Warhammer 40k: Melee Warriors

He never intended to kill Tarashin; he only wanted to make a deal with Vashtor and, incidentally, create a deep-seated hatred between this warp demigod and Tarashin.

Even if Komi were given the chance to kill Tarasin, he wouldn't.

This vast museum eventually needs an owner, just as the Scourge needs a Lich King.

Now that Tarachin is dead, who will manage his museum?

Should his sworn enemy, the astrologer Eurycan, be in charge? That old charlatan who loves to play with time has no interest in collecting these messy objects; he'd much rather retreat to his room to deduce the secrets of the stars.

Looking at Tarasin's face, which was deeply sunken and then slowly bulging out, Gu Jian couldn't help but chuckle silently, thinking that he would like to come to his museum a few more times to do some free shopping if he had the chance.

"No...this can't be..." Tarachin's incredulous voice rang out, accompanied by spurts of engine oil. He was once again firmly protected by the undead warriors. "You should be dead! You shouldn't have experienced that psionic fluctuation..."

Komi abruptly interrupted Tarasin's question, "How dare you, a soulless machine, calculate the effects of psionic energy?"

"You bastard! How dare you say such things to me!" Tarasin roared, raising his hand to point at Gu Jian, attempting to shatter the Staff of Transference Annihilation into elementary particles and retrieve them into his hand.

However, Koji simply clenched his fist and used a power he couldn't understand to break free from Tarasin's control.

"How is this possible? What exactly did you do?"

"What did I tell you? You soulless thing, you should use those soulless machines more often."

This back-and-forth fueled a deep-seated hatred. Even though Tarasin's body was made of living metal, he couldn't help but tremble with rage. His advanced body, inherited from the Star God's techniques, further spoiled the mood, giving Tarasin a taste of what it meant to be heartbroken.

"You forced me to do this...you bastard!" Tarasin had lost count of how many times he had shouted this threat. He reached into his cloak, and his hand pierced through space and dimensions to arrive at a secret room.

Taracin grabbed a transdimensional prison whose principles were beyond the comprehension of the entire Machinists, and then suddenly unlocked it under Komi's astonished gaze.

"Let me see how you face a broken god! None of you will return alive!"

Echoing Taracin's roar, word by word, were the resentful cries of the Star Gods, enslaved. These powerful beings, essentially embodiments of physical laws, possessed abstract forms, and even someone as strong-willed as Komi realized the gravity of the situation.

After all, what the hyperdimensional labyrinth released was a fragment of a star god the size of an infant, not some mere speck of dust...

Now that I've returned the scepter to Tarahim, will he calm down? If I ask Tarahim if we can reconcile, will he forgive everything?

Even a newborn snotty-nosed child would give Komi an impossible answer.

Looking at the star god before him, whose energy was becoming increasingly immense, reaching the heavens and the earth like a Titan, Komi sighed.

Instead of turning tail and running with the Staff of Annihilation, he charged madly toward the Star God Fragment, attempting to kill a physical god with his pitiful Phase Blade.

Unfortunately, although Komi always managed to win through bravery and recklessness in the past, when faced with such a huge gap, his courage only allowed him to lose with some dignity.

The mere sight of his shattered gaze was like a thousand bolts of lightning striking Komi simultaneously.

The ancient coin protected his life the instant the Star God's power was released. He couldn't help but cry out in pain, a pain that surpassed the limits of a living being, leaving Gu Jian speechless.

Bennett and the others rushed over and caught Komi. They found that he was unharmed, but was in so much pain from the aftershocks of the Star God's power that his face was contorted into a vortex.

They breathed a sigh of relief, marveling at how lucky Gu Jian was to be alive.

“We should go. That weird thing is beyond our capabilities.” Bennett and Antoine immediately lifted up Gu Jian and ran towards the teleportation point built by Vastor, leaving the large bags of loot to Feren and Sharon to carry.

The survival of Komi and the glittering of the ancient coins surprised Tarasin even more; he had only ever experienced the ancient scent emanating from the coins during the most intense battle of Heaven.

He excitedly pressed down on the human wall formed by the undead warriors, loudly ordering the Star God Fragment to snatch the ancient coin.

Although the Star God Fragment was under Tal Rashin's control, it did not completely obey his instructions. It acted on instinct, regarding all things as ants, and simply pointed a finger at a group of orcs who were happily playing around.

Without any warning, the group of enthusiastic orcs turned into black images imprinted on the ground, much like the shadows and animal marks left after a nuclear bomb's thermal impact.

The Stargod Fragments' contempt for mortals and their greed for souls are almost impossible to ignore; their profound terror makes every Space Marine forget the fact that the Dead Zone is still active.

But... they had nowhere to retreat, simply because they were Space Marines, the guardians of the Empire.

"For the glory of the Emperor and the survival of humanity, we must destroy this monster here!" The expeditionary marshal of the Black Templar declared his stance. Originally numbering 500, the Black Templar was reduced to only 13 after the brutal battle.

Compared to them, the Dark Angels who arrived first suffered fewer casualties.

Azrael felt that today was the day he would die. He did not lament his impending death, but simply looked at Belial and Samuel and told them to take the recruits and apothecaries out of the grave.

There was no time for wrangling. Both nodded heavily, watching Azrael and sixty veteran Dark Angels, along with the Black Templar, charge toward the Star God Fragment.

This was utterly futile; every gaze from the Star God Fragment could obliterate even the most seasoned veteran, leaving not a trace behind, and every breath it took could directly alter the environment in which everyone found themselves.

The ground beneath my feet constantly shifted between nothingness and solidity, and the temperature I could feel also rapidly changed between two extremes.

This is a desperate battle, and in the depths of despair, a miracle is precisely what is needed to save us.

Koji barely managed to overcome the pain brought on by the remaining power of the Star God. His muddled mind first sighed that the Warhammer's top-tier combat power was indeed not something a nobody like him could easily compete with. Then he looked at Antoine and said, "Antoine, stick your face out."

Antoine obediently did as he was told, but Bennett didn't understand why Komi wanted him to lean forward.

Antoine's face suddenly flushed as he reached out, and he said in a soft, gentle voice, "Isn't it a bit inappropriate to do this in such a dangerous situation..."

However, Koji didn't care what kind of dirty thoughts Antoine was having. He slapped Antoine four times, making him feel like he was floating on air, his legs trembling.

Then, Koken glanced reluctantly at the Staff of Annihilation of Transference he had just snatched, and hurled it at the Star God fragment.

I'm betting everything on this sure-fire critical hit throw!

Plus the added value of ancient artifacts!

This makes the probability of the Star God fragment being damaged 1000%!

Chapter 180: The Empire's Most Common Victory

The Star God was so arrogant that even in his fragments he disdained the counterattacks of mortals. He didn't even bother to look at the Shifting Annihilation Staff that Komi threw out, but simply held the expeditionary marshal, who was clinging to life by faith and loyalty, in his hand and tormented him at will.

This caused a crack to appear in his almost invincible energy shell.

The staff slammed into the Star God Fragment's body, the combined force breaking through his defenses. The immense spiritual energy contained within the Staff of Annihilation of Attachment poured into his physical body like poison, causing the Star God Fragment to suffer greatly.

The expeditionary marshal was burned to almost nothing but charcoal. He fell to the ground from the Star God Fragment's grasp, and without even taking a moment to catch his breath, he gritted his teeth and rushed to the Star God Fragment.

Looking at the giant before him, he climbed up like a nimble ape.

Every touch of the palm meant an endless stream of knowledge flowing into the mind, which was extremely difficult to accept even by the standards of a Space Marine.

The marshal's consciousness was swept away and scattered, but then it gradually coalesced as he silently recited the mantra of the emperor's immortality.

For the Emperor... For humanity...

Forgotten mortal memories from his time as a Space Marine resurfaced, flashing through his mind like a revolving lantern.

He saw his father, whose face he could not remember. His father stood at the top of a high slope, and the sunlight shone from behind him, piercing the marshal's face.

“Climb up, my child.”

Encouraged by his father, the marshal struggled to climb upwards. He felt that the small slope, only a few meters high, was so difficult to climb, and he felt as if he had slid down and fallen thousands of times.

He never lost confidence because of these failures, because his father, whose face was obscured by the sunlight, was always gently encouraging him to climb higher.

Finally, he grasped his father's hand, a hand that was so warm and strong that the marshal burst into tears the moment he touched it...

Azrael shed a tear for the marshal's sacrifice. The armored warrior had turned into a withered charcoal, and in his last moments, he plunged his sword into the only wound on the Star God shard.

Azrael didn't know what effect the attack had, but he knew he couldn't let the Black Templar's sacrifice go to waste.

Azrael roared and launched a final attack on the Star God Fragment, bypassing the twelve clouds of dust and the Marshal's charred corpse.

“No…this is impossible…this is impossible…” Tarasin felt dizzy and couldn’t understand how these Space Marines could withstand the baby-sized fragments of the Star God for so long.

A fragment of a Star God of this size could easily dismantle an entire Imperial Navy in the blink of an eye.

Psychic... damn psychic! This is all psychic's fault!

Tarasin gritted his teeth, vowing to persuade the Silent King to quickly seal off that damned Eye of Fear and the Great Vortex. He simply could not tolerate the power of the Sea of ​​Souls influencing the outcome of reality.

Just like during the War of Heaven, those ancient saints used the ever-changing nature of psychic energy to force them into a desperate situation where they had no choice but to seek help from the Star Gods.

"Lord Tarachin..." The tomb engineer, who hadn't stopped working since the museum's attack, watched the Star God fragments' agonizing screams with lingering fear. He began to waver on whether the dynasty could win against these nascent races. "Should we continue releasing Star God fragments? Or provide them with energy..."

"No!" Tarasin roared, "This is absolutely not allowed! Do you think those Star God fragments don't want to kill us all?"

Talathin turned his head and watched as Azrael began to strike the Star God's ankle with that hard-earned shield. Then, somewhat wearily, he said, "Prepare to use the Star-Shifting Device and take the museum away from this place of trouble. I can go to the Emperor myself. As for that Star God... take him with me and deal with him later."

"Yes, sir..."

Tarasin sighed, raised his hand and reassembled the Staff of Annihilation into his own. The barrier that had just firmly blocked his control had disappeared. He stared thoughtfully at Koji's fleeing figure.

"Die! Die!" Azrael's only remaining usable asset was his shield. Even as he was being attacked, the Star God continued to unleash deadly malice.

Azrael felt much weaker, his life force almost completely drained by the Star God fragment.

Just when he thought he was about to be presented with the Golden Throne, the fragments of the Star God and the vast tombs scattered throughout Solemnus vanished completely...

"What's going on?" Azrael asked, puzzled. But there was no living person left on the battlefield to answer his question. Only the ashes of the dead piled up at his feet, causing him great pain.

"Your Majesty... I have disappointed you..."

......

Komi and the Losers' Gang also returned to the Fifth Walker via the teleportation point. The Nightmare Beginning Ark of Vashtor had attracted almost all of the Inquisition fleet's attention, which made Demas's defense work quite easy.

The instant Komi slumped onto the captain's throne, the dark gray Solemnas began to flicker, and then, under everyone's shocked gaze, it changed color, with a strange, dark green planet silently taking Solemnas's place.

This transformation only took away all inanimate objects that were essentially similar to the necromantic beings of space, leaving those objects with souls in their original places.

"Planet-scale hyperspace teleportation? Hyperspace construction crane?" Komi muttered to himself, only able to describe what was happening before his eyes using the technology he was most familiar with.

The next moment, Vashtor's face suddenly appeared on the screen. The master of this vicious machine was also in bad shape, with silvery-white flames remaining on his wounds, indicating that he had been blocked by the Gray Knights.

"We have to go; we can't waste any more time."

Vashtor succinctly explained the meaning of retreat, and then the Ark of the Nightmare Beginning, which was locked in fierce combat with the Inquisition fleet, spewed out thousands of plasma flames of varying sizes from its stern.

This brutal and effective acceleration led Koken to suspect that Vashtor had learned it from the orcs. As the ark accelerated, it gradually disintegrated, leaving behind a large amount of space debris at its tail.

These wrecked fragments ironically became obstacles to the Inquisition fleet's pursuit. Vashtor thus controlled the Ark of Nightmare's Beginning and the Fifth Walker to sail into Mandeville Point, a place that could stably open a warp rift, and without doing much preparation, hastily plunged into the tide of souls and disappeared.

The void fell silent. The Inquisition fleet had lost more than half of its ships in the fight against the Ark at the beginning of the nightmare, and several precious cruisers and frigates had become merciless graves floating in the void.

The Dark Angels and their hastily assembled subordinates also suffered heavy losses. Under the influence of the space necromancer Nagauss weapon, not a single gene seed of the fallen was recovered.

The apothecary who fought in this battle even developed a severe depression, the kind only seen in the Ravenguards, and the guilt of not being able to save his brother almost killed him.

This Black Templar expeditionary fleet had exhausted all its manpower, leaving only new recruits who were not fit to be taken to the battlefield and chapter servants whose gene surgeries had failed. They would now cease their expedition and return to the recruiting world to recuperate.

This was a Pyrrhic victory, a victory that the empire was unwilling to accept but had to grit its teeth and swallow.

Upon learning of the fierce fighting on the ground, the sailors and officers all shook their heads with pale faces and said bitterly, "At least... we won."