Bruce's tactics and judgment had been flawless.
Even the hardest part, the actual execution, had been handled well. Not only had he completely pulled the Bloodthirster's aggro, he had also lured it into a dense forest packed with obstacles.
This place was rarely visited by humans. Even the native beasts that lived here were abnormally savage. Boars three or four meters tall were everywhere.
There were even some special giant beasts corrupted by the Warp and devoted to Khorne, each one powerful enough to tear a fully armed Astartes apart.
Anyone who entered their territory and got marked would be attacked without hesitation, the beasts pressing the assault until the intruder was dead.
In other words, Bruce had perfectly accomplished his tactical objective of drawing the enemy into a natural death trap.
And sure enough, those savage beasts did exactly what he had expected, launching themselves at the Bloodthirster that had so brazenly invaded their domain.
And then…
There was no "then."
Bruce had just perched himself on a tree branch, breathing hard and getting ready to enjoy the show, when he saw something horrifying.
The whole damn forest was on fire.
Worse, those beasts that had attacked the Bloodthirster all became nourishment for it.
One swing of the axe, one giant boar dead.
If Bruce had been the one facing one of those monsters, it would have taken him a good bit of effort to kill even a single one. Yet this Bloodthirster simply erased them all without reason or difficulty.
"Bruce… get the hell… out here!"
The Bloodthirster searched for him by instinct, trying to lock onto his position. Unfortunately for it, Bruce had suddenly vanished as if he had never existed.
"…"
Bruce stayed absolutely still, shivering and not daring to make a sound.
He had hidden himself thoroughly with the Invisibility Cloak and even sprayed himself with a miraculous scent-erasing mist, but the Bloodthirster clearly had no intention of playing fair.
Without relying on smell or presence at all, it was using nothing but its craving for battle and the blessing of the Blood God to narrow down Bruce's location.
Then came destruction.
Pure destruction.
It vented its battle-lust with wild abandon.
Any tree that blocked its sightline or got in its way was chopped down.
At the same time, the fire spreading through the woods grew fiercer and fiercer. Though the life force and souls of these plants were meager, they still strengthened the Bloodthirster.
Did it really have to go this far?
Bruce crouched on his branch, trembling as he watched the daemon. It could chop down the tree under him at any second. But if he moved, he would expose himself, and once that happened, escape would become much harder.
So, in the end…
There really was nothing good about fighting Chaos daemons.
They were a bunch of unreasonable thugs. Their actions defied prediction, and their bizarre abilities made everything a headache.
Should he just fight it head-on, then? Here? In his current weakened condition?
Reason told Bruce that was unrealistic.
Unless he had full supplies and was in perfect condition, maybe, maybe, he would have had a chance to kill this beast.
Right now?
His odds were maybe twenty percent.
No, wait, that would mean the Bloodthirster had an eighty percent chance to win, and eight was Khorne's sacred number. That was unacceptable.
Then let's say forty percent instead.
Give the Bloodthirster a sixty percent chance and use Slaanesh's sacred number to disgust it.
Crack.
At last, the giant tree under Bruce was cut down by one sweep of the Bloodthirster's axe.
The trunk was so massive it would have taken three adults to encircle it, yet the Bloodthirster hacked through it in one strike.
It really was an excellent lumberjack.
Too bad this wasn't some survival game. Otherwise Bruce would have kept it around and made it work for free.
"Found you!"
Feeling the vibration transmitted through its axes, the Bloodthirster identified Bruce's position and immediately leapt, slashing toward him.
Bruce ripped off the Invisibility Cloak and, in response to the oncoming Bloodthirster, pulled out a monstrously thick, black cannon barrel.
"!!!"
The Bloodthirster stared at that absurdly oversized Air Cannon and actually felt a flicker of fear.
That bore size did not look harmless in the least. If it got hit by that, it might very well get sent straight back to the Warp to spend eighty-eight days respawning.
Should it dodge?
That thought flashed through its mind.
But then an icy sensation prickled at its back, and it immediately abandoned the idea.
Yes, dodging might let it live.
But when it returned to the Warp, Khorne would absolutely punish it.
No, it could not disappoint the Blood God.
Boom!
Bruce fired the Air Cannon.
A violent surge of compressed air blasted from the muzzle. Though the Bloodthirster had already prepared itself to be torn apart, the sheer force of the impact still sent it flying backward uncontrollably.
It wasn't even a firearm?
What kind of weapon was this?!
Because the Bloodthirster had resistance to ranged attacks, the damage itself was not what hurt the most. The control effect, however, was utterly maddening, especially since it had been airborne when it was hit.
"Found you? So what?!"
Bruce immediately threw away the Air Cannon and lunged after it.
The Bloodthirster was still weightless, still helplessly flying back. Bruce stomped on it in midair, then drove one lightning claw toward its throat and the other toward its chest.
Even though he was already running out of strength, he could still force out a short burst of maximum output.
Unfortunately, Bloodthirsters were even harder to kill than Bruce had imagined.
Even with his speed pushed to the limit, even with his armor's feedback system overloaded and his muscles straining to the point of injury, the result was not enough.
He ripped open its belly. He shredded its heart.
And still there was no sign it was about to be banished.
"RAAAAGH—!"
Wounded heavily, the Bloodthirster roared in agony and ecstasy.
Just as it was about to crash on its back, it swung a blood-red axe into Bruce.
Bang!
Bruce, completely unprepared and not even attempting to defend, was sent flying, then smashed into a tree. The trunk that absorbed the impact collapsed instantly.
The Bloodthirster's axe came down again, hacking at Bruce's neck.
At the critical moment, the Barrier Ball stopped one fatal strike. Bruce seized the chance to draw his energy pistol with one hand and fire blindly.
The plasma bolt struck the Bloodthirster in the head.
But just as it punched halfway in, some unknown force interfered. The energy twisted—and dissipated.
"HAHAHAHA—!"
With most of its skull blasted away, the Bloodthirster still laughed grotesquely.
"Little rat, our game… is over!"
It swung again, aiming for Bruce's neck, intending to end this tiresome chase once and for all.
[Signal received. Emergency protocol activated. Injecting solution.]
The moment Bruce's heartbeat crossed a critical threshold, the program hidden inside his armor detected it.
A concealed transformation drink was instantly injected into his body.
As for where it was injected, in order to be faster than drinking it…
Don't ask.
If it was a hidden trump card, then naturally it had to be both well concealed and capable of activating only at the most desperate moment.
When your life is on the line, who cares about the details?
"!!!"
The Bloodthirster stared in alarm as Bruce suddenly underwent a massive transformation.
Before it could react, the transformed Bruce caught the axe in both hands and executed a brutal shoulder throw, smashing the daemon into the ground hard enough to crater it.
"Little bastard, our game is only just beginning!"
Now transformed into Curze, Bruce snarled back, slamming his lightning claws down.
In an instant, the Bloodthirster's wings were torn apart.
Then one arm.
Then the torso, which was still trying to heal.
And finally—
Bruce drove a lightning claw straight through the daemon's skull.
The talons split the bronze-like cranium open, punched through the eye socket, and burst out the back of its head.
Its brain was reduced to slurry.
Its heart became something like a smashed watermelon, molten blood spraying everywhere like lava.
Even after destroying both brain and heart, Bruce did not relax.
He shoved a melta bomb into the daemon's chest and hurled it away with all his strength.
A few seconds later, a brilliant fireball and a mushroom cloud blossomed in the sky.
The melta charge was so powerful that it erased every tree within several kilometers.
Even Bruce himself was blown away by the shockwave and hit the ground so hard that he could no longer get back up.
"Damn it… finally killed the thing."
Bruce clutched the bleeding wound at his side, grimacing as he tried to rise, but he simply had no strength left.
He had won by abusing tricks and timing, yes, but he still felt the matter was not over.
His instincts told him there had to be more trouble ahead.
"Bruce! Where are you?!"
Magnus's anxious voice came through the comms, broken by static and the sound of weapons clashing and psychic power detonating.
It sounded like her fight with Lorgar was still ongoing.
"I just killed the Bloodthirster. I'm fine for now. Going to regroup with Angron."
"Bad! That daemon was a trap! Run!"
"Huh?"
Bruce instantly jolted upright and forced himself to stand.
But the moment he turned, an invisible domain had already enveloped him completely.
A pair of crimson eyes lit up in the burning sky.
Then a giant seated upon a throne of skulls and bronze slowly came into being.
In the span of a single breath, Bruce went from trying to run to being forced onto one knee.
The invisible pressure pinned him down so thoroughly that even lifting his head became impossible.
"Welcome to my domain."
"What an interesting little creature."
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 165)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter220)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter125)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter250)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 220
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 185
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass Volume2/20
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 248
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 230
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 154
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player Volume4/40
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 125
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67
Uma Musume: From Beginner 145
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85
Uma Musume: I Want All 120
I Can Copy Unique Skills 115
Summoning an Evil God, but the 75
Supernatural Multiverse 110
My Harem Is Indescribable 100
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 105
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 67
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 105
Still playing traditional Honk 80
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 85
What Should I Do After Switchi - Volume2/3
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 78
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 55
Transmigrated as Sukuna 80
Checking In in Demon Slayer 85
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 100
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 85
My Best Friend Into a Slime? 80
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel 90
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 75
Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 80
Why did they assign me to Uma 75
MYGO Beauties 70
DanMachi: Emiya the Giant Hero 70
The Gacha Merchant Who Started 80
Honkai's Otherworld? Wait—Who Are You People?! 80
Emiya Shirou, Determined to Slay Every Curse and Evil Spirit 57
The Uma Musume Who Became 55
I'm Definitely Not the King of 60
After Maxing Out Every Class 45
Naruto: I'm Konoha's Local Men 35
Honkai: World Modulation Mode 34
I, the Elden Sword Saint 27
Dio Brando Is Challenging FGO 24
No One Knows Pokémon Better 18
I, Sakazuki, Won't Go Down Tha 20
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