As the Tyranid Warrior finally fell, Marcus's mind, strained from the exertion of his Mind Power, immediately relaxed. Yet, a slight headache throbbed behind his eyes. Simultaneously controlling four bayonets with his newfound power was still quite strenuous, putting a considerable burden on his mental faculties. Nevertheless, this battle had given Marcus a rough understanding of his current strength: without relying on an overpowered weapon like the meltagun, he could now confidently face and defeat two or even three Tyranid Warriors alone.
With the Warrior vanquished, the Hormagaunts and Gun Worms it had controlled fell into disarray, quickly annihilated by the Astartes' relentless bolter fire. Rubbing his temples to recover his wits, Marcus surveyed the rest of the battlefield. Despite having personally eliminated a Tyranid Warrior and numerous Hormagaunts and Gun Worms, the overall situation remained grim. In addition to the continuous stream of Tyranids emerging from the swamp, several spore pods had crashed nearby, disgorging even more creatures that surged towards them. Even though Titus and his two companions had fought fiercely, slaying over a dozen Tyranid Warriors and countless Hormagaunts and Gun Worms, facing such a massive Tyranid horde without Astra Militarum heavy fire support meant they would eventually be overwhelmed.
Just then, the Astartes officer from before shouted, "Sir, the door is open!"
"Everyone, get inside, then close the door!" Titus commanded.
Chairon, hearing Titus, immediately questioned, "Shouldn't we eliminate the remaining Tyranids?"
"The Tyranids are endless; we must focus on taking out the Hive Ship," Titus replied, moving closer to the door, coordinating with Chairon and Gadriel to cover the retreating Cadian soldiers. Seeing the desperate situation, Marcus cursed under his breath, then forced himself to raise his spirits and activate his Mind Power once more. Four bayonets, like harbingers of death, tore through the Tyranid ranks, piercing the heads of countless Hormagaunts. In the final moments before the heavy door slammed shut, Titus, his two companions, and Marcus finally slipped inside. As the door sealed, blocking the surging Tyranid tide outside, Marcus finally ceased using his Mind Power; the strenuous effort made his headache even more severe.
As the elevator slowly ascended, accompanied by the hushed prayers of the Cadian soldiers around them, Titus turned to Marcus, his expression serious. "Lieutenant Marcus Aurelius, I need to know what power you just used."
It was clear Titus had noticed Marcus's use of Mind Power during the earlier fight with the Tyranid Warrior. Hearing Titus's inquiry, Chairon and Gadriel also looked over, having also witnessed the psychic-like display.
Facing Titus's direct question, Marcus rubbed his temples, alleviating his headache, while delivering the explanation he had long prepared. "Sir, this is a power that theGod-Emperor has just bestowed upon me, allowing me to slaughter more filthy Xenos!"
When in doubt say EMPRAH.
Listening to Marcus's somewhat perfunctory answer, Titus remained silent. Instead, he slowly walked towards Marcus, removed the Purity Seal from his shoulder guard, and placed it on Marcus's forehead. Marcus knew well that Titus was using the purity seal to check for any signs of Chaos corruption. If the Purity Seal were to burn, Titus would likely not hesitate to crush his head into a pulp and then use a flamer to reduce his corpse to ashes.
After more than ten seconds, the Purity Seal in Titus's hand showed no signs of burning. At close range, Titus also detected no signs of Chaos corruption on Marcus's body. Under this dual verification, Titus retracted the Purity Seal, provisionally accepting Marcus's explanation. However, he had already decided to hand Marcus over to the Battle Group Chaplain for further examination after completing this mission, and would even contact Calgar, the Chapter Master, if necessary. Chairon and Gadriel, seeing that Marcus had passed the Purity Seal's examination, said little, but their interest in Marcus, who had displayed psychic-like power and possessed exceptional physical qualities, only grew.
After examining Marcus, Titus opened his communicator and contacted Major Sarkaana.
"Major Sarkaana, we've found one of your squads, located at the back door of the orbital cannon base."
Sarkaana's voice crackled through the communicator: "Understood, sir, I will issue them new orders."
After hanging up the communication, several Cadian soldiers whispered behind Titus and his companions.
"By the Emperor, I just fought alongside an Astartes!" one Astra Militarum soldier whispered excitedly. "I heard that less than one percent of Astra Militarum get this honor."
"Yes, I didn't expect us to survive; when those Xenos charged, I thought I was going to meet the God-Emperor! But those sirs just kicked the Hormagaunt that was pouncing on me!" another Cadian soldier exclaimed, making a gesture of prayer to celebrate surviving another hour.
At this moment, a third Cadian soldier leaned over and whispered, "And that guy with the Meltagun... I just saw him kill a Tyranid Warrior and a bunch of Hormagaunts with a few bayonet knives floating in the air, and he clearly isn't an Astartes." Saying this, the Cadian soldier secretly glanced at Marcus in the distance.
"Could it be some secret equipment from the Adeptus Ministorum?" one of them said hesitantly.
Another curled his lip and spat on the ground, " Witchcraft I tell you! I think that guy might be a psyker!"
Just as these Cadian soldiers were about to continue their discussion, with a slight jolt, the elevator slowly stopped, interrupting their conversation. The heavy alloy door slowly opened, and Titus, his two companions, and Marcus stepped out. Behind them, the elevator door closed again and slowly descended; the Cadian soldiers inside had clearly received new orders.
"I wonder if these people will even survive," Marcus sighed to himself. The average battlefield survival time for the Astra Militarum was fifteen hours. Even if these were elite Cadian soldiers, on this planet about to be swallowed by the Tyranids, their time probably wouldn't exceed that. In the few hours since he arrived in this hellish Warhammer world, Marcus had already witnessed too much slaughter and blood, sacrifice and death.
He couldn't be like some transmigrators in novels, treating everyone he met as mere data, as an NPC. At least from his observations during this time, these soldiers were living, breathing people of flesh and blood, not cold statistics. This was why Marcus had casually saved a soldier in the trench before, and why he had rashly displayed his special ability to use Mind Power just now. If he had chosen to hide his ability, these Cadian soldiers would probably have died under the Tyranids' assault.
Shaking his head, Marcus followed in the footsteps of Titus and his two companions.