Forge Fiend

Canto, who had thought victory was already in his grasp, found his soldiers being cut down like vegetables by the strange warriors of the Mongert Dynasty.

Enraged, he drew the Power Sword from his waist and lopped off the head of a soldier reporting the battle situation.

Seeing this, every officer on the Bridge dared not utter another word, all lowering their heads in fear.

"No one is to spread these rumors—why would Space Marines work for a Rogue Trader? Those are just trash that looks like them! Kill them all, don't let those bastards succeed in their plans."

He roared, issuing orders to every soldier still available to mobilize.

"Flesh—how fragile it is. How pitiful humanity is. You should embrace the truth! Aren't the Cybernetic Implants I replaced for you working well?"

Just as no one dared speak, a red-robed tech-priest slowly paced over to Canto's side.

How heretical were those words just spoken? Fragile flesh is understandable, but pitiful humanity?!

"Zesta? I took you in on my ship to conduct your heretical research, not to mock me!"

"I know. This is an equal exchange. I provide you with a stronger body, I provide you with weapons to arm your soldiers, my tech-priests have conquered unknown world after unknown world for you, amassing countless profits. Without me, could your dynasty truly have developed to this point on its own?"

Canto looked down at his own body as he spoke. Beneath his lavish Rogue Trader attire, extensive mechanical modifications covered his form. Humanity in this era had a high tolerance for implants, and many had them scattered across their bodies.

But to Canto's current extent was still rare. Aside from the tech-priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus, most people still treated implants as a means to enhance themselves—normal flesh and blood remained more important, and physical pleasures were still something most couldn't abandon.

Yet Canto found that since this heretical priest had begun his modifications, he had become increasingly addicted to the thrill of power enhancement.

And Zesta was right—the dynasty's development to its current state was indeed inseparable from the man before him.

"I have detected incalculable variables. Your useless flesh-and-blood subordinates can no longer protect you. You should heed the call of truth and ignore those hollow doctrines."

"Shut up, Zesta! My dynasty's soldiers can definitely hold these bastards off!"

The surrounding crew watched their Rogue Trader grow more and more unhinged, uncertain what to think. They only knew that Canto was becoming increasingly extreme.

"Your primitive thoughts are filled with too many misunderstandings. But I believe you will soon be corrected."

"But what if others find out? What if the Inquisition discovers this? The dynasty will be utterly destroyed."

Zesta leaned close to Canto's ear and whispered.

"Flesh is a consumable material. You can simply wait until victory is won, then thoroughly purge everyone on this ship. As long as they're all dead, no one will ever know. And you will remain the exalted Rogue Trader."

Canto still hesitated, but a violent shudder interrupted their exchange.

"Lord Canto! The engine deck has been breached!"

Damon and his Rangers had charged straight into the engine room of the Tyrant. The enemy's resistance was undeniably fierce, but when two companies of Rangers converged, the enemy's desperate counterattacks were futile.

Damon, clad in a black-painted Adamantium Combat Suit, would charge directly into enemy fire whenever it blocked their advance, tanking the hits to destroy their strongpoints.

He even took a plasma and a melta shot from a tech-priest along the way without issue, as two Medics simultaneously repaired his flesh and his suit.

After killing everyone on the engine deck, the Rangers concentrated fire on the Plasma Engine, completely crippling the warship's conventional power systems.

The massive Tyrant ground to a halt, drifting adrift in the dark void.

"No!!! Zesta! Unleash those blasphemous things of yours! I want every one of them dead!!"

"Congratulations, Canto. You are drawing ever closer to the truth. These erroneous variables that have entered this ship will soon be thoroughly eliminated!"

Inside the Tyrant's Forge Workshop, the sealed compartment that barred all other crew members opened its doors.

Scorching steam from the workshop billowed into the ship's corridors.

The steam carried a thick scent of sulfur.

Looking in from outside, the scene within the workshop flickered constantly between reality and unreality.

Fully armed tech-priests emerged from the workshop.

Their equipment was exceptionally refined, and their Cybernetic Eyes were filled with Chaos Corruption. Zesta had long since corrupted the ship's priests.

And deeper within the workshop, two massive mechanical constructs stirred.

Blood-red metal armor.

Beast-like, centaur-shaped mechanical dead things had come to life!

They shook their enormous metal heads, their sharp fangs directly devouring nearby metal, chewing and swallowing it with ease. As the metal was consumed, the two massive Hades Six-Barrel Autocannons mounted on their flanks began to rotate.

The Warp Furnaces within their bodies, constantly emitting the smell of sulfur, poured endless energy into their blasphemous forms.

No wonder the ship's lower-deck laborers had been disappearing. Zesta had brought them into this workshop, using the Soul Furnace to devour their flesh and souls to forge these mechanical creations—the Forge Fiends.

And Canto had covered up these deeds.

The corrupted tech-priests and Forge Fiends marched out of the workshop, showing no distinction between friend and foe. The crew organizing defenses inside the Tyrant never expected Chaos Corruption to appear within their own ship.

But their defenses were focused on the front—no one was watching for threats from behind.

The autocannons on the Forge Fiends' arms began to fire. Scorching phosphor rounds, upon contact with flesh, not only shattered the crew's bodies but also burned their souls. The screams of those souls seemed to transform into power for the Forge Fiends.

Trampling over severed limbs and broken arms, they advanced toward the enemies who had breached the ship.

Meanwhile, Ghost Norris had also entered the warship.

He chose not to confront the enemy head-on. Relying on the stealth properties of his combat suit, he slipped past position after position. Gao Yi's orders were etched into his mind—his target was not these ordinary enemies, but the enemy's Bridge.

Norris moved without making a sound. But the ship's internal structure was far too complex. Finding the Bridge from the entry point was no simple task.

At that moment, a lone crew member appeared before him.

Norris locked his gaze on the crew member, then activated his psionic power. The next second, the crew member's eyes went vacant.

This was one of the Ghost Operative's psionic abilities: Mind Charm and Control.

"Tell me! The location of the Bridge!"

At Norris's command, the crew member divulged the route in full detail. Once he had the answer he needed, Norris dispatched him with a Psionic Glaive.

But just as he was about to press on, a psionic fluctuation immediately caught his attention.

"This vile psionic energy. Could there be Chaos corruption aboard this vessel?"