Before the cold resurrection monument, Daniel returned once more.
What emanated from his severed arm wasn't searing pain, but a constant, frigid sense of absence, as if that wound had been locked by some deeper law that even the resurrection mechanism couldn't restore.
He looked down at his empty left sleeve, then glanced at the brilliant yet burdensome [Thirteenfold Holy Destruction] quest icon in the corner of his vision.
[Status Locked: Character state will be maintained for the duration of the quest until completion or failure.]
[Note: After status lock, melee weapons are similarly locked.]
A line of small text silently explained everything.
"A mortal body..." he muttered under his breath, clenching his remaining right fist.
The numbers in his points column had accumulated to a considerable amount once again. But until the quest was complete, those tempting [Astartes Identity Purchase] options remained nothing but grayed-out decorations. He could only use this crippled body to complete what seemed an impossible path to the Golden Throne.
There was no time for hesitation.
He collected another standard-issue lasgun. His primary weapon, however, remained the chainsword that had accompanied him through countless battles, its teeth still stained with the tainted blood of Chaos.
He activated the power switch. The teeth released a low, hungry roar, as if resonating with the fire burning in his chest.
He stepped out from the resurrection point, once again treading into the scorched earth of Heralius Hive City, a place that seemed to burn and shriek eternally. The stench of gunsmoke, blood, ozone, and Chaos energy had become mere background to his senses.
His gaze shot directly toward the fiercest section of the battlefield.
There, a steel-and-flesh hybrid monstrosity that seemed to have crawled out of the bloodiest nightmare was advancing, slowly, but unstoppably.
[Khorne Daemon Engine].
It was even more frenzied than before. Crimson energy mist billowed around its body like tangible flames. The massive rotating sawblade disc at its head spun madly, filling the air with ear-piercing shrieks.
Four vicious limbs trampled through the ruins. Wherever they passed, Imperial fortifications, Chaos cannon fodder corpses, all were ground to dust. Dozens of Bloodletters clung to its rugged armor surfaces, leaping down like fleas to pounce on any Imperial units that dared approach, shouting the Blood God's name.
This Daemon Engine had become the core and symbol of the Chaos advance in this sector. Without destroying it, the defensive line would ultimately be ground down piece by piece.
I Am Not God saw that he wasn't the only one targeting this objective.
About a hundred meters away, five warriors clad in pitch-black power armor emerged from different cover positions like black panthers scenting prey. Dark Angels, green winged emblems on their shoulders, moving swiftly and silently toward the Daemon Engine's flank. They had clearly reached the same conclusion: this threat had to die first.
"Then... let's do this together."
I Am Not God took a deep breath, resolve hardening in his eyes. He waited no longer. He burst from cover and launched what was nearly a suicidal charge directly toward the Daemon Engine's front.
His objective was clear: draw frontal fire, create an opening for the Dark Angels' flanking attack, and find his own chance to complete that critically important kill.
"For the Emperor!"
The surviving Krieg soldiers nearby, fired up by [Krieg's Recognition] and the [Living Saint] faith buff, didn't hesitate for an instant. They formed a skirmish line and followed him into the death charge. The silent gray tide crashed once more toward the crimson wall of destruction.
The Daemon Engine detected the frontal threat. Its sawblade disc swiveled sharply and unleashed a thick beam of dark red blood-energy that swept across the battlefield.
I Am Not God threw himself to the ground at the last moment. The beam grazed his back. Behind him, several Krieg soldiers were vaporized instantly, a burning furrow plowed into the earth where they had stood.
He rolled to his feet. The chainsword swept wide, bisecting two Bloodletters that lunged at the opening. The light of forced banishment for lesser daemons flared. More Bloodletters and traitor soldiers surged from around the Daemon Engine, trying to drown the assault force in bodies.
The Krieg soldiers fought back desperately, lasguns and bayonets against daemon flesh. They fell in waves, yet were constantly replaced by others who used their lives to carve a path forward for I Am Not God.
On the flank, the five Dark Angels displayed the terrifying efficiency of Astartes.
They moved like black lightning. Bolter fire eliminated chaff in precise bursts. Power swords cleanly cut down any Bloodletter that dared approach. They split into two teams, covering each other while closing rapidly on the Daemon Engine's vulnerable joints and energy conduits.
The Daemon Engine tried to redirect its firepower to deal with them. But I Am Not God and the Krieg soldiers' death-grip on the front wouldn't let it turn away.
The Daemon Engine's defenses, however, exceeded all expectations.
Its thick profane armor shrugged off bolter fire. The joints were wrapped in writhing daemonic flesh, the body shielded by unstable energy screens. The Dark Angels had no choice but to push closer, bringing meltaguns and plasma weapons to bear.
One Bloodletter seized the moment and tackled a Dark Angel to the ground. His battle-brother's chainsword dismembered it in an instant, but the distraction cost them. A mechanical limb caught the fallen warrior full-force. His power armor crumpled.
He didn't rise.
The battle reached extreme brutality.
I Am Not God bore the full weight of the frontal assault. His missing arm threw off his balance and left his defense full of gaps. Wounds accumulated steadily: laser burns, shrapnel lacerations, daemonic claw tears.
But his gaze never left the Daemon Engine's core.
Every dodge, every slash brought him one step closer. The chainsword's "Holy Bane" effect made short work of Bloodletters and traitor soldiers. Against the Daemon Engine's main body, though, he still needed to find a weak point.
The Dark Angels' sacrifice was not in vain.
Under their relentless assault, one of the Daemon Engine's leg joints gave way. Its movements began to stagger. The crimson energy shield around its body flickered with unstable fluctuations.
The price was steep.
Of five Dark Angels, two were dead. Two more were critically wounded and out of the fight. Only one remained, helmet faceplate shattered, body bathed in blood, still pressing his meltagun into the Daemon Engine's armor seams and burning.
An opening.
The Daemon Engine tilted from its leg injury, its attention dragged toward the surviving Dark Angel.
I Am Not God moved.
He trampled over heaps of fallen soldiers and daemon corpses. With one desperate leap, he hooked his chainsword onto a conduit along the Daemon Engine's waist. With a single arm, he hauled his crippled body upward.
The Daemon Engine released an enraged roar. Its massive body began to shake and spin, trying to throw off the insect clinging to its back.
I Am Not God felt the world lurch. His organs seemed to shift. His remaining right hand death-gripped an armor seam, fingernails shattering, blood streaming, but he did not let go.
Bloodletters leaped up from below, trying to drag him down. He kicked one away. Headbutted another aside.
He was a lone boat in a storm, fighting to stay afloat in waves of steel and flesh. His eyes swept frantically across the body of the profane machine beneath him, searching for the core.
Found it.
At the center of the Daemon Engine's back was a spherical structure. Heavy armor plating cracked open from the fighting. Dark red light pulsing hard within.
No hesitation. No second chance.
He wrenched the chainsword free from its anchor point. The next violent shake flung him loose, directly toward the glowing core. He adjusted mid-air. Raised the chainsword overhead with his single arm. The teeth roared to their limit.
The faint golden radiance on the blade ignited, becoming clear and brilliant.
"Ahhh!"
His hoarse roar tore out of him as the chainsword came down, absolute resolve behind it, and drove deep into that pulsating dark red core.
Splurch!!!!
Like puncturing a massive pustule, viscous burning dark red energy erupted outward, mixed with metal fragments and daemonic flesh. The chainsword's teeth spun madly, grinding through the corrupt machinery within.
The Daemon Engine released one final shriek, pain and rage intertwined, nearly rupturing eardrums. Its massive body convulsed. The crimson energy around it receded like a tide pulling back from shore. The mad sawblade disc at its head ground to a halt with a harsh, scraping moan.
BOOM!!!
The war behemoth toppled sideways. It slammed into the ground with a thunderous crash, sending up clouds of dust and debris.
I Am Not God was hurled from the wreckage by the shockwave. He hit scorched earth dozens of meters away, his entire skeleton feeling dislocated, vision going dark at the edges.
But the chainsword in his grip still hummed its low, quiet song.
In his vision, the system notification appeared:
[I Am Not God has killed Khorne Daemon Engine using chainsword]
[Legendary Quest "Thirteenfold Holy Destruction" current progress: 3/13]
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