Warhammer: I don't want to become a stinky can!

A streak of emerald green streaked across the sky like a full moon.

Sufficient sharpness brings a light touch, the cut surface of flesh is exposed in the air, and bone fragments splatter!

Perturabo grunted, his gaze falling to the green phantom. His left calf had been severed at the third of its length, exposing the contracting tendons.

Perturabo, who was running at full speed, was momentarily distracted. At that moment, bang! The huge broken sword that was gliding in the air slammed into his head like a stone slab. Perturabo finally lost his balance and fell to the ground.

In order to catch Peturabo and close the distance between them in a short time, Hades lunged forward—

His icy hand arrived on the battlefield a fraction of a millisecond later, gripping Perturabo's head. But the Lord of Steel was already dazed in the Dark Realm, and Hades was also lying on the ground, pressing down on Perturabo. Weapons were scattered around. Without hesitation, Hades smashed Perturabo's head directly into the sharp steel bars exposed in the wreckage beside him.

"grass!!!"

Hades roared angrily. He looked at the steel bars that had been flattened by the Primarch's head and realized that he had been blinded by rage. Even so, in a few seconds, Perturabo's soul would also dissipate directly in his Dark Domain.

The rumbling noise filled Hades' brain, and he couldn't immediately tell whether it was the blood flowing in his brain or the sound of the battlefield.

Hades retrieved the broken sword with his other hand, struggled to his knees again, and thrust the sword directly at Perturab's neck. Perturab, his lips pressed tightly against the ground, smiled faintly; he had gambled correctly—

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The massive spaceship plunged directly into the battlefield from the darkness overhead. In a daze, Hades saw silver and gold worm-like cables, and the explosive flames violently assaulted his vision. White light containing psionic energy flashed, and in that instant, Hades caught a glimpse of the metallic monster.

Vashtor stood at the very center of the fire and explosion, its prongs slowly lifting Peturabo, who lay paralyzed among the wreckage, a damned thing still wearing a smile on its lips.

Hades's rationality faltered for a moment at that instant.

Amidst the flames, Hades, blown away by the shockwave, plunged his broken sword into the ground. He steadied himself, then charged forward like a mad bull, completely ignoring the psionic energy relentlessly pressing down on him. It was as if four madmen were screaming in his ears, but none of that mattered anymore. Hades' ears rang, and blood flowed—

He raised his broken sword straight and resolutely toward Vashtor, who turned around in terror to see him still there. He saw that damned Peturabo's smile finally turn into the shape of his mouth before his terrified roar.

For Vashtor to scream like that, he must have been like a madman for a moment.

Psionic fluctuations rippled around Vashtor, a sign of psionic teleportation—Hades pounced on him, raising his broken sword. The darkness almost made the area tremble, also halting their escape.

Vashtor's limbs were torn apart by the sword. In order to catch up with them, Hades lost his balance and fell to the ground, but he twisted and rushed toward Vashtor and Peturabo, who were also fleeing.

"Prepare to die!!!"

Hades shouted, but out of the corner of his eye he saw the fiery red steel bull rushing toward them from a distance. Without hesitation, Vashtor spread its wings and charged toward the bull. One of its limbs gripped the steel bull tightly, and in Hades' darkness, the bull slid away with Vashtor and Peturabo in its arms, both smoothly and fearfully.

Hades, with an unreadable expression, remained kneeling amidst the ruins.

Hades roared in fury, in utter fury.

"Ugh—ugh ...

The next moment, the psychic energy tide that suppressed his dark domain suddenly receded, and the noise of bombers came from the sky.

Hades seemed completely unconcerned about all of this. He roared angrily. In the distance, the Knights of the Silent Order, who had rushed over, began firing bullets into the sky. Further away, in the center of the altar, Loka collapsed to the ground, almost exhausted. The makeshift, upside-down, fleshy, false god sculpture had been reduced to scorched wasteland.

4.4, great!

Chapter 407 Who Wins?

Warships cast shadows from the hazy sky, flames roared, and the rising smoke across the continent seemed to form a vast ocean of ash.

The indiscriminate bombing continued, a slight tremor came from the ground beneath one's feet, and small black stones fell from the tower, which hummed, while black lightning circled around it.

Hades leaned against the black obelisk with a blank expression, the bloodstains that had been hastily wiped away still faintly visible on his pale face.

The holographic projection in front of him was flashing violently, and the figure of the Medusa Lord appeared.

Phenus's eyes seemed hesitant, while Hades maintained a calm after extreme anger, even showing some fatigue, or rather, regret for not knocking the traitor's brains out.

Fernus hesitated for a moment, recalling the scene he had just witnessed, when the voice of the Medusa Queen rang out amidst the roar of cannons.

【……Thanks for your hard work.】

Hades coughed violently, seemingly not understanding what Phenus was saying. He looked at the other man, who stared back at him firmly.

[Support from the Steel Hand is on its way. We encountered some trouble in the airspace above Cardia, but we can now proceed with the airdrop. The first wave of air troops has been deployed.]

Hades breathed a sigh of relief. His timing was correct; the Order of Silence would be able to hold out until the Iron Hand's reinforcements arrived. At least the "eternal nine hours" hadn't occurred here.

"I'll send you a topographical map of Cardia. Send support as soon as possible."

Hades said that due to the indiscriminate and massive bombing by the Iron Warriors, the terrain of Kadia is now changing every two hours, not to mention the power of the chaotic psionic energy that has also been cast upon the continent.

Phenus opened his mouth,

[The Steel Hand may land from the side. The Steel Warriors' bombardment of your area is too intense; the Steel Hand cannot gain air superiority in this area in a short time. However, we will try our best to disrupt the Steel Warriors' bombardment of you.]

Hades nodded silently. Seeing that there was nothing more to negotiate, Medusa's figure vanished with the particle light and shadow with a whoosh.

Hades glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw the golden-armored figure at the front line. Had it not been for Charon of the Royal Guard and Sister Silent Blackfa who rushed over in time to restrain the furious Hades, Hades thought he might have tried to chase after Peturabo and his group for a while longer.

He felt his bones creaking, and the immense pressure still pressed down on him, though it was much less than when he had fought Peturabo.

Hades, who had just forced his way through the pressure of the four gods' spiritual energy, also suffered a backlash. Hades silently smelled the blood in his mouth; several of his internal organs were definitely shattered. On the other side, he closely watched the movements on the battlefield.

After the chaos, both Perturabo and Vashtor showed signs of exhaustion, panting heavily. Hades was curious as to why the demon army of the Four Gods didn't fill the vacancy—the buzzing black obelisk behind Hades answered his question.

Unfortunately, Hades briefly recalled his previous battles and realized that he seemed to faint after each outburst, only to open his eyes to find the medical room ceiling staring at him.

Hades cannot afford to fall early this time; he must fight the entire battle and ensure the traitor on the other side is killed.

Hades pondered, controlling the Dark Domain while keeping an eye on the battlefield and healing himself with his breathing technique, quietly awaiting the next phase of the war.

Hades thought to himself, "I can't act impulsively anymore."

--------

Finus stared silently at the screen, which was the image of Cardia transmitted by the Steel Hand detector. On the blurry, pixelated image, a large shadow could be vaguely seen moving rapidly forward.

That's... Hades?

Phenusmanus could hardly describe what he had witnessed. He saw his former brother, now the traitor Perturabo, running shirtless with unwavering resolve, while on the other side, the mass of darkness raced toward the Primarch.

But Peturabo was, after all, a Primarch, and the gap between them was widening.

Then came a green phantom, followed by a black shadow. Fernus saw Perturabo fall, and the darkness seized the opportunity, lunging forward.

Fernus had no idea what had happened in that small space shrouded in absolute darkness, but he knew that Perturabo was not dead. The next moment, a spaceship crashed straight down.

The image transmitted by the detector suddenly distorted and even began to shriek. Finus frowned as he stared at the noisy image—colors of eerie blue, alluring purple, furious red, and pale green gradually crept onto the screen from the four corners, making the entire space seem to distort.

...Is this the real enemy they are facing?

Phenus's brow furrowed so deeply it resembled a mountain.

A massive burst of flames suddenly filled the entire screen. Phenus instinctively held his breath. Everything that followed was chaotic. Phenus saw a grinning metal monster slowly rise from the smoke, saw the Empire's traitor, Perturabo, and then he saw…

The abrupt darkness that burst forth from the flames crawled madly and twisted toward the monster.

Fernus swallowed hard and silently withdrew his hand from the communication channel he had been trying to call Hades.

He even began to slightly doubt what he was seeing. Could monsters really feel fear? As if it had seen something that they loathed and dreaded, the metallic monster immediately chose to run away.

So… Fernus hesitated for a moment. What exactly did they see? In all the images transmitted by the sensors, Hades' location was always in complete darkness, but Fernus believed that darkness was not enough to frighten those warp creatures so much.

Meanwhile, the four colors that filled the four corners of the screen remained, and for a moment, these eerie presences even made Phenus think that Hades could not possibly survive.

But Phenus stared at the figure that was rapidly twisting and moving forward...

Phenus trusted Hades, but now that trust has become even heavier.

[Prepare for landing.]

"Let the Iron Hand end this farce called rebellion," Fernus said coldly.

------

The worm-like twisted cables writhed anxiously, squeezing into the gaps between the steel sections, sparks flying.

Vashtor let out a hoarse breathing sound. The Lord of the Hearth stood beside the black stone obelisk that shimmered with a faint white light. The tides of the vast ocean washed over its body, and metal surged out like flesh and blood.

The furnace fire was reignited, and Vastor felt the power from the [future], which was rapidly filling it. To the surprise of the Lord of the Furnace, this power was more generous than it had previously sought.

Why did they suddenly become tolerant?

Vashtor was somewhat surprised to think that it began to carefully review the treaty, and if it gained more power from the future, then it proved that this "future" was the one that was "easier to arrive".

But... but what exactly makes this future so readily available? Vashtor and Peturabo had clearly suffered a defeat, so logically they should have become even less patient.

Vashtor had almost already sensed the stench of the so-called "First Man's" psychic energy, but there were many more smells: the stench of decay from the garden, the decaying books from the labyrinth, the blood from the blood pool, and the fragrance of the palace.

Because Vashtor rejected the direct power of the Four Gods, upon realizing that Vashtor might fail, he understood that they would choose to invest more and tear open the veil.

But now... all those traces have vanished.

So, what exactly happened?

Vashtor thought to himself, everything was already terrible.

When Peturabo abruptly interrupted the plan and foolishly rushed out, Vashtor almost screamed in anger.

For the sake of its future plans and its own interests, Vashtor had to rescue Peturabo before it was ready, and thus successfully faced for the second time something it never wanted to face again in its life.

Although Vashtor will likely still have to face it.

Sparks spewed from Vashtor's gaping maw, the wheels of war continued their relentless march, and Vashtor smelled the stench of battle, now that it had received its due...

Now was not the time to dwell on things, Vastor thought. It calmed itself and began to focus on communicating with the faith from the future. Above Kadia, the mechanical remains also provided power for its reconstruction.

It looks like... it's headed for a pretty good future.

The metal climbed up, and the flames reignited.

------

A strange, hazy mist was reflected in his eyes.

Perturabo, lying on his back and staring at the sky, burst into laughter.

He heard the sound of Vashtor's body being reforged beside the black stone obelisk in the distance, and the whispers of Luo Jia, who was healing him, in his ear. The great demon named Ingelser dripped viscous fluid, splashing dents in the soil.

"...You should be careful, my brother."

Luo Jia said in a low voice, his violet eyes looking at Peturabo with concern.

Peturabo narrowed his eyes dangerously, staring at "Luojia".

I have no brothers, you are not my brother—you are not Luojia, you demon.

Ingelser's voice rang out softly.

“Sir, give it some patience, it is eroding him—they are merging.”

Peturabo frowned.

[You mean, that guy named Uria is merging with Luojia?]

【Yes,】

Luo Jia said calmly,

Unfortunately, the ritual was disrupted, forcing the gods to channel their power elsewhere. I'm not sure exactly how far along it went, but now, I truly possess the past experiences of someone named "Luojia."

Luo Jia stared at Peturabo, who was also staring intently at him. The Iron Lord's iron-gray eyes were shining with a dangerous bright yellow, reminiscent of the yellow warning tape surrounding a dangerous scene—beyond which lay an extremely dangerous environment.

Who are you?

Peturabo asked slowly, his voice laced with threat.

I can't tell either.

Luo Jia said sincerely,

[Uria, or Luojia? I'm not sure. Uria is a devout believer; he is pious, humble, and gentle, and so is Luojia.]

Luo Jia glanced at his hand, which was still twitching slightly. This was perhaps the consequence of forcibly taking over a body; integrating a new soul always caused the original body to reject him.

Time will eventually confuse all of this.

Luo Jia said vaguely.

Perturabo looked away, as if realizing that whichever Luojia he was referring to was the same pitiful religious wretch he knew, and he lost interest again.

But he will be the winner.

Perturabo thought, and the idea ignited within him, filling him with satisfaction. He had gained what he wanted: freedom, liberation from all control. The metallic monster might not even realize it yet—

With the help of Hades's dark domain, Peturabo has broken free from the constraints it thought it had placed in hiding.

Peturabo chuckled softly; he was right.