Despair often comes quickly.
Very suddenly.
Very violently.
Irresistible.
Incredible.
Inevitable.
Four Randan Custodian Guards slowly emerged from the deepest shadows. The details on their armor varied; some held sharp weapons, while others were bare-handed, their two arms occupied by dense spikes and sharp claws.
Hektor saw clearly that these Randan Custodian Guards' armor was more ornate than any he had seen before. Especially the one before him, its breastplate bore the most intricate carvings,
with stripes and protrusions depicting a monster they had never witnessed. Around the monster were wailing souls and fluttering banners, its status akin to the Imperial Aquila of the Human Imperium.
On the shoulder pads on both sides, Hektor could see countless tiny characters etched with rows upon rows of honor records. In these years of war, he had reluctantly learned some of the Randan's twisted language, enough to understand the meaning of those honors.
Even among the elite Custodian Guards of the Xenos Imperium, few held a higher status and power than the one before him.
The remaining three Randan Custodian Guards, their attire and decorations were far less magnificent than their leader before Hektor, but still considerably more luxurious than the one who had died by his blade.
These most elite among the Xenos moved with steady steps and relaxed demeanor, slowly exercising their bodies and arms, as if preparing for a leisurely fox hunt.
Hektor stood at the very front of his squad. He was closest to the giant engine slowly flowing into the abyss, and also closest to the largest and most terrifying Xenos.
The leisurely hunter looked at the six humans before it, its gaze lingering on Hektor. The lower half of its face, uncovered by a helmet, twisted into an indescribably grotesque smile. It spoke softly, in perfectly standard Human language.
"Aks failed us. It overestimated its strength."
"And you, humans, you are stronger than I imagined. In the past, I have ordered the annihilation of no less than ten teams like yours, and not one of them reached this far."
"However, your battle ends here."
"Right here."
Hektor did not reply. He did not draw his Boltgun, but instead clasped his two hands tightly around his dark green greatsword, lowering his center of gravity, ready to meet the impact at any moment.
He slowly retreated, everyone performing the same action, until their backs were pressed tightly together.
Morgana's most cherished pawn slowly exhaled his last breath of peace and silence, uttering the only words he had for this Xenos.
"Humanity is unconquerable, Xenos."
"The fate of your race is sealed."
These words only made the Randan Custodian Guard before him smile, its voice so sharp it was grating.
"In the past, people always told me such things, you human whelp."
"Where do you think they are now?"
Hektor did not answer.
No one spoke again.
The silence was shattered, the unspoken understanding trampled. The next second, accompanied by furious battle roars and silent malice, ten figures blazed with the light of blades and Psychic Energy in the deepest darkness.
The battle began.
——————
"For the Emperor!"
"For the Legion!"
Hektor roared, a silent roar, a rampant roar from the deepest valleys of his heart. With his reason and his courage, he wielded his blade, confronting this almost unconquerable foe.
Five meters, three meters, closing in…
Everything happened in an instant.
In the blink of an eye, the Xenos' face was before him. It was a countenance fit to appear in any nightmare, a terror that made the whole world wail in unease.
Hektor bellowed, bringing his blade down on the sharp figure. The verdant light, like a sleeper in a tomb awakened by a thousand-year battle, roared in fury.
Attack!
It hit!
No! Wrong!
Steadfastness, joy, and shock arrived at the same instant, freezing Hektor's face in a twisted expression. The feel on his blade clearly told him his strike had hit the opponent's chest, but in the next instant, he distinctly saw that it was an illusion.
A realistic illusion, an illusion born of excessive speed.
No!
His gaze turned fierce, quickly searching for his opponent's location. All his cells and body parts screamed for full defensive preparations.
Then, he felt a cold wind brush past him.
At the same time.
A wounded whimper sounded behind Hektor.
Everything happened in a flash.
When he turned around, he only saw the arrogant Randan Custodian Guard, in a way that defied all principles and rules, twisting its body into the thinnest and purest illusion, passing through the tiny gaps between the Astartes warriors.
Blades flashed. Before anyone could react, Eris groaned, clutching his chest, and fell. His fingertips still gathered Psychic Energy, ready to fire.
"Kyron!"
There was no time to do anything, no time to say anything. The only thing Hektor could do was roar for the only person he could completely trust.
He was not disappointed.
The Randan Custodian Guard's face brewed with a gloominess, as if it was not satisfied with this attack. In the same instant, its gaze turned to Salieri, who was also gathering a Psychic Energy offensive. As roaring Psychic Lightning surged towards it, it swung its blade, aiming directly for the Librarian's head.
Just then, a dazzling Plasma shot towards it. In a flash of lightning, the sharp blade was steadily hit by the perpetually cool Plasma, causing it to deflect, leaving only a deep scar on Salieri's left hand.
"Again!?"
The Librarian let out a shriek of indignation. He watched his Psychic Energy engulf the Xenos before him, causing the ornate armor to develop various dents. But before he could clench his teeth and summon more Psychic Lightning, the Randan Custodian Guard behind him roared, blocking Ezio's attack with its ruined shoulder pad, and slamming its iron fist heavily on Salieri's back of the head.
The second Psychic user also temporarily fell with severe injuries, but this achievement was not without cost: the Ancient Warrior of the Legion's blade and Ezio's swiftness arrived almost simultaneously, one after another, making this reckless Xenos pay an unforgettable bloody price. A massive wound gushed blood like a spring, almost clinging to its throat.
It roared, lunging forward and knocking down Kyron, the Ancient Warrior, letting Ajax's Boltgun mercilessly rake its back until Ezio's brute force threw the Xenos off. Then, the sound from Ajax's side was heard again: the remaining two Randan Custodian Guards had deeply plunged their blades into the Astartes' bodies.
All of this, in the eyes of a mortal, was but a single second.
Before this second, Hektor and the Randan Custodian Guard were locked in a standoff. After this long second, these two powerful barbarian warriors were once again fighting fiercely, the clash of blades echoing, dissolving into the second round of combat between the Astartes and the Xenos elite.
Roars, bellows, taunts, pain...
It was too chaotic, too insane. From the moment the first person swung their blade, everything had transformed into the most primal, savage struggle, a bloodthirsty fight to the death.
Hektor, with pure brute courage and talent, fought his most powerful opponent. Every clash between the two warriors made the dim room tremble, causing the invisible air and Aether particles to roar like surging waves in the sea of souls.
On the other side, Kyron, while covering the two Psychics specifically targeted, fought the frenzied monster before him with Ajax's limited support. Plasma fire flashed repeatedly, leaving scars on the monstrous claws again and again.
As for Ezio, the Shadow Champion emerged from the darkness, wielding black blades and axes.
Then, he faced two opponents.
——————
"Fragile."
"Slow."
"Pitiable."
"Just like your race."
Like a whirlwind, like a thunderstorm, like the high roar of a tsunami engulfed by seismic tremors, like all those irresistible, even inescapable, natural disasters of the past.
When the Randan Custodian Guard began its attack, what it gave Hektor was a natural disaster, a despair, a terrifying, unconquerable nightmare.
"I have followed my Emperor, you pathetic human, I have followed it, in your human terms, for five hundred years."
Hektor swung a blow, but at least twelve attacks had already landed on his shoulder and thigh, tearing through his armor, drawing blood.
"I have witnessed its greatness, its power, its wisdom, its determination."
"It vowed to dedicate everything to our great race."
"And it did!"
"Five hundred years! A full five hundred years!"
"It led our race, overcoming all obstacles, annihilating all difficulties. We rose from the ruins, beginning to contend for our myriad star rivers."
"This is our era. We are like new stars, destined to be eternal."
"Not you, humans, a decaying empire that has already fallen."
The blade descended, irresistible, heavier than a thousand towering peaks, mightier than a hundred surging rivers.
The Xenos' face was inches away, Hektor could even smell its bloody breath.
"Look at yourselves, what do you have left?"
"What do you have left?"
A heavy blow struck, sending Morgana's most cherished pawn flying.
Hektor gasped, he could feel large mouthfuls of blood mixed with his teeth. His chest and shoulders were severely wounded, his knee was viciously stabbed, almost pierced through. He panted, his voice like a broken bellows.
At this moment, only the fire in his chest still burned.
Only his reason and conviction remained firm.
He endured, staggered, and forced himself to stand up.
He could not fall.
He could hear Kyron and his opponent heading towards destruction in a prolonged standoff. The Legion's Ancient Warrior might defeat his opponent, but he was also undoubtedly on the verge of death.
He could hear the Shadow Champion's blades constantly ringing out. He was using his most exquisite martial arts to hold off two Randan Custodian Guards, and even now, he showed no signs of falling behind, only his position was constantly retreating, constantly being forced out of the shadows.
He could hear Salieri bleeding, Ajax roaring. In their respective battles and struggles, their lives hung by a thread.
Therefore, he could not fall.
Absolutely not.
He raised his head, panted, and calmed down.
The Xenos' blade was already inches away.
Hektor raised his blade.
Once again.
Another time.
Every time.
He charged forward.
...
He must win.
This was obsession.
This was faith.
This was a surging tide.
——————
And only the most stubborn obsession, the firmest faith, in a surging tide, can create its own waves in the boundless ocean.
——————
"Commendable will."
Even a mortal enemy couldn't help but sigh with such emotion, though the deadly blade showed no hesitation.
"But now..."
The blade swung down.
"What else can you do?"
"Clang—"
The clash of metal and the Randan Custodian Guard's brow furrowed simultaneously. Immediately after, the arrogant Xenos felt a suffocating tremor, almost instinctive.
Its opponent disappeared.
Replaced by... something else.
[Ah...]
[At the very least...]
[It can serve as a pre-meal warm-up.]
[Although, none of you are quite qualified.]
"Hektor" looked up, his voice now a cold, feminine tone.
He spoke, smiling, grabbing the Randan's blade, and with a gentle push, flung the irresistible Custodian Guard aside.
[Frail body.]
He whispered, and in his pupils, azure flames burned.
He raised his head.
The slaughter began.
——————
Because the strongest martial arts in the Imperium, in the galaxy, and even in the entire world, were now mastered by Hektor:
Divine Descent.
——————
Ezio only felt a whirlwind.
A hurricane so swift and terrifying, he had never felt anything like it.
He could barely make out Hektor's figure.
Wait... no, it wasn't him.
The Shadow Champion took a deep breath, witnessing the scene before him: ["Hektor"] appeared before him, his fingers gently tapping in the shadows, and a Randan Custodian Guard's chest burst open along with its armor. It swayed, somewhat disbelieving, and then, its head was plucked off.
Just like a farmer picking grapes from his vineyard.
He turned, and before Ezio and the Randan Custodian Guard could react, an invisible blade sliced through the air. The next moment, the almost unstoppable Xenos elite was neatly divided into twenty pieces. The Shadow Champion could even see the clear state of the severed blood vessels, and the blood that hadn't been caught by gravity, floating in the air.
"Hektor" smiled and moved, like a patient recovering from a serious illness, basking in the long-awaited sunlight. He plucked off another Randan's head, and at this moment, Ezio had no time to do anything.
A head flew, piercing the air like a bloody cannonball, tearing the third Randan Custodian Guard to pieces: its head and chest were directly punctured, bare white bones and shattered organs scattering before the astonished Kyron.
Only at this moment did a moment for Ezio barely end. The Shadow Champion leaned forward, looking up, incredulously at the "Hektor" before him.
Who exactly was he?
For the first time, Ezio was so confused. He involuntarily sensed it, and then he felt an aura, an aura that made him...
Desire to submit.
In a trance, he seemed to see something behind "Hektor." He saw a vague shadow, a smiling and leisurely shadow, holding a finger to its lips, motioning him to be silent.
The Shadow Champion did not speak. He looked at the illusory shadow.
He understood.
Following the impulse, Ezio knelt on one knee in the dirt, his head bowed, only his hands raised high, palms upward.
In his palms, lay his black blades, which he never allowed outsiders to touch.
——————
"Hektor" walked up to the only surviving Randan Custodian Guard, the one who had almost killed him.
At first, before Morgana had fully adapted to the body, ["Hektor"]'s power wasn't great enough to kill this pathetic fellow with one blow.
But now, he grabbed its dying throat, holding it with one hand and its weapon with the other, slowly walking to the giant engine.
"Hektor" lifted the Xenos with one hand, a whisper almost a private murmur, flowing from his throat.
[Poor little thing.]
The Randan Custodian Guard gasped, coughing up large mouthfuls of blood and fragments of organs. As the grip on its throat tightened, it could only desperately spit out the curse in a twisted struggle.
"Monster..."
"You... humans..."
"Monsters in the galaxy..."
"Hektor" laughed. He slowly uttered a familiar phrase.
[In the past, people always told me such things, you Randan whelp.]
[Where do you think they are now?]
[In hell, in death, wailing in countless failures and distortions, burning out in endless flames and conflagrations.]
He leaned close to the Xenos, articulating each word.
[Inside my stomach.]
[Your race, your Emperor, everything you cherish, will be the same.]
[Only monsters can win everything, you pathetic Xenos, and your utterly useless race.]
[Your only value, the only contribution and future brought by all your sacrifices and sweat, is to be devoured by me.]
[To be used by me.]
[To be consumed by me.]
"...Devil..."
It gnashed its teeth, but only received a scornful laugh in return.
"Hektor" laughed, throwing the mangled Xenos towards the engine. He swung the Xenos' blade, piercing both the broken flesh and the scalding machinery. As the Randan Custodian Guard was scalded to death by the violent backfire, it heard the final words.
[Devil?]
[No, no, no.]
[This isn't a devil.]
[Perhaps you might think so.]
[But I call it...]
[Compassionate Heart.]
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