Chapter 167 Ending and Death

Torture, pain, inability to die.

It seems that every living being will have such dark imaginations the first second they gain wisdom and consciousness: they can't help but imagine, fear, and speculate on the most horrific torture they can imagine, and in In some darker corner, they are secretly looking forward to it, looking forward to it landing on the heads of other creatures, causing mourning and wailing.

That's what they do in the dead of night, when anger and malice dance.

But even the most terrifying and darkest delusions in the heart of every life can never imagine how painful true eternity will be.

Just walking into the [Engine of Destiny] is the most torturous challenge that can exist in the mortal world: even the God of the Furnace himself, who built this eternal prison, probably doesn’t know how many cruel people are imprisoned here. Brutal killing, violent souls who died in endless resentment and anger.

In order to create an unprecedented weapon for decisive battle, the entire Northern Galaxy was wiped out by Ran Dan's butcher knife. Dozens and hundreds of star sectors were transformed from prosperous hive worlds into complete scorched earth of death. Even the human empire started this war. The total number of sacrifices made since the Great Crusade is still small compared to the huge number of souls imprisoned in the [Engine of Destiny].

And now, Ran Dan's emperor stands in this eternal cage: now, this is his cage.

The sea of ​​resentful spirits that was enough to drown everything completely tore its skin and flesh to pieces the first moment it walked in. Countless demons and monsters rushed to pounce on its flesh and blood with shrill howls of revenge. Every inch of the soul is eaten away bit by bit, and every strand of soul is torn apart bit by bit, as if tens of millions of flesh-eating insects are devouring a living life bit by bit. , let pain and struggle become the only memories and senses before death.

Revenge, malice, curses, or downright madness.

Countless souls were driven by such emotions and inflicted unimaginable atrocities on the alien emperor: they penetrated into its eyelids and corners of lips, biting the fragile nerves behind its eyeballs and teeth wantonly; Its flesh and blood let the invisible cold wind turn into a bone-scraping steel knife, scraping the bones and tendons over and over again; in the heart, in the brain, in every fingertip and every inch of skin, and even in its soul. In every piece of pure land, vicious souls are everywhere like overwhelming swarms of locusts.

And this kind of torture was just what happened in the first moment. Compared with the madness that followed, it was simply too easy.

They tried to eat it alive and tried to keep it alive, but they collapsed under the endless resentment and torture.

Any life, whether it is an ordinary human, the powerful Astartes, the arrogant Randan overlord, the bellicose Skinner, or the oldest and most vicious Comorran dignitaries, they will not be able to stand up to this scene. makes no difference: the spirit of such people is completely shattered with the first breath, what they see is enough to kill them, they don't even feel the pain, because after they are completely Before the ground is torn apart, their spirits have already died: for any ordinary life, this is the place of death.

However, for the alien emperor, this place is eternity.

It is in the most terrifying torture machine in the entire galaxy. This machine is so huge and crazy that even those deep gazes in the deepest subspace can't help but move their attention here briefly, witnessing it. How to operate and distribute your most cool and beautiful art.

Ran Dan's emperor died. The first second it entered here, its mortal body was already dead. Its skin and flesh were forcibly detached from its bones and torn apart by the violent hurricane. The bones, internal organs and nerves were eaten away in the next moment, and before it felt more pain, it was already a dead person.

But in the next moment, but before its heart started to beat for the second time, it came to life again in the center of the pain.

Strong vitality and a stronger will support its body, and its skin, flesh and bones grow tenaciously: and then are blown away by more and more souls with the icy cold wind.

Grow, scrape, grow, scrape…

Every second is the most painful torture between life and death.

Every second, this torture may be repeated countless times.

But this physical torture and pain is far less than one ten thousandth compared to the mental one.

Souls, vicious souls, all souls, they poured into the sea of ​​souls of Emperor Randan, eager to destroy it, but this was the last country where the alien emperor could never abandon even an inch of land.

Its mental vision must be maintained, its reason and thinking must exist, its soul must live, even if it is just like the most miserable skeleton, it must remain alive: not for itself, but for the sake of this powerful and The power of disorder will not fall on its people indiscriminately.

So, it struggled and resisted.

it wailed.

No one can hear its most painful and sad howl, because it does not echo in the real universe at all, but constantly stirs up layer after layer of never-ending bloody storms in the sea of ​​souls.

The soul is furious, and those wills that are already crazy because they have been deprived of life are becoming more and more twisted, torturing every inch of its nerves and will, loudly ordering it to surrender and fall, and fight with them. There is no rest for a moment, and the torture with them will never subside.

It pierces the heart and corrodes the bones, everywhere, the rage of anger and revenge turns into the most greedy and gluttonous evil beast. As long as it escapes even a little bit from the most terrible torture in the world, everything it cherishes will fall apart in an instant.

It even heard laughter, and in addition to countless roars and curses, it heard the same endless laughter: they came from the king of the real universe, from the eternal kingdom of chaos and desire, from those who are the most The blasphemous will and their loyal servants: they dress up, they prepare, and they cheer with enthusiasm for this rare performance.

Applause, sarcasm, whispers and never-ending promises are mixed with pain, attacking its spirit and will, forcing it to reach them with all its strength and resist these most wonderful contracts in the galaxy: every one of them These are what it longs for most: future, beauty, hope...

and relief.

But, it can't.

It cannot do this.

It raised its head and howled.

It could only wail.

It wailed, ordering itself to resist all erosion, ordering its body to persist in futile resurrection and existence amidst the endless erosion of life and death.

Until it can survive it all.

Until it can resist it all.

Until it can accept them, can accept these wild souls, can let them all attach to its body, greedily devour and replace its flesh and blood, and use its will and reason as wonderful food.

Until it has strength, enough strength and wildness, to maintain all this.

to sustain the hopes of its race.

It must do this, it must step into and become the engine of destiny, holding the final destiny of its own race tightly in its own hands.

It has time to do this, because in the engine of destiny, the flow of time is so slow and stagnant, perhaps the most inconspicuous moment in the outside world is the ten thousand years here.

Thousands of years.

Thousands of years.

Another ten thousand years.

——————

It doesn't care.

——————

The empire is in retreat.

Randan is moving forward.

Victory is revealed.

But Skanderbeg didn't care.

The number two figure in the entire Ran Dan Empire stood loyally on the side of the [Engine of Destiny], like the most ordinary humble servant, waiting for the return of his master.

It didn't know how long it had to wait, it just let time pass by, let the pace of war, and let everything end.

After an unknown number of the cruelest confrontations, the human fleet finally slowly began to evacuate. This was an absolutely helpless move: even though Ran Dan's rear fleet had already dispersed many of them under its orders, , but the remaining army is still enough to crush the remaining imperial fleet in numbers.

The defense line was broken through, the fortress was captured, and the key nodes that once shed countless blood and refused to give up an inch of ground are now just abandoned and useless garbage. No one cares about them. The alien fleet once again arrives at Tuckers Five. The orbit of the star once again dropped a huge landing force, and once again caused the flames of war to be ignited in every corner.

This time, they are unstoppable.

The most seriously injured Imperial fleets had disappeared from the battlefield unknowingly, and the well-organized mortal auxiliary troops had also boarded transport ships at some unknown time, and under the cover of the Salamanders, began to made his own retreat.

There may be millions of Imperial warriors stuck to the alien army and abandoned by de facto helplessness, but there are also more warriors and hope who have been preserved and have become the new flesh and blood of the Empire.

But all of this, Skanderbeg didn't care about the victory, honor, gains and losses it represented. It closed its eyes tightly and threw all the war to the marshals and admirals who survived the war, and It just stood there, like a black iron statue without any beauty.

And beside it, behind it and in the distance, and in the darkness and dim light that spread all the way to the horizon, there were figures doing the same actions as it.

They stand, they are silent, they wait for their only master to return, no matter how long they have to wait.

These beings, these warriors, these ruthless killing machines that the soldiers of the empire would call in awe the [Ran Dan Forbidden Army], there are tens of thousands of them, and against the backdrop of their pure black helmets that are neither sad nor happy, they are [Engine of Destiny] The never-ending scarlet light.

They just wait.

I don't know how long I waited.

Until the Emperor returns.

Or the end of all things.

——————

How long has passed?

It doesn't know, it can't know.

Its will, its spirit, every inch of its rationality and noble emotions that it was once proud of, have disappeared, have been completely worn out, and have been tortured and tortured for perhaps countless years. exists again.

No...there's one more thing.

And...and...

It gritted its teeth, biting the teeth that had long since been devoured, imagining its own persistence and pain, and using this as its persistence.

Another point!

It must persist!

Randan!

It comes to mind.

This word has power, the power to get it back on its feet.

Randan!

It looked up and it saw.

It can see everything. In the bone-chilling cold wind that no one can bear, the broken fragments are like broken lenses, piercing into its non-existent eye sockets, bringing its memories and vision. .

It can see.

It could see the starry sky. The light of those stars pierced the thick clouds, just like the tears of the gods pouring on the black beach, transforming into the most wonderful pearls. It saw it, it saw that day, that day. A day that will never be forgotten: it stood under the stars and on the cliff, with the cold light from thousands of miles away wrapping its body and casting its shadow on every leaf in the forest.

starry sky.

At that moment, he thought so.

Then, it knew, it knew everything about itself: mission, persistence, and belief.

Starry sky, beautiful starry sky.

What should belong to Ran Dan is the starry sky.

It should belong to them, to its compatriots and race, as it should be.

At that moment, it knew and it [awakened].

It once had its own name, its own family and its own story, but they were insignificant in front of the starry sky.

That day, under the starry sky, an ordinary life passed away.

An [Emperor] appeared.

The Emperor of Randan.

It witnessed and felt the non-existent tears slowly dripping down from the non-existent eye sockets, causing the countless unborn people in the subspace to laugh arrogantly.

Did it cry? Maybe not.

It was just screaming and wailing.

Seen.

It saw its footsteps and its figure. A thousand years ago, its shadow dragged its armor and robes, setting off its pace, on every inch of the land, on every part of Randan's home planet. On an inch of wilderness, without stopping at all, it began its work.

It gained some companions.

It gained some credibility.

It gained some troops.

It gained a bit of a following.

It had some wins.

It has lost some dear friends.

It loses some of the camaraderie.

It gets a few titles.

It lost some of its smile.

…

Destiny is like a flood, just in the blink of an eye, year after year.

It saw its own high spirits, it saw its own smugness, it saw countless statues and temples standing together with bursts of cheers, it saw the first battleship belonging to the race that penetrated the distance between time and space. , sent back his message.

It saw, saw the death of an empire, and a galaxy in chaos.

That's opportunity, that's danger, that's their time.

it thought.

So, it pulled out its sword and pointed at the starry sky above its head, and the war began to burn.

it's time.

Let the starry sky become theirs.

it thought.

——————

then.

It wakes up.

——————

It is more dazzling and terrifying than a thousand bright stars, and it is more absurd and depressing than ten thousand dead worlds.

When it stepped out, its broken mind was thinking like this.

It walked out. I don’t know how long it took, but it walked out of the [Engine of Destiny].

No, I should say.

It became, [Engine of Destiny].

——————

It saw its companion, its last companion, it saw faithful Skanderbeg, Randan's hero, its left hand and right hand.

The number two figure in the Ran Dan Empire looked up. It saw its master, its true appearance, and what kind of existence it was at this moment.

With just one glance, endless madness and disorder attacked its brain, and the will accumulated over a thousand years of conquest and struggle was almost wiped out in front of this [existence].

It lowered its head, and in an instant, countless beads of sweat appeared on its forehead, more than what had appeared in the past thousand years combined.

No, hang on.

Skanderbeg said to himself.

That is [Ran Dan], the emperor of the Ran Dan Empire, its lord, and its only master.

It gritted its teeth and raised its head again. It witnessed everything in front of it and used its tenacity to resist all the madness.

It will follow it, no matter what happens, no matter what it becomes.

Then it heard cheers.

Countless cheers came from Ran Dan's forbidden army, from countless Ran Dan's legions and fleets, from every Ran Dan overlord and warrior, and from every Ran Dan soldier.

They cheered for their master, even though they couldn't see his appearance at all: the scarlet light of the Endless City has now completely enveloped the alien emperor. No one can see its true situation, but just looking at it alone is better than the human empire. The most powerful Titans are still taller and more powerful. No one will doubt that their Emperor has become stronger, just like every miracle that has happened before, just like all the stories they have heard since childhood. Same.

The Emperor is still alive.

It will work wonders.

It will bring victory and the future.

The cheers are erupting and continuing, rising spontaneously in the chest of every Ran Dan soldier. No words or encouragement are needed at all. When the light like a god appears on every Ran Dan ship through the naked eye and countless projectors. When we were on the battleship, all the depression and discouragement disappeared, and endless courage and divine will once again occupied everyone's hearts.

Ran Dan launched the attack again.

A winning offense.

This time.

They won.

——————

Won.

No more decorative words are needed, just the simplest: win.

The alien warships wrapped in black flails mercilessly crushed the last star forts and defense arrays loyal to the Human Empire, and on the desolate surface of Tuckers 5, one void shield after another appeared. Falling under the wave of second offensive, countless impregnable fortresses were exposed to the fire of alien warships and could not even withstand the first attack.

The defense line was broken, the world fell, and all the pride and persistence turned into a real failure in an instant, emerging in the hearts of every imperial warrior: but this did not make them fall into madness and anger. Most of the surviving human battleships They had already retreated in an orderly manner to the jump points reserved in advance. The Mortal Auxiliary Army and the Space Wolves were the first to evacuate: because of their position in the war, the descendants of Leman Russ paid a difficult price. Imagine the casualties and costs. When the Wolf King reviews his troops again, he will have to promote at least eight new Wolf Lords at once.

After that, there is the fleet of the most powerful and flexible Dark Angels, as well as the Salamander Legion who voluntarily stayed behind to break up the rear: the Lord of the Fire Dragon and his descendants, inspired by the spirit of every comrade who once fought here, They deeply know that every resistance and sacrifice they make can allow more mortal warriors to retreat safely to the safe rear.

The most powerful [Unyielding Truth] and [Firecast] have become the final and most absolute core, and around them are more flexible battleships, and outside of these high-speed battleships, Countless warships had long been destroyed and ganged up on, and countless alien warriors swarmed on them, cheering for their hard-won victory.

This is the last scene of the Battle of Tuckers, the last moment of countless confrontations between humans and Ran Dan.

Blood and tears are flowing, the bitterness of failure and the long smile of victory are constantly echoing under the same sky. The world is collapsing, stars are dying, and the subspace attracted by countless impacts and collisions seems to have become the only one. The winner, in endless laughter, devours the world wantonly.

Until that scarlet light, the almost invincible Ran Dan Emperor randomly dispatched a small force of his own, and after Ran Dan's army retreated, it tore the entire Tuckers 5 planet into pieces. Let the cracking whirlpool and magma swallow up everything that was once there.

This war has come to an end.

Ran Dan, won its victory.

——————

But is this really the case?

On the broken battleship, in the burning fortress, Ran Dan's flag flew high and unbridled, but it could never cover up the red light caused by the light gun firing.

On every human battleship that is torn apart and captured by aliens; on every fortress that is dying and trampled by iron cavalry, and even on the fragments of the broken world, there are countless fires, countless gunshots, and countless war cries. : Even though no one cares about them, they still exist.

The war is over.

The aliens were victorious.

But resistance is far from over.

Aliens are still falling, blood is still flowing, and indomitable war cries are still echoing in every battleship and fortress that has long been unable to evacuate.

There will always be those who persist in resisting.

There will always be those who despise death.

There will always be people, even if the world is shattering and burning before their eyes, even if the will of end and death is making waves in their hearts, they will hold on to their steel guns and face this universe that has never been kind, and the world that has never been kind.

Let out his own roar.

——————

The end, and death.

And roaring

roar.

It heard the roar.

How familiar.

Pain invaded its mind and twisted and gnawed at its body, but it could still hear.

can see.

Can feel it.

It walks, no longer needing any battleships or vehicles. It is wrapped in pure pain and torture, and cannot get even the most basic rest for a moment. It hides in the most dazzling light, like a moment. Unscrupulous stars travel through the void.

It can hear, can hear those arrogant laughter, they are looking at it, luring it with the most playful attitude, waiting for its death and humiliation, bringing a moment of happiness to their boring eternal life. enjoy.

...just let them be.

It thinks, moves forward, and fights.

Fighting, it can’t even be called a real fight. It has long forgotten many things. The moment it came out of the [Engine of Destiny], it forgot a lot. It abandoned a lot of things, a lot of wisdom and wisdom. Pride, to save the most important ones.

But it still knows how to fight, even though it just casually tilts the countless souls wrapped under its body.

It triumphed, it shattered the impenetrable world, it beat back those who tried to resist it: they stood before Mandeville Point, eager to create a miracle of their own: it knew them, it Know that they are the Primarchs of humanity.

What a powerful and beautiful creature.

Maybe it should build some, it should have built some a long time ago. Maybe that way, its possibility of victory would be greater.

No... it won't do that. It won't arrogantly steal those false flames like that human being: that's drinking poison to quench thirst. He can't always control them. He will eventually cause fire and burn himself.

It thought so, and even thought of another person it remembered, another Primarch, that cold-blooded monster whose name it had forgotten: even the craziest and most ruthless Randan warrior was more like that monster. He was a living being. He was so cruel and ruthless that it was deeply remembered.

It still remembers their deal: even though there was no conversation between them, even though they were inseparable on the battlefield called the Galaxy for several years, they still reached a deal, a tacit understanding that brought about trade.

It remembered: how that cold-blooded man swaggered with everything he needed and his puppets to the deepest stars in the northern part of the galaxy.

That's its price, it guarantees him unhindered access, and what it gets in return is...

That legion, that ignorant legion of the Astartes, that legion abandoned by their father, they became bargaining chips in ignorance, became abandoned, and were labeled as "incompetent", They were wantonly ravaged and massacred by its legions, and finally turned into a bloody mist, dissipating into the world they once swore to defend to the death.

It remembered this scene, and when it remembered it, it was facing some insignificant resistance.

The resistance came from the Primarchs and the babies who traveled with them, babies that made it jealous.

They stayed on a battleship filled with explosives, eager to stop its pace and will: it had to admit that they could indeed have this confidence.

That [Soul Drinker], that terrifying existence mentioned in fearful words by its people, how exquisite her power is. Even though she is so weak, she actually causes trouble to it and provokes it. It struggled to control everything until it used an unavoidable attack to briefly make her withdraw from this disparate battle.

That blond warrior, he commanded those bloodless and tearless war machines, delaying their pace. It could even hear his every word and order clearly: even though it was wailing endlessly, it could already distinguish, What an outstanding military master he was. The wisdom contained in every instruction he gave was a height that even his most outstanding subjects could not touch.

And that pure black evil dragon, that monster with scarlet eyes, when his giant hammer hit its long-non-existent leg, it even felt a trace of falseness. Painful, he is the God of War, he is invincible, he can easily tear apart any of his subjects without any suspense.

It thought of Skanderbeg, but then it denied it: Skanderbeg was far inferior to them, not even a bit.

Not to mention, its other people.

…

…

...Is this a human being?

Is it its opponent?

Is it its race, the enemy of its dreams?

Is it what it once desired and truly planned? How to defeat human beings?

The one who was once glorious, who once rose, who once dominated the world, who allowed his will and greed to plunder the entire galaxy, and who allowed countless aliens and civilizations to spin up and down along with their joys, anger, sorrows and joys...human beings?

Although it has been an enemy for so long, it is only at this moment that it really begins to lament this issue.

It was silent, it wailed, and he felt a kind of desperate silence taking root in its heart. In the blink of an eye, it had become a towering giant tree. The roots of this tree were wrapped with countless pains, and they were deeply rooted in it. Penetrated into its soul, even the never-ending torture from the [Engine of Destiny] cannot compare to one ten thousandth of this pain.

Human beings...

It attacks, it roars, and it rampages between these most powerful Primarchs like a terrifying dragon whose mind has been distorted by madness.

It beats them.

no doubt.

no doubt……

It stood, it destroyed those ruthless war machines, and it watched the being called the Soul Drinker struggle back to the battlefield, grabbing its two companions who were lying on the ground and dying, and then in her A dagger emerged from his palm.

Her face was ferocious, the purest anger.

She slit her throat, leaving a small scar, and let a drop of blood flow from her white neck: with this insignificant drop of blood, her whole person seemed to dim in an instant.

It did not stop its attack.

Before the deadly attack arrived, the drop of blood began to burn and roar.

A hurricane, a hurricane that was enough to disrupt its offensive, appeared in front of it. When it furiously smashed the hurricane into pieces, there was nothing in front of it.

Primarchs, machines, the last fleets and humans, have disappeared without a trace.

It was silent, standing there without any movement, allowing itself to struggle in endless pain.

——————

keep going.

In a daze, Skanderbeg seemed to hear this command: it was broken, it was twisted, it was sung by countless hoarse throats in endless curses.

And this order was carried out.

——————

The end, and death.

And... humans.

Before it cheered its victorious people to the next galaxy, it struggled to think about the meaning of these words in its remaining sanity.

It thought of its race, its beloved Ran Dan, and every Ran Dan soldier it had squandered at will.

It thought of them, of their rise and glory, of how they gnawed at the remains of humanity, and completed their rise in this great galaxy at a speed that even it could not have expected.

Then comes ambition, expansion, and war.

It's destruction.

It's destruction from the galaxy.

The dead empire once again began its roar, reorganizing its legions, regaining its territory, and crushing all opponents under absolute power.

It once thought that it was only one step away from its dream. It once thought that the only thing it needed to worry about was the terrifying existence in the subspace, until the overlord it thought was dead stood up again and walked in front of its race. .

They want their lives.

There is nothing left but destruction.

So, the war broke out.

Then, they lost.

There is no suspense, we lose.

Finally, the last territory of the Tuckers galaxy has been completely swallowed up by the increasingly unscrupulous subspace. Storms and whirlpools have occupied it, forcing Ran Dan's fleet to abandon this boiling hot land.

In endless pain, the alien emperor took one last look at the battlefield where it had sacrificed everything.

It was victorious, defeating three legions of men: but it knew that like these legions there were sixteen more of men.

They also have stronger power, more fleets, and even more terrifying ambitions and confidence to persist in the war.

It just threw everything it had into fighting back a human hand: not even a full-strength hand.

It closed its eyes.

Let yourself drown in pain.

Compared to sober reality, the pain made it feel more liberating.

——————

until.

It felt something.

Light.

That is, light.

It opened its eyes and felt the light, the cold light.

He was waiting for it, at their next destination, the next galaxy, that unknown place without even a name, the most inconspicuous corner of the galaxy.

It's a great way to end a story, isn't it?

It thought, it watched, and it allowed its own fleet, its own people, and its own strength to slowly rush there, toward the cold sun, those golden and ruthless legions.

They are waiting for it.

They are preparing everything.

They are preparing for the end.

It seems that as long as it defeats them, it can gain everything for itself.

When its brain is filled with this ridiculous idea, when it sees the cold sun and the metal dragon surrounding the sun, it will think so.

It can be felt.

——————

The end, and death.

It thought of it all again.

Then, in the endless pain, in the never-ending torture, in the most distant and twisted, the ecstasy of the gods.

The alien emperor smiled.