"Do you know what you're saying? You can't win alone, we have to…"
"Miss Hood, you've already heavily wounded it; leave the rest to me to finish," Horatio said softly, his vicious gaze fixed on the rampaging Chaos Spawn.
Horatio gently placed Farida, whom he was holding, back on the ground.
He watched the frantically thrashing monster before him, twisted his slightly stiff neck, and warmed up his prosthetic limb, which held the Shock Baton.
[He's serious…] Farida's almond eyes widened as she looked at Horatio in disbelief, but she no longer tried to dissuade him.
She had witnessed this guy's terrifying combat power.
"I promised to protect you until your blood test results came out, don't make me break my promise."
Horatio nodded slightly, a faint smile curving his lips, replacing his previously solemn expression.
"Of course, Miss Hood."
[What… what a show-off, really, this guy! Tsk…]
Farida looked at him worriedly, then unfastened the emergency first-aid kit from her belt and ran briskly towards the shuttle.
Horatio's confidence in challenging this monster alone was not unfounded.
'+ Activate: Power Fist +'
'+ Activate: Precognition Shard +'
'+ Warning: Corruption suppression has reached its limit. Repeated activation of related skills in a short period will cause irreversible corruption to physiology and mind +'
[Only one chance, unless, a contract is signed with a demon, right…]
Horatio activated two abilities at once, staying within the safe threshold before the corruption spread from his prosthetic limb.
'+ Corruption: 6 / 6 +'
"Come on! You filthy, hideous monster."
Horatio's curse deeply stung the monster, abandoned by the great power of Slaanesh.
The monster roared, its long spines on its back thrusting towards Horatio's forehead.
Horatio felt the surrounding time slow down; every movement of the Chaos Spawn seemed to be half a beat slower in his eyes.
This time, he deftly dodged its attack by sidestepping, then swiftly swung the Shock Baton in a counter-attack, his movements becoming extremely rapid.
Crack!
The lightning-charged baton, like a meteor streaking across the night, struck the Chaos Spawn, instantly sending sparks flying.
Pfft! —
Flesh and blood flew through the lightless air, like falling rain.
"How is that possible!" The Chaos Spawn shrieked indistinctly, its two lidless eyeballs almost popping out.
With a single, clean strike, Horatio knocked away the Chaos Spawn's mutated arm, which was swinging towards his head, his face utterly indifferent, showing no trace of emotion.
"No! No! Ow!"
The monster stumbled backward, and before it could regain its balance, Horatio lunged forward, gritting his teeth, and swung the large baton at its bloated belly.
"Don't come any closer!" the monster shrieked.
Another squelching sound, and a strong, foul odor, like a mixture of various bodily fluids, permeated the air.
"No! No! Ah! It hurts!" The monster's roar turned into a wail.
"Pain? The moment you fell, you no longer belonged to the physical universe."
'+ Power output full +'
With his prosthetic limb at full power, Horatio swung the Shock Baton, and the air emitted a terrifying, tearing shriek.
"Now, get back to where you belong!"
"You… you wish! I'll destroy everything you have! You'll rot here today! You lowly Lower Hive maggot!"
Horatio's lips twitched coldly, veins bulging on his forehead.
The Chaos Spawn let out an extremely ear-piercing scream and roar, desperately shrinking backward, but it was still struck on its thick leg by the enraged Horatio.
"Threatening me?"
On Horatio's furious face, a cold, gritting smile emerged as he swung the baton closer.
"Flesh! When I eat flesh! I'll kill all of you!"
The Chaos Spawn suddenly desperately rushed towards the injured Arbitrator Inspector Shawi. With one arm broken and one leg crippled, it crawled using its disgusting tentacles, determined to grab the last piece of life-saving flesh.
Horatio followed closely, chasing the meatball's figure.
A surging roar, accompanied by the foul and sweet stench emanating from its slimy body, assailed them.
Shawi saw the horrifying uncleanliness returning, and his heart tightened.
"Go… go quickly, you shouldn't die here!"
He gritted his teeth, pushed Farida, who was helping him stop the bleeding, away, picked up his Enforcer Shotgun, and stumbled to his feet, leaning against the shuttle cabin wall.
Several broken bones in his body made his movements quite stiff.
Thump! Thump! The ground trembled.
"God Emperor…"
Farida saw the grotesque fleshy lump charging over, her hands and feet trembling uncontrollably. She quickly drew her automatic pistol, which held the last magazine.
A rapid burst of shots, and when the smoke cleared, what greeted them was the earth-shaking colossal movement of the unspeakable thing, and it was getting closer and closer.
No matter how Farida dodged, she was directly in its path of charge.
Although the Chaos Spawn could not see the Untouchable, it sensed the abominable presence nearby and decided to crush it before feasting.
Seeing that she could not escape the Chaos Spawn's charge path, Farida's mind went blank, and desperate helplessness left her at a loss.
In just a dozen seconds, she would be crushed into a puddle of blood.
"Horatio, you said you'd deal with it…" Farida bit her lip and reached for her slender waist.
"Die! You sneaking bitch! I'll make you pay for what you did today!" The Chaos Spawn shrieked indistinctly, its voice utterly chaotic.
Farida pulled out a high-explosive melta grenade from her waist, her hands trembling uncontrollably, barely able to hold it steady.
This was the only weapon she had that could inflict fatal damage on an unarmored demon like the Chaos Spawn, but with an explosion at such close range, she was undoubtedly prepared for either death or severe injury.
Farida spread her legs, shakily holding the high-explosive grenade in front of her, sweat pouring down her body.
"I'll drag you down with me even if I die! You freak." Her voice cracked.
"Stop! Look behind it!"
At Arbiter Shawi's warning, Farida took a few gasps, and light refocused in her eyes.
She saw Horatio rushing beside it, grabbing one of its terrifying, spiky tentacles, and violently yanking it to a halt, then, with a drift, slamming it onto the ground.
"Die, you bastard!"
Horatio's eyes held only the purest killing intent. With a tearing sound, he ripped out the tentacle along with the underlying bones, sending large chunks of flesh and bulky organs flying into the air.
"Ow! Ow! Ah ah ah ah!" The fleshy lump shrieked.
The killing intent grew stronger, violently tearing and flinging flesh and blood everywhere. More and more steam erupted from the mechanical arm, gradually obscuring his vision.
Horatio stomped on the Chaos Spawn, raised the thick Shock Baton high like Thor, and with the greatest force he could muster, slammed it fiercely onto its disgusting maw and hideous, monstrous face.
A gust of wind, mixed with the smell of oil and blood, rushed towards the monster's utterly ugly face.
The first strike instantly broke its maw, one piece flying twenty meters away.
The second strike pulverized the chaotic, ugly human-like face, accompanied by the smell of burnt flesh from the electrical surge, emitting a disgusting stench.
The third strike broke its entire ribcage, the meatball was violently caved in, a bloody mess, too gruesome to behold.
"Mmm mmm mmm mmm" Between the rising and falling of the baton, only indistinct moans and whimpers came from the Chaos Spawn's mouth.
The temperature of the iron hand grew hotter and hotter, emitting a terrifying dark red glow in the darkness. The air around Horatio became unusually dry, and the temperature sharply increased.
Horatio violently plunged the Shock Baton into the Chaos Spawn's chest cavity and grabbed the Chaos Spawn's head.
The scorching iron hand instantly cooked and melted everything it touched.
"No! No! Don't! Ah! Ah! You're burning me to death! Burning me to death! Ow ah!"
The dark red, scorching iron hand was deeply embedded in the flesh due to brute force, and the sizzling sound of searing flesh, accompanied by a disgusting burnt smell, drowned out the desperate screams.
The eyeballs caught between his fingers could only see a pair of faintly glowing blue pupils in the darkness, their gaze utterly sinister.
"Ah!"
The next second, like tearing cotton, the iron hand squeezed, and the Chaos Spawn's entire head along with its spine was ripped out.
Even in death, the Inquisitor could not believe that he would be beaten to death and torn into a pile of rotten flesh by the very death row inmate he had once most despised.
Steam, rising like a ghost, permeated his surroundings. Horatio, like a dragon slayer, held the monster's head with its spinal cord in his iron hand, proudly stomping on the pulped meatball. He suddenly flicked his right hand, flinging the head and the blood on his hand onto the ground.
"Still threatening me, you bastard."
Horatio gritted his teeth, twisted his somewhat stiff neck, and spat on the shapeless, rotten face. Instantly, he raised his hand and, with astonishing acceleration, slammed the twisted, filthy head onto the ground, smashing it into a puddle of mud.
Fortunately, nothing could be seen in the night; thermal imaging only showed a blurry white mass, harmonizing this physiologically unsettling scene to the greatest extent.
"He… how could he tear the Chaos Spawn apart with his bare hands…"
Farida, drenched in sweat, could no longer stand and sat down on the ground, dumbfounded.
Arbitrator Inspector Shawi was even more shocked than Farida; his blurred senses made him unable to distinguish whether he was dreaming or in reality.
—This death row inmate actually tore this inhuman monster into pieces like butchering a pig.
This was absolutely! No longer a mortal!
"Hiss ah!"
The body spasms brought on by the shock further tore open his original wounds, making the cold and ruthless iron-faced Hanzi gasp in pain.