Warhammer 40K: The Emperor's Raven

Chapter 248 - 247: So it…

Raven wasted no time. He took Daigo, opened a spacetime portal, and headed to the timeline where the Red Sphere was located.

They arrived to find a terrifying monster ravaging the city. Magnificent skyscrapers toppled like dominoes. Cars were crushed into scrap metal. The creature occasionally spewed flames that consumed entire blocks.

People fled in panic, but many were too slow, burned alive by the monster's fire or crushed beneath collapsing buildings. Before the creature's mass, humans were fragile as ants. A casual movement could kill dozens.

Raven assessed the monster. Information flowed into his mind: King of Mons. Eighty-three meters tall, eighty-two thousand tons. Created by the Red Sphere from a user's inner darkness and greed, the most evil and terrifying monster it had spawned.

"The monster's destroying the city," Daigo said, pulling out his transformation device. "I have to fight!"

Raven nodded. "Go, Daigo. Do what you think is right."

Daigo raised his device. "Tiga!"

Brilliant light flashed. Tiga materialized in the city, rushing forward to engage King of Mons and stop it from harming more innocents.

King of Mons possessed extraordinary combat power, no ordinary monster, but a mysterious entity drawing infinite energy from the Red Sphere, absorbing the desires of humans themselves.

After kicking King of Mons back, Tiga clasped his hands together and released a beam attack. King of Mons spread its bone wings, forming a shield that reflected the blast back. Then it took flight, continuously releasing burning beams that hammered Tiga from above.

"Defeat Ultraman! Let this world burn!"

In a corner of the city, several children around ten years old shouted with disturbing excitement. Hiroshi Kashimada, Kohei Nakahara, and Wataru Kosugi.

Two other children lay on the ground nearby, crying as they watched Tiga being overwhelmed. Tsutomu Shinsei and Yu Hirama.

Tsutomu had been the first to obtain the Red Sphere. Kind-hearted, he had only used it to fulfill small wishes, nothing evil. Then the delinquent Hiroshi Kashimada learned of it, stole the sphere, and wished for a monster to attack the city.

Tsutomu and Yu stole it back, wishing for Ultraman to protect the city and defeat the monster, summoning Tiga. Enraged, Kashimada stole the sphere again and created an even more powerful monster: King of Mons. This time he was completely unhinged, planning to destroy the entire world.

Tsutomu and Yu tried to steal it back to have Ultraman save everyone. But during the attempt, Kashimada and his friends caught them and beat them bloody.

"Well, well! Do you little brats know what sins you've committed?!"

Raven locked onto the Red Sphere's location, tore open a spatial rift, and appeared before the instigators. His sudden appearance startled the excited children.

"Who are you?" Kashimada revealed a savage expression.

Raven tilted his head. "I'm here to punish you. Your actions have harmed hundreds of thousands of people. You'll probably spend the rest of your lives in prison."

The children panicked instantly.

"Prison? I don't want to go!"

"I heard prison is terrible."

"Don't be afraid. We have the Red Sphere. We can destroy the world—then there won't be any prisons."

The mere mention of prison terrified these delinquents. Kashimada, however, remained calm. He showed his friends the sphere to remind them they possessed something that could grant any wish.

"That's right. We have the Red Sphere. No one can defeat us."

"Haha, prison's out of the question."

"Destroy this annoying bird!"

Kashimada sneered, raising the Red Sphere high. "Destroy this bird! Make it disappear from this world forever!"

The sphere grew even more vibrant, like congealed blood radiating crimson light.

In the distance, King of Mons suddenly grew stronger, splitting into two additional monsters, Basiliss and Sculla, to fight Tiga together. After attacking the Ultra, one of the creatures released a destructive beam toward Raven.

Sizzle!

Tiga suddenly broke free from the other two monsters and lunged forward, using his body to shield Raven from the blast. The attack severely injured him, sending him crashing to the ground, unable to rise.

The three monsters formed a triangle around Raven and Tiga, gathering power for a devastating combined attack.

Kashimada raised the sphere, forming a red light shield around himself and his friends to block the impending destruction.

"Annoying bird, no one can put us in prison because this world is about to be destroyed. You'll be turned into a roasted bird that nobody will eat. Tsutomu, Yu, you can die with Ultraman too! Hahaha!"

Raven: "..."

'I should've brought Valdor,' he thought.

The Commander-General of the Custodes would definitely teach these brats what roasting on a skewer meant. Only Raven was soft-hearted enough not to do such things. Why waste words? He could simply use the Great Desolate Imprisoning Heaven Finger to show them what cruelty really meant.

"I won't become a roasted bird. But if you ever get out of prison in this lifetime, I'll quit."

As he finished speaking, Raven's body radiated light. Powerful primal energy flowed into Tiga's injured form.

Squeak!

The heavily wounded Tiga was fully revived, transforming into his Glitter Form. He blocked the destructive ray unleashed by the three monsters, then fired a single Glitter Zeperion Ray that destroyed Sculla, shattering its body into fragments. The remaining King of Mons and Basiliss were quickly overwhelmed.

"Let Mons—"

Kashimada, holding the sphere, started to make another wish. Raven tore open a spatial rift and snatched it away.

"Use me, and you will gain even greater power."

"Use me, and you will control this world."

"I can do anything you wish."

A whispered voice rang in Raven's ear, tempting him to use the sphere's power.

"Make the big guy do a striptease," Raven wished softly.

The Red Sphere instantly shone brightly. Raven could feel the fluctuations of fate responding. A moment later, a cracking sound rang out. A crack appeared on the once-flawless surface.

The light faded. The whispered voice disappeared.

"No way. It's broken already? Oh my god, is it going to shatter completely?"

Raven stared at the now-unresponsive sphere, flapping his wings experimentally. Still no reaction.

"Give us back the Red Sphere!"

"Please, give it back!"

"We know we were wrong! Give it back!"

Without the sphere, the kids panicked completely. Raven ignored them, flying higher so they couldn't reach him. They began crying, sobbing uncontrollably, begging him to return it.

Raven ignored them, watching the battlefield instead.

[End of Chapter]