8 vs. Lord Razael

Hades gripped his scythe with both hands, straining to withstand the Lord's downward strike, the two locked in a desperate struggle.

Herrela's figure gradually receded into the distance, and Hades inwardly breathed a sigh of relief, but he couldn't afford to let his guard down against the Psychic Lord Razael.

The difference in their strength was too great; one mistake could cost Hades his life.

As if realizing Hades' little scheme to have Herrela call for backup, Lord Razael's twisted and hideous face contorted into a mocking sneer.

"You are a fragile piece of trash. You won't last until that monster arrives. I will tear your weak body to shreds!"

Hades gritted his teeth, trembling with exertion, but he still managed to force out a few words.

"Razael, but haven't you already lost?"

Lord Razael instantly flew into a rage, his bloodstained and battered body proof that he had been on the losing side in the battle against Mortarion.

Another claw, the size of a small car, suddenly burst from the Lord's body, slashing toward him with the force of a lightning storm, reeking of blood and decay!

Crap! Shouldn't have provoked him! My mouth is going to get me killed!

Hades immediately used his scythe to deflect the force, spinning the shaft to dissipate the massive impact, while simultaneously leaping backward and to the right. The claw, gleaming with a greenish-black toxic light like an iron hook, barely missed him.

Close call!

That thing's claws are definitely poisoned; one scratch and I'm done for!

Damn it, he's a max-level enchanted melee mage, and I'm fresh out of the newbie village. What am I supposed to do against that?

Adrenaline surged through him as Hades' mind raced, searching for a solution. He carefully observed the terrain and his opponent, analyzing the current situation.

They were currently on a mountain path, with a bottomless cliff on one side and towering mountain walls on the other. Some scattered rocks littered the path, and a few withered trees jutted out from the mountain face.

Other than the possibility of jumping off the cliff as a last-ditch gamble for survival, the terrain offered him no advantage. He even had to be wary of the Lord throwing him off the cliff.

He stared intently at Lord Razael. Lord Razael was a beast resembling a hybrid of a man and a tiger, with a hideous, obese human face covered in drool-soaked whiskers. His body, the size of a small car, was riddled with strange pits, from which the claw that had just burst forth had emerged.

Furthermore, embedded deep within the most densely pitted area of his back was a fist-sized, bizarre stone, which was currently emitting a dim green glow.

According to the Death Guard resistance's previous investigation of Razael, this was some kind of Psychic Power amplifier that the brutal Lord had obtained through human sacrifice.

Razael had originally been a minor Lord in a peripheral region, but after obtaining this stone, he had won numerous wars between Lords with his powerful Psychic Sorcery, gradually gaining control of the Morar Region.

But what puzzled Hades at the moment was that Razael hadn't used any Psychic Sorcery in either of the two attacks, relying solely on his physical strength.

A strange move. This didn't align with Hades' previous investigation of Lord Razael at all.

Hades quickly formed two hypotheses in his mind. The first possibility was that Razael was deliberately attacking with his body, lulling Hades into a false sense of security regarding Psychic Sorcery attacks.

The second possibility was that Lord Razael had been seriously injured in the previous battle with Mortarion and was currently unable to use Psychic Power.

But Hades knew that Razael was now Mortarion's defeated opponent, and in his desperate flight, he wouldn't have the mind to leave any Psychic Power reserves for a mere soldier like Hades.

So, it was highly likely that Lord Razael had been injured in the previous battle with Mortarion and was unable to wield Psychic Power.

Hopefully, it's the second possibility, Hades prayed silently. Fighting a melee mage with low health and no mana was something he might actually be able to handle.

At least, the chances of escaping would be better.

His brain was working overtime, and Hades' movements didn't stop. He was currently adopting a proactive defensive tactic, comically leaping around the narrow mountain platform, dodging the opponent's attacks.

He swung his scythe, the massive blade disrupting most of Razael's attacks. Claws and steel collided at high speed, clanging and sparking.

And when Hades couldn't avoid it, he would use his heavily armored elbows and shins to take the hits, bright red blood mixed with blackish-green venom splattering everywhere, staining the gray-yellow mountain path along with Lord Razael's blood.

And compared to Hades, who was determined to defend solidly and stall for time, Lord Razael was becoming increasingly frantic.

Time is of the essence! He can't let that little soldier stall until that monster Mortarion arrives! He has to escape quickly!

If his Psychic Power teleportation hadn't been interrupted midway! If he hadn't been caught off guard, he wouldn't have let another soldier escape!

Lord Razael's heart was also in turmoil. His usually prideful sorcery had been smashed by that monster Mortarion with his superb physical scythe skills. Knowing that fighting again would be a dead end, he immediately sought an opportunity to use Psychic Power to escape.

Even if Mortarion was strong, so what? Not knowing Psychic Sorcery, he could only watch him use Psychic Power to escape.

However, Razael's usually reliable sorcery suddenly encountered a problem. He had originally set the other end of the teleportation at the foot of the mountain, but during the teleportation, he suddenly felt his connection to the Warp weaken.

Barbarus was originally a planet with a thin barrier to the Warp, which also meant that the Lords who used Psychic Power on it could easily draw power from the Warp.

But suddenly, that connection to the Warp was severed, and the increasingly solid physical laws of the real world squeezed Lord Razael, forcing him to stop the teleportation midway.

He was squeezed out of the Warp's short-range teleportation, and when he came out, he saw Hades and Herrela cleaning up the fleeing soldiers behind him.

What the hell is going on?!

Not only that, but he found that his connection to the Warp was becoming weaker and weaker! He couldn't even concentrate Psychic Power to use a simple Psychic Power spell!!!

No! This can't be happening!!!

What the hell is going on??!

While fighting Hades, Lord Razael absentmindedly immersed his thoughts in the countless forbidden books he had once perused, one forbidden word after another flashing before his eyes.

Finally, he found a word deep in his memory—

"untouchable"—Untouchable.

Could it be that the trash in front of him is an Untouchable???!!

No, how could it be! Untouchables are purely old wives' tales; even in the legendary Golden Age, there wasn't a single mention of Untouchables!

Lord Razael wasn't one to believe rumors, but the increasingly fragile connection with the Warp constantly reminded him. He could even feel his soul slowly being consumed since he started grappling with the small fry opposite him.

No!!! Impossible!!! Apart from a monster like Mortarion!!! No lowly human could threaten him, Razael!!!

They are trash! Weak insects!!! Ubiquitous weeds!!! They can't possibly be those rumored beings!!

Lord Razael's exceptionally keen senses already felt the tremors of Mortarion striding down the mountain path in the distance. Time was running out!!

This damn jumping flea! A mortal who only knows how to use fragile physical attacks!!!

I, Razael, am far above you!!!

Die!!!

Razael disregarded the already tenuous connection to the Warp, extending a pale, human-like hand from a recess in his back. The space next to his hand began to distort, and eerie white light crackled, coalescing on that hand.

He would tear this bug apart with one blow!!!

Hades stared intently at the white light on that hand, raising his scythe to protect vital areas.

Because of his previous encounters with Typhus, Hades knew very well that if he turned and ran downhill now, he wouldn't be able to escape the range of that psychic attack.

But... perhaps he could try—

—running upwards!

He feigned a defensive stance, but in reality, he was fixated on a withered tree on the mountainside beside him with his peripheral vision.

He planned to leap up the instant that attack was unleashed, use his scythe to hook onto the withered tree, and then use the momentum to swing up and avoid the attack!

If the impact of this psychic attack was extremely strong, then the shockwave might even carry him to a safe area above!

Razael certainly wouldn't turn around to follow up, because he himself was also trying to escape!

Even though Hades had blocked most of Lord Razael's attacks earlier, his lacerated limbs had already begun to twitch weakly. At the same time, the heavy bleeding was making Hades feel dizzy.

Although he gritted his teeth to avoid showing it, Hades knew he couldn't hold on for much longer.

If Mortarion didn't arrive to support him in another two minutes, then Hades would definitely choose to jump off the cliff.

In other words, The next action of both sides would be crucial in determining the outcome of the battle.

However, a situation that neither side had anticipated occurred.

As Hades focused most of his attention on that psychic energy gathering point, in a dimension beyond his awareness, the spherical black hole covering his entire body, resembling an Untouchable, began to deform. The pure black void began to twist, as if alive, slowly wriggling forward and extending.

If one were to look at Hades from the Warp, one would see a pure and dense black figure in the very center. He was like an extremely small star, emitting black light outwards, devouring everything it touched.

But as the observation zoomed out, the black light became weaker and weaker, until it completely blended into the impure darkness of the Warp.

Because they were all black, it was difficult to notice this small black figure in the Warp.

At this moment, Hades's black void slowly and irreversibly deformed, devouring the yellow-green light belonging to Lord Razael next to him, and also devouring some fragmented purulent flesh floating beside those lights.

Grandfather Nurgle muttered softly in his dreams.

Hades stared intently at Lord Razael.

Suddenly!!! The violently agitated white light in Razael's hand vanished in an instant, as if it had never existed, and the stones on his back exploded at the same time! A huge shockwave burst out with Lord Razael as the center!

The rolling shockwave also attacked Hades. Without the slightest hesitation, using the thrust of the shockwave, Hades leaped into the air, and with all his might, hooked the scythe upwards. The iron-clad part of the back of the scythe blade steadily hooked onto the roots of the withered tree!

Hades exerted force with both hands, using the momentum to swing up! He drew a perfect arc with the withered tree as the center!

His blood splattered as he slid, drawing Hades's trajectory in the air.

His senses were magnified to the extreme, and time felt like viscous swamp. Hades clearly heard his heart slowly thumping once.

He was now diagonally above Lord Razael. That monster had not died after taking a bizarre explosion. His back was cracked open, and a large amount of blood spurted out like a fountain.

But he was not dead yet. Hades could clearly see his struggling limbs and clearly hear the monster's dying wail.

A good opportunity!!!

Without a trace of hesitation, Hades let the scythe release the branch. He was in the air, heavily swinging the blade towards the monster's head.

At the same time, "Hades!!!"

The figures of Mortarion and Herrela appeared abruptly on the mountain path above. Along with them, Mortarion threw a dagger at Razael.

However, Hades, who was in the air, did not realize all of this.

His brain had gone blank, and his whole mind was focused on the scythe in his hand.

Then, Hades swung down the full moon scythe that reaped death and harvest—

—heads and blood flew together.

He is Death Guard, he is the scythe of humanity.

The protagonist is an almost Untouchable physique, but later, for convenience, the explanation will directly explain it as an Untouchable.

In the early stage, everyone can understand the protagonist as a more powerful Untouchable mutant.

There is a small bug here. With the physique of an ordinary human woman, it is highly unlikely that she can keep up with the full-speed running of the Primarch Mortarion, but I think it is necessary to let the girl see the protagonist show off, so maybe it is the power of love, maybe.