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Chapter 304: The Assassination Was Just a Feint
🕑 Added 2025-09-18 14:17:56 +0000 UTCChapter 304: The Assassination Was Just a Feint
More and more Ghosts began to gather around Norris. A total of 150 Ghosts from all over the undercity had arrived at his side in accordance with his orders.
At that moment, Vect had just finished assembling his troops and was preparing to flee.
"Sir, the target is escaping!"
Hearing this, Norris immediately gave the order to act.
"All squads, remember your mission. Our objective is to capture the target alive and bring him to our Lord. Prioritize high-threat targets. Target assignments have already been transmitted to your tactical visors. For Lord Lucan! For the Mongorte Dynasty!"
As the Ghosts truly began to approach and move, Vect and the powerful gladiators surrounding him immediately sensed something. They detected a large number of scattered psionic fluctuations. The Harlequins had the privilege of using psychic powers in Commorragh, but Lemire and his troupe, having suffered heavy losses, had temporarily left to recuperate in the Webway. That meant the psionic signatures appearing here could only be the enemy.
In Commorragh, where assassination and murder were exceedingly common, the Kabalite soldiers instantly realized that assassins were approaching. Vect, more than anyone, understood this. One by one, the Dark Eldar drew their long knives and raised their rifles, warily scanning their surroundings, but they found nothing.
Following a series of soft thwips, the heads of one Black Heart Kabalite after another exploded like watermelons. In an instant, dozens of corpses littered the ground.
At the same time, the advancing Ghosts activated their phase-shift, dropping their cloaks and appearing beside the Dark Eldar. Their targets were the Eldar holding heavy-duty weapons. Psi-blades easily sliced through the thin armor of the Dark Eldar. However, many of the Dark Eldar dodged these attacks; their experience with this kind of sudden assassination was exceptionally rich.
But the most fatal blow was that as the Ghosts drew closer, their combat suits suddenly stopped keeping them cloaked. One by one, the Ghosts felt that they could no longer freely mobilize the psychic energy within their bodies.
How could Vect, as the Overlord, not carry an artifact to protect himself from psychic assault? Commorragh had inherited a vast legacy from the ancient Eldar Empire, and a considerable number of these relics had been acquired by him. The ancient Eldar's application of psychic power had far surpassed that of any other civilization in the galaxy. In that era, unmanned machines driven by psionics had completely replaced all production in the Eldar Empire. They had integrated psionics into every aspect of their empire and their lives. And how could a race that used psionics as a weapon not also develop countermeasures? Just like the dagger Lady Malys possessed, which could make her immune to psychic attacks, Vect also had something similar.
Their cloaks began to fail. The psi-blades in their hands flickered. Realizing the severity of the problem, Norris immediately began to fall back.
Faced with the Ghosts charging at him, Vect showed not a trace of panic. I've experienced more assassination attempts than you've had hot meals. You think you can kill me with this?
The speed Vect unleashed in that moment was something that even Norris's dynamic-tracking vision could not capture. When Vect revealed himself again, several of the Ghosts who had gotten close to him had already been cut in half by the power sword in his hand. Even though the Ghosts had been enhanced, there was still a massive gap in their abilities.
Since psychic powers were useless, they would have to use physical means. The C-20A rifle in Norris's hands fired continuously, but every shot was blocked by the personal force field Vect was wearing. Just as Norris was about to switch ammunition to disable Vect's shield, Vect was already upon him.
Norris used all his strength to dodge the fatal blow. He felt that in that instant, he had never been closer to death.
Seeing Norris's performance, Vect said mockingly, "Humans... is this all you have? Without your magic, are you this pathetic?!"
Without the support of their psi-blades and psionics, the Ghosts had lost the element of surprise. Faced with these Dark Eldar, who had lived for millennia and had spent their entire lives killing, they were immediately at a disadvantage. Many of the Ghosts' phase-shift abilities were on cooldown, unable to support their rapid movement.
Seeing the now-visible Ghosts, the thousands of elite Dark Eldar in the surrounding area charged them. The casualties among the Ghosts began to rise.
But a moment later, Vect noticed that Norris's face showed no sign of fear or helplessness before death. He saw Norris's mouth moving, as if he was saying something. Was he giving his last words to his companions? That was clearly impossible.
As Norris finished speaking the last word, the ground once again began to tremble. Vect knew what this meant: it was the Brutalisks that had been wreaking havoc on the front lines!
Sure enough. Now that Norris had provided line of sight, Abathur had taken control of the Brutalisks and had them burrow directly to this location. Three Brutalisks erupted from the ground, sending Dark Eldar flying. Their biological blades slaughtered any Eldar who tried to get near the Ghosts.
Having fought them before, the Dark Eldar had already developed a corresponding set of tactics. The Eldar on the perimeter immediately began firing anti-matter weapons at the Brutalisks, knowing they couldn't last long. But Norris's support was not just coming from the Zerg. Support from the Protoss arrived in an instant.
Karax, controlling the systems on the Spear of Adun, had locked onto Norris's position. The battlefield support ability they had been holding in reserve had arrived. A Time Bomb from the Siege Cluster was teleported directly onto Norris's position and detonated in the area around him.
With a violent shockwave, the surrounding Dark Eldar were all stunned and frozen in place, locked in time and space. Vect was also affected. Seeing his subordinates frozen in place, the look of certainty on his face finally changed.
"These Mon-keigh... they've mastered the technology to control time and space?!"
This range and effect were far beyond what any stasis weapon could achieve. This remote delivery capability and precision were clearly beyond all reason. This wasn't an open plain; they had countless layers of architecture above their heads!
Moreover, a stasis weapon should be indiscriminate, but the only ones affected now were the Dark Eldar. The Ghosts and the Brutalisks, identified as allies, were completely unharmed. This precise friend-or-foe identification and delivery system was unheard of.
Of all those present, only Vect could still move his body, albeit extremely slowly. The Time Bomb was also based on psionics, but not completely reliant on it. The psychic-dampening device he wore had, in the end, provided some protection, but not much.
Vect's previously uncatchable speed was now slowed down a million times over. He could only watch as the completely mobile Brutalisks crushed his elite Black Heart warriors one by one.
Norris then calmly walked directly up to Vect. "Xenos," he said, his voice cold, "the assassination was just a feint to probe your defenses."
Hearing Norris's mockery, Vect struggled with all his might to raise his weapon, but his movements were still impossibly slow.
"Report to the Lord. Target successfully captured," Norris said dispassionately, looking at Vect. The duration of the Time Bomb was short, not long enough for them to kill all the Dark Eldar present. Norris drew his monomolecular combat blade, and in a few quick motions, severed Vect's four limbs. The searing pain did not cause him to lose consciousness. Norris then, at top speed, stripped Vect of all his wargear.
Just as Vect was wondering how he would get out of this and how the humans would dispose of him, a Brutalisk approached. It opened its massive maw. Seeing the mouth filled with countless sharp teeth, Vect thought the Brutalisk was going to bite him to death, but it did not.
The Brutalisk swallowed Vect whole, without chewing or tearing, and then immediately began to burrow into the ground again. Seeing the Brutalisk leave, Norris and the remaining Ghosts quickly exfiltrated the battlefield.
Just as the Ghosts and the Brutalisk disappeared, the effect of the Time Bomb ended. The survivors of the Kabal of the Black Heart looked at the field of corpses and the space where Vect had vanished, completely at a loss.
"Find the Haemonculi! They must have a way to resurrect Lord Vect!!"
This was the only solution Vect's confidants could think of.
