My Life as A Death Guard
Chapter 521: Unrestricted Dual-Personality Duel
Mortarion's wretched figure was effortlessly sent flying by the shockwave of the torpedo explosion. Konrad watched with amusement as the small dot grew smaller and smaller—to be honest, Konrad Curze wasn't sure if Mortarion could even make it back.
But he hoped Mortarion would return.
Konrad withdrew his hand, his pitch-black eyes fixed on Horus. Horus stared back at Konrad Curze in shock, his pupils trembling. The Warmaster seemed to have yet to grasp the situation, which was understandable, for Konrad Curze had not attacked him and had greeted him with a friendly gesture.
This was good.
Because next, Konrad was going to gouge out his eyes!
Konrad lunged forward with explosive speed!
The Claw of Horus successfully intercepted him a fraction of a millimeter before Curze's talons could reach Horus's eye. Between the crossed iron blades, Konrad's index and middle fingers pressed against the center of Horus's pupil—just a hair's breadth away.
Konrad twisted his two fingers, trying to reach Horus, and then he did. He heard Horus's roar of fury and saw the arcs of electricity erupting from the Lightning Claw.
Horus was enraged. Before he could even register it, Konrad leaped, kicking off Horus's breastplate. The recoil yanked his seized right hand free.
He twisted half a turn in mid-air. Through his inverted vision, Konrad saw the Lightning Claw's phantom image flash before him!
Still airborne, Konrad thrust his hand out and seized Horus's swinging claw. In the slow-motion flow of time, he saw Horus's stunned gaze. Konrad's wrist snapped with force, pulling himself violently toward Horus!
In mid-air, Konrad lowered his legs and kicked at Horus's groin, holding onto the Lightning Claw to prevent Horus from defending himself!
Horus had clearly never faced a fighting style like Konrad Curze's. The Primarch flailed, lifting a leg in a desperate attempt to dodge. An opening! Without a moment's hesitation, Konrad let go of the Lightning Claw and ducked low, sliding across the ground beneath Horus's raised leg! Simultaneously, his free hands wrapped around Horus's other leg, the one still planted on the ground!
He slid behind Horus!
The massive momentum brought Horus crashing down!
Thud!!!
Before the thunderous sound of Horus hitting the ground could even fade, Konrad had already released his grip. His lithe, wiry frame rolled across the floor, instantly springing into a feral crouch and lunging at Horus once more.
Horus struggled to rise, but Konrad's attacks were relentless, like a cockroach—ever-present yet impossible to strike. Horus swung his Lightning Claw, but Konrad never entered the arc of the lightning.
Shink!
The sound of a dagger piercing leg armor rang out. Accompanied by Konrad's manic laughter, Horus felt a sudden, sharp pain in his thigh. The Primarch immediately abandoned all defense, struggling to stand while reaching down to rip the blade from his leg.
A dark shadow slammed into Horus from his right side. Horus was a fraction of a second too slow to react, but the force against his waist brought a surge of grim satisfaction—Konrad's strength was visibly waning!
The spell was taking effect.
Horus felt the fury of being mocked. The final syllable of the incantation struck Konrad—meaning Konrad would now share a significant portion of the curse. But Horus didn't want Konrad's suffering!
He didn't understand—he didn't understand—they were all madmen!
Horus braced his left foot, steadying his center of gravity. The blow had sent him reeling, but he managed to stay on his feet. Seizing the moment, Horus lunged to grab the thief, only to snatch another handful of tattered leather.
Roaring in fury, Horus hurled the scrap of cloth to the ground.
"Konrad! I have never been your enemy. Your vengeance is meant for Mortarion!"
Before him, the beast crouched on all fours, its fangs bared in a sneer.
Konrad shook his dizzy head. It felt as if ten thousand Horuses were screaming at him all at once. That spell was a real kick, he thought, but fortunately... thank Sevatar, I've long been used to fighting while half-delirious.
"I was judged guilty by one who presumed to be innocent..." Konrad muttered, stepping backward into the shadows. "And my sentence is to fight you. Hahahahahahaha—"
Suddenly, Horus felt a breeze brush his left cheek. He raised his Lightning Claw, and the next instant, a brilliant flash of fire erupted!
After the crackle of lightning, Horus saw a face twisted in laughter.
The power in Horus's claw suddenly slackened. A black shadow flashed past his right waist. He spun to the left, his returning claw meeting resistance mid-swing, while a jarring impact shuddered through his right side.
Before Horus could even register the blow, Konrad had already lunged behind him like a viper. One hand seized the nutrient tube on Horus's head, and a blood-stained dagger plunged downward from above.
Horus threw a backward elbow strike, but Konrad had anticipated it. He sprang up, his legs coiling around Horus like an ape's. His right hand never let go of the tube as his left foot slammed into Horus's back.
Konrad launched himself into the air again. He yanked his right hand tight. The sound of metal snapping echoed through the air. He released his grip, and a few drops of blood sprayed from the severed tube, instantly freezing in the frigid air.
Konrad smiled.
This was the final straw. The Warmaster swung his Lightning Claw, and the electrical arcs erupted in a blinding burst, mirroring his own fury.
Konrad instantly jerked his head to the side, attempting to dodge the strike, but his crumbling body was a fraction too slow. The talons tore through flesh, leaving jagged gashes across his face.
The flesh, seared by the lightning, hissed and bubbled, only to be instantly coated in a fine layer of frost.
Konrad immediately retreated back into the darkness. He was not alone there; countless others lurked in the shadows—old and young, men and women, dead, dead, dead.
They stared at him with vacant expressions. Konrad practically fled back into the gloom, hissing in pain, "Soon... soon, I'll be with you!"
Innumerable hands reached out from the darkness, clutching at Konrad Curze, threatening to tear him apart, to drag him into the bottomless Warp, into the very hell he had forged with his own hands—the sins of his past had finally caught up to him.
Konrad screamed.
He knew the despair and agony of choosing one's own fate! But he had never imagined this kind of pain!!!
He shrieked in despair, realizing that any attempt to twist fate would demand the heaviest price. Mortarion, now a psyker-abomination, had already shown him the truth—
On another timeline, a blood-mangled angel with its head lolling to the side wept tears that flowed toward him.
Fate! Fate!!!
Konrad recoiled as his soul was torn from its place. At this moment, Horus's spell began to gnaw at his very bones. He was naked now! He stood naked before the Warp!
Konrad came to a sudden halt, trembling, kneeling naked in a pool of blood. He saw the colossal Eye of Terror staring at him, staring at the last man who had chosen to stand. The great pupil slowly rotated, squeezing countless pale, bloated corpses from beneath its eyelid.
Konrad recognized them, recognized every single one of them—the sinners who had died at his hands. He realized the price of facing Fate was to fall into the Hell of Sinners, and the shackles had already been clamped upon his soul—
Beside Konrad Curze, who knelt on the ground twitching and clawing at his own head, Horus slowly approached.
The warhammer in his hand dragged across the floor, emitting a piercing, grating sound.
In the darkness, Horus's face was obscured, his features lost to the gloom. Only his eyes burned with the bright, furious glare of one who had been mocked.
The bastard's gone mad again, Horus sneered. No one could fathom Konrad's mind—the Dark King had long since devolved into a shattered-minded monster.
Horus gasped for air, cursing Mortarion from the depths of his soul. That lucky bastard. He had escaped. He had actually escaped!
Horus raised his warhammer, aiming for Konrad's head.
Konrad remained lost in his own world, the Dark King wailing and pleading. Horus sneered and swung the hammer, Worldbreaker carving a lethal arc through the air—
"Yes! Yes!"
Konrad erupted in a shout of joy. The Primarch laughed as he threw himself backward, arms wide as if welcoming an imaginary crowd to feast upon him. Yet, his backward lurch was perfectly timed to evade the strike. Horus's hammer swung through empty air.
The next moment, Konrad twisted back with a grotesque contortion, charging Horus without a shred of self-preservation, his defenses wide open.
The Lightning Claw slashed at the oncoming Curze, but Curze's movements had become increasingly erratic, utterly devoid of form or rhythm. He managed to narrowly evade Horus's strike by sheer chance.
"I'm going to hell!"
Konrad shrieked in a jubilant roar. "Every crime, every drop of blood—it all remembers!"
"The guilty must be punished! The guilty must be punished! Long live the Night Haunter!"
Horus was utterly bewildered. Konrad's voice was pitched high with triumph, but his face betrayed him. His eyes were stretched wide in agony, streaming with tears of terror.
Madman! Horus cursed inwardly. He's completely lost his mind—or maybe I have. There is no reason left here, no sanity. One moment he had been fighting a venom-fanged giant moth, and now he was locked in combat with a lunatic who had seemingly materialized from nowhere.
Horus could see that Konrad had lost all reason. Torn apart by the Warp's power, he was on the brink of shattering, yet his bestial instincts kept him anchored here, driving him to keep fighting Horus.
"Konrad! Get back!" Horus roared. "I have no interest in you! Do not stain the Vengeful Spirit with your life!"
Konrad, who had been contorting and crawling on the wall as if struggling, suddenly whipped his head around.
A manic grin spread across his face, but the bloodthirsty smile only grew colder. Finally, in a startlingly calm voice, Konrad whispered,
"Sanguinius once fell into my visions."
"Guess who he saw?"
Horus froze, glaring at Konrad. Konrad slid down the wall, gliding before Horus like a shadow.
He stepped elegantly through the blood-slicked floor, coming to a halt before Horus. For a fleeting moment, Horus thought the man before him was Fulgrim.
Curze stepped forward, his talons raking across Horus's face. He whispered, "Sanguinius saw you... You made the Great Angel fall. You are the culprit."
Konrad shook his head. He felt that Horus had gone completely mad, but this, all of this—was simply—too magnificent!
"This is the prophecy! I was right!"
Konrad burst into laughter again, but this time, the warhammer Horus swung sent him flying.
Konrad spat out a mouthful of blood. The massive Eye of Terror was staring down at him, and he finally understood everything!
He was the favored child of prophecy!
Not Mortarion, not Sanguinius, but him, he, Konrad Curze!
"Mortarion has become the moth he loathes most, and Sanguinius has fallen at the push of his dearest friend!"
Konrad coughed up blood, laughing wildly.
"All who defy the prophecy shall fall into the abyss—only I, only I will achieve ultimate purity!!!"
Those who sin will be punished!