The lift came to a steady halt.
The scene before him was entirely different.
Gone was the harsh, toxic environment of the Underhive.
In its place was pure, recycled air.
Seth Knight returned to his home.
Before him stood a sprawling, gothic luxury manor.
It featured carved marble pillars and a heavy door trimmed with pure gold.
Even a single breath of the air here reeked of decadent luxury and wealth.
Seth Knight sneered inwardly.
The original owner of this body, a gigolo living off his wife, had certainly carved out a nice life for himself.
Too bad it all belonged to him now.
The memory fragments provided by the Painted Skin Card were extremely sparse.
Seth Knight didn’t know how many traps or hidden sentries were concealed within the villa.
No matter.
If he didn’t know, he wouldn’t waste time worrying about it.
As the front door swung open, two rows of uniformly dressed servants immediately bowed low.
A withered old butler wearing a black tailcoat stepped forward to greet him.
His name was Igor.
Igor took two steps forward, reaching out with both hands to take the heavy metallic cloak from Seth Knight’s shoulders.
The moment they drew close, Igor’s eyelids suddenly twitched.
He knew exactly what kind of man the original Steve was.
A hollowed-out, unsteady coward completely drained by wine and women.
Yet now, the man standing before him was poised like an immovable iron tower.
Striated muscles filled out his military uniform to its limits.
With every breath, his chest rumbled with the low, muffled sound of wind and thunder!
This was not Steve.
A flare of extreme danger flashed in the depths of Igor’s eyes.
He quietly took half a step back.
Turning, he lifted a goblet filled with a dark red liquid from a silver tray held by a nearby maid.
“Young Master, you have worked hard.”
Igor bowed slightly, offering the cup to Seth Knight with both hands.
“As per your usual custom, having just returned from that filthy Underhive, you must drink a cup of ‘Holy Water’ to cleanse your palate.”
The liquid was incredibly viscous.
It bore no aroma of wine, only a scent of rust so thick it was almost physical.
It was a cup of blood-wine laced with a trace of deadly poison.
To prove his loyalty to the Chaos cult, the original Steve had to drink it every time he returned from the outside.
This was also Igor’s test.
Seth Knight lowered his eyes.
The Super Soldier bloodline had given him super-senses, and the moment he caught wind of the scent, his instincts screamed in warning.
His stomach acid churned.
*Trying to poison me?*
Instead, he raised his right arm and swung it in a massive backhand.
*Smack!*
Seth Knight slapped Igor hard across his weathered old face!
The strike carried immense, devastating force.
Igor spun twice in mid-air before slamming heavily onto the floor with a loud crash.
The dark red, foul-smelling blood-wine splashed all over Igor’s clothes.
The maid holding the tray trembled violently in terror.
With a thud, she dropped to her knees, pressing her forehead flat against the carpet.
Sprawled on the floor, Igor spat out two bloody molars.
He did not beg for mercy.
Instead, he slowly pushed himself up from the ground.
This time, he no longer hid his nature.
A wicked aura unique to Warp cultists began to seep from his emaciated frame.
Igor glared at Seth Knight, his voice as cold and venomous as a viper.
“The Young Master refuses even the ‘Patron’s Blessing’?”
“Has the dust of the Underhive eroded your piety? Or perhaps…”
Igor’s voice suddenly spiked, dripping with absolute murderous intent.
“…you aren’t the Young Master at all?!”
The moment the words left his mouth, six burly men dressed in tight black clothing emerged soundlessly.
They completely blocked every exit of the parlor.
Moving in perfect unison, they all reached for their waists and drew heavy, large-caliber bolt pistols!
Six dark, yawning barrels locked onto Seth Knight’s head from various angles.
If Seth Knight made any sudden movement, he would be shredded into ground meat in an instant.
“If you are indeed the Young Master, then tell me: what is the first line of the ‘sacrificial liturgy’ you took to tonight’s banquet?”
Fucking hell.
Seth Knight didn’t know a single word of any damn liturgy.
If he spoke, and got even half a word wrong, those six bolt pistols would fire instantly.
Seth Knight looked at Igor’s smug, self-righteous face and suddenly smiled.
He parted his lips, revealing an incredibly brutal, vicious grin.
“You old dog, are you trying to teach me how to do things?”
Seth Knight suddenly unleashed his power!
Boom!
The terrifying physical might granted by his Super Soldier bloodline erupted without reservation!
His right hand shot out.
Before Igor could even blink, his throat was gripped in a vice.
Seth Knight squeezed Igor’s throat in a death grip, lifting the old man into the air with a single hand!
Igor kicked his legs wildly, his face turning a deep purplish-red.
Then, Seth Knight slammed Igor’s body onto the marble floor of the hall like a tattered sack!
With Igor’s back at the center, the hard marble floor fractured and shattered in all directions!
Igor coughed up a massive mouthful of blood, several of his ribs snapping on impact.
Showing no mercy, Seth Knight raised his combat boot and stomped hard onto Igor’s collapsed chest.
Seth Knight ground his heel down harder.
Igor shrieked like a slaughtered pig.
“A lowly servant like you! An old, useless plate-carrier! How dare you try to test me with your ridiculous rules?! If you want to die, I’ll happily oblige you right now!”
The six guards holding the bolt pistols were horrified.
Their hands trembled.
*Clatter.*
*Clatter.*
One by one, the six bolt pistols slipped from their fingers and fell to the floor.
They were merely mercenaries hired by the butler—hired muscle, essentially—and they didn’t actually dare do anything to Steve, a PDF Major.
What did Khorne worshippers revere?
They didn’t worship schemes or cunning tricks.
They only worshipped supreme violence and savage slaughter!
The sheer, raw power radiating from the man before them, this tyrannical and ruthless aura, was undoubtedly the most authentic blessing of the Blood God!
The original owner, a hollow weakling who relied on his wife to rise, could never have faked this level of primal, crushing pressure!
The only explanation was that the Young Master had encountered a colossal opportunity in the Underhive!
“A miracle…”
“A miracle has descended! This is a supreme miracle!”
“Young Master! You have finally received the high-level flesh-blessing of our Patron! You have finally ascended!”
Igor roared with fanatical devotion, coughing up blood.
Fear and awe.
Like a highly infectious plague.
*I won the gamble.*
When dealing with these extreme heretics whose brains were filled with nothing but muscle and blood, trying to reason with them was suicide; absolute domination was the only way to go.
Seth Knight pulled back his boot.
“Put away your useless tests.” Seth Knight leaned back against the sofa, looking down at Igor as the butler struggled to crawl up.
“My patience is limited. Tonight’s banquet. Is the offering for the sacrifice ready?”
At the word “sacrifice,” Igor shivered violently.
The fanatical light in his eyes was instantly rekindled.
“Replying to the Young Master! Everything is fully prepared!”
Igor scrambled to the back of the parlor.
Moments later, he returned, kneeling before Seth Knight while holding a heavy metal lockbox covered in vile, dark red runes with both hands.
The box was exceptionally heavy, its surface even coated in a thin layer of frost.
Igor’s voice trembled violently with extreme excitement.
“The ‘core offering’ you demanded has been fully extracted!”
“During tonight’s banquet, you need only take this and personally cast it into the main power reactor of the Mid-hive…”
Igor licked his bloody lips, his expression mad.
“The reactor’s energy will instantly reverse! Tens of billions of lowborn scum within a hundred-mile radius, along with those high-and-mighty nobles, the Enforcers, and even the Governor… will all be transformed into the most magnificent fireworks of flesh and blood in a single instant! They shall all become the supreme offering to our Patron!”
Destroying the entire hive city?
Tens of billions of lives?
Seth Knight’s pupils constricted sharply.
*The original owner was playing a game this big?!*