Warhammer 40k: Shattered Steel Soul

Chapter 378: The Emperor’s Heirs·Chapter of the Lion and the Wolf (Part 2)

Dim. There is no day in the dense forest. Night and twilight are forever hunting each other and vying for the top spot. The overlapping branches block out every ray of sunlight that the stars are stingy with. They are like a filter that removes the golden and white light layer by layer, leaving only water vapor. The sultry heat mixed with the fog sealed the jungle.

He opened his eyes, looking through the blood-stained hair, looking at every airflow surging in the dense forest in the thick fog, judging from the tremors that the dull wind should not bring, distinguishing between this thing and him There is no precedent for this new situation compared to anything we have ever encountered in our lives.

He had seen strange things intruding into this forest more than once.

Once upon a time, some creatures with black metallic light on their surface entered his territory. They had four limbs, but only the lower pair were needed to move. Sharp spikes grew out of the upper limbs. Sometimes, they had four limbs. Attached to the square parasite, the opening of the parasite can emit a bolt of lightning accompanied by a loud noise.

At that time, he lowered his body and hid behind the thick natural cover formed by the thick grass, letting the wind take away his body odor so as not to alert potential prey that he had temporarily marked.

Some nameless words and jumping symbols passed through his mind. He didn't know what these things were innately accompanied by his birth. He just calmly accepted the answers and results these things brought to him.

The best time to attack will be at the moment when the insect crawls half of the veins of the first leaf on the right. He needs to tear off a prey from the side and rear of the four-hooved thing it is riding on. His palms can easily separate it. Using the black hard barrier, he crushed the juicy new creature, letting the soft stuff spill out along his fingers that dug into his skull.

Then, he can immediately attack the creatures on the side with square firearms on their forelimbs. The shock brought by this is enough to eliminate the threat they pose in the next few short breaths...

He breathed steadily, waiting for the opportunity, observing the jumping hooves through the weeds. The opportunity was approaching, and every muscle in his body was fully prepared. Energy and will were accumulated in the perfect body given by God. Waiting to serve his mind to complete this simple hunt. In the next few short cycles of temperature changes and light fluctuations, he will extract from them the essence needed to survive.

Insects crawled slowly on the leaves, and the opportunity came to his fingertips. He is about to fly forward...

The eyes of a creature were exposed from the gaps in the black iron, scanning the surroundings aimlessly.

There is something else in those vivid eyes, different from the spirituality of the prey he has been hunting, something close to, or homologous to, himself, existing in the owner of those eyes. .

A sudden wave of anxiety and hesitation suddenly grabbed his hair and pulled him firmly in place. Something brand new and unfamiliar flowed through his veins without warning, trying to urgently tell him some things that were about to come out, but his dazed brain could not grasp these things that flashed by quickly, just like he could not stop himself. Shi's hand couldn't hold a handful of spring water.

No, his mind stopped him. Something different from the wildness required for survival was touching his thoughts, and some additional judgment conditions were vaguely added to his hunting principles. He didn't seem to be born as a pure hunter. He vaguely captured these flowing consciousnesses, and the creatures in the black iron had something in common with him.

what are they?

What is he?

——What exactly is he?

Immersed in the sudden increase in thoughts, he lost the opportunity to hunt for no reason for the first time in his life. He silently and gently retracted his hiding place, then climbed the branches lightly along the parasitic vines, waiting for them to leave his territory.

After that, he never attacked these various tiny figures once. He couldn't figure out why, but he listened to his instincts.

In the forest, the airflow began to turn, and some humming from the earth touched the branch where he was. He smelled the hot and strange smell wafting in the air. It didn't smell good, like some giant beast. The unpleasant heat emanating from the nest.

This smell comes from the brand new intruders he has been tracking recently. These creatures are different from the prey he has let go many times before.

They are taller and more fearless, creating a constant cacophony of noise in the forest. Attracting groups of predators.

They bared their teeth and claws, and their whereabouts were obvious. They were wrapped in dazzling bright silver iron shells. From time to time they let out bursts of loud strange screams and laughter, waving buzzing shiny objects, and even some symbols engraved with crooked lines, easily Execute the beasts with their attached gleaming limbs,

Then, they will openly light a hot and shiny thing, decompose and cut the beast, wastefully only take the most delicious part, roast it on the shiny moving thing, and then stuff it with laughter. It goes into their mouths and makes a gurgling sound.

Among their group, there is a particularly tall individual, who is like the leader of the beasts worshiped by his descendants. He makes a lot of noise, accepts the gifts from the smaller children, and brings them protection.

It was as tall, powerful, and agile as him. Seeing its roughness and ability in hunting, the beasts whose skulls were split by an ax fell in front of it, and their sticky hot blood was sprinkled on the surrounding grass, proving the strength and fearless wildness of the hunter.

It never used anything to cover its head. Its golden hair was exactly the same as the light that occasionally shone through the gaps. Its wild face sometimes showed amazing sharpness and alertness when facing the shadows in the forest.

There were many times when their eyes seemed to meet, and he almost thought it had discovered him.

This made his two hearts beat nervously and his whole body was slightly hot. The excitement in his heart when he saw those small creatures similar to him several times before was rapidly expanding layer by layer, like new things when the seasons changed, and they couldn't wait to break out of the ground. The hazy emotions had been accumulated for too long and gradually became too clear, pushing him forward.

This was one of the creatures that reminded him of himself the most in his life, second only to the reflection of his own face when he passed by those mirror-like water bodies. They were simply the same kind of existence, two sides of the same person, and reflections of the same thing.

Appreciation and yearning sprouted in his natural mind with few emotions. In addition to the need for survival, he had a new desire, and he couldn't tell what it was.

Out of another emotion that was totally inconsistent with the need for survival, he refused to follow them and pick up the remaining entrails and flesh to eat, even though it would make his survival much easier.

However, following for a long time also made him irritable, and having no time to hunt made him hungry and tired, and his stored strength slowly drained away.

He needed to make a decision and create some other opportunities to end this long tailing.

There was a lake ahead, and according to his recent understanding of them, these creatures would rest by the water and sing songs accompanied by roars and laughter.

They had a keen sense of smell, and if he wanted to remove the strong smell on his body and avoid being noticed, he had a way to choose.

——

"The stars of Fenris are on the water, the stars of Fenris are under the sky, the deep river bay is covered with withered grass, under the grass lies the dead hunter, the schools of fish are like silver arrows, biting him again and again..."

The harp sounded melodiously, the strings were plucked lightly by the hands of the warriors holding the weapons, the melody from the vast snowfield of Fenris, coupled with the words made casually by the third-rate poets of the Space Wolves, echoed in the dense forests of Caliban.

Russ once laughed at them, it would be better to go to Fulgrim to learn what real poetry is, these lazy guys immediately protested crying, saying that they did not want to be pressed against the wall by the Emperor's Children and sprayed with perfume.

Leman Russ squinted his eyes and sat beside the fire that the wolf cubs had finally lit in the hot and humid forest. He tried to observe whether these warriors who were unfamiliar with the forest would accidentally splash sparks outside the stone circle of the campfire, and tried to put the thin rope used to string the stone necklace engraved with runes back into the dozen gray stones.

In a previous battle, he accidentally broke a leather rope, which directly caused the small bones and small stones he collected in previous battles to be scattered everywhere. Leman Russ doubted whether his descendants would be willing to help him string the necklace properly, so he decided to put down his weapons temporarily and do it himself.

He was carefully holding a thin bone needle and pushing a leather rope through an oval stone slowly, when one of his wild wolves came over and interrupted him: "What is nearby, sir."

"There is a lake and a forest nearby," Rus said, "What did you find, Winter Disaster? Fairies finally appeared in the lake?"

Winter Disaster's power armor hummed for a while before it became quiet: "It's the body of a beast, and the blood has been splashing to the edge of our fire."

"Oh? The body is in the lake?" Rus asked in confusion. He looked over and saw a pool of fresh blood in the reeds near the lake.

"It turns out that fairies also eat meat." The wolf king laughed.

He strung the round stone, picked up the leather rope and shook it, straightened the pieces of decorations, picked up the next small animal bone that was polished very smoothly, and continued to string it on the leather rope.

Of course, he couldn't have failed to notice recently that something huge was secretly following their team; but it never launched an attack. It did nothing else all day, just swinging on the tree and on the ground, and no one knew what it was thinking about all day. Russ chose to do whatever he had to do, waiting for the giant beast to make a new reaction. Now it seems that it may be ready to act. "The goddess of Fenris also flows with wolf blood," Winter Scourge said seriously. "Maybe the goddess of Fenris also eats meat." "That's enough, keep singing your songs, where did the goddess of Fenris come from?" The wolf king laughed, "At most, there are a few water ghosts who have suffered drowning and are catching people at the bottom of the Storm River every day." Another space wolf, Rolling Claw, interrupted: "That's not Kra-" Leman Russ raised his hand and made a simple gesture. The wolf cubs' celebration stopped for a short moment and continued. Everyone already knew that something was lurking under the lake. Although they were cautious enough, their alpha wolf had already discovered the traces of the hunter. Except for the wolf cub, who was singing his turn, he felt that the atmosphere was not appropriate, so he replaced a sour love song they made up with a simple pre-war song.

Ruth tied a knot in the leather rope in his hand, held it in his hand, muttered "I'll go wash my necklace", and approached the water.

His nostrils twitched slightly, distinguishing the strange smell hidden under the water. One of the memories they honed while hunting in Asaheim was learning to distinguish the scent of beasts hidden in the natural environment.

Ruth squatted down by the water. The lake in the forest was clear and not muddied by other beasts. This already shows that there is a dominant king in this territory. It is likely to be cunning, intelligent, and capable of hiding, but it can no longer endure its thirst for blood, and its savage ferocity is ready to burst out.

Thinking of the battle that might happen next, Russ raised his upper lip and smiled.

"Water ghost," he repeated the word in a low voice, slowly stretched out his hand and touched the lake water.

Out of love for the necklace he had just strung, Leman Russ put it aside temporarily, and his wisdom was soon proven.

A wet hand suddenly came out of the lake and grabbed Leman Russ's wrist forcefully. The size of the palm caught Russ off guard. In a short moment, he suddenly realized the identity of the other party.

The next moment, the Wolf King was violently pulled into the water by a huge force. The last thing he saw was the young and chiseled face appearing behind the lush beard and hair, as well as the cold dark green eyes.