Warhammer: Lord of the Endless Monster Horde [14]

Hearing that this beautiful hospitaller sister wanted to help, Rhodes did not feel even the slightest bit excited. Instead, he was utterly terrified.

After all, just moments ago, this little hospitaller sister had wanted to send him straight to the Golden Throne!

Previously, the scribe sister had casually mentioned this to him while chatting, seemingly trying to build a closer relationship with him.

This made Rhodes realize just how dark the Warhammer universe truly was. Damn it, I haven't even done anything, and my life is already in danger.

So, Rhodes was deeply worried that if he got too close, this little sister might suddenly inject him with something and send him off to meet the Emperor.

"You have time to think about all these filthy things, but instead of that, why don't you think about how to survive the next moment? Seriously, you're still young—what kind of thoughts are running through your head?"

"I need to correct your misguided thoughts. Where is your devotion to the Emperor?" Rhodes turned his head and reprimanded Elena with a serious expression.

"I-I-I am very loyal to the Emperor!"

"Did the great Emperor teach you to do such things? Which rule of your medical convent states this?

Besides, don't you think such matters should be consensual? So, young sister, you should repent for your actions."

"It… it seems like there isn't a rule like that!! No, wait! This kind of thing wouldn't be recorded in the scriptures, but… but I'm doing it to preserve the purity of the human gene pool!"

Elena, tears welling up in her eyes, spoke as if she had made a great sacrifice. She was even willing to go that far with him.

"But so what?! The continuation of humanity isn't something for you to worry about!

Wouldn't the High Lords take care of it? Wouldn't the planetary governors of various worlds handle it? Wouldn't the rogue trader dynasties be involved?

What you should be doing right now is engaging in devout repentance, not thinking about such things.

If your head is filled with filthy and depraved thoughts, then the forces of Chaos will find an opportunity to corrupt you.

Now, go and reflect on your actions properly. Recite the convent's creed 100 times for me." Rhodes ordered.

"Ah! Y-you're right! My faith must not waver! I cannot allow the forces of Chaos to take advantage of me!"

Elena nodded and then immediately knelt to begin her devout prayers.

However, she didn't stop to wonder why a mere civilian like Rhodes would know about the forces of Chaos in the first place.

After all, knowledge of the Warp and Chaos Daemons was strictly classified by the Imperium. Ordinary citizens were not allowed to know such things.

The Black Crusades launched by Abaddon the Despoiler, along with the devastation caused by Chaos Daemons, were always described as invasions by Xenos or heretics who opposed the Imperium.

Seeing this scene, Rhodes sighed in relief. He had finally managed to fool this naïve and innocent girl!

Young girls are so easy to deceive! If it had been that scribe sister instead, this trick wouldn't have worked.

While Elena was deep in prayer, Rhodes turned his attention to the situation of the Red King.

At this point, Red King had already undergone two enhancements—one increasing its mass and another increasing its height—effectively reviving it twice. This had put immense pressure on the Tyranids.

However, the situation was still far from optimistic. Rhodes had enough system coins to afford two more 2,000-point enhancements, but the next upgrade would require 3,000 coins per enhancement.

Currently, he has accumulated over 7,000 system coins. More than two hours had passed, and Red King's combat had only grown fiercer. Its efficiency in slaughtering Tyranids had also increased.

Given the current situation, Rhodes started considering his next move.

The Tyranids were no mindless beasts; on the contrary, they were incredibly intelligent. Humanity had already discovered that Red King could absorb the corpses of Tyranids to heal and grow stronger.

There was no reason to believe that the Tyranids hadn't noticed this pattern either. Rhodes suspected that they were currently probing Red King's abilities.

If Red King continued its relentless slaughter, growing ever stronger and regenerating from its kills, then the Tyranids might reconsider their strategy. They might even abandon the attack altogether.

After all, continuing the assault would only strengthen their enemy rather than weaken it—an outcome the Tyranid Hive Mind would never want to see.

This was exactly what Rhodes wanted: for the Tyranids to temporarily retreat from the planet.

If that happened, they would likely return later with a larger fleet to deal with Red King. But by then, Rhodes would have already escaped.

After all, Red King's enhancement potential wasn't infinite. Before reaching that limit, Rhodes had to bluff the Tyranids into withdrawing.

That meant Red King needed to appear overwhelming, as if it was determined to fight the Tyranids to the bitter end, evolving and killing endlessly.

If that plan failed, Rhodes would have to resort to Plan B—stealing an escape pod.

He had already figured out that the two sisters could leave using an escape pod. Once he had maximized his system coin upgrades, it would be time to evacuate.

At that point, Rhodes could use the system to remotely recall Red King, and then activate the monster's enhanced abilities one last time.

Then, he could have Red King create a small accident, allowing him to stage a heroic rescue and escape with the hospitaller sister in the escape pod.

Alternatively, he could abandon both the hospitaller and scribe sisters, taking the escape pod for himself.

However, the escape pod lacked Warp travel capabilities, meaning he would have to hide and wait for an Imperial fleet to arrive for rescue.

Once rescued, explaining his identity would be difficult, so bringing along a hospitaller sister could serve as a useful cover. As for the scribe sister—well, she was too smart and too difficult to fool, so it was best to leave her behind.

Time passed unknowingly, and the Tyranid assault remained relentless.

Red King pounded its chest, using a massive mountain as cover while continuously eating rocks from the mountainside and spitting them out as ranged attacks.

In the distance, the Tyranid forces had deployed massive psykers—Zoanthropes—that attacked Red King with lightning and other ranged abilities.

Following Rhodes' orders, Red King hid behind the mountain, occasionally poking its head out to spit rocks back at the Zoanthropes.

There was no other choice—despite its terrifying melee prowess, Red King only had this one crude ranged attack!

By now, the sky had begun to brighten slightly. Throughout the night, Red King's massacre had taken a heavy toll on the Tyranid forces.

After hours of relentless combat, Rhodes' system coin balance had exceeded 10,000 points.

Now, the biggest question remained—how should he spend them?