Chapter 92: Secure!

Chapter 92: Secure!

In a desperate gamble, Pilar reached into the warp, drawing forth Daemons and one final, monstrous daemon—a Greater Daemon of Khorne, a Bloodthirster. The creature’s very presence made the ground tremble as it bellowed its challenge to his foes.

Six, though daunted by the creature’s might, stood firm. He knew that if he could slay the daemons, the remaining cultists would be broken.

The High Priest Pilar sent the daemons and his remaining cultists to face Six’s forces; his hatred for each of them was palpable.

In response, Rebecca stepped forward, her Punisher raining bullets at the daemons and the remaining cultists

"Chew on this, assholes!"

RATATATATATATATATATAT!!!

Heavy gunfire roared, bullet casings clattering to the ground as her foes were shredded to pieces.

The High Priest watched, his grip tightening, as the fate of his invasion hung in the balance.

The clash of chainsword and daemonic axe resounded through the bunker. The Bloodthirster’s blows were like a whirlwind of death, but Six’s skill and determination matched its strength.

As the battle between Six and the Bloodthirster reached its climax, Pilar made his move.

"Maynard! Bring up the Holy Hand Grenade!"

Monks chanting:

Pie Iesu domine dona eis requiem~

Pie Iesu domine dona eis requiem, Pie Iesu, requiem~

Pie Iesu domine, eis requiem~

The other priest brought forth a case with a sacred item.

"How does it, um... how does it work?"

Pilar inquired.

"I know not, sir."

Answered the priest carrying the container.

"Consult the Book of Armaments!"

Following the High Priest’s orders, Priest Maynard read from the Book of Armaments.

"Armaments, Chapter two, verses nine to twenty-one."

"And Saint Attila raised the hand grenade up on high, saying, ’O Lord, bless this Thy hand grenade that, with it, Thou mayest blow Thine enemies to tiny bits in Thy mercy.’ And the Lord did grin, and the people did feast upon the lambs and sloths and carp and anchovies and orangutans and breakfast cereals and fruit bats and large chu--

"Skip a bit, Brother."

Pilar said as his eyebrows twitched in annoyance.

"And the Lord spake, saying, ’First shalt thou take out the Holy Pin. Then, shalt thou count to three. No more. No less. Three shalt be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three."

"Four shalt thou not count, nor either count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out. Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then, lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thy foe, who, being naughty in My sight, shall snuff it."

"Right! One!... Two!... Five!"

"Three, sir!"

"Three!"

Pilar grinned, hurling the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch into the fray. Explosions echoed, smoke and flames of destruction flooded the bunker.

As the smoke from the Holy Hand Grenade’s explosion cleared, the remnants of the battlefield became apparent. The once-mighty Bloodthirster, Khorne’s fury incarnate, was reduced to a smoking heap of gore and charred flesh.

The cultists, disoriented and blasted into oblivion by the overwhelming force, lay scattered across the bunker, their fanaticism broken in an instant. The tremors of destruction slowly faded as the echoes of the explosion reverberated through the bunker.

Six stood with Rebecca on the ground floor, escaping the blast by grabbing his wife and using his Terminator Blaze Luminous to drill a cone to dig himself quickly outside the bunker. Amidst the wreckage, his eyes narrowing as he surveyed the aftermath.

His Terminator Power Armor was covered in dirt and ash, the heat of the blast having caught him and singed his armor, but he remained unscathed. Rebecca, her Punisher smoking from the intensity of her fire, lowered the weapon with a satisfied grin. Her steely gaze scanned the battlefield, confirming that no threat remained.

"Well, he’s always been... a bit over the top, but it’s effective."

She said, brushing off the debris off her Power Armor and taking a step toward Six.

Six didn’t respond immediately. His focus was on the crater left by the grenade, the ground now cracked open, revealing a twisted mess of daemonic energy and scorched earth.

He knew this wasn’t over yet. Daemons of Khorne were notoriously difficult to destroy permanently. They could return, reborn from the Warp itself, and he couldn’t be sure whether Pilar’s fall was the end of their battle.

The High Priest Pilar, still alive but battered, stumbled to his feet, coughing up blood and clutching his chest. His once-commanding presence had diminished in the face of such overwhelming destruction. He glared at Six, his eyes wild with fury.

"How the fuck are you still alive asshole?!!!"

He spat, his voice hoarse but filled with venom.

"Shit! I didn’t want to reveal all my cards. But fuck it. You will now face my wrath, and there will be no escape for you."

Six stepped forward, his hand resting on the grip of his weapon.

"You can try, but next time, bring something bigger than a hand grenade."

Pilar’s eyes flickered with rage, ready to launch another assault. He staggered back, gesturing for his remaining forces to retreat. The cultists, seeing their leader’s enraged state and hearing his command, began to pull back, retreating into the shadows of the bunker.

Pilar’s threat hung in the air as he shouted an ominous phrase.

"VOID TRIGGER!!!"

The air crackled with an eerie, oppressive energy as Pilar’s body was engulfed by a dark, spherical void. Soon, cracks appeared in the void, revealing a new silhouette. The once-battered High Priest had now become something far more terrifying.

He was an eight-foot-tall humanoid resembling a dragon, with a scaled hide, a long tail, a crocodile-like head, and hair that fell to his chest. Six recognized him as Pilar because he still wore that ridiculous visor, that now gleamed with a menacing light.

"You dropped the soap dick! Don’t think you can stop me now, pussy."

Pilar’s voice, though still grating, was now deeper and filled with a distorted resonance.

"I am beyond your reach! I have ascended to a higher plane, and you will fall before my might."

Six exhaled sharply, adjusting his stance as he studied the monstrous new form Pilar had taken. The air around the transformed High Priest crackled with dark energy, the very presence of his transformation distorting reality itself.

Rebecca, unfazed, cocked her Punisher with a smirk.

"Well, he used it... He went full Saturday morning cartoon villain on us."

Rebecca, her Punisher now back in hand, stayed close, watching the daemon with a calculating eye.

"That’s one ugly upgrade."

She muttered, raising her weapon.

"But we’ve faced worse, haven’t we, big guy?"

Pilar flexed his newly transformed claws, his voice a guttural growl.

"You mock what you cannot comprehend. This is my true power made manifest! You will both die screaming!"

Six cracked his knuckles, rolling his shoulders, his Terminator armor flexing as he readied for the next phase of the battle.

"Yeah, yeah, we’ll see about that."

He turned slightly to Rebecca.

"Rebecca, cover me. We’ve got a lizard to put down."

Rebecca grinned, stepping back to a better firing position.

"Ooh, fun~"

Six nodded, but his focus never wavered. The ground beneath them shifted as Pilar’s new form flexed and released a deafening roar that rattled the walls of the bunker. The newly empowered High Priest raised his clawed hand and let out an incantation that caused the Warp to pulse and shudder.

"You have no idea what you’re up against!"

Pilar bellowed, his body crackling with dark energy. His tail lashed behind him, smashing the earth as if it were paper.

"Khorne’s fury is mine to command! Now you will know true suffering!"

Six didn’t flinch. Instead, he stepped forward, his power armor grinding with the weight of his resolve.

"I’ve fought more powerful opponents. You’re just another one to add to the pile."

With a quick motion, he drew his weapon—his Veris rifle, charged and ready. Rebecca, her eyes locked onto Pilar’s new form, prepared to lay down fire. As he advanced, his tail whipping through the air like a deadly whip, Six and Rebecca began to fire, unleashing a torrent of explosive rounds toward Pilar.

The plasma bolts struck with a sizzle, but Pilar barely flinched, the energy swirling around his form in a protective shield. He laughed, his voice a guttural growl that echoed throughout the destroyed bunker.

"You think your weapons can hurt me now?!"

Pilar roared, swinging his tail toward Six, who swiftly sidestepped, barely avoiding the devastating blow.

"My power is beyond your mortal comprehension!"

Rebecca, not one to be outdone, ducked behind a pile of rubble, using the debris as cover while she reloaded her weapon.

"Keep him busy, Six!"

She shouted, her voice brimming with intensity.

"I’ll get in close and show him what this Punisher can really do!"

Six gritted his teeth. He knew this was no ordinary fight. This was a battle against something far more dangerous, something that could not be taken lightly.

As Pilar charged forward, bringing down his clawed hands in an attempt to crush him, Six swiftly activated his chainsword, the engine roaring to life. He swung it in a wide arc, clashing with Pilar’s jagged claws. Sparks flew as the two forces collided, and the sheer strength of the monster’s blows sent shockwaves through the air.

Pilar snarled, a wicked grin stretching across his new monstrous form.

"You will never win."

He spat.

"I’m the fucking Hard-to-Destroy Reptile! You cannot defeat me!"

But Six wasn’t intimidated. As the chainsword met Pilar’s claws once again, he seized an opening. With a deft move, he switched to his plasma pistol, aiming for the daemon’s exposed flank. He fired, the shot sizzling through the air, and this time, Pilar let out an agonized scream as the energy penetrated his scaled hide.

"Still think you’re invincible?"

Six growled, his resolve unwavering.

Rebecca, seeing the opening, sprang into action. With expert precision, she dropped down from her perch and unleashed a barrage of bullets directly at Pilar’s back. The rounds struck true, tearing through the daemon’s defenses and forcing him to stagger backward.

Pilar’s grin faltered, replaced by a snarl of rage.

"You... you will pay for this, mortals!"

But before Pilar could react, a familiar, thunderous sound filled the air. Six’s Terminator power armor emitted a powerful surge of energy as he activated its full might. In one swift motion, he closed the distance between them, slamming his shoulder into Pilar’s chest and driving him back, cracking the earth beneath their feet.

The impact disoriented Pilar for a moment, giving Six the chance to land a devastating blow with his chainsword. He drove the blade deep into the daemon’s side, cutting through muscle and bone with ease.

Pilar howled in pain, staggering backward as the wound opened wider, and his monstrous form began to crack and falter.

"You think this is over?!"

He screamed, his voice beginning to warp with desperation.

Six’s gaze was unyielding.

"No. This ends now."

With a final, crushing swing, Six drove his chainsword into Pilar’s heart, severing his life force in an explosion of blood. The ground beneath them trembled as Pilar’s form collapsed to the ground.

The battlefield fell silent. The cultists, seeing their once-mighty leader fall, began to scatter, their resolve shattered by the loss of their High Priest.

Rebecca lowered her weapon, her voice steady but tinged with disbelief.

"Well... that was a bit more than I expected."

Six, his armor scorched and battered but still intact, took a deep breath.

"You and me both. But at least it’s over."

Dropping their guards because they thought that the fight was over, Pilar’s mangled body lunged forward, his speed unnatural for his damaged form. His clawed hand came down with the force of a collapsing building, but Six sidestepped at the last moment, countering with a devastating uppercut that sent a shockwave rippling through the battlefield.

Pilar barely flinched. Instead, he grinned, revealing rows of jagged-bloody teeth.

"Good. You might actually last a little longer this way."

Six said nothing, simply adjusting his stance again. His Terminator Armor whirred with power as he prepared for the fight.

This wasn’t just another skirmish. This was a battle against a force that defied natural order.

And Six? He was more than ready.