Chapter 457

The breath of fear was as chilling as a long, starless, moonless night, with only neon lights flickering and only sin spreading through the deep alleys.

Facing this terrifying aura that had suddenly surged from the Warp, Seth felt as if his very flesh were being flayed open, and every sin he had ever committed was being exposed.

Exposed before a brutal, manic, and extreme judge.

That judge tolerated not the slightest transgression, thirsted for justice to the extreme, and dealt out terrifying death sentences in the name of judgment.

Had it not been for Titus beside him, who seemed to know no fear, his will as indestructible as shining gold, the radiance he shed awakening Seth, Seth would likely have been trembling and unable to move under such bone-chilling fear by now.

"What the hell is that thing?" Seth let out a feral, low growl, fangs protruding from his upper lip as he actively awakened the Red Thirst, using the craving for blood to mask his fear.

Titus did not answer Seth's question; presumably, he did not know the answer either.

The scent of blood lingered in the corridors of the *Light Lord*, sharp and pungent.

That thing slowly drilled its way out of the Warp, and the moment it appeared, the surrounding lights seemed to fear it, extinguishing one by one.

Perhaps Seth saw that thing, perhaps he did not, or perhaps he simply could not comprehend what was before his eyes.

He only saw a pair of terrifying, bright red eyes in the darkness, staring fixedly at him.

No sinner could be forgiven, no sin could be pardoned.

Seth's stomach churned; the memories of the cruel crimes he had committed, the slaughter, the bloodlust, all surged forth to be judged before those bright red eyes.

"Communications are down," Titus said in a low voice to Seth.

He remained rational, attempting to use the comms to report the situation, but it was as if even the communication waves feared the monster surging from the Warp and dared not approach the vicinity.

Seth's expression suddenly darkened, the savagery granted by the Red Thirst reminding him:

This monster before him was absolutely not someone he could match.

Yet Seth still gritted his teeth and blocked the monster's path.

The Flesh Tearers would feel fear, anger, bloodlust, and madness, but they would not retreat.

Especially not in front of an Ultramarine.

". Guil. ty." A savage, feral, and madness-filled growl echoed in Seth's ears.

A pitch-black shadow lunged at Seth; in terror, Seth raised his chainsword to block.

Two sharp claws reached out from the darkness, tearing through Seth's power armor as if it were a rag blocking its path, sending Seth crashing to the ground.

Titus hurriedly stepped forward, taking over the defense by swinging his sword; his chainsword let out a mournful wail, the immense force making Titus's arm go numb.

What terrifying strength.

Titus was battle-hardened; from Orks to Chaos Astartes, from Daemon Princes to Tyranid swarms, he had fought them all.

But not even a Tyranid Hive Tyrant or an Ork Warboss had brought Titus such a sense of oppression.

"Innocent." Titus faintly heard the savage roar of that shadow.

A pair of claws swiped, and Titus was instantly forced back several steps, his gauntlets covered in cracks from the impact.

"You monster!" Seth, his chest wound gruesome, sprang up from the ground, forcibly overcoming his fear, and slammed his massive frame into the monster.

But the monster did not even budge.

"You, retreat to the western corridor!"

Seth entangled the terrifying monster with his own body, his fangs becoming extremely long, his entire face highly distorted.

He opened his blood-filled maw and bit at the shadow like a ghoul.

Titus gripped his chainsword tightly.

"Kharn is on duty over there; only he can stop this monster!"

"And notify Saint Doraemon!"

Titus nodded sharply and, without hesitation, charged toward the west where Kharn was.

"Ah!!!!"

After Titus left, Seth let out a mournful cry as a throwing knife, like a fang, pierced out from the darkness and stabbed into Seth's chest, narrowly missing his heart.

"You are. guilty." the monster growled.

"Do you think I need you to tell me that?!" Seth overcame his fear and lunged at the monster.

"Brother Titus?"

Soth noticed Titus running over in a hurry and cast a curious gaze toward him.

He did not know what had happened to make the usually serious and calm Brother Titus act so urgently.

"What happened?" Kharn, who was on duty with Soth, asked in a low voice.

"Some kind of Warp entity, perhaps a daemon, shrouded in darkness, capable of interfering with communications, awakening people's fear, has sharp claws, and is strong enough to suppress Lord Seth and me." Titus quickly relayed all known information to Kharn and then asked, "What is that thing?"

Kharn was a Champion of Khorne who had long operated in the Warp; he should have some knowledge of such a powerful Warp presence, right?

Kharn was silent for half a second, then said, "I don't know."

"I'm not Ahriman," Kharn continued, looking at the stunned Titus.

"Don't expect Kharn to tell you what that is; he is a genuine, certified-by-a-Biologis-Magos-with-a-medical-note, physiological moron." Raum, the daemon parasitic on Kharn, said, "But honestly, I've never heard of such a character among daemons... Hmm? It seems to be coming!"

Just then, the lights at the other end of the corridor began to extinguish, and darkness began to spread.

"Soth, move away quickly and transmit the situation here via comms."

Kharn growled his order to Soth.

Many viewed Kharn as a pure beast, and Kharn was indeed brain-damaged, but he had been a commander during the Great Crusade; he could still manage such simple commands.

Soth did not hesitate, running toward the distance while transmitting the situation here via comms.

Titus and Kharn stood ready, looking at the approaching mass of darkness.

That darkness seemed to have no form, though faintly one could see two claws, one of which was gripping Seth's shoulder tightly, the talons piercing into his shoulder and rendering Seth completely unable to resist.

It threw Seth toward Kharn and Titus.

Kharn reached out one hand to catch Seth and tossed the unconscious Seth onto the ground.

"Careful." Titus stared fixedly at the monster, cautiously adjusting his stance to avoid exposing any openings.

Kharn, however, stood beside Titus in a casual, savage, gladiator-like posture.

Kharn let out a low growl.

He was certain he did not recognize the monster before him, but this thing was clearly not a Daemon Primarch.

This meant it was unlikely to be an opponent Kharn could not handle.

In the Warp, even against the Greater Daemons of the gods, Kharn felt no fear.

And now, after his Primaris surgery, he felt incomparably powerful.

He felt he would not lose.

Kharn exerted force with his legs, the steel cable tendons added during the Primaris surgery snapping into action, sending Kharn crashing toward the pitch-black shadow like a cannonball.

Several daggers, like fangs, shot out from the shadow, heading straight for Kharn's face.

Kharn's chain-axe roared, the blood-soaked chain spinning in the air, deflecting the daggers approaching him.

Then, the axe carved an exquisite crimson arc, hacking toward where the shadow's head might be.

At that very instant, Kharn's eyes saw the form of the shadow clearly, saw the claws beneath it.

In Kharn's brain, which was pierced by the Butcher's Nails and should have been incapable of the emotion of fear, a trace of fear actually welled up.

Fear inexplicably surged from Kharn's heart, causing his movements to slow down suddenly.

"You are. guilty." The fragmented words spilled from the shadow's mouth.

Then it thrust its claws out, seizing Kharn's axe, while the other hand reached out and slapped Kharn across the face.

Titus watched as Kharn was slapped away by the shadow and embedded heavily into the wall, stunned for a moment.

He had sparred with Kharn in the fighting pits and knew Kharn's strength.

Yet Kharn had been slapped into the wall.

Titus suddenly realized that when dealing with him and Seth earlier, this shadow probably hadn't been using its full strength at all.

"How is this possible?"

Kharn's voice came from the wall, his tone filled with horror and disbelief:

"It's actually you!"

"How could you possibly still be alive!!"

(End of Chapter)