Chapter 251: The Will of the Forerunners! A Chance for the Elites to Rise!
"This... is this a gravity field?!"
The elite officer standing behind David, along with the elite soldiers around him, were all dumbfounded. Had they not witnessed it with their own eyes, they would never have believed such a scene could be real.
Missiles hovering in mid-air were abruptly pinned down by the gravity field.Covenant troops, who had been full of life just a moment ago, were reduced to nothing more than clouds of blood and shattered remains the next.
They were well aware that the Brutes and Jackals before them had died under the crushing force of the gravity field. But what they hadn't anticipated was that these so-called "gods" possessed weapons capable of such terrifying might.
At that moment, the elite officer looked at David, then glanced up at the fleet of Wanderer-class dreadnoughts suspended in the sky above. He suddenly felt fortunate that he hadn't attempted to betray David from behind.
Had he done so, his fate would likely have been no better than those who were pulverized into blood mist.
Faced with such advanced gravity-based technology, the elite officer had become fully convinced in his heart: David was truly a Forerunner—the deity they had been searching for all this time.
At ground level, having witnessed the divine miracle up close, and seeing countless brutes and Jackals crushed into pulp, the surviving grunts collapsed, groveling on the ground.
They begged David and the Astartes warriors for mercy, hoping they'd be spared.
Tap!
Tap-tap!
David paid no attention to the grunts prostrating themselves before him. His targets were only the Jackals, and any other hostile or threatening Covenant forces.
And so, David led the Astartes warriors past the them without hesitation, heading straight toward the gravity lift.
Meanwhile, the Wanderer-class dreadnoughts floating in the air continued scanning for suspicious individuals nearby, assisting David's team by preemptively eliminating potential threats.
Before long, David reached the edge of the gravity lift.
Here, a few heavily armored soldiers remained—unaffected by the gravity field. They belonged to one of the Covenant's races: the Mgalekgolo, also known as Hunters.
The Hunters had a bizarre physiology. Unlike Elites or brutes, individual Hunters were not particularly strong.
In fact, in their normal state, a Hunter resembled a writhing worm, lacking even basic intelligence and relying solely on instinct to function.
Calling them interstellar amoebas wouldn't be far off.
Yet despite their low individual intelligence and physical frailty, their species possessed an astonishing trait: Hunters could merge—fusing together using a biological process to form a single, unified entity.
When several Hunters combined into a single being, they gained a collective consciousness and heightened intelligence. Their physical capabilities also improved significantly.
In this combined form, they could communicate with Elites and Brutes , follow orders, and obey the commands of high-ranking Covenant officers.
It's believed they performed these fusions via specialized pheromones or bioelectric signals, allowing multiple worm-like units to function as one organism—complete with formidable strength and shared cognition.
Upon reflection, the Hunter species carried a distinctly Lovecraftian air of unsettling strangeness. They weren't quite Zerg, but they were undeniably abstract and bizarre.
Yet as the saying goes, "Every creature has its use." After subjugating the Hunters, the Covenant capitalized on their unique biology and integrated them into their heavily armored divisions.
Within the Covenant's armed forces, Hunters were considered elite units. Despite having intelligence on par with grunts individually, their status far exceeded the latter.
Now, seeing David and his warriors approach the lift, the Hunters stationed there immediately swung their massive, armor-plated arms toward him in an attempt to strike.
"ROAR—! Intruders must die!"
But just as the Hunters launched their attack, the Astartes warriors beside David simultaneously opened fire, their boltguns shredding the target into a mess of gore.
The disintegrated Hunter let out a wretched shriek. Its worm-like components splattered across the ground like sticky slime.
Arriving slightly late, Reed couldn't help but marvel at the devastation—and at the Wanderer-class dreadnoughts overhead.
"No wonder this tech was left behind by the Forerunners. With this thing on our side, I don't think it'll take long for us to take the galaxy!"
Surveying the area around the gravity lift—now completely occupied by the Astartes—Reed grew more confident in the conquest ahead.
Especially when he saw the remains of the Brutes and Jackals beneath their feet, all obliterated with no trace left behind. With this kind of firepower, who in the universe could possibly stand in the path of the Universal Megacorp?
"Let's hope so."
David nodded slightly, casting a glance at the retreating Brutes, the elite officer behind him, and the silent elite soldiers. He first counted his squad's numbers.
Fortunately, despite several fierce skirmishes, the forces led by him and Reed had remained intact with no casualties.
Their next move was clear: infiltrate the Covenant flagship—and capture the enemy commander.
"Looks like we'll have to apologize in person to the Commander-in-Chief."
The elite officer let out a helpless growl. They stood no chance against David's force. Even if these weren't Forerunners, what qualifications did they have to resist?
Hearing the officer's reluctant comment, David didn't bother with pleasantries. He simply pointed at the lift, signaling that the elite should lead them to the Covenant's command center.
Naturally, the elite understood David's gesture. Hanging his head, he sulkily moved ahead—now acting as a guide for the Megacorp forces.
…
At that moment, inside the CCS-class battlecruiser—
"Commander, an unidentified ground force is approaching our main headquarters. Even Officer Vadamee is guiding them in."
"They claim... these people are Forerunners—our gods!"
At the central control station, an elite communications officer reported in the Covenant's native tongue to the fleet's commander, Moramee.
Hearing these grim updates from every comms channel, Moramee's mood had plummeted. When he saw Officer Vadamee leading the foreigners on the central holo-display, his composure cracked entirely.
Judging from the gear of these Astartes warriors, they were no ordinary force.
To make matters worse, the Covenant fleet had already been surrounded by Wanderer-class ships. Their gravity fields had disabled the fleet's engines, preventing any chance of escape.
The main forces sent to the ground had been wiped out. The flagship's internal defenses were practically nonexistent. There was nowhere to run from David's assault.
"Looks like we're going to fall into the hands of this unknown force today."
Staring at David on the screen, Moramee still refused to believe he was a Forerunner or any kind of deity.
But seeing Vadamee personally guiding the outsiders toward command left him shaken.
As the Covenant fleet commander, Moramee had trained many elite warriors—Vadamee was among the best.
He had risen through the ranks at a young age, becoming an officer with a future just a step away from general.
And now, this once-promising warrior had willingly become a guide for "the enemy." Could these intruders truly be Forerunner soldiers—or even a garrison force?
After a brief moment of thought, Moramee made his decision: he would confront David in person. Even if it meant dying by his hand, he would defend his clan's honor as an elite warrior.
"Summon all my guards to follow me to the outer corridor of headquarters. The rest of you—stay here."
"Yes, Commander!"
With that order, his guards quickly assembled and followed him to the outer hallway of the command center.
The elites in his guard were handpicked from the best of the clan.
They possessed superior strength and combat skills and were outfitted with advanced power armor and energy spears.
These spears resembled lightsabers from Star Wars, their tips formed from superheated, magnetically-contained plasma capable of piercing through armor and flesh alike.
Soon, Moramee and his guard reached the corridor outside the command center and waited silently for David's arrival.
It wasn't long before the door opened, and leading the group was Vadamee, followed by David and the Astartes.
Seeing the other party already waiting, David said nothing. He simply patted Vadamee on the shoulder, signaling him to explain the situation.
Vadamee nodded dejectedly and stepped forward, speaking in a low voice to his superior:
"I'm sorry, Commander... but I must follow the will of the gods and lead them here."
Having witnessed the gravity field obliterate the Covenant's forces in an instant, Vadamee was now convinced David was a Forerunner warrior.
After all, through their excavations, the Covenant had long discovered that gravity manipulation was one of the gods' signature technologies.
"The will of the gods? You think those few ragtag soldiers behind you are worthy of that title?!"
Moramee was not so easily convinced. But once he confirmed the destruction of their ground troops by a single gravity strike, and saw David's power...
He hesitated.
No wonder there had been no further communications from the surface, no sign of where their army had gone. It had been annihilated in an instant by the gravity field.
Moramee fell silent for a moment. Then Vadamee spoke again:
"The gods have given our Elite clan a chance. I believe... this is our only opportunity to reclaim our rightful place as leaders of the Covenant!"
Wadamee, as one of the most outstanding warriors of the Sangheili, wasn't just a powerhouse on the battlefield—he also possessed sharp political insight.
That was precisely how he'd risen swiftly through the ranks to become the youngest officer in the Covenant's military, with the potential to be the youngest ever promoted to general.
You have to understand: the Sangheili and the Prophets were once rival factions, evenly matched in influence. But now, the Sangheili had been reduced to mere underlings, forced to serve the Prophets like glorified henchmen.
Though they still benefited from the Covenant's expansion, the Prophets—those conniving old schemers—were constantly looking for ways to prop up outsider species like the Brutes and Jackals behind the scenes.
Slowly but surely, they were stripping the Sangheili of their internal power.
Over time, this would inevitably lead to the decline of the Sangheili clans.
But then came David—this mysterious Astartes warrior—who had emerged as a crucial external force. He was the key to breaking the deadlock, the hope the Sangheili needed to rise again and take the reins of the Covenant.
After understanding Wadamee's vision, Moramee also acknowledged the potential of this far-sighted young warrior.
From that perspective, forming an alliance with these Astartes warriors didn't seem like a bad idea for the Sangheili at all.
Still… Moramee had no intention of agreeing to their terms so easily. He needed to test David's strength firsthand—to see if the man was truly worthy.
Without hesitation, Moramee took two long energy lances from a nearby guard and tossed one to David.
But before Moramee could step forward, Wadamee wore an awkward expression and whispered a warning:
"Commander, I suggest you don't do this. Even I'm no match for this guy."
Wadamee was considered a war god among the new generation of Sangheili warriors—peerless in courage and strength.
If even he couldn't defeat David, how could Moramee, a commander who spent most of his time at headquarters, possibly hope to fare better?
Realizing this, Moramee's heart sank. This was bad—very bad.
He shot an angry glare at Wadamee, as if to say, "Why didn't you tell me something this important sooner?"
The weapons were already drawn. He'd been moments away from going all in—hoping to beat David and win back some pride for the Sangheili.
Now it turned out even Wadamee couldn't win. And Moramee, an old-timer, was expected to fight him?
Wasn't this just setting him up to fail?
Just as Moramee was about to shove the energy lance back into Wadamee's hands and force him to fight in his place, Wadamee misunderstood and thought he was blocking the commander's path.
So he quickly stepped aside and gestured respectfully: "After you."
David, now holding the energy lance, was getting excited too. He'd heard that the Sangheili were the strongest warriors in the Covenant. He was curious if this older commander might actually be even more formidable than Wadamee.
Looking around, Moramee saw the expectant gazes of his guards and subordinates, then glanced at David, who was clearly ready for battle.
He knew he had no way out of this now.
Like it or not, he had to grit his teeth and go through with this hopeless duel!
He couldn't just throw down his weapon and forfeit—that would be even more humiliating and would disgrace the honor of the Sangheili warriors.
Soon, the brilliant blue plasma blade flared to life.
With a loud clang, the clash began.
Under everyone's gaze, Moramee was effortlessly disarmed and flung to the ground in a matter of seconds, falling unconscious on the deck.
Wadamee and the Astartes warriors behind David had all seen it coming. Only the Sangheili guards looked completely dumbfounded.
"Uh… that's it? It's already over?"
They'd thought their commander's confidence meant he was ready to battle David in a drawn-out, hard-fought duel.
No one expected him to be flattened instantly.
How humiliating was that…?
As David looked down at the unconscious Moramee, he couldn't help but be surprised. He had no idea why the Sangheili would send an old man to duel him.
Especially one this weak!
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