15 Chapter 15: Lone Assault on the Xenos
Location: Barbarus, Southern Marshes, Didero Mountains.
It was Hades's first year in the southern region.
With a scythe in hand, Hades moved fluidly through the horde of puppet xenos.
The xenos surrounding him seemed oblivious to Hades's presence. Whenever he approached, the grotesque creatures would drool and mindlessly shift aside, automatically creating a spherical space of about three meters in radius, clearing a path for Hades.
A lone man, fully armed and wielding a scythe, walking confidently amidst a horde of puppet monsters who automatically made way for him—it was a sight both eerie and absurd.
Indeed, the mighty Untouchables could even achieve complete invisibility in front of sentient beings.
It was as if he had a cheat code to alter his visibility.
Hades thought to himself.
However, there were pros and cons to this. Hades recalled a formidable Silent Sister who, while in stealth mode, roamed freely within the Tyranids, preparing to reap heads.
But she was decapitated by the Tyranid Swarmlord, Kharn, who was puzzled as to why his kill counter had increased by one.
Such a grim Warhammer joke.
Twenty, forty, sixty. As Hades stealthily moved among the puppet horde, he estimated their numbers.
This was the territory of a mid-level xenos lord named Desil. From earlier observations, this xenos lord had about three to four hundred low-level puppets and also tamed a pack of about fifty filthy hounds.
Based on his journey and observations within the territory, Hades deduced that the number of these creatures was consistent with his earlier estimates.
Hades didn't plan to recklessly hack and slash his way through the horde like a berserker. That would be a foolish choice.
Besides Mortarion and his xenos foster father, probably no one on Barbarus was that mad.
Hades's strategy was to target the leader first—sneak in and decapitate Lord Desil.
This was a tactic he had honed from countless battles against mid-level xenos lords.
Compared to larger lords, especially the large ones, these smaller lords typically used low-level puppets as their armies. They didn't have higher-level puppets or other sentient beings to act as their generals.
This meant that once the head of a small lord was taken, the puppets, without higher management and controlled by the lord's psychic sorcery, would quickly collapse and scatter. For the lowest-level puppets, once the controlling sorcery was gone, a mere glance from Hades's psychic null field would cause their grotesque stitched bodies to disintegrate.
These fleeing individual puppets were no match for a well-trained Death Guard.
Moreover, Hades, with his extensive experience, had planted mines near all entrances and exits of the territory. Once the puppets fled, explosions would ensue, further weakening the puppet horde.
As for the filthy hounds, they were a bit tricky, but Hades already had some ideas.
All of this was predicated on Hades successfully killing the xenos lord, Desil.
Through his thick gas mask, the hiss of Hades's breathing was audible.
The upcoming battle would undoubtedly be tough, but he believed he had a chance.
In fact, this extermination of the mid-level lord Desil might be one of the easier ones.
When he first arrived in the southern marshes, Hades would sleep in the wheat fields near the villages during the day and patrol from village to village at night. If he encountered monsters hunting for food or slave-catching squads, he would engage them in combat.
Although the Death Guard had since occupied most of the villages in the south, people chose to defend themselves within their villages at night, rarely venturing out.
One reason was that this could lead to more casualties. Another reason was that the night-time toxic fog was denser, and rudimentary gas masks couldn't withstand its corrosive effects.
Hades's gas mask had been modified hundreds of times. Without using advanced electronic components, his mask could resist the toxic fog even in the mid-to-high altitudes of the Barbarus mountains.
Persistently seeking out and battling xenos every night, Hades gradually became known as the "Wraith."
[The Wraith, wielding a massive scythe, roams the toxic fog, reaping the lives of the xenos. He is a punisher, a destroyer. Any being that gazes upon him feels unease in their soul.] — Local Villager
Accompanying this reputation were the xenos lords who, after being defeated by Hades, chose to remain secluded within their territories.
In reality, most of the small lords mainly suppressed the common folk using the toxic environment combined with psychic sorcery.
Some of the poorer lords would even personally descend from the mountains to capture slaves.
Before Hades's arrival, these small lords, hidden in the toxic fog and using psychic sorcery, were the villagers' nightmares.
But after Hades arrived, with his high-resistance mask and his Untouchable psychic null field, he was their natural counter.
Psychic powers? He was the bane of psychic powers!
After several small xenos lords were personally defeated by Hades, the remaining lords chose to stay secluded.
After several weeks without encountering any xenos, Hades decided to take the initiative. He informed the nearby Death Guard of his intention to ascend the mountains and challenge the lords.
And so, Hades began offering his door-to-door decapitation services to the xenos lords.
"Dear customer, we offer home services. Please leave a good review!" Hades remembered.
He recalled the first time he tried to invade a xenos territory—
He was nearly defeated due to the home advantage of the xenos, barely escaping with his life thanks to a last-minute burst from his psychic null field.
Well, it was a dark chapter in his history, but he survived.
With each battle, Hades became more adept at using his psychic null field. He could now use it to hide himself and inflict control, silence, and daze debuffs on his enemies.
Compared to the head-on combat style of the Death Guard, Hades's strategy of targeting the leaders was more effective against these mid-level lords.
Hades was single-handedly purging the south.
And now, he continued his mission.
Hades moved through the ever-flowing horde of puppets, the toxic fog and the hot breath of the monsters dispersing with his movements.
Ahead, a small fortress enveloped in toxic fog loomed before Hades.
Taking a deep breath and gripping his scythe, Hades prepared for the battle ahead.
He hoped he could successfully decapitate his target without losing his life.
*Author's Note: While writing this chapter, there was a fire in my house. I was the first to smell the burning and rush out. It was a close call. So, this chapter and the next few might be a bit messy. I apologize.*
*Also, all the lords on Barbarus are psykers, as per official lore.*
*A simple Barbarus power ranking:*
- Mortarion's foster father, Nakre
- Mortarion
- Large lords
- Hades
- Mid-small lords
- Death Guard
- Puppets
- Low-level monsters
- Common villagers
