Warhammer 40K in a box

Chapter 369, second update of 10,000 words per day, requesting monthly votes.

A team of stormtroopers with heavy firepower immediately established a crossfire point at the corner of the passage.

The heavy explosives they carried roared deafeningly, and the shockwaves from the explosions sent dust flying from the concrete walls. Tiny fragments rained down on their bulletproof helmets, making a dense, rattling sound.

When the squad kicked open the last gate and rushed into the ceremony hall, the scene before them made even these battle-hardened veterans hold their breath.

The air was thick with the stench of blood, mixed with a strange aroma of spices, smelling like rotten roses soaked in rust.

"By the Emperor..." The recruit's voice trembled, and he almost dropped the explosive gun in his hand.

On his tactical goggles, the vital signs monitor showed his heart rate spike to a dangerous level in an instant.

"Hold your ground! Stay steadfast in your faith, soldiers!" Dusk shouted sternly, his multi-spectral vision device rapidly scanning the entire hall: "Pay attention to your surroundings!"

He shouted loudly, forcefully stabilizing the wavering morale of the troops.

But the scene before us was still shocking.

Eighty-eight nobles in splendid robes were suspended upside down by iron chains in a circle made of corpses. Their pale faces were frozen in terror, and the ceremonial daggers in their chests were still dripping blood, which gathered into small streams on the ground.

The eight-pointed star array outlined in silver mercury on the ground was greedily devouring the flowing blood. Seven of the engravings were already glowing with an eerie blood light, and the last one was slowly filling up, as if some terrifying being was about to awaken.

"Sir!" the communications soldier reported urgently, his voice trembling with tension, "The energy readings are still climbing! The psionic index has exceeded the safety threshold!"

On the twilight tactical panel, the psionic alarm flashed wildly, and the blinding red light made half of his mechanical face look like a demon.

"Only this one is left. We must destroy it!" Twilight shouted, his voice filled with unwavering determination and anger at the Emperor's enemy's blasphemous acts.

The heavy weapons operator immediately stepped forward, his molten steel gun spitting out blinding beams of light.

Before the black-robed priest who was presiding over the ceremony could even turn around, he and half of the obsidian altar were vaporized into a distorted silhouette, and his scream was instantly evaporated by the high temperature.

The scorching heatwave burned the surrounding blood talismans until they curled and turned black, and the air was filled with the stench of burnt flesh.

Several team members couldn't help but cough, and the filtration system of their tactical masks issued an overload alarm, indicating that the concentration of toxic gas exceeded the standard.

"Purification team, move out immediately!" Twilight decisively ordered, "We cannot allow even a trace of chaotic energy to remain!"

The defenders' flamethrowers responded immediately, the scorching promethium flames like golden whips of judgment, completely incinerating the remaining crimson runes.

Within the flames, the twisted symbols emitted eerie shrieks, struggling to turn to ash as if they were alive.

“Sir!” A sergeant checked the scanner, his voice finally lightening. “All psionic readings have dropped.”

Dusk breathed a sigh of relief, but her eyes remained alert.

He noticed several corpses twitching strangely in the corner and immediately fired a few more explosive shells.

"Don't let your guard down, continue searching the entire area!" he ordered. "Communications officer, contact command immediately to report the situation. Prepare disinfectant; every inch of the ground here needs to be disinfected."

"Yes, sir!" the team members responded in unison, quickly dispersing to carry out the follow-up operations.

Illuminated by the promethium flames, their figures cast long shadows on the wall, like the sword of judgment of an emperor, forever pointing to the dark corners of chaos.
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At this moment, the eight-pointed star array in the upper level of the nest, whose energy supply had been cut off, flickered violently like a dying beast.

The runes drawn with blood convulsed and twisted in the energy chaos, and the viscous blood plasma began to boil and evaporate, forming a scarlet mist in the air.

Suddenly, a blinding beam of blood-red light burst forth from the center of the array, shattering with a sharp "clang" like a taut string breaking at its limit. The sound was so piercing it sent chills down one's spine, like the desperate screams of a million souls simultaneously, causing the windows of the surrounding buildings to shatter.

The energy links between the runes broke one after another like dominoes, and the entire magic circle collapsed in the violent energy backlash.

In the sky, the shadow that was about to completely obscure the star's brilliance began to fluctuate violently.

The dark edge of the eclipse seemed to be pulled by an invisible hand, slowly contracting at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Golden sunlight pierced through the thick clouds like a sharp sword, reflecting dazzling spots of light on the metal buildings of the city.

The darkness of the entire nest dissipated, and the birds corrupted by the chaotic energy suddenly went into a frenzy.

Their deformed wings twitched violently, black pus and blood seeped from between their feathers, and they emitted heart-wrenching cries.

Hundreds and thousands of mutated birds fell from the sky like dumplings being dropped into a pot, smashing into pools of black smoke and gore on the streets.

The putrid black blood sizzled on the gilded pavement, corroding the meticulously laid tiles and creating honeycomb-like holes.

The moment the nest-building ceremony was disrupted, Zanazt inside the bottom nest cave suddenly arched his body and trembled violently as if struck by lightning.

His enormous demonic body convulsed and twisted in agony, his jagged spine bulging out one by one, letting out a heart-wrenching roar of pain.

The roar, mixed with subspace energy fluctuations, caused the stalactites on the cave ceiling to break and fall.

Thick, black blood seeped from between the dark red scales of the newborn demon's body, and this putrid blood, which reeked of sulfur, meandered down the patterns on the scales.

The flesh and blood of his right arm melted and peeled away like wax at high temperatures, revealing bare white bones—this was the energy backlash caused by the interruption of the nest-climbing ritual.

The dripping putrid blood corroded hissing pits in the rocky ground, sending up plumes of black smoke with a pungent sulfur smell, turning the surrounding air into a sickly gray-black.

Because the eclipse did not reach its peak, the ritual was interrupted, and Zanazt was unable to fully merge into Arya's body.

This fatal flaw caused a violent rejection reaction between the demon soul and the host's body.

Some of his power failed to fully integrate with the host, resulting in significant flaws in his control over the new body, much like a sophisticated machine missing a few key gears.

This also gives the newly born demon body strange female characteristics. The waist and hip curves still retain the beautiful contours of Arya in life, and in every gesture, one can even vaguely see some of the elegance of her former life, as if reminding who this body once belonged to.

However, the face was completely distorted and deformed—three curved horns protruded from the forehead, like a twisted crown; the lips were torn to the roots of the ears, revealing two rows of serrated fangs, each tooth engraved with blasphemous runes.

The most terrifying thing was those eyes; the pupils, as black as ink, only had two points of scarlet light flashing within them, like windows leading to an abyss.

However, his movements were sometimes as fluid as the wind, displaying the majesty befitting a demon prince; at other times, he would suddenly freeze for a few seconds, as uncoordinated as a marionette tangled in strings.

This unstable state made every move he made unpredictable and dangerous.

This is clear evidence that Zanazt successfully possessed the body but failed to fully control it.

Even so, to mortal warriors, this incomplete demon prince was still a powerful being who inspired despair—even his incomplete demonic power had long surpassed the limits that humans could reach.

His claws, wielded with a casual swing, could tear apart steel armor, and a single glance could drive an ordinary person insane.

In this dark cave, he is the embodiment of death.

(End of this chapter)