A Core Ship From The Start
Chapter 1032 - Chapter 1032 708

Chapter 1032: 708 Chapter 1032: 708 [Time: -74:52:31]

“Blood sacrifice to the Blood God, skulls for the Skull Throne!”

The giant, covered in fresh blood, roared and swung his Chainsaw Sword at Duanmu Huai, who yelled back. Spiritual Energy burst forth from his body, blocking the attack. He then swung his War Hammer fiercely forward, smacking the Thunder Warhammer onto the warrior’s head, crushing both the head and the helmet into pieces. The headless corpse wobbled, then fell to the ground.

“Continue the attack!!”

Marius, at this point, had no time to care about his surroundings. He raised his Bomb Gun, aiming at the enemies ahead, countless enemies, a multitude of them. Those monsters he had never seen before, cloaked in crimson, wielding blazing Longswords, and accompanied by hound-like creatures, were not, Marius sensed, the Alien Creatures from other planets he’d faced before, nor a variation of Orcs, but rather more horrific and evil beings.

However, they now had no way to retreat.

But what shocked Marius even more were those Astarte, or rather, those who once were Astarte.

But now, they were not anymore.

“Die!!”

Just then, another Star Warrior roared out from the crowd, lifting his Bomb Gun and launching an attack on Marius and his comrades. The latter hastily dodged and then returned fire. The bomb hit the Astarte, blowing apart his Ceramic Steel Armor and tearing his flesh. Normally, this would have been enough to incapacitate an Astarte.

But this Star Warrior did not fall. On the contrary, it seemed to enrage him further as he strode forward, the Explosive Bolts from his heavy machine gun howling like a fierce storm, pinning Marius and his allies down. The original defensive ground turrets, which even an Astarte could not hope to lift, were now being held with ease by this Astarte, who was pouring destruction and death all around like playthings.

To be honest, even the Company Commander of the First Company didn’t know how to deal with such a formidable enemy for a moment.

However, fortunately, there were others here.

Ogis descended from the spray of gunfire like a Ghost, lifting her right hand, her fingers flickering. Then, the Star Warrior’s turret was suddenly sliced into several pieces before exploding. The sudden burst of flames blinded his vision, making him step back instinctively. At the same time, Lorena charged forward, shouting as she punched him in the chest. The towering Star Warrior, like a paper doll, was sent flying against the wall. With a “smack,” he burst like a fly hit by a swatter, turning into a puddle of mash.

The fight came to a pause, and when Marius and the others stood up, only a pile of corpses remained before them.

“By the Emperor, what are these things…”

Marius swallowed hard. As Limit Warriors, as Astarte, fear had long been forgotten – they were molded from birth not to know fear as warriors. Marius had only encountered the concept of fear in novels and books.

Yet now, staring at the familiar yet strange corpses at his feet, he experienced fear for the first time — bewildered, not knowing what to do, trembling as if the solid ground beneath him was collapsing, and he was being thrown into an endless void. In that moment, Marius felt as vulnerable and helpless as a three-year-old child.

“Just as you see, your former brethren have become dogs under the Chaos Evil God.”

Duanmu Huai’s voice was calm, steady, and composed, which somewhat brought Marius back to his senses.

“I can’t believe it.”

He stared at the corpse before him, the remains of an Astarte, yet not entirely so; his body had clearly mutated. Of course, the most obvious signs were the long horns growing from his forehead and the sharp, beastlike teeth in their wide-open mouths.

“I’ve seen psychics mutate, but I didn’t expect Astarte to turn out like this.”

“Now you have.”

Duanmu Huai’s expression was very calm, his voice steady.

“The Chaos Evil God will corrupt everything, be they mortals, psychics, Astarte, or genetic prototypes. If you cannot safeguard your own soul, then you cannot escape doom.”

“But they can still be killed.”

Marius gradually calmed down, clutching the bomb gun in his hands as if regaining his reliance and courage.

“Of course they can be killed.”

Duanmu Huai scoffed.

“Even the Chaos Evil God is not immortal, of course, that’s provided your strength is powerful enough… Alright, let’s move on, the bridge is not far now.”

“So, what exactly are they?”

Marius continued down the path, but this time, his emotions seemed much calmer.

“If described with pure reason, they are subspace creatures. Is that strange? Fish live in the sea, birds live in the sky, it’s not so strange that there are creatures in subspace.”

“Indeed… as you say, then why do you call them Evil Gods?”

“It’s merely a name.”

Duanmu Huai curled his lips.

“You can call them whatever you want, like Evil God, Great Chaos Being, Four Vendors… A name is just a title, a reference, it doesn’t mean that by calling them Evil Gods they truly are deities. After all, every civilization has a different definition of a god, and I’m sure you’ve often seen native people on the planets you’ve conquered worship you as deities.”

“Indeed.”

Marius nodded, there had been planets where the locals saw them as descending deities, such examples were not nonexistent.

“People submit to great strengths they cannot understand and deify them, it’s the same principle.”

“Then aren’t you afraid, Judge?”

Marius looked at Duanmu Huai, who chuckled.

“Do you know? Commander, the Tribunal has a saying– all fear comes from a lack of firepower.”

As he spoke, Duanmu Huai raised his war hammer and swung it forward.

“That is to say, as long as you have enough firepower to destroy everything, then you have nothing to fear.”

“Upon returning, I will suggest to my Genetic Prototype to add this sentence to his notes.”

“Stop jinxing it, we’ve come this far, what are your thoughts?”

“Indeed, the Clock Tower has encountered some problems, the assumption of malice has been established, we can report what happened here to the Genetic Prototype.”

Marius looked around once more.

“I don’t know what to say. It turns out that the Whisperer has conducted a massacre on this warship, they killed almost all of the crew members on board, and transformed their flesh and blood into some sort of terrifying monsters…”

“Blood Suckers, low-level ground units of Brutal Wrath, not worth mentioning.”

“… as well as the mutated Whisperers and World Eater Legion warriors.”

“This is the power bestowed upon them by the Evil God, honestly, it’s not that big of a deal.”

Duanmu Huai hummed lightly, but Marius knew that things were not as easy as he said. He had previously fought against a mutated World Eater, whose strength was even greater; it wasn’t something developed through training, but an overwhelming power that Marius had never encountered before, to the point that even he was almost knocked to the ground. Moreover, these Astarte were not afraid of death and had bodies of extraordinary resilience. Their Bomb Guns could break their arms and tear open their chests, yet they kept advancing, as if they weren’t injured at all.

Even experienced Astarte found such an enemy difficult to deal with, yet they appeared so fragile in front of Duanmu Huai, who wielded his War Hammer, knocking them out almost with each strike.

Of course, it’s understandable for Duanmu Huai to do so, given his formidable demeanor, but……

Thinking this, Marius looked at Lorena walking next to Duanmu Huai with a complex expression.

“Excuse me, I would like to ask… how did this young lady manage to do that?”

Yes, what puzzled Marius the most were the fights involving Ogis and Lorena. Ogis was okay, Marius hadn’t seen his fair share of weird abilities of Psychics, even if he couldn’t comprehend them, at least he could accept them. But he didn’t understand Lorena, such a petite girl, how could she send a mutated Astarte flying with her bare hands?

“Of course it’s training, Captain!”

However, Marius was taken aback by Lorena’s answer.

“Training?”

“That’s right! Persist every day, hold a horse stance, punch a hundred times, pray a hundred times, and then punch another hundred times! Only in this way can you have a healthy body and the strength to purify Devils!”

Persistent training???

Marius was utterly baffled; Astarte also persisted in their training, and they had been doing it for hundreds of years. And you’re telling me, after adhering to your training for just over a decade, you can send Astarte flying?

What then is our purpose of existence???

He looked at Duanmu Huai for help, hoping he could give an answer.

“Don’t look at me, that’s how Lorena is; I certainly don’t have that kind of skill.”

Duanmu Huai spread his hands, his face expressing helplessness.

Well, perhaps this young lady is an exception.

The bridge door opened.

The unpleasant odor that hit their faces made them sick, and the bloody chunks scattered across the deck were nauseating, but what was even more difficult to stomach was the gigantic monster in the center of the bridge. It resembled a massive brain, with numerous nerves extending from its underside, twining around the Thinkers’ console–it had taken control of the warship and was manipulating its forward motion.

In front of it stood a tall Chaos Intergalactic Warrior.

“I really didn’t expect you to make it here.”

He spoke with his back to everyone, then slowly turned his head around–they saw the mark of the World Eater on him, while at the same time, he saw the armor Duanmu Huai wore.

“Damn bastard!”

He grabbed a Sharp Blade that burned with flames, and the rotting wings behind him suddenly spread wide.

“It was you! You killed our Genetic Prototype! Murderer!!”

“I’ll quite miss Angellon’s screams.”

Duanmu Huai chuckled, gripping the War Hammer and stepping forward.

“And now you’ve become such waste, World Eater.”

“I will avenge the Genetic Prototype.”

The opponent clenched his greatsword, glaring at Duanmu Huai with spite, surrounded by several World Eaters and demons from Subspace, all brimming with murderous intent and rage.

“Even the very Brutal Wrath himself wouldn’t dare speak to me like this here, and you, a fellow who has gained but a Scrap of Evil God power, dare to speak so boldly?”

Duanmu Huai grabbed his War Hammer, raising it high.

“In the name of the Tribunal, I will send you to join your Genetic Prototype, and your souls shall burn together in the fires of the Tribunal, wailing until they’re completely reduced to ash.”

There was a second of silence between the two sides.

Then the next moment, the battle reignited.