Chapter 467: The Death Knell Shall Ring for the Emperor

Saur. Tavitz?

The name spoken by the bald, flamboyant man made Saur freeze.

It was a name he had never heard, one with no memory attached.

Yet for some reason, Saur felt familiarity with the name, and a strange emotion surged within him—

a desire to spit in the bald man's face and accuse him of being unworthy to speak it.

Why?

Why did Saur feel familiar with this name?

Though he did not know the meaning of Saur. Tavitz, Saur recognized the identity of the bald, flamboyant man before him—

Lu Xiusi, Charnal's Chosen, Lu Xiusi,

a knowledge imparted by Khaen.

While teaching Saur martial arts, Khaen occasionally dropped fragments of information about the galaxy—

now, each of the Four Gods had their Chosen.

Aliman, Chosen of Tzeentch, and Khaen, Chosen of Khorne, were both familiar to Saur. Khaen was currently free, not loyal to the Blood God; Aliman claimed he had never served the filthy Tzeentch.

But Khaen warned Saur: do not assume the other two Chosen are human just because Khaen and Aliman appear so.

Though the other two Chosen—Taphon, Chosen of Nurgle, and Lu Xiusi, Chosen of Slaanesh—were far weaker than Aliman and Khaen, in terms of depravity they were beyond Khaen and Aliman's reach.

Taphon was a beast; Lu Xiusi was a stray dog on the street, Khaen had warned Saur—

A slender, twisted blade, like a serpent coiling its body, struck with dazzling, intricate swordplay that made Saur dizzy.

"Tavitz, little beast, your blood reeks of Tavitz."

Saur's cheek was slashed. Had he reacted a fraction slower, the blade would have pierced his skull and taken his life.

Lu Xiusi withdrew the blade with elegant grace, bringing its edge to his face to inhale the scent of Saur's blood.

The twisted blade had been forged in the blasphemous temple of the Alien Stinger, once inhabited by a powerful Slaanesh Daemon, wielded by the Daemon Primarch Fulgrim, then gifted by the Emperor's Son's Primarch to Lu Xiusi. Though the demon had long departed, the blade remained deadly.

Lu Xiusi sniffed the blood on the blade and twisted his face into an expression of revulsion, hatred, and fury.

"You are the continuation of Tavitz's bloodline. Your gene-seed comes from Saur. Tavitz," Lu Xiusi growled.

My gene-seed comes from Saur. Tavitz? Saur paused.

He did not know the Tavitz Lu Xiusi spoke of, yet he could feel the power within his own gene-seed—

a reservoir of the previous Astartes' genetic memories, preserving his combat experience. Saur often drew strength, skill, and wisdom from it.

When Saur gained memory, he was already kidnapped by Khael onto the Explorer-King. He could not recall his biological parents' faces; his understanding of this world came entirely from hypnotic indoctrination and the influence of the gene-seed.

"I know nothing of this Lord Tavitz's life, but if his gene-seed truly came from him—"

"then I believe he was a noble, humble, great, and loyal Imperial Fist warrior."

Lu Xiusi's smile froze on his face, his scarred visage filled with confusion—he did not understand what Saur meant.

Lu Xiusi admitted Tavitz was indeed dull, dry, and as lifeless as a stone.

But… to call Tavitz an Imperial Fist? How could this boy curse him worse than Lu Xiusi himself? Did he also hate Tavitz?

Then Lu Xiusi realized—

"You think you are an Imperial Fist?"

"Rather than be a noble son of Fulgrim, you prefer to wallow with stones?"

"Little beast, you are just like Tavitz—dull, boring, stupid, and a traitor to your own Primarch."

But to Lu Xiusi's surprise, Saur did not rage—he laughed.

"Traitor, thank you for your shameful slander."

"Your jealous, vile slander confirms to me that the Lord Tavitz who passed his gene-seed to me was a loyal warrior."

Lu Xiusi's face twisted. He let out a piercing, needle-sharp war cry that made Saur's head spin.

Then the Stinger blade struck like a serpent toward Saur's throat.

Saur drained every ounce of power from his Primaris body, every lesson Khaen had taught him, and every combat memory inherited from his gene-seed—just barely parried the lethal strike.

Blades clashed, sparking blindingly. Lu Xiusi yanked back, then thrust again—the blade pierced Saur's power armor, carving a grotesque wound into his flesh.

"Still just a mortal," Lu Xiusi sneered, and the Stinger blade split into a thousand glinting points, all stabbing at Saur.

Saur struggled to defend, but Lu Xiusi was too strong—so strong Saur's scalp prickled, his resistance crumbling, his body littered with bloody gashes.

Lu Xiusi was torturing Saur, playing with him.

Saur's heart filled with bitterness.

Khaen had warned him: Lu Xiusi bore the Blessing of the Hungering Lord. If anyone killed him and felt even a whisper of pride or joy, Lu Xiusi would possess and resurrect within that killer.

Not even killing Lu Xiusi was possible. That Saur had resisted him this long was already thanks to the Emperor's and Saint Dora's mercy.

Blood dripped from Saur's lips. He clenched his teeth, forcing himself to remain lucid, unshaken by pain.

"Do not rely solely on your blade. You yourself are a powerful weapon—forged by the Emperor and Belisarius Khael's art. Do not waste them."

Khaen's voice seemed to echo in Saur's ear.

"Know your enemy. Win by any means necessary." This too sounded like Khaen's voice—but more like it came from within Saur himself.

Know your enemy. Lu Xiusi looked at Saur with contempt, disdain. He disdained Saur—and death itself. The Blessing of the Hungering Lord made him reckless.

Recklessness creates openings.

He… he had an opening. Saur saw it.

Saur released his grip on his sword, roared, and charged forward. The Stinger blade pierced straight through his body, tearing through flesh. Agonizing pain engulfed him.

But this suicide strike slowed Lu Xiusi for an instant—long enough for Saur's fist to smash into Lu Xiusi's face, sending him flying.

The Stinger blade slid free from Saur's wound. The pain nearly knocked him off his feet.

Had it not been for the Forge of Belisarius, that blow would have sent Saur to wait for Saint Dora to resurrect him.

"You…" Saur, nearly incapacitated, wiped blood from his lips. His body's instinct drove him to speak: "You… you forgot again."

"When Lokken first defeated you, he taught you: Know your enemy. Win by any means necessary."

Saur did not know why he spoke these words. Perhaps the genetic memory of Tavitz within him had influenced him.

"Lord Tavitz… and Lord Lokken… both defeated you this way? Then you truly have no memory."

"Little beast, how dare you mock me…" Lu Xiusi's wounds were far lighter than Saur imagined.

He twisted his head, growled, and rose from the ground, face contorted in fury.

A twisted whip of flesh extended from his armor, writhing with the whispers and moans of demons.

The whip lashed out, snatching the Stinger blade back into Lu Xiusi's hand—but Saur could no longer match his speed.

At this moment, Saur deeply regretted not equipping his fists with power gauntlets.

"Little beast, little mongrel, spawn of the False Emperor, you disgusting, ugly, hateful, vile, loathsome, ugly, stupid, damned little beast."

Lu Xiusi's face twisted grotesquely, lips curled, tongue writhing—utterly vile and repulsive:

"I will kill you. I will cut you into sixty-six pieces. I will tear your gene-seed from your body and shred it to dust, then feed you both to Erebus."

As he growled and cursed, Lu Xiusi lunged at Saur, Stinger blade in hand.

"Die, you piece of shit, little beast—"

BOOM!!!!

A large-caliber steel needle shot forth. Its aerodynamic tip sliced through air, emitting a shrill, keening wail—like a dirge of doom.

Just as always,

feel the air's flow, the humidity, the temperature, the density of reality, the viscosity of flesh, the slight gravity from the ship's mass, the deflection from engine thrust—

all woven into the bullet's trajectory, as if the world had been cleaved by his shot into two stark halves—

one side life, one side death.

His bullet was the ferry between life and death.

And his trigger finger, the oar.

But in truth, it was still just as always—

nothing special.

Just pull the trigger.

The death knell shall ring for the Emperor's enemies.

Lu Xiusi's head exploded before Saur's eyes, brains splattering across the floor.

His headless body collapsed lifelessly at Saur's feet—ugly, pitiful.

Shadows writhed. The Raven Guard, clad in black power armor, holding a steel needle sniper rifle, appeared silently beside Saur.

"You fought well, cousin," the Raven Guard nodded softly to Saur, as if utterly unbothered by the corpse at his feet.

Saur first froze, then trembled with fear.

Whoever killed Lu Xiusi, if they felt even a whisper of joy or pride, would be possessed and resurrected by him.

"My lord, that was Lu Xiusi!"

"Chosen of Slaanesh! Whoever kills him will be possessed—we must find Saint Dora at once!"

(End of Chapter)