In the real universe, within a stasis field where time was on the verge of shattering.
Gaius—currently in the form of a Daemon Prince of Tzeentch, yet with his will dominated by the Emperor's light and Kolesa's psychic power—moved!
His movements were faster than physical limits, like a bolt of lightning simultaneously flashing with ethereal blue psychic flames and brilliant silver light! The power sword, wreathed in silver-blue energy, carved an abstruse and deadly trajectory in his hand, not even giving the Lord of Change, who was so close, any chance to react or employ its tricks!
The sword light flashed and was gone!
"Chhh—!"
A soft sound, like a hot knife slicing through congealed fat.
The Lord of Change's gaunt, parchment-like body was precisely and smoothly split in two along its central axis! Its myriad eyes, which had been flickering with cunning light, froze at the same instant, filled with disbelieving astonishment. Its body, composed of pure energy and shifting geometric shapes, began to rapidly disintegrate and dissipate like a sandcastle in the wind, turning into specks of ethereal blue ash.
The time stasis field, having lost its primary maintainer, emitted an even more jarring and unstable violent hum. The solidified surroundings began to show ripple-like distortions and double images, as if they could completely collapse at any moment.
Gaius did not pause for a moment. He raised his left hand, and the vast, ocean-like silver psychic energy—Kolesa's power—surged forth like a docile tide, instantly forming a sturdy psychic barrier around him and the other eight Astartes brothers who were still kneeling, their consciousnesses submerged. This barrier, adorned with moonlight-like patterns, was not only to ward off potential external attacks but also to provide a crucial layer of protection for their fragile bodies within this nearly shattered temporal maelstrom.
After completing all this, Gaius's gaze, imbued with dual powers, shot up like an arrow piercing the void! His vision, at this moment, seemed to possess an essence beyond reason, easily penetrating the ornate dome of the Governor's Mansion, and then layer upon layer of the towering, stacked Hive City structures!
He saw—
A true hell on earth!
Innumerable Khorne daemons—roaring Bloodletters, berserkers wielding flesh-cleavers, massive Bloodthirsters—like a boiling crimson tide, rampaged and slaughtered wildly through the various levels of the Hive City! World Eaters warriors, clad in blood-red power armour, were like the mainstays in this tide of death, efficiently reaping any residual resistance with their chainaxes and Bolters. Blood stained every inch of the ground, skulls piled into mountains, and smoke and flames shot skyward.
And at the center of this inferno, the most soul-shaking sight was the colossal, scarlet figure, like a mountain—the Daemon Primarch Angron! He was unleashing the eternal pain from the butcher's nails and the blood god's endless wrath in the most primal and brutal way. Every swing of his massive chainaxe, the world ender (angron's chainaxe), was like a divine punishment, tearing and toppling the towering Hive City buildings as easily as toy blocks! The deafening sound of collapse intertwined with Angron's roar, filled with pure destructive desire, like the trumpet of the apocalypse! The entire Upper Hive was, under his rampage, visibly turning into a burning, blood-red ruin!
A cold fury burned in Gaius's heart. He had to immediately free the consciousnesses of Dorian, Luna, and his other brothers, and then... find a way to stop this catastrophe, or at least, stop Angron!
However, just as he tried to extend his power towards Dorian and the others, searching for a way to pull them back from the blood god's illusion—
"Boom—!!!"
A dull, colossal thud, as if striking directly at the foundations of space-time, suddenly came from behind him!
It was the sound of a staff hitting the ground! Exactly the same as when the time stasis spell was cast earlier!
Gaius's pupils contracted sharply! How was this possible?! He had clearly slain that Lord of Change!
Almost instinctively, he spun around, the immense energy within him—a mixture of Tzeentch's power, the Emperor's blessing, and Kolesa's psychic might—instantly surging to form a solid, blue-silver energy shield in front of him!
However, the incoming magical force was not a direct attack, but a more bizarre and insidious form of spatio-temporal interference! It swept past Gaius's hastily constructed shield and through his body like an invisible ripple!
Gaius felt the surrounding space-time violently twist and dislocate again, as if an invisible giant hand was forcibly manipulating the loom of fate! He struggled to turn his head, his gaze directed towards the source of the staff's sound—
He saw that where the Lord of Change had been slain and should have turned to ash, the bizarre staff, embedded with countless eyes, still floated in mid-air! And beneath the staff were two gaunt arms, re-formed and coalesced from ethereal blue energy ash, gripping the staff's shaft tightly!
Immediately after, the scattered blue ashes belonging to the Lord of Change, as if drawn by an invisible magnet, frantically converged towards the two arms! The ashes swirled, condensed, and molded... In the blink of an eye, a complete Lord of Change, almost identical to the previous one, reappeared before Gaius, completely unharmed!
No, not entirely the same!
Under Gaius's cold gaze, this reborn Lord of Change began to undergo further changes! Its body became even gaunter and more cracked, like ancient parchment that could shatter at any moment, but the ethereal blue light flowing over it became deeper and more terrifying. The pair of energy wings on its back suddenly expanded and grew, like clouds hanging from the sky, casting a large, ominous shadow.
Most unsettling of all, from its neck, with a grating, twisting sound, a second head, covered in ethereal blue bird feathers, slowly... grew out! Two bird heads, four eyes flickering with endless cunning and the secrets of fate, simultaneously locked onto Gaius!
And its left hand was no longer empty, but slowly, as if drawn from the void, revealed a massive, heavy book with a cover made of an unknown metal, embedded with countless ever-changing symbols and prophecies—it was the legendary book of fate!
This was no longer an ordinary Lord of Change. This was Karlos! The most powerful Daemon Prince under Tzeentch, possessing two heads—one peering into the past, one foreseeing the future—the master of the book of fate!
Karlos's two heads simultaneously emitted voices mingled with mockery, appreciation, and absolute control, voices that seemed to come from the end and beginning of time:
"You still haven't changed... Gaius..." one head said, its voice ancient, as if comprehending all of the past.
"Still that... unyielding character... and this... nostalgic... Daemon Prince body..." the other head interjected, its voice sharp, as if foretelling an infinite future.
His left hand, holding the book of fate, gently stroked its pages, making a rustling sound, as if countless threads of fate were rubbing against each other:
"Your 'transformation'... and that... Aeldari woman's... sacrifice and love..." the head of the past whispered.
"Are merely... but... a part of My... grand plan..." the head of the future declared, with a hint of satisfaction at a successful scheme.
Karlos's four sightless eyes simultaneously focused on Gaius, as if admiring a work of art he had personally sculpted:
"You... cannot kill Me..."
"Your power and Mine... share the same origin... are in fact one..."
"The more you use this power... the closer you come... to My domain..."
His words, like the most venomous curses, sought to shake Gaius's will, built on love and faith.
At this moment, the sounds in this area became extremely bizarre and chaotic. The grating hum of the time stasis field on the verge of shattering, Angron's earth-shattering roars and the crash of collapsing buildings in the distance, the screams of countless daemons, and the firing of Bolters on the battlefield... All these sounds intertwined, forming a symphony of destruction.
However, amidst this chaotic din, a new, utterly different power signature suddenly emanated from the orbital direction above the Hive City! That power was pure, cold, carrying an absolute repulsion and destructive will against Chaos!
First to descend were eight silver, giant cross-like metal devices! Trailing fiery contrails, they ignored the chaotic battlefield below, like precisely guided spears of judgment, and plunged violently into the ground at eight different points around Angron's colossal daemon body, with him as the center!
"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom...!"
Eight colossal thuds, almost merging into one! The moment the devices landed, the exorcism runes carved on their surfaces immediately erupted with dazzling silver light! Eight pure Grey Knights psychic energy beams shot skyward, then converged and intertwined above Angron's head, forming an immense, constantly rotating silver psychic net, radiating a deadly suppressive force, which descended upon him!
"Roar-awooooo—!!!"
Angron let out an unprecedented roar, a mix of fury and pain! The pure psychic energy, originating from the Grey Knights, passed down through generations, and specifically used to combat and banish daemons, seared and suppressed his pure Khorne essence like a red-hot branding iron! He struggled frantically, swinging the world ender (angron's chainaxe) to try and tear apart this psychic net. Each twist of his massive body caused the earth to tremble, but the silver network was incredibly resilient, firmly binding him in place. While it couldn't banish him immediately, it greatly restricted his movements, preventing further destruction!
Following this, an even denser and more awe-inspiring sight unfolded!
Dozens of drop pods, trailing fiery contrails like falling silver meteors, tore through the sky polluted with blood and smoke, and descended precisely onto the top levels of the Hive City, the most densely daemon-infested areas, and the location where Angron was bound, making a bold aerial insertion!
"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang...!"
Like the heavy beat of war drums, twenty-six silver-grey drop pods, emblazoned with the Grey Knights Chapter's emblem, slammed heavily into the ground like unyielding monoliths, kicking up clouds of dust! The hatch doors burst open the moment they landed!
Twenty-six Grey Knight Terminators, clad in silver armour etched with countless exorcism runes, and wielding nemesis force halberds, emerged solemnly from the dust with heavy, synchronized steps! They appeared like a cold silver bulwark in this bloody inferno! A pure, anti-Chaos killing intent spread out like a tangible force, causing the surrounding lesser Bloodletters and berserkers to instinctively let out fearful roars, daring not to approach easily!
Karlos's two heads simultaneously turned towards the direction of the Grey Knights' descent. Four eyes simultaneously revealed undisguised expressions, a mix of disgust and condescending mockery.
"The False Emperor's... silver hounds..." the head of the past scoffed with disdain.
"They arrived... quite... quickly..." the head of the future remarked with a hint of sarcasm at having its amusement disturbed.
However, there was not much genuine surprise in its words, as if all of this was also within its "foresight."
The true Lord of Change, Karlos, had arrived. And the Imperium's counter-force, the Grey Knights, had arrived as expected. This chaotic battle, centered around Drathemiandas, involving two Chaos Gods and the Imperium's most elite forces, entered an even more complex and dangerous phase.
Gaius gripped the two-toned power sword in his hand, his gaze sweeping between the reborn Karlos and the demonic tide confronting the Grey Knights in the distance.
He knew that Karlos's words were both a psychological attack and contained a terrible truth: his bond with Tzeentch's power was far deeper than imagined.
But at this moment, he had no choice.
He had to keep fighting, to protect his brothers, to honor Kolesa's sacrifice and love, and to... reclaim his own destiny.
As twenty-six Grey Knight Terminators descended upon the battlefield like silver monoliths, the chaotic and desperate situation instantly changed.
The moment they landed, led by the Grand Master in his ornate terminator armour, whose aura was unfathomable, they immediately raised their nemesis force halberds without hesitation.
The immense and pure Grey Knight psychic power, like twenty-six silver flames, surged from them, resonating strongly with the psychic net unleashed by the eight binding devices!
The silver light suddenly became even more intense, and the psychic network suppressing Angron seemed to be infused with new power; its patterns grew clearer, and its binding strength multiplied!
"Roar—!!!"
Angron let out an even more furious and painful roar!
The pure, Chaos-countering psychic power, like countless red-hot needles, continuously pierced his soul and body, which were filled with the butcher's nails and the blood god's will!
He struggled madly, his massive chainaxe, the world ender (angron's chainaxe), wildly swinging, tearing deep gouges in the surrounding ground, attempting to shatter the damned silver shackles.
Every exertion of his colossal Daemon Primarch body caused the entire psychic network to tremble violently, the silver light flickering unstably, as if it could be snapped by that pure force at any moment!
However, the Grey Knights' will was as hard as steel, and their psychic power, like streams flowing into a river, continuously supported the binding array.
Despite Angron's struggles, fierce as a cornered beast, his massive body was truly held firmly in place, unable to move an inch, under the Grey Knights' relentless combined suppression!
No expression could be seen on the Grey Knight Grand Master's silver-helmeted face, but his will was clearly conveyed to every brother: their mission was not to completely banish this Daemon Primarch at this moment.
That would require an unimaginable cost, perhaps even the lives of all Grey Knights present as a sacrifice.
Their primary goal at this moment was suppression! It was to create an opportunity and clear obstacles for the 'hunter' who was about to appear, truly capable of dealing with such an entity!
Just as Angron's full-force struggle caused an extremely subtle, fleeting loosening in the psychic binding network—
"Screech—!!!"
A sharp, sky-piercing, soul-rending avian cry suddenly came from high above!
Everyone instinctively looked up, only to see the sky, shrouded in blood and smoke, as if torn open by an invisible giant claw!
An enormous, wingspan-obscuring black shadow was plummeting towards the bound Angron at a breathtaking speed, like a hunting falcon!
It was not any known aircraft or creature!
It had massive, bat-like fleshy wings, but its outline was more ferocious and powerful, enveloped in a dense darkness that seemed to absorb light, with only its sharp, molten-gold-like eyes burning with cold and deadly killing intent in the darkness!
Was it a bat? No, it was something older, something more terrifying!
In a flash of lightning, the huge bat-like creature had already dived over Angron's head!
Two massive, glowing claws, forged like adamantium, clamped down fiercely and precisely on Angron's heavily keratin-covered shoulders with a force that seemed to tear through space!
"Squish—!"
The claws deeply embedded into the Daemon Primarch's flesh, even emitting a grating sound of metal scraping bone!
Angron let out a pained roar mixed with fury and shock; he tried to resist, but the Grey Knights' binding was still present, greatly limiting his movements!
The next moment, the huge bat-like creature violently flapped its massive, sky-obscuring fleshy wings!
A furious airflow instantly swept the surrounding dust and rubble high into the air!
It actually, with unparalleled strength, forcibly lifted the mountain-sized Angron from the ground!
Then, its giant wings fully spread, carrying the tightly clamped Angron, like a flying mountain, it turned direction and sped towards the distant, not yet fully destroyed, spired area of the Hive City at an astonishing speed!
Immediately after, a scene that made all observers' scalps tingle occurred!
The giant bat did not fly directly away but deliberately flew at a low altitude, using Angron's massive Daemon Primarch body, held in its claws, like a gigantic battering ram, to repeatedly and forcefully smash into the towering Hive City spires!
"Boom!!!"
"Crack!!!"
"Bang—!!!"
Deafening impacts and the roar of collapsing buildings continuously resounded!
One after another, spires that once symbolized the Hive City's prosperity and order shattered and collapsed like fragile glass under the impact of Angron's indestructible Daemon Primarch body, turning into flying bricks, stones, and metal fragments!
The scene was filled with an indescribable violent aesthetic and sacrilegious grandeur.
After several such brutal 'demolitions,' the giant bat's claws once again exerted force, violently pressing Angron's body downwards onto the relatively intact upper structures of the Hive City!
"Boom—!!!!!"
Like a meteor falling to earth!
Angron's massive body plowed a huge gully on the Hive City's surface, several kilometers long, dozens of meters deep, and with molten edges!
Everything in its path—buildings, streets, and fortifications—was pulverized!
After completing all this, the huge bat-like creature let out an even more piercing shriek, as if announcing a successful hunt, and once again flapped its giant wings, grabbing Angron, who seemed temporarily dazed and less resistant from the continuous impacts and friction, and flew towards the barren industrial wasteland outside the Hive City, clearly intending to find a more suitable battlefield to 'resolve' the problem.
From the Grey Knights' arrival to the giant bat's appearance and abduction of Angron, the entire process lasted only a minute or two but was filled with breathtaking shock.
And throughout, the twenty-six Grey Knight Terminators, including the Grand Master, merely watched it all unfold calmly.
Their silver armour reflected a cold gleam in the battlefield's firelight, as if they had long foreseen this scene; their mission was simply to ensure that this out-of-control 'beast' was successfully handed over to the 'hunter'.
Just as the battlefield fell into a brief silence due to this sudden change, the sky was torn open again the next moment!
This time, a large number of deep-green assault boats and drop pods, painted in the style of Caliban knights, descended like precise raindrops across various parts of the battlefield!
Hatch doors opened, and Dark Angels warriors, clad in deep-green power armour adorned with lion-head insignia and ancient oaths, joined the Chapter with steady and deadly strides!
"For the Lion King! For Caliban!"
"Repent! This day is your death!"
Low battle cries erupted, and the roar of Bolters instantly became denser and more organized.
The Dark Angels, with their extremely high tactical proficiency, quickly converged with the remaining Skitarii and Sisters of Battle, beginning an organized purge of the Khorne Daemons who, without Angron's leadership, had fallen into some confusion.
Following the Dark Angels, another group of distinct drop pods arrived—they were painted deep blue and midnight black, descending with an unsettling silence.
Hatch doors slid open, revealing warriors clad in pitch-black power armour, adorned with pale skulls and lightning patterns, as if condensed from shadows—the Night Lords!
Leading them was none other than the prince of crows, Sevatarion!
His iconic crow's talons (weapon name) power sword gleamed with a murderous disintegration field, and his eyes, hidden beneath his helmet, swept over the World Eaters still stubbornly resisting on the battlefield, a cold smirk playing on his lips.
He uttered no battle cry, simply made a gesture.
The next moment, the Night Lords Warriors behind him dispersed silently like true night bats, utilizing the complex environment and shadows of the Hive City to stalk and ambush like phantoms!
They did not directly confront the Daemons but precisely targeted isolated or small groups of World Eaters, employing their favored tactics of assassination, ambush, and psychological warfare to conduct a ruthless and efficient 'hunt'!
Lightning Claws tore through power armour, Bolters fired from the shadows, striking vital points swiftly and lethally.
"Long live the night haunter!" an unknown Night Lords warrior exclaimed in a low, fervent shout after a successful kill, drawing affirmations and even more arrogant battle cries from all surrounding Night Lords Warriors.
"Long live the night haunter!"
The Sisters of Battle, who had been fighting alongside the Dark Angels and had initially breathed a sigh of relief at the arrival of reinforcements, now looked at the Night Lords, who moved through the battlefield's shadows with a style utterly different from loyalist Astartes, with some bewilderment and wariness.
They recognized the insignia—those were traitor Legions! They were Night Lords! But how could they be here? And it seemed... they were helping them?
Before they could ponder further, an exceptionally large, ancient, and majestic transport craft, adorned with lion statues and the Imperial Aquila, slowly descended near the Grey Knight Grand Master.
The hatch opened, and a squad of Lion Guard, clad in the most ornate and ancient power armour, emerged first, standing at attention on either side.
Then, a figure stepped onto this ravaged land with heavy, determined strides.
His form was still tall and robust, but the body beneath his armour exuded an ancient weariness, having endured tens of thousands of years of hardship, his face etched with the marks of time and endless campaigns.
Yet, his eyes, like the sharpest eagles, held the wisdom to see through falsehoods and an unquestionable authority.
It was the Lord of the First Legion, the Lion King, Lion El'Jonson.
The Lion King's gaze first swept over the massive gully plowed into the Hive City's surface when Angron was dragged away by the giant bat, a complex emotion flashing in his eyes, but it quickly returned to coldness.
He turned to the Grey Knight Grand Master beside him, his voice deep and powerful, like the low growl of a lion:
"My Angels, and... 'allies,' will control the situation here.
The Blood Angels and Ultramarines fleets are expected to arrive in one standard hour."
His gaze swept over the Daemons still roaring on the battlefield, finally settling on the Grey Knight Grand Master's silver helmet:
"You all shall join me in purifying this defiled land and banishing these... abominations that should not exist in the material universe."
The Grey Knight Grand Master showed no hesitation, striking his chest with a fist, his stern and solemn voice echoing through his helmet:
"As you command, Your Highness the Lion King.
In the name of the Emperor and the Grey Knights Chapter."
The personal arrival of the Lion King, along with the inclusion of the Dark Angels and Night Lords, instantly reversed the tide of the battle.
A full-scale purge and banishment operation against the Khorne Daemons, personally commanded by a Primarch, was about to fully unfold upon these ruins.
Aboard the Macragge's Honour, inside the cabin shared by Gaius and Ms. Kolaesa.
Ms. Kolaesa collapsed weakly onto the cold metal floor, as if all her strength had been drained, her silver hair fanning out like lifeless vines. Her beautiful face was utterly pale, devoid of any color, and her breathing was so faint it was almost imperceptible. To awaken and suppress the rampant power of the Daemon Prince of Tzeentch within Gaius, she had not hesitated to burn her soul's essence, expending almost all of her psychic energy. Now, she felt her existence become transparent, fragile, like a flickering candle in the wind.
Two streams of clear tears silently traced paths from her tightly closed eyes, dampening the silver strands of hair scattered on the ground. Her soul, in that desperate fusion, had been completely and unreservedly laid bare to Gaius. All her memories—from the greenhouses of the Ark World of Aethel's Tear, to her deeply etched yet ultimately broken romance with Kai, to the desolation of her home and the reluctant trade with the Ultramarines, and finally, her profound and complex love for Gaius—all of it, like an open book, was revealed without concealment in the depths of Gaius's consciousness.
She wasn't sure if Gaius, after learning of her past, which was not blank but deeply marked by another Eldar warrior, would harbor any reservations, if he would... reject her. This worry, mixed with extreme anxiety over Gaius's current perilous situation, and guilt over the unknown consequences of her 'unauthorized' actions, gnawed at her heart like a venomous snake.
Outside the cabin, the warship was already on maximum alert. Reports of readiness from various sections continually echoed through the comms, the hum of power armour servo systems, the heavy and hurried footsteps of warriors, and the metallic clang of weapon checks had been going on for what felt like hundreds of hours. All First Company warriors, including those usually assigned to clerical and internal duties, were fully armed, their blue power armour reflecting a cold sheen in the corridor lights, silently awaiting the order to launch the drop pods. The air was thick with the oppressive tension and grim anticipation of battle.
An Honour Guard Warrior, clad in artificer power armour and radiating a steady aura, approached the cabin with standard strides. Through the intercom outside the door, he spoke in as calm a voice as possible:
"Ms. Kolaesa, the warship is expected to reach the orbit of Drathemiandas in twenty minutes. Please remain in your cabin and do not move about unnecessarily. Orbital combat and potential boarding actions could occur at any moment. The Honor Guard will ensure your absolute safety and that of Tech-Sergeant Aila Si."
Inside the cabin, only Ms. Kolaesa's almost inaudible sobs responded. She buried her face deep into the soft pillow of the nearby bunk, trying to shut out all external sounds, but the endless worry and inner torment surged over her like a tide. She could only pray repeatedly in her heart, praying for Gaius's safety, praying that he... would not distance himself because of her past.
In the cold void, the massive Ultramarines fleet emerged from its Warp jump, its deep blue vessels like moving fortresses. Almost simultaneously, another equally vast fleet, adorned with the iconic red and gold livery of the Blood Angels, also exited the turbulent Warp, converging with the Ultramarines fleet. Two fleets, representing the pillars of the Adeptus Astartes within the Imperium, like two steadfast stars, sailed side by side towards the star system engulfed in war and chaos.
That unique planet—Drathemiandas, a combination of a grimy industrial world and a solemn shrine world—gradually grew larger in the observation windows. It was clearly visible that the planet's surface, especially the Hive City areas, was shrouded in ominous blood-red smoke and the flashes of explosions, like a festering wound.
Soon, the bridge of the Macragge's Honour received a priority one communication request from the Blood Angels flagship, the 'Red Tear'.
Chapter Master Marius Calgar stood before the colossal star map, his glacial face betraying no emotion, and calmly accepted the communication.
The holographic projection displayed the iconic, melancholic angelic mask of Blood Angels Chapter Master Dante. Even through the comm channel, one could sense the heavy and authoritative aura of this Chapter Master, who had endured millennia of war.
"Chapter Master Calgar, it has been a long time," Dante's voice, tinged with a world-weary rasp, came through the mask. He skipped the pleasantries and cut straight to the chase, "Inform us of your battle plan."
Calgar was equally devoid of ceremony. His voice was calm, clear, and unyielding, as if delivering battle orders:
"Chapter Master Dante. The Ultramarines fleet will serve as the primary spearhead, deploying the main drop forces directly to the foremost front lines of the Hive City core combat zone to establish a secure assault position. Our mission is to directly intercept the main daemon forces and prioritize the extermination of the fallen World Eaters, maximizing the reduction of Chaos's effective strength, and creating the conditions for Lion El'Jonson and the Grey Knights to banish Angron."
He paused briefly, his gaze sweeping over the area of the shrine world on the star map:
"The Blood Angels' mission is to assist the Inquisition, the Sisters of Battle, and the Skitarii in solidifying the rear defensive lines, especially around the shrine world, to prevent the war from spreading further and causing greater civilian casualties, and to eliminate any scattered daemons that might have infiltrated. We require a stable rear."
Calgar's plan was concise and direct, without any hesitation, taking on the most dangerous and arduous frontal assault mission himself. This was consistent with the Ultramarines' usual style and demonstrated his absolute determination to complete the mission.
Dante's eyes, hidden beneath his mask, flickered slightly. He offered no objection, nodding decisively:
"Understood. My angels are ready to deploy at any moment. For the Emperor, for Terra, and in honor of Sanguinius's blood."
The communication was then cut. No need for many words between the two Chapter Masters; trust and unspoken understanding had been forged in countless battles fought side by side.
Only ten minutes remained until arrival at the designated orbit and the start of the drop.
First Company Captain Cassius Venus stood in the center of the muster hall. He was now clad in the ancient and imposing 'Ironclad Pattern Autarch Terminator Armor' befitting the master of the First Company. The heavy armor made his already robust physique appear even more like a giant of steel. The prominent white veteran markings and the First Company insignia on his pauldrons gleamed in the light, and the feathered crest on his helmet and the cape behind him stirred as if in anticipation of the coming battle.
Behind him stood five warriors, also clad in Ironclad Pattern Terminator Armor—the Lemos Terminator Squad. They were the First Company's most elite assault force, the iron fist for tearing through enemy lines and destroying critical targets. The five Ironclad Pattern warriors stood silent as mountains, their assault cannons and power swords ready, awaiting only a command.
Cassius's expression was exceptionally grim; his usually irritable brow was now tightly furrowed. The loss of contact with Sanks Squad, especially the potential involvement of a Khorne plot targeting Dorian, filled him with urgency. He had to go down himself, confirm the situation, find them alive, or... bring back their gene-seed and the bodies of his brothers!
Just then, the sound of heavy footsteps approached. The First Company Champion, Draculas, a figure clad in ornate artificer power armour and exuding an aura as sharp as a drawn sword, appeared at the entrance of the muster hall. He had just finished another combat readiness inspection. According to the plan, he would accompany Captain Cassius after the drop, constantly guarding the Captain's flank, becoming the sharpest blade to cleave through the daemon tide.
Cassius glanced at Draculas; their gazes met. No words were needed; each understood the other's resolve.
At that moment, a thunderhawk gunship, specifically designed to transport Terminator Armor, exceptionally large and heavily armored, slowly descended onto the exit platform of the muster hall, directly facing Cassius and the others, with the roar of its engines and a forceful rush of air.
Its thick landing gear touched down steadily, and the rear ramp slowly lowered.
Cassius took a deep breath, his gaze, hidden beneath the Ironclad Pattern helmet, becoming incredibly sharp. He suddenly waved his hand.
"For courage and honor!"
"For Ultramar!"
The command was brief and powerful.
The next moment, led by Cassius, six Ironclad Pattern Terminators, like moving fortresses, plus Champion Draculas, stepped one by one into the dim, oil-scented interior of the thunderhawk gunship, their heavy footsteps making the metal deck tremble slightly.
The heavy ramp slowly closed behind them, cutting off the light from outside. Inside the cabin, only red warning lights silently rotated, illuminating faces covered by helmets, etched with determination and resolve.
The thunderhawk gunship's engines roared even more ferociously, breaking free of the warship's magnetic locks. Like an arrow loosed from a bow, it shot out of the Macragge's Honour's hangar, carrying the First Company's most elite forces, plunging without hesitation towards the inferno below, which was already completely consumed by blood and fire.
The giant bat that had snatched Angron like a toy and wantonly ravaged Hive City structures with its massive body, after smashing Angron deep into the lower levels of the Hive City, stirring up towering dust, did not continue its pursuit. Its massive bat-like body twisted and contracted in the air, as if shedding a layer of illusory outer skin.
When the dust partially cleared, what appeared in its place was no longer the terrifying giant bat, but a tall, gaunt figure, exuding a chilling coldness and an aura of death that made one's heart pound.
Konrad Curze, Lord of the Eighth Legion, the night haunter of Nostramo. He was now clad in his iconic, pitch-black power armour, a fusion of Nostraman gothic style and terrifying ornamentation. Beneath the grotesque helmet, resembling a twisted bat's face, a pair of deep-set eyes gleamed with crimson and cold light, like a venomous snake locking onto its prey, staring intently at the massive figure slowly rising from the dust below, like a wounded beast.
Angron struggled to his feet from the enormous crater he had been slammed into, shaking his head, which was riddled with butcher's nails and constantly emitting a maddening hum. The series of impacts and friction, while not fatal, had greatly enraged him. The pain from the butcher's nails and the blood god's fury surged within him like boiling magma. He raised his crimson eyes, burning with pure destructive desire, and immediately saw the 'little bug' standing above him, seemingly looking down.
"ROAR—!!!"
A roar that seemed to tear the sky erupted from Angron's fanged maw! He didn't bother to consider who the other party was, or why he possessed such power; his mind, tormented by eternal pain, held only one thought—to tear everything before him to shreds!
He violently raised his colossal, roaring chainaxe, the "world ender (angron's chainaxe)", and with a force capable of crushing mountains, brought it down fiercely towards Koz's position! Where the axe blade passed, the air itself was torn, emitting a piercing shriek!
The might of a Primarch's battle was far beyond what mortals, or even ordinary Astartes, could imagine!
Just before the axe blade struck, Koz's figure vanished abruptly like a true ghost, merging into the surrounding shadows. The next moment, he appeared behind and to the side of Angron, his right hand, covered by a Lightning Claw, striking out like a venomous snake, instantly leaving a bone-deep wound on Angron's heavily chitin-covered leg, a wound wreathed in shadowy energy!
Angron cried out in pain, letting out an even more ferocious roar, and with a backhand swing of his axe, he shattered the area where Konrad had just stood, along with the remnants of the building behind it!
But Konrad's figure reappeared like a ghost from another tricky angle; his claws, condensed from shadow energy, tore and clawed, constantly adding new wounds to Angron's massive body. Angron's strength was enough to tear stars apart; his attacks were wild and direct, each axe swing shaking the ground, making the entire Hive City's lower level tremble violently, as if it could collapse at any moment. Rubble rained down from above, and deep furrows were ploughed into the ground.
However, Konrad was like a true master of the night, employing Nostramo's cunning and the way of shadows to the extreme. He never clashed head-on with Angron, only using his elusive speed and shadow-phasing ability to constantly harass, cut, and weaken him. Angron could tear Konrad's afterimages to shreds again and again, but the next second, a new attack would always come from an unexpected direction, like a festering bone, leaving him with destructive power but nowhere to vent it, making him so enraged he was on the verge of complete madness.
This battle was a clash of absolute power and ultimate cunning, a contest between a destructive storm and a venomous shadow serpent. Across the entire battle platform, rubble flew, energy boomed, and the earth split and crumbled, as if the apocalypse had arrived.
As Angron's full-power chop missed, and before he could recover, Konrad seized that fleeting opportunity! From the top of a half-collapsed tall tower, he swooped down like a meteor merging with the shadows! The shadow energy condensed around him was like a physical spearhead, aimed directly at the unprotected center of Angron's chest—a specific energy node that he had been probing and searching for!
"Pfft—!!!"
A dull sound, as if some tough hide had been ripped!
Konrad's shadow-covered claws actually broke through Angron's indestructible Daemon skin and muscle, plunging deep into his chest!
Immediately following, a thick, inky, bone-chilling shadow energy, centered on the wound where Konrad had stabbed, spread out like a living entity! Countless dark, tentacle-like tendrils of shadow energy frantically crawled over Angron's massive body, as if placing a heavy, darkness-woven shackles upon him!
Angron let out a roar mixed with pain and fury; he tried to struggle, but those shadow energy tendrils contained Konrad's powerful will and the Eighth Legion's unique shadow power, like a thousand invisible ropes, tightly binding his movements, even beginning to erode the Khorne energy within him!
Konrad's lips, hidden beneath his bat-faced helmet, curled into a cold arc. His claws, still embedded in Angron's chest, did not withdraw; instead, he injected more shadow energy deeper, and at the same time, he clenched his free left hand!
"Ugh ah—!!!"
Angron felt an invisible, immense force pressing in from all directions, and the shadow shackles suddenly tightened! His massive body was actually lifted off the ground!
Then, Konrad swung his arm violently! Angron's mountain-heavy body, like a huge rock hurled by a trebuchet, uncontrollably crashed towards the distant, still-intact, extremely sturdy load-bearing structures and buildings of the Hive City!
"Boom!!!"
"Crack!!!"
"Bang—!!!"
A series of hair-raising crashes erupted! Angron's massive body, like an out-of-control bowling ball, consecutively smashed through several extremely sturdy Hive City support structures, finally being flung like a broken sack by Konrad deep into the lowest, darkest, and most solid parts of the Hive City, kicking up an even denser cloud of dust, temporarily falling silent.
Konrad slowly landed, standing in the center of the chaotic battlefield, breathing slightly. The continuous high-intensity shadow phasing and the use of such a large-scale binding spell were not insignificant drains on him. His crimson eyes remained vigilantly fixed on the direction where Angron had fallen.
However, just a few seconds later—
"Roar, ao, ao, ao—!!!"
A roar, more terrifying and beast-like than any before, suddenly erupted from the depths of the dust! An even more violent, more pure Khorne Warp energy surged skyward like a volcanic eruption, instantly scattering most of the shadow shackles!
Angron's massive figure, like a world ender Daemon Prince crawling from the deepest hell, stood up again! The wounds on his body rapidly healed under the influence of the Khorne Warp energy, and in his crimson eyes, only the most primal, most insane desire for destruction remained! He locked onto Konrad, and... a figure that had just entered this lower battlefield from another direction!
Lion El'Jonson, the Lion King, had arrived.
He was like an ancient knight king, wielding the two-meter-long great sword "the lion's due/loyalty"; his deep green power armour was stained with Daemon blood, which only added to his majesty. He said nothing, didn't even glance at Konrad; his gaze, like two physical blades, was firmly fixed on Angron, who had just broken free and was radiating power.
Just as Angron's attention was drawn to Konrad and he let out a defiant roar—
Lion El'Jonson suddenly moved!
He pushed off with his feet, and the ground exploded! His massive body erupted with a swiftness and agility like a golden lion, completely disproportionate to his size! He was like a deep green lightning bolt, instantly crossing the distance between them, and the great sword "the lion's due/loyalty" in his hand, carrying the will to tear apart all falsehood and betrayal, precisely… stabbed into the side of Angron's head, which was slightly agape from his roar and riddled with butcher's nails, like a hot knife through butter!
"Pffft—!"
The dull thud of a blade entering flesh!
Time seemed to freeze at this moment.
Angron's mad roar abruptly ceased, and his massive body suddenly stiffened!
Lion El'Jonson's eyes were cold; he violently twisted his wrist and fiercely pulled out the great sword! As the blade was withdrawn, it even pulled out a metal spike deeply embedded in Angron's skull, constantly rotating and vibrating, stained with dark red blood—it was a "butcher's nails"!
"Bang—!" The Lion Guard in the distance didn't miss this opportunity; several small volcano cannons roared simultaneously, and searing energy spheres, like miniature suns, bombarded other parts of Angron's body, erupting in violent explosions and light, attempting to distract him and create more opportunities for the Lion King.
The head wound, especially the excruciating pain of a butcher's nails being forcibly ripped out, made Angron let out a shriek of extreme pain and fury! He abruptly turned his head, his blood-flame eyes fixed on Lion El'Jonson, who had just landed and stood with his sword drawn! All his rage instantly shifted!
He raised the massive chainaxe "world ender (angron's chainaxe)", bringing it down on Lion El'Jonson's head with the madness of crushing everything! This axe swing contained all his pain and anger, as if it would cleave the entire Hive City's lower level in two!
However, just as that terrifying axe blade was about to touch Lion El'Jonson—
Konrad's figure, as if perfectly calculated, appeared like a ghost at Angron's side! He thrust both hands forward, and the dense, almost tangible shadow energy erupted again, like an invisible, colossal mountain, pressing heavily down on Angron!
"Boom—!!!"
Angron's forward-charging, chopping motion suddenly froze; his massive body was forcibly suppressed by this powerful shadow energy, collapsing heavily to the ground! The incredibly sturdy, reinforced concrete ground instantly caved in to form a huge, deep crater, with spiderweb-like cracks spreading for tens of meters!
Good opportunity!
Lion El'Jonson's eyes flashed! Without any hesitation, he gripped the hilt of the great sword "the lion's due/loyalty" with both hands, raising it high above his head! An unimaginable, terrifying power inherent to a Primarch, like a hundred rivers returning to the sea, furiously converged into the great sword in his hands!
The blade of the great sword "the lion's due/loyalty" instantly burst forth with a dazzling golden light like a star! Blazing, psychic flames, as if capable of purifying all evil, burned and danced on the blade! Destructive energy fluctuations distorted and boiled the surrounding air!
The next moment, Lion El'Jonson let out a battle cry like a roaring lion, using all his strength to bring down that sword of judgment, which concentrated his endless rage, his hatred of betrayal, and his absolute loyalty to the Imperium, upon Angron, who was firmly pinned to the ground by Konrad and unable to move—
"For the Emperor!!!"
The sword light fell!
There was no deafening explosion, only a soul-shaking hum, as if space itself was being torn apart!
An indescribably brilliant and destructive white column of light, like the first ray of light in creation, instantly engulfed Angron's figure, and without losing momentum, it extended wildly backward along the direction he had fallen!
Where the white light passed, all things were annihilated!
When the dazzling light, enough to scorch retinas, slowly receded, what appeared before everyone's eyes was a sight that would make any beholder never forget—
Starting from where Angron had fallen, a massive chasm, tens of meters wide and bottomless, as if cleaved by a god's great axe, extended straight forward, piercing through the entire Hive City's lower level, and... all the way up! Looking up, everyone saw that the terrifying sword mark had actually split the entire upper and middle structures of the Hive City clean in two! As if the entire Hive City had been bisected by the Lion King's single sword strike!
And Angron, who was directly hit by this sword, was even more tragic. His massive Daemon body was deeply cleaved into the ground, with a huge and hideous wound across his chest that almost cut him diagonally in two. The edges of the wound appeared molten, and golden psychic flames still stubbornly burned, preventing the wound from healing. Khorne's foul blood poured from the wound like a waterfall, almost forming a pool of blood.
However, even under this absolute devastating blow, a strange change occurred.
The crimson color in Angron's eyes, which had originally been filled with pure madness and destructive desire, slowly receded like a tide. The eternal torment and ceaseless buzzing of the butcher's nails that plagued him, at this moment, actually... stopped.
His Daemon face, twisted by pain and anger, showed a momentary... freeze and bewilderment. He looked down at the horrifying wound on his chest, then at Lion El'Jonson, who stood before him like a god of judgment, holding the burning great sword, and at Konrad, silent as a shadow, beside him.
The madness in his eyes was gradually replaced by a more complex, deeper emotion—a pain, anger, and... an extremely subtle trace of... clarity, belonging to Angron's true self, suppressed for ten millennia.
Lion El'Jonson's world-shattering sword strike, imbued with absolute loyalty and purifying power, while severely wounding his physical body, also seemed to temporarily sever some shackles binding his soul, briefly... awakening the "Red Sand Master" who had been completely submerged by the butcher's nails and the blood god's will.
Dorian's massive, demon-possessed body stood atop the shattered remains of Angron's statue, like a solitary reef in a sea of blood. He clenched his fists, his muscles, covered in crimson chitin, trembling slightly from the extreme exertion. His eyes, burning with unyielding will, stared fixedly at the colossal, despair-inducing entity of Khorne before him, a being that seemed to be the very embodiment of the sea of blood itself.
Khorne's Avatar—that terrifying entity with muscles like mountains, adorned with wailing skulls, and four-horned skull heads overlooking all—seemed offended by Dorian's declaration of "I believe in the Emperor," or perhaps it had simply lost patience with this ant's repeated defiance. From its skull-like eye sockets, burning with crimson flames, a will of destruction poured forth as if corporeal!
Without warning, a colossal palm, like a small mountain, descended with the force to crush stars, slamming down towards the statue remains where Dorian stood! Its speed was so great that it even created a massive depression in the surface of the sea of blood!
Dorian roared, pushing off with his feet, attempting to leap away, but the area covered by the palm was too vast, and the force field it contained bound his movements like quicksand!
"Boom—!!!"
The giant palm struck the statue's remains with immense force! The sturdy Angron statue, forged from blasphemous energy, instantly shattered and annihilated under this single blow, like a sandcastle! Dorian's demon-possessed body was flung like a pebble, helplessly smashed into the bottomless, viscous, foul-smelling sea of blood below!
Cold, suffocating blood, intensely corrosive and filled with endless resentment, instantly surged from all directions, engulfing Dorian's entire body. He felt himself sinking, constantly sinking, surrounded by an infinite, nauseating crimson. In the sea of blood, countless eyes seemed to watch him from the darkness, filled with pain, madness, and malice.
Just as he tried to struggle, mobilizing the power within him—a mix of his own fury and Khorne's mark—to float upwards, a strong sense of crisis suddenly came from beneath him!
He looked down, and though his vision was obstructed by the viscous blood, his enhanced senses clearly "saw"—in the deepest part of the sea of blood, an endless multitude of twisted and hideous specters, like a school of sharks drawn to blood, swarmed towards his position at an astonishing speed!
These specters were the souls of those who had died in countless wars under Khorne's banner; their pain, anger, and lust for slaughter were absorbed and condensed by the sea of blood, becoming the fundamental nourishment and weapons of this domain! They let out silent shrieks, extending claws made of pure resentment, instantly enveloping and entangling the sinking Dorian!
Immediately following, an even more horrifying scene unfolded! These vast numbers of specters did not fight individually; instead, as if pulled by some invisible force, they began to furiously merge and converge! Their forms twisted and swelled, and finally, beneath Dorian, they coalesced into a colossal, demonic entity of suffering, composed of countless tormented faces and twisted limbs, exuding an aura of extreme despair and hatred!
This newborn demon, whose size was comparable to some smaller Bloodthirster, suddenly opened its massive maw, formed from countless converging specters, like a cavern leading to an abyss of pain. It swallowed Dorian, who was still trying to break free from the specters' grip, along with large quantities of the surrounding blood, with a violent gulp!
Then, this colossal demon of suffering, carrying its "laden" prey, shot upwards from the depths of the sea of blood, breaking through the surface and leaping hundreds of meters into the sky!
However, just as it reached its apex, seemingly wanting to flaunt its "trophy"—
On the surface of the sea below, Khorne's Avatar had already raised its massive, four-horned skull head. Its empty eye sockets locked onto the ugly mass of specters in the air, enveloping Dorian. Its fanged maw slightly opened, and a destructive, highly concentrated crimson energy rapidly gathered and swirled before its mouth, emitting terrifying fluctuations that made the entire sea of blood space tremble!
It clearly did not care about the demon of suffering, cobbled together from lower-tier specters; its target was Dorian within! It intended to utterly annihilate this bothersome ant, along with its temporary vessel, from matter to soul, with the purest, most extreme destructive energy!
"Swoosh—!!!"
A thick, incredibly condensed crimson energy beam, like a spear of divine punishment, shot forth from the Avatar of Khorne's giant maw! The beam instantly tore through the blood-red sky, hitting the colossal demon of suffering, still falling in the air, with uncanny precision!
There was no explosion, no sound.
The energy beam, imbued with Khorne's pure will of destruction, exhibited absolute annihilation upon contact with the demon of suffering's body! The demon's massive and twisted form, composed of countless specters, disintegrated and vanished inch by inch from the point of contact, like ice thrown into a raging fire, without even a wisp of smoke, transforming into fundamental energy particles and returning to this sea of blood space!
The light dissipated, and the sky was empty. Neither the colossal demon of suffering nor Dorian, who had been swallowed by it, were anywhere to be seen, as if they had never existed.
Khorne's Avatar's burning eye sockets swept across the empty sky and then sensed the surrounding sea of blood domain. It detected no soul fluctuations or life signs belonging to Dorian.
"Hmph... Finally... peace..." A thought, mixed with a myriad of roars, echoed through the space, carrying a hint of indifference after resolving a nuisance. In its view, that stubborn soul had been utterly obliterated by the annihilation cannon. Physical annihilation, even for a Primarch-level being, would be difficult to withstand.
However, just as its thought had settled, in the thousandth of a second when its attention seemed to have slightly relaxed—
A sudden change occurred!
Behind and above Khorne's massive Avatar, in a previously empty blood-red patch of air, space twisted like ripples! Dorian's demon-possessed form appeared out of thin air, like a phantom!
His body was still covered in crimson chitin and spikes, and the demon horns on his forehead curved menacingly, but the flames in his eyes burned more fiercely and purely than ever before! It was as if the seemingly certain death he had just faced, far from destroying him, had, in a strange way, tempered his will!
How did he evade that beam of annihilation? Did he utilize some level of affinity and understanding of the blood god's power brought by Khorne's mark? Or, in that moment between life and death, was some hidden trait of his Ultramarines' heritage, stemming from the Emperor, activated? No one knew.
Dorian showed no hesitation, not even making a sound. He seized this fleeting opportunity like a master assassin! His two massive, chitin-covered demon fists were raised high above his head, and all his strength, along with his tempered and solidified will, converged upon his fists. Like a falling meteor, he slammed them down with brutal force towards the defenseless back of Khorne's Avatar's neck and the junction with its head! This strike contained all his rage, his unyielding will, and the loyalty of his faith from the depths of his soul!
Just as the terrifyingly powerful fists were about to strike their target squarely—
From beneath the skin of Khorne's Avatar's back, adorned with wailing skulls, countless pale, sharp bone spikes, shimmering with ominous blood-red light, erupted! These bone spikes, like a suddenly growing thicket of thorns, shot upwards with a speed that defied reaction!
"Thud! Thud! Thud—!!!"
A dense, teeth-grinding sound of penetration rang out!
Dorian's descending form suddenly halted! His raised fists, even his entire chest, abdomen, and limbs, were instantly pierced by countless suddenly emerging sharp bone spikes! Dark red blood spurted from his impaled wounds!
Intense pain swept through his nerves like a tsunami!
But it wasn't over!
Behind Khorne's Avatar, at the shoulder blades, its flesh violently writhed, then instantly tore and grew two new, equally muscular, dark-red-skinned giant arms! These two newborn arms, like a predator's tentacles, shot out, seizing Dorian, who was already impaled and immobilized in mid-air by the bone spikes, and clutched him tightly in their massive hands!
Then, without giving Dorian any chance to struggle or react, the two new arms exerted force, and like throwing a stone, they hurled Dorian's bone-pierced, blood-soaked body violently towards the surface of the sea of blood below!
"Boom—!!!"
Dorian's body slammed into the sea of blood like a cannonball, raising a towering column of crimson waves!
This wasn't the end! Khorne's Avatar's two new arms followed closely, their gigantic fists clenched, descending with the furious power to crush everything, like two warhammers falling from the sky, slamming down repeatedly and violently onto the sea surface where Dorian had landed!
"Thud!!!" "Thud!!!" "Thud—!!!"
Heavy impact sounds echoed like muffled thunder above the sea of blood! Each time a fist struck, large areas of the sea surface caved in, raising even more terrifying crimson waves! It was as if it intended to smash through the entire sea of blood, to utterly pulverize Dorian, who was deep within it, along with his soul, to be eternally submerged in this endless sea of suffering!
Waves surged, and blood rained down.
Khorne's Avatar ceased its pounding, its four arms slowly retracting. Its burning eye sockets stared indifferently at the sea of blood below, which was gradually calming but still seething with undercurrents.
It sensed carefully.
However, what caused it a hint of confusion, and even... a faint unease, was that despite enduring the bone spikes, the brutal throw, and the continuous heavy blows, Dorian's aura, far from diminishing, had instead... like a flame burning in despair, grown even more vigorous and intense! That aura, a mixture of rage, unyielding will, and a steadfast resolve it could not comprehend, pierced through the layers of the sea of blood like a lighthouse in the darkness, clearly transmitting upwards!
What frustrated it even more was that, even now, it had not detected even the slightest trace of... fear... from Dorian's soul!
Facing the primordial will of a Chaos God, facing an absolute disparity in power, facing seemingly certain death again and again, this soul showed no fear whatsoever! It was as if he had some reliance in his heart, something more solid than facing a god, something more terrifying than death... a belief.
And Khorne's possession, its corruption, relied heavily on triggering and amplifying the target's inner fear, anger, and negative emotions. Without fear as a breach point, its pervasive whispers and will to corrupt were like hitting an invisible yet absolutely solid wall, unable to advance an inch!
Just as Khorne's Avatar paused slightly due to this unusual discovery—
In the depths of the sea of blood, the continuously sinking Dorian's consciousness gradually blurred amidst the intense pain and the suffocating blood. The surrounding crimson became increasingly viscous, as if trying to assimilate him, dragging him into eternal madness and slaughter.
Just as his consciousness was on the verge of being completely swallowed by the sea of blood, a faint yet incredibly pure… golden light suddenly appeared in his gradually darkening vision.
The golden light at first was like a flickering candle in the wind, so weak it seemed like an illusion. But it carried an indescribable warmth and tranquility, dispelling the surrounding coldness and bloodthirst. The golden light gradually approached, magnified, and finally, coalesced into a humanoid silhouette.
It was a figure clad in simple robes, yet incredibly majestic, as if bearing the hopes and burdens of the entire human race. His face was shrouded in a soft glow, making it indistinct, but his eyes… those eyes contained endless wisdom, eternal sacrifice, and a kind of weariness and compassion that overlooked all ages and bore all things.
Who… could it be?
Dorian's almost dissipated consciousness suddenly jolted! He couldn't be sure if this was a dying hallucination, a new deceptive trick from the blood god, or… a true miracle?
But the warmth and tranquility contained within that light were so real, resonating strongly with his never-extinguished faith in the Emperor.
He saw the golden phantom slowly… walking towards his sinking form.
Angron's colossal, almost bisected demonic body struggled out of the bottomless chasm torn by the Lion. Viscous Khorne ichor poured like a waterfall from the gruesome wound on his chest, dripping onto the ground with a sizzling, corrosive sound. However, unlike his previous pure madness, his crimson eyes now churned with a more complex, deeper emotion—the pain and humiliation of Angron's true self, suppressed for ten millennia, and… an extremely faint clarity brought about by the intense pain and the Lion's sword, imbued with the lion's due, which temporarily suppressed the butcher's nails.
He recognized the two individuals standing before him.
Konrad Curze, the shadow of Nostramo, stood like a wraith upon the ruins, his crimson eyes beneath the bat-faced helmet watching him coldly.
Lion El'Jonson, the Lion King of Caliban, wielded the great sword the lion's due that had just grievously wounded him, like an ancient knight king, majestic and menacing.
Angron's fanged maw opened, emitting a hoarse sound mixed with painful gasps and low mockery:
"Heh… Look who it is… Caliban's 'noble' knight… and Nostramo's… sewer rat…" His gaze swept between the two, with a hint of confusion, but more so with undisguised contempt, "You two… utterly hypocritical Lions… dregs among traitors… when did you… get mixed up together? Are you preparing to… wag your tails and beg the False Emperor together?"
His mockery clearly included Koz, his former "brother," and the Lion, his "arch-nemesis" from ten millennia ago.
However, just as his words, especially the disparaging remarks directed at the Lion, had fallen—
"Boom! Boom! Boom—!!!"
Several Lion Guard Volcano Cannons, already primed, roared deafeningly again! Blazing energy spheres, like miniature suns, trailed brilliant wakes as they precisely struck Angron's unguarded colossal body, erupting in violent explosions and towering flames!
The enormous impact made Angron, who had just climbed out of the chasm and was still unsteady on his feet, let out a cry of pain. His entire body staggered backward, almost falling again!
Just as he lost his balance in that flash of lightning—
The Lion moved!
He gave no knightly pre-duel declaration, no chance for his opponent to adjust. His deep green figure moved like a striking leopard, his legs pushing off with explosive force, instantly cracking the ground beneath him! He launched himself high into the air like a cannonball, the great sword the lion's due in his hand once again erupting with dazzling psychic radiance. But this time, it wasn't a destructive cleave, but rather, he used the sword's flat as a warhammer, leveraging his downward momentum to smash it heavily and precisely… onto Angron's head, which was lowered from the impact!
"Thud—!!!"
An extremely dull, colossal thud! As if the entire Hive City bottom layer trembled!
Angron's massive body was forcibly driven to its knees again by this powerful "hammer blow," his upper body slammed back into the edge of the chasm he had just climbed out of, raising a cloud of dust and shattered rock!
The Lion, using the recoil, executed a nimble backflip, landing steadily back on the ground, his great sword angled, his gaze still cold, as if his almost "sneak attack" was merely a perfectly normal tactical choice.
Beside him, Koz, who had silently observed like a shadow throughout, let out an extremely faint, yet distinctly mocking snort from beneath his bat-faced helmet:
"Lion… ten thousand years… is this how you display those… so-called 'chivalric virtues' you learned on Caliban?" His voice was like a cold dagger, "For example… relying on your subordinates to distract… and then carrying out… an ignoble sneak attack?"
The Lion didn't even turn to look at Koz. His gaze remained firmly fixed on the colossal figure struggling to rise again from the dust. He simply responded in his low, realistic voice:
"Chivalric virtues? Konrad, those are fairy tales used to deceive children and appease mortals."
"In a real fight… victory is paramount. The process? No one is interested in the process of the defeated."
He paused, as if stating a fundamental law of the universe:
"Beyond seven steps, the gun is fast. Within seven steps, the gun is both fast and accurate."
His words were filled with the ruthlessness, pragmatism, and undisguised pursuit of victory befitting the Lord of the First Legion. In the Lion King's view, facing an entity like Angron, any so-called "honor" or "fairness" was a laughable and fatal luxury.
"Roar—!!!"
Just then, the dust was violently scattered by a furious force! Angron once again struggled to his feet from the edge of the chasm! Where the Lion's sword hilt had struck his head, his keratin layer was shattered, dark red blood flowing. But this time, the momentary clarity in his eyes had been replaced by a more fervent rage, a mixture of old hatred and new enmity!
The Lion's "sneak attack," especially his remarks about "chivalric virtues," had utterly enraged him! He recalled that on the planet of Nuceria, the Lion had also participated in his hunting and eventual banishment in a similarly "dishonorable" manner!
"Lion—!!! You hypocritical bastard!" Angron let out a thunderous roar, his voice filled with the fury of being toyed with and betrayed, "The favor of Nuceria… today… I will make you repay it a hundredfold!!"
He wasted no more words, his hands fiercely gripping the hilt of his enormous chainaxe, the world ender! He raised the hilt high, not to cleave, but as if performing some blasphemous ritual!
As he moved, throughout the Drathemiandas Hive City, the lingering, not yet fully dissipated echoes of the painful souls of tens of millions of innocents slaughtered by Daemons, permeating the air and swirling among the ruins, seemed to be drawn by an invisible force, beginning to emit piteous wails that could only be perceived on a soul level! These soul energies, filled with pain, fear, and despair, converged madly towards the chainaxe in Angron's hand, as if attracted by a black hole!
The already roaring teeth on the axe blade now seemed to come alive, spinning at their maximum speed, emitting an ear-splitting shriek! Crimson Khorne Warp energy condensed and boiled on the axe blade, and it began to affect the surrounding space!
Angron slammed the axe hilt, which had gathered countless soul echoes and terrifying Warp energy, fiercely—onto the ground!
"Thud—!!!"
Not a physical impact sound, but a dull, colossal thud, as if a bell connecting different dimensions had been rung, echoing between reality and the Warp's barrier!
Centered on Angron, a colossal portal, its edges burning with blood-red flames and its interior a swirling vortex of blood, suddenly tore open space behind him, appearing abruptly!
But this was only the beginning!
As if a chain reaction, across Drathemiandas, among the ruins of the Hive City, at the edge of the shrine world, and even in the void of the planet's orbit—one after another, smaller but equally terrifying blood-red portals connected to Khorne's domain, relentlessly tore open the veil of the real universe like a plague, opening with brazen force!
"Roar, aooo, aooo—!!!"
"blood god!!!"
Deafening roars and war cries from countless Khorne Daemons surged like a tsunami from those portals! Immediately after, like a breached blood-red flood, endless, more elite, and more powerful Khorne Daemons poured out!
Bloodletters, Flesh Hounds, Skull Cannons… and, like moving mountains, the suffocatingly powerful Bloodthirster! Looking around, the number of Bloodthirsters emerging from the larger portals was an astonishing several dozen!
Angron stood before the largest portal, like a demon god commanding this army of destruction. He raised his blood-soaked head, his eyes burning with vengeful fire, locking onto the Lion, and delivered his final declaration:
"Lion! You… and your False Emperor's lackeys… today… shall fall here!!"
Almost simultaneously with Angron opening the portals, in the sky, the Grey Knights drop pods, falling like a silver meteor shower, finally slammed precisely onto this core battlefield!
After the doors burst open, the first Grey Knights to descend also arrived. One hundred and thirty Grey Knight Terminators, clad in silver power armour and wielding psychic weapons, led by the two Grand Masters, stepped onto this utterly defiled land with heavy and solemn strides. Their pure, anti-Chaos psychic energy lit up a silver lighthouse in the blood-red tide.
The Grey Knight Grand Master's gaze swept over the dozens of Bloodthirsters that had just emerged from the portals and were roaring at the sky, as well as the surging tide of Daemons. His formal voice, transmitted through the comms channel, clearly reached every Grey Knight, as well as the Lion King and Koz:
"In the name of the Emperor and the Holy Hammer… Purification… begins!"
The Imperium's ultimate force and Khorne's unleashed torrent of destruction violently collided on this ravaged world! The final battle, which would decide the fate of Drathemiandas and even this star sector, began its bloody overture at this moment!