Mortarion's rage reached a peak in an instant.
Two reasons fueled his fury, each of them enough to plunge him into a state of uncontrollable wrath.
First, the Great Unclean One standing before him dared to address him as "the favored child of the Father"! Mortarion knew all too well the connotations behind the title of "Father."
He was well-acquainted with the Chaos God Nurgle, who represented corruption, decay, "life," and "hope." His true father, the Emperor of Mankind, Samuel Young, had never hidden the existence of the Chaos Gods or their insidious schemes from Mortarion and his brothers.
Yet this loathsome daemon dared to associate him with such vile corruption! It was an unbearable insult, a desecration of his identity.
He was the son of the Emperor, the inheritor of humanity's will and the Imperium of Man. He would not allow his honor to be sullied by such blasphemous words.
Second, and even more intolerable, was the theft of the Carcharodon gene-seed by the corrupted heretics.
The loss of gene-seed represented more than a physical setback—it was a profound affront.
The gene-seed was the very essence of the Astartes, the core of the power bestowed upon them by the Emperor.
Now, with the gene-seed in the hands of Nurgle's forces, there was a real possibility that they would attempt to create "Chaos Astartes" from it.
Such a vile act was an absolute mockery of the Emperor's will and the ultimate insult to the honor of the Astartes.
Consumed by this dual rage, Mortarion resolved to annihilate every corrupted creature before him at any cost.
His objective wasn't just to slaughter the filth in his path—it was to destroy the arrogant Great Unclean One and to retrieve the stolen gene-seed before it could be transported to the warp. The consequences of failure were unthinkable.
However, neither Mortarion nor the Great Unclean One realized a crucial fact—
All gene-seed in the material universe was derived from the Emperor, Samuel Young.
This meant that the gene-seed contained pure psychic energy. If Nurgle's forces attempted to use it to create "Plague Marines," they would not succeed. Instead, they might inadvertently accelerate the expansion of the Emperor's influence in the Warp.
But Mortarion was far from considering such long-term consequences. His focus was singular: to eliminate the Great Unclean One that had enraged him so deeply.
"If your so-called 'Father' had even a shred of wisdom, he would have taught you how to shut up instead of spreading your revolting plague and ignorance!" Mortarion thundered, his deep voice rolling like an unstoppable storm.
Rou—!!!
His war-scythe Silence swept forward, its blade slicing through the tainted air with a deafening sonic boom.
Mortarion became a shadow of death, tearing through the mire-like tide of corruption.
Every step he took landed like a hurricane, crushing countless heretics and daemons into putrid gore beneath his boots.
He surged directly toward the towering Great Unclean One, his intent clear and deadly.
Splurch—Splurch—!
Along the way, the heretics and daemons that attempted to block him were sliced apart by the blade of Silence. Their toxic blood and pus evaporated instantly upon contact with the psychic shield that enveloped Mortarion's armor.
Clang—!!!
As the scythe's blade descended upon the Great Unclean One, a thunderous clash of metal echoed through the air.
The daemon's massive, rotting greatsword had intercepted the killing blow. The entire underground city—and even the continent above—shuddered violently from the impact.
Boom. BOOM—!!!
A shockwave erupted from the point of their clash, visible to the naked eye as it rippled outward like a nuclear explosion, devastating the surrounding area.
Pure and corrupted psychic energies clashed violently, generating an uncontrollable psychic storm in the air.
"Ahhh!!"
"No—!!!"
The chaotic psychic storm tore apart every lesser being caught within its radius. Their tortured screams echoed briefly before they were annihilated, reduced to nothingness as their very essence was ripped apart.
"Wow!!"
Even the smaller Nurgle daemons were comically blown away by the psychic blast, their grotesque forms disintegrating into ashes under the searing brilliance of the pure psychic energy.
When the shockwave subsided, the underground city looked as though it had been "wiped clean."
The once-endless hordes of heretics and daemons were over 90% obliterated. The corrupted swamp had evaporated, leaving the battlefield a charred wasteland.
While Mortarion himself disdained the use of psychic powers and refrained from employing any psychic "spells," the pure psychic energy that was tied to his very being had unleashed this devastation in his fury.
For Nurgle's forces, it was nothing short of a catastrophe.
The Great Unclean One, towering like a grotesque monument, swung its decayed greatsword to deflect another strike from Silence. The clash sent out another shockwave of psychic force.
"Haha..."
The daemon let out a deep, eerie laugh, like bubbles rising and bursting in a swamp.
Though it was undeniably wary of pure psychic energy, it seemed unfazed by the current situation, its massive form exuding confidence.
"Mortarion," it rasped, its voice hoarse and dripping with diseased temptation.
"Why continue this futile resistance? Decay is the destiny of all things. My master's grace awaits you—why not open your arms and embrace this supreme mercy?"
The daemon's words carried subtle psychic undertones, attempting to burrow into Mortarion's mind and plant the seeds of corruption.
"Shut your filthy mouth, wretched scum!" Mortarion roared, swinging Silence in a lethal arc of light aimed at the daemon's head.
"Heh..."
The Great Unclean One shuffled its bloated body and raised its sword to block the blow. The clash of their weapons sent a spray of toxic ichor onto the ground, where it hissed and sizzled, carving deep pits into the surface.
"Mortarion," the daemon continued, its voice slow and laden with an unsettling gravity.
"The more you struggle, the more you'll see your every breath consumed by plague, your every swing of that scythe accelerating the false Emperor's demise."
Its tone shifted, carrying an almost hypnotic weight. "Surrender. Loyalty to Nurgle is no shame—it is redemption, the beginning of true life."
"Redemption? From you? You're unworthy of speaking of such things!" Mortarion sneered, his voice sharp with disdain.
He raised Silence high, the blade glowing with a blinding psychic radiance.
Leaping into the air, he brought the scythe down with all his might, aiming straight for the Great Unclean One's head.
The daemon didn't dodge. Instead, it braced itself, its rotting greatsword once again intercepting the attack. More toxic liquid sprayed outward from the clash.
"The harder you fight, the clearer it becomes that decay is inevitable, Mortarion. In this corrupted abyss, you will find your true place."
"My true place?" Mortarion scoffed, his tone cold as ice. He stomped forward, kicking up a cloud of noxious fog.
"My true place lies in humanity's victory. And you chaotic filth will become dust! Die!"
Mortarion's roar shook the battlefield like a thunderclap, the sheer force of his voice seeming to make the air itself tremble.
What followed was an overwhelming burst of psychic power. Pure light surged outward like a tidal wave, engulfing the Chaos-infested area.
The daemons pouring through the portal were incinerated one by one by the wave of psychic energy.
Even the "jolly," "bouncy" Nurglings were swept away like leaves in a storm, their cheerful cackles replaced by wails as they were reduced to ash.
The Great Unclean One's psychic barrier once again absorbed the brunt of the assault.
Crack. Shatter—!!
But this time, the barrier shattered like fragile glass, revealing the daemon's grotesque, contorted face, now etched with fear.
!!!
The Great Unclean One stumbled backward, its crimson eyes flickering with panic. It no longer wished to engage Mortarion up close.
The daemon was unaware of Mortarion's history of "instant kills" alongside Corax, where they had previously annihilated a Lord of Change that had invaded the Halo universe.
And Mortarion was now stronger than ever.
"Do you really think you can escape?"
Mortarion pressed forward without pause, swinging Silence with unrelenting precision and ferocity.
The daemon struggled to counter, its rotting greatsword clashing desperately against the scythe.
Its earlier composure and arrogance had completely vanished. Its horrifying visage twisted in desperation as it roared:
"Your so-called 'victory' is nothing but a pitiful and fleeting illusion! You, the lapdog of the False Emperor, think yourself righteous, think yourself in control of your fate!"
The daemon's voice was guttural, laced with rage and spite. As it moved, its massive, decayed body splashed toxic ichor across the battlefield.
"Fool! Your fate is already sealed! No matter how you struggle, you will ultimately return to the embrace of Chaos!"
"You vile wretch! You'll grovel in the filth you call home until my father crushes your master completely!" Mortarion snarled in reply.
He swung Silence with devastating force, the blade singing through the air as it collided with the daemon's weapon in an earth-shaking explosion of sound.
Toxic ichor and psychic energy clashed violently, tearing apart the corrupted creatures nearby.
"Father? Hahaha!"
The Great Unclean One laughed mockingly.
"That hypocrite? His lies form the foundation of your faith. His cold indifference weaves the fabric of your suffering! He is your true enemy, and your real destiny lies here!"
It swung its greatsword, releasing a dense cloud of poisonous mist aimed at Mortarion, attempting to disrupt his movements.
Mortarion ignored the taunts. His scythe sliced cleanly through the mist, and the psychic energy surrounding him surged like a winter storm, dispersing the corruption around him.
The battle moved ever closer to the portal, its twisted frame gaping like a monstrous maw between the Chaos realm and reality.
Mortarion was only a step away from dealing the killing blow, severing the Great Unclean One's head and avenging the fallen Carcharodons.
But just as Mortarion raised Silence for the final strike, a faint voice echoed from beyond the portal.
"Father... save me."
"Father... no."
The voice was weak yet filled with pleading and pain, halting Mortarion's hand for a brief moment.
Then another voice followed:
"Father... you were wrong. The False Emperor's promises are lies. Only the Father brings true freedom and the truth of life."
For a moment, the voices became clear and real, their emotional weight pressing into Mortarion's mind.
?!
The unexpected disturbance distracted Mortarion, causing the blade of Silence to miss its mark. Instead of decapitating the Great Unclean One, it only sliced open its bloated abdomen, spilling fetid fluids but not delivering a fatal blow.
What truly shook Mortarion was the eerie familiarity of the voices from the portal. He sensed that they belonged to... his "sons"?
Impossible!
No Raven Guard company had ever reported contact with Chaos. There had been no betrayal, no fall to corruption among his sons—or so he believed.
It had to be a trick!
Mortarion dismissed the voices as illusions, a ploy to destabilize him.
But then, a group of grotesquely twisted Raven Guard emerged from the portal. Their power armor was warped, their bodies sprouting bone spurs and tentacles.
Mortarion froze, momentarily unable to distinguish reality from deception.
His psychic senses and instincts screamed that these were indeed his sons, corrupted beyond recognition.
"Heh heh."
The Great Unclean One, having recovered somewhat, forced itself to speak through the pain of pure psychic energy.
"Dearest child of the Father, it's time to accept the truth—"
"Accept your mother's—!"
Before the daemon could finish, Mortarion, his fury reignited, interrupted with a thunderous curse.
Without hesitation, he swung Silence with overwhelming force, obliterating the Great Unclean One's bloated body.
Then, he severed its grotesque head, grasped it with his left hand, and hurled it to the ground with immense force.
Splurch—!!!
The swollen, rotting head burst open on impact, reduced to a grotesque slurry. The Great Unclean One didn't even have time to scream before Mortarion obliterated its existence and claimed its psychic essence.
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