Inside the Hive City, it was like an anthill being flooded with molten lava; hundreds of millions of people received the same order simultaneously—run!
Karagan was truly a madman.
This was his territory, his Hive City, inhabited by his own people, yet he was determined to destroy Morningstar along with those hundreds of millions of souls.
The Astartes received Morningstar’s orders and did their best to maintain order during the evacuation.
They used artillery fire to blast open one massive gap after another to the outside world, but it was too slow—far too slow.
How could hundreds of millions of people in the Hive City possibly evacuate in such a short time?
Even if only one in ten thousand managed to escape, it would be a blessing from the Emperor.
Morningstar flew toward that massive object pulsating with an aura of destruction.
The Twin Swords in her hands extended, and extended—thirty meters!
The longswords stretched to thirty meters in her grasp; she intended to hack it to pieces before it could activate.
Morningstar twisted her body in mid-air, exerting all her strength to swing the longswords.
The disruption fields on the blades were fully engaged.
This should have been an unstoppable strike; it carved a massive gash into the object, and Morningstar could even see its internal structure.
But with a hum, countless tiny metal fragments surged from within like some kind of liquid, filling the gap until it was perfectly seamless once again.
Morningstar struck again with all her might.
She even ventured inside, using waves of psychic attacks to reduce everything she saw to ash and melt the incessantly surging metal powder into molten iron.
Yet, it continued to self-repair, its speed gradually surpassing Morningstar’s rate of destruction.
Just as Morningstar found herself at a loss, the object reacted.
Streams of crimson light converged from the top of the cone down to its pointed base.
Then, a small fireball appeared at the tip.
As Morningstar approached it, she felt as if she were drawing near to a scorching sun.
“Julius, what is the status of the evacuation?” Morningstar landed on the ground and used her comms device to contact the Custodians outside the Hive City.
“Your Highness, two-thirds of the Astartes have evacuated, and about two hundred thousand civilians have gotten out.
We are currently five kilometers outside the Hive City and continuing the evacuation.”
“Damn it!”
Morningstar had tried to contact the Emperor, but couldn’t get through.
She even attempted to reach Malcador, but to no avail.
Morningstar understood—who else could achieve this?
Karagan?
Or the chaos gods behind him?
Regardless, this was a death trap set for her, one she had to face.
Morningstar could simply spread her wings and fly away; if she wanted to run, no one could stop her.
But could she?
Could she abandon the warriors who trusted her and the countless civilians to whom she had just made a promise, and flee in disgrace?
“Heh, Karagan, if I ever see you, I will tear you into pieces.”
Morningstar gave a self-deprecating, bitter laugh.
She flew to the roof of the Hive City’s highest building and gently closed her eyes.
A white radiance covered her wings, and then they began to expand, and expand.
“Look, what is that?”
Inside the Hive City, everywhere the sky was visible, everyone looked up to see the machine pulsating with the aura of destruction being covered by massive, pristine white wings.
And they kept expanding, and expanding.
In the end, Morningstar’s wings covered the entire Hive City.
They spread out over the city like a white shield, resisting the divine spear descending from above.
“No, sister, no.” Alpharius, inside the Hive City, looked up and muttered to himself, feeling nothing but a bone-chilling cold.
As if a god had unleashed a divine punishment, a scorching pillar of fire descended.
When it collided with the wings covered in white radiance, it was like a high-pressure water jet hitting a boulder; the flames scattered along the expanse of the wings, covering the entire sky.
Morningstar, positioned directly beneath the center of the fire pillar, was suffering.
She knelt on the ground, in immense pain.
The psychic barrier covering her wings was gradually depleting.
She could almost feel the scorching heat, as if from hell itself, but the divine spear from the sky showed no sign of weakening.
In the future Morningstar foresaw, she could only see its power continuing to grow.
Alpharius began to run.
He had to get to his sister’s side.
He knew the Custodians had all been dispatched for the evacuation, and he knew she was alone.
But that wouldn’t do; this moment was too cruel.
He had to be by her side.
Perhaps he couldn’t change anything, but it was the only thing he could do.
As the flames gradually pierced through Morningstar’s psychic barrier, Morningstar gave a self-deprecating laugh: “Ah, it’s over.
I’m going to become roasted chicken wings.”
When the flames made direct contact with Morningstar’s wings, she couldn’t help but let out a cry of anguish.
She felt a wave of scorching heat, but after the heat came an extreme cold.
Her senses were becoming confused, and she was on the verge of fainting.
But she couldn’t; if she fainted, everything she had done would be for nothing.
Morningstar could only bite her own hand, hoping the pain would keep her conscious.
The once-pristine white wings gradually turned charred black, and feathers fell incessantly.
Blood seeped through the gaps in the blackened feathers, and a rain of blood began to fall within the Hive City.
An hour?
A minute?
An instant?
Or a lifetime?
Morningstar didn’t even notice that the pillar of fire had long since vanished.
It was Alpharius who came to her side and pulled her blood-soaked, bitten hand away.
“Sister, stop.
It’s over.”
Was it?
Morningstar no longer knew; perhaps it was.
The wings, now in a wretched state, slowly shrank, eventually returning to their normal size and drooping behind her.
The once-white feathers were long gone, leaving only charred-like debris and wounds covered in dried blood.
Morningstar collapsed to the ground.
The wounds on her wings were not fatal, but her psychic energy was completely exhausted.
The feeling of being drained of all psychic power left her unable to hold on any longer.
Alpharius lifted Morningstar onto his back and ran down from the top of the Hive City, heading toward the nearest place where she could be treated.
When those Astartes saw Morningstar, they all stood in silence and performed the Aquila Salute on their chests.
The civilians might not have understood the significance of the gesture, but they, too, clumsily mimicked the Aquila Salute on their chests with their gaunt fingers.
“Doctor, quickly, please, save her!” Alpharius ran to the nearest Hive City hospital.
The Astartes Apothecary were of vital importance; they were among the first to be evacuated from the Hive City.
“Yes, my lord, I will do my utmost.”
Alpharius stood outside the ward, filled with worry.
Several Astartes walked in one after another behind him, all silent, silently praying to the Emperor for Morningstar’s safety.
Alpharius was anxious outside the ward, but an inexplicable feeling suddenly welled up in his heart.
He seemed to catch a scent—a foul stench.
With the Astartes behind him looking bewildered, he kicked open the door to the ward.
Inside, the hospital bed was completely empty.
A filthy, foul-smelling, obese monster was wearing the doctor’s white coat from before.
It let out a series of giggles toward the Astartes at the door, and as it spoke, several maggots fell out from its mouth.
Alpharius grabbed the monster by the throat: “Where are the people?”
“Join the embrace of Father Nurgle.
Hee hee…”
“I’m asking you, where are the people?!”
…
Morningstar struggled to open her eyes, and a series of filthy, ugly faces came into view.
Morningstar sat up abruptly, and the Nurglings ran away, giggling.
The place was covered in twisted trees, with filthy, viscous sewage flowing by.
Huge swarms of flies and maggots were visible everywhere, and several pale green monsters, looking like something out of a bizarre version of Pokémon, were peeking at Morningstar from behind the trees.
Morningstar: “Where the hell did I end up now?”
“And If you’re enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!”