Datch watched as the monster lunged but didn't pull the trigger right away. He wanted to see how much power the Poke Ball had to restrain the creature.
At his side, Skarbrand roared—the pain from before resurfacing—urging him to act quickly before Datch was hurt. Unable to endure torture, Skarbrand let out a furious roar, swung his battle axe, and smashed the attacking monster.
It was humiliating that such a mighty daemon had been reduced to a thug for a mere human! Once, Skarbrand would have never imagined such a fate—he would have only known endless rage. But everything had changed; the personality and spirit Khorne had destroyed were slowly returning.
"Pretty competent," Datch rated Skarbrand a 60 out of 100—he knew how to protect his master, finally earning a passing score.
Datch imagined the scene: throwing this red-skinned giant onto the battlefield, followed by the double-headed eagle flag of the Imperium—that would be a sight to see! Skarbrand, long exiled from the Blood God's realm, had always fought in Khorne's name and could summon armies that worshipped the Blood God. In this sense, he was a standard Khorne daemon. Now, he'd been seized by a human, ordered to fight for the Corpse-Emperor—if the Blood God knew, he'd be furious.
"Are you an Astartes?"
A hoarse voice came from the darkness. Datch followed the sound and, with the help of a dim emergency light, found a thin woman with a green exclamation mark over her head. Her dirty clothes hung loosely on her frail body, her hair a mess, her face marked by prolonged hunger. She couldn't even stand, crawling on all fours, looking extremely cautious.
She carefully emerged from the darkness towards Datch. Though it wasn't cold, she still shivered.
"An actual living, friendly NPC?"
Datch noted that the woman had no visible weapons, but his scan revealed she had various illnesses and poorly maintained prosthetics that barely worked. He approached and clicked the info bar above her head.
[Escort Saisa Niesen, Chamber of the Astronomican Court, 4th Floor. Starvation state, mild contamination, prosthetic limb damage, unable to walk properly.]
"Saisa Niesen, is there anything I can help you with?"
Datch called her name easily, intending to pick up a side mission. Saisa's eyes widened in shock, then wariness—it was strange for a stranger to know her name. She even wondered if she was hallucinating from hunger.
"Lord Astartes, what's the situation outside?"
Saisa wanted to know about the surface. Since the Days of Blindness disaster, the psykers she served lost control and killed many colleagues. Saisa survived only because she had to deliver information to the archives. Since then, she'd been trapped here, living like a rat with other survivors. She didn't want to risk seeking help outside, but their situation was dire. People ignorant of the truth might laugh at them for lacking the courage to leave, but if you knew their lives, you'd understand. Most servants' work and activity range were set at birth. They worked, rested, prayed to the Emperor, and ignored everything else, generation after generation. Saisa had never left the Chamber of the Astronomican Court, learning about the outside only from Imperial news and rumors. When she was young, she'd tried to explore forbidden places, but that ended with punishment under the Watcher's Branch. As she aged, she no longer took risks and chose instead to follow her ancestors' way of life.
Before the disaster, she had raised seven children, teaching them as her parents did. Tragically, after the disaster, the psykers she served killed all her people and children. When she rushed back, only shattered corpses remained.
"The Primarch has returned. Everything go back to the way it was. Can I help in any way?" Datch asked again.
"The Primarch? The mythical Emperor and his sons? Have they returned?" Saisa asked, stunned.
"Stop with the riddles. Is there anything I can help you with?" Datch didn't want to waste time on this side quest, so he didn't answer her questions.
Saisa sensed Datch's impatience and dared not ask further, bringing up another topic instead.
"The energy core's been seized by a group of fanatical renegades, and the priests can't fix it. Without power, the elevators and gates don't work, not even the starch synthesizer. Can you help solve this?"
A task interface appeared:
[Mission: Help Saisa Niesen defeat the enemies occupying the Energy Core Pile, assist in repairs, activate the starch synthesizer, and solve the food shortage. The survivors of the Chamber of the Astronomican Court suffer in darkness, with no food or prosthetics to trade. Help them reclaim the energy core. Reward: 1000 XP, 1000 points, +100 reputation.]
"I'll help."
Datch accepted, and the minimap automatically updated the mission objectives and planned the optimal route. He set off, heavy footsteps echoing in the horror-filled corridors.
Along the way, he saw more survivors—all thin and frightened, fleeing to darker corners at his approach. After a few minutes, Datch burst into a corridor with a massive reactor. Here, even the bound sun had gone out.
A group of corrupted monsters had gathered here. Their skin was pale, eyes black, bodies covered in Chaos sigils and mutations. Loyalists who refused to join them were chained from the high ceiling, their wounded bodies twisted in stench, eyes gouged out, bare flesh flayed.
When Datch and Skarbrand appeared, the cultists' faces lit up in fanatical excitement. They sensed the power of the gods in Skarbrand's body.
"The gods have sent us a messenger!" the cultists chanted, kneeling before Datch and Skarbrand.
Datch watched this scene and ordered Skarbrand:
"Go—kill these fools in the Emperor's name."
Skarbrand roared with rage, unleashing his enslaved fury on the cultists. Swinging his tomahawk, he charged heavily, each blow powerful and heavy, easily tearing through the cultists' bodies.
The cultists' excitement quickly turned to terror.
"Damn! The gods and the corpse-emperor are on the same side!"
Most cultists fled in terror, others tried to resist, but a Khorne daemon was not something they could handle. In just a few breaths, the unlucky cultists were torn apart. Skarbrand gathered their severed heads and offered them to the Blood God.
Datch, meanwhile, swapped out for the golden hammer and smashed the deactivated energy facility.
….
Bonus chapter at 300 PS