"(?_?)"
Sanguinius: "What's with that expression? Don't look at me with those weird eyes (??ω??｀)."
Valerius felt a chill run down his spine from Sanguinius's gaze. He couldn't understand why this fellow was staring at him with the eyes of someone looking at an idiot.
Although Valerius hadn't grasped his meaning yet, Sanguinius felt his attitude was already quite clear.
Tch, old man, can't you read the room?
Suppressing the urge to give the old man in front of him a few good lumps on the head, Sanguinius gritted his teeth and squeezed out a few words, "Old man, did you bring all your gear?"
Although somewhat surprised by the question, Valerius patted his bulging satchel. Inside, engraved with holy symbols, were the tools he used to combat the daemons of the warp.
Seeing that the old man still didn't understand, Sanguinius gestured at his own body. The old man had his equipment, but he was currently unarmed.
Surely you didn't expect him to go toe-to-toe with those cultists with his bare fists? Although he could beat heretics to death with his fists, why use fists when you have a sword?
Since Sanguinius's actions were exceptionally clear, the old man figured that if he still couldn't understand, he might as well throw away his rosette and retire.
"Then you should head back first. I'll have the Arbites find you in a bit. Hopefully, you'll be ready to enter the underhive by then."
Heh, just you wait, old man. If you don't end up with a few extra bumps on your head after this is over, then my name isn't Sanguinius -_-#.
Watching the old man Valerius saunter towards the elevator leading from the mid-hive to the underhive under his gaze, he had no choice but to quickly head towards his small tavern.
In fact, he didn't need to retrieve many things. The most important was undoubtedly the Sword of Hope. As a relic that could make the Ecclesiarch bishop's tears flow from the corners of his mouth, this longsword had an extraordinary effect against heretics and those things that were neither god nor ghost.
Each swing would be accompanied by surging flames. The fiercely burning fire could dispel all warp energies. He had already lost count of how many heretics' heads he had severed with this sword.
His tavern wasn't far from here, at most a few steps away. After unlocking the door and entering the wine-scented establishment alone, Sanguinius directly retrieved a box from a hidden compartment in the floor beneath the counter.
Inside were a set of Inquisition protective force fields he usually wore on operations and the relic known as the Sword of Hope.
With his current physical prowess, dealing with those heretics was no different from crushing an ant. But having said that, those heretics couldn't possibly be as harmless as ants.
They had weapons in their hands, albeit things cobbled together from scrap metal, but they could definitely inflict harm on the human body.
He certainly didn't want to run into heretics' gunfire while exploring the labyrinthine underhive.
"Kopman, stop sleeping on the sofa. I need you to watch the shop."
With everything prepared, Sanguinius approached the bartender who was snoring soundly on the sofa. He had initially thought of giving this fellow, a veteran from the Savlar Chem-Dogs, a flick on the forehead, but as he got closer, Kopman, who had been sleeping, suddenly sat up.
Although his face still bore a sleepy look, his tensed body had already begun to exude a dangerous aura.
"I told you not to scare me like that! If one shout doesn't wake me up, shout a few more times! Sneaking up on someone while they're sleeping like that is really startling! (;≥皿≤)"
"Do you think everyone is like you, a grizzled veteran of the Savlar Chem-Dogs? Always thinking someone's going to shank you? -_-#"
Sanguinius casually took a bottle of Amasec from the Lorin Goldfields from a nearby liquor cabinet. This stuff was a precious gift from the Ecclesiarchy. At least on Valentino, just one bottle of this fine Lorin Goldfields brew was enough for a three-person mid-hive family to live comfortably for a year.
And now, such a precious bottle of liquor was casually tossed to the fellow sleeping on the sofa.
"I have to go down to the underhive with old man Valerius. The tavern will be temporarily closed during this time. You watch over it for me."
"What? Another heretic uprising in the underhive? Or have the gang wars gotten too serious?"
Kopman looked at Sanguinius in surprise, then used the corkscrew nearby to directly remove the cork from the Amasec in his hand, casually taking a wine glass and pouring the crimson liquid into it.
"Nothing major, at least not yet."
Oh ho, that statement has many implications.
Kopman's hand, which was pouring liquor into the glass, paused slightly. Then, his eyes, filled with doubt, looked at his boss beside him, who looked no different from a demigod.
As an ultimate veteran from the Savlar Chem-Dogs, he almost immediately understood the meaning behind his boss's words.
"Are you saying that in a while, some very troublesome things will come to Valentino? (｡ò ∀ ó｡)?"
"Cough, I didn't say that (????)."
Can't you look at me properly when I'm talking?
Stop lying through your teeth!
If your eyes weren't looking elsewhere, I might still believe you a little, but the way you look now really makes it hard to trust you!
"Boss, do we have any tickets to other planets? T_T?"
"Nope (?_?)."
After tremblingly placing the Amasec bottle back on the table, he solemnly asked Sanguinius this question, only to receive an answer that felt like being kicked into the icy lake of Fenris.
One had to know that his boss was a ruthless individual who wouldn't even blink while cutting down eight mortal Champions of Khorne. Whatever could make even him feel troubled must be terrifying beyond imagination.
Was it the kind of thing that would send you straight to the Golden Throne just by looking at you?
No way! I haven't even gotten married in this life! I haven't proposed to that Inquisitor lady yet! My life can't end on Valentino! π_π!
Watching his bartender on the verge of breaking down, Sanguinius suddenly regretted rescuing this fellow from the hands of those eight mortal Champions of Khorne.
"Look at you. You think Kapolis would marry you in that state? Even if Valerius agreed, I wouldn't."
"Why, boss?"
"Because if someone in your current condition can get with Kapolis, then I can directly go to Terra and marry a high-ranking Inquisitor of the Inquisition."
While Valerius's Arbites hadn't arrived yet, he might as well rest for a bit longer.
After sitting down on the chair opposite Kopman, Sanguinius took out a new glass and poured himself a glass of Amasec as well.
Compared to the ridiculously expensive Quaddis wine, he had a larger stock of this Amasec in his tavern.
"I'm saying, you really like Kapolis that much? -_-||?"
"Of course, boss, you know I like redheads (^з^)."
Picking up the wine glass and taking a light sip of the moderately tart Amasec, Sanguinius recalled the scene of Kapolis and Kopman's first meeting. The two of them meeting was a complete accident.
Back then, a heretic uprising had trapped Kapolis in the underhive. It was Kopman who used the underground tunnel traversal skills he had learned from the Savlar Chem-Dogs to rescue Kapolis. Although he didn't know exactly what happened between the two of them in the underground tunnels, the only inside information he knew was that old man Valerius had wanted to personally stab him afterwards.
Anyone could guess that his bartender had done something unspeakable with old man Valerius's student. Normally, it would have been considered lenient if Valerius hadn't come at Kopman with a bolter for a glorious one-on-one duel.
Of course, this didn't exclude the possibility that Kopman's rescue of Kapolis had earned him some points.
Knock knock…
The tavern's oak door was gently knocked upon. Through the window near his seat, he and Kopman could see a squad of Arbites from the Adeptus Arbites standing outside the tavern.
"Boss, the expressions on their faces look a little off, like they just crawled out of a pile of corpses."
Kopman, with his keen eyes, noticed something amiss with this squad of Arbites. Normally, these Arbites, who were known for shooting first and asking questions later, wouldn't show such near-mental breakdown expressions.
For them to be reduced to this state, something truly planet-destroying must have appeared in the underhive.
"Boss, seriously, you must be careful down there this time. If you need me, I can go down with you at any time. When it comes to combat skills in the underhive and the pipe regions, no one is more proficient than a Savlar Chem-Dog."
Sanguinius curled the corner of his lips, then gently patted his bartender's shoulder. It seemed that Kopman still cared about him quite a bit.
"Just one more question, boss, are there really no tickets to other planets? T_T?"
"Give me back my感动! (ノ=Д=)ノ┻━┻!"
Anger rose from his heart, and evil grew in his guts. With a slight increase in the force of his hand, Kopman's "self-repentance" instantly flowed from the corner of his eyes.
"Ol… Boss, wait a minute, I was just kidding!"
"Enough nonsense, repent properly!"
"Wai… wait a moment!"
Kopman's eyes widened, but it was too late.
Thump!
Sanguinius's fist, which had already reduced its force, solidly struck Kopman's head. The latter fell down in response, once again entering a sweet dreamland.
"If I don't knock you out, you'll definitely follow me into the underhive. Although I know you want to help me, I really can't let you go this time."
"If you go down, Kapolis might have to use two tickets alone. If that happens, old man Valerius and Kapolis won't forgive me. So you should just sleep soundly here. Kapolis will come to take care of you in a while."
After finishing his glass of Amasec in one gulp, Sanguinius covered Kopman with a blanket and casually lit a sleep-inducing incense in the tavern before leaving.
Some things are better faced by fewer people.
Pushing open the door, Sanguinius saw the Arbites waiting outside.
Tiredness, disbelief, fear, and even a look of having escaped death flashed across the faces of these Arbites like slides.
"Is the situation in the underhive that severe?"
"Sir, the situation in the underhive is far beyond your imagination. We are almost losing control. Those individuals are frantically assaulting the elevator shafts between the mid-hive and the underhive. If we didn't have some heavy weapons, they would probably have already reached the mid-hive."
The leader of the Adeptus Arbites squad was an Interrogator named Andrea, a well-known enforcer on the planet Valentino, hailed as Valerius's right hand.
But at this moment, this Interrogator's face was covered in wounds, and shrapnel had even left a long gash on his forehead.
"Explain in detail. I need to know the current situation in the underhive as much as possible."
"The heretics have completed their sacrifice. A batch of warp daemons has already poured out of the rift, and so far, we haven't been able to capture the heretical bishop leading these cultists."
"What about the Planetary Defense Force? Judging from the current situation, they should be intervening in defense matters."
During the brief conversation with Andrea after entering the elevator leading to the underhive, Sanguinius learned that old man Valerius had entered the underhive area ahead of him, rather than entering with him.
The heretics' sacrificial ritual had summoned warp daemons, but to ensure the stability of Valentino's mid-hive and upper hive, the governor had suppressed this news and contained the area of control within the underhive.
Although the Adeptus Arbites and the soldiers of the Planetary Defense Force had done their best, the heretics' offensive was still gradually spreading towards the mid-hive elevator shafts.
"Half of the Planetary Defense Force has already entered the underhive to defend, but the nobles of the upper hive still chose to keep the other half guarding their manors. Although they assured Lord Valerius before he entered the underhive that they would mobilize that half of the Planetary Defense Force, we haven't received any reinforcements even now."
As the sound of mechanical collision echoed, the elevator shaft officially reached the underhive. The moment the mechanical doors opened, a stench mixed with the smell of blood rushed in.
This pungent odor almost made Sanguinius vomit on the spot. He had also entered the underhive to clear out heretics before, but this time the smell was far too unbearable.
The Sword of Hope at his waist was faintly glowing, indicating that the warp energy in the underhive had reached an unacceptable level of concentration.
Pathogens floated in the air. Besides wails and blood, there was also a stench and disease spreading throughout the underhive.
Unsurprisingly, there should be three factions currently fighting each other in the underhive.
"Why has it developed to this point? It's only been a little over a month since I last entered the underhive, and wasn't Valerius just down here recently?"
"We don't know, sir. These heretics are like they suddenly received supplies. They not only used a large amount of food and water to win over a group of scavengers in the underhive, but they also possess a considerable amount of armaments and heavy weapons."
Alright, if you tell me now that those vermin in the upper hive didn't interfere in this matter, then I'd rather believe that Slaanesh sodomized the Emperor so hard He couldn't get off the Golden Throne.
"They're attacking again! Everyone prepare!"
In Sanguinius's ears, the sound of gunfire instantly erupted, and several bullets had even struck the metal plating of the elevator beside him.
Time was of the essence. To suppress the heretics' offensive as quickly as possible, he simply drew the Sword of Hope from his waist and then, with a speed of movement that Andrea and the others couldn't even perceive, charged into the ranks of the heretics.
A streak of gold flashed through the frenzied heretics and scavengers. Each flash took the lives of dozens of heretics. No matter how much the heretics tried to react, Sanguinius's movements were far faster than theirs.
The Sword of Hope in his hand continuously swung, and flames spread outwards from him like tidal waves. Under the scorching heat of the fire, the stench and pathogens were completely incinerated, while the heretics were pushed back in disarray under his unreasonable personal strength.
Indeed, some of the heretics possessed heavy weapons, but the set of Inquisition protective force fields he carried with him perfectly ensured his personal safety. The Planetary Defense Force and the Adeptus Arbites behind him were also providing fire support with their weapons.
For these mortals, his arrival was equivalent to adding a force to the battlefield sufficient to directly turn the tide of the battle.
The heretics' offensive hadn't even had time to fully unfold before it was completely shattered by his head-on assault. The routed soldiers retreated into the shadows, while the flames still burning on the ground illuminated the areas shrouded in darkness.
He saw a scene that had never appeared on the planet Valentino before. It was no exaggeration to call it a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. The decapitated bodies were piled up like small hills, their height almost reaching the pipes leading to the mid-hive, and blood was pooling on the ground from every part of these hills.
"Something's not right. The rifts and ravines on the ground were secretly planned. Rather than saying these are traces left by battle, it's more like those heretics are deliberately turning this place into another sacrificial site." Sanguinius instinctively felt that something was wrong here. The symbols on the ground that were about to be completed made his soul tremble. A voice urged him to swing the blade in his hand. Flames spread from the sword's edge, and all the blasphemous symbols were incinerated under the golden flames.
The power of the warp was completely dispelled at this moment, and the plan to turn the ground in front of the elevator shaft into a sacrificial site was completely thwarted.
An angry roar came from the depths of the underhive, simply because Sanguinius's actions had ruined his plan.
"Getting back to the main point, Andrea, have the Ecclesiarchy and the Sisters of Battle sent any personnel?"
"No, sir, the Sisters of Battle have not sent any reinforcements."
Heh, probably not that they haven't sent reinforcements, but that the reinforcements they sent simply can't leave the upper hive.
You can see more advance Chapter in : https://www.patreon.com/c/KPDayDreamer