Blazing light and heat engulfed an entire planet, and everything was instantly decomposed into pure plasma.
Vashtorr hovered in the void, watching this world-destroying scene with an appreciative gaze.
Although Alexander was Vashtorr's competitor, as the embodiment of destructive creativity, Vashtorr still couldn't help but admire the weapon named Earth Destruction Bomb.
He tried to understand its principles but found it extremely obscure and complex; even Vashtorr could barely decipher one ten-thousandth of its theory.
Though Vashtorr's curiosity and thirst for knowledge urged him to continue unraveling its mysteries, he knew he couldn't waste time here and had to quickly return to support the battle on Corinal—
A red-pink wooden door suddenly opened beside Vashtorr.
Vashtorr's body stiffened as he saw the door bang open, and a strong, close-cropped figure burst out, wielding a baseball bat burning with the Emperor's furious flames, and swung it at Vashtorr.
Saint Doraemon's mount—Gouda Greater Daemon.
Through the prayers of Saint Doraemon's followers, Greater Daemon had already re-coalesced his body and reappeared in the material universe.
The baseball bat in his hand, wreathed in fierce flames, smashed heavily into Vashtorr's face.
Vashtorr, at his core, was a Warp entity, and the Emperor's flames were his natural bane. Suddenly taking such a blow, he stumbled backward.
Just then, another red-pink wooden door opened behind Vashtorr.
Gouda Greater Daemon thrust his baseball bat into Vashtorr's chest, directly pushing Vashtorr into the anywhere door.
The scene before Vashtorr's eyes instantly changed; when he reopened them, he found himself pushed into a passage woven from light.
The Webway!
Vashtorr was slightly surprised; the attack had been too sudden, even he couldn't react in time.
How did Saint Doraemon predict he would come here with the Earth Destruction Bomb?
This simply didn't conform to basic logic!
But Vashtorr had little time to think.
An Ultramarines, shrouded entirely in shadow, emerged from Vashtorr's side, brandishing a Chainsword.
At the same time, a Battle Sister, covered in burns, also thrust out a power spear wrapped with a war banner.
Both the Chainsword and the war banner pointed at Vashtorr's neck, seemingly intending to sever his head with one strike.
Vashtorr's mind worked at extreme speed, completing a series of dodges in an instant.
But both the Ultramarines and the Battle Sister seemed to have anticipated Vashtorr's movements, as the Chainsword and war banner blocked his dodging path a step ahead.
The spearhead of the war banner pierced Vashtorr's hip bone, and the Chainsword cut into Vashtorr's ribs, instantly immobilizing him.
Battle Sister Reyna and Titus, the Midnight Chosen.
Their timing was so perfect that it left Vashtorr flustered.
Vashtorr struggled to resist, but just then, a sharp, piercing song echoed.
"I am!!! I am the King of Children!!!"
"Crimson Angels! Unworthy of Sanguinius' Blood!"
"Monsters! You have already betrayed him!!!"
Captain Finnie roared, his bolter screaming as it shattered the head of a hideous, mutated monster.
Just before the General's Cannon descended, Primarch Lion El'Jonson suddenly summoned a dense forest, leading Finnie and the Crimson Angels into it, transporting them to a safe area, while he himself disappeared into the forest alone.
Finnie then led the loyal Crimson Angels and other arriving forces to attack the corrupted monsters on Corinal.
"Finnie! Are you blind!? Can't you see the glory Sanguinius bestowed upon us?!"
"You damned traitor! Repent now!!"
The former Chief Priest of the Crimson Angels roared, unleashing bolter fire at Finnie.
The Chief Priest's current state was extremely hideous; he had transformed into an ugly monster nearly five or six meters tall, covered in constantly bleeding dark muscles that were embedded with his original power armor, making him appear especially terrifying.
Most horrifying was his face, which was enormous and riddled with holes, each hanging with chains that dragged hot censers.
Those censers constantly spewed forth blood-reeking smoke, stimulating the bat-like monsters circling him, making them incredibly frenzied and enraged, charging at Finnie's position without fear of death.
Most dangerous was that the smoke could not only ignite the rage of those monsters but also the rage of other Astartes who flowed with Sanguinius' blood, making it extremely perilous.
"You call this the glory of Sanguinius? Nazareth! Open your eyes and see! You have only fallen into hideous monsters!"
"Look back at the mortals you have slaughtered and kept. Did Sanguinius teach you to harm mortals in such a way?"
Finnie, hiding behind cover, unleashed fire while berating the Chief Priest named Nazareth.
Behind them was the Crimson Angels' human farm, and Finnie's purpose in assaulting this place was to rescue the mortals within.
Finnie took a deep breath, slowly beginning to concentrate his mind.
Many Blood Angels elites had undergone training with an item called a "Superpower Training Box" over the past few decades.
After three hours of daily training with this item for a total of three years, one could acquire three superpowers: telekinesis, clairvoyance, and instantaneous movement.
Finnie, naturally, also underwent training with the Superpower Training Box.
Almost in the blink of an eye, Finnie teleported in front of Chief Priest Nazareth.
Finnie kicked the chest of the hideous monster in mid-air, using the momentum to plunge his power sword into its neck, then forcefully pulled his arm.
Before Nazareth could react, Finnie instantly decapitated him.
The dark gray head rolled to the ground with thudding sounds.
Finnie landed, concentrating his mind, and released powerful telekinesis, dispelling the crimson smoke and pushing back the bloodthirsty monsters attempting to approach him.
Finnie stood on Nazareth's corpse, raising his power sword high, and roared loudly:
"In the name of Sanguinius, purify the Blood of the Crimson Angels! Kill! Kill! Kill!"
The Crimson Angels followed Finnie with a battle cry, overwhelming the remaining bloodthirsty monsters with an unstoppable force, slaughtering these fallen Crimson Angels to the last.
Afterward, Finnie led his troops into the Crimson Angels' human farm.
Blood, crimson blood, pooled here, almost submerging Finnie's ankles.
As far as the eye could see, there were almost no living beings, only shriveled corpses floating in the blood pool; upon closer inspection, some mortals could be seen hiding among the bodies, their faces filled with terror, cautiously observing Finnie and his men.
Finnie slightly tightened his grip on his power sword, unable to meet the terrified gazes of the mortals.
Then, Finnie noticed a high platform in the center of this farm.
On the platform, a broken, aged mortal body hung upside down; its lower half was completely torn away, its arms broken, and iron chains pierced its ribs, suspending it upside down in the air, as if to intimidate the other mortals in the farm.
"…Captain Finnie," a weak voice came from the broken body.
It was then that Finnie realized the mortal was still alive.
He quickly focused his mind and energy, then instantly teleported to the high platform.
Then, Finnie gasped; he saw that the old man's torso was riddled with grotesque metal tubes and writhing, blasphemous flesh. This seemed to be some dark sorcery, forcibly prolonging the old man's life, preventing him from dying, but instead keeping him perpetually suspended and tormented here.
"…Peter?" Finnie recognized the old man.
He was the Chief Servant of the Crimson Angels, who had participated in the Crimson Angels' selection ceremony with Finnie about one hundred and eighty years ago. Finnie was chosen to become an Astartes, while Peter was deemed to have insufficient willpower by the Chapter Priest and was rejected.
But Peter was unwilling to return home; he preferred to serve the Sons of Sanguinius even as a servant.
Eventually, he became the Chief Servant of the Chapter, undergoing life-extension surgery and becoming the mortal who served the Chapter for the longest time.
From Peter's weak narration, Finnie roughly understood what had happened.
After the Crimson Angels' fall became evident, there was indeed resistance on Corinal.
The first resistance came from the Chapter's Blood Priests; these apothecaries, with Sanguinius' blood circulating in their bodies, had sensed the Red Angel's conspiracy. Peter, using his position as Chief Servant, helped the Blood Priests contact other warriors who harbored doubts, ultimately organizing the first resistance.
However, this resistance ultimately ended when the Red Angel was successfully summoned into the material universe; all Blood Priests were captured, confined, and became sacrifices for the ritual of repentance.
The second resistance was entirely by mortals; after the Blood Priests' resistance was suppressed, Peter, with some Chapter servants, fled into the deep mountains of Corinal and organized mortals to launch resistance against the Crimson Angels. He managed to persist for twenty years using guerrilla tactics, but was eventually captured by the fallen Crimson Angels.
The Fallen did not kill Peter but cruelly tortured him into this state, hanging him upside down in the farm, and using dark sorcery to prolong his life, using his tragic state to intimidate the mortals.
"…I'm sorry, Captain Finnie…"
Peter said in a hoarse voice:
"…I am, after all, an unworthy reject."
"…I have failed the Blood of Sanguinius."
Finnie trembled all over, kneeling on one knee before Peter, unable to utter a single word.
"No, only you," Finnie finally spoke after a long while: "Only you are the last of the pure—"
Suddenly, the sound of a spear cutting through the air echoed in Finnie's ears.
A spear, similar to the Spear of Accomplishment but radiating an intense bloody stench, shot out, aiming for Peter's head.