Chapter 302 303: Dark Master: Despair, Your Defeat Is Certain!

Desolate Plains.

Shrapnel and dust danced in the air, thunderous artillery deafening the sky.

DOOM. DOOM. DOOM—

A Chaos Titan—over sixty meters tall, Lord of Ruin-class—marched across the battlefield, crushing tech-slave infantry beneath its colossal metal feet.

This grotesque fusion of steel and flesh was engraved with runes of slaughter. Its head, reshaped into a snarling daemon skull, fired a rapid-assault cannon from its mouth. Behind it, a banner made of skulls fluttered wildly.

Undeniably, this was a weapon of pure carnage, a war machine that drank power from blood and struck with relentless force.

"What do we do?"

The Freeblades looked up at the Chaos Titan, overwhelmed by its sheer presence. Knight suits were never meant to face off against something that massive.

Standard doctrine said retreat—wait for a Redeemer Titan to engage.

But Arye, commander of the Redeemer Knights, had already charged ahead toward the Chaos Titan.

"We can't back down now—follow him!"

One Freeblade gritted his teeth and rushed after Arye. The others, driven by duty and pride, followed.

Yet they only made it a few steps before Arye's knight ignited its back-jets, blasting forward in a flaming burst.

He left them in the dust.

"Wait… are we driving the same knight model?"

The Freeblades blinked. Confused.

Weren't they all using the same Redeemer-class suit? Since when did it come with afterburners?

In truth, Arye's Redeemer Knight was a special model.

Though it looked like a standard Redeemer on the outside, its core was entirely different.

Constructed with higher-grade alloy, it housed a Titan-class engine, plasma core, and a back-thruster pack based on an experimental concept from a certain forum full of grease-stained tech-priests.

Put simply—it was a Gundam.

Too costly to mass-produce, unfortunately.

All the Freeblades could do was watch Arye rush toward the Chaos Titan alone.

They were worried—deeply so.

In their minds, Knights were no match for Titans. There was simply no comparison.

They could only hope a Redeemer Titan would arrive in time to save their reckless commander.

"Foolish, ignorant Imperial Knight—charging to his death?"

Within the Chaos Titan, its red-lit cockpit echoed with harsh laughter.

They had conquered world after world with this machine. Cities crumbled under its feet. Imperial citizens wept and screamed in despair.

Imperial Knights had always cowered before them.

But now—one dared to challenge them?

This was suicide.

"By the Blood God… let's grant that little speck his wish. Show him what true fear is!"

The Chaos Titan's pilot snarled, fangs bared, eyes glowing crimson.

"Crush him into paste!"

"For Khorne! Skulls for the Skull Throne!"

They were ecstatic—eager to tear apart this insolent Knight.

The Titan shifted, adjusting its armaments.

Its shoulder-mounted Cataclysm Missiles, twin Hellfire Melta Cannons, twin Doomfists, and its mouth-mounted assault gun all locked on target.

And fired everything at once.

BOOM BOOM BOOM—

Missiles, melta beams, hellfire bombs—all rained down on Arye's lone Redeemer Knight. The blast radius engulfed everything around him.

There was no way a Knight could survive such saturation fire.

But Arye, the undying beast under the Savior's command, was no ordinary pilot.

Even without armor, he had once charged at Daemon Engines and brass-plated monsters.

Now, with a specialized Redeemer Knight?

He didn't even hesitate.

BZZT—

His forcefield flared to life, and he charged straight through the barrage.

Of course, the attacks hit first.

Melta beams lanced toward him. The ground erupted with hellfire bombs. Missiles locked onto his signal.

This was certain death.

CLANG!

But then—one of the incoming Cataclysm Missiles was knocked off course by a teleport beacon crashing from above.

It detonated behind Arye, unleashing a thunderous shockwave.

His forcefield buckled, losing most of its energy—but the blast pushed him forward at even greater speed.

He shot out of the firestorm.

BOOM!

Explosions rocked the landscape behind him.

He emerged from the flames unscathed—closer than ever to the Chaos Titan.

"What?! How?!"

In the cockpit, the Chaos pilots stared in disbelief.

They had watched their bombardment engulf the Imperial Knight—only to see it charge through the inferno untouched.

Now he was right in front of them.

"Crush that damned machine!"

Furious, the Chaos Titan let loose another barrage.

Arye kept charging.

A sudden misstep staggered him—causing a melta beam to graze his cockpit, leaving a scorched scar.

He recovered quickly.

Then—

WHIRRRR—

The plasma core overloaded. Lightning arced across his limbs.

BOOM—

The jump jets fired full blast, launching him high into the air—directly at the Chaos Titan.

"CHAOS SCUM! GO TO HELL!"

Midair, Arye roared. His power claw crackled with light as it activated.

He punched.

"Deploy the Khorne Tail! Kill him!"

The Chaos Titan pilot panicked, issuing emergency countermeasures.

The big guns were too slow now—but they had melee weapons.

From its back, a mutated, flesh-metal Khorne Tail lashed forward—a deadly scorpion-like appendage tipped with a venomous green stinger.

It darted at Arye's cockpit, ready to impale him.

In midair, Arye had no room to dodge.

This was checkmate.

But—

Arye fired an electromagnetic cannon mounted on his shoulder.

ZAP!

It struck a weak point on the tail, throwing it off-course.

"Missed!"

The Chaos pilot shouted, realizing too late.

Arye closed in.

He slashed.

SWISH!

The force-claw cleaved through the Khorne Tail, severing it in one clean stroke.

It fell, twitching, to the ground.

Inside the cockpit, panic spread.

ZZZT!

The claw smashed through the outer armor—crushing one pilot and breaching the inner chamber.

But then… silence.

No further attacks came.

The remaining crew glanced around in terror.

Did the Knight stop?

BEEP BEEP BEEP—

Among the distant roars of artillery, they heard a faint ticking.

A pilot looked to the corner—and froze.

"…Blood God help us. M-melta charge!"

A massive melta bomb had been magnetically attached to the floor. Its fuse was already ticking down.

Everyone in the cockpit stopped moving.

Outside the breach, a distorted voice came through:

"Hey, Chaos scum—do you like the gift?"

Arye's electronic voice was cold. "Melta bomb. Five seconds. Pray to your damned god."

"NOOOOO—"

"DEMON! YOU MONSTER!"

They scrambled to escape.

The captain sobbed inside the amniotic tank. "Somebody… please pull me out…"

Too late.

The breach had collapsed. They were sealed in.

"Let me help you with the door," Arye's voice taunted from outside.

BOOM!!!

The melta bomb detonated.

The cockpit melted. Every pilot inside turned to ash.

With its core destroyed, the Lord of Ruin Titan staggered—then collapsed in a cloud of smoke and debris.

The Freeblades nearby stood frozen.

From charge to kill—Arye had taken only seconds.

It was a miracle.

Through smoke and flame, his Redeemer Knight emerged, its armor drenched in ichor and bile.

In front of him, two Hound-class Chaos Knights hesitated.

When they saw Arye looking their way—

STOMP STOMP STOMP—

They turned and ran.

BOOM BOOM BOOM—

Didn't get far. An Emperor-class Redeemer Titan vaporized them with focused fire.

The Savior's warriors erupted in cheers.

Arye had embodied the Savior's doctrine:

Be a gentle protector to humanity—

And bring holy annihilation to its enemies.

"For the Savior!!"

Arye's voice thundered across the battlefield, slicing through smoke and noise.

Morale soared.

The army surged forward with newfound fury.

Across the battlefield, broken Chaos legions struggled to regroup—only to find themselves completely surrounded.

There was no escape.

The Savior's army accelerated its offensive, grinding the Chaos forces down and pressing up to the fortress walls.

Just as they prepared to breach the shield—

RUMBLE—

A blood-red light burst from the horizon. The ground trembled violently.

More regions collapsed.

—

Dreamweaver – Bridge

"Whew… Arye's getting even crazier. Took out a Chaos Titan with zero damage."

Eden exhaled as he watched the feed.

"Truly… my number o—"

He paused.

Carter was standing nearby with his usual grim expression, watching intently.

"Ahem. My number one mortal champion."

Carter, stoic as ever, felt a flame spark within.

He would outshine Arye in this war. He vowed it.

He turned back to the monitor.

The battle was clear.

The Chaos army was collapsing. The Savior's forces were preparing to breach the wall.

Once they did—the fight would be over. Artillery would do the rest.

"Unless something goes wrong…"

Eden frowned.

Suddenly, his psychic senses screamed danger. His hair stood on end.

Something was going wrong.

The planet's surface was changing—collapsing faster than before.

The Warp Curtain was devouring the fortress.

Zzzzt—

The lights flickered.

BZZZT—

Carter drew his chainsword, on full alert.

KREEEEE—

A raspy daemonic voice echoed across the bridge.

Eden sighed.

"So. What do you want, Dark Master?"

It was obvious. The humiliated Be'lakor had called, desperate to gloat.

Chaos was never easy.

Humanity fought desperately to protect their homes. Chaos just showed up—like a virus, ravaging everything with Warp corruption.

Even if you beat them, you had to clean up the taint.

Humanity was always at a disadvantage.

Be'lakor's image materialized, looming and menacing.

Eden cast a psychic barrier, shielding the crew from its effects.

Then waited.

Be'lakor was gleeful.

"Devourer—you think beating that Chaos rabble means victory? They were a delay tactic, nothing more—"

He was cut off.

"Lord Savior!" Tak cried out. "The Warp Curtain is changing! Warp energy surging! The breach will happen in one hour—not several!"

Eden's eyes narrowed.

Even if they breached the walls now, they wouldn't reach the core in time.

Be'lakor laughed.

"You see it now, don't you? Your army will DIE here! The planet is falling, the daemons are coming—you've lost! Flee, if you must! But I'll find your home and burn it to ash!"

Eden just stared at him.

"…Oh."

That blank response made Be'lakor falter.

He had expected fear, anger—humiliation.

He'd summoned this call just to savor Eden's despair in front of his daemonic peers.

Instead—"Oh."

That was it?

Be'lakor growled and tried again. "Despair, Devourer! You're weak! Your failur—"

"Clown."

"…What?"

The word struck like a bolt. Be'lakor flinched.

The shame returned—raw and fresh.

"I said—you're a clown."

"You… you can't breach my defenses in time!"

Be'lakor trembled with rage. "I've WON!"

Eden calmly summoned a mirror in the Warp—projecting Be'lakor's twisted image back at him.

"Take a look. What do you see?"

"…What?"

Eden pointed.

"Normally, one would see a clown."

ROAR—

Be'lakor erupted in fury. "DEVOURER! I'LL RIP YOU TO PIECES!"

"Clown."

"RAAAHHHHH! I'LL KILL YOU!!"

"Clown."

BZZZT—

The call cut off.

...

Corevax – Fortress Core

The daemons stared at Be'lakor.

He shook with fury, crimson energy raging around him.

Despite being on the verge of victory—he was still humiliated.

He roared. Chains lashed out, crushing buildings.

Only one thing could ease this shame.

He had to kill the Devourer.

—

Dreamweaver – Bridge

"Heh. Looks like I pissed him off…"

Eden saw Be'lakor's shadow raging across Corevax's surface, his screams echoing through space.

Eden smirked.

After all his time on Earth's forums—he'd never lost an argument.

But his smile faded.

Be'lakor wasn't wrong.

Time was running out.

If they couldn't breach the fortress and stop the Rift, everything on the surface would be lost.

But—he had a backup plan.

"Kaul," Eden said through comms. "Is that thing ready?"

In a mechanic bay, sparks flew.

Kaul and his tech-priests worked feverishly over a strange-looking vehicle—something between a speeder bike and a gunship, with massive boosters.

"Almost ready," Kaul said. "Just a few minutes to teleport it down."

Eden exhaled.

This was Plan B.

If the army couldn't make it in time—then one man would.

A single champion would break through every line and deliver the teleport beacon.

That would allow Eden—and his Custodes—to teleport directly to the core.

And that man was—

Arye.

For a moment, Eden considered just cramming Arye into a drop pod and yeeting him into the fortress core.

But… probably too risky.

Better to ride in.

—

Plains Battlefield – 20km from the Fortress

The binary chant of the Machine Cult rose faintly.

BZZT—

A camo shield dropped, revealing two massive General Cannons.

These brutes packed ship-grade artillery—designed to tear down fortress walls.

"Praise the Omnissiah…"

A mech-priest carefully affixed the holy symbol onto the cannon.

Then fired.

BOOM—

A thunderous shot launched, crossing 20km in an instant—smashing the fortress shield.

BOOM—

The second shell hit the wall—tearing open a breach tens of meters wide.

The Savior's army surged toward the gap.

Chaos forces tried to resist—but it was too late.

Victory wouldn't be decided here.

Nearby, Cawl's special vehicle teleported in—a beast of a rocket-bike with over twenty thrusters.

Faster than a Space Marine could control.

Arye dismounted his Redeemer Knight.

He took a breath, lowered his black visor, and mounted the machine.

His mission: break through the entire fortress alone and deliver the beacon.

He would face the entire enemy alone.

And yet—he did not waver.

VROOOOM—

The rocket-engine howled.

A cloud of dust exploded beneath him.

He blazed toward the breach like lightning.

On the Dreamweaver—

Eden watched, tense.

Arye's arrival would mark the start of their final confrontation.

His first time facing a Primarch-tier foe—

(End of Chapter)

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