Chapter 404 Death
"Do you really want to be saved? Is loving Him with your heart really more desirable to you than something you think is fun and useful?"—— "The Book of Lorgar"
They just came here three hours ago, shooting everywhere, waving their claws, and venting the gunpowder particles brought by the empire's weapons to many corners inside the Randan biological ship.
During that time, the place was noisy and noisy, with many new microorganisms crawling out from the leaky holes and the inner walls of decaying fragile animal organs, creating dangers for them to block their way.
They succeeded, one soldier died in the attack, and the other soldiers solved the remaining mission objectives.
The warriors were equally skilled at killing aliens, and the Harhabat was as familiar with tearing the ganglia of Randan monsters away from their grotesque bodies as any of them. After all, before joining them, that The Word Bearers also had one of their own fighting squads.
But it was Barrera who died in the end.
Destiny, or not fate. The people who served the emperor left with his companions who had gone first, and only Hashem could tell clearly - maybe he could tell what kind of logic they relied on to think that they could ascend to a certain place behind the throne after death. A new paradise that does not exist.
Well, Jack thought, it seems Hashem himself can't go, who knows. By God's will or not, the Word Bearers left one after another.
“I’m going over here,” Jack said. “What about you?”
Kroger glanced at the roads that forked in Randan's alien body according to their unknown body structure. The gray light falling from the holes above the biological ship shone equally on each of the remaining roads, like bubbles in the mire. , or the sparse light and shadow on the forest floor.
In previous explorations, these three roads have been burned by heavy fire; the alien that escaped from the glass jar is probably the only remaining threat here.
"It's faster this way," Jack continued, "I'm still worried about it escaping with Hashem. Can just a new alien defeat a super alien killer? I don't think so."
"Okay." Kroger finally agreed with the Luna Wolf's view. The two Iron Warriors said a few words in the internal channel, and were about to walk towards the two passages respectively, when a new message came out Intercepted them.
"The First Primarch is approaching in this direction," Kroger turned around and said, "The reason is unknown."
"Copy that, this doesn't stop us from working, right?" Jack said briskly. No one knew what the Lions were going to do. Anyway, they were all fighting aliens.
In his channel, he didn't hear the message. It seemed that the Iron Warriors had some unique signal detection devices in their helmets.
The Iron Warriors nodded. Their steady steps quickly disappeared into the forking paths.
Jack shrugged his shoulders and continued to explore the alien's body, walking on the same path they had traveled. The road on the rusty iron surface in front of him sloped downwards, and evenly distributed horizontal stripes overlapped in the distance. He opened the breathing valve and smelled the air here. There was a vague smell of blood lingering.
Who will discover Hashem first? Part of Jack wished it was him, and another part wished it wasn't. He quickly gave up thinking.
He sniffed his nose, and information continued to be sent to his heart through the analysis of the Space Marine helmet and his own perception ability. Now that there was no one around, he suddenly found that his usual eloquent words were suddenly stuck, and it was difficult to continue to say even half a word.
Jack didn't like this feeling, which reminded him of some vague memories of his childhood in Corsonia. They were too distant, like long-dead pictures, not to mention that the content of the pictures itself was not pleasing. He hates having too many memories, and he hates being in constant contact with his memories.
A person should always live in the present.
The structure corresponding to the biological ship in the alien body is barely supported crookedly. The dark metal can swallow up all the dust and light falling on it, but the surrounding rib-like white giant bones themselves brighten filled the entire dull space.
Dead silence spreads here. Apart from the slight friction sound when the boots hit the ground, and the sound of the power armor running which is insignificant in the empty world, there is only some kind of intuitive warning left. , sounding the alarm in Jack's consciousness. Every time he took a step deeper, the cold air surged through his lungs in greater amounts, making his stomach churn.
Jack moved the power claw of his right hand and turned the handle of the bone-removing saber in his left hand, repeatedly familiarizing himself with its center of gravity after knocking off a corner. The cold breath passed over his helmet, but the temperature indicator did not change. He knew that something disturbed him.
Suddenly, something appeared in the dim light. After a brief pause for a few seconds, a metallic collision echoed in the corridor. The sound was not heard anymore, and it hid deeper. past.
Jack eagerly caught up with him, and a stronger blood aura stood in front of him, stopping his feet. Then he discovered that he could follow this aura and chase him away.
"There you are," Jack murmured. "I made the right choice."
Dots of blood appeared on the ground, and then connected into pieces, creating many irregular dark chaotic shapes. Hashem's bolter fell to the ground, thrown away by the alien for some unknown reason. Don't aliens shoot?
Jack gently kicked the gun away, not daring to pick it up.
In the swaying light and shadow, the Luna Wolf began to run, the power armor buzzing. His steps became faster and faster, and the wind flew past his sides until a steady figure became clearly visible in the corridor.
The man who used to be Hashem stood there with his back to Jack. The gray armor engraved with golden inscriptions was exactly the same as before. A pool of Space Marine blood flowed at his feet. If it weren't for the blood and the power armor that no longer functioned correctly, he would be exactly the same as usual.
Jack stopped, quietly turned the saber to the front, and approached carefully step by step. The alien took one step forward, spun around, and faced the approaching Shadow Moon Wolf. Hashem's power hammer was held in its palm, and a large amount of blood once spilled out from the breach in the throat, staining the entire breastplate of the Word Bearer red, but now it has stopped strangely.
Jack raised one corner of his mouth and said nothing, suppressing the rising anger. He knew all the weaknesses in his comrade's armor, and he wished Hashem hadn't let the xenos know about his.
The two stood facing each other silently, competing for timing and offensive status. And at a certain moment when the light and shadow trembled slightly, the two people rushed towards each other at the same time without warning, putting violence into practice.
The combination of the power claw and the boning knife determines that the Luna Wolf must win with agility and speed, and cannot resist the Word Bearer's power hammer head-on.
The moment of the confrontation was too short to capture. The weapon was swung with only the intuition gained from years of training. The sharp edge of the weapon flashed with a silvery reflection, and a slash of the slash was fatally aimed at the Word Bearer's armor. joints; the alien quickly dodged backwards at an incredible angle, the long handle of the power mallet held the saber, knocking the moon wolf back, and the friction of the combat boots made an ear-piercing scream.
Very good, Jack thought. The opponent was not familiar with his attacking rhythm. It seemed that the alien did not take away those memories from Hashem.
Jack turned sideways and lowered his center of gravity, swinging his claws rapidly from another angle, aiming at the gap under the enemy's breastplate, as fast as a ferocious wolf. The tips of his claws briefly penetrated a piece of soft flesh, and were quickly thrown away. The alien pushed him away without feeling the pain, and the power hammer swept forward heavily. Jack moved to dodge, avoiding the alien's attack.
The battle situation changed in an instant, and the two people went back and forth in the broken light and shadow of the corridor, sometimes advancing further into the depths, sometimes changing their footwork and retreating back. Except for the noisy collision of blades, the roar of heavy hammers and narrow knives, and the noise made by Jack's power armor, everything was immersed in silence.
Jack tried his best to destroy the alien's limbs based on his combat experience. After trying again and again, one of the alien's arms was torn off by the armor, and a painful muffled sound came from the body occupied by the alien. The vocal cords emanated and blood dripped red, giving Jack the illusion that he was dissecting his battle brother.
The Shadow Moon Wolf swayed for a moment, but fortunately the alien did not pursue it. Jack quickly readjusted the situation of the confrontation, giving a slight distance, and flexibly positioned the weapons in both hands. Then, he seized the next opportunity to add another ruthless attack to the weakened opponent, his claws running along his shoulders. The section on it penetrates into the body of the alien, biting outwards like fangs.
According to calculations of the speed of the power hammer, he was able to back away safely, but Jack realized that he had made a mistake.
The speed of the alien suddenly increased, and the power hammer pressed towards his flank like a toppling rolling stone. Jack received the first blow in embarrassment, and severe pain exploded in his body, but how quickly he recovered his posture Still not fast enough. After losing part of the storage of battle memories, the alien attacks came violently like a sudden rain and wind, like some kind of crazy struggle.
Jack took turns using his claws and saber to try to deflect the falling attacks, or find openings for attack, but his strength was rapidly draining, and his defense and foot movement slowed slightly, resulting in more hits.
A blow fell on his thick breastplate, and he heard his bones shattering in the shock through the steel. The second blow was an upward thrust, creating a blinding flash of light in front of him. No. he thought.
Jack fell backwards and was hit hard, sliding on the ground for a short distance. Half of his helmet was broken, and his exposed face was stained with blood. His dark blue eyes were also covered with red blood, causing waves of uncontrollable pain. No.
Jack's saber was released, and he pierced the power claw into the ground beneath him, struggling to stop the sliding trend, and quickly tried to stand up. But the power hammer was already close to his head, and a shadow shrouded his head. With just one extra push, the Luna Wolf would die due to the decline accumulated by his mistake in the battle.
Damn it, he thought, the Iron Warriors will take care of the rest, and as for me—
A second passed, and no pain came. The hammer hung three inches above his head, and the release of potential energy ended. Jack seized this strange opportunity, turned over and jumped up. His power claws cut into the damaged throat armor of the man who was once Hassem. The sound of cutting meat suddenly sounded, and the enemy was almost decapitated by him.
The alien was about to swing the power hammer, but its movement was blocked again. The weapon slipped from its hand and hit the ground heavily. Jack took advantage of the situation and threw the opponent to the ground. At the same time, he dismantled the opponent's power armor and broke the other arm.
The alien twitched and lay quietly on the ground without moving.
Jack knelt above the alien, his power claw pressed against the alien's throat, and was about to cut it off completely, when a sudden hesitation made his hand freeze in place, unable to move. "...Is it you?" he asked, feeling frightened by his own madness.
The other party didn't answer, and blood poured out of its throat again.
"...Is that you?" Jack asked tremblingly. He knew clearly that he was throwing all the rules of battle behind him, and he was squandering his hard-earned life in an unprecedented situation. He was thinking wildly, but a burning premonition was forcing him to move his power claws away from the opponent's neck and instead place them on his shoulders where he had lost both hands.
——He is crazy.
"Hasem?" Jack said softly, "Hasem? Are you there? 伱...is it really you?"
After a long time, under him The Word Bearer shook his helmet slightly and looked at him through the blank helmet. He didn't say a word - of course, his vocal cords and windpipe had been severed.
——He can't do this.
Jack took off the opponent's helmet and looked at the familiar and pale face. It was a young face, covered with orderly scriptures and scars, with soft lines, and deep eye sockets carrying thoughts day after day.
The Word Bearer's calm eyes traced his outline. In his eyes, there was sobriety and comfort that was different from the aliens, and a clear light - like a candlelight.
——He is utterly stupid.
"No..." Jack said blankly, the tips of his claws grazing the other person's face, "How is this possible? It gave your body back to you? No... you defeated it, you won... ...It has no power to create psychic echoes, and a single alien is weak... You win, Hashem, you win! You overpower it, destroy it! It was you who threw the bolter first! At first you tried to make it stay.
"Yes, why is this impossible? You crazy cultists, you fanatics! This is what you will do, only He is above..."
He stared at the Word Bearers painfully , hot blood fell from the wound on his face and dripped on Hashem's cheek.
Hasem looked at him quietly, as if he wanted to pretend he didn't know anything. But finally, the Word Bearer blinked wearily and smiled.
"I have no way to save you, chanter," Jack murmured, "and I don't dare to save you, after all, you once..."
He told them what they both knew Swallow it back into your stomach.
Jack let go of Hashem and sat down next to him, hugging his knees. The pain caused by the bones breaking in his body came in waves like waves.
"Let me sit with you for a while," he whispered. "I'll call Kroger and Hammer over. You can hold on for a few more minutes. Is that okay? Don't be controlled all of a sudden. Yes, look, I haven’t taken off my power claws yet, I can take your life at any time, you know?”
At the end, he threatened fiercely. Afterwards, Jack thought twice and told the two Iron Warriors what he had discovered through the communication channel.
Kroger was silent for a while and said on the channel: "Keep an eye on him and be alert at all times. We will be there soon."
Jack understood and stared at Hashem lying on the ground. , slowly backed away, first kicked the power mallet to a place where Hashem could not reach it with his feet, then squatted down and picked up the saber he had dropped not far away.
Before he stood up, a broad shadow fell above his head, blocking the faint light shining from the hole above, like an extremely hard wall. Jack's movement to stand up stopped, and he was frightened by a terrible sense of oppression, and was restrained in place.
"Stand up." The voice commanded from top to bottom, and the majesty in the words seemed as if the person giving the command was born to lead and conquer.
Jack stood up shakily, trying to straighten his back.
"Why didn't you kill it?" the voice asked. Just a cold question made Jack freeze in fear.
"My lord..." he said, feeling as if he was undergoing a ruthless and desperate hanging.
"Say."
"He... Hashem has probably regained the dominance of his consciousness, sir," Jack's words gradually became smoother, "I think it is necessary for us to temporarily preserve his life. This is not possible." "Precedent."
The voice stood silently above him, without speaking or moving, as if he was listening to some kind of enlightenment that ordinary people could not understand, or was he just deliberately prolonging the silence. time to put double the mental weight on the Astartes.
Finally, the voice spoke: "There is no precedent for this, and you are not lying. The soul of the Word Bearer has indeed taken back his self. The temporary war council will learn this information, you can believe this A little."
The owner of the voice walked up to him, and his blood-stained robe brushed against Jack's side, allowing the latter to briefly catch a glimpse of the knight's sword worn on the giant's side.
"Now," Leon El'Jonson ordered, "you may kill him, Luna Wolf."
——
When Krog and Hammer find Jack , the Shadow Luna Wolf was standing silently, his eyes falling on the wall of the corridor, but it seemed to have passed through it from a distance.
"Jack?" Kroger asked.
"Oh," Jack came to his senses and shrugged at them, trying to show that he was as relaxed and at ease as usual. "You are here."
"You said... Hashem has found himself?" Kroger asked suspiciously, then suppressed his next words.
On the way here, he prepared a few necessary questions, but the Space Marine lying on the ground in front of him was undoubtedly lifeless. His head was severed by the power claws, then carefully replaced and put back together as exactly as possible.
"It was retrieved, but according to the order of the First Primarch, we still freed him." Jack said, "The Lion King is right, and I think Hashem also supports his own death in order to It’s a sure thing.”
“Yes.” Hammer didn’t seem to know what to say.
"And..." Jack rubbed his feet on the ground, which revealed his restlessness, "I have one more thing to tell you."
"What?" Kroger asked, still looking at the dead man on the ground.
"Yes," he raised his voice slightly, then lowered it unnaturally, almost to a cautious level.
“I think we only have three people left now. If we continue to add more people, the ratio of three to two will actually be no longer suitable for rapid running-in and execution of tasks. One cursed No. 5 position is enough. , don’t come to No. 4 again.
“Moreover, as we get closer to the Ran Dan Center, the form of the special agent team is not as versatile as before... The dangers here are increasing, casualties and so on, some things still need to be done. Legion operations..."
"So," asked the Luna Wolf, "are we going to continue to exist as a team? ”
Kroger raised his head and stared at Jack's blood-stained face, reading the other man's emotions.
Soon after, he nodded: "We are very happy to cooperate with you during this time."
"Me too," Jack smiled and breathed a sigh of relief, "Very much. Nice to meet you, Kroger and Hammer.”
(End of this chapter)