Warhammer: I don't want to become a stinky can!

Page 268

We...we spread your truth throughout the world without the slightest slackening, our legions conquering world after world. Father, why...?

God, why are you so cruel and merciless?

The last words disappeared from Luo Jia's murmuring lips. He stared straight at the God Emperor, filled with immense confusion and despair.

The God-Emperor raised a hand, his eyes shining with dazzling gold. He seemed to be showing Luo Jia the ruins of this perfect city, the embers of faith burned away.

"Luojia Aurelion, do you think you've obeyed me?"

Isn't that so? Luo Jia trembled.

"Your progress is the slowest of all the legions, Luojia. The Great Expedition cannot afford to be delayed even for a moment."

Luo Jia felt her vocal cords bleeding.

The world behind the Word Bearers is never a wasteland! The worlds we conquer can be put into production immediately—and they are absolutely loyal to you! Loyal to the Empire!

"Loyal to me?"

The God Emperor spoke these words slowly, and an immense sense of suffocation and pressure gripped Luo Jia once again. An indescribable unease and fear enveloped him, and he suddenly recalled the unusual situation during his prayers a few days ago.

“Look at me, my child.”

Luo Jia stared tremblingly at his god, behind whom the sun burned fiercely, almost exploding, turning the entire sky a dazzling gold. His face was shrouded in shadow, except for his eyes, which were the same dazzling crimson gold.

"My child, Luojia, answer me with your true heart, are you loyal to me?"

【I am loyal to you! I am your most devoted believer! Divine Emperor! My father! Why—】

Luo Jia roared, but he saw a golden tear slowly slide down the corner of the god's eye. The god lowered his eyes, which contained too much sorrow and regret.

"Then you can see for yourself."

Luo Jia's expression faltered, and everything around him twisted and changed. In a daze, he saw people smashing the God Emperor statue. He wanted to roar and stop them, but the pus gushing out of the statue made his words stuck in his throat.

Why—why?!

He saw the bustling, perfect city; he saw the filth hidden in the alleyways; he saw cultists in human skin dancing wildly, spewing blood onto piles of holy candles; he saw… he saw…

Luo Jia trembled slightly, bending over as if he were about to faint—in those images, he saw a corner of the gray armor of the Word Bearer.

He was about to drown in this overwhelming sense of self-blame and despair.

"This is what you have given me, Loka Aurelion."

The God Emperor's calm voice rang out.

After a period of desperate silence, Luo Jia's hoarse voice rang out.

[God Emperor, my lord, please... please give me another chance. I will personally cut away the rotten flesh. Please give me, give the Word Bearer, give your offspring a chance to atone for their sins... Father... my father...]

The God-Emperor gently shook his head.

"I can't trust you."

Luo Jia felt as if he were already dead—he knelt stiffly, as if his breath had stopped.

“But I am willing to give you and your legion a chance to atone. You are wise, Luojia. You have led yourself and your legion onto the right path, even though you have made too many mistakes along the way.”

Luo Jia suddenly looked up, staring at the God Emperor in disbelief, his eyes bloodshot. The scorching sun was about to set, and behind them, night began to take over the reins of day.

"Yes, Loka Aurelion, there are gods in this world."

Heavy footsteps echoed from the distance behind the legion, accompanied by a soft, crisp metallic clanging.

The sudden arrival of the outsider was too much for Luo Jia to bear. He wanted to turn back, but the oppressive aura of the God Emperor held him and everyone in the legion firmly in place.

“I will no longer deceive you, Luo Jia Aurelion. I will no longer see you go astray.”

The God-Emperor spoke softly, his golden tear stains shimmering. He closed his eyes, unwilling to look at him any longer.

“I am a god, Loka Aurelion, I am a god, but you will never understand what it will bring me to admit this.”

The God-Emperor sighed almost imperceptibly. It seemed that saying those words had taken a great toll on Him, and He became exhausted.

"You need to do the right thing again, my offspring, and now, bow your head and feel your sins, Aurelion, you need to repent."

Feel my sins? Feel what? Luo Jia opened his mouth, wanting to ask again, but the God Emperor closed his eyes. He was too disappointed in him, and He did not want to look at his offspring anymore.

Luo Jia still had endless questions, endless remorse and self-blame in his heart, but now it was no use. Helpless, he followed the instructions of the gods and devoutly lowered his head.

Neither of them spoke again, and now everything was quiet.

Except for the sound of footsteps, which grew closer and closer.

In Luo Jia's vision, everything began to darken.

As night fell, the dark and icy waters of the River Styx rose slowly, gently lapping against the dull, gray boots of the Word Bearers. People grew weaker, and—more lucid.

Luo Jia held his breath. He wanted to look up and ask what was going on, but he suddenly found himself unable to move—the gods did not want him to move anymore.

Footsteps entered the sea of ​​ten thousand kneeling believers, and darkness silently swallowed them.

People wanted to look up, to see who this was and what he was doing. But just as their Primarchs felt, they could not look up; they were not allowed to peek.

Angertai held his breath. He felt the voice getting closer and closer. It was right behind him. Darkness almost completely enveloped him. Angertai struggled to maintain his sanity under the onslaught of the dark sea. He saw a pair of black-armored feet walk past him, accompanied by faint, luminous teardrops.

Then...what is that?

Hades walked silently among the kneeling Legion of Word Bearers, holding two wrist-sized black stone spears—or rather, long spikes, each topped with an intricately carved three-headed hound, which, in Hades' hands, looked down mercilessly upon the masses.

Finally, he stopped at the front of the line, behind Colfaren.

Colfaren, clad in heavy Terminator armor, knelt, his meticulously maintained armor gleaming.

Hades listened to the rapid breathing of the three people nearby.

He raised the spear in his right hand.

prick!

"Bah!!!"

A sharp metallic screech rang out, followed by a dull thud as metal pierced flesh, then another, the sound of flesh and metal being torn apart, but Colfaren's scream drowned it all out—

“Ahhhhh——!”

He struggled to reach his hands behind his back, trying to pull out the spear that was already firmly embedded in the ground. The spear pierced his neck precisely, through his lungs, down his groin, and was firmly stuck in the ground.

He couldn't lift his head or turn back; the spear had shattered his spinal cord, and he couldn't do that—he could even feel the poison on the spear, amplifying his senses and preventing his blood from clotting.

The executioner had not yet left. This cruel monster gripped the spear, and an indescribable sense of fear and powerlessness slowly descended along the spear.

"Ugh—hiss ahhhhhh!"

Colfaren gasped and screamed, but he hadn't even finished the Space Marine surgery. Blood spurted from his mouth, and he could only make broken gasps like a rag doll.

Luo Jia lowered his head, listening to the screams of Colfaren to his right. No—no—he realized something; it was his adoptive father—no—

Crimson sweat streamed down his head.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Eribus felt a deafening roar in his ears. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, Colfalen had been discovered! So he was probably already exposed—he had to run, he had to run! But how could he run?! As if sensing his thoughts, the psionic flashes around Eribus intensified.

"Fuck you!" Erebas cried out the names of the gods in his heart. He offered himself to them, he promised to give the Word Bearer and the Loka to them. They could not abandon him! He was necessary! The fate of the empire's destruction was in his name, Erebas, not here to end, no—!

The footsteps began to move, passing behind Luo Jia. Luo Jia would never admit that he breathed a sigh of relief in that instant.

Eribus listened in despair as the monster approached him. He began to ramble incoherently about the will of the Four Gods, violently struggling against the False Emperor's psychic energy. Finally, Eribus jerked his head back, the violent struggle causing his head to snap violently backward—

He saw a monster in the darkness staring directly at him from above, its eyes cold and lifeless—

In an instant, Hades raised his spear and thrust it down!

He heard the crisp sound of a skull breaking, followed by a metallic sound, and then the sound of his spine shattering all the way down.

Finally, the three-headed hellhound stood firmly at the top, blood flowing from the bottom of the spear.

"Ah ah ah ah ah ah!"

Irebas began to scream, he began to curse, he began to roar, he tried to pull the spear that had pierced his face and avoided the deadly brain tissue with his hands, but all of this was doomed to failure.

The monster stared at him expressionlessly, its grip on the spear steady. In despair, Erebas saw a shadow of darkness, a shadow that made him want to flee and howl, creep up the monster's hand toward the spear. It slowly drooped down, like Erebas's sagging organs.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!"

A bloodcurdling scream pierced the sky, a scream that echoed incessantly in Luo Jia's ears, accompanied by the dying gasps and gasps of Colfalun.

Luo Jia kept his head bowed tightly, kneeling, feeling like he was going crazy.

The sun is about to disappear, its last rays about to dip into the earth.

The God Emperor opened his mouth,

"Repent."

The next moment, the God Emperor disappeared, along with the psionic pressure that had previously forced them to kneel—but not a single one of the 100,000 people dared to stand up. They kept their heads bowed, feeling beads of sweat slowly trickling down their faces.

A gentle yet cold darkness enveloped them, as if to say that He is not cruel, He only punishes sinners.

What is that...? That's not the Imperial Guard... and it can't be the Primarch... so what is it?

The screams of the sinners continued, but they only served to highlight the terrifying silence that existed within.

Hades stared coldly at Eribas. Colphalan was on the verge of death, emitting heavy, labored breaths, but Eribas was clearly more energetic. He shouted the followers of the Four Gods and the name of the Great Demon. Realizing that none of this was working, he began to spit at Hades and curse him, trying to provoke him.

Hades found him ridiculous.

He watched calmly as Eribas struggled, the chief priest trying to pull out the spear, but this only made him look worse; his eyeballs were about to burst, and bits of flesh and blood gushed from his seven orifices.

Hades silently walked behind Luo Jia, stopped, drew the broken sword from his waist, used it as a scepter, placed his hands on the sword, and remained silent.

He heard Luo Jia's sudden, rapid breathing, the hoarse sounds of Kolfalon, the curses of Irebas, and the trembling voices of the 100,000 Huaiyan followers behind him.

Darkness enveloped him; it was a dark time.

Luo Jia trembled, he was going crazy. He stared in disbelief as his most trusted chief priest hurled cult-like swears. He heard his adoptive father's dying cries, as if Colfaren was calling his name—no, don't call him.

Apart from the sinners, everything else remained silent, the ruins of the perfect city silently watching them, as if silently weeping.

As the moon rose to its zenith, the increasingly faint hoarse groans of Colfarun finally ceased, replaced by the soft sound of armor scraping against the sand—the automatic twitching of muscles.

Eribas began to insult Luo Jia and the Word Bearers. He cursed each and every one of them without restraint. Eribas called Luo Jia a weak lamb and the Word Bearers a bunch of fools who knew nothing after losing the Book of the Holy Word.

The executioner remained silent, while Luo Jia and the Huaiyan followers dared not move.

When the moon had traversed three-quarters of the sky, there was complete silence in Colphallon, not even the sound of dripping water. Eribus began to repent, shouting that he had only been deceived by the evil god, but now he was awakening under the pain of punishment. Give him a chance, give him a chance to atone for his sins, even if it means turning him into a machine servant!

Irebas shouted loudly, deliberately calling out in the direction of the executioner. His voice was so earnest and affectionate that for a moment he whimpered like a wounded little animal in the desert.

Luo Jia felt he was almost swayed by Irebas's repentance, but behind him—

The executioner remained motionless.

An hour later, Irebas started yelling again, but his voice was noticeably softer.

As the moon disappeared and the night behind them gradually brightened, Eribus's voice stopped. Finally, he let out two loud hoarse cries and lowered his hand that had been gripping the spear.

The sinners died in the darkness; they did not survive the night.

With a slight metallic clanging sound, Luo Jia sensed that the executioners and the silenced ones behind him had moved.

Luo Jia's mind was in chaos. He let out a dying howl in Colfalun and cursed angrily. Behind him stood the long night with the executioner. What was he thinking?

Hades raised the broken sword and swung it down. He saw Luo Jia's limbs suddenly tense, but he ultimately did not stand up to resist.

"Ding--"

The sound of the broken sword striking the armor was clearly audible.

Hades paused, then sheathed his sword, turned, and prepared to leave.

Who...who are you?

Luo Jia’s faint voice sounded behind him.

Hades glanced back at the still kneeling giant, said nothing, and left without a word.

The footsteps faded away along the path they had come from, and a brilliant, pale light began to appear on the horizon.

Its daybreak.

I don't have a boyfriend. If I had that damn Valentine's Day code, I'd kill two scumbags to vent my anger.

Chapter 322 Afterwards

The sun rose, its golden light shimmering, while a gust of wind blew, carrying with it grayish-white ashes.