- BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!!! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE!!! - the roar of the demon burst forth, rushing straight into the thick of the battle of stupid mortals.
With a roar, streams of fire erupted from his dragon's mouth, his movements shook the earth, and his hooves left deep tracks in which blood immediately appeared from nowhere, as if everything around him and even the groundwater were saturated with Khorne's filth. The cruel and merciless daemons did not care about any strategic plans of their victims, nor did they care about any thousand-year-old plans of Tzeentch. What's more, Khorne did not even care about the recent appearance of Slaanesh. He needed war and for the violence to never end. That was all that mattered to him.
And the one who excelled in senseless cruelty was the Herald of Doom, who was as strong as he was insane. The monstrous giant screamed and belched flame, swung his hammer and tore down mountains with his blows, straight ahead. However, for some reason, Khorne never liked him and treated him more like... an old and boring little animal. The Herald of Doom lacked something, probably malice and hatred. There was a lot of anger in him, but the rest was not so good. Fights with him also looked boring and too predictable.
- WAR!!! WAR-A-A-A!!! - the Herald of Doom screamed again and with one blow of his two-handed hammer sent the Rangdan tank flying towards the retreating infantry.
Yes, if only he had two chain axes and preferred not to simply crush small enemies, but to seek out truly strong opponents... Then Khorne would have shown more attention to him, but with each such battle the day only approached when the little beast would become a punching bag for some more suitable candidate. And Khorne had become too weak lately, at this rate he could become the weakest of the Four. Fortunately, the Crusade was gaining momentum and an incredible explosion of violence was about to happen.
"Azimuth three hundred! A huge red demon with a hammer!" Percival's voice came over the Knights' communication line.
I immediately assessed the situation and began to move towards a new goal, abandoning the destruction of the broken Rangdans. As soon as my collar failed, I let all my power in and generously drew it from Tzeentch. The voice of death was distorted and absorbed by the Bird, who turned it into a conduit for her power and now the sound waves did not kill enemies, but created storms of rainbow sand, interfering with laser guidance and hiding our advances with an impenetrable veil.
And although the holes in the hull increased, as the confidence of most of the army wavered, the Machine Spirit was already subjugated and devoted to the influence of Chaos. I completely controlled the Knight and now it served only my purposes, groaning in agony with its plasma core, while the cogitators gave out stripes of garbage code. The enemies fled, realizing that they could not penetrate the crystal shell and that even cumulative jets did not achieve any success, because inside I covered myself with additional protection.
- HERE IS YOUR CHANCE, MORTAL!!! PROVE YOUR LOYALTY TO ME AND KILL THE FILTHY BASTARD!!! SHOW HIM THE FULL POWER OF MAGIC!!! - came the seething voice of Tzeentch, as if it were addressing not me, but Mordred.
The Demon of Khorne felt my gaze and was about to show that no magic could stop his rage and anger.
"Mordred, take your time!" Percival's voice came over the vox, but I wasn't going to listen.
A stream of furious flame fell upon me and the last bolter cannon, whose ammunition had long since run out, now completely melted. The crystal began to crack, but I managed to close the distance, after which I feinted and forced the enemy to attack.
The giant hammer was rushing straight towards me, the blow was sweeping, but at the last moment I thrust the spear into the ground and slowed my movement, starting to go to the left. The blow was delivered too early and, having approached point-blank, I struck the spear straight into the demon's side. With a roar, the plasma explosion on the tip tore the side apart and streams of flaming blood sprinkled the ground.
But the Herald of Doom still surpassed me in his agility. While I was still making the second scent, the Khorne daemon struck me with the handle of his hammer with a furious cry and almost knocked me to the ground. The blow made a ringing sound and pieces of crystal fell to the ground, immediately picked up by the will of the Bird, which directed them straight at the demon's eyes. Reaching monstrous speed, the fragments tore even the skin burning with fire, but could not inflict too serious a wound.
And now I saw a gap in the defense, an exposed neck, and my spear restored balance after the first blow. One lunge should have put an end to it, but the Herald of Doom, although dull, had honed his reflexes to an incredible level after tens of thousands of battles. He fought rather subconsciously and exposed himself intentionally.
As soon as my spear approached the neck, this creature presented its incredibly thick forehead, slightly hunched over and letting out a terrifying battle cry. The plasma blast tore off one horn, melted the skin and exposed the skull, but... it could not penetrate the incredibly strong and thick bone. I could not predict this, and the demon had already released the handle of his hammer and was about to pierce my body with his claws.
- THINK WHAT YOU'RE DOING!!! THIS IS NOT A GAME, BUT A WAR!!! - the roar of Knight Percival was heard, who had already realized that I had not listened to the vox.
At full speed, Percival rammed his shoulder into the demon, knocking it off balance and not allowing it to deliver the final blow. Immediately, his sword cut its neck, but Percival did not stop there and, demonstrating all his skill, made a figure eight with his wrist, while retreating back, inflicting another deep cut on the back of the demon's thigh. Even in the most furious battle, Percival never lost his head and cold-bloodedly exterminated the enemies of Alba, and now the enemies of all Humanity.
However, such blows did not have the desired effect. The demon's torn arteries instantly tightened in flames, making it clear that death from bleeding was not even to be expected. The demon himself again demonstrated incredible speed and strength, performing a circular blow that raised a whirlwind of flame and almost hit Percival and me.
- DEATH!!! - the demon roared and suddenly rushed at me like a mad berserker, raising his hammer above his head.
I was smart enough not to try to parry such an attack and, having fired the mutated Voice of Death into the demon's face, humming with my servos creaking from the extreme load, I literally forced the Knight to jump to the side, although from the outside it still seemed like an extremely clumsy and slow maneuver. Unless, of course, you take into account that these were giants of steel that weighed thousands of tons, as well as a demon, whose bone and muscle density eclipsed any metal.
- COVERING!!! - the vox burst into a scream again and Gareth's laser beam flew through five kilometers with direct fire.
This was our moment to attack, where I acted first. Percival had much more experience, let him adapt to my crazy maneuvers, as well as due to the influence of the warp, my cuckoo was moving quickly. The voices of Tzeentch constantly sounded in my head, a bird was chirping something, for some reason I heard the souls of the fallen or it was just another attack of madness. I honestly stopped trying to understand something a long time ago and concentrated on the simplest tasks, such as destroying enemies.
But as if sensing our plan or catching a flashback from the past, the Doomsayer froze and simply stared at me. I realized too late that it was a trap. My Knight had already lunged and the spear was thrusting in an incredibly long lunge towards his chest.
The demon stood rooted to the spot and looked straight into my visors, making me flinch. It was as if a primeval predator was looking at me, and I felt like prey. If it weren't for the will of the warp in my soul and the madness, I would have fallen into a stupor. However, the blow still reached its target, but not before the demon stood half-sideways, not trying to dodge and taking the attack on his left forearm.
The plasma explosion sent shreds of meat and burning flesh flying into the air, and then I saw the muscles of my left arm contract, another splash of blood accompanying the maximum tension before the next blow. After all, the demon's senses recognized every move Percival made, and he was already closing the distance. So much for all that life experience, what good is it when the enemy can deliver a spinning blow in a split second?
At the last moment, Percival somehow began to group himself, sensing something was wrong. And then the hammer flew at full speed over the ground and rammed Percival, breaking his right arm, crushing his power sword and breaking his armor with a terrible screech, causing terrible deformations of the hull. Having flown ten meters, Percival froze, broken on the outside, but still shining in the darkness with a bright fire of steel will.
"Percival!" Gareth shouted, trying to contact his comrade, launching missiles that flew too long and the demon easily dodged them.
- BLOOOOOW!!! - the roar of the Herald of Doom made the earth tremble, and his demonic voice caused panic among the infantry, which began firing randomly at the rushing horde of Bloodslingers, who were cutting down the Rangdans and had already reached the forces of the Imperial Army coming towards them.
And starting to push towards me, he caught me off guard with a light and swift blow. I managed to cover myself with a shield, but even a tangential blow knocked me off balance.
- WEAKNESS!!! TRASH!!! - the Herald of Doom roared and sent me on my back with a blow from his healed shoulder. - WHERE IS THE DEMIGOD?! WHERE IS HE?!
After that, the bastard simply turned away from me and headed towards Gareth, whose core was overheating and whose ammunition was running low. He wasn't particularly interested in Gareth either, it was just that this horde of Khorne's demons were wandering the battlefield looking for a worthy opponent, in particular Moiran, who had already landed and was fighting who knows where.
- Who do you think you are? - I hissed, incredibly hurt by such an attitude, feeling how anger began to flare up inside me. - STOP, WHO AM I SPEAKING TO!!! WE ARE NOT FINISHED YET!!!
And with a crack and a ringing the crystal began to materialize, growing under me like ice. Immediately upon returning to the vertical position, I shot a spear into the back of the departing demon, who growled again and turned around discontentedly, splashing his fiery blood.
"GET DOWN!!!" he yelled and with a hammer blow launched the armored personnel carrier at me, sending it flying like a golf ball.
This forced me to cover myself with a shield again, and the demon himself had already closed the distance, showing again that even the first idiot in the universe, through sheer persistence and tens of thousands of battles, can learn something and become an incredibly dangerous enemy.
- TZINCH!!! - I screamed, and Mordred's soul screamed with me.
The hammer was hurtling straight towards the Knight's head like a comet, but even before it struck, the warp was distorted by chaotic changes. A wall of crystal began to appear right in the hammer's path, and with a monstrous ringing, brute force turned magic into dust. The hammer covered one meter after another, causing the wall to crack and explode, approaching the top of my head. And now the damned metal and fire had burned my last visor, when suddenly...
The hammer hit my shield with a weak thud, giving up the last bits of momentum.
"And once again magic has won," the voice of Tzeentch sounded in the ear of the Herald of Doom, and to the sound of his laughter my spear had already pierced the teeth of the dragon's mouth.
A monstrous plasma blast tore the head off and the charred skull fell ten meters behind the demon. The frontal bone did not crack, as did the upper part of the skull. However, the cervical vertebrae cracked and broke from the shock wave, and the temperature difference scorched everything around them, until the shock wave simply tore the head off.
With a crash, the demon fell to his knees, still clinging to the hammer with his hands, and I slowly plunged the spear into the lower part of his neck and initiated a second reaction to the spear tip. After that, three finishing blows followed in the back, with which I tore apart the entire chest. Now the demon was definitely dead.
On the one hand, Khorne was in his usual rage. His already fiery temper had turned into a fiery storm that had lashed out at the planet. This was due to the weakness of his followers, and to their hatred for me, for ruining such a fine battle with such base force. On the other hand, Khorne had shown some interest in all the Knights.
At that moment, many felt unusual emotions in their souls, but they could not explain it. For the galaxy, the existence of magic was the norm, but any theories about the existence of intelligent forces claiming power over all souls... no, such things were considered stupidity and archaic remnants of religions that tried to see magic in the scientific nature of the warp. Of course, this was a delusion into which the Imperium was deliberately plunged by the Emperor himself.
However, just as during the Age of Strife the sorcerer kings had plagued Terra, so too on other worlds the same Knights had fought sorcerers who were no less a threat than the xenos. And psykers had always been there, and the beyond mortal comprehension had too often influenced fate.
"How many have I defeated..." I whispered, my voice echoing with the crystal dust across the battlefield. "With such strength, we can truly win. No... with such strength, we will definitely win."
"This is only a small part of my power. And the stronger you become, the further the horizon of your potential will extend," Tzeentch answered me.
At that moment, my soul spoke in unison with Mordred's soul. We became practically one whole, which made it difficult for me to understand whether this was a call from the past to Mordred, or whether Tzeentch from the future spoke to me, cutting through time itself. Although I was tormented by questions, I was interested in that potential... the limit of my capabilities and the flame of dangerous ambitions.
"Oh, that's what you're thinking," Tzeentch drawled as flames flared in the center of the capital of Herelliana IV, a city of billions, and acrid smoke rose into the sky. "Yes, Mordred, that's where he is. He took four gifts at once, not wanting to give preference to one. It shows his insolence, but he will be punished for it. Perhaps by you? I would have you do it."
- Don't listen to him! Don't listen! Don't listen! Don't listen! - the Bird suddenly began to chirp, starting to peck at the crystal covering my entire body.
And along with her voice, the insistent ringing was sobering me up more and more. The spell began to fade, as Mordred himself almost immediately sensed the approach and the lie in Tzeentch's words. I had a pretty good sense for lies, but Mordred... he had this skill at its absolute. His entire life, it was used only, because of which any attempt to get close to controlling it was met with incredibly strong resistance. Because of this, he was sometimes eerily predictable.
Tzeentch laughed and disappeared, having calculated everything and knowing our every move. I still headed towards the center of the biologically catastrophe-ridden capital of Hereliana.
- Stop! - a voice suddenly rang out in the vox and Percival blocked my Knight's path. - What are you doing?! Is your collar OK?! Mordred!
"The collar has been out of order for a long time," I said, grimacing, realizing that my commanders had finally been informed about this. "But that's not a problem. I have complete control over the situation."
- I don't think so. You are consumed by anger and hatred, you act recklessly and the warp has become too thick around you. You are on the verge of obsession, Mordred! Stop!
- Your worries are groundless, Percival. Go to the rear, heal your wounds and regroup. I will go forward, meeting any enemy who tries to stop you. We must hurry, perhaps Moiran needs our help.
"Mordred, you need help! The entire vox can hear your mad whispers and conversations with yourself!" Percival shouted almost desperately, his Knight barely able to stand up straight due to the monstrous damage. "You will go to the rear with me."
"Such decisions are no longer in your power," I answered calmly and walked forward.
Percival tried to stop me, but with a slight movement he went back onto his back.
"Gareth, stop him!" Percival shouted into the wax.
- Gareth, help him get to the rear. Once you restore the ammunition, take command. Lancelot and seven other Knights were killed or rendered incapacitated. You are the best candidate for this position.
Gareth didn't ask me why I was giving orders, or what he couldn't do for me. So he had to accept my offer, which sounded like an order. In the end, it was the most sensible decision.
Percival could only look at me into the distance. He understood that this was our last meeting and that Gereliana would become a grave for me as well. And I guessed it too, even Mordred's soul sensed his imminent death. But one way or another, under the roar of orbital explosions and the laughter of the dark gods, the Crystal Knight continued to hum with its mighty plasma core and move towards fulfilling the only meaning of its existence.
— Death awaits.
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