Chapter 250

The battle cry ended.

Artemis took the explosive bolt rifle from the mechanical arm, turned and walked out of the equipment room, with the God Servants and Grey Knights closely following.

Leaving the equipment room, she arrived at the airdrop preparation chamber.

Here there are several rows of rails, and in front of each rail, a large mechanical arm holds a drop pod capable of carrying six Astartes.

Afterward, the God Servants and Grey Knights entered the drop pods one after another, and Artemis also boarded a drop pod together with five Grey Knights.

Once aboard, the hatch sealed.

Inside, dark red lights lit up, and a small holographic screen appeared before Artemis's right eye in her powered armor, providing extra vision and information assistance.

Immediately, she and the five Grey Knights activated the magnetic adhesion in their boots, and the fixed frame beneath the drop pod braced against their shoulder plates, helping them stabilize their attitude.

Outside the pod.

The lights in the airdrop preparation chamber dimmed, yellow warning lights flashed around, and the large mechanical arms moved the drop pods onto the rails.

The gate beneath the rails opened, and through a thin semi‑membrane‑like airlock barrier, the Rift Space outside the Round Moon could be seen directly.

The view of the Rift Space lasted a few seconds before instantly switching to the appearance of normal space, and deep space showing Arcadia.

Outside the ship.

The Round Moon, having finished its jump, quickly approached the Northern Hemisphere where it was dawn.

Afterward, the drop pods carrying Artemis, the God Servants, and the Grey Knights accelerated along the rails and launched from the ship to perform the drop.

———————

Arcadia's Northern Hemisphere.

Like Arcadia, rotating from west to east, the sun rose slowly from the east, casting sunlight over the whole continent and also illuminating a devastated urban area.

The streets were littered with scrapped vehicles and downed aircraft, combined with collapsed mega‑structures, causing the entire urban area to be filled with billowing smoke.

Fewer people were fleeing in panic, because the streets were filled with countless corpses.

Even Arcadia's most famous beach was covered with residents and tourists who had lost signs of life, and large areas were stained dark red with human blood.

The stunning seascape sparkled, yet no one was there to admire it.

Only in the outskirts north of the urban area stood a large relay station and the base of the Krieg 087 Regiment.

The soil and facilities were overturned and destroyed by bombardment, especially the airfield for parked aerial vehicles.

Inside the base and relay station lay many fallen Krieg.

Lying on the ground, their powered armor was severely damaged, bodies mangled, with not a single intact corpse among them.

South side of the base.

A female Krieg with only her upper body remaining lies prone on the ground, both hands tightly gripping a hellfire rifle; even in death, she maintains the firing motion.

Behind her lies a long trail of blood from her crawling.

Under the damaged helmet lies a face as cold as ice, expression frozen in a slight grit of teeth and slight frown, lifeless eyes staring fixedly ahead.

The frown and clenched teeth, as if she hated herself for not being able to kill more traitors.

At this moment, two Krieg approach her side, bend at the waist and half-squat, preparing to collect her.

But one of them instead extends his right hand to help close her eyes, so she can peacefully 'sleep'.

Overlooking the entire base, over a hundred Krieg and surviving technicians, ground crew, and medical personnel are collecting the fallen comrades.

Rescue?

Few wounded can endure until the battle ends and receive rescue treatment, because as long as they can still move, the Krieg will never call for medics.

Beginning to collect corpses and rescue the few surviving wounded indicates that the fighting at the relay station and base has ended.

The 087th Regiment, including technicians and ground crew etc., is a reinforced regiment with a total strength of about three thousand five hundred.

But after repeated assaults by rebels and believers, the 087th Regiment, including the combat battalions still active in the metropolitan area, has left over fifteen hundred personnel.

Over half have died, making it one of the Krieg's most severely depleted units since its founding, though the rebel and believer side—

All that can be seen outside the 087th Regiment's base are hundreds of destroyed Warthogs and light armored vehicles, with more than a dozen Scorpion main battle tanks and their variants also among them.

Even there is a UNSC mobile base, two sizes smaller than a Mammoth, still burning to this day.

The corpses left by the rebels and believers must be counted in tens of thousands, scattered all around these destroyed vehicles.

Nearly two hundred Krieg are responsible for cleaning up the periphery of the base and relay station.

The Krieg's actions are simple and effective, yet brutal: they pile up the rotting corpses, then the heavy infantry equipped with flamethrowers incinerate them.

Even if Feiersi was beheaded by the regiment commander, losing the figure who sparked the rebellion, the rebels and believers attacking the 087th Regiment, relying on their numbers, continue their assault.

Only until an hour ago did the traitors' morale finally collapse, scattering and fleeing.

This finally freed up the 087th Regiment's main forces, allowing them to dispatch units into the metropolitan area to support the combat battalions and the rebel forces gathered by Andele.

Tap—! Tap. ~!

Boom! Boom!

The dense gunfire and explosions coming from the metropolis show that the battle has not ceased despite the deaths of Feiersi and Samuer.

———————

Metropolitan District 11.

On the western edge's one-way street, two retired veterans equipped with civilian armor and weapons are sprinting toward the nearest alley.

Suddenly, a white bone spear was forcefully thrown by a certain person, piercing at high speed toward one veteran.

Puchi!

The bone spear easily pierces the armor, penetrates the veteran's body, and pins him straight to a car ahead.

Cough!

And the veteran with a wound in his chest coughs up blood, staggering forward as he falls.

Damn it! Hold on, old buddy!

Fortunately, another veteran, Luo Saihu, instantly reached out to steady him, preventing the injured veteran from collapsing onto the ground.

The bone spear inflicted a mortal wound, and blood gushed nonstop from the gash.

Seeing this, Luo Saihu, with his old comrade, approached the rear of the sedan that had the bone spear lodged in it.

When he let his comrade sit on the ground and lean his back against the sedan, Luo Saihu realized his comrade had already stopped breathing.

Seeing this, Luo Saihu raised his hand and patted his comrade's shoulder, his eyes reddened, and, suppressing tears, said:

"Old buddy, wait down there for a while; I'll be there soon. Don't forget, you bastard still owe me a meal."

Having said that.

Luo Saihu gripped the civilian pulse rifle he had modified, stood up, and used the sedan as cover.

He then aimed the barrel at the thrown bone spear, toward the approaching 'person', pulled the trigger and roared:

"Die! You dog‑shreds!!"

"Tadadad!"

The muzzle spat a dazzling fire‑snake, rapidly firing the pulse rounds from the magazine, striking that 'person'.

However, the low‑intensity explosive pulse rounds inflicted only limited damage on that 'person'.

Their body was massive, muscles robust, at least three meters tall.

The skin was blood‑red, the face sunken and twisted into a skull shape, with a pair of black, ram‑horn‑like bones sprouting from the temples.

It appeared to be a demon dwelling in an otherworld, fond of blood, death, and fear; even when a pulse round managed to blast a wound in its skin, it healed instantly.

So the demon spread its hands, revealing a grotesque 'what can you do to me' grin, and sauntered toward Luo Saihu as if savoring the thrill of tormenting its prey.

"Ka!"

Luo Saihu emptied his 75‑round magazine, and the demon had already stepped in front of him.

"Damn!"

Luo Saihu spat, drew the dagger hanging at his waist, and charged.

The result was obvious.

The demon's claws pierced Luo Saihu's chest cavity, crushing his beating heart from within.

"Dog…shreds…ugh…"

After Luo Saihu mustered his last curse, he too lost his life completely.

"Ha‑! Ha‑!"

The demon flicked its hand, flinging Luo Saihu's corpse aside, stared at the fresh red blood clinging to its hand, and burst into uncontrollable laughter, as if celebrating that it had found

and indeed, it was a demon that lived in an otherworld.

However, within that otherworld it was merely an utterly insignificant little demon; it did not need elaborate summoning rituals

Fei Si's death caused the rebels and followers to lose cohesion, aimlessly continuing to plague Arcadia.

Sa Maier's disappearance, however, attracted the attention of many low‑rank or petty demons.

Although they did not know how Sa Maier vanished, through the rebels and followers who worshiped Sa Maier, they became aware of Arcadia and humanity.

So these demons began whispering in the traitors' ears, corrupting them into believers, and urging the traitors to further corrupt more Arcadia residents, thereby strengthening their power in the otherworld.

Even worse, they directly employed a 'pigeon‑in‑the‑magpie's‑nest' tactic, seizing the bodies of rebels or followers to enter the real universe, where they slaughtered and satiated their own desires.

As a result, the metropolis housing tens of millions remained in extreme chaos.

Everywhere were traitors who worshiped different demons, as well as outwardly ferocious, powerful demons.

At that moment.

The demon that had killed the two veterans, just as it was seeking its next victim for torment, saw at the end of the one‑way street a 'kindred' with a serpentine body and violet skin emerge.

The two demons locked eyes.

The ram‑horned demon yanked the bone spear from the sedan and, without hesitation, hurled it at its kin.

"Rou～!" the spear whistled sharply.

Yet the serpent‑bodied demon swayed left deftly, easily evading the spear, and covered its mouth with a 'hehe' laugh, seemingly mocking the ram‑horned demon's weakness.

"Roar!!!"

Infuriated by the provocation and laughter, the ram‑horned demon threw its head back, emitting a deafening roar, then sprinted forward, intent on tearing its mocking companion apart.

In an instant, the two demons grappled.

The vehicles on the one‑way street and the low‑rise buildings on either side suffered damage from their mutual slaughter.

In one warehouse used to store vacuum‑sealed food, many civilians who had fled there for refuge were hiding.

"Boom! Boom!"

Upon hearing the demons' bodies collide with the walls, the tense civilians dared not gasp loudly, fearing they would rouse the two demons outside the warehouse, and silently prayed they could survive the crisis safely.

Outside the warehouse.

The serpent‑bodied demon used its powerful tail to coil tightly around the ram‑horned demon's waist, and with both hands seized the opponent's arms, hanging it on the ram‑horned demon's body.

Immediately, it opened its mouth, revealing two fangs that dripped violet liquid.

"Sss!"

It then emitted a hissing, snake‑like sound, snapped fiercely at the neck, and injected soul‑corroding venom straight into the ram‑horned demon's body.

"Roar!"

The ram‑horned demon, feeling excruciating pain, thrashed wildly, trying to shake off the attached kin, even unleashing unprecedented strength to break free.

Unwittingly,

the two surged toward the warehouse.

Having accomplished the injection, the serpent‑bodied demon deliberately leapt away to keep a safe distance from the ram‑horned demon, avoiding unnecessary harm.

"Roar‑roar."

And the freed goat‑horn demon fell on its back, weakly humming, and realized the pain that could endanger its own existence.

"Heh~." The snake‑tail demon sneered.

Then it turned its gaze toward the locked gate's warehouse, gradually showing a mad expression, as if pondering how to "properly entertain" the civilians inside.

The snake‑body demon can clearly "sniff" fear, so hiding is completely ineffective for it.

Suddenly.

It seemed to sense something, looked up at the sky, and saw that the still dim sky was hosting a small‑scale "meteor shower".

Moreover, these "meteors" not only failed to dissipate but grew increasingly distinct, rapidly rushing toward the metropolitan area.

Awaiting their complete plunge into the atmosphere.

When the fire surrounding the "meteors" faded, their true forms were revealed.

They were air‑drop crates reflecting dazzling silver light under the rising sun.

At a certain altitude, dozens of air‑drop crates quickly dispersed, smashing onto designated spots within the metropolitan area.

One of them targeted the single lane where the snake‑body and goat‑horn demons were.

!!!

The confused snake‑body demon hurried to dodge.

In less than a blink.

"Boom—Rumble—!"

The air‑drop crate, having deployed cushioning measures, landed successfully, yet still caused an earthquake‑like tremor and punched a shallow pit into the ground.

?

The snake‑body demon, having hidden in an alley, peeked out and observed cautiously.

A few "Qi—!" sounds as the air‑drop crate opened its airtight door.

"Dong, dong."

Immediately after, five gray knights trudged out of the air‑drop crate, with Artemis, unhelmeted, following closely behind.

This time, she locked eyes with the snake‑body demon.

The result is.

"Bang! Bang!" Two shots.

The snake‑body demon could not even scream before its body was blown apart by the special explosive arrow projectile fired from Artemis's explosive arrow gun.

"Sizzle."

Purple blood splattered on the ground, and the shattered body and entrails began to melt rapidly, turning into a pool of foul‑smelling black water.

However, the black water lasted only a few seconds before it turned clear at a visible speed, as if it had been purified.

At the same time.

A gray knight planted his left foot on the goat‑horn demon's chest, aimed his barrel at its head, and said in a metallic voice:

"Die, you ragged mess."

"Bang!"

(End of chapter)