Chapter 370: with translation of chapter title

Hum—! The personal shield automatically deployed.

Bang—! Bang—! When two bolt shells struck the shield, a violent explosion occurred.

Clatter! Those two bolt shells actually shattered the personal shield, producing a sound like glass or lenses breaking.

Splat!

Another bolt shell followed, directly piercing the metal armor of the dedicated TPS, then drilling into the Krieg's body, immediately…

Pfft!! This Krieg exploded from inside out.

Splatter! Splatter! Fresh blood, chunks of meat, and organ tissue were scattered everywhere.

Able to go toe‑to‑toe with any monster, born to fight, these elite Kriegs died almost in the blink of an eye, as if they had no ability to fight back at all.

Looking down from above.

The Kriegs and reservists in the house's front yard were engaged in fierce firefight with the "rebels" hiding behind the house and in the wheat field, whose positions and figures could not be made out.

Both sides suffered losses.

The green and dark‑red high‑energy beams fired by the rebels could not quickly break the Kriegs' personal shields, but the personal shields of the dedicated TPS were as flimsy as paper against standard bolt shells, utterly useless.

In less than ten seconds, more than twenty Kriegs in the open area were killed by the rebels' bolt shells, and many of those shells also hit two reservists.

Fortunately, the normal output of the Tau Steel Armor Type II shield can help the reservists withstand twelve to sixteen standard bolt shells in a very short time; after withdrawing from combat to recharge, the shield can return to its original state.

Seeing the rebels' fierce firepower, the Kriegs had to use the destroyed, immobilized armored transport as cover, while six reservists, aiming to close the distance and create an opportunity, set their shield output to maximum and, relying on the Astate's superhuman speed and reaction, moved in pairs, jogging toward the wheat field behind the house.

In an instant, the reservist squad leader and his brother charged into the wheat field and cut into the outermost squad of "rebels".

Pfft! Pfft! Bodies burst apart.

For… the Warchief… and the rebels' dying wails.

Upon first contact, the leader and his brother, with overwhelming force, swung their left fists and smashed the entire rebel squad, blowing them apart.

Before closing the combat distance, the reservists could, via the Tau Steel Armor Type II's dynamic detection and pulse scan, combined with their excellent vision, clearly see the rebels' outlines on their helmet screens.

And now, the two brothers finally got a clear look at those degenerate bastards.

Examining closely a corpse lying in the field with a gap in its chest, "he" wore a battle uniform soaked in blood, equipped with equally blood‑stained grimy armor, a battered helmet and an octopus‑like mask, to which were bound heavily rusted iron chains and nails.

More importantly, the rifle model he used was identical to the early laser rifles produced by Umbrella.

Humans?! The feel of close combat, plus physique, language, and all other traits, indicate that the "rebels" we fought are human.

So the one who could operate a. 75‑caliber bolt gun and slaughter many Kriegs must be…

…

Ah!! Die! Die! You impostors!! accompanied by a metallic‑tinged battle cry.

Hum… hum!! Boom…!

Also came the extremely familiar sound of a rotating chain, and a figure about 2.4 meters tall, wearing "Tau Steel Armor" and wielding a chain sword, suddenly appeared before the leader and his brother.

However, this attack was hardly an ambush for the two; a simple left‑right dodge let them easily evade the strike.

At that moment, the leader and his brother also got a close look at the incoming figure: clad in a dark‑black coating, its powered armor nearly matching the Tau Steel Armor; most notably, the figure's right hand gripped a chain sword bearing a human skull, while its left hand held a bolt pistol etched with chaotic script and symbols.

Tau Steel Armor,

Chain Sword,

Bolt Gun,

and its 2.4‑meter height—all these point to the attacker possibly being a "shorty" Astate, but…

That's utterly impossible!

The Astates are the father's staunchest supporters, his most loyal offspring, with no reason to betray—there's not a shred of possibility! "Die, impostors!"

"For the Warchief! For the newborn Empire!"

Just as the leader and his brother sensed the difference, ever more similarly clad "Astates" appeared, wielding chain swords or power swords emanating dark‑red energy, launching a surround attack on the two.

It seems these "Astates" intend to use melee to personally slay the two whom they regard as "impostors (reservists)".

"You're the fake ones!"

"For Father! For Humanity!"

Seeing this, the leader and his brother also roared in anger, each drawing the chain sword hung from their waist, and engaged the true traitors in close combat.

Clang! Clang! The violent clash of chain against chain.

Bang! Bang! Limbs striking and smashing into each other.

Only two reservists in olive‑green coating were seen fighting nine traitor Astates; their movements were extremely fast, their attack arcs exaggerated, so that an ordinary onlooker could perceive only a blur and hear the "whoosh! whoosh!" of fists and blades cutting the air.

Bang—! Clatter!! At that moment, in the clash of the giants, the energy shield was heard reaching its limit and then collapsing and shattering.

Pfft! Immediately after came the sound of a fist smashing skull, chest, and abdomen.

Sizzle! Also accompanied by the smooth sound of a high‑speed spinning chain and a high‑temp stance severing necks and lopping off limbs.

The battle between the giants shook heaven and earth, yet the outcome was decided in roughly five seconds.

After the afterimages faded and the howling ceased, among the giants still able to stand on their two legs, only the reservist squad leader remained.

But… his situation was far from optimistic.

When the energy shield was shattered by the traitors, his left hand, which had been holding a bolt gun, was cleanly sliced off by the power sword in the recent fight, the wound seared.

His abdominal armor was gouged open by a chain sword with a disintegrating field, skin torn and flesh ragged; although bleeding had stopped, it looked gruesome, and the monitor in his helmet's right eye was also destroyed by the power sword.

While his brother's corpse was already dismembered, the other nine traitors fared far worse—each lay twisted and contorted on the ground, their blood already seeping into the soil.

The leader glanced around, but the damaged monitor deprived him of his right‑side vision, and the dynamic detection and pulse scan functions had also failed; thus he could first plant his chain sword in the ground, free his right hand, and remove the helmet that had become an impediment.

After taking off the helmet and tossing it aside, his youthful close‑cropped hair and short haircut were revealed, and a trickle of blood tracing from the corner of his right eye added a touch of resolve, making him seem considerably more mature than before.

Huff… huff… the leader gulped air, re‑gripped his chain sword, steadied his hold, and sprinted out of the wheat field to the backyard of Mike's house. At the same moment he caught sight of the sole surviving Krieg, wielding a folding entrenching tool, charging at a traitor Astate.

But the outcome was obvious.

Pfft! With that, the traitor punched and shattered the Krieg's helmet, which had lost its personal shield… and the skull beneath it.

"Clang!" After losing his skull, the entrenching tool swung by the right hand, still relying on inertia, struck the rebel's chest armor, and only then with a "Thud!" collapsed limp.

"Heh!" The rebel looked down at the already lifeless Krieg, with a metallic-toned voice, sneered: "Trash that believes in the False Emperor."

After the last Krieg fell, the front yard of the house was left with only the rebel side, numbering several hundred "people".

The vast majority were ordinary-human-height soldiers, while the "Astate" numbered about forty or fifty, and there were also three "Astate" wielding heavy explosive bolts, meltaguns, and plasma guns with both hands.

It seems the reserve squad leader is still too young, thinking that relying solely on their tactical squad and the surviving Krieg regiment would be enough to deal with the incoming attack, and that they were facing enemies several times their own number.

Never imagined that among this group of enemies there were actually dozens of 'Astate', and even more unimaginable was that the captain wanted to lead his brothers and the traitors into combat range, creating an opportunity for everyone, but instead let Kreig completely lose the protection of their reserves, causing the traitors to seize the opportunity and wipe out Kreig in one fell swoop, and also beat to death another four reserves with a 'group beating'.

As for the commander of this rebel force, he was a helmetless Astate standing 2.6 meters tall (the normal height of an Umbrella Astate), bald-headed, with deathly pale skin and blood-red eyes, wielding a power greatsword that could be gripped with both hands.

At this moment, the rebels also turned their gun barrels and cannon muzzles toward the reserve captain slowly walking out of the wheat field.

"Damn! You bunch of traitors!" the captain, having lost all his brothers and Kreig, flew into a rage, single-handedly raising his Chain Sword and launching a charge.

"Tap tap tap!"

"Swish! Swish!"

The rebels immediately opened fire with their guns.

"Hum hum!" the Tau steel armor also generated an energy shield for the captain to block, but in the blink of an eye the shield began to flicker and was about to fail.

"Oh?" Seeing the reserve captain daring to launch a suicidal charge, the rebel commander narrowed his eyes, gripped his power greatsword with both hands, couldn't hold back, rushed toward the captain, and said, "Cease fire!"

Hearing this, all the rebels immediately lifted their fingers from the triggers, while the commander, already moving at superhuman speed, swung his power greatsword to slash at the captain.

If all went as expected, the power greatsword with its bright red energy stance could easily cut through the Chain Sword and then, in the same motion, split the captain in two.

But an "accident" still happened…

"Clang!!" a metallic ringing.

Just before the power greatsword would have contacted the Chain Sword, it suddenly lost its energy stance as if the power had been cut, causing the blade to slam hard onto the chain of the Chain Sword.

"?!" the rebel commander stared in shock.

"Ahhh! Get out of my way, traitor!" the captain, however, strained to push back the greatsword's pressure, then threw a backward elbow, changed angle, and slashed at the commander's waist.

"Clang clang!" Fortunately the commander promptly turned his greatsword, using the blade to block the rapidly spinning chain; otherwise "he" would have been cut in half in a single exchange by this twenty‑year‑old hothead, a humiliation that would be huge.

At the same time, the commander noticed a faint golden glow behind the hothead‑like captain? "The false emperor's gaze?!" Upon sensing the golden light, he immediately retreated, deliberately putting distance between himself and the captain.

Most importantly, the commander's expression shifted from extreme arrogance and mockery to fear and disbelief.

Obviously, he was afraid.

"Don't run! Come and die!" but the captain didn't care that the enemy had suddenly lost courage; he still raised his Chain Sword with one hand and pursued relentlessly.

In the flash of lightning, the captain closed the distance, dodged the commander's slash, did a left dodge‑crouch, then lunged forward…

"Hum~~!! Crack… sizzle!!" the high‑speed spinning sharp chain, combined with the Chain Sword's disassembly stance, directly tore off the rebel commander's right hand.

Still not enough! Seizing the momentum, the captain reversed his grip, turned and swung the sword, and with a "sizzle!" he beheaded the rebel commander, whose eyes were wide with rage, before he could even let out a scream.

"…"

Seeing their commander defeated and killed by a hothead, the entire rebel force fell into a stunned daze.

How is this possible?!

Although the commander was not the legion's champion, he was still an outstanding member of their legion, an elite officer of the Black Warband, and moreover a six‑hundred‑year‑old veteran.

Although they did not know the captain's exact age, just looking at his various mistaken tactics and his "incompetent fury" showed that he was only a few decades old.

But…

Just such a "little brat" actually managed to kill their elite officer? And they had only exchanged a few moves!

As the golden glow became ever more apparent, the rebels finally realized that it was the "false emperor's gaze" that had made the captain so formidable.

Thus…

"Don't conserve ammo! Take this guy down!" a rebel deputy shouted loudly.

"Yes!"

"Swish swish swish!"

"Tap tap tap!"

The bolt‑thrower guns and laser guns concentrated fire and fired together.

"Ree~~—–whoosh!!" the melt‑guns and plasma guns also fired intermittently.

"Hum hum! Crack~ crash!!" the energy shield held only a moment before shattering with a crash.

However, the scene the rebels had imagined of blasting the captain to pieces did not occur, because a golden light barrier replaced the energy shield, helping the charging captain resist all attacks…

It was everything.

"Die! Die! Die! You lot who betrayed humanity! You who betrayed your father! All of you, die!!

Two minutes later…

The captain remained standing, while hundreds of rebels were either bisected at the waist or split left and right; yet they shared one thing: they lay utterly limp in pools of blood, motionless, dead beyond death.

And after the captain confirmed that all surrounding rebels were dead, he, "exhausted," could no longer support himself, closed his eyes, fell straight back onto the ground, and slipped into unconsciousness.

The attacking enemies were all Chaos Space Marines.

Moreover, they made major alterations to the original 40k, though the characters differed little.

(End of chapter)