Chapter 196: Black Crusade, Orks, and Cadia
The Black Crusade's ships slipped silently through the void, like shadows, avoiding the constantly expanding Ork green tide ahead.
Abaddon stood on the foremost vessel, continuously wielding his daemonic sword, his arm moving so fast it was a blur. He did all of this to evade the approaching Ork army skillfully.
"Here they come again!" Abaddon's eyes widened, and he fiercely swung his daemonic sword again, creating a rift. All the ships followed closely behind, diving in.
"Waaaaaaaagh!" the Orks roared.
"Hmm? Where'z they go?" The Ork Boyz stood on their ships, scratching their heads, looking at the scene that had just unfolded with confusion.
"Noz mind! We still need to find Waaaaaagh! Charge!" one shouted.
With that, they continued to fly deeper into the Warp.
Soon, a rift opened behind the Orks' original position, and Abaddon and his fleet emerged again. He looked back at the waves of green, a smirk on his face.
"Hmph! This is the Black Legion's victory!" Although he was not at all afraid to engage these Orks, he preferred, at this moment, to approach his target, the Eye of Terror ...quietly.
The fleet pressed forward through the void. As the fleet delved deeper into the void, Lorgar's expression grew calmer. The fleet successfully bypassed the numerous obstacles of the greenskins, silently entering the outer reaches of the Eye of Terror.
Lorgar, Lucius, and Khârn all stared. "???"
"What is going on?" Lorgar was utterly bewildered. It was like stepping out of his front door only to find a mountain of trash piled up.
A massive Ork Fortress suddenly appeared before them, standing like the skull of a giant beast at the exit of the Eye of Terror. Its exterior was covered in a mixture of biological and mechanical accretions, heavily fortified with defensive shields, and it was continuously producing ships that flew towards the Eye of Terror.
One of the Ork Warbosses, wearing a straw hat, raised his massive mechanical arm and roared, "The Grand Line, here I come! Waaaaaaagh!"
Lorgar fell silent. "..."
"These scoundrels dare to block our way here. Annihilate them!" Lorgar's voice, laced with icy fury, quickly echoed throughout the fleet.
Instantly, countless rounds of gunfire rained down. The Mekboyz, who were still screwing bolts onto the Fortress, immediately had their eyes light up and roared.
"Boss was right! This rotten place really does fight every day!" one exclaimed.
"Ya-hoo! Waaaaaagh!" they bellowed.
Clang!
Hordes of Ork Boyz, clad in tattered heavy mechs, gripped massive iron hammers and tools, and unhesitatingly pounded the Fortress's surface. Countless massive turrets rose from the Fortress's surface, oddly shaped and covered with the unique symbols and totems of the greenskins.
The Mekboyz quickly completed their final preparations, pulling the activation levers without hesitation, powering up all the turrets.
In an instant, the turrets on the Ork Fortress began a fierce counterattack. Countless energy projectiles, heavy explosive shells, and chaotic flames spewed forth from the Fortress, tearing through the void to meet the fire of Lorgar's fleet directly.
"Full firepower! Waaaaaaaagh!" The White Ork Warlord's command was relayed to every Ork warrior, and the metal turrets instantly emitted dazzling light. Countless particle beams, lasers, flames, and shockwaves, like daemons emerging from hell, surged towards Lorgar's fleet in an overwhelming torrent.
Clang—!
Explosive shells and laser cannons directly struck the shields of Lorgar's fleet, causing the entire hull to tremble. Waves of shockwaves penetrated the void, impacting every inch of the hull like sonic booms.
In this rapidly changing battlefield, Lorgar's fleet and the Ork Fortress engaged in a furious exchange of fire. Lorgar's fleet possessed powerful, precise firepower: the Black Legion's cannons, like daemons' curses, struck the vulnerable areas of the Ork Fortress.
Countless Ork Boyz were blasted into space, but in a puff of smoke, they flew back. They continuously collected broken debris, and with a series of clanging and banging, they repaired it again.
On Lorgar's side, even as he wielded his staff, constantly unleashing psychic shields, if a ship was broken, it was broken.
For a time, they could not escape. From the Battle Moon behind the Fortress, Ork Boyz were constantly teleported in.
Lorgar. "..."
"How about we charge through first? Finding Fulgrim is more important, isn't it?" Abaddon exercised his wisdom. In his opinion, how many greenskins they killed was not important. Completing the Chaos Gods' mission was the top priority.
Lucius nodded in agreement, but it seemed someone was missing.
Then they heard Khârn's roar.
"Blood for the Blood God! Skulls for the Skull Throne!" Khârn, leading the World Eaters warriors, suddenly leaped from the ships and entered the Ork Fortress. Every World Eaters warrior was clad in heavy armor, wielding massive axe blades and maces.
"Blood calls to us! My great blade is thirsty for battle!" Khârn roared. "KILL!"
With his roar, his warriors lunged at the Ork defenses like rabid wolves. In an instant, they engaged the Ork Boyz in a frenzied melee.
An Ork Boy tried to launch a missile from a nearby trench, but Khârn merely sneered, swinging his massive axe. The axe, like thunder, struck the missile and destroyed it mid-air.
"For Chaos, blood is glory!" Khârn roared, his voice like a call from hell, shaking the hearts of every warrior.
The World Eaters warriors charged fanatically at the Ork Boyz, blades clashing on the battlefield, the deafening sounds of impact ceaseless. Khârn swung his great axe, splitting an Ork Boy's shield with one blow, the axe blade deeply embedding itself in the opponent's chest. Blood gushed out like a fountain, staining everything around.
Khârn disdainfully pulled out his axe and roared with exhilaration. "Hoo! So satisfying! Hahaha!"
But the Ork Boyz were no cowards. They roared, "Fight Huzzahh Waaaaaagh!"
They wielded a massive chain-axe and, amid a buzzing of electricity, charged at Khârn. A tall Ork Boy was exceptionally skilled, his movements as swift as lightning. The chainsaw's gears emitted a sharp whine, tearing a gash in Khârn's armor.
On the flagship bridge...
Lorgar, Abaddon, and Lucius all stared at the battle here.
The berserk World Eaters once again ceaselessly directed their fan-like movements, and it was precisely because of Khârn's departure that Erebus slowly approached.
"I think we should go find Lord Fulgrim first!" Erebus suggested. "Leave this place to the World Eaters and the daemons!"
Daemons? They were somewhat puzzled. Only Lorgar knew what the other party had done.
Just as Khârn was happily collecting skulls, the incantation for summoning daemons appeared on their loot bags, and the Word Bearers in the shadows chanted these spells.
"In the name of Blood God, I summon you, messenger of the Blood God, Ka'Bandha!" they intoned.
Suddenly, the skulls began to spin violently, the red glow growing more dazzling. As the Word Bearers shouted the last incantation, the entire pile of skulls was swallowed by a dark vortex, followed by a deafening roar from within the vortex.
Then a scorching current of air emanated from the center of the vortex, as if a massive abyss was tearing open, and the power of fear and destruction within it surged from the depths of hell.
"Ka'Bandha, descend!" The Word Bearers' voice was high-pitched and impassioned, carrying a near-mad fanaticism.
A shattered energy shockwave rapidly spread, followed by a tremendous force emerging from the vortex. As the black energy flowed, the Bloodthirster Ka'Bandha suddenly appeared from the vortex, massive in limbs, covered in gray scales, his body permeated with the aura of Chaos.
Ka'Bandha stood on the Fortress, his eyes gleaming with red light, sharp tentacles curling through the air, his giant, freely swinging claws tearing through it.
Behind him, countless Bloodletters descended, each a terrifying creature covered in scales and with distorted faces. They unleashed deafening roars, their limbs thick, their sharp claws like knives, each strike capable of easily tearing through anything.
Upon seeing this scene, Khârn's eyes instantly cracked, and he roared madly.
"Damn it! Word Bearers thieves! I'll kill you all! Erebus! You just wait! Damn it!" Khârn's voice filled with anger and endless pain. He felt an unprecedented humiliation and indignatio, those trophies that were once the pride of his troops were now being used to summon daemons, as if the souls of his warriors were being trampled and defiled.
With Khârn's roar, the World Eaters warriors also roared like mad beasts, pouncing on the newly descended Bloodletters.
Orks, World Eaters, and Bloodletters completely plunged into a chaotic battle.
Abaddon and Lucius. "..."
The remaining fleet engines ignited. The others broke through the outer perimeter of the Ork Fortress and headed towards their target.
Beyond the Fortress perimeter...
The ships' propulsion engines erupted in dazzling blue flames, their deep resonance like that of fierce beasts preparing to shatter the void, cutting through the silence of the universe.
In this deep void, a novel sight gradually appeared ahead, massive agricultural planets floating in space, like life gems bestowed by nature, radiating a warm glow. The surfaces of these planets were covered with a layer of green vegetation, vast stretches of farmland extending endlessly, and rivers winding through them.
"Haha! No wonder they were stopped! It's all resources! Take it all!" Abaddon became incredibly excited. "These resources will be enough for us for a long time, and we can even exchange them for other items! Charge! Plunder them!"
This was too good, he was worrying about food and Drinks, and now someone was eagerly delivering it.
"All ships, prepare!" A bridge commander quickly gave the order, and with a deafening mechanical roar, the ships' power systems began to activate violently. The hulls rapidly advanced, heading directly for that agricultural star system.
This time, they did not strike directly. To recover more resources, they took landing craft, and drop pods plunged straight down. These were all their treasures.
However, as they continuously descended, the agricultural planets before them seemed different from what they had seen before...
[End of Chapter]