Faced with the charging crimson juggernaut, Zhou Ye felt the urge to make a sarcastic comment but still dashed forward with a speed that was no less than the Ork's. This creature hadn't been goaded into a red-hot rage by his words alone. More importantly, it carried the blessing of Khorne. In a way, this Greenskin was a chosen champion of Khorne, Gork, and Mork all at once. While not at the level of a Primarch, it was on par with other chosen champions like Typhus or Khârn. The blood-red power surging from it was Khorne's blessing, boiling to the surface after its pride was shattered by Zhou Ye's trash talk.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
In the next instant, the two collided violently. A furious whirlwind swept across the entire battlefield, sending the powerful warriors on both sides stumbling.
"Let's test out the Ork's Waaagh! field..."
Feeling the force of his opponent's attack, Zhou Ye remained completely unfazed. He decided to test the Ork's strength, and more importantly, to observe its Waaagh! field.
According to his calculations, psionic energy could weaken Imaginary energy, and Imaginary energy could in turn neutralize psionic energy. Any Imaginary attacks he launched would be diminished to some extent. Melee combat, on the other hand, suffered no such penalty and was surprisingly effective.
Therefore...
BOOM.
Scorching flames surged toward the Ork leader. The same fire that could reduce ordinary Greenskins to ash washed directly over its body.
"Shrimp's fire can't hurt me! I'm the strongest!" the giant Greenskin roared, enduring the flames unleashed by Zhou Ye.
"WAAAGH!!!"
At its roar, the surrounding Greenskins erupted in cheers. They all believed their leader could withstand the attack, and as they did, the intensity of the Waaagh! field around the Ork leader increased.
"A little interesting..."
A look of interest appeared on Zhou Ye's face. The Waaagh! field was a wondrous thing. It was a combination of the individual's "I thinks, therefore it is" and the collective "We believe." The two were mutually reinforcing. It seemed they subconsciously believed that psionic attacks couldn't harm them, which likely resulted in some form of damage reduction. To truly kill them, one had to break through their Waaagh! field.
Of course, for an average Greenskin, their so-called Waaagh! field was like paper in the face of Zhou Ye's power output. This Ork leader before him, however, was a bit more intriguing.
"WAAAGH!!!"
With another bellow, the Ork leader broke through the wall of fire Zhou Ye had erected at his current power level.
At that very moment, the floor beneath Zhou Ye suddenly collapsed, sending him plummeting. Seeing this, his honor guard tried to rush forward, but they were quickly intercepted by elite Greenskins, leaving only Zhou Ye and the Ork leader to fall to the level below.
Just then, several more Greenskins, only slightly smaller than the leader, leaped out.
"Oi, ya big lunk! Looks like I'm da cunnin' one! Ya fell for it, shrimp!"
"Boring..."
Glancing at the several nearly five-meter-tall Greenskins charging him, a faint light once again flickered in Zhou Ye's eyes. He activated the Authority of Finality, accelerating his own perception.
In his eyes, the speed of the surrounding Greenskins became like slow motion. A Greenskin was, after all, still a Greenskin. Back when he fought Mortarion, he hadn't been able to use his Authorities this smoothly, mainly because the entire area was saturated with Nurgle's power. Nurgle's core concept was permanence, eternal stagnation. That power severely interfered with the Authority of Finality, which governed time. In truth, it wasn't just time; all his Authorities except for Wither and Creation would have been affected.
But these Greenskins were different. They weren't psionic entities. While the Waaagh! field could interfere with the effects of psionic powers on them, it was far less effective against Authorities that Zhou Ye applied to himself.
Thus, Zhou Ye executed a beautiful drawing cut. The charging Greenskins were all bisected at the waist, their bodies instantly bursting into roaring flames. The one-step process of slaughter and cremation was completed in an instant. However, because Greenskins didn't provide much energy, Zhou Ye didn't bother with large-scale AOE attacks. Melee was far more efficient.
But...
"Hahahaha..." A familiar, booming laugh echoed directly from the Warp, giving Zhou Ye a start.
"These Greenskins... two, three... damn, eight of them in total."
In that instant, Zhou Ye realized something was wrong, and he was momentarily speechless. Old K was actually using tactics now. He had let Slaanesh and the Golden Fiend cause trouble for him, as those two had practically entered the ring themselves. But who could have guessed the real hunter was waiting in the wings? While the mantis stalked the cicada, the oriole was behind it. Old K had quietly prepared a huge surprise for him.
As expected, a special aura began to rise from the Greenskin corpses. They already possessed Khorne's blessing, but because of Gork and Mork, Khorne had only given them strength without corrupting them. This was a common occurrence—take a certain dual-chosen champion of E and K for example, who had freely accepted Khorne's blessing but rejected his offer. These Greenskins were similar, but they had accepted even more of Khorne's blessings. The only reason they hadn't turned into Khornate worshippers was likely due to the combined influence of the two Ork gods.
But now, they had been secretly influenced and used by Khorne to spring this trap on him.
Sure enough, in the next moment, bloody streams of energy rose from the Ork corpses. They coalesced into a massive barrier, trapping Zhou Ye in the center.
Son of a bitch.
You can't see me, so you're just resorting to AOE attacks, is that it?
At the same time, a voice thundered from the Warp...
"Blood for the Blood God! Skulls for the Skull Throne!"
"Blood for the Blood God! Skulls for the Skull Throne!"
...
An eightfold echo descended from the ninth heaven. Blood-red energy filled the space, seemingly ready to surge toward a certain being at any moment.
Zhou Ye's face was blank. He just found it noisy. The eight words "Blood for the Blood God, Skulls for the Skull Throne" were not just simple words; they carried a powerful hypnotic and bewitching quality. They could often erode the mind. Unfortunately for Khorne, to Zhou Ye's ears, they were just eight words.
Of course, he didn't dare say that out loud. Last time, he had seen Slaanesh and Fulgrim directly through one of their kin. He was certain that was the reason for the unexpected turn of events. So, while shouting it casually was one thing, shouting it randomly in the middle of a prepared ritual was another.
Zhou Ye was no idiot, nor did he have a death wish. So, at this moment...
"Blood for the Blood God! Skulls for the..."
"I am Rogal Dorn."
"..."
Instantly, Zhou Ye noticed the annoying voice had stopped. A palpable feeling of a stomach ache emanated from the Warp.
"I am Rogal Dorn."
"I am Rogal Dorn..."
Zhou Ye was very pleased with his own wit. Seizing the opportunity created by his opponent's intense emotional fluctuation, he surged with Imaginary energy and directly opened a Constraint Barrier. The ritual was instantly thrown into disarray, and he turned tail and fled.
"ROAR!!!"
The moment Zhou Ye broke out, the Blood God's furious roar echoed through the void. The remaining energy of the ritual instantly transformed, re-forming into the sigils of another ritual, and a massive, blood-red figure charged out from within.
"Khorne is magnificent!" Zhou Ye couldn't help but exclaim, looking at the handsome, imposing crimson figure.
Well, I'll be. The Blood God saw him flee the ritual's center and, as a parting gift, threw in a Bloodthirster. Old K, he's so generous. Zhou Ye could cry.
"Why do you refuse the Blood God, and in such a manner? Come, brother, embrace the Blood God with me!"
Above, the group of warriors, anxious to jump down, had yet to act when they felt a wave of berserk energy and bloodthirsty killing intent wash over them.
BANG!!!
With a dull thud, a scarlet entity charged toward Zhou Ye.
As for the Greenskins... with their Warboss slain by Zhou Ye's sweeping strike, they had already descended into chaos. They were now slaughtering each other in a disorganized free-for-all. Not only was the main Warboss dead, but the other subordinate leaders had also been killed by Zhou Ye. The remaining four-meter-tall Orks, having lost their leaders, were also affected, and Zhou Ye's Honor Guard seized the opening to cut them down.
The group was about to jump down when they saw the enraged Bloodthirster.
But facing such a Greater Daemon, Zhou Ye was not the least bit intimidated. It was just a nameless Greater Daemon. The only troublesome part was that it belonged to Khorne. Nurgle's daemons weren't particularly strong in terms of raw attack power; they relied mainly on their horrific plagues. Zhou Ye could just toss them into his converter and absorb them, as their attacks weren't strong enough to break it. Plagues and the like were useless against that thing. Those nameless Greater Daemons of his were so weak that you wouldn't even need the Grey Knights; a regular Chapter could banish one with some sacrifice.
But a Bloodthirster was a different story. Its attack and destructive power were maxed out. Truthfully, Zhou Ye didn't dare throw it directly into the converter, so he had to beat it until it could no longer resist.
"Hiss..."
Seeing the Bloodthirster, the Black Templar Marshal, Giovanni, drew a sharp breath. Even his entire expeditionary force would have to pay a heavy price to defeat this daemon.
However...
Glancing at the Ancients who were cleaning up the remaining powerful Greenskins, Giovanni shook his head. If the Ancients weren't worried, then what was there for him to be anxious about?
Meanwhile, Zhou Ye had put away his weapons. He was afraid he might accidentally kill this thing. So, he was now engaging the massive creature in a bare-knuckled brawl. He tanked every one of the Bloodthirster's blows, and with every punch he threw, a section of the Bloodthirster's body caved in. The very bones that formed its structure were shattered by Zhou Ye's fists, and the Bloodthirster let out a pained scream.
But it didn't dare retreat, because it could feel that in the Brass Citadel, the Blood God was greatly pleased.
Grit your teeth and endure. As long as I please the Blood God, what's being banished once? the daemon thought. The Blood God could tolerate failure. Look at Ka'Bandha; he was killed by Sanguinius so many times in a short period, and the Blood God never did anything to him.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
As the two engaged in pure fisticuffs, the Bloodthirster felt something was increasingly wrong. Then, with a heavy blow, both of them smashed into the ground again.
With the deaths of the Ork leaders, the entire Battle Moon had lost the protection of the Waaagh! field and was beginning to disintegrate. This thing was, after all, just a pile of junk cobbled together. If you gave the same materials to Zhou Ye, he wouldn't be able to build it.
BANG!!!
With another heavy impact, the Bloodthirster slammed onto the ground. This time, it couldn't get back up. Every bone in its body had been smashed by Zhou Ye. It was now like a boneless chicken strip.
It was then that it finally realized something. Wasn't Zhou Ye's technique the same one Horus used to make hand-pounded chicken balls? Back then, Horus had been pumped full of the Four Gods' power like a cream puff, and that battle had been practically broadcast across half the Warp. And unluckily for this daemon, it had seen it.
In that instant, it had a very bad feeling.
It wasn't Sanguinius. No matter how grievous its injuries were in the material realm, after being banished, it would recover after lying low for a while. But why was this person doing this...?
At this thought, the Bloodthirster's mind, previously clouded by killing intent, regained a sliver of rationality. But it was this very sliver of reason that brought with it a creeping sense of dread.
Looking at the black-armored figure before it, who now stood like a god of slaughter, it felt a familiar presence. The last time it had felt something like this was when it witnessed the power of the Accursed One in the Warp. Fear coursed through its entire being, and it let out a sharp shriek.
"Stay away from me!!!"
In that moment, the Bloodthirster felt the Blood God's gaze leave it. The black can before it drew closer and closer, a massive shadow completely enveloping it.
"Beef-flavored..."
"?" The Bloodthirster froze, then seemed to realize something. Its pupils, once filled with madness and killing intent, became clear. It wanted to end its own life, but it discovered with despair that with every bone in its body shattered, it couldn't even manage suicide.