Chapter 95: So You Can Feel Fear After All
"Tell me, are you in pain?"
A muffled sound echoed across the field, which was now covered in the Morningdew Mist. The fleeing Keeper of Secrets suddenly turned back. It could see nothing, only feeling the shriek of the air growing closer and closer, until a flash of crimson pierced through the thick fog.
SLASH!
The blade passed through its abdomen. The Keeper of Secrets dodged clumsily, its body convulsing in pain. This form, which possessed such explosive power, could now only roll across the soft grass in a pathetic escape. This body was powerful, a natural hunter, but at this moment, all it could do was twitch.
"Tell me, are you afraid?"
The knight's voice seemed to come from all directions, as if he were running circles around it.
Damn it, how can he see me?
The Keeper of Secrets sucked in a cold breath. The throbbing pain in its abdomen was so clear that even standing up straight had become difficult.
But Arthur would not give it the patience to adapt.
Just then, another sword-thrust came.
The Keeper of Secrets dove forward, rolled, and stabbed one of its back-claws into the earth, whipping its longsword behind it like a lash.
CLANG!
Sparks exploded.
The longsword shattered. Its arm, from the impact, was bent at a completely unnatural angle. The feedback from the blow made the Keeper of Secrets' face turn pale.
Too heavy.
Too painful.
It couldn't see. Its keen senses were overwhelmed by the pain. It couldn't even pinpoint the sound. The Keeper of Secrets scrambled to its feet, and another howling gale came at it. A figure broke through the thick fog, right in front of it, its blade raised high, like a knight from a myth, hunting a beast in the mist.
This is my world. Creatures die when they are killed. There are no such things as gods and ghosts.
Trust your body. Aim, and then cut.
How is this possible?
To not be able to see is one thing, but how can I not even hear him?
The heavy blade was already upon it. But it was too late. The Greater Daemon's body was superb, but just because the body could react didn't mean the entity controlling it could.
WHOOSH—
"Ah!"
A cold light flashed. An arm, still holding a round shield, flew into the sky in a parabola. Then the blade sank into its spine. The intense pain made the Keeper of Secrets scream.
It was that simple. Like a lion hunting a hyena. Lock on, suppress, and then snap the neck.
Effortless!
"See? You can feel pain too."
In the mist, layered flames flared, revealing the figures of the warriors. The scarred soldiers lunged at the daemons, like a pride of lions pouncing on hyenas.
And the daemons? Those fearless daemons?
Faced with the spraying flames, faced with the end of their lives, they could only struggle in the burning agony. They could only choose to turn and flee. When these monsters lost their twisted senses, they couldn't even hold their swords steady.
Can't win. Can't win at all.
I shouldn't have talked so much to him. If we had just fought normally, it would have been a stalemate. Why did I have to run my mouth and say all that nonsense?
Confusion. Anger.
The Keeper of Secrets blinked, a little bewildered. Its instincts made its pupils narrow, and then it quickly looked up.
Arthur had pushed through the daemonic tide again, his longsword thrusting forward. Even though the movement was slowed in its perception, its body just wouldn't move.
Dodge!
It truly regretted it. How had a few taunting words created such a monster to attack it? Normally, shouldn't he have fallen into confusion and sought the help of a greater power? Why had the Four Gods and the Anathema not reacted, and instead, it was as if he had suddenly achieved enlightenment and was now cutting it to pieces?
What in the hell is this thing!
"If there is anything I expect from you," Arthur said.
STAB!
The blade pierced its chest. The overflowing blood stained its body red. Arthur lifted his sword, slicing open its chest cavity along with the crab-claw that had changed its trajectory, then slammed the blade back down, cleaving it back into the wound in its chest.
"—it is for you not to exist."
"Not to exist."
Every muscle in the Keeper of Secrets' body trembled. Treading on the soft grass, its eyes peered at the thousands of lights beyond the mist.
People living and working in peace. Police patrolling the streets. A breakfast shop opening for another ordinary day. Life, while not perfect, with its occasional disappointments, was ultimately full of hope, full of dreams for the future.
War still existed, crime still existed, the good and evil of human nature still existed. But reality was reality. There was no higher-dimensional being interfering.
The people there had a power that countless people in this universe craved.
The power to choose who they wanted to be.
No daemons. No gods who constantly peered into the material universe, feeding on pain.
Yes, it should not exist in this world. Its skills, its ability to derive pleasure from pain, its very existence.
It no longer spoke. Because for a thing that did not exist, to do anything in this world was meaningless. It simply pulled its body away, away from the greatsword.
Then, it turned and ran.
I'm done playing!
The Keeper of Secrets turned and fled, its back to the sun that was gradually piercing through the mist.
What kind of horror story is this? This opponent wants nothing. He has no illusions about this world. He just wants it dead. He wants all daemons dead!
How could such a being exist? To deny even the soul of life, how could a being that denied the very meaning of existence in this universe exist? Even the soulless Necrons pursued souls, pursued the meaning of their existence in this universe.
Damned madman! How can something like this exist in this universe!
"Faster! Faster!" a shrill voice shrieked in its mind. It tore through the thinning mist and began to flee.
And with a Greater Daemon leading the way, the already terrified daemons broke completely, moving their who-knows-how-many legs, fleeing for their lives, desperately trying to run faster than their comrades! It was as if a storm had completely swept through the entire domain. The daemons looked around in panic, not even daring to fight back against the enemies that were attacking them from all sides.
Yes, they had lost their magic, lost their immortality, lost their twisted senses. But they still had their strong bodies, bodies far stronger than any ordinary human, enough to kill a Sister several times over, enough to surround and kill the Astartes.
But now? All they could do was flee.
"You gath—" a high-ranking daemon tried to use its status to suppress the fear of the lesser daemons, but a beam of radioactive light pierced through its upper body, grinding its form to dust and killing it and a large number of its underlings in the fleeing crowd.
The knight, charging with his sword, was close at hand.
CLANG!
A head fell. The once-crowded tide of fugitives was quickly stretched thin. All the daemons fled with their backs to the sun, wanting to escape this terrifying domain.
"Run!"
Without a single thought of struggling, these daemons were like "players" stepping onto a battlefield for the first time, suddenly discovering that the NPCs were actually starting to kill them! They could accept killing each other, but the NPCs killing them? What kind of horror story was this? This violated the natural order of the world!
A Daemonette Herald of Slaanesh was caught. Her graceful form was scorched, and a power fist crushed her charred body. A Nurgle Herald panicked, was hooked by a chainsword, its swollen body dragged to the ground, and then dismembered and torn to shreds.
"Run!"
But they soon crashed into a snow-white wall.
A wall that, in the domains of their gods, could have been easily pushed over, now seemed like an insurmountable barrier, completely blocking the path to life.
CRACK!
A severed limb hammered at the wall, but the wielder sucked in a breath of pain from the recoil. The Keeper of Secrets looked at the crack in the wall, but it couldn't bring itself to strike a second time.
A sound came from behind them. An army, its weapons drawn, quickly surrounded the daemons.
The Keeper of Secrets breathed heavily. It gradually saw the blurry figures, and along with the Great Unclean One, who had been trying to reduce its presence by hammering at the wall, it swallowed hard.
A blade fell, shredding a daemon that had been lagging behind.
The warriors, their wounds dripping fire, surged forward, their weapons wielded with a cruel efficiency. The wails of the daemons were endless.
"Flee!"
A cool breeze dispersed the thick fog. As the knight raised his golden blade, he watched as one warrior after another, their blood drained, continued to kill. He watched as one agile and powerful daemon after another was dismembered. He watched as these cruel armies were turned into a harvest of meat. The few hundred of them seemed like an army of thousands.
If you can escape!
"No, spare me!" the Keeper of Secrets shrieked, then shot a venomous glance at the Great Unclean One at its side. "My death will allow the Lord of Corruption to project more of his power! Then you won't be facing an ordinary Great Unclean One!"
The Great Unclean One had never expected the fire to turn on it. While calling for the Allfather's protection, it began to explain to the knight. "The Allfather will not accept my death! If you do not want to be caught in the eternal hunt of my family, if you do not want sickness to accompany your every step, please, spare me."
It doesn't matter!
Victory was at hand. The path of vengeance was before them.
A Sister raised her head. The chaotic blood was smeared on her shattered faceplate. There was no stench, only a faint, coppery sweetness. The feeling was strange. So daemons could bleed too. They could feel fear. They could die.
Arthur didn't care what would happen after he killed these enemies. The order his partner had given him was to kill.
And so he would kill!
"No! Even if you do not die, look around you! Your warriors are bleeding too! They have already bled dry! The fire will burn them to ash! They will die!" the Keeper of Secrets wailed.
At this moment, it truly wished it were an unimportant fatso like the Great Unclean One. The presence it had been so proud of was now so deadly.
Are you kidding?
All those sacrifices, all those comrades, did they die for nothing?
The end? After finally getting a chance to kill you completely, you want it to end?
Arthur raised his sword, a faint golden glow on its blade.
Thump, thump, thump...
The heavy footsteps hammered on everyone's heart. The daemons could only gape, watching the knight sweep past them.
In the light of the dawning sun, the Keeper of Secrets' falling head was incredibly clear.
(End of Chapter)