Warhammer: I Don't Want to Become a Stinky Can!!!

Mortarion had been furious.

This was supposed to be a flawless extermination mission, but due to his carelessness, the lord had escaped using psychic teleportation.

Damn it! Psychic teleportation was an obscure and advanced sorcery. Mortarion hadn't expected a lord on Barbarus to know how to use it.

Even his foster father, the most powerful sorcerer on Barbarus, couldn't perform psychic teleportation. Yet this alien sorcerer could???

But this was his failure. He hadn't anticipated the sudden teleportation, allowing the cornered Lazal to slip away from his blade.

Mortarion stood amidst the wreckage of the battle with Lord Lazal, angrily recalling where the cunning lord might have teleported to. He realized that the less experienced Death Guard rebels at the foot of the mountain might be his target.

Damn it!!!

Cursing inwardly, he quickly led the rebels down the main path.

However—a rebel guarding a side path suddenly ran up to report that Lazal had teleported to that very path.

How was that possible? Why would the cunning Lord Lazar teleport to such a place? It offered no strategic advantage and wasn't far from Mortarion's position.

Why would Lazal go there? Could his sorcery only manage such a short-range teleport?

Or had this rebel been ensnared by alien sorcery and was now deceiving him?

Mortarion looked at Herera. He recognized her—the only one willing to team up with his friend Hades.

Tears welled up in her eyes, and her frantic running had forced her to breathe heavily. Clearly, her respirator couldn't handle it, and she seemed to have inhaled some toxic gas.

But there was no trace of sorcerous corruption on her.

So it was likely true.

Mortarion ordered Typhon to continue leading the elite troops down the main path at a rapid pace, while he followed Herera down the side path.

If what Herera said was true…

Then Hades was probably already…

Mortarion forcefully suppressed his anxious thoughts. He should trust his friend.

But he ran faster and faster—

—

—and then they saw Hades leaping through the air, his scythe arcing like a full moon, severing the ugly head of the alien lord!

What?!

Mortarion's eyes widened in disbelief.

Blood and the severed head spun through the air as the alien's body erupted in a fountain of gore. Hades landed perfectly in the center of the blood spray, drenched in blood—both his own and the alien's.

The scene on the path looked like a child's crayon drawing smeared with blood.

Hades stood at the center of the image, his scythe hanging low like a farmer after harvesting rice, the blood on the blade resembling stray leaves stuck to it.

Hades noticed them and turned, offering a weak smile through his gas mask.

At that moment, it seemed as if all the faint light of Barbarus gathered around Hades.

—Then his body swayed, swayed, and slowly collapsed.

At the same time, his annoyingly lively voice began to wail,

"Ahhhhhhh!!! It hurts!!! Help!!! I'm dying!!! Help meeeee!!!"

This guy definitely wasn't going to die. In fact, Mortarion would bet he wasn't even seriously injured.

What a pain.

Despite thinking this, Mortarion and Herera quickly ran to Hades's side. Mortarion carefully examined Hades's wounds. Aside from significant blood loss and severe poisoning, the guy was indeed fine.

—Unlike his usual careless demeanor, Hades was exceptionally meticulous in battle.

—He had defended himself well.

But Hades was still howling like a banshee. Mortarion sighed and dragged him off the alien's corpse, handing him over to Herera, who was also crying like a waterfall.

Hades's wailing immediately turned into soft whimpers.

What a pain.

Mortarion thought this again.

Unlike his friend Typhon, whom Mortarion respected and trusted, Hades… Mortarion also trusted him, but his occasional antics gave Mortarion headaches.

For example, the Death Guard believed in silent combat and marching. Even if injured or dying, they would never make a sound.

But Hades, this outlier…

Since Hades rarely participated in large-scale battles and didn't disrupt morale, Mortarion tolerated his occasional outbursts, just as he tolerated Typhon's harsh words.

Realizing Hades wasn't in mortal danger or at risk of permanent injury, Mortarion stopped paying attention to him.

He pulled the dagger he had thrown earlier from the corpse.

Then he circled the alien lord's body, inspecting it. Although Mortarion trusted that even at fourteen, Hades's combat prowess was among the best in the Death Guard.

That didn't mean he could single-handedly kill a lord skilled in psychic sorcery.

Having fought Lord Lazal, Mortarion knew how powerful his psychic sorcery was. Aside from himself, most mortals could barely withstand a single strike.

Then he saw it—the stone, split in two.

He picked it up. The nauseating, evil sorcerous aura that had once emanated from it was completely gone.

Mortarion remembered this stone well. During his battle with Lord Lazal, many of Lazal's spells had been cast through it.

And he didn't recall the stone being damaged when Lazal escaped—even when he had tried to attack it, the powerful Warp distortions around it had deflected his blows.

He knew this stone had been obtained through the sacrifice of countless villagers, but Lazal himself hadn't contributed his soul—meaning the stone's condition wasn't tied to Lazal's life or death.

In other words, the stone hadn't shattered because Lazal died.

It had been destroyed by some other force.

Could Hades be a hidden psychic sorcerer?

No, impossible. Even a psychic sorcerer couldn't do this. If he had used sorcery to attack the stone, it would have left traces of evil energy.

But now, the stone was completely devoid of any aura, literally nothing.

Mortarion frowned and pocketed the two broken pieces.

Then he hoisted Hades onto his back, handed the alien lord's head to Herera, and together they made their way down the mountain to rejoin the rebels.

The only consolation was that Hades, exhausted from the battle and blood loss, had finally passed out and shut his mouth.

Hades was now happily lying in bed, being fed by Herera…

Her soft body leaned gently against Hades, her long eyelashes fluttering as she gazed at him tenderly, her eyes so soft they could melt.

Her delicate nose, dotted with tiny freckles, and her small, pale lips—though discolored by Barbarus's toxic air—were still charming.

Hades swore he could even smell a faint scent of soap, even though soap was a rare luxury on Barbarus.

…

Wait, that expression… Was Hades really happy, or was he in pain?

Herera held a bowl of unidentifiable purple liquid, with a thick layer of yellow grease floating on top. As she stirred it with a spoon, chunks of something mashed beyond recognition floated to the surface.

She scooped up a spoonful of the mystery substance and gently offered it to Hades. The pungent smell instantly overwhelmed the faint soap scent.

Hades swore he used every ounce of willpower to swallow the bile rising in his throat.

He summoned all his self-control, rivaling the determination he had when fighting Lazal. Hades forced a smile and looked at Herera.

Herera shyly returned his gaze.

"Hades, it's time to eat~"

Big brother, time to take your medicine~

Help meeeeeee!!!!

____________________________________

Hades: In my past life, I was a master mage.

Also, Mortarion truly cares for the Death Guard.

In The Silent King, Mortarion "gently" lifted Death Guard Volkern.

And in another novel I can't recall, Mortarion pulled a Death Guard who could no longer fight out of enemy encirclement and placed him safely in the rear.

Father Nurgle definitely loves this kind of thing.