What kind of utter freak was the original Steve?
Not only was he a useless, live-in son-in-law sponging off a noble family, but secretly, the bastard was also an extreme lunatic planning to drag this entire industrial planet down to the grave with him!
If he actually pulled this off, even a Warp demon would probably give him a thumbs-up.
Seth Knight absolutely could not show any weakness now.
If he displayed even a shred of panic at this moment, cleaning up this mess later would be incredibly difficult.
“Good, excellent.”
Seeing his young master’s seemingly mesmerized look, the final trace of doubt in Igor’s mind vanished.
The old man waved his hands excitedly, and two numb-faced maids tremblingly brought forward a pure silver tray.
Inside the tray lay a sprawling, loose robe.
Its surface was crudely stitched together from hundreds of pieces of flayed human skin, its edges lined with rusted barbs.
A single glance brought a wave of copper-scented stench that made one want to vomit.
“My Lord! Please cast off this hypocritical military uniform! Don the sacred robe, and let your pure, physical flesh undergo a minor baptism of blood as a warm-up!”
As if thinking mere words weren’t enough, the old butler’s tone suddenly grew dark.
“Of course, to prevent mortal firearms from desecrating our sacred ritual, please cooperate and hand over your weapons first.”
Rapid, heavy footsteps suddenly echoed from all around the parlor.
Dozens of heretical mercenaries with pathologically fanatical faces fanned out in a semi-circle, subtly forming an encirclement.
Confronted with threats from all sides, Seth Knight suddenly threw his head back and laughed wildly.
“Hahahaha!”
Instead of resisting, he unbuckled his tactical belt with a look of pure disdain.
*Clatter.*
His sidearm, holster, and upper garments were thrown onto the carpet like trash.
Immediately after, Seth Knight roared, “Old dog! Since you insist on speaking of sacrifice, then let me ask you, you lowly ants: is this how you receive a chosen of the gods?!”
Giving them no room to breathe or make excuses, Seth Knight suddenly unleashed the power in his perfectly sculpted right leg.
*Crash!*
A thick marble pillar exploded right down the middle!
Flying stone shrapnel tore through the air like cannonballs, pelting the room!
Several cultists who couldn’t dodge in time were instantly left bloodied and bruised.
“Absolute, supreme power is the only truth in this universe! Do you want to receive the Patron’s favor as I have? Then strip! Reveal your most primal forms! I command you in the name of a High Chosen! Disarm entirely! Strip off your armor! If anyone dares hide so much as a scrap of metal, I will strip them of their divine right to participate in this ritual right now!”
The moment Igor heard about gaining the Patron’s favor, he lost all sanity.
The old man fell to his knees with a thud, his forehead banging loudly against the floor.
Without hesitation, he tore open his tailored tailcoat, revealing a withered torso completely covered in frenzied runes.
One glance made Seth Knight want to retch.
It was an eyesore.
“Are you deaf?!” Igor turned and screamed hysterically at his men.
With their leader setting the example, the low-ranking cultists were instantly swept up in a blind frenzy.
Like a pack of rabid, possessed dogs, they tore at their clothes until they were completely naked.
Laspistols, high-explosive frag grenades, and self-detonation devices clattered onto the floor in a messy pile.
Meanwhile, the mercenaries were already terrified.
Shaken by Seth Knight’s inhuman feat of destroying a pillar barehanded, their brains completely stalled.
Even their employer had disarmed, so why the hell should they fight?
In a panic, several of them kicked their bolt pistols toward the center of the room, obediently locked their hands behind their heads, and knelt flat on the floor.
In their hearts, they were cursing Igor to high heaven.
In a matter of moments, the room full of heavily armed Chaos cultists and mercenaries had turned into naked, defenseless sheep waiting for the slaughter.
Seth Knight couldn’t help but sigh inwardly: *What a bunch of freaks.
As expected, Chaos cultists really don’t have brains.*
Gazing across the naked, unarmed, and bowing Khorne heretics, the wild mania on Seth Knight’s face instantly receded like the tide, vanishing without a trace.
In its place was a look of supreme coldness and cruel mockery, as if he were looking at absolute trash.
When dealing with vile Chaos cultists, one had to use even more underhanded methods.
He slowly stood up straight and adjusted his slightly disarrayed collar.
Then, he pulled out his encrypted communicator and casually pressed the call button in front of everyone, saying, “Baldy. Bring the boys in to clean up.”
Kneeling on the floor, Igor looked up, his old eyes blank with confusion.
*Clean up?
Is the floor dirty?*
Before his shriveled brain—which was filled with nothing but Chaos-tainted shit—could process what was happening, a massive explosion shook the manor.
*BOOM!*
The incredibly expensive armored door was violently smashed into flying, twisted shards by a giant steel beast!
A Chimera Armored Transport rammed its way straight into the parlor with brute force!
The bald adjutant leaped down from the vehicle, holding a standard-issue lasgun.
Following closely behind him were eight burly soldiers whose loyalty had soared through the roof after enjoying their Terra-grade supreme carbs.
These eight were elites handpicked from the hundred-man unit.
Standing at two meters tall, they were massive, imposing figures.
A dark wall of lasgun barrels locked onto the defenseless prey in unison.
Seth Knight ordered, “Heretics! Kill them all! Leave none alive!”
A dense mesh of crimson beams wove a net of death, ruthlessly sweeping through the crowd.
*Sizzle!
Sizzle!*
The sickening smell of burning flesh rose along with bloodcurdling shrieks.
It was a one-sided slaughter!
Igor was the closest.
His shriveled head rolled across the floor, stopping right next to Seth Knight’s combat boot.
Even now, his wide-open eyes stared up with an expression of utter disbelief and absurdity.
In the final second of his life, he had finally realized the truth.
This man was not the weak young master, Steve!
Nor was he some chosen favorite of their Patron!
He was nothing but an impostor posing as Steve!
But it was too late.
Stripped of their weapons, the cultists and their elite guards were blown into charred bone and shredded flesh in the blink of an eye under the absolute suppression of firepower.
The bald adjutant stepped carefully over the severed limbs.
When he used the barrel of his gun to push aside some splintered wood and saw the metal lockbox radiating a cold mist, beads of sweat instantly soaked his combat uniform.
*Merciful Emperor!*
If the Commander hadn’t been so peerlessly brilliant as to venture deep into the tiger’s den, the entire hive city might have literally gone up in smoke tonight while everyone was fast asleep!
The veteran soldiers around him also stopped what they were doing and cast fervent looks his way.
A monumental achievement!
The Commander was going to lead them to promotions and riches this time.
Their gaze had evolved from fanatical admiration into the absolute awe that death-sworn soldiers held for their liege lord.
The Commander had barely returned to the Mid-hive before wiping out a cultist den without breaking a sweat!
What boldness!
What brilliant strategy!
Seth Knight was entirely oblivious to his subordinates’ internal monologues and assumptions.
His gaze locked onto the heavy lockbox.
Relying on the tiny, fragmented scraps of memory retrieved from the depths of his mind, his fingers tentatively tapped a complex password into the keypad.
*Click.*
A crisp mechanical latch released.
The frosted lid slid back slowly, accompanied by a puff of white vapor.
The moment he saw the true form of the “core offering” resting inside, Seth Knight’s heart skipped a beat, and his pupils constricted into sharp needles!
*How on earth…
could this thing be on this backwater planet?!*
Just as his mind was racing, trying to untangle the web of this conspiracy, the communicator in his pocket vibrated violently once more.
The moment he connected, a high-and-mighty, incredibly arrogant female voice sliced through his eardrums like a razor:
“Steve!”
“You had better already be on your way to the banquet.”
“Many esteemed guests have been invited to this family dinner.”
“How dare you keep everyone waiting for a single lowborn piece of trash like you?!”