Warhammer 40K in a box

Chapter 278 Bloodthirsty Madman
As the ritual was completed, a strong stench of blood swept through the entire lower nest like a tidal wave.

Crimson steam billowed from every ventilation duct, turning the streets blood-red.

The mob, corrupted by the chaotic energy, went completely mad. Their bloodshot eyes bulged out, and they let out inhuman war cries.

"Blood sacrifice to the God Emperor!" A cultist with muscular deformities raised his rusty combat knife and slashed it at the neck of his companion without hesitation.

The sharp blade tore through flesh and blood, the spine snapped with a piercing scraping sound, and as the head rolled off, the headless body remained in a charging posture.

The entire lower nest had become a bloody arena.

The mob hacked and slashed at each other with any weapon they could find—broken steel pipes, jagged metal pieces, and even their bare hands.

A cult priest in a red robe, holding a ritual dagger, was frantically stabbing a nun in the neck. He kept stabbing until he sawed her head off her neck.

"Skulls offered to the golden throne!" Three mutated mobs simultaneously lunged at an Astral Army soldier, but suddenly turned to each other halfway there.

One of them pierced his companion's chest with his steel claws, but a third person split his skull open with an axe.

Before the victor could even let out a triumphant roar, his facial bones were shattered by a flying chain hammer.

The most terrifying were those berserker-like cult champions.

They were covered in blood, with human heads strung together on wire hanging from their necks, swaying like trophies.

One of them wielded a double-edged giant axe, and each swing could cut two or three people in half at the waist.

Severed limbs and internal organs flew through the air, landing in pools of blood with a sticky sound.

Liman's pupils suddenly contracted as he saw the blood splattered during the carnage hanging eerily in the air, each drop glowing with a sickly red light.

The blood droplets attracted each other, weaving together in mid-air to form countless fine blood threads, like the capillaries of some evil creature.

The pool of blood on the ground began to boil, the viscous plasma writhing and flowing towards the dark church on its own.

“This is not right…” Ahriman murmured. His psychic vision saw each drop of blood merging as it moved, eventually forming a rushing river of blood on the steps leading to the altar.

The river flowed upstream and converged in the center of the altar to form a huge pool of blood with a diameter of more than ten meters.

The surface of the blood pool began to churn violently, forming an increasingly rapid vortex.

The center of the vortex gradually sank, revealing a bottomless, blood-red abyss.

Suddenly, a blinding crimson lightning bolt struck the dome from the center of the vortex, causing the entire space to tremble violently.

The corrupting energy of the warp erupted like a volcanic eruption, turning the surrounding air crimson.

With a deafening roar, a giant claw covered in bronze armor tore open a spatial rift.

The claws were as large as an adult's torso, each knuckle encased in armor carved with skull reliefs, and thick, molten blood dripped from the sharp nails.

Immediately afterwards, a pair of enormous bat-like wings suddenly unfolded, their membranes shrouded in a terrifying dark red energy. A single glance was enough to plunge even the most resolute warriors into endless madness and a bloodlust.

When the great demon Khorne fully manifested, the air in the entire hall froze with fear.

It stands over four meters tall, its body covered in dark red scales and bronze armor, every muscle bulging like molten steel.

Its head resembles that of a giant wolf, but is even more ferocious—four curved horns extend backward from its forehead, and three layers of serrated teeth are arranged in its mouth, with a forked long tongue licking its dripping fangs from time to time.

What's most chilling is its weapon—a long-handled battle axe, easily over ten meters long. The axe blade is a dark red, soaked in blood, and dozens of still-screaming human heads are embedded in the back of the axe.

Dark purple flames burned fiercely on the axe blade. These were no ordinary flames, but rather subspace fires formed from pure hatred and a thirst for slaughter.

The Great Demon's eyes, like two burning flames, swept over every living creature present.

When it opened its blood-red maw and roared, the breath it exhaled carried a heavy smell of sulfur and the stench of bloodshed, and its voice contained chaotic magic powerful enough to shatter the spirit of mortals: "Blood sacrifice to the Blood God! Skull offering to the Skull Throne!"

While the bloodthirsty madmen were fighting, the Inquisition's purification forces were engaged in a bloody battle with the swarming cultists.

The battle nuns sang hymns, the roar of bomb guns and the howl of chainswords intertwining to create a death symphony.

"For the Emperor! Destroy that blasphemous altar!" The battle nun leading the charge raised her power sword and led a group of nuns toward the central altar.

Their power armor gleamed silver in the blood mist, and their flamethrowers spewed purifying flames, burning the cultists in their path to charcoal.

The stormtroopers quickly deployed heavy weapons, aiming their molten guns and plasma cannons at the altar base, attempting to melt it down.

However, the Great Demon's figure swept across the battlefield like a blood-red storm. His black flame battle axe swept across, and the three battle nuns didn't even have time to react before being reduced to scattered limbs under the axe blade.

Blood splattered like rain as the nun roared and swung her sword to meet the attack. The moment the power sword clashed with the battle axe, blinding sparks flew.

"Heretical demon! In the name of the Emperor—" Her oath came to an abrupt halt.

The bloodthirsty demon's massive claws pierced through her breastplate, lifting her up completely.

The elder sister struggled to deliver her final thrust, but the demon severed her head with an axe. Her headless corpse was then flung around and crashed into a group of stormtroopers, killing several who couldn't dodge in time.

The stormtroopers opened fire wildly, their molten beams and plasma bombs blasting charred wounds into the demon's body, but the bloodthirsty berserker only let out a deafening laugh.

It suddenly flapped its wings, stirring up a bloody storm, and its battle axe drew a scarlet arc—

The entire stormtrooper squad was cut in half at the waist; their internal organs rained down as their upper bodies spun through the air.

The remaining nuns formed a circular defensive formation, chanting verses from the Book of Words.

A nun carrying a heavy flamethrower aimed and sprayed the demon continuously, and the holy fire briefly drove it back.

"Now! Destroy the altar!" she shouted.

Two stormtroopers seized the opportunity to rush to the altar and plant a molten bomb.

But just as the timer started, the bloodthirsty monster suddenly burst out of the flames, slashed down with its battle axe, and cut the man and the bomb in two.

The violent explosion sent five nearby warriors flying, but the altar remained intact—the demon had used its wings to block most of the impact.

The last surviving nun knelt in a pool of blood, her legs severed, yet she still raised a dynamite pistol with trembling hands.

"Emperor's Blessing"

The bloodthirsty madman slowly walked up to her, savoring her despair, then raised his battle axe—

However, a bolt of eerie blue psionic lightning suddenly struck the demon's back.

"Your opponent is me, you beast," Ahriman's voice came from above.

(End of this chapter)