Chapter 472: The Warp Basics Even Non-Psychics Say Are Good (Struck Through: Guilliman)

That Dark Angel Guard was so powerful it was almost frustrating, thought Titus as he used his chainsword, the Innocent, to take the life of the last World Eater berserker.

His chainsword, the Innocent, was complaining to him, upset that Titus hadn't let it drink the blood of the four most valuable enemies.

There was nothing to be done—Titus had seen the Dark Angel Guard's strength many times before; though the man always humbly claimed he was just an ordinary Dark Angel Guard, with many stronger ones among them,

Titus knew it was merely humility—if every Dark Angel Guard were as strong as him, what would the Space Marines of the Ultramarines even be for?

The Ultramarines might as well follow their Primarch, Roboute Guilliman, and go find a planet in the Auretian Five Hundred to farm.

"All the honor of this battle belongs to the Shadowman," said Captain Calain, sounding somewhat disgruntled.

All of these elite Space Marine Terminators of the Blood Angels had taken the high-efficiency pill, and once they entered the battlefield, they became human meat grinders—fighting the World Eater berserkers was practically a massacre,

which left them with little sense of glory, feeling the battle offered no honor at all.

"More than personal glory, I now care only about fighting for the Emperor, for humanity, for the Primarch, and for Saint Doraemon," Titus nodded gently and smiled.

"Ultramarines are so serious," Captain Calain replied half-jokingly. "Let's proceed as planned."

The War Council aboard the Luminous Lord and Lord Dante on Baal jointly designated dozens of plans,

and the twenty-second, blessed by numerology, was deemed the most suitable by the Truth-Oracle.

According to that plan, Titus's Ultramarines force and Calain's force would operate separately,

and splitting up within this unfamiliar, dim, and internally labyrinthine Conqueror seemed unwise—it risked isolating their units and letting the enemy pick them off one by one.

But neither Calain nor Titus felt fear, for Saint Doraemon's gaze never left them, always shadowing them,

and within shadows, within blind spots of vision, they had other allies present.

The Luminous Lord, in the void, was like a savage golden beast, relentlessly unleashing torrents of firepower, crushing any ships that dared approach, while countless fighter craft streaked through space like swarms slicing through prey,

the World Eaters' ships could not draw near the Luminous Lord even a fraction—this Emperor-class battleship, once belonging to Macaricus, was among the largest, most heavily armed, and most sacred vessels currently in service with the Imperial Navy; it continually manifested its divine might, its prow carved with the Emperor's holy image pointing toward the distant Conqueror, visible only on the auspex,

perhaps this ship inherited Macaricus's temperament, or perhaps it was simply the competitive spark ignited by Kane's earlier words—that the Conqueror should become Zhou Yun's new flagship—this Emperor-class battleship now harbored the urge to challenge the Glorious Queen-class battleship, the Conqueror,

but Zhou Yun forbade it; according to plan, the Luminous Lord would maintain a safe distance from the Conqueror and never engage it directly—the task of fighting the Conqueror was left entirely to the Blood Angels' fleet,

the Luminous Lord's duty was to keep Zhou Yun and the Conqueror within a distance instantly reachable by a teleportation gate.

On the bridge, Zhou Yun sat in his seat, before him four tracking-image mirrors displayed live feeds: two showed Titus's Ultramarine squad and Calain's Blood Angel Terminator squad,

both advancing steadily through the Conqueror's twisted, fleshy corridors, encountering no resistance for now.

The other two

"My Lord, Lord Kane…" said Sol, the Primaris Space Marine company captain standing guard beside Zhou Yun, hesitating.

In the mirror, Kane looked unwell—he stood within the Conqueror, wearing the Blindspot Star, gripping his chainsword, trembling slightly, as if moved, as if enraged.

"Don't worry—he's Kane," Zhou Yun shook his head slightly, signaling Sol to relax.

Kane would never falter in hunting Erebus,

he was merely overwhelmed by rage upon returning to the Conqueror and sensing its captain, Sarin, being enslaved,

and this rage could be forged into a scorching blade to pierce Erebus.

In this operation, Titus and Calain's teams were decoys—the true key lay with Sharokin and Kane.

Hearing Zhou Yun say this, Sol felt slightly reassured,

though Kane was a traitor, he had taught Sol much in recent days; Sol was not heartless—he couldn't help worrying about Kane. Senior Kane, may the Emperor forgive your soul, may He protect you from being consumed by rage,

Sol prayed silently.

Hiss.

Suddenly, Sol felt a sharp pain in his head, his awareness flickering for one or two seconds,

but it felt like an illusion—nothing seemed to have happened.

He shook his head slightly, clearing his mind,

and lowered his gaze to see Zhou Yun watching the mirror reflecting Calain's figure,

the Blood Angels' company captain seemed to have encountered enemies.

Calain's holy weapon, the Hammer of Baal, roared, releasing a brilliant blue energy field that shattered the mutated crewman lunging at him into pulp.

Along this path, Calain had met no serious resistance, making him uneasy about Titus's situation,

but Saint Doraemon surely watched them—if either Titus or Calain encountered an attack, Saint Doraemon would notify the other to come to aid.

Was it that Titus had encountered no resistance either, or that Titus was so strong he didn't fear any resistance?

Calain and Titus had sparred in the arena—Titus was so powerful it left Calain numb.

Wasn't this guy the former second company captain of the Ultramarines? How could he, a Blood Angels company captain, struggle to match him?

Especially when this man fought without fear, without pain, without hesitation—his chainsword swung with terrifying ferocity, so fierce Calain wondered if Ultramarines could develop bloodlust too?

As he mentally grumbled, Calain continued swinging his power hammer to clear a path, leading his Terminator squad into a vast, empty cargo bay,

as he stepped inside, he felt a sticky sensation underfoot—he looked down, his left ocular implant rotated slightly, revealing a thick, jelly-like pool of blood beneath him, littered with the severed limbs of mutant crewmen.

Directly ahead, a massive brass symbol of Khorne loomed, adorned with countless skulls.

Calain's expression turned grim—he smelled something horrifying in the air.

A bestial roar erupted as teleportation light suddenly flared from midair, exploding the blood pool and illuminating the dim bay,

a group of World Eaters emerged, clad in crimson power armor, their grotesquely mutated arms and heads exposed to the air,

their flesh fused with their armor, gripping various chainswords, drenched in the stench of blood and warp energy.

Undoubtedly, these were possessed warriors—but not ordinary ones; these were…

Calain instantly recalled Zhou Yun's recent booklet, "A Beginner's Guide to the Warp—Even Non-Psychics Say It's Good," a work praised by Guilliman, which cataloged many warp entities—including those before him now,

they were the Eight-Bound! World Eaters possessed by eight demons!

Savage roars erupted across the battlefield as eighty-eight Eight-Bound howled and charged toward Calain's Terminator squad,

their grotesque chainswords slammed against the Terminators' power armor, attempting to slice through them,

combat erupted instantly—the air filled with the scent of blood, Blood Angels roared, the Eight-Bound bellowed,

Calain led the charge, his holy power hammer, the Hammer of Baal, blazing with cyan plasma, like a meteor in the night, crushing the skull of one Eight-Bound with crushing force, then slamming into the blood pool,

the energy field exploded, vaporizing the splashed blood and hurling three other Eight-Bound away,

at that moment, a clawed hand with a grotesque bloody maw lunged at Calain, its palm spitting a whirring circular saw aimed straight for his neck, seeking to sever his head,

Calain's teeth clenched slightly, crushing a high-efficiency pill hidden in his mouth—his body instantly blurred into a afterimage, dodging the lethal saw, then turning to face his attacker,

another Eight-Bound, more mutated than the rest—its flesh nearly fused with its weapon, its feet transformed into beastly claws piercing through its power boot, more demon than human,

the Divine Eight-Bound! One fully merged with the eight demons possessing it!

As Calain dodged the saw of the Divine Eight-Bound, another Divine Eight-Bound circled behind him, gripping a chainsaw cleaver, slashing diagonally at Calain's flank,

the saw-wielding Divine Eight-Bound seized the moment, advancing with the cleaver-wielder to flank Calain, sealing off his escape routes,

but… the sound of spinning propellers rose—Calain's bamboo dragonfly on his head activated, lifting his heavy Terminator armor into the air,

the two Divine Eight-Bound froze, utterly stunned—Calain flying was beyond their primitive minds' comprehension.

"Traitor, isn't it perfectly reasonable for a Blood Angel to fly?" Calain grinned, plummeting like a crimson meteor thanks to the pill and bamboo dragonfly, smashing his power hammer directly onto the heads of both Divine Eight-Bound,

neither could withstand the blow—they collapsed into the blood pool.

Calain took the chance to survey the battlefield—his Terminator squad, bolstered by Saint Doraemon's gear, still held the advantage; though some had fallen, once the battle ended, Saint Doraemon would retrieve their bodies aboard the Luminous Lord, and they could be resurrected—

Suddenly, a thunderous roar reeking of sulfur erupted beside Calain's ear, filled with endless fury, shaking his body and filling his heart with inexplicable dread, freezing him in place,

a chainsword fused with fleshy arms cleaved through reality, tearing open a blood-red teleportation portal,

SSSSSHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

(End of Chapter)