Warhammer: Saving Humanity Begins with the Resurrection of Horus

Page 53

Asford, whose full name is Corleone Asford, is an Astartes who joined the Star Claws ten years ago after undergoing modification surgery. Judging from the time he joined the Chapter, he is now just a member who has recently shed his recruit status and can be considered a true Chapter warrior.

But this same person single-handedly defeated another squad composed entirely of veterans from various companies, even after the rest of his team had been eliminated.

Such combat power, yet in the past, the opponent had kept a low profile, behaving exactly like an ordinary Astartes.

Is it because of psychic powers?

Bell took the data panel from Eric and began adjusting it, quickly finding the video history of Asford single-handedly taking down an entire squad.

In the video, Asford swiftly moves through the entire squad, while his opponents calmly counterattack. However, each attack is dodged as if by divine intervention, and Asford even defeats them one by one with a bomb gun and a combat knife.

After the video finished playing, a look of understanding immediately appeared on Bell's face. Then he looked at Eric and sighed helplessly.

"You didn't use psionic energy?"

"...I didn't notice."

"It's a prophecy. This child has a strong talent for prophecy. His talent allows him to avoid dangerous attacks in advance. It's normal that you didn't see it. After all, predicting such things is common in battle."

Bell shifted his gaze back to the arena projected onto the screen, then glanced at Lynch, who was engrossed in watching the game, completely oblivious to anything amiss.

"Don't tell Lord Lynch about this yet. After the competition, go find Asford. His psionic talent is probably much stronger than we thought. I need to investigate him thoroughly to confirm it."

"And now? His talent is helping him, but this is also the use of psionic energy, which not only violates the holy scriptures, but is also..."

"Don't worry, there won't be any problems."

Bell's words were filled with a certainty that puzzled Eric, who wondered what the source of his certainty was.

"As I said, he cares a lot about a certain existence, so he will stop at nothing to achieve it."

Bell's gaze swept over Lynch, and then a strange light flickered deep in the depths of his eyes.

"So in order to protect a certain entity, he will not allow himself to be in any trouble... In fact, such a firm will has already given him the basic qualifications needed to become a think tank, and he is even much stronger than many long-established think tanks."

Chapter 71 The Grand Military Competition (Final)

Three hours passed quickly.

The stars set behind the desert, and the sky's original azure blue was completely replaced by pitch black. The desert temperature underwent a dramatic reversal in a short time, rapidly dropping from a scorching forty degrees Celsius to near zero.

At this temperature, steel would become incredibly cold. Ordinary civilian armies, without proper cold-weather gear, would see their combat effectiveness reduced by more than half, making them easy targets for their enemies.

But at this very moment, the people fighting in this desert battlefield are not ordinary people.

They are Astartes.

Draconis clearly saw a dazzling red "meteor" appear from the ground in the distance and fly into the air at an extremely fast speed.

Not only him, but all two hundred-plus soldiers still on the field at that moment had seen it. Some of them started running towards the "meteor," while others exchanged glances with their teammates and then took out their signal pistols.

The same red meteors shot into the sky, and not just one; as time passed, a total of fourteen "meteors" appeared in just three minutes.

This basically means that most of the teams still in the competition have been convinced by Asford and are willing to go with him on a crazy... or rather, inexplicably reasonable plan.

"Draconis, what do we do next? Should we lie in ambush here? If we conduct sniping operations, even if the enemy sends a full squad, we're not without a chance of winning."

"Do not."

Draconis responded by throwing down his sniper rifle and grabbing a dagger in one hand and a longsword he had seized from his opponent in the other.

"We will fight head-on."

－－－－－－－－

So that's what you were thinking?

Looking at the dozen or so signal flares that appeared in the desert, and the various squads that were constantly moving toward the location of the signal flares, Lin Qi immediately understood what Asford's purpose was in wandering among the various squads earlier.

"Bell, didn't you bring him into the think tank?"

Bell and Eric exchanged a glance, and after a few seconds of silence, Bell finally spoke up to explain the reason to Lynch.

"The spirit of the Asford brothers does not support him becoming a think tank, sir. His will is flawed, not in the sense of disloyalty, but in another kind of flaw."

When the chief think tank of Star Claw spoke, his aged face did not show much expression, but a faint glimmer in the depths of his deep eyes still revealed the "other flaw" he mentioned. It was definitely not the lack of resistance to the seduction of the warp that Lin Qi had initially thought.

Horus observed this and roughly understood why the chief think tank hadn't chosen to train someone with psychic talent like Asford as a think tank member—it was a wise decision, or rather, even Horus himself wouldn't have chosen to make Asford a think tank member.

He could continue following Lynch as before, as one of their attendants. Or he could emerge victorious in this competition, becoming the Warband Champion, the true spearhead of the Warband.

However, he cannot become a think tank, because that would mean that if certain problems arise, he would inevitably seek help from entities that he should not have access to.

Horus knew this clearly because he had seen it ten thousand years ago, and he constantly saw the shadows of his descendants from ten thousand years ago in Asford.

He couldn't let something like this happen again. Putting aside the terrible consequences, just considering his life, his life now wasn't just his own, but his and Lin Qi's together.

"It's a bit of a pity, Horus. He has the talent for psionic energy but can't use it. Tsk tsk tsk, what a pity."

"It's alright. Look at him, isn't he very strong in terms of combat power? If he can maintain this momentum, he should be the champion of the battle group in the end."

Lynch refocused his attention on the competition field, and what he saw shocked him. While he was thinking and chatting with Horus, Asford had successfully broken through the encirclement of two teams and even eliminated the captain of one of them.

Clad in silver power armor, he moved through the desert like a phantom, each move seemingly divinely aided. Whether it was explosives or slashes, everything was anticipated, and he used his movement and weapons to dodge and parry each attack.

The number of people recorded on the data board also began to drop rapidly. The original three hundred or so people had fallen below two hundred and fifty in just a few minutes. Lin Qi overturned his previous prediction. He originally thought that the final result would be to calculate the points to determine the winner, but now it seemed that it would be to see which ninety people could stand until the end.

and........

Does this mean the individual matches are over? After all, the players on the field now are the most elite veterans from each company, and the results of their melee can basically reflect the group with the highest combat skills among them.

Let's keep watching, and...

Seeing that Asford had chosen not to continue running away, but instead turned around to continue fighting the two squads behind him, Lynch's face showed interest.

He was very curious whether this Astartes, with whom he had a connection, could successfully complete this one-on-one battle.

－－－－－－－

Asford felt his strength waning.

Behind him, a team of twenty people was chasing him—probably because he had successfully eliminated the captain of one team and several members of another team, the two teams had reached a rare consensus to eliminate him, the one who had attracted them here, before fighting each other.

The bomb sliced ​​through the air and flew past him. Asford reached the top of a sand dune, then his body suddenly plunged downwards, carrying him rapidly down the dune.

The yellow sand scraped against his power armor, and Asford seized the opportunity to briefly disappear from the enemy's sight. With his free hand, he quickly drew his explosive pistol from his waist, and relying on a few images flashing through his mind, aimed at a spot that was currently deserted.

But at that moment, a murmur began to ring in his ears.

It was a muffled murmur, and Asford couldn't make out its exact meaning. But having undergone Eric's psionic training, he knew what it meant, and he knew what would happen if he chose to listen attentively.

So he made the simplest and wisest choice—to ignore it.

Asford ignored the murmurs in his ear and pulled the trigger the instant a dark figure appeared. The deafening roar of the explosive pistol silenced the murmurs and sent a figure lurching backward before tumbling down the hillside.

Although the special ammunition cannot penetrate power armor, it still has impact force when it hits the body. And this effect is amplified several times over when the person hit is standing on soft yellow sand.

Undeterred by the initial hit, Asford continued his barrage of fire, suppressing his enemies to the point where they couldn't even raise their heads. Then, seizing an opportunity, he fired his final three shots at the ground. As the explosive shells were fired, they landed in the yellow sand, stirring up countless grains of dust that formed a mist that obscured his body.

He then threw away the explosive pistol in his hand and instead drew the dagger hanging from his waist.

patience.

Asford took a deep breath, regulated his breathing, and immediately moved to a new position. Then, a continuous burst of gunfire rang out, tearing apart the fog created by the sand and revealing an empty expanse of sand.

The group of twenty people moved forward cautiously, with the leader holding a shield as tall as himself in one hand and a battle axe in the other.

It was clear that these people were extremely nervous, but they all maintained their composure thanks to their strong mental fortitude. Asford took a deep breath, knowing that if he continued to rush forward, the only outcome would be elimination.

However, in a sense, I no longer need to face these guys.

Several images flashed through his mind again, causing Asford to drop the dagger in his hand. Then, he stood up, raised his hands, and slowly walked out from behind the sand dune where he was hiding.

The two squads searching for him almost instantly raised their guns, pointing the dark barrels at his torso. However, seeing his condition, they did not fire. Instead, the man wielding the battle axe spoke first, asking questions.

"Asford...did you cause this situation?"

Asford didn't speak, but instead nodded as if to ask the question.

The warrior gripping the battle axe fell silent. He turned his gaze around, feeling the distant sounds of intense gunfire and battle carried by the wind. He immediately understood why Asford had chosen to appear before them at this moment.

"Then we should thank you? Thank you for creating a battlefield with the lowest intensity for us?"

The soldier removed his helmet, revealing long, black hair that cascaded down to a face with a golden nail on his forehead and a cross-shaped scar on his cheek.

"No need to thank me, Ainarion, you're just lucky."

"Ha! Lucky me."

Talos Ainarion, a sergeant in the Starclaws Second Company, bared his teeth and gave a strange smile to a junior member of the Sixth Company who was most recently known in the Chapter.

"I'm tempted to shoot you in the head."

"You wouldn't do that."

"Why not? You really make me angry, Asford. You should know that many people in the chapter are dissatisfied with you. In the upcoming arena matches, everyone wants to have a good spar with you."

“I know, Ainarion, but I’m sorry, you really can’t shoot me in the head.”

Asford removed his helmet, then held out a hand and pointed to the servo skull that was slowly descending.

"Since the game is over, welcome to my future teammates."

The shrill ringing of the bell signaled the end of everything.

Aenaryn's smile grew even wider, and then, witnessed by his teammates, he suddenly moved, charging towards Asford like a war chariot.

Asford was caught off guard because he hadn't seen the scene just now.

Aenaryn knocked him over, and seeing his comrade lying in the sand in a sorry state, the warrior let out a low laugh, then reached out a hand and helped him up.

"A bit clever, but not exactly breaking the rules. Welcome to work with me, my brother. However, you still have a few more matches to fight."

Chapter 72 Remarks on the launch

And so, fresh and clean, it was put on the shelves.

In the blink of an eye, this book has been in writing for over a month, and now that it's ready to go on sale, CC is honestly quite excited. (After all, it's really awesome to be able to earn your own money as a freshman.)

First of all, I want to thank the readers who have made it this far. This book has encountered many problems along the way. CC is also a newcomer, and there are many areas where I am still unfamiliar with the process. I am truly grateful that everyone has been willing to support me until now.

Secondly, I want to thank my reader, 114lao, who gave me a lot of inspiration. He even helped me improve CC's outline and found a lot of information for me. Without him, CC would probably have lost a lot of hair just from the information on GW.

Then, I would like to thank my two mentors who guided me in writing this article: one is Yu-chan, the author of Doraemon, and the other is Mr. Nadaohua Wallpaper, the author of Midnight Blade.