NOVEL NEXT Chapter 171: The Temple of Morkai
Szczesny and Jorginho plunged into the Sea of Storms and immediately felt a surge of power within them.
As higher-ranked followers of the ocean, the "Seafarers" gained all-around enhancements while at sea.
Jorginho charged alone at a smaller Kraken, his pitch-black eyes glowing with a blue light.
With heightened perception and memory as a "Seafarer," he quickly sketched out the Kraken's underwater movement in his mind.
The Fenrisians were astonished to see the descending figure move like a swift fish, darting toward the Kraken.
Every tentacle that burst from the sea was effortlessly dodged.
A burly Fenrisian wearing a spiked mask and wielding a battle axe muttered in disbelief,
"Someone can actually dodge a Kraken's tentacles?"
Sensing the water's subtle currents, the "Seafarer" calculated with lightning speed, evading each strike.
After dozens of evasive maneuvers, he closed in, just 300 meters from the Kraken.
Raising his hands, the "Seafarer" slammed them onto the sea surface. The water splashed upward and was instantly compressed by psychic energy into several spears, which he launched at the Kraken.
Since advancing to "Seafarer," Jorginho could now perform limited water-related 'spell'.
Still inexperienced, the spears he formed varied in length and thickness:
Some are over a meter long but as thin as a human finger.
Others half a meter long but as thick as a clenched fist.
The spears struck the Kraken's head.
It let out a painful screech and toppled, crashing back into the freezing ocean.
"Storm power!" a Fenrisian exclaimed.
Jorginho leapt onto the Kraken's head. Activating the runes on his power sword, a dazzling blue force field wrapped around the blade.
Blood gushed forth as the enormous head was severed and dropped into the sea.
The Fenrisians watched in stunned silence. Someone had slain a Kraken alone.
While they were still reeling, that same man shouted at them in broken Juvik:
"Don't just stand there! Get on the ship!"
Jorginho climbed aboard a dragon boat made from sea serpent bone.
As he gathered Fenrisians and secured the vessel, Szczesny commanded a group of "Shadows of Order" trained in the Tyrant Pathway to hunt down the Iron-Scaled Kraken.
He split 26 Beyonders into five teams, each led by a "Folk of Rage".
"Team One, bait from range!"
Six Order charged forward. The Rage-leader activated his runes, his power gauntlets shone blue as he smashed a tentacle out of the air.
Though they couldn't pierce the Kraken's iron-scaled hide, their coordinated strike flung the tentacle aside.
Meanwhile, five agile "Sailors" weaved through the water, avoiding strikes like fish.
"Team Two, draw it in close!"
They lured the Kraken's fanged maw toward them.
When Szczesny saw it lose balance, he gave the order:
"Teams Three, Four, and Five, attack!"
Watching from a dragon boat, Fenrisians saw warriors descend from above, using similar but far more efficient tactics to hunt the Iron-Scaled Kraken.
The five teams rotated seamlessly. Every time the Kraken struck back, it failed.
Every attack from the warriors hit the Kraken's wounds.
Seeing the battle decided, Nareth ordered his gunship toward Kraken Spire.
Once it landed, he disembarked.
His black eyes gleamed with spiritual light.
"Treasure!"
He sprang into action, rapidly collecting relics, massive bones, and long fangs, bringing them back to the "Kingdom of Disorder."
Some of the remains lacked spiritual energy and were useless as potion ingredients.
But they still had value; they could be used as spiritual materials to forge enchanted items.
'I remember, before the Emperor and I arrived, Leman Russ once hunted the greatest Kraken in the Sea of Storms, King Gorgon.'
'After returning to the Imperium, its beak was forged into a sword that could cleave Fenris's glaciers in two. Even the non-potion-grade beak parts could be used to craft weapons, especially for those walking the Tyrant Pathway.''
While Nareth scavenged the Kraken Spire, Szczesny and his squad finished off the Iron-Scaled Kraken.
He summoned the orbital fleet. Techmarines and their aides arrived to process the remains.
Szczesny and Jorginho rescued surviving Fenrisians from the water. They selected four intact dragon boats and formed two fleets.
At the same time, Nareth walked toward an ancient stone ruin atop Kraken Spire, the Temple of Morkai.
Morkai was the death-wolf god worshipped by the Fenrisians, representing death and the dead.
Nareth remembered that in the future, the Space Wolves believed Morkai to be Leman Russ's companion. Their initiation trial was called the Trial of Morkai.
New recruits had to walk in Russ's footsteps, alone into a frozen wilderness, confront death itself, Morkai, and return alive to become a Space Wolf.
Before stepping into the temple, Nareth suddenly felt his hair stand on end.
He halted, cautious.
Even the Fenrisians didn't know when or why this temple had been built.
To the tribes, what mattered was that the abandoned temple was home to many ancient treasures.
Using "Warp Insight," Nareth peered at the structure before him. The vast, rugged, solemn temple morphed before his eyes.
Its gates became like hellish doorways, filled with countless indescribable eyes peering from within the darkness.
'Fenrisians have entered before for treasure. There shouldn't be anything dangerous enough to threaten me. But I still feel danger. Could it be the temple rejects me for not being Fenrisian?
'And those dying Krakens avoiding destruction of the temple… It's not because they respect historical artifacts.'
Circling the temple, Nareth saw its outer walls engraved with strange runes, tentacles covering every inch.
He stared at the carvings, something dawning on him.
'Why would dying Krakens travel from afar to perish at this exact spot, one of the few permanently exposed land masses on Fenris?'
'That doesn't make sense if the dead hate being disturbed. No, it must be a mysterious power from within the temple that draws them here to die.'
A sudden realization struck him.
'If the Kraken's deaths were caused by this temple's pull, it's no coincidence. It's destiny.'
Standing before the gates, the Primarch felt the temple's danger.
'It's dangerous, but not deadly.'
After a pause, he made up his mind: he would enter and explore its secrets.
Fenris was the home of Leman Russ and the Space Wolves. Opportunities to return were rare.
Now was the best time.
The key? Morkai, the death-wolf, was not a true god.
...
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