Chapter 213: Killing Gods — "Chief God" and "Memories" (Double Chapter)

Da! Da-da!! 

Ri~ Zhoo—!! 

Gunfire and artillery boomed throughout the drop zone. Heavy footsteps of an entity echoed across the landing area, drowning out all other sounds. In the blink of an eye, the footsteps grew fainter, until even the soldiers' helmet sensors lost track.

It was clear that Saint Gilles and Horus, who had shared a large drop pod with small armored vehicles, headed straight for the central temple after landing.

One ODST soldier deep within the southern area, with the name Carlos Oliveira/1st Airborne Division etched into his chest plate, noticed through his helmet that the Primarchs had left the main battle group. Yet his expression remained unchanged, and his morale stayed intact.

Carlos, a native of the primary universe, had been handpicked by Colonel Miles Quaritch to become one of the first ODSTs to execute orbital drops. Initially stationed in the Edge of Tomorrow universe, two months ago, he was reassigned by Guilliman back to the primary universe, where he participated in high-level missions, such as aerial decapitation strikes against war criminals and leaders. 

Now, Carlos and the elite of the 1st Airborne were part of the ongoing assault on Mars.

For many, this was their first time setting foot on the red planet.

Shaking off distractions, Carlos and his comrades traversed an alley filled with crumbling debris. After rounding a corner, they emerged into a plaza. 

Scattered across the square were the mangled remains of twisted and deformed creatures, with purple blood seeping into the cracks between the bricks.

His helmet's display showed a yellow triangular marker and "2 kilometers," indicating the location of the prison they were targeting.

Suddenly, on the right side of the minimap, a cluster of red dots appeared—potential enemies.

!

Seeing this, Carlos and his squadmates aimed their weapons in that direction. Two soldiers with 8mm Gauss smart guns moved quickly to the flanks, using their waist-mounted mechanical arms to stabilize the guns.

As the red dots closed in, the twisted and deformed fallen demigods came into view. Their appearance matched Breya's earlier observations—handsome and beautiful in form, but with unnaturally pale skin devoid of blood.

Their clothing barely covered their bodies, and a faint aura surrounded their figures. However, unlike Hera's golden and white glow representing righteousness, these demigods emitted a faint purple hue, symbolizing their corruption.

As the demigods entered firing range, Carlos and the ODSTs immediately pulled their triggers.

Ting—Ting—!!

The sharp, crisp sounds of needle rounds ejecting from their rifles filled the plaza, and the glowing blue tracer rounds lit up the dim surroundings.

Thud! Thud!!

The armor-piercing needle rounds, traveling at seven times the speed of sound, easily tore through the "steel-hard" skin of the demigods, which was as tough as if injected with Compound V.

Boom! Boom!

Explosive rounds followed, penetrating the initial wounds created by the needle rounds and detonating inside their bodies with low-intensity explosions.

Paired with the high-temperature, high-energy plasma bolts from several BFGs, the charging fallen demigods were quickly blown apart and melted.

The battle became one-sided in an instant. The demigods hadn't even gotten close to the ODSTs before more than half were eliminated.

???

The remaining demigods were stunned. 

How could this be?

Only 4,000 years had passed—how had humanity developed weapons capable of killing gods?

Four thousand years ago, only a few humans could slay gods, and those were either demigods born from unions between humans and gods, or human heroes wielding divine weapons crafted by the gods themselves.

Now, even ordinary humans seemed equipped to kill gods.

How?

But the ODSTs didn't give them time to ponder. After another round of coordinated fire, the remaining demigods, who had tried to ambush Carlos and his squad, were swiftly exterminated.

Reloading their weapons, they pressed forward.

Having just killed gods, the ODSTs showed no emotional reaction, treating it like any other routine mission.

Before long, Carlos and his comrades arrived at the prison.

What they found was—

ROAR!!!

A massive creature, with the body of a three-headed dog, its necks and abdomen lined with rows of teeth, was guarding the prison.

A Hellhound?

Carlos, recalling some mythological knowledge, immediately identified the creature as Cerberus, the guard dog of the underworld.

The moment they saw the beast, two demolitionists retrieved plasma anti-tank cannons from their backs, aimed, and fired.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Two plasma rounds struck Cerberus, engulfing it in a violent explosion and a brilliant blue fireball.

However, the beast leaped out of the flames, its half-charred body charging through the ODST's formation, shrugging off the 8mm needle rounds fired at it.

Boom—!

Carlos was hit directly, sent flying more than ten meters through the air before crashing into a pile of debris, finally coming to a stop.

Cough, cough, cough!

Blood spattered across his helmet's display as he coughed. The ringing in his ears and the dizziness left him momentarily deaf, unable to hear the alarms blaring inside his helmet.

He glanced at the upper-right corner of his display, where his health status had shifted from green to dark yellow, with some areas turning red, indicating severe injuries.

If not for the Inquisitor serum in his system, that impact would have killed him.

After a brief recovery, Carlos forced himself to stand, ready to rejoin the fight.

At that moment, his minimap showed several green markers rapidly approaching their location.

More ODSTs?

Or maybe AECS reinforcements?

Wait.

No, it was—elves from Terra.

As Carlos realized who was arriving, dozens of silent and graceful elves joined the ODSTs, assisting in subduing the Hellhound.

One elf, with a red helmet, leaped into the air and, as they passed by the creature, threw four metal-hydrogen grenades directly into its gaping mouth.

Gulp!

Cerberus instinctively swallowed the grenades.

Moments later, scorching light burst from its mouths, followed by a violent explosion that tore the beast apart, leaving it twitching lifelessly on the stone floor, its six eyes glazed over.

But the elves, veterans of fighting Chaos worshipers and hordes of orcs, didn't let up. Using their Gauss and plasma weapons supplied by Atlas, they continued to blast the Hellhound until it was reduced to ash.

The elf who had thrown the grenades approached Carlos and said:

"Lieutenant Oliveira, we will handle the remaining operations. You and your men should return to the fleet for medical treatment."

Carlos, stretching his shoulder and glancing at the display showing the elf's name and rank as Sai Mocodo / Lieutenant, replied:

"Thanks for the assist, Lieutenant, but we're fine."

He then gave orders over the comms: "Second squad, get the wounded and the bodies of our brothers out of the field. The rest of you, keep moving."

"Yes, sir!"

Sai nodded slightly, saying nothing more. After all, the reputation of ODSTs as "madmen" and "battle-hungry maniacs" had already spread to Terra in Universe 07, cemented by their reckless combat style, earning them the nickname "Helljumpers."

Carlos and his remaining squad reorganized and once again took the lead, entering the pitch-black dungeons ahead of the elves.

Easily dispatching the fallen demigods and armored soldiers guarding the prison, they began checking the cells one by one and found the imprisoned Greek gods.

Most were emaciated, too weak to respond to the outside world. From their tattered clothing, Carlos guessed they were once warriors or soldiers of Olympus.

As they pressed deeper—

Thud. Thud—!

They heard the rhythmic sound of hammering.

Approaching the source, they also heard shouting in Greek, phrases like "Πατρα!" and "σκοτνω!" echoing through the dungeon.

Carlos's helmet, using its language module, provided a rough translation: "I'll kill you with my own hands, Father!" and "You fallen bastard, you've betrayed honor!"

?

When they reached the cell, they saw a god in relatively pristine armor and clothing, his body in good condition—was this a Chief God?

?

The god imprisoned inside was just as confused, staring at the ODSTs and elves, seemingly trying to figure out where they had come from.

This Chief God had the appearance of a man in his twenties, much like Hera, but with a more heroic demeanor, golden hair, and sapphire blue eyes.

"Ανθρωπτητα (Humanity)?" the Chief God muttered with a furrowed brow.

Carlos, ignoring him, drew the knife from his left leg and attempted to stab through the bars.

Buzz—!

The blade was blocked by an invisible barrier.

As he had suspected, the cell was sealed by some form of supernatural force, and their current firepower wouldn't be enough to break it open. They would have to wait for tech specialists or those with expertise in such matters.

Boom. Boom!!

Suddenly, they felt the ground shaking violently.

Carlos's helmet display confirmed the intensity as a Level 5 on the Richter scale, proving that the tremors were real.

A volcanic eruption?

But Mars was geologically inactive, with Olympus Mons having cooled millions of years ago.

Could it be from the

 orbital bombardment?

Boom. Boom!!

Yet the tremors continued to intensify.

Leaving the dungeon, they returned to the surface of the impact crater, looking down from the breach created by the fleet's bombardment.

From this vantage point, they could see that the Atlas ground forces had nearly taken control of the remaining palace complex.

The fallen Greek gods, whether they had been forced or had chosen corruption willingly, were no match for the Atlas forces' relentless purging. Moreover, the fleet continued to drop supplies, including Tyrant models and small armored units, into the crater.

With the carrier squadrons providing air support, it was only a matter of time before the last of the fallen gods were wiped out.

Though the red-purple "sun" had been forcibly extinguished during the orbital bombardment, it had still managed to shield the central temple.

Now, the grand temple, standing under the statue of Zeus, remained intact before the ground forces.

However, all the soldiers understood this implicitly, focusing on their tasks to carry out Guilliman's and the fleet's orders.

Boom—Boom—!

The source of the violent tremors was none other than the temple they had been "ignoring."

Inside the temple at that moment—

The space was vast and opulent, with golden tiles and pillars, and piles of gemstones lined the sides.

However, the grand hall was filled with the butchered remains of corpses.

Judging by their torn clothing, armor, and scattered weapons, it was clear that the fallen gods who had been killed here were Artemis, the "Goddess of the Hunt," Apollo, the "God of Light," Poseidon, the "Lord of the Sea," and Aphrodite, "Goddess of Love and Beauty."

The culprits responsible for this massacre were none other than Saint Gilles and Horus, clad in their iconic power armor.

Both Primarchs wore primarily black armor, with Saint Gilles accented in gold and red, while Horus's featured white and red details.

The weapons they wielded were also gifts from their father—the Emperor's Spear and the Fang of Fenris.

Horus's Fang of Fenris, though similar to the Emperor's Claw, was a personal birthday gift from Samuel Young, forged from Mithril and imbued with his own psychic power.

Armed with these divine weapons, the two brothers, with their immense strength, had easily slain the four fallen Chief Gods.

Moreover, the souls of the slain gods were not banished to the warp but were instead absorbed by the Emperor's Spear and the Fang of Fenris, ultimately becoming nourishment for their father, who was far away in the Halo universe, to fuel his psychic power.

The tremors that now shook the temple were the result of the Chief Gods' desperate resistance against the brothers.

Chaos psychic energy sustained the temple, preventing it from collapsing. If the ODSTs, AECS, or even the elite elves led by Tina had been present, they would have been torn apart by the psychic shockwaves released during the battle.

After clearing the obstacles, Saint Gilles and Horus continued forward, heading to the throne at the end of the temple.

Although the throne itself was empty, the thick miasma of Chaos filth surrounding them constantly reminded the brothers that Zeus was hiding somewhere, watching them in secret.

Just as they raised their guard, memories of their childhood suddenly played before their eyes—

The fond memories of their father taking them on adventures.

But in an instant, the bright hall plunged into darkness, and countless eerie eyes stared at them from all directions.

---

Note: The imprisoned Chief God described is inspired by a female Olympian god from Warriors Orochi 3. If the illustration doesn't pass review, you can search for her appearance online.

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