The strongest astral army in Warhammer 40K

Chapter 334: [The Super Perfect Holy Blood Angel]

In the Blood Angels' genetic laboratory, the cold white operating lights illuminated the operating table like an altar. Russell's fingertips still retained the lingering golden glow as he stared at the operating chamber behind the tempered glass—the recruit named Carleon was pinned to the iron maiden-like modification chamber by a mechanical arm, nineteen nerve conduits piercing his spine.

"Seventh stage, twentieth hour." The mechanical priest's binary prayer echoed within the chamber, and eight servo arms suddenly activated simultaneously. Carrion's scream came through the anechoic field as his eyeballs burst open inside his skull, replaced by eyepiece interfaces that rotated and drilled into his eye sockets. The nutrient solution inside the modification chamber was instantly stained pink, beads of blood seeping from his pores.

"Gene seed rejection reaction!" A scarlet Gothic warning suddenly popped up on the monitor. Carrion's chest swelled like a balloon as the implanted secondary heart devoured the original organ. Mephisto's scepter glowed with psionic runes, but was deflected upon touching the bulkhead: "Black Fury has erupted prematurely!"

Russell slammed his hand on the observation window. Golden psionic energy seeped through the reinforced glass like liquid sunlight, condensing into fine threads within the operating room. As the psionic tendrils wrapped around Carleon's wildly beating secondary heart, Russell suddenly groaned—he was experiencing all the pain firsthand through the psionic link.

Tens of thousands of gene chains exploded in Russell's consciousness. He saw the moment Saint Gilles fell, saw the first Chapter Master tearing his comrades apart in his thirst for blood, and saw the cries of countless failed modified beings. Carrion's struggle gradually materialized into a roaring blood eagle, tearing at Russell's psionic threads with its sharp beak.

"Look at me!" Russell's golden eyes projected a phantom image into the operating room, and the psionicly materialized wings of Saint Gilles enveloped the Blood Eagle. "You will bear not only pain, but also nine thousand years of glory!"

A sharp, shattering sound suddenly emanated from Carleon's spine as nineteen golden threads flowed backward along his nerve ducts. The genetic map on the monitor began to recombine wildly, the crimson area symbolizing Black Fury gradually being covered by golden psionic energy. As the robotic arm embedded the last piece of terracotta bone into his chest cavity, Carleon's newly formed prosthetic eye abruptly opened—his left pupil burning with a blood-red hue, while his right eye shimmered with Russell's distinctive golden aura.

"Double helix stability, Saint Gilles gene expression rate...117%?" The mechanical priest's electronic throat trembled with astonishment. Dante's nails dug deeply into his palms as he saw a faint psionic projection of golden wings emerge behind Carrion as he rose—clearly a sign of the Blood Angels' "perfect form," a sight unseen for millennia.

Mephisto's scepter suddenly pointed towards the laboratory dome. Everyone looked up and saw that all the gene seed storage containers were resonating and vibrating, ancient runes appearing on their surfaces in sync with Russell's psionic energy. As the first cloned gene seed automatically flew into the implantation slot in Carleon's chest, an ethereal hymn suddenly echoed throughout the fortress—the voice of the first Chapter Master awakening within the gene memory bank.

Inside the Gene Sanctuary, deep within Baal Fortress, the eight-meter-tall bronze statue of Saint Gilles suddenly shed golden tears of blood. As the ancient runes in Russell's palm resonated with the statue, all three hundred cloning pods in the gene bank simultaneously erupted in blinding light.

"Holy Blood above!" Mephisto's scepter clattered to the ground. He staggered to the observation window, turbid tears streaming down his wrinkled face—through the rising steam of holy blood, a winged figure was stretching its body in the seventh cloning chamber.

As the hatch opened amidst the hissing steam, the thirty-ton blast-proof door was torn to shreds by bare hands. A four-meter-tall giant strode in, stepping on molten steel; his pure white wings swept across the floor, creating golden iris patterns. His left eye was a molten crimson, while his right pupil swirled with a golden nebula identical to Russell's; even the curator of the think tank could sense the subspace tidal power contained within that gaze.

"Number XC-01, gene compatibility rate...cannot be calculated!" The mechanical priest's tentacles twitched wildly, smoke billowed from the data panel, and the Black Rage Index dropped to zero! The Blood Thirst reaction disappeared! This is impossible!

Mephisto trembled as he turned to page 1200 of the Scarlet Gospel. Suddenly, unfamiliar verses appeared on the yellowed parchment: "When holy blood mingles with starlight, the perfect child with wings will tear through the cursed night..." The think tank suddenly let out a night owl-like roar, its broken teeth biting its lip: "Prophecy! The prophecy of the first curator!"

As if in response to his call, the giant's wings suddenly unfurled fully. Twenty-meter-long wings of light unleashed a psionic storm, lifting all the laboratory's monitoring equipment into the air. Amidst the swirling parchment and data tablet fragments, Russell was astonished to find his golden psionic energy resonating harmoniously with the giant's.

"Test your sword!" Dante's roar pierced the chaos. Twelve warriors, enraged by black fury, burst through the door, their eyes burning with a mad, bloodthirsty flame, their power claws still dripping with the blood of their comrades. But the giant merely raised his left hand, inlaid with the Holy Blood Gem, and all the berserker warriors froze on the spot like mosquitoes pressed into amber.

"Purify with the blood of Saint Gilles." The giant's voice echoed like a church bell in the abyss. The golden nebula in his right eye suddenly collapsed into a black hole, and twelve scarlet curse energies were forcibly extracted from the warriors' bodies, condensing into pulsating blood crystals in his palm. As the blood crystals were vaporized by the light of the wings, the warriors' pupils regained their clarity for the first time.

Mephisto suddenly knelt down, his mangled right hand clutching the Holy Blood Pendant on his chest: "Emperor's Witness! This body simultaneously flows with the Holy Blood of Saint Gilles and the Starfire of the Ancient Saints!" His bloodshot eyes turned to Russell, "You have created not only warriors, but living miracles!"

As if to confirm this statement, a pillar of light suddenly descended from the dome of the gene bank. Three hundred cloning pods activated simultaneously, and miniature white winged phantoms appeared in each pod. As the first conventionally modified warrior knelt on the ground, the foundation of the entire Baal Fortress began to tremble—in the crack behind the statue of Saint Gilles, a second drop of golden holy blood was congealing.