Chief Librarian Asteris

Chapter 6: Chief Librarian Asteris

The abomination advanced rapidly, while the Genestealers behind it also began firing ranged weapons at Quan Tiehua without pause.

Quan Tiehua made no attempt to dodge. He faced the attacks coming straight at him, his Magnetic Boots stepping across the corridor with sticky, squelching sounds.

He advanced rapidly, raised the Bolter in his hands, took aim, and fired repeatedly. The successive shots from the Bolter slammed into the exact same spot.

Just three Bolter rounds punched straight through the abomination's tough flesh. Exploding at the same point, the three rounds carved out a massive cavity nearly as large as an adult's fist.

Seeing this, Quan Tiehua could not help sighing at the creature's toughness.

After several more precision shots, he blasted away most of the abomination's body. The living shield collapsed with a crash, even crushing several third- and fourth-generation Genestealers behind it who had failed to dodge in time.

Without hesitation, Quan Tiehua drew his Combat Dagger and charged forward. He stepped onto the abomination's massive body, leapt high into the air, and drove the blade fiercely into the disgusting, elongated head of a patriarch.

One thrust ended it. At the same time, he used the Bolter in his other hand to pick off the Genestealers rushing in from all around him.

He had no idea how many Genestealers were in this place, but his task now was to completely clear out this area.

Through the Chapter's communications, he already knew that reinforcements had arrived. He had also clearly heard how fierce the fighting was on the bridge. Several brothers had already fallen there forever, their souls returning to the Throne.

With this mission and the sudden battle on the planet's surface, their Chapter might very well be wiped out here.

Quan Tiehua would not allow that to happen.

Besides, the progress bar on the transparent panel in his mind had already risen to 97%. His guess had been confirmed: this thing was indeed related to killing.

It was probably a masterpiece jointly created by Tzeentch and Khorne. But logically, that seemed unlikely. After all, the Four Merchants of the Warp were at each other's throats, fighting like madmen.

The idea of them joining forces sounded ridiculous, but adding something to one another's plans was probably still possible.

Everyone joining forces in a single plan: impossible.

Adding something to an existing plan: possible.

But he had no time to worry about that now. A Chaos scheme was a Chaos scheme. At least for the moment, he was still a loyal Astartes.

He dismantled the Meltaguns from both sides of the Assault Boat they had originally used to land, and packed up as much of their power cells as he could carry.

The weight was self-evident. Even in his original-cast body, he was exhausted from the burden. Fortunately, his brothers had already cleared most of the dangers throughout the ship.

And so he began searching the ship for the Meltaguns on the Assault Boats his brothers had used to board the vessel.

Meanwhile, the battle on the bridge had reached the stage of generals against generals and soldiers against soldiers. After both sides exchanged greetings with ranged weapons, they eventually closed the distance, drew their melee weapons, and began slaughtering one another.

Whether loyalist or Chaos, their corpses began piling up throughout the hall.

Chapter Master Affos and Leonster each held a melee weapon—one a Chainsword, the other a Power Sword. They knelt on one knee, gasping for breath, staring at the handsome man before them.

As a Greater Daemon of Slaanesh from the Warp, he had always longed to come to the material world and experience the physical pleasure it offered.

After spending ten thousand years in the Warp, he had nearly forgotten what these walking cans tasted like.

Whenever he saw the Lord of Pleasure devouring the souls of the Aeldari, the fear and regret they carried made for such a delicious feast.

Even a single drop of the fluid left him utterly addicted. Driven mad with hunger, he had even set his sights on those depraved groups of Noise Marines.

But... he had lost. Fulgrim had sent him flying with a single blow.

Then the Lord of Pleasure sensed a different kind of soul fluctuation and sent him into the material world. Acting alongside the Noise Marines had filled him with even greater excitement.

A battle? A little damage? That was perfectly reasonable.

Chapter Master Affos rose to his feet. "For the Emperor!"

He swung his sword, but the man merely raised a hand and waved it lightly, binding the blade firmly in place with psychic power.

At the same time, the lips painted scarlet with lipstick parted in a gentle blow. A cloud of pink mist instantly enveloped Chapter Master Affos, plunging him into an endless dream.

Boom, boom, boom.

But in the next moment, countless Heavy Bolter rounds roared toward the man. They were still held firmly in place by an invisible barrier.

Altrance's entire breastplate had been shattered, and blood poured out. Even his helmet had vanished somewhere during the battle. Blood from his forehead covered most of his face.

Yet he still stared furiously at the man floating in the air, raising the Heavy Bolter in his hands and firing.

"For the Emperor."

At that moment, Chapter Master Affos, wrapped in the pink mist in midair, had already fallen into an illusion.

But just then, a deep-blue bolt of lightning suddenly streaked across the air. More lightning gathered into a sphere, and in the next instant, a Warp teleportation vortex tore open.

A figure wearing Terminator Power Armour slowly stepped through the portal. A tall banner bearing the Imperial Creed rose behind him. In his hands, he carried a massive hammer carved with various holy Imperial inscriptions.

The Chapter's Chief Librarian, Asteris, appeared. The instant he emerged, his Double-Barreled Bolter opened fire on the demon-possessed mortal in the air.

The psychic power surging within him wrapped itself around the bolts. They shattered the demon's psychic shield and struck the mortal flesh beneath one after another.

In merely a second or two, the expensive formalwear and handsome skin were torn to shreds.

A terrifying, blasphemous figure appeared before everyone. (I sincerely apologize, but I really can't describe that thing from Slaanesh. You all understand.)

In an instant, terrifying Warp power erupted like the shock wave of a bomb, sweeping across the entire ship.

All electronic communications lost their function at that moment.

Chapter Master Affos, who had been trapped in the illusion, was also blasted out of it and sent tumbling into the distance.

At that moment, even Leonster, far away, had fallen into despair. This was completely different from the intelligence they had received.

Because of the inaccurate intelligence, the Crimson Angel Chapter was now highly likely to be wiped out.

The mission briefing they had received contained no mention of a Greater Daemon of the Warp. Nor had the subsequent investigation reports found any signs of a large-scale Warp-daemon sacrifice.

This made no sense.

I don't know why, brothers, but I feel like this book isn't going to get signed.