A Core Ship From The Start
Chapter 1033 - Chapter 1033 Chapter 709 Malicious Premise

Chapter 1033: Chapter 709 Malicious Premise Chapter 1033: Chapter 709 Malicious Premise Duanmu Huai rushed forward once again.

Furious World Eaters threw themselves at him, having witnessed the humiliating defeat of their genetic prototypes at his hands. Yet they didn’t retreat or show fear. Their hearts burned with rage; they were fearless, and all they craved was revenge and destruction!

However, in the face of absolute strength, their determination meant nothing.

“Bang!!”

Duanmu Huai crashed into a World Eater before him, who pressed a Bomb Gun against his chest. Bullets roared from the weapon, striking Duanmu Huai’s armor but ricocheted away. Huai then took advantage of the collision to shove his opponent aside, and with a swing of his War Hammer– the howling weapon smashed the World Eater’s head, splitting him in two straight down the middle.

Indeed, smashed. In that moment, the War Hammer seemed sharper than the sharpest Power Sword as it crushed the World Eater’s head, spine, breastbone, two hearts, and continued downward, bisecting his body into a gore-splattered wreck.

Another World Eater charged, swinging his sword at Duanmu Huai’s neck. But his blade halted abruptly in mid-air. Ogis extended her hand, invisible threads wrapping around the Power Sword, forcefully halting the World Eater’s movement. Then, Lorena stepped forward in a leap, raising the Holy Canon high above her head, and slammed it down onto the World Eater.

Marius, leading the first contingent of warriors, pushed forward. The demons they encountered were so fierce that it was beyond their expectations, yet they pressed on, fighting, with Bomb Guns lifted and Chainsaw Swords swinging, obliterating every foe that dared to stand in their way.

Duanmu Huai made it to the presence of the Demon Brain which let out a terrifying scream. The intense sound turned into a piercing sonic blast, causing unbearable headaches.

But this was useless against Duanmu Huai, for he was a God of Destruction, a deity of annihilation, and to him, the monster’s actions seemed nothing more than the death throes of a rat trapped in a corner.

“Die———-!”

Duanmu Huai’s War Hammer swung forward, smashing deep into the giant brain. Black flames erupted violently, completely consuming the frightful demon from within.

The brain exploded into indistinct chunks of flesh and blood plasma. The piercing scream cut off abruptly. Duanmu Huai halted his advance, retracting his War Hammer, and turned to look around– there was nothing left but corpses.

“Is it over?”

Covered in blood, Marius came forward, asking. Duanmu Huai chuckled.

“Over? Captain, you think too much. This is only the beginning. I’ve told you, this is the realm of Brutal Wrath. Every battle we fight here, every life we take, lends it more strength. It’s an endless cycle; as long as we continue to fight here, those Subspace Demons will reappear. And the more Subspace Demons we kill, the stronger the Evil God becomes.”

“It’s unimaginable.”

Marius furrowed his brows.

“So, what can we do now?”

“Leave this place, and then destroy this Warship completely.”

Duanmu Huai turned away.

“You’ve seen what you were looking to find, unless you wish to capture a Demon, I suggest we better leave. Reporting to Kiriman is the priority, isn’t it?”

“As you say.”

Marius took one last look at the bridge where everything had become ragged and torn, even the thinker terminals and control systems had been destroyed in the previous battle, making it impossible to reclaim control of the Warship.

“Let’s get out of here.”

[Time: -62.48.32]

Looking at Marius’s report, Kiriman was silent. He just kept looking at the images before him, over and over again — the interior footage of the Clock Tower, recorded by Marius and other Limit Warriors. It was a world drenched in blood, filled with destruction and death, twisted Astartes, and evil monsters.

“So, this is what you saw.”

Kiriman looked at Marius, who nodded.

“Yes, sir, this is what I saw, what I experienced.”

“So, it’s all true. They betrayed us, betrayed The Emperor, and entered into some kind of alliance with a Subspace existence…or Demon, to put it bluntly. They engaged with the unclean powers of Subspace, forging a sinister covenant and became something beyond our comprehension.”

Kiriman sighed.

“To be honest, I don’t know how to fight them. I know how to fight against almost anything. I could even spell out how to fight against the warriors of the Asttart Legion, as heretical as that thought may be. But Demons? It seems to me, after the Council of Nikaea, we willingly parted with the only weapon in our arsenal that could stand against Subspace. Now we urgently need the Think Tank. After all, right now, we don’t even know how to face those monsters.”

“Hmph.”

At that, Duanmu Huai snorted. The Council of Nikaea was a meeting convened by The Emperor towards the end of the Great Expedition to discuss the use of Psychics within the Legions. In the end, The Emperor issued a decree, later called the “Nikaea Edict,” stipulating that the Asttart Legions may not use any Psychic, apart from Navigators and Starseers, and dismantling the Librarium departments. Genetic Prototypes were also constrained from using any of their existing Psychic abilities.

It was the perfect case of throwing out the baby with the bathwater.

Even more laughable was the fact that, immediately after banning the Librarium and Psychic powers, The Emperor himself went on to use Spirit race technology to create Psychic Webways.

A real-world scenario where only the officials can set fires and the common people are forbidden even a lamp; the double standard was repugnant. And he used his Psychic power with abandon, acting as if “no one understands Subspace better than I do, so you all have to listen to me.”

“They’re both foolish and incompetent.”

And Kiriman continued,

“We should request the reinstatement of the Think Tank’s establishment. If there’s a chance now, it might be too late and there’s nothing we can do. But if we can survive, then we must overturn that amnesty. For now, we can temporarily gather those Think Tanks again under the name of military conscription…”

At this point, Kiriman paused.

“It’s like some people had anticipated that Nikea would leave us defenseless, as if our enemies knew what was going to happen and thus orchestrated various events, causing us to willingly abandon our only practical weapons when the moment of truth approached.”

The question arises, who is this person?

Well, Duanmu Huai cast his vote for The Emperor.

He never liked this LYB, not in the least.

“So, my lord, how should we face the Seventeenth Legion?”

Someone asked.

“Can’t we take the initiative to strike, to take them down?”

“We can’t.”

Kiriman shook his head.

“We indeed hold evidence, even witnesses, but we can’t spook the snake. Moreover, I believe most Astartes won’t understand our orders, perhaps forcing them to comply would only bring chaos.”

Indeed, the Thirteenth Legion, to some extent, was the most normal; they weren’t like Riemann’s Space Huskies who dared to bite anyone, nor were they as blindly loyal as the Sons of Horus, and they definitely did not share the fervent beliefs of the Whisperers, nor the rigid and masochistic tendencies of the Imperial Fists.

So if they were ordered to attack their brothers without just cause, such an order would certainly bring unimaginable confusion and doubt to the Limit Warriors.

“We still have time,”

Kiriman said after a moment of silence.

“Theoretically, by claiming a military deployment, we could relocate their armies and soldiers to other places, places that won’t threaten us for the time being. Meanwhile, we must maintain high alert, ready to strike back the moment they open fire on us. No matter what, we can’t just do nothing and watch as Kaus and Omura are destroyed by them.”

With that said, Kiriman looked towards his Warband Leader.

“You’ll need to take charge of this organization, make it look like a normal military movement. Don’t let our brothers pick out any faults, demand politely yet firmly that they must comply with the orders.”

“What if they choose not to counterattack?”

It was at this moment, someone else asked.

“They will counterattack,”

A flicker of sorrow crossed Kiriman’s face.

“If Horus, Rogal, truly have betrayed the Imperial, then no matter what, they will strike. For them, they just need a reason, an excuse, anything will do. They won’t know that we already understand their secrets, and we don’t have much time left.”

“Or, I can make them act faster.”

It was then, Duanmu Huai interjected, and everyone looked towards them.

“Accelerate?”

“Correct. The Tribunal Fleet can show up at Kaus, I believe. When those who worship the Evil God see the Tribunal’s fleets, they’ll definitely choose to act like cornered beasts. Since that bastard Ares is here, too, they certainly remember the battle between the Tribunal at the Istvan Star System and The Sixty Second Expedition Fleet. Our arrival will terrify them, and they are very likely to take action early.”

“Theoretically possible.”

Kiriman paused for a moment and nodded.

“I understand. Then I’ll leave it to you, Great Judge.”

“Leave it to me with confidence,”

Duanmu Huai smirked coldly.

“I guarantee that Ares, the old bastard, won’t get away this time.”

He had long wanted to give that son of a bitch a thrashing.

Duanmu Huai even began to imagine how delightful it would sound when his Thunder Warhammer smashed into Ares’s despicable face–the shriek it would elicit would surely be a sight for sore eyes.