What the hell kind of schemer was this?!
If the scorching air hadn't been blasting against his helmet and if his blood hadn't been boiling nonstop, Bruce would have thought he was hallucinating. This had to be one of Tzeentch's filthy tricks.
Only now did Bruce understand what Magnus had meant when she warned him.
The Bloodthirster had been a trap.
Defeating it had not been the end of things. It had been the beginning.
He understood the logic well enough, but the problem was this: why in the world would Khorne go this far? This was so absurdly out of character it hurt.
"Heh…" Bruce suppressed his anger, lifted his head, and stared straight at the crimson giant before him. "A domain? At most, this is just a projection."
For one brief instant, Bruce had thought it was all over. But once he calmed down, he immediately realized something important:
This was still the 30K era.
If this were the 40K era, that would be another story entirely. But right now, the laws of the material universe still held the upper hand. Even if Khorne had his worshipers sacrifice an entire planet, that still wouldn't be enough to drag this place fully into the Warp.
So this could only be a projection.
If this had truly been Khorne's domain in the depths of the Warp, Bruce would have gone mad the moment he entered it, reduced to nothing more than a war machine that lived for slaughter—hardly any better than Angron.
"And so what if it is?" Khorne looked down at Bruce and said, "You should consider it an honor. To receive my audience, and to be granted the chance to become one of my warriors, to revel in slaughter within this arena."
"Even if I had to slaughter things in this rotten place, I'd be doing it for the Emperor. You? The one who dragged me in here with a trick? You think you're worthy?" Bruce sneered.
"…" Khorne fell silent after hearing Bruce's mockery.
Then magma began to well up from the ground. The stench of blood and sulfur in the air grew more nauseating by the second. Beyond the arena, the sounds of clashing metal, bestial roars, and dying screams echoed without end. The entire land, along with the heaps of skulls piled into monumental mounds, began to tremble continuously.
"If your words are meant to wound me, then clearly, Bruce… you have succeeded." Khorne's voice carried real irritation now.
"I'm honored," Bruce replied, trying to steady himself against the pure urge for battle that saturated the place.
His reason was being worn away every second. A voice kept whispering at him, telling him to submit to Khorne, to stay here, to fight forever in endless slaughter.
Yet resisting the will of a god was easier said than done. No matter how many times Bruce chanted Long live the Emperor in his head, the muttering that threatened to corrupt him never left.
"Bruce, become my warrior."
Khorne extended the invitation. "I will grant you strength and courage beyond measure. Offer me blood and souls, and you shall become the warrior I favor most. You are… unusual."
Among all mortals, Bruce felt different to him. He had an unyielding soul and a sharp mind. A warrior like that fit Khorne's tastes perfectly.
More importantly, he was hard bone.
Even as only a projected domain, Khorne's divine presence was not something an ordinary being could endure. Yet Bruce had not only withstood it—he was still trying to resist.
Ah. Wonderful.
That was exactly the kind of creature Khorne liked. Only by breaking him completely, forcing him to submit and beg for Khorne's blessing, could such a warrior truly be called magnificent.
As for the fools who crawled over seeking power for its own sake? Kick them to death. Worthless opportunists.
"I refuse." Bruce forced himself upright against the pressure that was already beginning to tear his body apart.
He tried to take a step forward toward Khorne. His voice trembled from the strain of every muscle in his body locking tight.
"I will not submit. I will never serve any Chaos God."
"Even if it kills me."
"!!!" Seeing the faint psychic glow begin to gather around Bruce, Khorne first felt delight, then disgust.
Tch. Damn you.
Such a good sapling, and it had ended up in his hands.
In that case…
A crisp snap of fingers rang out through the domain.
Blood mist surged upward. Then howls began to fill the crimson sky. Eight towers of brass thundered with deafening cheers.
An uncountable tide of Khorne's daemons poured forth, their eyes fixed on Bruce, rubbing their weapons together in anticipation. They longed to fight him—to drag him into a ceaseless slaughter with no concept of time or law.
"Bruce, this is the reward I grant you." With a casual wave of his hand, Khorne laughed in savage delight.
Battle. Endless battle.
That was the proper reward for a warrior.
"Heh… are you sure your rewards aren't just the same thing as punishment?" Bruce stared at the sea of daemons before him—there had to be at least ten digits' worth of them—and laughed in disbelief.
Other people killed a Bloodthirster and at least got promoted to company captain or something. Him? He got dragged into Khorne's domain projection and shoved right back into another eight-cornered death cage. And Khorne called this a reward?
"In my realm, battle is reward," Khorne answered.
Every Bloodthirster Khorne released into reality was effectively a ticket. Whoever killed it earned entrance into the domain. If they were killed by it, that simply meant they had not qualified.
So reward and punishment were, in truth, the same thing:
Fight under Khorne's gaze until death.
The only difference was this: if you died within the domain, your soul would be taken by Khorne himself. If you died to the Bloodthirster outside it, then your soul merely became its spoils.
And if, somehow, you managed to carve your way out of the domain?
Even better.
Then Khorne himself would fight you.
Who in the entire galaxy could claim to have earned the reward of dueling Khorne?
"Ah, for God's sake, you really leave me no choice." Feeling along the psychic resonance until he caught that thread of familiar power, Bruce seized it and released it.
Without any formal instruction, he grasped the essence of psychic power. A faint golden radiance flickered to life, briefly driving back the pressure pressing down on him.
For the moment, he could move free of the domain's suppression.
"Hahahaha! You want to fight? Are you sure?!" Khorne laughed, watching Bruce settle into a combat stance.
And yet, beneath that laughter, there was envy.
Why—why did the Dark King get to have a warrior like this?
Even knowing he could never win, the boy still chose to fight to the end.
"Fight? The hell are you talking about? I'm here to kill you!" Bruce roared and charged headlong into the daemon horde.
You blew up my fighter, damn it. That score still hadn't been settled.
"Then slaughter it shall be!" Khorne blessed every daemon present. "And when you die, your soul will be mine!"
To Khorne, there was no losing this exchange. If Bruce won, Khorne could personally descend and have a glorious, exhilarating duel with him. If Bruce lost, then Khorne would claim his soul.
Even if it took tens of thousands of years—or even hundreds of thousands—Khorne would eventually corrupt Bruce and turn him into the daemon he loved most.
"For the Emperor!!!"
The moment Bruce plunged into the daemon ranks, his twin claws tore through several Bloodletters at once, and then he drove straight toward Khorne himself.
If he was going to die no matter what, then fine—Bruce was going to scratch him at least once. Even if he died, he'd make sure his blood splashed across Khorne's face.
As for what happened to his soul afterward?
Bruce trusted that the Emperor would intervene.
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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