Chapter 400

A mortal waist-chops a Chaos Astate??

The entire battlefield seemed to fall into absolute silence in an instant, and the elites of the First Assault Regiment that had annihilated the remaining Imperial Sons all stared blankly at their commander.

Mortals have indeed killed Chaos Astate before; for example, in the Battle of the Nuxia Star System, the obstacle-clearing auxiliaries equipped with heavy weapons and individual nuclear bombs, together with the HellParatroopers, slew over twenty thousand Chaos Devourers.

After all, in a firefight, the 03 Universe is at a disadvantage; a single auxiliary combat squad equipped with individual nuclear bombs or Gauss machine guns of 10mm caliber or higher can, relying on terrain and the enhancements from powered armor, easily take out three to five Chaos Astate.

But these data and battle results are from medium- to long-range engagements, achieved by relying on thermal weapons for sniping and bombardment; in other words, whether before or after the generation of the Vortex Space Gate, or in the main universe and the 03 Universe, there is fundamentally no one…

There is no record of any mortal defeating or killing an Astate with melee weapons.

But at this moment, the sight before the First Assault Regiment shattered that record, for their commander Tisbailun actually beheaded a fallen Imperial Son with bare hands!!

"Hahaha! Damned traitor! Go die!"

"We Sparta Corps have made history! Hahaha! I'd love to see the embarrassed looks of those extreme auxiliaries, yet also envy them!"

After the silence came cheering and jumping shouts, used to release and vent their excitement and exhilaration.

You should know that the Sparta Corps excel in every aspect, but they happen to be labeled "second," unavoidably, since the corps are ranked by OriginalBody age.

Although the chairman advocates friendly competition, and they are second in performance and battle results, each corps still exerts itself to compare, secretly grumbling or even cursing a sentence or two.

Now, the auxiliary forces commander of the Sparta Corps, a mere mortal, has actually slain a Chaos Astate with regimental champion strength!

This is absolutely the best breakthrough point to flaunt before all the corps, especially the recently limitless Extreme Corps, to show off their might.

Of course, the elites clearly know that the "half‑face" Imperial Son first endured a plasma nuclear blast, then suffered concentrated fire, and only then created a once‑in‑a‑lifetime close‑combat opportunity for Commander Tisbailun.

Afterwards, in the elites' view, Tisbailun relied on the sharp strike of his exclusive powered shortsword to shatter the barrier and then followed up to slay the Imperial Son.

Actually…

It was the distant Chairman Sui, thousands of light‑years away, who, through the Pure Mark, sensed and observed Tisbailun daring to oppose the supernatural with a mortal body, whereupon the Lord of Humanity casually lent a little aid, making everything look so easy.

But…

The First Assault Regiment doesn't care about the process at all—who would? They only care about the result!

At this moment, Tisbailun with helmet opened also wore a look of astonishment, even some after‑fear, unable to understand why she truly dared to charge forward and engage a fallen Astate in close combat.

Fortunately, Tisbailun reacted extremely quickly, immediately wiping the surprised expression from their face, turning into an excited demeanor, raising their powered shortsword and shouting, "Exterminate the heretics!"

"Exterminate the heretics!!!" their subordinates likewise shouted in reply.

Moreover, as the crowd raised their battle cries, two Chairman‑class Titans were conducting a sweep to the northwest, firing plasma and melt cannons powerful enough to alter the terrain and landscape at the ground, after which…

"Hum!!"

One Titan emitted a sound like an old cruise ship's whistle amplified dozens of times, temporarily drowning out the First Assault Regiment's battle cry and causing these elites to instantly calm down.

After the whistle faded, Tisbailun pointed his sword toward a town near the palace complex and loudly commanded, "All right! Now is not the time for cheering! Nor is it the moment for celebration! Our brothers are still fighting in blood; once we have completely taken this planet, we'll discuss things in detail! For now, what we must do is eradicate the next target!"

"Sir! Yes, sir!"

Another round of unified battle cries rose, the First Assault Regiment's assault battalion continued to follow their commander's charge, while the technical squad responsible for cleanup began to collect corpses of research value, including the Imperial Son's "half‑face" that Tisbailun had split in two.

Away from the ground.

Looking out.

The area around the palace complex was already ablaze with war; the situation could not be called a stalemate, yet the Imperial Sons who had ceased their leisurely entertainment had organized an effective counterattack—just like the similarly named Titans, mobile war fortresses, which were coordinating with a rugged purple steel torrent to oppose the Sparta Corps' emerald‑green elite squad and the Chairman‑class Titans.

However, the orbital contention battle had reached a conclusion, as more and more large transport ships and aircraft flew in from space, providing the Sparta Corps side with additional auxiliaries, ground vehicles, and heavy artillery.

This signified that Cernos had completely lost orbital control, while the nine‑hundred warships had already completed deployment, activating an isolation stance to temporarily weaken, and even nearly sever, the connection between the extradimensional realm, the Eye of Fear, and Cernos.

In an instant, the Imperial Sons, already the weaker side, after losing the full backing of Chaos power, showed increasingly clear signs of decline.

The battle situation had developed into a white‑hot intensity.

However…

The palace complex, whose defensive stance was still functioning, formed a clear contrast with the outside; aside from the incessant outflow of Imperial Sons reaching the battlefield to aid the mutated brothers against the Sparta Corps, the entire region appeared quite……tranquil?

At this very moment.

Located at the very center, possessing the most extreme artistic ambience and also the largest scale within the palace interior, there is a corridor leading to the far end of the palace.

"Thud, thud." The sound of magnetic boots striking the stone tiles was especially loud.

In this dim corridor, about thirty meters wide and thirty meters high, there was a group of warriors who had completed teleportation, along with their OriginalBody walking at the very front.

John with his helmet opened always bears a distant, cold, unfeeling countenance, which in this regard resembles his brother Leon.

Even though the atmosphere here is rather eerie, it cannot make him feel the slightest fear; moreover, the battle spear he holds is named "Fear."

From the outset of the expedition, his father had a group of Terra‑born veterans of the Shadow Moon Grey Wolf incorporated into his Sparta Corps.

For those veterans who could endure endless abuse, remaining loyal and faithful despite being surrounded by Chaos power, John still held them in great esteem.

Therefore, he did not disband the Shadow Moon Grey Wolf establishment; instead, he even conscripted over twenty thousand elites from the UNSC to serve as auxiliaries for the Shadow Moon Grey Wolf, and gave them an old aircraft carrier converted from a Phoenix‑class support ship, granting the veterans independent combat capability.

As for not providing Zeus‑class, Valor‑class, or Resolve‑class ships to form a fleet, that was deliberate to avoid psychological discomfort among other Sparta Corps battalions, since those vessels must be earned through military merit and achievements; giving them a Phoenix‑class carrier is already quite sufficient.

Moreover, even before the end of the Battle of Dianka, John rescued these veterans and had the medics of the Warrior Guard give them a full checkup, during which he also "reaped" four mature gene seeds…

The gene seeds of the Shadow Moon Grey Wolf.

Although John at the time did not know how his father viewed the Astate of the 03 Universe, he still privately proposed letting the plague doctor research and refine these four gene seeds, ideally combining them with the G‑gland if possible.

To this, Sui Bian expressed strong approval, which is why we have the episode of John giving troops and giving a ship.

In other words, the Shadow Moon Grey Wolf, counted as an external auxiliary battalion of the Sparta Corps, is highly likely to redevelop and expand in the near future.

And in John's vanguard of the nine‑hundred‑ship fleet assaulting Cernos, the Shadow Moon Grey Wolf and their "old" carrier are present, so that they can earn military merit and, relying on their own martial valor and fearless spirit, gain the respect of the 1st and 2nd Battalions.

This also helps pave the way for his father's post‑expedition planning.

On the contrary, the "Goddess" who was officially approved by his father to act alongside the Sparta Corps, John deliberately kept at arm's length…

Although Hera surpasses Artemis in Spiritual Energy mastery, with various "spells" constantly emerging and her power ranking among the top tier beneath the OriginalBody, John really does not want to work with her.

It's not that Hera is particularly detestable; on the contrary, whenever she is kept aboard the Leodani or the Aspasia, this goddess will shower him with all kinds of solicitous concern, even her gaze carrying the sense of a mother's affection for her son.

Even though John knows she regards him as the long‑fallen Ares, he still cannot accept this sudden kindness, and besides, he is not lacking in motherly love.

Besides his father, when he and his brothers were young and ignorant, Chambos (Rebecca) and Ruoxike (Alekxia) doctors, while teaching them their studies, would also take them to social activities, and would patiently guide and comfort them whenever they felt worried, stifled, or depressed.

Even though I understand Hera means no harm, John still feels antagonistic, so he had her transferred elsewhere.

Out of sight, out of mind.

Although the metaphor is somewhat inappropriate, it still matches John's mindset; at this moment, he, who is in this spacious corridor, feels unusually calm.

Gazing at the distant point of light, he could sense that the far end of the corridor held his primary objective for this journey.

Suddenly!

"Ah~~~..." A bright vocal prelude rang out throughout the corridor without any sign or warning.

Hearing it, John merely twitched his left eyebrow and continued walking toward the end as if nothing had happened.

As for the warrior guards who inherited John's cold and ruthless demeanor, upon hearing this eerie high-pitched song, they gave no physical response; their expressions were hidden by their helmets, but it's easy to imagine each of them as a short-haired, resolute face.

Immediately after.

The singer seemed unaware that John and the warrior guards, as listeners, chose to ignore them, and continued to sing on their own with some poem or song, using his mixed-gender tone.

"Oh—look! Loyal to humanity—! Loyal to the father's mighty giant—! Look! How strong and brave they are—! But alas, they are also slaves to glory and honor!"

However, as John and his group drew nearer to the end, the temptation contained in the song and lyrics became increasingly obvious; at the same time, a strong surge of chaotic spiritual energy came from ahead, attempting to disturb their emotions and will.

However, John raised his right hand and lightly waved the spear of fear in his hand, releasing a spiritual shock tinged with the aura of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, flashing with a faint red light, to meet the incoming chaotic spiritual energy.

"Boom!!!"

The two forces clashed fiercely.

"Whoosh!!"

But in just a moment, the bloody spiritual energy shattered and dispersed the chaotic spiritual energy, even silencing the song; the corridor instantly returned to tranquility, as if the singer too had been affected by the bloody spiritual energy.

John and his bodyguards never stopped walking; soon the group passed through the corridor's end, and with a sudden "opening up," their view widened to reveal they had arrived at a place lined with torches glowing purple light, an extremely spacious luxurious hall.

Here lay countless treasures, weapons, and tables laden with all kinds of food; there were bewitchingly beautiful or extraordinarily handsome male-female succubi flaunting their charms to John and the others standing at the corridor's entrance; also present were thousands occupying the high ground, their armor and bodies mutated, faces twisted—the imperial prince guards and veteran elites; of course…

Here also dwells the master of this palace, and indeed of the entire Phoenix Star Region.

John slightly raised his head, gazing toward the front and top of the hall, and met the eyes of a brother who likewise regarded him, an 'other‑father' and 'other‑mother' sibling.

And this one—

Or rather, the fallen Original Body coiled upon the throne platform is none other than Fugerimu.

As for why John mentally regards him as a 'strip,' it is because Fugerimu's deformity and distortion far exceed those of all the imperial princes.

His once handsome features, white lustrous hair, and sturdy physique had vanished without a trace, replaced by a 'human‑serpent body': the upper torso a twisted form with four arms, the lower torso a tail covered in purple scales, and even Fugerimu's face had taken on a feminine aspect.

"Huh~." Fugerimu moreover revealed a smile he considered extremely alluring, though in reality it was hideously abnormal, and he tapped the floor tiles rhythmically with his tail tip, taunting John:

"Your body…"

"!?"

However, all that was heard was a 'Rou~~!!' as a sharp spear tore through the air, forcibly cutting off the utterly profane and filthy taunting words.

Most importantly, it also forced Fugerimu to shut his mouth and dodge, for this piercing came from the spear of fear.

Fortunately, the body became stronger than before, allowing Foggrem to observe John's motion of throwing the spear of fear, thus dodging in time, and also letting 'him', or the demon occupying Foggrem's body, feel confused and angry is…

Are the OriginalBodies of the main universe this shameless?! They have to 'sneak attack'?!

That…

Number 23 shamelessly asks for leave, because I have to retake the third subject exam; these days I get up at 3:30 every morning, then go to the driving school at 5, after which the instructor takes us to practice driving.

Number 23 might not be able to type all day, so I'll have to take a day off; I hope everyone understands and approves~

Finally, thank you all for your support, thanks for subscriptions, tips, recommendation tickets, and monthly tickets~!

(End of chapter)