NOVEL WEB Chapter 146: Slaying the Chief Iron Lord
Facing the sudden attack from above, Nareth raised his arm in response. A golden energy field clashed with the red-glowing metallic spider leg.
Boom!
The power gauntlet held the upper hand in the energy collision, and the massive body of the Chief Iron Lord was knocked into the air by the impact.
"Here's a blast charge for you!"
The Chief Iron Lord's two chest spider legs immediately shot out to shield his body.
Just when he thought it would be like before, blocking the attack from the black-armored giant, the explosive imbued with Bribery: Weakening detonated.
There was a momentary lag in the logic circuits of the Chief Iron Lord. He couldn't fathom why, even though the two attacks appeared identical to the sensors, same energy signature, same readings, the damage was completely different.
Nareth seized the opportunity. He infused his gauntlet with spiritual force and swung a powerful punch.
"Verdict: Exile"
He didn't feel the dragging force typically associated with the "Death" effect. Instead, the gauntlet unleashed a surging force that launched the metal body into the air.
Nareth had tested this during spare moments in the training cage; when infused with spiritual force, the gauntlet could unleash abilities from the "Justiciar" pathway. However, it couldn't be manually chosen, at least not yet.
The power of these abilities correlated directly with the amount of spiritual force infused.
In his downtime, Nareth had been attempting to bond the power gauntlet with the third layer of the Kingdom of Disorder, but because he often needed to wear it, the connection wasn't fully established yet.
As he calculated, his eyes followed the tumbling figure of the Chief Iron Lord, knocked airborne and now falling. His mind instinctively traced the trajectory of the descending metal body.
This went beyond a mere calculation of flight paths and gravity; it was almost an intuitive perception.
Nareth dashed toward the projected landing site. With three quick strides, he leapt into the air, thrusting his power sword upward using the fourth technique of the Otsber-Vaya technique.
The power sword, glowing with dazzling blue light, pierced the metal body weakened by the Bribery effect.
The disintegration field crackled and shattered the nearly fully metallic head of the Chief Iron Lord.
Boom!
The massive metal corpse slammed into the ground, crushing several techno-nobles underfoot. The Iron Lord Guard rushed to the scene, were instantly killed.
The Chief Iron Lord's death delivered a devastating blow to the morale of the tech-nobilities and Araneu troopers. In their logic chains, Iron Lords were the pinnacle of power; no one could defeat them.
Yet now, the Chief Iron Lord had been killed by the black-armored giant.
In the aircraft above, the pilots saw streaks of black lightning flash by, and one techno-noble after another was struck down.
Everything they witnessed made them question whether they were trapped in a nightmare.
On the ground, the techno-nobles felt as though they were staring death in the face. Their resistance lasted only moments before collapsing entirely.
One techno-noble fell to his knees and surrendered, triggering a chain reaction.
Araneus troopers began throwing down their weapons and surrendering to the black-armored warriors.
Two Apothecaries confirmed that five members had suffered fatal injuries during the battle and could not be revived. They notified the techmarines to inter them in Dreadnoughts.
The oldest Dreadnoughts dated back to the Age of Strife. When powerful warriors could no longer recover, they were not mercifully executed; they were given the honor to keep fighting.
The old prototype Dreadnoughts of the "Unification Wars" could be piloted by non-Astartes, but eventually, only Space Marines and Custodians were allowed to be interred in them.
Each Dreadnought housed a living being, permanently connected to the machine via a mind impulse unit.
Once interred in a Dreadnought, a Space Marine could never leave the metal tomb, doomed to fight forever until destroyed.
Nareth, considering that all Shadows of Order chosen to become Beyonder were elite warriors, decided that upon severe injuries, they would be interred in Dreadnoughts to continue serving the Legion.
Their Beyonder traits would not be lost. Full recovery could wait until their final death.
After seizing the first Iron Tower of Necromunda, the Nareth ordered the Honor Guard to patrol while he located the Chief Iron Lord's vault.
Nareth glanced at the alloy door, saw the flashing data crystal, and confirmed he had no way to hack it. He chose brute force instead.
Golden light flared as he punched the gate.
The massive alloy door was shattered by the disintegration field.
Nareth stepped inside, the treasure vault of the most powerful figure in the Araneus Continuity.
After circling once, he found twenty-four potion ingredients.
Among them were fifteen cybernetic eyes, the primary ingredient for the Sequence 7 "Appraiser" of the Parragon Path.
'I didn't expect to collect the ingredients for "Appraiser" this quickly. Rosicky just advanced to "Archaeologist," and the other techmarines are still at "Savant."'
Nareth also discovered nine modular octahedral gears, each face with eight teeth, interlocking and turning in a specific rhythm, each face with a different movement pattern.
'Not a known potion material, but likely not for high-sequence potions either. Gears… Sequence 6 "Machinery Specialist" of the Paragon Path, also called "Gearmaster" or "Artisan." These gears are likely the core ingredient.'
Just as Nareth was storing the materials back in the Kingdom of Disorder, over at the Seventh Iron Tower, the Fifth Company of the Fourth Chapter engaged in brutal combat and encountered the Seventh Iron Lord.
The Captain led his personal guard and Auxilia to attack the Second Iron Tower, while Companies 1 through 6 targeted Towers 3 through 8.
The Fifth Company's Captain led his personal guard into a final showdown against the Seventh Iron Lord and his techno-nobilities escort.
The cunning Seventh Iron Lord, seeing his forces falling around him, decided to use an artifact he had unearthed from underground ruins.
He had saved it as a trump card for a final offensive against the Chief Iron Lord.
But the black-armored warriors were far beyond anything his logic circuits had estimated. Without this last move, he wouldn't have survived the day.
From deep within his chest, a pair of cockroach-like metallic tendrils knocked against his abdomen.
A metal plate opened. The tendrils pulled out a metal sphere and hurled it at the captain, who wielded a power axe.
The sphere landed at the captain's feet, and silver liquid erupted and spread rapidly.
As the captain and his three lieutenants moved to dodge, they found their feet pinned to the ground.
The Seventh Iron Lord appeared before them, mantis blade whirling in a deadly arc.
Realizing he couldn't escape, the captain, with his last strength, hurled his power axe.
The spinning weapon struck deep into the exposed abdomen of the Seventh Iron Lord.
With a dull boom, the captain, his liutenants, and the Iron Lord all collapsed together.
With the captain and lieutenants dead, the squad leaders quickly conferred on the command channel.
"Kion, the captain had previously relayed the Primarch's battle orders."
"You were once a member of the Primarch's Honor Guard and served in his court. It's only right that you take command."
"Understood."
Kion assumed command and led the clean-up of the techno-nobles.
With all eight Iron Lords dead, the Araneus Continuity collapsed rapidly. Though some resistance remained, nothing could stop the Eleventh Legion's conquest.
The Shadows of Order now controlled six star systems and the warp gates between them.
Nareth then dispatched teams to the base of the Spires to search for the legendary giant spiders and other unique local creatures.
Though the spires hadn't previously been referred to as hive cities in Imperial culture, they functioned identically. Nareth believed that the strange lifeforms rumored in Necromunda's hives might already exist here.
At the. same time, in the Sarto system, the Faceless Ones launched a lightning offensive, retaking node B-25 from the orks.
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