Chapter 675: You Poke It, It Goes Numb!

The Scepter of Agony, this chaotic artifact, once belonged to the Demon Prince, the Mutilated Marquis Sh. Lak Kelake ,

Fabius Bael defeated him, destroyed him, and the demon prince’s body and power were fused into this scepter,

A full surge of the demon prince’s profane energy slammed into the back of the Primogenitor, who let out a muffled groan as his power armor was torn open, exposing his flesh to the spikes at the scepter’s tip,

The warp-tainted energy infused the agony amplifier within the scepter, flooding the Primogenitor’s body with unbearable, searing pain,

Fabius Bael did not wish to kill the Primogenitor—he was a valuable experiment and a crucial hostage; Fabius hoped to trade him for the Source Blood Stack from Corvus, and even if Corvus refused, the Primogenitor himself held extraordinary wisdom,

So Fabius chose to subdue the Primogenitor with pain: the agony amplifier within the scepter was not only powered by warp energy but also enhanced by technology acquired from the Dark Eldar Flesh Sculptors, for none in the galaxy understood the crafting of pain better than they,

Fabius Bael’s Scepter of Agony had never failed,

He took a slight step forward, preparing to claim his prize.

The Primogenitor struggled to rise from the ground; the Scepter of Agony clattered to the floor behind him, leaving only a small wound in his flesh.

“.” Fabius Bael stepped back slightly.

The Primogenitor showed no sign of pain—this was entirely beyond Fabius Bael’s expectations,

Bael swiftly drew his stinger pistol, loaded with anesthetic agents he had recovered from the ruins of Nusaria; he aimed it at the wound torn by the Scepter of Agony—

But the Primogenitor turned his head at that moment, boundless terror pouring from the emerald lenses of his helmet, and in an instant he became a beast of the black rain-soaked night, waiting to hunt, surging toward Fabius Bael on a wind of dread,

Konrad Curze’s gene-sequence flashed through Fabius’s mind, yet his body froze in place,

Fear—soul-deep, primal fear—swept over Fabius Bael, paralyzing him.

The Primogenitor too was shaken; Corvus’s training had instantly identified the agony amplifier within the Scepter of Agony,

His umbilical qi effect had dwindled to less than a minute; had Fabius Bael delayed even slightly, the Primogenitor might truly have fallen,

In his heart, he whispered a thanks to Saint Dora the Dream,

Then his form became a crimson storm, his power sword wreathed in lethal psychic energy, lashing toward Fabius Bael’s neck,

He meant to kill in one strike.

Silver meadows rippled beneath her steps, incense, dust, smoke, blood, pleasure, and musical notes spun with her motion, like stars dancing across a celestial wind, like petals drifting in a dream as she washed silk and buried flowers,

Obscene instruments played strange rhythms, like the shrill cries of birds aflame, and petals fell from silver trees onto the spiraling horns that extended from her jade-white forehead,

Twisted demonic shadows emerged from the woods, drooling, watching her blood and flesh, her soul and beauty,

But she was strong enough—her withered father had granted her extraordinary power, the Phoenix Lord had plucked her from the tides of the warp, and the Prince of Pleasure had elevated her with gold, silver, pleasure, and beauty,

The demons dared not move, dared not touch her radiant form, only followed behind her, crawling on the ground, lapping up the dew still clinging to her toes from the silver grass,

Suddenly, her step halted—abruptly, like an electric shock cutting off pleasure at its peak,

The demons wailed at her stillness, yet her face showed concern,

A soft inspiration surfaced in her mind, silently urging her to attend to her withered father,

Following the link of soul, blood, creator and created, she turned her gaze toward the material universe,

She saw it: twenty gene-sequences sprouting like seeds, intertwining, birthing a constantly burning fruit, whose burning arms reached out and pierced her withered father,

She let out a terrified cry, her golden claws tearing open the veil between reality and the warp—so effortlessly, as if a hot knife sliced through butter, as if guided by divine hands,

“Fabius.” She whispered her father’s name, and in an instant appeared on the Murder Star, standing before the Primogenitor,

Her form was breathtakingly beautiful—human, yet utterly different; her slender body draped in semi-transparent gauze, her toes like pearls yet tinged with bestiality, her ankles so delicate they seemed to snap at a touch, her legs encircled by shimmering armor and scales of mythril, crossed together, her torso blending feminine curves with masculine length above the pelvis,

Hair like white bird feathers spilled over her jade shoulders and back; her thick straight locks concealed a skull meticulously designed by Fabius, her skin pale as translucent jade, her nose small and delicate, her eyes crimson as mirrors of blood—if one looked closely, one could still discern the youthful beauty of Fabius Bael’s own face,

Among her hair, two glossy black horns, etched with crimson runes, curled and coiled beside her skull, adding an aura of demonic allure.

Golden claws lashed out—directly toward the Primogenitor’s face—

She let out a low, bitter moan as the Primogenitor’s sharp blade pierced her shoulder, psychic fire blazing, searing her with pain,

Yet her claws made contact with the Primogenitor—just as she appeared, a feeling, an intuition had urged her to strike, and her claws had sliced perfectly through his helmet,

The helmet shattered, revealing the face beneath—ordinary, plain, hard to imagine as the product of twenty Primarch gene-sequences; yet had anyone who remembered young Corvus been present, they would have been stunned to recognize: the Primogenitor’s face bore a resemblance to Corvus of old,

Just as the demoness standing before the Primogenitor bore a resemblance to Fabius.

“Melusine.” Fabius softly spoke the name of the woman before him,

She was Fabius Bael’s first true creation, his firstborn, born from a nutrient tank—not naturally grown and later modified—but raised before his eyes, from fertilized egg to embryo, to infant, to girl,

She was also his most perfect work, a true new humanity, capable of replacing the old,

But sadly, the warp had taken her from Fabius; now Melusine was a Demon Prince, and Fabius rarely saw her—each meeting pained him as his child sank deeper into damnation, her demonic nature growing, her humanity fading,

Yet even so, when Fabius was in danger, Melusine often intervened to protect him—as she did now.

Fabius Bael raised his stinger pistol, the anesthetic needles from the ruins of Nusaria primed and ready; he aimed at the exposed neck of the Primogenitor,

His action required no thought—the sudden inspiration in his mind drove him to aim the stinger at the Primogenitor’s neck,

Everything felt natural,

The Primogenitor saw Fabius aiming the stinger pistol, but the umbilical qi effect vanished—his genetic defect’s pain surged, causing his movements to falter.

The needle pierced flesh, the anesthetic pumped into the Primogenitor’s body,

The Primogenitor’s body contained twenty-one Primarch gene-sequences, including that of Mortarion, Lord of the Death Guard—he should have possessed extraordinary drug resistance, even ingesting complex toxins producing only a mild intoxication,

Yet under the anesthetic’s effect, the Primogenitor experienced intense dizziness; he staggered back a few steps, then—crack—he collapsed, completely paralyzed.

“.?” Fulgrim, holding the Warhammer of the Broken Hearth, having just shattered Horus’s skull, stared blankly at the fallen Primogenitor,

Others might not know the Primogenitor’s identity—but could Fulgrim not?

The Primogenitor’s body contained gene-sequences from twenty legions, directly drawn from the Source Blood Stack,

And yet he had been felled by a single needle of anesthetic,

What kind of anesthetic was this?

When had Bael created such a miraculous drug?

Would he himself collapse if he rushed forward?

Though troubled, Fulgrim still stepped forward, becoming a purple hurricane rushing toward the fallen Primogenitor.