Chapter 337 — The Emperor's Wrath
Gaius stared at the tide of daemons advancing across the battlefield.
Endless.
A sea of claws, fangs, twisted flesh, and unholy madness surged toward the defenders.
His fist slowly clenched.
Beneath his helmet, his expression remained unreadable.
But those who knew him well could sense the anger building within him.
This was his world.
The world entrusted to his care.
Since arriving, he had invested a tremendous amount of resources into its growth and defense.
Factories.
Infrastructure.
Supplies.
Shipyards.
Weapons.
And, more importantly, his brothers.
He had strengthened its industries and fortified its worlds.
And now these abominations had dared to set foot upon it.
His anger boiled.
Not the reckless rage of a berserker.
Not the blind fury of a man who had lost control.
It was controlled.
Focused.
The anger of a warrior looking upon an enemy that had threatened everything he had helped build.
Before anyone else could react, Titus stepped forward.
Metaurus moved beside him.
The two Bladeguard Veterans advanced as one, shields raised and weapons ready.
Behind them, the ancient Dreadnought thundered into position, its massive frame looming over the gathering like a walking fortress.
Instinctively, they formed a wall around Gaius.
Not because he needed their protection.
But because that was their duty.
They were his brothers.
And no son of Guilliman would willingly allow danger to reach their Captain while they still stood.
Gaius looked at the warriors standing before him.
Then he placed a massive gauntleted hand upon Titus's shoulder.
"Move aside, Titus."
His voice was calm.
Far too calm.
Titus hesitated for only a moment.
"My lord?"
Gaius's gaze never left the advancing daemons.
"They have come to my world."
His hand tightened slightly.
"Allow me to remind them why that was a mistake."
Gaius looked toward Titus and the others.
"Connect with the Ultramarines here. Coordinate with them and take command of the defensive line."
Titus looked at him for a moment.
Then he nodded.
"As you command, Captain."
Metaurus and the two Bladeguard Veterans followed suit.
The Dreadnought gave a low mechanical acknowledgment.
Without another word, they moved away from Gaius.
They made their way toward the trenches where the Ultramarines of Varrak Prime were still holding the line.
The Imperial defenders watched as the returning Space Marines approached, recognizing them as reinforcements.
Titus raised a hand.
"Ultramarines!"
The warriors in the trenches turned toward him.
"Status."
Several reports came immediately.
Ammunition reserves.
Casualties.
Damaged positions.
Enemy numbers.
Titus listened without interrupting.
Then he looked across the battlefield.
The Chaos army was still advancing.
"Prepare every weapon."
The Ultramarines immediately began moving.
Heavy bolters were repositioned.
Missile launchers were brought forward.
Plasma weapons were checked.
Bolters were loaded.
The Dreadnought moved along the trench line, its weapons already tracking targets.
The Guardsmen of Varrak Prime followed the Space Marines' example.
Lasguns were raised.
Heavy weapons crews took their positions.
Autocannons rotated toward the approaching horde.
Mortars were prepared.
For the first time since Gaius had returned, the entire defensive line moved with coordination.
Then Titus raised his hand.
"Hold."
The soldiers waited.
Across the battlefield, Gaius remained alone.
The daemonic horde drew closer.
Thousands upon thousands of twisted forms advanced across the wasteland, their numbers stretching toward the horizon.
Bloodletters moved at the front.
Larger daemons followed behind them.
And behind the daemons came the World Eaters.
Rows of red-armored warriors marched forward, chainaxes and other weapons in hand.
They were not rushing.
They did not need to.
The daemons would reach Gaius first.
The World Eaters would follow.
From the trenches, the Ultramarines watched.
Their weapons remained ready.
Their Captain stood ahead of them, facing the entire Chaos force alone.
Gaius looked toward the approaching daemons.
The first Bloodletter broke away from the horde.
It charged.
Its sword rose high above its head as it roared and closed the distance.
The blade came down.
Gaius simply moved.
The sword passed beside him, missing by inches.
Before the Bloodletter could recover, Gaius's fist drove into its torso.
The impact was immediate.
The daemon's upper body burst apart beneath the force of the blow, its form collapsing into blood and Warp energy.
Gaius didn't even look at the remains.
Dozens more were already rushing toward him.
Then hundreds.
They came from every direction.
Gaius stood his ground.
He had not used this ability in quite some time.
His shoulders lowered slightly.
He inhaled.
Deeply.
The next sound that emerged was not simply a roar.
It was a war cry.
The Warcry of the Emperor.
Gaius unleashed it.
The sound detonated across the battlefield.
The earth beneath his feet cracked.
A violent shockwave exploded outward from his position, throwing dust, stones, weapons, and broken pieces of armor into the air.
The trenches shook violently.
Loose earth collapsed from their walls.
The air itself seemed to buckle.
And then—
Conqueror's Haki.
The invisible force erupted alongside the Warcry.
Gaius's overwhelming will became part of the shockwave.
The two powers fused.
Sound became force.
Will became pressure.
The Warcry carried the authority of the Emperor.
The Haki carried Gaius's own overwhelming presence.
Together, they became a devastating wave that tore across the battlefield.
The first ranks of Bloodletters were struck.
Their bodies were thrown backward as though hit by an enormous invisible weapon.
Some were smashed into the ground.
Others were hurled through the air.
Several ruptured beneath the pressure, their forms dissolving into blood and Warp energy.
The charge of the horde collapsed.
Weapons were ripped from hands.
Daemons were driven to their knees or thrown aside.
Cultists behind them were scattered across the wasteland.
The World Eaters were struck next.
They dug their boots into the earth and fought against the force.
Armor groaned.
Several were forced backward.
Others stumbled.
A few were thrown from their feet.
Then the shockwave reached the trenches.
The Ultramarines braced themselves.
The Guardsmen raised their arms.
But the destructive pressure diminished as it reached them.
The Warcry passed through the defenders.
Their exhaustion seemed to fall away.
Their senses sharpened.
Their bodies filled with renewed strength.
Titus tightened his grip.
Metaurus straightened.
The Bladeguard Veterans raised their shields.
Even the Dreadnought's machine spirit responded, its weapons cycling with renewed speed.
The Guardsmen felt it too.
Their fear remained.
But it no longer controlled them.
Their weapons steadied.
Their resolve hardened.
Across the battlefield, the surviving Bloodletters began to recover.
Their twisted bodies pulled themselves from the ground.
They raised their weapons once more.
Gaius looked at them.
He did not wait.
He charged.
The ground exploded beneath his first step.
His enormous frame surged forward with terrifying speed, each stride carrying him deeper into the daemon horde.
The first Bloodletter barely had time to raise its sword.
Gaius's power fist struck first.
The ruby-studded knuckles slammed into its chest.
The impact obliterated the daemon's torso and sent the remains flying backward in a cloud of blood and Warp energy.
Gaius kept moving.
Another Bloodletter attacked from the side.
He turned into the blow.
Its sword scraped across his auramite armor.
Gaius caught the daemon by the throat.
His fingers tightened.
Then he hurled it into the ground hard enough to leave a crater.
Three more charged him.
Gaius lowered his shoulder.
He crashed into them.
One was crushed beneath his weight.
Another was thrown aside.
The third raised its blade—
Gaius's power fist caught it in the face.
The daemon disappeared beneath the impact.
More surrounded him.
Gaius did not slow.
Both power fists became blurs of gold and crimson.
A Bloodletter swung at his head.
Gaius ducked beneath the blade and drove one fist upward.
The daemon's entire body was lifted from the ground.
Before it could fall, Gaius seized its leg and swung it into another.
Both creatures crashed into the earth.
Another group rushed him.
Gaius met them head-on.
His first power fist smashed through one.
His second caught another across the ribs.
He drove both fists forward.
The two daemons were hurled backward, crashing through several others behind them.
A Bloodletter lunged from behind.
Gaius turned before the blade reached him.
Observation Haki had already warned him.
He caught the sword between his gauntleted fingers.
The Bloodletter pulled.
It could not move the weapon.
Gaius crushed the blade.
Then his power fist came forward.
The daemon's head vanished beneath the blow.
For several seconds, the battlefield became a blur of motion.
Gaius moved through the horde rather than allowing it to surround him.
He punched through one daemon.
Threw another aside.
Crushed another beneath his boot.
There was no wasted movement.
No wild swinging.
Every attack was controlled.
Every movement was deliberate.
Every strike carried the overwhelming physical strength of a Primarch.
The daemons had expected prey.
Instead, they had encountered something that could meet them physically and simply overpower them.
Gaius broke through another mass of Bloodletters and emerged on the other side, his auramite armor covered in blood and Warp residue.
He looked toward the remaining horde.
Thousands still remained.
Gaius clenched both power fists.
Then he charged again.
Behind him, Titus watched for only a moment.
Then he lowered his hand.
"Fire."
The defensive line erupted.
Bolters thundered.
Heavy bolters ripped through the advancing daemons.
Autocannons hammered into the horde.
Missiles screamed overhead before detonating among clusters of Chaos forces.
Lasguns fired in disciplined volleys.
The battlefield became a storm of gunfire.
Bloodletters were cut apart by massed bolter fire.
Lesser daemons were torn apart by heavy weapons.
Cultists disappeared beneath overlapping volleys.
The World Eaters continued advancing.
Bolter rounds struck their armor.
Some staggered.
Others ignored the impacts entirely.
The Ultramarines concentrated their fire.
A World Eater carrying a massive chainaxe was struck repeatedly in the chest.
The first rounds dented his armor.
The next punched through.
He finally fell.
Another took a missile directly against his position and disappeared beneath the explosion.
The Guardsmen continued firing.
They had fought Chaos before.
But never like this.
Never with Space Marines fighting beside them in such perfect coordination.
Titus pointed toward the left flank.
"Heavy weapons! Focus there!"
The autocannons shifted.
A concentrated barrage tore into the advancing formation.
The left side buckled.
Metaurus raised his weapon.
"Second line. Fire."
The Ultramarines fired again.
The Dreadnought joined them.
Its heavy weapon roared.
The impact tore through a cluster of daemons, scattering them across the battlefield.
The defensive line had become a killing zone.
Yet the Chaos army continued advancing.
Because behind the lesser creatures came something far worse.
The Bloodthirsters.
The Greater Daemons had remained standing.
They had watched.
And now they began walking forward.
Gaius saw them.
The Bloodthirsters stared at him.
For a moment, none moved.
Then one raised its enormous axe.
A deep, guttural laugh escaped the daemon.
Another followed.
Their weapons rose.
They had been waiting for him.
Now they would answer his challenge.
The Bloodthirsters charged.
The ground shook.
Their enormous forms surged forward with terrifying speed.
Gaius remained still.
Behind him, the guns continued firing.
The Ultramarines and Guardsmen were fully engaged, cutting into the Chaos horde while the Greater Daemons came directly for their Captain.
Titus saw them approaching.
His eyes narrowed.
"Hold the line!"
The Ultramarines continued firing.
No one broke formation.
No one abandoned their position.
Because Gaius had given them an order.
And they would trust their Captain to deal with what was coming.
The Bloodthirsters closed the distance.
Gaius lowered his stance.
His hands slowly clenched around his power fists.
The first Bloodthirster raised its axe.
Gaius looked directly into its burning eyes.
Then he stepped forward.
The battle for Varrak Prime had only begun.
~~~
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