The surrounding roads suddenly fell silent. The shouts and clashes vanished, leaving only the sound of the group's footsteps. If not for the artillery scars still etched into the streets, the chaos from moments ago would have felt like nothing more than an illusion.
Zhu Yuan looked around at the tactical mechs, and at the massive engineering machine bearing the Belobog Heavy Industries logo and painted with warning markings. The scene felt unreal. She had been surrounded, then rescued—it all happened with such precision that it felt like a performance carefully calculated in advance.
The origins of this giant were a mystery. His identity information had appeared abruptly in the Public Security registry. There had been precedents of granting citizenship to drifters from the Outer Ring or other regions—even her direct superior, Justin Bringer, had once been a drifter—but those cases at least had complete, verifiable records. Ignis's file, however, was impossible to trace. She had quietly investigated it herself; everything recorded in the registry was either vague or outright fabricated.
Yet ever since he appeared in New Eridu, he had consistently presented himself as a law-abiding citizen. He paid all his insurance premiums and taxes in full, registered with the Blacksmith Association as a certified forging master, and actively participated in public welfare projects across the city. He helped children at orphanages by building brand-new playground equipment, personally funding food, toys, and books. He supported wayward youths near his residence, helping them establish legitimate businesses—providing money and expertise while asking for nothing in return.
As a Public Security officer, Zhu Yuan was instinctively wary of someone with no legal background. Yet this man's actions were undeniably benevolent. There was evidence suggesting that the giant had appeared in multiple gang conflicts, causing considerable destruction—but all of that damage had remained confined to gang warfare, never harming a single innocent civilian.
And now, today, he had rescued so many members of the Criminal Investigation Special Response Team from grave danger, including even a Defense Force operative, along with a massive piece of engineering machinery.
This man had not been in New Eridu for long, yet his network of connections was unexpectedly vast. A strange individual—operating under an illegal identity, yet rigorously obeying the law.
Ignis listened to Nicole's hushed complaints over the comms. The owner of the Cunning Hares was practically numb at the sight of so many Public Security officers. One Jane Doe had already been enough of a headache—she never imagined this trip would involve dozens of officers. The crafty rabbit wanted to flee at every moment, but with her employees still mid-mission, she could only force a smile and help the officers with basic first aid.
"Ignis!" Nicole muttered under her breath. "You nearly scared me to death."
"You know Qingyi and Zhu Yuan," Ignis replied, advancing while staying alert to his surroundings. Razor's lair was very close now.
"They're still Public Security officers! We're Hollow Raiders—less involvement with the Bureau is always better!" Nicole felt utterly helpless.
On that point, the Salamander could do nothing. He couldn't leave these officers to die. Nicole would simply have to bear with it.
"My augur systems seems to be malfunctioning," Gotthardt stopped. "Signals we were tracking just vanished. Strange."
"We're already very close to the target," Ignis said, pointing toward the building ahead—its exterior walls smeared with blood, covered in Khorne and Chaos sigils, skulls hanging as grotesque decorations.
"How many people did these monsters kill?" Zhu Yuan couldn't help but sigh as she looked at the skulls.
When they drew nearer, Ignis saw what Jane Doe had mentioned: massive skull totems piled high in the plaza. A rough count suggested more than a dozen of them. The destruction they had caused during this period was staggering.
"Have you received missing persons reports?" Ignis asked Zhu Yuan.
"Missing persons cases come in every day…" Zhu Yuan thought for a moment. "But recently, there have been far more than usual—especially women and children. Are you saying…"
"Judging by the shape of these skulls, not all of them match," Jaxcalibur-01 said, lifting one up. "But even so, there must be several hundred victims here. Adding the casualties from his other attacks…"
"It's probably over a thousand," Soldier 11 said, scanning the surroundings.
Anyone would feel uneasy looking at these skull totems. Anby frowned—rare anger showing through her usual poker face.
"So, what's the next step? If you won't let me, bring the building down, my usefulness is pretty limited," Gotthardt said, eyeing the structure. "Should I open the sound library and shout some threats at them? Lure them out?"
"Jax-05's drones attempted multiple insertions into the building," Jaxcalibur-01 reported. "But the moment they entered, signal was lost. Possibly a powerful signal jammer. As for the 300-kilogram warhead mentioned earlier—we've found it. Jane Doe said it's in the garage, originally set up as a trap."
"A trap?" Ignis frowned. Since when did Khorne tactics include something like this? Feign weakness and shut the door to slaughter the enemy?
"Yes~ I'm the trigger," Jane Doe's voice came through the comms. "I have a Deadman switch on me. The moment my heartbeat stops, that thing detonates. Which means the garage storing the autonomous tactical mechs was bait from the very beginning. Either I kill you, or you kill me and get blown sky-high. But thankfully, someone managed to break the deadlock—so Razor didn't succeed."
…Wait. Did Razor really seem like someone capable of this?
The Salamander recalled their first encounter. Razor had fled almost immediately—hardly the mind of a tactical mastermind. And Khorne's blessings didn't exactly come with enhanced intelligence. If anything, they did the opposite.
There were far too many inconsistencies. Ignis couldn't make sense of it. It felt as though both he and Razor had been manipulated—some unseen hand twisting events into something sinister.
Could it be… Tzeentch?
A sudden chill ran through the Salamander. The last time, a mutated Chaos Sorcerer had nearly taken his life. If this really was the Architect of Fate at work again, then what had He sent this time? And how had He made Razor so compliant? Weren't the Chaos Gods supposed to be enemies?
There's another possibility…
That blue bastard played both sides.
As Ignis reached that thought, sharp, twisted laughter echoed in his ears—mocking everyone present.
Blue-violet mist spread through the air, and a warp gate opened before the group. Amid a furious roar, the one who emerged was Razor.
There was almost nothing human left of him. His specially modified helmet was gone, replaced by a brass headpiece adorned with symbols of Khorne. His skin was the color of dried blood, his upper body bare, muscles rippling with every breath. His wrists had fully transformed into Bloodletter claws. His left arm had become a massive shield fused from metal and horn, while his right hand wielded a roaring chainaxe.
"At last! I've found you!"
There were no openings in his helm, yet he could clearly see Ignis. The mutated monster howled and charged straight at the Salamander.
Jaxcalibur-01 and Jax-06 opened fire immediately. Zhu Yuan's Suppressor K22, now fitted with a grenade launcher module, fired as well. But against a Khorne-monster blessed by a Chaos god, the firepower was useless. Grenades and rifle lasers alike twisted away before impact, a red glow flaring from his crown and redirecting them elsewhere.
"Last time, you ran the moment we met," the Salamander charged to meet him without fear. "Not running this time?"
"Blood for the Blood God! Skulls for the Skull Throne!" Razor screamed madly, the chainaxe shrieking.
The two titanic warriors collided. The power gauntlet glowed with eerie blue light as it caught the raised axe blade. The spinning teeth slammed against the power field, showers of sparks erupting. That blasphemous weapon possessed an incomprehensible resilience—even the power field couldn't destroy it.
Gotthardt moved to intervene, and the others immediately began to encircle the monster. But at that moment, red teleportation circles ignited around them, and crude Bloodletter imitations from the Mountain Lion Gang leapt out.
They bore the shape of true Bloodletters, but lacked the iconic hellblades—an enormous relief for everyone. Those daemon weapons were lethally dangerous; even a shallow cut could mean death.
Though their gear was inferior to true Bloodletters, these knockoffs were no less ferocious or frenzied. They howled and charged the group, blades and axes raised high; every strike aimed straight for the head.
"Get behind me!" Terra's Wrath thundered out the order through its vox array. "Protect each other!"
The Leviathan Dreadnought stomped one foot into the ground. The massive impact flipped the first wave of charging Bloodletters onto their backs, while the siege claw seized one of them, crushing and twisting as it rotated—mangled limbs scattering everywhere.
The chainsword in Anby's hands roared. This weapon, personally forged by the Salamander, demonstrated terrifying effectiveness against daemons. Its razor-sharp teeth shredded the Bloodletter's weapon with ease, then—driven by its wielder—savagely tore into flesh, chewed through bone, and ripped the creature clean in half.
Watching the Bloodletter on the ground slowly turn to ash, Anby couldn't help but think it looked a bit like an Ethereal. But Ethereals always left traces of ether crystals behind—this red thing looked far more like a movie demon instead.
She had no time to dwell on it. Nearby, Soldier 11 was locked in a hard fight. Several Bloodletters had entangled her, mainly because Zhu Yuan and the two Jaxcalibur Squad members were not well-suited for close combat, and Soldier 11 had deliberately intercepted the enemy.
Her burning combat blade was only moderately effective against the red-skinned monsters, and facing three Bloodletters at once was taxing even for her. She had already carved several deep wounds into them, but the flames seemed unable to inflict meaningful burns.
Anby activated her power pack again. Electricity first surged into the chainsword, then coursed through her body. After the Salamander's modifications, this method stimulated nerves and muscles more efficiently, with fewer side effects.
The Cunning Hares' new lightning specialist launched a flanking assault. Amid a flash of brilliant cyan lightning, one Bloodletter was severed cleanly at the waist. Its upper body flew into the air, still trying to attack with its weapon—but that attempt failed. Another blinding bolt of lightning followed, and the chainsword cleaved its head off midair.
Clearly irritated rather than grateful, Soldier 11 felt she had been underestimated. The military elite knocked aside the Bloodletter on her left, smashed its chest with the hilt of her blade, and forced it back several steps. She then closed in, gripping the spine of the blade with her left hand and pressing the edge against the daemon's neck. With a powerful downward push and drag, she tore its head clean off.
The one on the right tried to seize the moment to ambush her, axe raised high—but Zhu Yuan's ether grenade struck its wrist, throwing off its balance. In that instant, Soldier 11 spun and counterattacked, the blade tearing a deep gash across its abdomen. Anby's chainsword roared through from the front, bursting out of its chest.
Soldier 11 was thankful for her goggles. Blood didn't splash directly into her face, and with a quick wipe, she was ready to keep fighting.
Most of the Bloodletters, however, were held at bay by Gotthardt. Before the towering Dreadnought, the monsters could not advance even an inch. The quad-mounted thermal lances were less effective against Khorne daemons, but still inflicted damage. The old warrior's guns fired relentlessly, while the quad flamethrowers at his waist poured out searing fire, engulfing several Bloodletters at once. The siege claw struck again and again—crushing some, flattening others. The colossal war machine fully displayed its might. The old warrior roared battle cries from an ancient age, shielding the mortal fighters beneath him, just as he had shielded his power-armored battle brothers ten thousand years ago.
And one of those battle brothers—the Salamanders Chapter's Sixth Company Aggressor, Ignis—was engaged in a sacred duel with the enemy leader.
Two massive figures slammed into each other. Enormous iron fists and a chainaxe clashed repeatedly. The power field detonated again and again across Razor's body, yet the monster blessed by a Chaos god seemed barely affected. He laughed wildly as the chainaxe swung toward the Salamander's head.
Ignis moved faster, gripping Razor's right wrist. Lightning crackled from the power field around his gauntlet as he prepared to smash it down onto the brass helm. But Razor's shield slammed into him instead—its angle twisted unnaturally, a strange red glow flaring along the horns. The Salamander refused to gamble on whether it could pierce his armor and instead raised his elbow to block.
The two giants locked in place, bloodshot eyes staring into each other's.
"The Blood God wants your head!"
"Then come and see if you're capable of taking it!"
===BREAK===
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