Leo's heart skipped a beat.
Ten years ago?
His thoughts instantly drifted back to the past, to what seemed to be the last time Caladogon piloted the Knight Mech in battle.
The result was defeat. Everyone thought Caladogon wouldn't live much longer, but no one expected that he would survive for another ten years.
"Could it be because Grandpa relied on the power of Chaos? That's impossible..."
Leo's breathing faltered, but he quickly gritted his teeth and forced himself to calm down.
Chaos evil beings are masters of sweet talk and sowing discord in people's hearts.
The more it says that, the less you should believe it.
"Stop spreading these fallacies!" Leo roared, flicking his wrist as the dagger arced through the air and slashed fiercely at the fleshy growth spreading from inside the cabin.
"Get out of St. Garus territory!"
The blade struck flesh and blood, the disintegrating force field scorching the Chaos tissue, producing a sizzling sound, and black smoke scattered in all directions.
The monster let out a muffled groan of pain, but immediately, more fleshy tentacles surged from all sides of the cockpit, like countless venomous snakes, and coiled around Leo.
They wanted to drag him into the cabin, into that filthy mass of flesh and blood, and assimilate him.
Leo quickly retreated, dodging the tentacles that were attacking head-on, but the alloy floor beneath his feet also trembled slightly.
He looked down and saw that dark red fleshy fungi were emerging from the cracks in the floor and climbing up the soles of his boots.
These things... have actually contaminated the entire warehouse?
Leo's heart sank.
He had initially thought it was just a malevolent creature in the cockpit, but now it seemed that the entire underground warehouse had become the lair of this Chaos monster.
It seems that Grandpa's disappearance was perhaps due to Luna forcing him to this place.
"You can't escape, child." The monster's voice drifted over slowly, carrying an eerie, hypnotic quality.
"The blood of St. Garus is an innate part of me."
" Caladogon held out for ten years, and didn't he gradually become one with me?"
"The same as you."
"Stay and reunite with your grandfather."
More and more fleshy tentacles emerged from every crack in the walls, ceiling, and floor, densely packed and closing in on Leo.
The yellowish-green light flickered, making the dark red flesh appear even more grotesque.
Leo gripped the dagger tightly in his hand; his back and palms were covered in cold sweat.
You definitely can't win a direct confrontation.
His gaze unconsciously swept across the cockpit, then over the heavy armor of the Wrath of Holy Judgement.
Once you can sit in the cockpit and actually start this Lord-class Knight mech...
No matter how bizarre this monster is, it can't withstand a direct hit from the plasma annihilation cannon.
The thought flashed through his mind, and Leo moved silently toward the cockpit entrance.
But the monster seemed to read his mind and chuckled.
"You want to unleash the Wrath of Holy Judgement?"
"Child, you are too naive."
As soon as he finished speaking, the fuselage of the Wrath of Holy Judgement suddenly trembled slightly.
From the gaps in the originally bright yellow Adamantium armor, wisps of dark red fleshy fungi began to seep out, slowly spreading along the armor's patterns and crawling across half of the shoulder armor like a spider web.
Leo's face turned deathly pale instantly.
Even... even the mechs have been contaminated?
wrong!
If this mech is truly and completely corrupted, why doesn't this monster just pilot it out?
Why has it stayed here for more than ten years?
What is it waiting for?
Waiting for the bloodline of St. Garus?
Waiting for someone who can truly activate the mech's core?
Countless thoughts flashed through Leo's mind in an instant.
It's waiting for me, or rather... it hasn't truly assimilated Grandpa yet?
It requires a direct descendant of St. Garus to fully control this Lord-class knight mech.
That's why it used words to bewitch and tentacles to surround, but never actually killed the target.
It wants to assimilate itself, and wants to use its own hands to unlock the final lock of the Wrath of Holy Judgement.
Having figured this out, Leo calmed down.
Its desires imply that it has reservations.
It is not invincible.
Leo slowly raised his head, meeting the monster's empty gaze, a cold smile curling at the corner of his mouth.
You want to assimilate me?
"Based on your inhuman, ghostly appearance?"
The monster's laughter abruptly stopped. It seemed not to have expected that this young man would dare to provoke it even in such a desperate situation.
"You're courting death." Its voice turned cold, and the surrounding fleshy tentacles instantly accelerated, like venomous snakes emerging from their holes, lunging towards Leo.
"Since you refuse to obey, I'll first cripple your hands and feet, then slowly assimilate you."
Tentacles pierced through the air, accompanied by a stench-filled gust of wind.
Leo's eyes sharpened, and he was about to dodge to the side when he suddenly felt a slight heat in his chest.
A cold, heavy power surged from his body.
It was the power he felt in that strange space when he was resurrected.
The aura of that black sun.
A chilling coldness spread through his veins to every part of his body, and Leo felt his body instantly become several times lighter.
He can even clearly "capture" the movement trajectory of each tentacle and see the patterns of their wriggling.
"This is..."
The monster in the cockpit also abruptly stopped its attack.
It stared intently at Leo, and for the first time, a clear emotional fluctuation appeared in its empty eye sockets.
It was shock, and a hint of undisguised fear.
"This power..."
How can you have its scent on you?!
That black sun rising from the depths of the soul, its icy radiance once swept away all the whispers and temptations of the Warp.
The moment consciousness crashed back into the body, all the silence and chill surged fiercely within St. Garus's bloodline.
It eventually transformed into warm and blazing golden flames, erupting from Leo's limbs and bones.
"Buzz!"
Pale golden holy flames spread out from Leo like a tide, illuminating the dim cockpit with their intense light.
The dark red, fleshy tentacles clinging to the bulkhead and spreading toward him contracted violently, like cat claws touching hot water.
At the same time, it emitted a sizzling burning sound and billowed out foul-smelling black smoke.
The Adamantium armor covered in Chaos flesh emitted a piercing screech, and the filthy tissue rapidly charred and peeled away under the holy flames, revealing the bright yellow Wrath of the Wrath of Holy Judgement beneath.
Leo slowly stood up, and a thin layer of golden flame edge appeared on the tactical dagger in his hand.
He stared at the writhing mass of flesh in the center of the cockpit, his eyes no longer filled with the initial shock and panic, but only with utter anger and disgust.
"Traitor!"
His voice was hoarse yet firm, each word like a piece of iron that had been tempered in fire:
"A filthy creature fallen into Chaos, does it even deserve to bear the face of St. Garus? Does it even deserve to lay a finger on the family's mechs?"
Before he finished speaking, Leo pushed off with his feet and shot out like an arrow.
The powered short sword sliced through the air, carrying golden holy flames, and pierced fiercely into the writhing core of flesh and blood.
"Hoaaaaah!!"
The old man's face, covered in blood and flesh, emitted a shrill scream, and the entire mass of flesh convulsed and thrashed wildly.
The dark red tentacles, like enraged venomous snakes, lashed out at Leo, but retreated when they were burned by the golden holy flames on his body within half a meter of him.
The holy flames seeped wildly into the flesh along the blade, melting the Chaos tissues like wax wherever they passed.
The enormous mass of flesh swelled and contracted violently, as if enduring unimaginable pain.
"Traitor?"
"We have the blood of St. Garus flowing in our veins, and we are taught from childhood to be 'loyal to the death'."
"But have you ever thought about what the False Emperor has given us?"
"A palace destined to collapse, a responsibility that can never be fulfilled, and a one-way street leading to death."
"They sing praises of sacrifice, because the more people sacrifice themselves, the more secure the foundation of their thrones will be."
"This is the 'eternity' of False Emperor: eternal exploitation, eternal oblivion."
"Look at your grandfather, look at those who turned to dust on the Forbidden Wall."
"What did the Imperium give them? A stone tablet, a eulogy, and then they were thrown into the dustbin of history."
"But I found the real way out. The Grandfather is not destruction, but an eternal opportunity, a compromise that transcends death."
"Only by joining Him can I see true hope for the rise of my family!"