Chapter 457: The Caw of the Deathbird

"How could you still be alive?"

"Have you truly become a wraith?!"

Kain's voice trembled with terror and disbelief,

he had guessed what the shadow was, but also sensed its condition was strange—far weaker than what Kain had envisioned in his visions, and lacking any material form,

more like a projection from the Warp onto the material universe?

Kain could not tell—he was no Thousand Son, lacking demonic knowledge, relying only on instinct.

The shadow paid no heed to Kain's words; its entire form began to writhe, dragging the darkness around it toward the depths of the corridor,

but Titus raised his chainsword and stood firmly before the shadow,

the shadow seemed the very incarnation of fear in the material world, yet Titus showed not a trace of fear.

"You are. not. guilty." The shadow's words were fractured.

"Letting you pass would be the real crime," Titus growled low: "What are you? What is your purpose?"

". uilty one"

". hief"

". ission"

Fractured, mad utterances spilled from the shadow; Titus understood nothing.

Then, the shadow's blood-red eyes suddenly locked onto Titus, as if seeing something.

". obert. Guilliman." The shadow pointed a claw at Titus, as if seeing the ghost of the Ultramarines' Gene-Father in him.

"My father?" Titus frowned, unsure of the shadow's connection to his Gene-Father.

". econd Empire. Regent." The shadow let out a mocking, chittering laugh.

"Second. Empire?" Titus gave the shadow a strange look, not understanding the term.

". mbitious." The shadow muttered incoherently.

"Slander." Titus tightened his brow.

The shadow let out another chittering laugh, as if taunting Titus,

before Titus could react, the shadow charged at him,

in the blink of an eye it was before Titus, a shrill, monstrous roar erupting from its core,

"Must. deliver. atonement"

The mad roar sent shivers through Titus; he stiffly raised his arm to block the shadow's claws,

but the claws were so sharp they severed Titus's decades-old precision chainsword in an instant,

Titus did not hesitate—he hurled the broken blade at the shadow and snatched up his bolter, unleashing a torrent of fire upon it,

but the shadow moved faster than bolter rounds, dodging the broken blade and the shells in a flash, aiming to slip behind Titus.

"Next time, pick a better weapon!"

"Where's your Ultramarines' Relic Vault?"

Kain growled,

having spent precious moments digging himself out of the wall, he swung his Bloodreaver toward the shadow,

the razor-edged Bloodreaver hummed as its mica-dragon-teeth chainsaw blade slashed at the shadow,

as if the shadow deemed Titus innocent but Kain guilty, it struck Kain with even greater ferocity and lethality,

turning with speed Kain could not follow, its claw driving straight for his chest,

yet Kain did not dodge—he charged straight into the claw,

letting out a savage roar as the claw pierced his chest,

but this brought him close enough to the shadow to see its head hidden in darkness,

he swung his axe straight at its skull,

the shadow shrieked—but did not move its head; it simply extended its other claw and effortlessly blocked Kain's axe.

The shadow let out a scornful, twisted chitter—

BOOM!!

A crow's cry of doom rang out, the sharp, piercing whistle of a heavy-caliber needle tearing through the air,

the needle pierced Kain's left clavicle and shot toward the shadow's head, as Kain's chainsword had indicated.

His breathing was steady, calm, and weightless,

wind, temperature, gravity, even the density of Kain's flesh—all calculated,

his familiar stinger sniper rifle was in perfect condition, the trigger resting gently against his fingertip,

and he applied the faintest pressure.

"By the Blood God," Kain gritted his teeth, then added: "By Saint Doraemon, and by the false Emperor too."

His chest was pierced by the shadow's claw, his clavicle pierced by the heavy-caliber needle from the hidden Raven Guard,

had it not been for the Baelisar's Furnace constantly healing him, he would have collapsed already.

The shadow staggered back a few steps, its claw withdrawing helplessly from Kain's chest,

a heavy-caliber needle protruded from its skull, oozing thick black mist like blood,

then a sharp mechanical sound came from the needle—a faint crack appeared on its surface,

gray ash, golden dust, and silver liquid erupted violently from within, spreading through the air and flowing directly into the shadow's body through the needle.

"Damn. Unmentionable ashes mixed with Star-Fire cinders? And laced with Baal's Thirsting Water? That's some dark shit," the demon Loom, embedded in Kain, exclaimed in disgust: "How afraid is he that he won't kill the target?!"

Thanks to the Three Gods, the hidden Raven Guard had guessed Kain's intent, understood his tactical plan, and seized the opening Kain created,

but such an astonishing shot—could it really be him?

How the hell did Saint Doraemon find this guy?

Kain stared at the needle buried deep in the shadow's skull, clutching his wound as he pondered.

Heavy-caliber needle, Unmentionable ashes, Star-Fire cinders, Thirsting Water—any normal target would be dead from such wounds,

but. but Kain knew this thing before him was no normal target.

The shadow writhed, twitching as it reached out and seized the needle in its skull, yanking it free with a violent pull,

the shadow let out a piercing shriek; the thick black mist that had streamed from its head retracted instantly, and in a blink it was restored to full form.

Kain watched this, panting heavily,

it was exactly as he expected—if a nail through the skull meant death, Angron would have died long ago.

But they had bought enough time—Thor should have escaped the comm interference and transmitted what happened here.

The shadow twisted violently, its crimson eyes locking onto the Raven Guard's hidden position,

"You are. not. guilty."

Though its head had been blown open, the shadow showed no hostility toward the Raven Guard,

then its crimson gaze turned to Kain.

". ou. are. guilty." It growled.

"You too," Kain breathed deeply, staring at the shadow.

". es." The shadow nodded grimly, raising its claw to strike—then—

a pink-tinged wooden door suddenly appeared between them; Zhou Yun stepped through with Doraemon, standing between the two.

Zhou Yun's gaze swept over the unconscious Ceth, the gasping Titus, Kain's mangled wounds, and the Raven Guard who seemed frustrated at failing to kill the shadow,

then he looked at the shadow, its claw raised high.

"Watch out, my lord!" Titus cried, raising his bolter to block Zhou Yun's path,

then, to Titus's stunned gaze, the shadow slowly lowered its claw, curled its body, and writhed before Zhou Yun,

pulling from within itself a spear wrapped in bloody, flayed skin,

the spear bore Aeldari design, glowing with terrifying radiance—as if housing the power of a dying sun,

its shaft was sheathed in smooth, hairless skin, freshly peeled, with a faint, wailing soul barely visible upon it.

The Dusk Spear—or the Fourth Hag's Blade,

once the weapon of Prince Iriel of the Aeldari, but now—

Zhou Yun regarded the bloody, skin-wrapped Dusk Spear with mild disgust,

fragmented words spilled from the shadow, but Zhou Yun understood enough,

Prince Iriel and the Dusk Spear had become eternally fused; much of the soul of the Iyanden Wraithlord now resided within the spear, inseparable,

so he had brought back both Prince Iriel and the Dusk Spear.

"." Zhou Yun stared at the wailing soul of Prince Iriel upon the Dusk Spear, left speechless.

He sighed, then gestured toward the chaos he had caused: "If you came to deliver the Hag's Blade, why not speak plainly?"

More fragmented, mad words poured from the shadow—but Zhou Yun understood.

"I don't know how to explain it. I'm just a madman," the shadow said.

Indeed, this was a genuine madman, beyond logic. The fact he hadn't killed Titus, Ceth, and Kain outright was already a feat of restraint.

"More importantly, your body is long dead—you have no vessel to speak with them?" Zhou Yun's expression tightened.

More fragmented words came from the shadow; when mentioning the lack of a vessel, the shadow glanced briefly at Titus.

"Hmm. You can't stay in reality long? Fine. Go back to the Warp."

"Try hard to steal the Fifth Hag's Blade too."

Zhou Yun nodded to the shadow.

The shadow's body stiffened and quickly retreated into the subspace, vanishing from sight.

"My lord," Titus exhaled deeply, unable to help asking: "What exactly was that? Some kind of demon? It was so powerful."

"Could it be," he recalled rumors he had once heard, "could it be a Daemon Primarch?"

"No, don't worry—it's not a Daemon Primarch," Zhou Yun said, shaking his head.

Titus let out a breath of relief.

"That was Konrad Curze," Zhou Yun said.

That's even worse than a Daemon Primarch!!!

(End of Chapter)