chunks of wounds slowly oozing black and yellow pus, gradually soaking the ground beneath him.

And nearby, the five guards led by Calas Typhon were also fighting fiercely with their scythes.

Countless aliens, countless puppets, raised their weapons, pushing and shoving, howling, rushing forward, only to be torn to pieces by the scythes.

Slightly further away, Hades was also wielding his scythe, sweeping and clearing.

He compressed the Null Field to five meters around him, directly charging into the dense puppet ranks, spinning his scythe like a wild dancer performing a dance of death among the puppets.

When the advanced puppets angrily tried to rush over and fight, they would suddenly be shocked by the sharply increased concentration of the Null Field, temporarily losing their combat power.

Even worse, some were crushed to their knees, trembling under the increased pressure.

Each rotation of the scythe reaped a swath of life.

Hades wielded his scythe as if tireless, his experiences in the south deeply training him; this warrior now knew how to obtain the enemy's life more efficiently and precisely in battle.

Only a brief and precise death is the last mercy I can grant the enemy!

When the dark mass of puppets dwindled to only a few fleeing in collapse into the distance, they lowered their scythes in unison.

Mortarion's guard Hazniel took a gun from his back and aimed at the scattered fleeing puppets.

Several shots rang out, and the puppets fell to the ground.

At this moment, if someone looked up from the foot of the mountain, they would see a road piled up with puppet corpses, like a twisting, winding earthworm, tirelessly wriggling and slowly climbing towards the higher reaches of the mountain.

"Going pretty smoothly, I think."

Hazniel's voice broke the silence first.

"Don't be careless, it's just the beginning."

Mortarion's muffled voice sounded from within his armor.

As if in response to what Mortarion said, Hades' voice rang out from a slightly further distance, in a place that everyone "cannot see, cannot perceive."

"Dodge!!! Above!!"

Echoing Hades' words, faint bright red lights flashed in the poisonous fog-filled sky.

The seven quickly ran towards the nearest obstacle checkpoint, countless tiny sparks splashing around them.

The Primarch's tall figure sprinted across the mountainside, Mortarion even scooping up Murnau, who stumbled and almost fell while running.

.

When the blood-red fireballs roared and revealed their hideous faces from the sky—

—the creatures on the ground also roared out their anger.

"Fire!!!"

Death Guard Morag stood beside a cannon, his war scythe pointing directly at the fiery red sea in the sky above the mountainside.

The cannons, pre-deployed on the flat ground at the foot of the mountain, began to roar, countless bright yellow shells screaming as they suddenly tore through the poisonous fog.

This brilliant yellow pierced through layers of fog, stabbing straight into the sky!

Screaming shells, let out our deafening battle cry!

When Mortarion dragged Hades, who was covering the rear, into the checkpoint bunker, the foremost bright yellow collided with the blood-red, tearing and exploding in the air, brilliant flowers bursting open, fragments splashing everywhere, screaming as they plunged towards the ground.

.

After the first bright flower bloomed—

A hundred flowers began to bloom in spring.

The sky, brightened.

.

Alien Lord Nac'Lare's remaining artillery was all unleashed, but the cunning creature never expected that the once-insignificant humans had also mastered the technology to improve and manufacture cannons.

Heh, arrogant alien.

Today is your death!

When the roaring sky calmed, when the trembling earth subsided, the group climbing the mountain crawled out of the checkpoint bunker, which had been shattered and battered by the fragments.

On the ground plowed by the torn artillery fire, countless broken corpses were burning fiercely, the pungent stench of corpses, even those wearing closed-circuit breathing systems could smell.

The fire burned quietly.

"Good thing we managed to get the artillery set up, even with the overtime."

Hades' slightly relieved voice rang out.

Prior to this, the Death Guard, having just conquered the flatlands at the foot of the mountain, suddenly received a message from their old stronghold in the rear.

On Barbarus' equator, faint golden light appeared within the perpetual, unyielding toxic gas.

Then, a messenger claiming to be from Terra arrived.

He claimed to be looking for a friend and was currently waiting at the old stronghold.

Mortarion immediately changed his plan to assault the summit in three days, preparing to begin the climb as soon as the night passed.

Because of this, Calas Typhon and Mortarion argued.

Calas Typhon believed that the Death Guard, having just finished fighting in the plains, needed to rest. Also, attempting to climb that day would mean heavy artillery couldn't be fully deployed.

But Mortarion insisted on ascending immediately.

That so-called messenger from Terra...

Mortarion felt a surge of panic in his heart. This couldn't be good.

Mortarion had questioned what he truly was.

A baby fallen from the sky, where did Mortarion come from?

During the argument between Mortarion and Calas Typhon, Hades joined in.

But Hades, who often suggested a cautious approach, went against his usual habits and insisted on Mortarion's plan.

"Give me one night. No need to deploy everything, just focus on the key areas that might be attacked and set up the artillery specifically for them."

The next day, the Death Guard's elite guard and Mortarion, after a brief rest, saw the hastily camouflaged and deployed artillery at the foot of the mountain, and Hades, with a bird's nest for hair and dark circles under his eyes.

Mortarion looked at the sky. The sky that had just been bright and shimmering was now silent again, and the toxic fog was rapidly churning.

It seemed that Hades' advance prediction and deployment had played a crucial role this time.

"...Well done, Hades."

Hades shrugged, his armor shifting and making cracking sounds.

"Time to continue upwards."

He looked up. The mountain path ahead wound its way towards the summit.

Just as an ice cube can feel the heat of the sun, Hades could vaguely sense that golden power down the mountain.

What Hades had to do now was simple.

Assist Mortarion in killing his adoptive father. If this succeeded, then the chances of Mortarion's future betrayal would be reduced.

Even if it didn't succeed, the Emperor would eventually come to the rescue, and they most likely wouldn't die.

Hades knew that in this game where I might not win, but I definitely won't lose—

He generally liked to take a gamble.

(ω) Happy reading