Chapter 386: Angelong-Angelong

In the pitch-black cosmic domain.

In Nuxia III's low orbit, a large number of imperial ships adrift without power floated, but even more were shattered wreckage fragments.

Moreover, many ships and fragments, due to gravity, crashed toward the surface; upon rapid atmospheric entry, they would stage an endless meteor shower over the war-torn Nuxia III.

Imperial vessels could never match the ships of the main universe.

One-on-one, instant kill.

One-on-two, still overwhelming.

One-on-three, capable of maneuvering guerrilla tactics.

Yet when the World-Eater fleet faced equal numbers and scale of the Clearers and the UNSC joint fleet, it could only be brutally crushed.

Therefore, Angelong, who was indulging in slaughter and happily collecting the 'fear tax' on Nuxia III, to reverse the legion's doomed fate, chose to return to the flagship with his elite offspring, carry out a suicidal breakthrough, and at the instant the flagship was destroyed by the matrix beam, teleport to the surface of the Gladiator.

Angelong did not know that the green and blue, vibrant exterior environment of the homeworld was merely an 'illusion,' nor could he learn that the control center lay at the homeworld's core; even if he knew, the technology of the New Human Empire could not penetrate the homeworld's surface barrier to reach the core.

———————

…

In the northern hemisphere jungle of the Gladiator.

Here the trees towered, extremely muggy, moisture in the air condensed into beads, rhythmically dripping from leaf tips to the damp, and 'vibrantly lush' soil.

Looking closely, various insects and arthropods scurried swiftly; from time to time, birds with colorful plumage swooped to prey, snatching plump, full-bodied insects with their talons, then flapped their wings back to the trees, ready to enjoy a tasty, juicy meal.

Just from this, it's not hard to guess that, though smaller than a real planet, the Gladiator's surface ecosystem remains highly complete.

Even if the surface received no stellar irradiation, it would have no effect on the Gladiator's surface temperature, environment, or atmospheric thickness.

Thud… thud…

At this moment, heavy, muffled footsteps approached from afar; soon one could see a thousand-plus Terminators marching on foot through this dense forest.

From their paint and mutations, it was clear they were the World-Eater Guard and elite veterans who had followed Angelong in a teleport jump to the Gladiator's surface.

However, when they followed the OriginalBody here, ready to turn the tide, they found no enemy trace, and even their defense mechanisms had failed, as if…

Intentionally chilling them.

More critically, they could teleport to the Gladiator's surface but could not teleport away, amounting to being trapped, even imprisoned here, forced to explore on foot in hopes of escape.

As for their OriginalBody…

"Ahhh! Come out! If you've got guts, get out!!" A strained, resonant roar echoed through the entire jungle.

"Chirp! Chirp!" This roar frightened flocks of birds into fleeing en masse.

Even low-intelligence worms, driven by fear instinct, turned and crawled as far away as possible from the giant radiating resentment and fury.

Only seen beneath the jungle blocking Nuxia Star's light, an Angelong swollen to over six meters, with extremely robust, developed muscles and bulging veins, swung a pair of massive chain-saw axes, hacking everything around him—including towering trees—and also…

His offspring.

Four World-Eater Guards, too slow to react, were directly beheaded by their OriginalBody father, their bodies shattered by his ensuing fury.

…

Seeing the four brothers' gruesome deaths, the remaining World-Eaters said nothing, for the dead brothers had brought it on themselves, failing to flee immediately when their OriginalBody father went mad; thus, wasn't this just suicide?

It seemed the World-Eaters had long grown accustomed to Angelong's sudden eruptions.

Looking again at Angelong…

Now his appearance is utterly transformed; from under four meters two hundred forty years ago, thanks to the evil god's favor and incessant gifts, he has become stronger, more formidable, and more like a demon.

His skin turned a dark red, joints sprouted hard black scale-like bone, his once-handsome face was gone, replaced by sunken cheeks, protruding bones, fangs, and blood-red eyes.

Moreover, the most horrifying aspect: his scalp and back of the head were threaded with thick metal tubes (the butcher's nails), giving the impression of a strange, dirty braid.

"Come out! Come out! Get out!" Angelong bellowed, frantically hammering the ground with his chain-saw axes named 'Blood Father' and 'Blood Son'.

Stifled, he went mad.

There was no way; a dignified OriginalBody, feared across the galaxy for his bloodthirsty slaughter, trapped here, would naturally feel infuriated no matter how one thought about it.

Thus, Angelong gradually shifted his blood-red gaze, finally fixing it on the offspring hiding far to the side.

Since chopping trees and pounding the earth couldn't release his rage, he decided to try cutting people instead.

As soon as Angelong entertained that thought, he sensed the World-Eaters' unease; they hastily retreated, rushing to put distance between themselves and their incomprehensible father.

"My Lord!" Fortunately, a scouting veteran Terminator appeared here and urgently reported: "A massive stone structure lies ahead!"

"Grr…" Upon hearing this, Angelong let out a beast-like heavy breath, his bloodshot eyes locked on the veteran, torn whether to swing his axe and strike down his offspring.

But ultimately, Angelong's reason prevailed; he lowered his axes and, without pleasantry, said: "Take us there."

"Yes… my Lord."

The veteran who had saved his life first bowed, then without delay led the brothers and the OriginalBody father toward the southwest.

All the way, silent.

Angelong suppressed his bloodlust, while the World-Eaters strained under the father's intimidating presence, fearing he might suddenly erupt again.

Not long after, Angelong and a thousand World-Eaters, together with the veteran, exited the jungle and reached a clearing within it.

Here, starlight finally bathed their mutated, foul bodies, and they directly saw the 'massive stone building' the veteran had mentioned.

It was entirely built of marble, a scale surpassing Rome's Colosseum, capable of holding 160,000 at once, and the entrance to its interior stood open, as if inviting the World-Eaters to enter.

Trap.

The clear-headed World-Eaters naturally saw that this eerie forest, arena, and empty atmosphere signaled that stepping into the arena would fall into the Clearers' trap.

But their OriginalBody father thought otherwise.

Or perhaps Angelong likewise knew that entering the arena would mean total loss of initiative—but what of it?

He now only wanted to slaughter; if his desires weren't promptly satisfied, he would truly make sport of his offspring.

Thus the group of traitors pressed on silently, passing through an entrance wide enough for twenty Terminators abreast, then through a dark passage, arriving at a spacious, bright arena floor laid with fine sand.

Angelong and his party just walked out of the passage.

Buzz—! Buzz—! A burst of beams sounded in unison, breaking the silent atmosphere in the blink of an eye.

Originally, it was a series of beams emitting a blue‑tinged light, giving no time to react, instantly forming several matrix prisons that trapped and divided the bewildered World-Eater guard and elite veterans.

?!!!

The speed at which the beams and matrices were generated was astonishingly fast; even veterans with at least four hundred years of service could not respond.

When they tried to chop with power swords and power axes, the result was that their weapons were damaged; they were utterly helpless and could only stand there foolishly.

But the matrix prison alone let Angelong pass.

When the World-Eater's leader, an OriginalBody blessed and favored by the evil god, was bewildered, a dazzling blue ball of light appeared out of nowhere in the center of the dueling arena.

This drew the attention of Angelong and all the World-Eaters.

After the blue radiance faded, what appeared in the rebels' view was a short‑range teleport‑arrived OriginalBody of the Umbrella Clearer, clad in bronze‑yellow armor and wielding twin axes—

Another Angelong.

Aside from being about 4.5 meters tall and lacking war paint on his face, this Angelong is almost identical to the Angelong from 240 years ago.

Two fathers??

The World-Eaters trapped in the matrix prison were utterly dumbfounded; they only knew they had to attack a bunch of 'counterfeit' OriginalBodies and Astates, never expecting to encounter another OriginalBody father.

Moreover, the World-Eaters felt that this other OriginalBody father seemed 'strange'—his expression held no anger, hatred, or resentment, only forgiveness and compassion.

This is completely different from the impression that, when in a bad temper, he always thought of chopping them to death or beating them to death.

If…

If he had led us from the beginning, wouldn't we have a different outcome, a different future?

Hahaha!

On the contrary, the Angelong nearing total demonization, uncaring what his offspring thought, 'he' raised his left hand's blood‑axe and pointed it at the still‑human Angelong, unable to contain his excitement as he burst out laughing:

"I thought I would meet other dead brothers, but I didn't expect to meet myself from another universe?! I don't know how to address you… no! I should be asking how to address myself! Hahaha!"

"Hehe." Angelong gave a light smile, shaking his head, and likewise raised his left hand, gripping the metal battle‑axe named 'Honor', pointing it at his demonic self, and said: "Let's just call each other cousins."

"Good! Brother! Let me see!!"

Before the demon Angelong could finish his shouting, he was forced to stop, and instinctively raised his right hand's Blood Son while matching his left hand's Blood Father to form an 'X' stance for defense.

One could see that the human Angelong, inheriting Sui Bian's habit of 'not wanting to chatter excessively before battle,' of course would not chat much before fighting, waving his twin axes and charging at his demonic self, then striking fiercely.

"Clang!!"

"Clang!!"

All that could be heard was the Honor and Loyalty forged by the gods of craft, locked in a fierce clash with the Blood Father and Blood Son that had drunk countless blood and souls.

Meanwhile, the two isotopes from different universes were also engaged in a life‑and‑death showdown.

The World-Eater elites trapped in the matrix prison could not catch the attacks or movements of the two OriginalBodies; they could only rely on perception and the faint afterimages they saw to try to guess which would prevail.

However, this world‑shaking battle lasted only three seconds before the outcome was decided.

"Boom—!" the center of the dueling arena was hammered into a shallow pit by brute force, kicking up thick smoke and dust, while pebbles and rocks shattered outward.

When the aftermath settled, the World-Eaters finally could see the situation inside the pit…

It was their OriginalBody father who had lost, utterly defeated.

The demon Angelong's arms were severed, his abdominal armor split open, his left leg twisted and broken, exposing the thigh bone to the air.

Meanwhile, the human Angelong was unscathed, not a single wound, and he pressed his left foot onto the demon Angelong's chest, forcing his other self to lie helpless on the ground.

Yes, the demon Angelong possessed the gods' Blessing, especially favored by Khorne, who loves war and slaughter, making his strength far surpass what it was before; otherwise 'his' physique would not have swollen to six meters.

But the human Angelong had his father's Spiritual Energy as a solid backing; the stronger his father, the stronger he and his nine brothers became, needing no so‑called gods' Blessing.

Moreover, his physique was inherently stronger than that of his demonic counterpart; each Umbrella OriginalBody's interior contains the ten unique G‑glands cultivated directly from the father's blood, genes, and tissue, each G‑gland custom‑made for them.

Thus, the demon Angelong lasting three seconds is already quite good.

"Hahaha…!" the demon Angelong showed no anger or pain, instead putting on a victor's air and jeering: 'Kill me, kill me! You enslaved pitiful brother! At least I die a free man!'

"Free man?" the human Angelong stared blankly, lowering his voice: 'Do you think rebelling against your father will grant you the so‑called freedom? Wake up—you're just turning from a slave into an angry slave. Moreover, the freedom you speak of is inhuman madness, utter scum.'

"Heh… say what you will, kill me!" the demon Angelong kept shouting.

"Kill?"

The human Angelong swung his twin axes without hesitation, severing the other's legs, turning his fallen, corrupted self completely into a 'human stick'.

Afterward he sheathed Loyalty and Honor, bent down, reached out with his left hand, gripped the demon Angelong's neck, and easily lifted him up, revealing an extremely rare displeased expression as he said: 'Killing you would be a terrible waste; studying you, researching you, dissecting you is how we can maximize your remaining value.'

"Of course…" the human Angelong said, shifting his gaze to the imprisoned World‑Eater elites, and continued: 'Your gang of fallen offspring are equally good experimental material.'

(End of chapter)