Deep within the Bottom Nest's grotto, the damp, cold air was thick with the mixed scent of rotten blood and sulfur.
Eight thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight specially treated human and Mutants skulls were meticulously piled into a tiered altar, its surface covered in blasphemous runes that were gradually turning from dark red to a blinding crimson as the ritual progressed.
The black-robed cultists of The Unseen Brotherhood lay prostrate on the ground, their tattered robes revealing limbs twisted by mutation.
Some had extra claws growing from the ends of their arms, while others had sharp bone spikes protruding from their spines.
Their decaying faces were hidden in the shadows of their hoods, with only their yellowed teeth and cloudy eyes occasionally glinting in the firelight.
Accompanied by piercing chants, the cultists cut open their palms with daggers, allowing their turbid blood to seep through the gaps between the skulls into the altar's core.
The daggers tore at flesh, yet no one cried out in pain; only fervent whispers echoed through the grotto: "Blood as guide, bones as bridge… "
There, Aaliyah, the leader's daughter, floated like a sleeping beauty, her pale skin covered in writhing black veins, and half a crimson Daemon Prince's tooth embedded in the center of her forehead.
That was the last remaining fragment of the Daemon Prince Tzanazte in the real world, now pulsating with evil light as it was permeated by the blood.
Aaliyah was tightly embraced by a demonic skeleton pieced together from countless shattered bones, each bone from a sacrifice of past generations, inscribed with blasphemous incantations.
The demon tooth was embedded in the skeleton's heart, beating rhythmically like some evil pacemaker, channeling dark energy to every joint of the skeleton.
With each beat, the skeleton became more complete, its previously loose fragments fusing and reorganizing under the influence of some dark power.
Dark red flames began to burn in the skeleton's hollow eye sockets, and its mandible slowly opened, revealing jagged teeth.
"The blood sacrifice is complete!" the hunched priest raised a scepter made of human spines and eight intertwined skulls, its trident tip piercing a captive's chest.
The captive's scream was cut short as all his blood was drained by the scepter, turning him into a desiccated corpse.
"The Throne of Skulls shall awaken our Lord's true vessel!" As the priest roared, all the runes on the altar lit up simultaneously, and the entire grotto began to tremble violently.
When Gutierrez, following Ahriman, navigated the intricate tunnels of the Bottom Nest and found this place, the ritual had already entered an irreversible, critical stage.
Thick blood gushed from the eye sockets of every skull, converging like a living entity on the altar's surface, quickly submerging the entire altar base.
The blood formed a vortex around the altar, with a column of blood rising from its center, reaching the grotto's ceiling.
Countless twisted faces of suffering appeared on the blood column's surface, screaming silently before dissolving back into the blood.
Even more terrifying, large numbers of Mutants and gang members, ensnared and controlled by the Hand of Redemption, were savagely fighting around the altar, their twisted faces bearing eerie smiles, as if slaughter was the greatest redemption.
Aaliyah's body suddenly convulsed violently, and the demonic skeleton encasing her emitted a chilling cracking sound.
The bones began to writhe like living things, each bone stretching and deforming, like a tightening net of death.
The skeleton's ribs contracted inwards like a cage, and sharp bone spikes pierced Aaliyah's pale skin.
Her skin began to crack, but no blood flowed—instead, thick black substance, like asphalt, oozed from the wounds, coating the embedded bone spikes.
The demonic skeleton's spine coiled around her body like a giant snake, each vertebra opening tiny bone spikes that deeply embedded themselves into her flesh.
"No… don't…" Aaliyah's remaining consciousness emitted a faint resistance, but her voice was quickly drowned out by the sound of grinding bones.
The demonic skeleton's head slowly lowered, its hollow eye sockets aligning with her face, its mandible opening to an exaggerated 180 degrees, then snapping shut—swallowing her entire head into its bony maw.
At the same time, the blood gushing from the altar transformed into countless tendrils, clinging to every crevice of the skeleton.
These tendrils wove into crimson muscle tissue on the skeleton, and dark red granulation spread across the bone surface at a visible rate.
The newly formed demonic flesh continuously expanded, soon completely enveloping Aaliyah's body.
The skeleton's limbs began to twist and deform, its forearm bones splitting and rejoining to form longer, more slender demonic arms.
Its leg bones bent backward, reshaping into demonic lower limbs suitable for leaping, accompanied by a teeth-grinding sound of fracturing.
Most terrifying was the back—two thick bone spikes broke through the skin, rapidly growing while encased in flesh, finally unfolding into leathery membrane wings covered in veins.
Accompanied by a blood-curdling shriek, a completely new demonic form had replaced Aaliyah.
Its head vaguely retained Aaliyah's outline, but the demon tooth on its forehead had completely merged into the skull, forming a blood-red third eye.
When it opened its mouth, a triple-layered voice echoed through the grotto: "I am… Tzanazte… reborn… "
The newborn demon stretched its body covered in black scales, its membrane wings unfurling with a grating sound like rubbing leather.
The shadows cast by its massive wings writhed like living things, engulfing the entire bloody altar in suffocating darkness.
Three dark yellow vertical pupils rotated simultaneously, reflecting the blood-soaked battlefield around the altar, revealing a chilling expression of satisfaction—after centuries of planning, this perfect vessel was finally complete.
"Open fire! For the omnissiah!" 32's roar cut through the din of the battlefield.
He and Gutierrez gave the attack order almost simultaneously, and two distinct forces, like two sharp knives, plunged towards the altar where the demon stood.
The Bloodfinger Gang members, transformed into combat Servitor, let out inhuman howls; these pathetic creations were driven to the front lines by Adeptus Arbites enforcers with electric whips, their crude mining lasers firing erratic energy beams, and spinning industrial saw blades cutting lethal shrieks through the air.
They wildly attacked the Mutants and cultists who were slaughtering each other with these crude gang weapons, further escalating the chaos on the battlefield.
Four Kastelan Robots followed closely with precise strides; these two-meter-tall killing machines spewed flames from their shoulder-mounted heavy flamers, turning swathes of enemies into human torches.
They easily tore through the mixture of flesh and metal with their mechanical arms, plowing four blood-paved paths through the enemy lines.
Gutierrez's eyes sharpened, and seizing the moment the Robots tore through the enemy lines, he waved his hand, signaling his Kill Team to advance.
His Kill Team, like a poisoned dagger, pushed forward in a perfect wedge formation.
The roar of Bolters was continuous, precise bursts blasting blocking Mutants and cultists into shredded meat.
A Chaos priest in blood-red robes tried to block them but was vaporized from the waist up by a single shot from the Kill Team's heavy weapons specialist's Melta-gun, his charred remains swaying before falling.
The demonic runes in the center of the altar were visibly brightening, and dark green light flowed across the stone surface.
Tzanazte's whispers grew clearer, like countless tiny insects crawling in the ear canals, making one's scalp tingle.
The Kill Team members immediately spread out, skillfully placing Thermo-meltdown bombs on the altar's key support points; these bombs were enough to turn the entire altar into slag.
Ahriman remained kneeling on one knee, his hands tracing complex psychic runes in the void.
Each rune, as it formed, erupted with blinding blue light, leaving a brief afterimage in the air.
The psychic staff embedded in the ground trembled violently, and within the gem at its top, a storm seemed to be brewing.
The surrounding air twisted and distorted, and the fabric of reality hummed under the strain of his incantations.
The forbidden spell, "Dimensional Annihilation," was gradually taking shape.
Once completed, the spatial structure within the target area would be completely torn apart; whether flesh and blood, metal constructs, or demonic essence, all would be mercilessly pulverized and devoured by this rift.
But the risk of casting this spell was equally immense; Ahriman could feel the psychic backlash already scorching his nerves, and a slight misstep could drag him into this dimensional collapse himself.
Sweat constantly rolled down Ahriman's forehead, his pupils completely unnatural silver-white, a clear sign of psychic overload.
He had to continue; the demon within Aaliyah had to be utterly destroyed.
Just as the battle was in a stalemate, a reinforcement unit suddenly appeared at the edge of the battlefield.
The Sisters of Battle's Bolter shots precisely targeted every exposed enemy, never missing.
Under their covering fire, an Inquisitor in pitch-black Power Armor steadily advanced.
The 'I' insignia on his shoulder guard gleamed with a cold light in the fire, and each swing of his Power Sword split enemies in two, the energy field on the blade instantly carbonizing the cuts.
However, when the flash of a Bolter briefly illuminated his face, that stern yet familiar countenance sent a jolt through one's heart.
Inquisitor Craig.
But this was illogical.
Because at this moment, another Inquisitor Craig was still in the Upperhive, clearing out corrupt nobles with Mai Mai and Twilight.
The chasm between the Bottom Nest and the Upperhive was by no means something human power could cross in such a short time, not to mention that Mai Mai and Twilight, who should have been with him, were nowhere to be seen.
Was he Inquisitor Craig's twin brother? Or was the other a decoy, and this was the real Inquisitor Craig?
Or was it some kind of disguise? Some demonic trick? Or did the Inquisition's archives hold certain unknown secrets?
But at this moment, the battle raged on, and the demon's roar was deafening.
Whether this Craig was real or fake, his gun and sword were unhesitatingly pointed at the common enemy.
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