Warhammer 40k: Starting as a Rogue Trader

Chapter 159: The Harlequin's Assassination

Lucan had no intention of complying with words so heavily laced with threat.

Should he really give up as these Harlequins suggested? From the moment he had arrived in this world and started down his own path, there was no possibility of stopping. The only outcome of stopping would be death. The Emperor would not agree to it, and Chaos would still want his life. Only by constantly growing stronger, strong enough to face all his enemies, could Lucan stop.

Besides, the seemingly generous reward of the Webway was not that important to Lucan. The research on his jump drive technology was constantly progressing; a breakthrough was inevitable.

"Harlequins... are you threatening me? You're not here to cooperate at all, are you?"

Lucan suddenly exploded into action. He spun around and threw a punch with all his might at the space behind him.

Lucan's punch created a sonic boom, instantly striking a Harlequin in the chest.

Even without the aid of his combat suit, the force of the blow sent the Harlequin flying, but the creature's powerful life force somehow kept it from dying instantly.

It's not dead?! If only I had my gauntlets...

The Harlequin was equally astonished by Lucan's perception and the sheer power his physical body could generate. Feeling an unbearable pain, it immediately chose to get away from this monster, Lucan. A surprise attack from a Harlequin could easily kill a powerful Astartes in one blow, but against Lucan, it had failed.

The loud noise triggered a piercing alarm throughout the building. The Raiders and Night Sentinels on guard, seeing their lord under attack, immediately began to open fire.

Lucan looked at the Harlequin embedded in the wall. The Harlequin's Kiss in its hand was already unsheathed. Lucan knew very well what would happen if he was touched by that weapon; his internal organs would be instantly shredded by a cloud of monomolecular wire. They had intended to take his life from behind. The entire conversation had been a setup for this one sneak attack. Perhaps the moment Lucan refused to cooperate, these Harlequins had already decided to kill him.

With their plan exposed, the Harlequins no longer hid their intentions. Their holo-suits continuously blurred their figures, forcing the Raiders to fire blindly at the afterimages. Their flip-belts even allowed them to defy gravity, moving at unbelievable speeds.

The phase field generated by a Harlequin's Caress, worn on another's arm, passed directly through the sturdy armor of a combat suit and into a Raider's body. With just a squeeze, the soldier's heart was crushed. And these were the Raiders responsible for protecting Lucan, all wearing adamantium combat suits!

In the space of a few breaths, two squads of Raiders fell under the Harlequins' attack.

Only the Night Sentinels could barely fight them. These few Night Sentinels were elite warriors who had undergone extensive enhancement, warriors who could cut down ordinary daemons like melons, yet for a time, they were suppressed by these Harlequins. The cutting-edge technology of the Eldar amplified their already formidable combat skills and physical attributes.

Four Harlequins tied up the Night Sentinels, while the remaining Harlequins swarmed toward Lucan.

Though there were only a few of them, their holo-suits created countless phantoms that filled Lucan's vision. Heaven knew which one was the real body.

Faced with the Harlequins' assault, Lucan also had to be extremely careful. These creatures' combat prowess was stronger than he had imagined. Although Lucan had always thought the stories of Harlequins infiltrating the Imperial Palace and killing dozens of Custodes and numerous human guards were a bit outrageous, it was enough to show just how powerful they were.

An Eldar power sword swung towards Lucan. He was not confident enough to block it with his bare flesh. Lucan used all his strength to evade each fatal attack, but his body still began to accumulate numerous wounds. The seemingly small cuts sent an indescribable, sharp pain through his entire body. If an ordinary person were to suffer such a blow, their will would likely have collapsed from the pain.

The Shadowseer, possessing psychic abilities, continuously cast psychic spells at Lucan. But the spells, which were powerful enough to instantly shatter a strong warrior's mind or plunge them into illusion, had no effect.

Having been infused with the Emperor's power, Lucan's psychic threshold was terrifyingly high. Even the Shadowseer's psionics could not harm him. The psychic energy was completely weakened as it approached him.

"An Untouchable?!" the Harlequin mused. But he didn't feel the discomfort that an Untouchable should have caused him. This person was directly absorbing all the psychic energy.

"As expected, a new weapon created by the Corpse-Emperor."

The Shadowseer was shocked by Lucan's performance. And as Lucan absorbed the large amount of psychic energy released by the Shadowseer, he once again felt the craving from his Sarr-Naga projection... a craving he had only felt once before, when he killed the Genestealer Patriarch.

"Could it be that killing this Shadowseer will give me a chance to unlock the Protoss?"

Lucan suddenly thought of this possibility.

Seeing that psychic powers were useless, the Shadowseer also picked up his Staff of Light, attempting to finish Lucan in close combat.

Explosions continuously sounded from outside the building. The Harlequins had also set up numerous explosive traps to stop Lucan's reinforcements.

But they could never have imagined that Lucan could also summon soldiers from the void.

Beams of light descended around Lucan as he teleported a hundred Raiders to his side. The light instantly enveloped him. These Marines, summoned from StarCraft, immediately attacked the Harlequins.

"Teleportation technology?! So large-scale and so precise? What kind of technology does this human possess?!"

The Harlequins tried to find a psychic beacon in the area to stop more human reinforcements from arriving. But there was no such thing anywhere nearby.

Seeing the ever-increasing number of Raiders in front of him, Lucan breathed a sigh of relief. If he couldn't beat these Harlequins in individual combat, then he would use numbers to crush them. The space before him was already filled with his soldiers, blocking all their paths forward.

The Harlequins could not have predicted this turn of events. Their opponents were not overwhelmingly strong, but for every one they killed, more humans in combat suits would quickly fill the gap.

"We've failed! Retreat!"

The Shadowseer realized that even they would find it difficult to kill Lucan through the ever-increasing number of humans. The traps they had set outside would eventually be exhausted. If Lucan could teleport a hundred, he could probably teleport a thousand. The Harlequins were not willing to bet that this was all Lucan had up his sleeve. And unlike in a game, these Harlequins couldn't just stack their inventory; to maintain their agility and lightness, they rarely carried heavy-yield weapons.

They took out the only Starlight Lassos they had and threw them. These plasma bombs spun at high speed like a lasso, and the charge they carried could reap the lives of their enemies like a scythe. For a moment, they actually managed to clear a path. They used the opening created by the explosion to leap out.

The soldiers outside had finally broken through the Harlequins' defensive traps and rushed in. The ground was now littered with the scattered bodies of humans. The thick smell of blood was particularly pungent.

The body of a Night Sentinel lay quietly on the ground, his heart destroyed by a Harlequin's Caress. If he had possessed multiple hearts like an Astartes, perhaps he would not have died. The remaining Night Sentinels were also covered in wounds. The Night Sentinels who had just rushed in were covered in dust and grime; clearly, the traps set by the Harlequins were not easy to deal with.

To have allowed these creatures to set up such traps and infiltrate so deeply under such heavy security... shame was written on everyone's faces. This was their failure.

"My Lord! It is our failure! We have allowed your life to be threatened."

"Forget it. It's not your fault. These creatures are perhaps the greatest assassins and infiltrators in this world. Don't blame yourselves. Now, lock down the entire hive city! We must find these Harlequins!!"

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