Warhammer: In the Name of Nirvana

What kind of strength would an opponent have who could kill six Dawnbreaker veterans in a row?

Before this, Lana had never seriously considered this issue: at least in the last seventy years, the legion championship had never been his primary responsibility.

He had more important responsibilities: to carry out her authority in the absence of the Primarch, to calm the disputes between the captains when they were at loggerheads, and to temporarily take on the responsibility of receiving other Primarchs when they suddenly visited.

But the most important thing is always only one.

That is: unless it is necessary, unless the Primarch himself gives the order, he and the entire Primarch's Guard must stay by the Primarch's side like an old tree taking root, and no matter how bad the battle situation is, it is not worth their attention.

Even on a battlefield as brutal as Randan or as grand as Ullanor, or in an emergency to exterminate the Forgotten, this iron rule has never been shaken: the Old Guards were mobilized by the Primarch's orders, or followed in the Primarch's footsteps to fight.

The same is true for Rana.

Perhaps he has countless positions and titles, but in Lana's heart, the only one that is truly valuable is the Lord Commander of the Guards: this is the first responsibility granted to him by the Primarch, and it is the only title he holds that is officially recognized by both Greater Avalon and Holy Terra.

"It's really embarrassing..."

Morgan's chief guard took deep breaths, and bright red blood slowly dripped from the corner of his forehead and seeped into his eyes, bringing a different kind of stinging pain: his brain had never been so clear as it was now, but the clarity also brought unprecedented pain.

Rana could feel that both of his hands holding the sword were shaking uncontrollably, not because of fear, but because he was succumbing to the unstoppable power of the powerful enemy in front of him: just like his bent legs were not to keep a low center of gravity, but simply because he could not lift them up.

How embarrassing: just like what he had muttered just now.

Filled with righteous indignation, he led the support troops into the enemy's defense zone. With the support of friendly forces who arrived earlier, he broke through the main defense line of the assassins and trapped a large number of elite aliens in a short period of time. Things had been going smoothly so far.

Where does the next problem come from?

Perhaps he discovered that the powerful assassin who killed four Dawnbreaker veterans in a row not only did not retreat with the main force, but instead resolutely stayed where he was. While covering the retreat of the main force behind him, he also casually killed two Dawnbreakers who were chasing him here.

It is indeed a powerful opponent. Both its strength and awareness deserve the respect of the Chief of the Guards: Lana admires it. This has nothing to do with race, but is the most simple identification between warriors.

Perhaps it was to seek justice for the brothers who died in the battle, or perhaps it was simply because it was difficult to find a good opponent: the chief guard, who had not fought in the battlefield for a long time, ordered his subordinates to continue pursuing the remaining enemies, and then planned to kill this beast single-handedly.

He certainly has the confidence to do so.

Admittedly, due to the special nature of the mission of the Primarch's personal guard, Rana has not experienced a serious life-and-death battle for a long time. Compared with frontline warriors such as Hector, Bayar and Diarmait, his combat level is definitely lower.

But it’s not too bad, right?

Such fragile confidence shattered like a bubble when he walked into the bloody meat grinder with his head held high, only to find that the assassin waiting there was not only three times his height when standing up, but the four swords in his hands were all longer than him, and his momentum and condition did not decline in the slightest due to the previous series of fierce battles.

He seemed to have chosen an opponent for himself that was far more troublesome than he had imagined.

The decline in his combat level was far more exaggerated than he had expected.

It was after the fourth round of the fight that Rana realized the cruel truth.

The giant-like stabbing warrior in front of him was stronger than him, faster and more responsive than him, and more skillful with the sword: even the small moves he made to oppress the enemy during battle were far more sophisticated than those of the Dawnbreaker, and even a random attack could be accurate and successful.

In front of it, Lana did not look like a Terra veteran who had fought for more than two hundred years, but rather like a rookie who had never touched a sword: This was really wrong, could it be that this assassin in front of him had lived for thousands of years?

Or has his level already fallen to such a pathetic level? It has been too long since he experienced life-and-death battles on the battlefield, causing the former Phoenix of the Second Legion to become a weakling under the alien sword?

Rana couldn't figure it out, but the fact that he was gradually forced into a corner and the horrific scars on his arms and chest could not be false: although the stabbing warrior on the opposite side was also slashed by the Chief of the Guards, leaving several unstoppable bleeding wounds, it was still in a state of ease.

Not even angry.

Not only that, when the situation on the battlefield gradually tilted towards the Dawnbreaker Legion, the defense line of the Assassins collapsed and they were defeated step by step, and the sound of war gradually moved away. In this increasingly silent broken hall, the Assassin warrior standing opposite Rana actually spoke.

“You fought well.”

Such fluent Gothic.

That insect-like mouthpart could actually produce a chilling smile, and it caressed its four swords carelessly, looking down on the poverty of the Dawnbreaker: Although Lana had armed himself as best as possible, he could only hold his usual sword in one hand and the sharp blade given to him by Lucius in the other.

As for what's in the sword box: The Chief Guard is considering whether to open it.

No: that thing would definitely be more troublesome than destroying this powerful alien.

How could he release a tiger into the forest just to kill a jackal?

Dawnbreaker rejected this proposal and instead observed the situation around him. One of the benefits that Morgan's gene seed brought to the soldiers of the Second Legion was clearly revealed at this moment: the more desperate their situation on the battlefield, the calmer the minds of Morgan's sons would become.

Although this advantage is not as obvious as their strong vitality, it is often an opportunity to turn defeat into victory.

As he thought about it, Lana glanced quickly out the window: he was standing in a tall tower built on the crater. Even airplanes could pass under his feet. The alien turrets were farther above his head. His brothers were moving towards there, and they would definitely not be able to get back to provide support for a while.

Well then, that's the case.

Lana looked at the floor beneath his feet: he could even hear hurried footsteps from lower levels.

"Do you know?"

The assassin on the opposite side was still speaking, his accent was so standard it made people's blood tremble: the Royal Guards tried hard not to think about how he learned these words, but just tried to recover his strength as much as possible to prepare for the next round of death fight.

"I actually admire you."

The stabbing warrior stroked his bleeding chest with one hand, and the sound of it was so sincere.

"It's been a long time: It's been a long time since an opponent could leave me such a real wound."

"And it was in a glorious duel."

It smiled, and the sound of joy seemed to come from the deepest part of the subspace.

"Your allies were winning victory after victory. You could have done it more easily: for example, you could have called back the soldiers on the front line and helped them to stop me like hunting prey. But you didn't choose to do that. You still have the arrogance of a warrior deep in your soul."

"You know what: this kind of arrogance is what I like most."

"Especially the arrogance of the enemy."

As he spoke, the sharp-tongued warrior easily took off his upper armor, revealing his bare chest with clear contours. His four arms were thicker than Rana's thighs, and the snake skin on his lower body shone with gorgeous gem colors, but his overall skin gradually turned purple.

It's obvious: it's exciting.

"Isn't it a blessing that a long life ends in such a great duel?"

The creature was in high spirits, its body twisting like a rotting bouquet of flowers, praying to the god it worshipped: Lana was not sure whether the powerful enemy he blocked was the best warrior among the aliens, but he obviously did not intend to continue listening.

There was no response, no battle cry. The Lord Commander adjusted his breathing for the last time, and after a moment of hesitation, at the faint encouragement of a voice in his heart, he threw the sword that Lucius gave him into his dominant hand.

"A last-ditch effort, huh?"

The stabbing warrior nodded with satisfaction and even threw away his two swords at any time.

To Rana's senses, its sound actually became pleasant to the ear.

"Come on, then."

The alien roared and pounced on Morgan's chief guard like a whirlwind. The sword blade was so fast that it was impossible to see the trace. It brushed past Rana's shadow, and its twisting snake body avoided the Dawnbreaker's stab: it launched an attack like a storm, forcing the Dawnbreaker to hide everywhere in this small hall, and even a blood mark appeared on its face.

One blow, one blow, and another blow. The balance of victory was visibly tilting towards the strongest warrior among the assassins. Although Rana was constantly inflicting damage to his enemy, perhaps because his strength was too weak, the opponent he faced was simply too powerful. All the pain was insignificant to the assassin in front of him.

It was as if it was not a creature in the real universe at all, and its true soul and body existed in another dimension: However, even with such a disadvantage, the fierce counterattack of the Chief Guard would often make the assassin stop, shocked that he would actually be hurt.

And then: It actually laughed.

“As expected…”

The assassin muttered to himself, staring at the Dawnbreaker as if he had discovered a new continent.

"You have indeed been promoted..."

Before he finished speaking, Rana seized the opportunity of the pause. He leaped up like St. George pouncing on a dragon, first using his sword to chop off the stabbing claws, then, taking advantage of a flaw in the airtight cage, he inserted the sword given to him by Lucius himself deeply into the alien's chest like a poisoned dagger.

The monster roared in pain, raised its body with its tail, and slashed downward with the sword at high speed, throwing the Chief Guard far away like a rag, to another corner of the room, while it itself stood proudly like a giant, with the Sword of Lucius clearly stuck in its chest.

"you……"

Before the alien could say anything, it sensed something was wrong: after discovering that even such a fatal injury as an piercing to the chest did not cause any inconvenience to the opponent in front of him, Lana gritted his teeth and personally wiped away the last trace of chivalry in his pupils.

He flicked the switch on his wrist.

"Um?"

"Bang!!!"

This strange behavior just made the assassin warrior feel a little suspicious, but under its feet, the sky collapsed and the earth split. The flames and shock waves that were enough to melt everything roared like a giant beast towards the side of the floor occupied by the assassin. When the torrent and smoke engulfed everything, half of the ground of the entire hall had disappeared.

But it was not over yet. The assassin did not fall to the next level because the ground of the next level was also covered with bombs: explosions sounded one after another, layer after layer, from the clouds that even the Valkyrie gunboat could not easily reach, all the way down to the deepest part of the crater under their feet.

"whispering sound……"

"Fortunately, I set it up in advance."

After lying there for a while and taking a few deep breaths with great difficulty, Rana finally had the strength to wipe the dust and blood from the corners of his mouth. He was also affected by the shock wave, but apart from the aching bones all over his body, he was fine.

The Chief of the Guards was just thankful: thankful that when facing such a powerful opponent, he was not blinded by the so-called glory of a warrior, but decided to do some necessary backup work before stepping into this hall.

Those guys did a pretty good job.

He stood up and walked to the seemingly shaky edge, looking down. The abyss of at least a thousand meters was like a black hole, taking away all the light in the eyes of the Chief Guard: Fortunately, these thorns like to rely on their anti-gravity technology to build cities in places such as craters, otherwise he would not be able to send this troublesome guy to hell in one breath.

This height: even the Emperor and the Primarch can’t bear it, right?

As Lana was thinking, he found that at the edge of the explosion on the next floor, several mortal soldiers were waving at him excitedly, and the leader was Sergeant Hans who brought him here.

"How is it, sir?"

Hans yelled.

"Very good!"

Rana laughed, took a few seconds to walk to the next level, and patted the mortal warrior on the shoulder: It turned out that it was right to entrust the backup project to him. While he was fighting with the assassin warriors, the mortals did their jobs well.

only……

"What a shame about the sword Lucius gave me."

"sword?"

Hans was curious.

"What sword?"

"Ah: I stuck a valuable weapon in that stabbing man's chest, and it seems to have fallen into the crater with it."

“I see.”

Hans nodded.

"So there is a chance to get it back, sir."

"What's the meaning?"

Lana turned his head.

"It's like this: after each battle we have special personnel to clean up the battlefield and take away all the materials that can be used. Even if they fall into the crater, we can find them and make good use of them. Anyway, the crater below is just a dead volcano."

"If the sword is good enough, then after the battle, if you rush to the recycling department in time, you may be able to intercept it before it is thrown into the furnace: it should be able to withstand the impact, right?"

"About the same?"

Lana nodded absently.

He remembered: the Legion did have a tradition of careful budgeting. As early as when they were the Fang Angels, they liked to drag away all the supplies left by the enemy on the battlefield after victory, like hamsters.

The mortals nowadays are just following their example.

"What if I'm late?"

"Um……"

"Then it will probably be used as scrap metal, and after being recycled, it will be used as steel to repair the breach and integrated into all aspects of the Aurora or Avalon: this is what it has been doing for the past 100 years."

"By then, I'm afraid even the original body won't be able to find it again."