The descent into the deeper levels, where Gerhard had witnessed humanity's last stand, was no longer a journey through a filthy, rotten area... it was now an expedition into the digestive tract of one of the four Ruinous Powers. The air was as thick as a soup of bioluminescent spores.
Gerhard led the way, his boots squelching into a floor that had transformed from reinforced steel into something resembling gangrenous moss, digesting anything that walked on it.
Behind him, the large silhouette of Lencillus had changed, now looking imposingly terrifying.
Gerhard had spent a few days in a feverish trance, reverse-engineering the bits and pieces of information on Terminator Power Armour that the Eye of the Emperor would give away.
The result was a suit that looked like the Indomitus Pattern Terminator Armour. It was Gerhard's first attempt, and despite it not having all the capabilities of an actual Indomitus Terminator, it still shocked Lencillus when he saw it. No matter its resemblance to an actual Indomitus, it looked less like standard equipment and more like a mobile fortress, which was what Gerhard was going for.
The armour was a matte, gunmetal grey, reinforced by Gerhard's custom Ceramite-Molybdenum alloy. The massive shoulder pauldrons housed micro-missile arrays. Eye's Eye's guardian spear had been retrofitted with a high-output Adrathic power cell. Every step Lencillus took cracked the floor, the internal servos whining with the weight of five thousand years of Imperial tradition upgraded by 21st-century logic.
-
[Indomitus Pattern Terminator Armour – Rank: Adept]
| The most widespread pattern of Tactical Dreadnought Armour in the Imperium.
| A relic of the Horus Heresy, designed for maximum survivability and close-range battlefield supremacy.
- Durability: 5,000/5,000
- Armour Class: Tactical Dreadnought Armour
Defensive Effects:
| +100% Mid-Class Physical Resistance
| +25% High-Class Physical Resistance
| +95% Mid-Class Energy Resistance
| +90% Mid-Class Shockwave Resistance
| +60 STR
| +70 VIT
| -15 DEX
-
"Stay within the Sisters' radius, Sera," Gerhard warned, his voice synthesised through his helm. "If you step into that green fog without the Null-field or your gas mask, your lungs will turn into a Chaos nest in ten seconds, and you'll die."
Sera Vahl followed closely, her customised Carapace armour donned, as well as a gasmask integrated with her helmet, which Gerhard created specifically because of old granddaddy Nurgle. She looked pale, her human senses reeling from the stench, but her grip on her long-las was iron, as was her will.
Gerhard himself had donned his MK. III-S' Apex Predator' Assault Power Armour, which he had also worked on for a bit. He had started introducing the first bits and pieces of his Doom tech, as he called it.
His helmet was now lined with a special Null-field-conductive material that kept the calculative prowess of his suit and his connection to Hans safe from the Warp or Chaos. It was a test, and he was looking at how it went.
In his hand, he held the 'Spartan', his Bolter-Las Hybrid Rifle, which he had also improved a bit, making it more powerful, but not by much. He was still working on creating Force/Mana Weapons, which will elevate his combat prowess to ridiculous new heights.
The others in the group, the Sisters, Lencillus and mostly Sera felt the safety and security that radiated off of Gerhard. It felt as if he would take care of things, no matter what happened, which was new for them, as no one but the Emperor could ever give such a feeling.
As they entered the former battlefield, they saw what it had become: a grand rot-cathedral.
[Detect Presence]
[Detect Bloodlust]
The System interface exploded with red markers, and so did the HUD inside Gerhard's helmet. And Hans' voice, who was at the very back with the Kastelan Golem, could be heard.
> Master, there have been roughly 150 Enemies Detected. The Warp energies are off the charts, and judging from the immense taint... Chaos.
'I can tell.'
They entered the battlefield at the opposite end of where the most presence could be felt. And what he saw did shock him quite a bit.
Pestigor - Lv. 23
|HP: 2500/2500
|MP: 20
|A savage mutant warrior with bestial aggression and brute strength. Pestigors are types of Beastmen which worship Nurgle.
-
Poxwalker – Lv.17
|HP: 1270/1600
|MP: 10
|A victim of the so-called Walking Pox - one of the numerous diseases created by Nurgle. Victims of this virus find their bodies shutting down and rotting until, eventually, they die, though not completely.
| Such is the jolly humour of Nurgle that they remain cruelly conscious and aware of all that happens around them, souls of victims trapped in their dead bodies; with a rictus grin, they stagger out in search of living meat to feast on.
-
AccursedCultist – Lv.24
|HP: 2900/2900
|MP: 80
|Warp-corrupted cultist twisted into a stronger, more horrifying form.
-
Nurgling – Lv.32
|HP: 2200/2200
|MP: 400
|A tiny daemon spawned from rot and filth. Individually weak, but dangerous in swarms.
-
Glitchling – Lv.36
|HP: 3000/3000
|MP: 600
|A corrupted, unstable warp-spawn, born from diseased energies and chaotic mutation. Erratic and unpredictable.
-
Plaguebearer – Lv.42
|HP: 9000/9000
|MP: 1200
|A Lower daemon of Nurgle born from mortal souls claimed by disease. Slow, relentless, and incredibly difficult to destroy.
|STR: 60
|VIT: 110
Traits:
|Nurgle's Resilience (+massive damage resistance)
|Aura of Decay (poison/disease)
|Pain Immunity
-
There were 6 Plaguebearers, and they were rather resistant for their level, as was the case with the other things. Not even the aura of decay was surprising. What was surprising, though, was the presence of the leader of them all...
Herald of Nurgle: Poxbringer – Lv.55
|HP: 18,000/18,000
|MP: 3000
|A greater servant of Nurgle, formed from those who resisted the Rot. Commands Plaguebearers and spreads corruption across the battlefield.
|STR: 85
|VIT: 140
Traits
Aura of Nurgle
| -> buffs nearby daemons
| -> increases regeneration
Rot Incubation
|-> enemies take damage over time
Warp Anchor
| -> harder to banish
-
Their presence was noted right away.
"Lencillus, anchor the centre. Sera, pick the Nurglings out of the vents and use long-range attacks. Sisters... well, you know."
The Herald of Nurgle raised its rusted staff, its throat bulging as it prepared to unleash a torrent of Rot Incubation. But Hestia, her sisters, and Lencillus were already moving.
The three Sisters of Silence's negative psychic field could be felt wherever they passed. The green, and, interestingly, blue-coloured, warp-saturated fog dissipated and was deleted. The Herald, holding his staff, staggered as he felt it, the sickly green light dying instantly. It let out a wet, confused gag as its [Warp Anchor] trait was forcibly negated by the triple-layered Null-zone.
"My turn," Gerhard smirked. "Hans, play 'Clint Eastwood' from Gorillaz."
> Understood.
🎶'I ain't happy, I'm feeling glad
I got sunshine in a bag
I'm useless, but not for long, the future is coming on.'🎶
[Mana Reinforcement]
He moved with incredible speed. The MK III-S granted a +55 DEX, combined with his natural 76 DEX and the Mana Reinforcement of +27, which gave him a total of 158 DEX.
To give a comparison. The Genestealer Patriarch had a DEX stat of 160, and the currently fully healed former Custodian, without any armour, also had a DEX stat of 160. So, Gerhard was truly getting up there.
He raised the "Spartan" Bolter-Las Hybrid Rifle with fluid motion, aiming at the enemy who posed the greatest strategic target. With a flick of a mental switch synced to his HUD, he engaged [Las Mode].
PEW--PEW--PEW--!
The rifle emitted near-silent, near-transparent beams of heat and energy.
[Critical Hit!]
[Critical Hit!]
[Critical Hit!]
Three Chaos Beastmen dropped instantly, their skulls punctured by beams that passed through their heads and melted the rusted bulkheads behind them.
Thanks to his INT stat, he had gained a lot of information in a very short time, and it was noted right away.
[A new skill has been created through a special action]
['Battle Plan' skill created for spying on opponents with information.]
Battle Plan (Active/Passive) Lv. 1
| EXP: 0.00%
| The sharp instincts of a hardcore gamer capable of finding a way to beat any enemy. Allows you to determine your enemy's weakness, characteristics, and plan of attack.
|The skill has been added to the [Observe] skill.
[Higher [Observe] level boosts accuracy.
-
[Chaos Beastman defeated]
[+60,000 EXP]
[Chaos Beastman defeated]
[+60,000 EXP]
[Chaos Beastman defeated]
[+60,000 EXP]
As a swarm of Accursed Cultists surged forward, their flesh bubbling with unstable and disgusting mutations. Gerhard toggled the Spartan to 'Bolt Mode'. The weapon's hum immediately shifted to a mechanical click.
Thrum-thrum-thrum!
Mass-reactive rounds impacted the centre of the cultist line. The Adaptive Combat Logic kicked in, granting a +20% damage surge from the mode swap. The bolts burrowed deep into the mutated meat before detonating, causing devastating internal deaths and splashing of blood and cursed rot fluids. Cultists were turned into red slurry, the AoE blast shredding the Nurglings that had been hiding in their robes.
🎶'Finally, someone let me out of my cage
Now, time for me is nothing 'cause I'm countin' no age'🎶
BOOM--BOOM--BOOM--!
"Too slow," Gerhard muttered.
He placed the Spartan in his inventory and reached for the hilts at his back, and drew the Twin Boneswords.
The moment his hands gripped the organic hilts, the Neural Synchronisation activated. The blades hissed, their monomolecular edges vibrating with a faint glow that defied the Sisters' Null-field because of Gerhard's Dual Energy Cognition. The blades were alive, fuelled by Gerhard's Mana and the enemy's vitality.
Gerhard sped up, becoming something akin to a whirlwind as he slashed his blades through the air. He really pushed his modified MK III-S armour to the limits. It was the prototype for another one.
He lunged into a pack of Plaguebearers. Their resilience meant nothing to the Dual Psychic Disruption Field on the blades.
Gerhard crossed the blades in an X-strike, the monomolecular edges shearing through the Daemons' bloated torsos as if they were made of air.
[Resonance Chain System: +40% Damage Active]
[Synaptic Overload: Max Stacks reached (+40%)]
Every strike fed him health; the Enhanced Life Drain sent vitality back into his system with every bisected foe, which was then turned into Mana.
Gerhard threw one of the blades through the air, which bisected and split the bodies of several Chaos cultists, while he raised his forearm and blocked an attack of the Herald as he spewed out a stream of Chaos energy.
[Psionic Mana Shield]
Gerhard had managed to advance so far with the skill that he could form any shape, anywhere he liked. He created an energy shield in front of his forearm that easily blocked the attack, controlled the chain on the blade, and made it return to him.
The experience flooded in as he killed one after the other. This wasn't the way it should have been. Someone or something had manipulated things here; there wouldn't have been this many of them otherwise.
.
Lencillus moved like a mountain of armour. A pack of Glitchlings tried to swarm his Indomitus Pattern Terminator Armour. Their warped bodies tried to phase through his plating, only to find it wasn't working, nor did their aura affect it.
Lencillus simply stood his ground. His insane VIT stat, even without the Terminator armour enhancement, meant their claws didn't even scratch the paint. He might be wearing 'only' an Adept Grade item, but it was still one created by Gerhard the Gamer. Lencillus swung his Power Spear in a wide arc, the disruption field on the blade vaporising four Glitchlings in a single sweep and continuing to kill more and more of the chaos spawn.
A Plaguebearer swung a rusted blade at his chest; Lencillus simply stepped to the side, letting it pass by. Lencillus responded by driving his Power Spear through the daemon's throat, killing it within seconds.
"Chaos Filth," the Eye of the Emperor intoned.
Meanwhile, an interesting message caught Gerhard's attention.
[Plaguebearer defeated]
[+120,000 EXP]
'So I get the EXP if they kill the enemies? It has to have something to do with them using my weapons... Sweet!'
.
Sera Vahl took a breath, finding her courage in the absolute dominance of her allies. She levelled her rifle at the Nurglings. Normally, the tiny daemons would be hard to hit, but inside the Sisters' Null-field, they were sluggish and terrified, about to die on their own.
Using her training and the impressive armoury she carried, she picked them off with surgical precision, each shot popping a bloated belly.
Hestia reached the Plaguebearers. These were the elite foot soldiers of the Rot, notoriously hard to kill. At least for others...
One Plaguebearer raised its rusted blade, its [Nurgle's Resilience] making it glow with a foul light.
Hestia and her fellow Sisters didn't even slow down. Her Executioner Greatblade hummed as she swung in a horizontal cleave that bypassed every ounce of the daemon's damage resistance. The blade sheared through its neck, and the Plaguebearer ceased to exist fully. Never to return.
[Plaguebearer defeated]
[+ 120,000 EXP]
The powers of daemons and sorcerers were snuffed like candle flames in the presence of the Sisters of Silence. As they drew near to the Chaos spawn, they were sent into paroxysms of agony and revulsion, and when the Sisters killed the denizens, they died truly and finally, thanks to their weapons.
.
Finally, Gerhard stood before the Herald. The daemon tried to vomit another stream of filth, but Gerhard raised a hand. He used his dual energy core and switched fully to his [Blank] state. The Chaos filth turned into nothingness as it hit his field.
🎶'Lifeless to those with definition for what life is
Priceless to you because I put you on the hype shit.' 🎶
Gerhard blocked an attack with his [Psionic Mana Shield] easily and struck the Heral with his Boneswords, which he stabbed deep into the creature's abdomen, making it scream as he was far too close, and it hurt its entire existence.
🎶'You like it? Gun smokin', righteous with one toke
Get psychic among those, possess you with one go.'🎶
Gerhard grabbed the Herald by its single horn, channelled his new property of his Mana into his Boneswords, and caused the Herald to bloat and then... detonate.
BBBOOOOOOOOOMMMMM---
The golden and blue light of Gerhard's Mana tore the Herald apart from the inside out in a filthy green mess, which splashed all around the area. But the moment it touched Gerhard's invisible negative psychic aura, it dissolved into nothing.
[Herald of Nurgle defeated]
[+350,000 EXP]
[LEVEL UP]