SWNOVELXO Chapter 114: The Visitor
The bells tolled, thick fog rolled in, swarms of flies screeched, and the ground trembled.
A colossal machine emerged from the mist, thin streams of moisture trailing along its armored curves. With a deafening roar, it charged toward the plaza.
The sluggish-moving undead were left far behind as the mech surged forward. Before long, however, the buzzing of flies filled the air once more—dark clouds of them swarmed out from the fog, clinging tightly around the mech.
Magos Korklan stood behind cover on the main street, his fire control and computation systems running calculations.
[Almost there, just give me five more minutes.]
A familiar voice echoed through the comms.
Data transferred, arcs of electricity flickered, and the Skitarii soldiers surrounding the Magos immediately opened fire. Their shots, precisely calculated, landed exactly where intended.
However, none of the firepower struck the mech itself. Instead, they tore into the dense swarm of flies around it. The sheer concentration of flies ignited in an explosion of flames, a massive fireball erupting midair. Within moments, the thick swarm around the Imperial Knight had been greatly diminished.
Seeing this, the swarm behind the mech immediately beat their wings, surging forward to fill the gap and restore its protective barrier.
But then—
BANG!
A bomb, hidden within the buildings flanking the main street, detonated. Structures crumbled, bricks and dust rained down, engulfing the mech’s towering frame.
Yet, in the Magos’s augmented vision, he saw the truth—buildings made of mere stone and wood posed no threat. A faint glow of an ion shield flickered through the dust. The massive Imperial Knight merely stalled for a moment before charging forward once more.
[Keep firing.]
He knew exactly what to do.
[For the Omnissiah! For the God of All Machines!]
Magos Korklan shouted over the channel as he moved with the Skitarii soldiers, spreading out. Calculations showed that at this range, the enemy’s cannon fire was powerful enough to obliterate their cover.
As expected, the moment the Magos and some of the Skitarii troops abandoned their defensive positions, a torrent of fire erupted from the enemy’s barrels. The spot they had just occupied was instantly reduced to rubble, fragments of ceramite and steel scattering everywhere.
The once heavily defended entrance to the main street now lay in ruins. The ground was uneven, covered in debris from the demolished barricades.
The Skitarii troops who hadn’t managed to retreat in time—or those caught in the blast—groaned on the ground. Some had been reduced to little more than charred chunks of flesh.
Scattered gunfire flashed from the flanks, a futile resistance barely scratching the mech’s armor.
Seeing that the opposition had crumbled, the Imperial Knight pressed forward unimpeded, stepping boldly into the field of ruins—
Boom! BANG!
The ground beneath it exploded! A massive pit, over three meters deep, yawned open, filled with buried explosives and volatile promethium.
Flames roared to life, licking at the mech’s hull. Caught off guard, the Imperial Knight plunged into the crater, its heavy frame slowly sinking into the soft, unstable soil beneath.
Immediately, the scattered firepower from the surrounding troops converged—not at the pilot above, but at the mech’s weakest joints.
The Imperial Knight’s cannons retaliated, but due to the Skitarii soldiers’ dispersed formations, it could only take out one small squad at a time.
Meanwhile, its engine roared as it attempted to climb out of the pit.
The hole wasn’t that deep, and soon, the mech was about to break free—
“Futile struggle!”
A mocking voice sneered from within the fog.
Magos Korklan’s computation engine whirred—this visitor was expected.
The odds shifted again. Rationality and logic told him this battle was already lost.
But at the very least, he could take this one down!
[For the Omnissiah!]
A Skitarii soldier’s cry rang out through the comms—
In that instant, the raging flames froze. The bright tongues of fire blossomed into a beautiful yet eerie stillness.
The mech’s joint suddenly seized up. Yet, its previous upward momentum remained unchecked. Before it could react, its own movement wrenched it apart at the joints!
A piercing screech of metal tore through the battlefield.
The Imperial Knight, having lost its supporting leg joints, let out a mechanical wail as it crashed down. Dirt and sparks flew in all directions.
Under the force of gravity, its upper body slammed into the ground. A black banner, once held high, struck the crater’s edge, severing numerous transmission cables in an instant.
A white-haired woman lay still in the dirt, her ion shield flickering feebly. But at this moment, its protection was no longer needed.
The Decayer, watching from the mist, widened its many compound eyes in disbelief. Countless tiny facets within its eyes flickered in shock.
Within the mech’s frozen joint—
A Skitarii soldier, reduced to only his upper body, clung desperately to the left joint, his hand gripping a grenade tightly.
A stasis grenade!
Even with his lower torso missing, cables and shredded flesh hanging from his severed waist, the Decayer could tell—he had been augmented for extreme durability.
A wave of fury surged through the Decayer. The buzzing of flies rose into a violent crescendo.
It had been watching Hades closely as he worked on the repairs.
Why was that man repairing and operating the Blackstone Obelisk?!
But the Decayer had not been alarmed—according to its calculations, the Imperial Knight, shielded by the swarm, would have torn through everything long before this became an issue.
But now—
The Decayer, seething, rubbed its hands together before raising its whip-wielding right hand.
The dense crowd filling the street erupted—sacrifice! Sacrifice! Countless house-sized plague flies took to the air, and within the writhing swarm, grotesquely bloated humanoid Daemons staggered to their feet.
However, by forcefully initiating the summoning before the ritual was complete, the Decayer paid a price—it momentarily lost balance, dropping several feet before steadying itself.
A thick, churning mass of black flies burst forth from the white mist, streaking toward Hades at breakneck speed!
Stop him. Now. Immediately!
The swarm swept past the Skitarii’s defensive line.
Leading the charge, the Decayer took flight, but this time, it was more cautious—it deliberately dispersed the flies around itself, ensuring the previous mistake wouldn’t be repeated.
The first wave of flies reached the Blackstone Obelisk, swirling above it, unleashing venom and stingers in a relentless downpour.
Most of the plague flies, however, surged toward Hades.
With the Decayer’s assault underway, Magos Korklan’s engines roared to full power as he and the Skitarii troops rushed to the obelisk’s defense, bracing themselves against the swarm’s vicious attacks.
Korklan swung the Omnisian Axe with both primary limbs, hacking wildly at the flies. Disintegration beams flared, scorching the air with violent heat, instantly evaporating the poison rain that fell like a storm.
Jin, controlling his servo-arms, assisted Hades by cutting down the first wave of flies that lunged toward him.
The Decayer itself was closing in fast.
Yet, amidst the relentless onslaught—the furious buzzing of the swarm—Hades remained atop the obelisk, unmoved, as if untouched by the chaos around him. His servo-arms darted across the Blackstone Obelisk, working with rapid precision.
Just a little more. He only needed to reconnect a few more circuits—just enough to make it work.
Beneath his helmet, Hades’ black eyes shone. Unconsciously, he held his breath, his hands moving even faster, yet without the slightest margin for error.
He had already pushed the obelisk’s power far beyond its limits. If everything went as expected, the surge of energy would burn it out the moment it activated.
But that would be enough.
Dark light gathered, flickering wildly across the obelisk’s surface.
At the epicenter, the thickest swarm of flies detonated in an instant!
[RUN! AS FAR AS YOU CAN!]
Hades’ voice, distorted by the comms, rang out.
The final piece of the puzzle was about to fall into place—
Korklan immediately sprinted outward. But in his display, he saw it—the Decayer’s whip lashed forward, cutting through the swarm, streaking directly toward the focused, unsuspecting Hades.
At this range, the only allied unit close enough to intervene was himself.
There was no hesitation.
Korklan raised the Omnisian Axe and swung it down on the whip.
The tactile sensors screamed with feedback—it felt as though he had just cleaved through adamantine.
His engines spiked to max output in an instant. Korklan felt his own components shatter under the strain.
But—
He had altered the whip’s trajectory by a fraction of a degree.
It was enough.
Korklan tried to retreat, but before he could withdraw, the enraged Decayer lashed out, striking him head-on.
The force hurled him into the air.
“No!!!”
The Decayer’s shrill, rasping voice rang out—
At the very heart of the swarm, the Blackstone Obelisk suddenly began to tremble violently. Writhing black lightning erupted from its surface!
For every soul-bearing being, the world instantly went dark.
Ripped abruptly from his hyper-focused state, Hades gasped for breath, his mind dazed from the sheer magnitude of calculations he had just processed.
His body felt rigid as he slowly turned to take in the scene before him.
This was another kind of apocalypse.
For a moment, it was as if all sound had vanished from the world.
His vision still displayed the battlefield, but now the entire scene flickered in black and white, as if phasing between two realities.
The once-writhing swarm of flies dropped lifelessly from the air, bursting apart like a black rainstorm, their remains splattering against Hades’ power armor with a brittle, crackling sound.
The Skitarii troops, who had stood strong just moments ago, collapsed where they stood, their bodies failing them.
In the distance, the advancing Nurgle forces seemed to have their very souls ripped away, their massive forms freezing in place before toppling over—melting into foul puddles of putrid sludge.
A ringing silence filled Hades’ ears, but he did not hesitate.
He leapt from the obelisk, wrenching Obituary from its sheath as he charged toward the towering, half-fly, half-human monstrosity in the distance.
Obituary claimed the Great Unclean One, granting it a final, irreversible demise.
The moment Hades’ scythe fell, the shuddering Blackstone Obelisk let out a piercing, agonized wail, its surface splitting apart with deep, jagged cracks.
The fractures erupted, sending shards of black stone tumbling down.
And then—
Color returned to the world.
Hades turned, already moving to check on Magos Korklan, who had been hurled through the air earlier—
A beautifully crafted longsword pierced straight through his power armor.
“Kh—!”
A wet, guttural cough escaped Hades as blood poured from his lips.
Pointed boots. Ornate attire. The figure had stepped onto the preordained stage with silent, effortless grace.
A pale mask, gleaming with a perpetual smile.
“Greetings.”
The newcomer bowed.
Hades stared in disbelief at the unexpected visitor.
To the side, the sound of Jin struggling to rise caught the stranger’s attention.
The masked figure tilted their head slightly—then, without hesitation, fired two shots toward Jin and Korklan.