Warhammer: In the Name of Ashes.

Chapter 154 Ten Thousand and One Deaths (3) The Last Redemption and Echo

Yes, although the change of soul was extremely small, Calvin still clearly felt the change of his own soul.

From his own perception of himself, the golden light belonging to his soul is like the light of a star. It should be a by-product of endless burning, and there is no specific concept of "quantity".

But at the moment when the big demon died, he clearly felt the freezing of his own soul.

Like an invisible balance weighing each other's weight and bargaining chips, when the soul of the big demon disappeared, the golden light seemed to be permanently deducted, and part of it was forcibly taken away.

Correspondingly, there are some unknown existences in his own soul.

The missing parts and the extra parts are still tiny, but the changes are real.

This touched Calvin's bottom line!

I have lived in this world for decades, especially in the special position of the Gray Knight, who has been in constant contact with Chaos.

Calvin knew very well that the relatively inexhaustible nature of the Chaos Gods is what really makes the human nightmare exist.

In the same way, his confidence in himself has always been based on a similar foundation, that is, the indestructibility of his own soul.

When the bottom line and escape route were pried, no matter how weak the prying trace was, he would inevitably shake his own existence just like every mortal.

How to do?Do you want to continue?Calvin felt the fear of the unknown for a long time.

This kind of change that endangered his own core existence made him rarely stop and hesitate.

He looked into his heart again, questioning whether his thoughts had changed from the beginning.

Is he still the one willing to fight for protection?
Is he still the mortal who regrets that he only wants to win a battle all his life?
Is he still the warrior who identifies himself as a human being and is willing to defend the interests of the race no matter what changes?

If he is still there, what difference does it make if he has such a special identity?

Calvin, who had thought clearly, no longer thought about the puzzles deliberately led by the devil, nor did he think about the hints in the comrade-in-arms communication.

At this time, these were external disturbances rather than help, and he even suspected that Tarek's voice might also be an impostor from Tzeentch.

The war has begun, and the battle must continue.

In the eyes of Calvin, who disregarded his own safety, the battle at this time had nothing to do with life and death, but only victory or defeat.

He walked around the iconic building on the top floor of the nest, and as expected, in every key building, he saw a big demon waiting for his arrival.

A day passed... Calvin's figure appeared in the core tower on the top floor of the hive.

The fierce battle never stopped, and Calvin, who had fought all the way, had no chance to recuperate, and finally began to get injured.

The Terminator Power Armor named "Beginning Heart" faithfully guarded its master, resisting those injuries that should have been fatal for Calvin in battle after battle.

The folding position on the shoulder armor was exhausted, and it was restored to its original state under the power supply of the power pack.

The originally tall and sacred outer reliefs inevitably began to show battle-damaged scars.

But none of this can worry him more than the inner changes. The essence of the soul is constantly being lost, and the extra parts inside are becoming more and more obvious.

"Nine" is the extreme of change, so during the ninth battle, he saw a different demon as expected.

Like the original demon, while bringing Tzeentch's curse and ridicule, he also brought qualitative changes to the vicious accumulation of Calvin's soul after his death.

Calvin half-kneeled on the ground, his lowered head looked into the lifeless eyes of the dead demon.

Just at the moment when this demon was killed by Calvin's hammer, the unknown existence accumulated in his soul underwent a terrible qualitative change after reaching an order of magnitude.

The golden light in the soul was obviously dimmed by a level, and the extra shadow also vaguely revealed an egg-like shape.

The soul is more sensitive than the body, and the weakened light directly corresponds to the physique, making Calvin feel the long-lost fatigue; the foreign body sensation at the core makes Calvin dizzy and retching at the same time.

"Ninth..." He muttered, took out the dagger at his waist and carved a scratch on the back of the Holy Shield Cross, then managed to lift the warhammer thrown at his feet, and walked towards the next battlefield...

Three months passed, and Calvin, like a lone wolf, swept away the entire top of the nest.

The battle is still going on, and this ritual-like lonely journey also has no end in sight.

The armor has lost its luster, and after dozens of fierce battles, there are large and small scratches all over the body.

The folding position of the right shoulder is damaged, and the sharp edge on the fingertip of the lightning claw on the left hand is also missing.

Dust mixed with sweat on his face, leaving traces of mud after a riverbed dried up.

Both spiritual energy and physical strength were exhausted, and the weight of the "mission" that was originally light as nothing was extremely heavy.

"Nine of No.90..."

The corners of his mouth were already chapped due to loss of moisture. Calvin, who saved everything and didn't even bother to speak, flashed this number in his mind.

The upper left corner on the back of the cross has been engraved with scratches, and the engraving can only be engraved by reducing the size of the engraving.

Now that spiritual energy and physical strength are becoming more and more precious, Calvin's martial skills and will have been tempered during this long journey.

Simple moves become fast and effective after removing meaningless movements. Psionic skills are no longer built on the wasteful sand, and are only used when necessary, and become more concise and effective.

January...two months...may...one year...

Nine hundred and ninety-nine demon heads were Calvin's latest achievement.

The "initial heart" is close to being broken, but it is still alive. The edges and corners of the "mission" are no longer sharp, but they are still worthy of another battle.

The golden color of Calvin's soul has almost completely faded, the light of divinity has been shattered, but he has not been knocked down after returning to the mundane.

He was content to search for food while maintaining his weapon as hard as he could.

In a cold store on the upper floor of the nest, Calvin calmly ate the expired canned food left by mortals.

After rinsing the canning box with water and drinking the remaining soup, he picked up the red-hot iron nail on the campfire, and lightly forged it into a needle with a warhammer.

Then, under the light of the fire, he carefully mended his faded robe.

The long fighting time made the shadow of his soul core worsen again, and the egg-shaped existence had broken out of the shell, but fortunately, apart from making Calvin's soul more likely to be exhausted, there was no other harm for the time being.

One year... two years... three years... ten years.

The key nodes of the entire nest have been cleaned and purified, and Calvin's record has also reached the key number of 9999.

The original heart armor has been completely damaged, only the remaining left shoulder armor is tied to his body with a belt;
The heavy hammer of duty had also been broken, and the remaining hammer handle, together with the lightning claw with only two claw blades remaining, was transformed into a double-edged sharp spear by Calvin.

At this time, Calvin was already like a savage, without a complete cloth covering his body.

But even this body will soon no longer belong to him.

Since the number of demons he killed reached 5000, he has understood that the end point of soul transformation is the body.

After breaking the shell, the shadow is continuously nourished, and finally becomes the shape of a fetus.

The fetus continued to grow, and eventually turned into an existence that Calvin did not even recognize.

Calvin's psionic energy has been absorbed during this period, and together with the dead demon, it has become the nourishment for its growth.

There were already some ominous signs in some parts of the body, allowing Calvin to understand that when this fetus grew slowly, he too would be inexorably replaced.

The few remaining psychics made Calvin's battle more difficult, but fortunately, his proficiency in martial arts and precise use of psychic powers allowed Calvin to continue to win the battle.

call!
Calvin, who was standing in front of the door of the central engine room of the nest, took a deep breath, and his understanding of Tzeentch's holy number made him understand:

Perhaps this journey of life will reach its end here, and the final battle of the lonely but glorious journey will also be completed here.

After the number of demons killed reached the limit of 9999, his body had completely lost its physical signs.

Except for the eyes, the rest of the body is like a barbarian in the wilderness, full of strangeness and also contains unknown wild power.

The untrimmed hair on his face prevented him from seeing what he looked like now.The bare torso was covered with bronze skin, burly and covered with scars from the fierce battle.

Eyes are the last remaining feature of Calvin's existence, and they are also the embodiment of his last rationality.

But after this battle, he has no way of knowing whether he can leave this only anchor point of existence, and he doesn't care.

At this moment, there is only one target in his eyes, which is the demon in front of him.

"Do you regret it?"

This was the first and last sentence that the big devil standing in the engine room said to Calvin.

Calvin's response was to throw the spear in his hand at the demon, and a strange voice came from the same strange body, echoing in the metal hall with Calvin's last anger:

"In the name of the Emperor! Demons! Die with me!"

In the echo of a burst of violent noise, Calvin finally beheaded the existence that represented evil and conspiracy.

In the unrecognizable hall, apart from his own violent panting, there were only pipes destroyed by the aftermath of the battle, dripping out a cold and transparent liquid drop by drop.

Huh~huh~!

The final battle was finally over, and the exhausted Calvin got up from his half-kneeling posture.

He walked to the corpse of the big demon, and looked at the demon's remains in a daze.

All that was left of the demon that was turning into ashes was the jagged bird head, which made Calvin chuckle softly after staring at it for a long time.

"Bah! A beast is a beast!"

His hands were trembling slightly. It wasn't the first time that this kind of premonition of loss of control had happened, but this time, it came especially violently.

He knew that the time left for him to control this body was running out.

"The ten thousandth time!"

He picked up the spear on the ground, and used the point of thatch to draw the last stroke on the back of the medal on his waist.

"Is it still missing once? Or..."

He read thoughtfully, under the reflection of the cooling fluid spreading under his feet at some point, he looked at his strange face, and said the second half of the sentence in his mouth:

"I was the last one myself?"

Well, that was the last thing he wanted to do.

"Do you regret it?"

The hallucination reappeared, and the words of the great demon in his lifetime were spoken from the unfamiliar and familiar face reflected under his feet.

"I regret it! This is what I want!"

Calvin shook his head, pushing the illusion out of his mind.

Even if he is the last one on the list, he will dedicate himself without hesitation.

After all, this was originally a deal between him and him, wasn't it?
A soldier's mouthful of spit and nails!The promise he made in this life:

Fighting for mankind with all my energy, although the time seems short now, it has been done anyway.

Calvin picked up the spear, broke off the upper claw blade, and stretched it towards his face. Before he died, he was also curious about what kind of face he had now.

With the slight sound of beard being cut off, a somewhat familiar face appeared in the liquid under his feet.

But Calvin didn't think much about it, he just took a deep look at the simple and resolute face revealed by the shaved beard, and stabbed the narrow and sharp claw blade to his chest with his backhand!
While the sharp and curved claw blade pierced Calvin's original heart for the first time, it also extended downward, cutting off his second heart.

Fragments of blood and organs gushed out from the corner of his mouth, and the body without the support of blood quickly collapsed.

At the last moment of his life, Calvin gritted his teeth and shouted at the figure reflected in the liquid!

"The thousand and one time! Say it again! Lao Tzu! He! Mom! No regrets!"

"So, very good!"

The face in the liquid suddenly smiled, the last thing Calvin saw before he lost consciousness.

Calvin looked at Tibers, who was facing away from him in the corridor of the Revenant Redeemer, his face was motionless to hide his bewilderment about his situation.

Where am I?Am I not dead?This is where?

"What are you thinking about?"

Tibbers took a few steps forward, but he turned his head to look in Calvin's direction without hearing the footsteps following him.

And Calvin just raised his head and met Tibbers' eyes.

"Huh? We're going to a meeting, not a fight! What are you doing with a sword? Wait!"

Calvin was a little confused by what Tibbers said. He lowered his head and followed Tibbers' surprised eyes to find the two-handed sword he was holding in his arms.

The scabbard made of mithril and pure gold is as wide as a palm, and several huge gemstones are inlaid on the back plate engraved with unknown patterns.

Kurah!

Calvin subconsciously pulled out the ice-blue greatsword, and the large silver cross sword grid consisted of a sharp sword and wings spread out to both sides.

The ice-blue sword is in the shape of six sides, with a row of psychic runes in the center flickering on and off on the unknown material of the sword following Calvin's breathing.

"Good sword!" Calvin couldn't help admiring, the surging and sharp spiritual power of the sword needn't be mentioned much, just the power contained in the sword itself made Calvin tremble all over while holding it.

"The Sword of the Oath! Where did you get it?" Tibbers, who walked a few steps in front of Calvin, snatched the sword and asked after observing it carefully.

"Uh... that's a long story, let's start the meeting first!" Calvin rolled his eyes and decided to postpone this matter for a while, after all, even he himself didn't figure out the specific situation.

The two continued to walk towards the bridge, and as soon as they reached the front hall of the bridge, Calvin heard the serious voice of Bishop Klein:
"I oppose the large-scale replacement of ships! This is a huge waste of the empire's property!"

Calvin, whose heart was touched in an instant, stopped, and he somewhat understood the reason for his bizarre experience.

Tibers obviously also heard the voice of the mechanical archbishop, he looked at Calvin and said:
"What? Do you have another opinion?"

"No, I'm just suddenly curious about the current location of the Revenant Redeemer." Calvin asked seemingly unintentionally.

"Now?" Tabers recalled, and then looked at Calvin thoughtfully:
"2000 years ago, this place was called the Tingus sector."

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(End of this chapter)