Chapter 212: I! Horus Lupercal Is Back!

A humming field erupted from Zhou Yun's fingers, instantly engulfing most of Khaen's body.

Khaen's movements slowed, as if trapped in a viscous bog of time, utterly immobilized.

Mechanized Device: Stasis Field.

The ability copied from the tomb guardian's relic took effect, warping time and turning Khaen into a statue frozen mid-motion.

According to the mechanized device's parameters, Zhou Yun could hold Khaen captive for at least one minute.

BOOM!!!

The entire tomb chamber suddenly shook violently, the Blood God's roar echoing as if in every ear.

The Lord of Red Sands roared and burst forth from the rift in the warp, his body emerging fully.

Mortis's body groaned, blood continuously seeping from beneath his power armor.

Angron's bestial eyes locked onto Zhou Yun, the thick stench of blood surging toward him.

At that moment, Khaen inside the stasis field let out a low, slow growl.

Khaen moved—not fast, but he moved.

Zhou Yun's stasis field was copied from a miniature relic of the tomb guardian: quick to generate, but narrow in range and incapable of fully halting time like a large-scale stasis field.

If one moved swiftly enough, movement within it was still possible. As the Blood God's power seeped further into reality, Khaen's strength surged in tandem.

He growled and burst free from the stasis field, his razor-edged axe slashing straight for Zhou Yun.

Zhou Yun dodged in a flash, but Khaen's speed reached its peak—before Zhou Yun's nerves could react, the axe slammed into him.

Fortunately, Zhou Yun twisted slightly at the last instant; the blow meant for his head struck his shoulder instead.

A dull metallic slicing sound rang out. Khaen's bloodaxe vibrated violently, then exploded—the transmission mechanism ruptured, and the blade itself cracked with a sharp crackle.

Khaen froze for a moment.

The bloodaxe had indeed cut through the silver-white metal on Zhou Yun's shoulder, but its transmission mechanism was shattered, and even the molybdenum dragon's tooth-forged blade now bore multiple fractures.

What the hell is this silver metal?! It shattered the bloodaxe's edge?!

Back then, the Primarch Angron used his bloodaxe and bloodfather to dig through ruins—only the chain-saw transmission mechanism was damaged.

Yet this silver metal managed to shatter the molybdenum dragon's teeth—and over ten thousand years, the bloodaxe had drunk countless bloods and deaths, growing stronger than ever.

But Khaen hesitated no longer. His instinct as a Chosen of Khorne drove him to draw his blade again.

Even if the armor was damaged, without its transmission mechanism, the bloodaxe remained a deadly weapon capable of cleaving flesh.

All he needed was to drive it deeper through the gap he'd already opened.

For a normal man, this would be difficult—but for Khaen, Chosen of Khorne, it was effortless.

He yanked his axe upward and slashed again toward Zhou Yun's shoulder—

"Khaen!!"

Zhou Yun's voice rose sharply, filled with sincerity, his fingers subtly brushing the Hot-Scene Notepad & Robot Director.

Khaen did not pause. He was the Blood God's Chosen, embodiment of rage and slaughter—his axe allowed no hesitation; nothing could stop him from claiming skulls.

"Do you want to know where Erebus is?"

"Do you want to kill Erebus to avenge Angral Tae?"

Khaen's axe halted mid-swing.

Got him! Seeing Khaen's axe hang suspended in hesitation, Zhou Yun knew he had succeeded.

Angral Tae, the Word Bearers, one of the First-Born, an Astartes who coexisted with Chaos demons, was one of Lorgar's most beloved sons—a symbol of humanity's coexistence with Chaos, and Khaen's friend.

Yet this Word Bearer warrior died by Erebus's treachery.

For in every future Erebus saw, Angral Tae would save Khaen, alter his fate, and prevent him from falling entirely into Chaos.

After learning of Angral Tae's death from Lorgar, Khaen challenged Erebus to a Blood Duel in the arena—but Erebus, terrified of death, escaped through a warp spell at the brink of death, slipping from beneath Khaen's axe.

Since then, Erebus, who called himself the Hand of Fate, had avoided Khaen, and Khaen could never find him, shielded as he was by the Four Gods.

Zhou Yun's words, amplified by the Hot-Scene Notepad & Robot Director, carried absolute sincerity—and he spoke no lie. With the Seeker's Staff, he could indeed locate Erebus; if that failed, he had the Gate of Anywhere and the Truth or Lie Oracle—either way, he could track Erebus down.

Khaen's axe hung suspended, and he sensed the truth in Zhou Yun's words.

A flash of ancient hatred crossed Khaen's face; his fury momentarily ceased its rush toward Zhou Yun.

Zhou Yun seized this moment of hesitation, his fingers swiftly sweeping across Khaen's bare arm.

The bare arm was both a mimicry of Nusaria's gladiators and a memorial to Angral Tae.

Now, it had become Khaen's weakness.

Zhou Yun's other hand pressed the button on the mechanized device.

"Thirsting Water."

A whisper echoed. Crackling sounds rose from Zhou Yun's fingertip; Khaen's bodily fluids were violently extracted, his arm instantly wrinkling.

"Damn it!" Khaen roared. Intense pain and the numb weakness in his arm jolted him back to the reality of this life-or-death battle.

His body became a crimson storm, the chainsword axe slashing with lethal precision toward the gap in Zhou Yun's Rogue DX suit.

But what happened next once again exceeded Khaen's expectations.

Zhou Yun's body dissolved into liquid. Khaen's axe pierced the silver fluid—and all the blood on it dried instantly.

The ability copied from Thirsting Water transformed Zhou Yun into a liquid weapon composed of nanomachines; his fingers surged into liquid spines, stabbing Khaen's exposed arm.

Khaen grunted heavily, his arm shriveling like a corpse in the desert.

Yet Khaen's arm still swung the bloodaxe, the blade cutting toward Zhou Yun's chest with barely a pause.

The Blood God's fury seemed to empower it—Zhou Yun felt a dull, crushing pain in his chest.

As shards of the shattered bloodaxe blade sprayed, part of Zhou Yun's Rogue DX suit was slashed open, and drops of blood trickled out.

Angron's roar grew clearer; his body was nearly fully emerging into reality.

Mortis collapsed to the ground, Seth, covered in wounds, stood with the last few Flesh Eaters to block the Bloodletters and World Eaters.

Khaen discarded his nearly shattered bloodaxe and raised his plasma pistol, aiming it at Zhou Yun's chest.

No wonder Khaen was Khaen—the Chosen of Khorne who once fought Sigismund and Abaddon.

Zhou Yun pressed the mechanized device's button again. A searing laser coalesced at his fingertip.

Copied from the defense lasers of Angel's Keep—according to the Fourth-Dimensional Pocket's analysis, this weapon was designed ten thousand years ago by Perturabo, a gift given to the Archangel before his betrayal, powerful enough to down a Tyranid battleship.

Such a laser could kill Khaen instantly—but its energy overflow would also kill everyone in the tomb, and possibly collapse the entire chamber.

Under these circumstances, Zhou Yun could only gamble: either Saint Guilliman's remains were unharmed, or they were already shattered and another blow wouldn't affect resurrection.

But now, Zhou Yun didn't care anymore—

Better than letting Khaen bypass him and corrupt the resurrecting Saint Guilliman with Khorne's power.

BOOM!!!!

Before Zhou Yun could fire the laser, the entire tomb chamber shook violently for no discernible reason.

Khaen's plasma pistol fired—but the tremor caused the blast to miss Zhou Yun's chest gap, instead grazing his cheek.

Dante, dodging the relentless attacks of the Noen Messengers while piloting his jetpack, stared blankly at the scene before him.

The Noen Messengers had breached the city walls; the Oathbound Legion and Saint Guilliman's forces had joined the battle.

Saint Guilliman's forces and Dante, using the remaining functional defenses of Angel's Keep, temporarily held off one Noen Messenger.

But another Noen Messenger broke through with unstoppable force, leading a vast swarm of insects into Angel's Keep.

In Dante's eyes, that Noen Messenger radiated profound darkness and ravenous hunger—the Hive Mind had taken residence within it, explaining its immense power.

Their target was unmistakable: Saint Guilliman's tomb deep within Angel's Keep.

Yet at that moment, the sky above Baal erupted in flames.

A fire meteor shot from Baal's upper atmosphere, streaking like a comet straight into the planet's atmosphere and crashing into Angel's Keep.

Angel's Keep shuddered violently upon impact; blazing fire erupted at its center.

The Great Daemon of Khorne, Anglaras, descended into Angel's Keep.

Then, the Noen Messenger possessed by the Great Devourer's consciousness roared and clashed with Anglaras, turning Angel's Keep into chaos, shaking it to its foundations.

"Anglaras! You idiot!!!"

Khaen, sensing the source of the tremors, let out a sharp curse.

The shockwave from Anglaras's landing was so violent that everyone in the tomb staggered.

Mortis, already on the verge of collapse, fell to the ground. Angron swung his sword, Sarnari, unleashing a gale of tearing wind that sent Mortis flying like a rag.

With Mortis no longer anchoring reality, the white-armored warriors from the warp could no longer restrain Angron's emergence.

The former Lord of Red Sands, slave of Nusaria, entered reality before Saint Guilliman.

Khaen seized this moment, lunging past Zhou Yun toward the Time-Wrapping Cloth and the Saint Guilliman beneath it.

Zhou Yun hurled a device—another stasis field erupted, engulfing Khaen.

Though the mechanized device's copied effect had ended, Zhou Yun still held the relic from the tomb guardian.

"You fucking only know this trick?" Khaen growled slowly.

Khaen's speed slowed further—but with the Blood God's power, even time's slowing could not hold him.

He kicked the tomb guardian's relic away with furious force, breaking free of the stasis field.

But this time, Zhou Yun did not stop him—he saw the clock on the Time-Wrapping Cloth had silently stopped.

"Finally alive!!" Zhou Yun cried out.

Khaen saw the Time-Wrapping Cloth before him slowly bulge, then silently dissolve into shimmering light.

Sacred radiance bathed Khaen; the holy face he had seen eons ago now glowed with a faint, hazy luminescence.

"Ten thousand years." A clear voice echoed through the tomb.

Mortis, slumped in the corner, wept with joy; Seth trembled and knelt to the ground; for the first time in ten thousand years, Khaen felt fear; Angron roared in fury; and the corner of the Khan of Chogoris, who had severed eight blood-mad demons' heads in the warp, curled into a smile.

Then

"Ten thousand years! I, Horus Lupercal, have returned at last!"

The air instantly fell silent.

(End of Chapter)