Warhammer 40K in a box

Chapter 367 Another Craig
Inside the deepest part of the cavern at the bottom of the nest, the damp and cold air was filled with the mixed smell of putrid blood and sulfur.

Eight thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight specially treated human and mutant skulls were meticulously stacked into a tiered altar, the surface of which was covered with blasphemous runes, gradually turning from dark red to a glaring scarlet as the ritual progressed.

The black-robed followers of the Invisible Brotherhood lay prostrate on the ground, their limbs twisted and deformed by mutation beneath their tattered robes.

Some have extra claws growing at the ends of their arms, while others have sharp bone spurs protruding from their backs.

Their decaying faces were hidden in the shadow of their hoods, with only their yellowed teeth and cloudy eyes occasionally flashing in the firelight.

Accompanied by piercing chanting, believers cut open their palms with daggers, letting the murky blood seep into the core of the altar through the gaps between their skulls.

The dagger tore through flesh and blood, yet no one cried out in pain; only fanatical whispers echoed in the cave: "Blood as the guide, bones as the bridge..."

There, the leader's daughter, Aria, floated like Sleeping Beauty, her pale skin covered with writhing black veins, and half a scarlet demon tooth embedded in the center of her forehead.

Those were the last remains of the demon prince Zanazt in the real world, now pulsating with an evil light as they were soaked in blood.

Arya was tightly embraced by a demon skeleton pieced together from countless broken bones, bones from sacrifices throughout the ages, each one inscribed with blasphemous incantations.

The demon's fangs were embedded in the heart of the skeleton, beating rhythmically like some kind of evil pacemaker, transmitting dark energy to every joint of the skeleton.

With each thud, the skeleton becomes more complete, and the originally loose fragments of bone are merging and recombining under the influence of some dark force.

Dark red flames began to ignite in the hollow eye sockets of the skeleton, and the lower jaw slowly opened, revealing jagged, sharp teeth.

"The blood sacrifice is complete!" The hunched priest raised aloft a scepter made of human spine and eight skulls intertwined, the trident at the top of the scepter piercing through the chest of a prisoner.

Before the prisoner could even utter a scream, the scepter drained all the blood from his body, turning him into a dried-up corpse.

"The Skull Seat will awaken the true vessel of my lord!" With the priest's roar, all the runes on the altar lit up at the same time, and the entire cavern began to tremble violently.

When Guterres, 32, followed Ahriman through the intricate underground tunnels to this place, the ritual had already entered an irreversible and crucial stage.

Thick blood gushed from the eye sockets of each skull, pooling on the altar's surface as if it were alive, quickly engulfing the entire altar base.

Blood swirled around the altar, and a column of blood rose from the center, reaching the top of the cave.

Countless agonizing, distorted faces appeared on the surface of the blood column, screaming silently before merging back into the blood.

Even more terrifying, a large number of mutants and gang members, bewitched and controlled by the Hand of Redemption, were fighting wildly around the altar, their twisted faces bearing eerie smiles, as if killing was the greatest salvation.

Arya's body suddenly convulsed violently, and the demonic skeleton encasing her emitted a chilling cracking sound.

The bones began to writhe as if they were alive, each one stretching and deforming, like a tightening net of death.

The ribs of the skeleton contracted inward like a cage, and sharp bone spurs pierced Arya's pale skin.

Her skin began to crack, but no blood flowed out—what gushed from the wounds was a viscous black substance, like tar covering the piercing bone spurs.

The spine of the demon skeleton coiled around her body like a giant serpent, with tiny bone spurs on each vertebra that pierced deep into her flesh.

"No...don't..." Aria's remaining consciousness weakly resisted, but her voice was quickly drowned out by the sound of bones grinding together.

The demon skeleton's head slowly lowered, its empty eye sockets facing her face, its jawbone opening dramatically to 180 degrees before snapping shut—swallowing her entire head into its bony mouth.

At the same time, the blood gushing from the altar transformed into countless blood threads, climbing up every crevice of the skeleton.

These blood vessels weave together into scarlet muscle tissue on the skeleton, and dark red granulation tissue spreads across the bone surface at a visible rate.

The newly formed demonic flesh continued to expand, soon completely enveloping Arya's body.

The skeleton's limbs began to twist and deform, and the forearm bones split and reassembled, forming a more slender demon arm.

The leg bones bent backward, reshaping into demonic lower limbs suitable for leaping, accompanied by a tooth-grinding cracking sound.

The most terrifying part is the back—two thick bone spurs break through the skin, grow rapidly under the wrapping of flesh and blood, and eventually unfold into a cortical wing full of blood vessels.

With a blood-chilling shriek, a brand new demonic form has taken Arya's place.

Its head still vaguely retains Arya's outline, but the demon tooth on its forehead has completely merged into the skull, forming a blood-red third eye.

As it opened its mouth, a triple voice echoed through the cave: "I am... Zanazt... Reborn..."

The newborn demon stretched out its body covered in black scales, and when the membranous wings on its back were fully unfolded, they made a screeching sound like leather rubbing together.

The shadows cast by those enormous wings writhed like living creatures, shrouding the entire bloody altar in suffocating darkness. Three dark yellow vertical pupils turned simultaneously, reflecting the carnage of the battlefield surrounding the altar, revealing a chillingly satisfied expression—after centuries of planning, this perfect vessel was finally complete.

"Fire! For Om Messiah!" 32's roar pierced through the battlefield's clamor.

He and Guterres issued the attack order almost simultaneously, and the two very different forces pierced the altar where the demons resided like two sharp knives.

The Bloodfinger gang members, transformed into fighter servants, let out inhuman howls. These pathetic creations were driven to the front lines by law enforcement officers from the Ministry of Justice using electric whips. The crude mining lasers in their hands shot out jagged energy beams, and the spinning industrial saw blades cut through the air with deadly shrieks.

They used these crude gang weapons to launch a frenzied attack on the mutants and cultists who were killing each other, making the battlefield even more chaotic.

Four Kaslan intelligent control mechs followed closely behind with precise steps. These killing machines, each over two meters tall, had heavy flamethrowers on their shoulders that spewed flames, turning swarms of enemies into human torches.

They easily tore through the mixture of flesh and metal with their robotic arms, carving out four blood-soaked paths through the enemy ranks.

Guterres's eyes sharpened, and seizing the moment when the mechs tore through the enemy lines, he abruptly waved his hand, signaling his squad to advance.

His kill squad advanced like a poisoned dagger, forming a perfect wedge formation.

The continuous roar of the bomb guns, with precise bursts of fire, blasted the mutants and cultists blocking the way into pieces.

A Chaos Priest in a blood-red robe tried to stop them, but a heavy weapons user in the squad vaporized his upper body with a hot melt gun, and his charred remains swayed and fell to the ground.

The demonic rune in the center of the altar was gradually brightening at a visible speed, with dark green light flowing across the stone surface.

Zanazt's whispers grew clearer, like countless tiny insects crawling inside the ear canal, sending chills down one's spine.

The squad members immediately dispersed and skillfully placed the molten metal bombs on the key support points of the altar; these bombs were enough to turn the entire altar into molten slag.

Ahriman remained kneeling on one knee, his hands outlining complex psionic runes in the air.

Each rune emits a blinding blue light as it takes shape, leaving a brief afterimage in the air.

The psionic scepter planted in the ground trembled violently, and a storm seemed to be brewing inside the gem at the top of the scepter.

The surrounding air twisted and deformed, and the structure of reality hummed uncontrollably under the strain of his incantation.

The forbidden spell "Dimensional Annihilation" is gradually taking shape.

Once completed, the spatial structure within the target area will be completely torn apart, and all things, whether flesh and blood, metal creations, or demonic essence, will be mercilessly crushed and devoured by this rift.

However, the risks of casting this spell are equally enormous. Ahriman could feel the backlash of psionic energy beginning to burn his nerves, and if he was not careful, he would be drawn into this dimensional collapse.

Sweat streamed down Ahriman's forehead, and his pupils had turned an unnatural silvery-white—a clear sign of psionic overload.

He must continue; the demon within Arya must be completely eradicated.

Just as the battle was at a stalemate, a reinforcement force suddenly appeared on the edge of the battlefield.

The battle nuns' bolters precisely targeted every exposed enemy, hitting their mark every time.

Under their cover fire, an Inquisitor clad in jet-black power armor steadily advanced.

The "I" emblem on his shoulder armor gleamed coldly in the firelight, and each swing of his power sword cleaved his enemy in two, the energy field on the blade instantly carbonizing the cut.

However, when the flash of the bolter briefly illuminated his face, his cold and familiar features sent a shiver down one's spine.

Judge Craig.

But that doesn't make sense.

Because at this moment, another Craig Inquisitor is still in the Nest, working with Mai and Twilight to purge the corrupt nobles.

The chasm between the bottom nest and the upper nest was far beyond what human beings could cross in such a short time, not to mention that Mai Mai and Mu Se, who should have been beside him, were nowhere to be seen.

Is he Inquisitor Craig's twin brother? Or is the other one a stand-in, and this one is the real Inquisitor Craig?

Or is it some kind of disguise? Some kind of devil's trick? Or perhaps, there are some unknown secrets hidden in the court's files?
But at this moment, the fighting on the battlefield continues, and the roars of the demons are deafening.

Whether this Craig was real or fake, his gun and sword were pointed unhesitatingly at their common enemy.

(End of this chapter)