Chapter 179: Licart: Grrr! Kill Me!

Neuro-Licart slowly raised its head, looking around in confusion.

The psychic energy and pulsed electromagnetic waves radiating from its swollen brain instantly told it where it was.

Angel's Keep! The Hall of the Hunted! Five hundred genetically enhanced beings known as Astartes!

It had indeed intended to infiltrate Angel's Keep and turn the tide of war at a critical moment,

but the timing was clearly wrong—and so was the location!

Not only had Neuro-Licart failed to grasp the situation, but the Astartes in the Crimson Grand Hall had not either,

a xenos inexplicably appearing in the Crimson Grand Hall?

Shocked? Certainly. But dangerous?

Five hundred Battle Masters, Chief Librarians, and Company Captains of the Blood Angels stood within the hall, nearly five hundred bolters aimed at this blasphemous psychic xenos,

not even a Hive Tyrant could survive here, let alone a single Neuro-Licart.

Though they did not understand the situation, a century of combat experience drove these warriors to react instantly—they pulled the triggers.

In an instant, hundreds of thunderclaps erupted within the Crimson Grand Hall, shaking the entire structure as nearly five hundred bolter rounds became a rain of fire aimed at the Neuro-Licart at the round table's center.

Neuro-Licart let out a piercing shriek; its massive brain beneath the crown erupted with psychic light, blurring the boundary between reality and the Warp, nearly draining its last reserves of psychic energy,

a solid hemispherical psychic shield encircled Neuro-Licart, and bullets striking it sank like into quicksand, slowing instantly and rippling across the shield's surface.

Nerves on Neuro-Licart's head burst one by one, pale blue viscous fluid cascading down from its crown.

Resisting Mephiston's psychic power, Zhou Yun's sudden attack, and the full volleys of five hundred Astartes—even a Neuro-Licart with immense psychic strength was pushed to its limit.

It turned its head toward the reddish-pink wooden door it had entered through—now vanished without a trace.

Neuro-Licart could only use its brain's pulsed electromagnetic waves to locate the weakest point in the Crimson Grand Hall, planning to break out from there—

"XENOS!!!!"

Before Neuro-Licart could move, a blood-curdling roar filled the hall, thick with the stench of blood,

Yor of the Blood Knights Chapter let out a bestial bellow, his silver-and-red powered armor caked in dried blood, the crimson hunger seeping from him swirling among the Sons of Sanguinius,

Yor became a crimson, merciless shadow, streaking across the entire hall, his blood-smeared chainsword roaring in fury, venting his rage against the xenos,

the howling chainsword slammed into Neuro-Licart's psychic shield, which let out a mournful cry,

the Warp-born construct could not withstand the fury of Sanguinius's offspring—it shattered into streams of light and vanished.

Neuro-Licart roared, whirling to raise its two small, pale-purple claws shaped like sickles,

but Yor of the Blood Knights was more savage, more deranged, more fearless, and more cunning,

he allowed Neuro-Licart's claws to pierce his powered armor, then used that brief moment to thrust both hands forward, driving the chainsword deep into Neuro-Licart.

The xenos's corrosive blood spurted from Neuro-Licart's chest, splattering across Yor's silver-and-red armor, hissing as white corrosive smoke rose,

but Yor did not care; some xenos blood landed on his helmet, seeping through the breath vents—but Yor showed no sign of injury, instead roaring with exhilaration, as if the xenos's blood thrilled him.

"Huuuh!!" Neuro-Licart shrieked, its body nearly severed.

But it seemed to sense something—it mustered its last strength and drove both claws toward Yor's never-removed helmet.

Yor instinctively recoiled, letting out a terrified cry, and pulled his chainsword free from Neuro-Licart's abdomen.

"Yor!!" Dante's roar rang out; his meltagun barked, and Neuro-Licart's two claws shattered.

Neuro-Licart crashed to the ground, emitting a piercing wail as its head burst with viscous fluid, releasing a powerful psychic surge.

The fear-inducing psychic wave flooded instantly into every Blood Angel's mind,

Neuro-Licart had specifically tuned this wave to make each Blood Angel see their greatest fear.

"Fuck your Primarch's eczema! Traitor!"

"Sons of Sanguinius know no fear!"

"Kill!!! Horus!!! It's Horus!!"

But this backfired—during their brief paralysis, the Sons of Sanguinius were instead awakened by fury, roaring as they charged the fallen Neuro-Licart.

The Chapter Master of the Crimson Blades, in his rage, even drew his precision power sword and hurled it like a spear at Neuro-Licart,

Neuro-Licart couldn't dodge—it was cleaved clean through half its tail.

An expression of utter bewilderment spread across Neuro-Licart's xenos face,

since landing on this planet, everything had been so inexplicable, so incomprehensible,

What the hell?! Why is everything on Baal always so fucking terrible?!

Neuro-Licart's psychic glow flickered; it prepared to drain itself one final time—burning part of its own flesh to forcibly link with the gene-thieves inside the Sheath Fortresses, drawing upon centuries of their faith to summon Warp power for escape.

But just then, the reddish-pink wooden door reappeared,

a hand reached out from the door, grabbing the dying Neuro-Licart—

Neuro-Licart jumped up like a cat with its tail stepped on, launching itself without hesitation at Yor, the nearest Blood Knight, as if seeking death. Yor also noticed the hand emerging from the reddish-pink door—he instinctively assumed it was an enemy,

"No way!!!" Yor roared,

his chainsword howling as he swung it at the hand,

but the hand flipped like magic, producing in its grip a small plastic toy sword glowing with a faint golden sheen,

*Bang!!!!

Even amid their fury, Yor and the other Blood Angels couldn't help but admire the exquisite swordsmanship,

the toy sword deflected Yor's attack with uncanny precision, then gently flicked his chainsword aside,

then the hand shot forward with lightning speed toward Neuro-Licart, who was still lunging at Yor's chainsword as if to kill itself,

but the hand was faster than Neuro-Licart's mangled body—it seized the severed half of Neuro-Licart's tail and yanked it toward the reddish-pink door.

Neuro-Licart struggled, roaring as it squeezed the last dregs of psychic energy from its nearly desiccated brain tissue,

every Blood Angel heard Neuro-Licart's furious roar in their ears,

a roar that seemed to curse them for not killing it faster,

but this only left the Blood Angels momentarily stunned,

they had spent their lives killing humanity's enemies—never once had they heard such a demand.

Neuro-Licart's rear half was dragged into the portal; it struggled to grip the door with its stumps, but the hand's strength was overwhelming—in less than two seconds, the Neuro-Licart vanished into the reddish-pink wooden door.

Instantly, the Crimson Grand Hall fell silent again,

the Sons of Sanguinius, cooled from their rage, stared blankly at the shattered marble table and the blood-soaked floor.

"What was that reddish-pink wooden door?!"

!. ead

"I think I've seen it—on Baal II, I heard followers of Saint Doraemon say their saint emerged from that door."

"No no, I heard from the Death-Worshippers on Baal Prime—they say it's a relic carried by the Death God's Chosen, capable of traveling anywhere, along with a staff that locates anyone's position; together they symbolize inescapable death."

"We of the Flesh-Tearers have seen that door on Baal."

Low murmurs filled the hall.

Only one Astartes warrior, clad in red-and-white powered armor, stood bent low, searching the ground in confusion,

"Where's my sword?"

"Where's my precision power sword?!"

"That was my Chapter's holy relic!!! My 'Halderos Blade'! Where did my power sword go?!"

Kaon, Chapter Master of the Crimson Blades, raised his head in anguish and roared.

The warriors around him stared blankly at Kaon.

Only Dante, standing on the dais with a rough guess of what had happened, twitched his lips.

In the deserts of Baal, Zhou Yun sighed in satisfaction as he shoved the Neuro-Licart into his four-dimensional pocket on his abdomen,

beside him, Mephiston averted his gaze, unable to watch this secondary Warp deity feeding,

but suddenly, Mephiston saw a flash of silver—Zhou Yun had pulled out a gleaming precision power longsword, its blade inlaid with exquisite gems, shaped like three drops of blood falling into a skull cup.

"Isn't that the Crimson Blades' holy relic, 'Halderos Blade'? A precious heirloom named after their homeworld."

Zhou Yun, hearing this, blinked in confusion—but didn't pause as he shoved the precision power sword into his four-dimensional pocket.

"I just thought it was a shame to leave it on the ground. I figured they probably didn't want it anymore."

"What a waste, don't you think?"

Zhou Yun sighed and shook his head.

Mephiston, hearing this, stiffened slightly and quickly touched the hilt of his soul-sword, Vitarus.

(End of Chapter)