This is the bonus chapter for reaching 400 Powerstones.
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[Wings of Freedom Regional Chat]
[I Just Like Sleeping In]: "Holy crap, guys, look!"
"Look at that guy sneaking up on Lucius!"
Countless Chaos players followed his directions and looked over...
At the edge of the makeshift medical platform.
A figure wearing an Imperial Auxilia uniform was sneaking toward Lucius, taking advantage of the fact that everyone's attention was glued to Paul.
His face was completely unfamiliar, a total NPC-looking face.
But the black ID floating above his head gave away his identity...
[The Emperor is Just a Corpse]
[Slaanesh I Must Operate You Hard] spoke up gloomily:
"What else could he be doing..."
"He bought a rocket launcher from the shop earlier, said he was gonna blast Lucius with a rocket today no matter what."
"Now that Lucius is lying there like a dead pig, it's the perfect opportunity."
[Konnichiwa Slaanesh-chan]: "Should we stop him?"
"Lucius is the future Champion of Slaanesh, after all..."
[I Just Like Sleeping In]: "Stop him my ass!"
"Let him shoot!"
"Lucius isn't gonna die from it anyway, let the guy vent."
[Number One Handsome of the Soul Hall]: "Plus, he's walking into a crowd of Emperor's Children right now."
"He's definitely not surviving after firing that rocket."
"Isn't it easier than us having to do it ourselves?"
–
By the medical platform.
The two Emperor's Children apothecaries were crouched beside Lucius, completely focused on treating his gruesome wounds.
They didn't notice a mortal wearing an Auxilia uniform quietly creeping closer.
Twenty meters.
Fifteen meters.
Eight meters.
[The Emperor is Just a Corpse] stopped behind a coral pillar and slowly pulled that M40 rocket launcher out of his inventory.
The pitch-black barrel gave off a cold gleam in the night.
He looked at the mangled body on the platform.
His mouth split into a manic, crazy grin.
"You piece of trash, Lucius."
His voice was soft, like he was talking to himself.
"Look at you now."
"Weren't you acting all tough before?"
"Chopping all four of us down with one sword strike?"
"How come you're the one beaten into the dirt now?"
He took a deep breath, hoisted the rocket launcher onto his shoulder, and took aim.
The two apothecaries were entirely focused on treating Lucius's wounds and still didn't notice a thing.
[The Emperor is Just a Corpse] pulled the trigger.
Whoosh!!!
The rocket tore through the night sky, trailing a blinding white exhaust flame as it barreled straight toward the medical platform.
In that instant, everyone's eyes were drawn to the sudden flash of fire.
Vespasian snapped his head around.
Saul Tarvitz's hand instantly dropped to the hilt of his sword.
Paul's brow furrowed slightly.
The rocket was incredibly fast, reaching the medical platform in the blink of an eye.
The two Emperor's Children apothecaries finally reacted.
One of them abruptly activated the energy shield generator on his power armor, instantly deploying a pale blue, translucent barrier in front of them.
The next second.
BOOM!!!
The rocket slammed into the shield, erupting into a blinding fireball.
The shockwave blasted outward, sending gravel and loose debris flying in all directions.
But the shield solidly blocked all the damage.
The two apothecaries stood exactly where they were, completely unharmed.
However...
As the flames dissipated, a bloodcurdling scream rang out from the platform.
"Ahhhhh!!!"
It was Lucius's voice.
The two apothecaries hurriedly turned around, only to freeze in unison.
Lucius was still lying there. All the explosive damage had been blocked by the shield in front of the apothecaries.
His injuries hadn't worsened, and the bleeding had stopped.
But...
That flowing, perfect white hair he was so incredibly proud of...
Was currently smoking, giving off the foul stench of burnt hair.
Even though the shield blocked the blast damage, the sheer heat and flames generated by the explosion had accurately bypassed them.
The two apothecaries in their power armor were perfectly fine; that level of heat was absolutely nothing to their ceramite plating.
But Lucius was totally screwed.
His beautiful white hair had been licked by the tongues of fire, burned completely clean from root to tip.
All that was left was a smooth, steaming... bald head.
--
Standing in the distance, [The Emperor is Just a Corpse] watched this unfold and burst into hysterical laughter.
"Hahahahahaha!!!"
"Bald! Lucius is totally bald!!!"
"Worth it! That shot was totally worth it!!"
The surrounding soldiers finally snapped out of their daze.
Dozens of lasguns were raised in unison, aiming squarely at the figure standing by the coral pillar.
[The Emperor is Just a Corpse] showed absolutely zero fear.
He threw the rocket launcher aside, planted his hands on his hips, and started screaming at the surrounding Emperor's Children, the Auxilia, and all the players hiding in the dark:
"You stupid bitch, Lucius! I'm going to kill you sooner or later!"
"And all you dumbass Loyalists!"
"You're playing a damn video game and you still want to be the Emperor's dogs?"
"Is the Emperor paying your salary?!"
"Haven't you spent enough time on your knees in the real world?"
"What Emperor?! He's just a corpse waiting to happen!"
"The Dawn faction are even bigger idiots!"
"If I didn't know better, I'd think none of you had day jobs!"
"Isn't real life exhausting enough??"
"You seriously log into a game just to clock in for another shift and 'benefit humanity'? My ass!"
"Have you guys completely lost your minds playing this game?"
"And those Chaos players are total morons!"
"You're literally playing the Chaos faction, what the hell are you 'planning' for?!"
"Just go in guns blazing! Kill who you want! Go crazy if you want!"
"Just a bunch of absolute morons!"
He got more and more worked up as he yelled, his average face glowing with the sheer catharsis of letting it all out.
"Now this is a good game! Hahahaha!"
He pulled a laspistol from his waist.
"You bunch of idiots, no one can..."
Before he could finish his sentence.
Bang!
The roar of a bolter tore through the night sky.
[The Emperor is Just a Corpse]'s entire body instantly exploded under the force of that single shot.
Chunks of meat and blood splattered everywhere, painting an irregular stain across the ground.
The laspistol tumbled twice in the air before hitting the ground with a clatter.
Up in the watchtower, Gryson Thorne, the lieutenant of the Emperor's Children Tenth Company, slowly lowered his smoking bolter, his brow furrowed.
"What the hell was that guy babbling about?"
An Emperor's Children warrior standing nearby leaned over, a weird look on his face.
"No idea..."
"He seemed to have a grudge against Lucius... said he was going to kill him sooner or later."
"Everything after that was just a bunch of weird, incomprehensible nonsense."
Gryson Thorne shook his head.
"Lunatic."
--
[Crimson Dawn Regional Chat]
[Selling Cola at the Terra Palace Gates]: "Holy crap... are Chaos players really this unhinged?"
[Dragon Bro Never Yields]: "Isn't Lucius on the same side as them? Why does he hate Lucius so much?"
[Have You Been Loyal Today?]: "I think I know why..."
[Have You Been Loyal Today?]: "This guy literally got chopped down by Lucius this afternoon."
"Paul said the four of them followed Lucius out on a mission, didn't even do anything, and Lucius just diced all of them with one sword strike."
[Shinnosuke Eating Lemons]: "???"
[Dragon Bro Never Yields]: "???"
[Selling Cola at the Terra Palace Gates]: "No wonder... so he came for revenge."
[Selling Flatbreads at the Terra Palace Gates]: "But honestly, anyone who can burn Lucius bald is a certified badass."
[Have You Been Loyal Today?]: "Facts."
[Dragon Bro Never Yields]: "Expected nothing less from a Chaos player, absolute psycho behavior."
"Just to blast Lucius with a rocket, he snuck in, talked his trash, and died."
"I honestly respect that kind of mental state."
[Abaddon Shines My Shoes]: "By the way, did you guys catch that entire rant at the end?"
"He literally roasted all three factions."
"He didn't even spare his own."
[Selling Flatbreads at the Terra Palace Gates] sent a message while lying on his cot:
"Now that... is true Chaos..."
--
[Light of the Emperor Regional Chat]
[I Eat Tomatoes]: "Holy shit... where did that guy even come from?"
[Worthy of Sanguinius's Blood]: "Did the Chaos faction just spawn an ultimate troll?"
[For the Regent Yellow Guilliman]: "Wait a minute, he's in the Chaos faction too, why is he flaming his own side?"
[Sanguinius Is My Husband]: "Didn't you hear what he said?"
"He said, 'You're playing Chaos, what the hell are you planning for, just go in guns blazing.'"
"Meaning, he thinks the Chaos faction shouldn't have any organization or discipline. They should just do whatever they want and kill everything."
[Worthy of Sanguinius's Blood]: "Kind of makes sense."
"I mean, Chaos is supposed to be chaotic."
"Organized, disciplined Chaos is definitely a little weird."
[Loyal Battle Sister of the Imperium]: "But he's completely out of his mind."
"He threw his own life away just to blast Lucius with a rocket."
[Worthy of Sanguinius's Blood]: "He can use the Respawn function anyway, what's there to be afraid of?"
"Just don't know if he'll keep acting this crazy after he respawns."
--
[Wings of Freedom Regional Chat]
[Konnichiwa Slaanesh-chan]: "That absolute psychopath!!!"
"He actually fucking did it!!"
[I Just Like Sleeping In]: "I yield, I completely yield."
"This guy isn't pretending to be crazy, he's actually insane."
[Number One Handsome of the Soul Hall]: "Heh heh heh... this is getting interesting."
"Looks like we're not going to have a peaceful time going forward."
[Blue Pigeon Knows Nothing]: "That rant he went on at the end..."
"Actually made a little bit of sense."
"Are we taking this game way too seriously?"
[All According to Plan]: "Makes sense my ass!"
"If you don't take the game seriously, how are you supposed to win?"
"If we lose the faction quests and everyone's accounts get deleted, we'll see if you still think he makes sense!"
[Blue Pigeon Knows Nothing]: "You have a point."
--
Paul looked at the pile of minced meat scattered across the ground.
Then he looked at the unconscious, bald Lucius lying on the medical platform.
His face showed absolutely no change in expression.
With a player base this big, you get all types of crazies.
It was perfectly normal. Players who just wanted to unleash their true nature could do whatever they wanted.
They couldn't make any real waves anyway.
Saul Tarvitz and Vespasian also withdrew their gazes.
Tarvitz shook his head and muttered under his breath:
"Mortals... I'll never understand them."
Vespasian offered no comment.
He merely glanced at the pile of meat, then turned back to Paul.
"Lord Gabriel."
His voice was gentle and sincere.
"Please, come with us."
"There are some matters I would like to discuss with you."
Paul nodded, following the two of them toward the Tenth Company's command tent.
His silver-grey Gorgon Terminator armor gave off a cold gleam in the night.
As he walked, he silently calculated his next move in his head.
The Tenth Company.
Arguably the most loyal company within the entire Emperor's Children Legion.
Vespasian, Saul Tarvitz, and that Gryson Thorne who had just fired the shot.
They were all the most shining representatives of the Loyalist faction in the Imperium's future.
If he could just find a way to save them...
Even if he failed to prevent Fulgrim's corruption tomorrow, he had to send them away or take them with him.
To make sure they didn't die…
By the hands of the very father they revered most.
--
Next bonus at 600 Powerstones.
You can also read ahead on my patreon.com/AHumanMadeMOFO