Vlahos smashed the equipment in the engine control room to pieces with a single blow of his hammer and said gravely:
"All squads, report your progress."
"Silver Claw Squad has completed its assigned objective. We're at the third engine control room aboard the Bloody Worm, ready for teleportation."
"Hook Squad, we've been ambushed by the enemy. Possessed Marines! We haven't reached our designated location, and we've suffered multiple casualties! Hook Squad is preparing to retreat, sir!"
"Iron Fist Squad has completed the objective, but we're pinned down in the first engine control room! We have a lot of wounded. Initiate teleportation immediately, sir! We can't hold out much longer..."
Reports came pouring into Vlahos's mind one after another.
The enemy's Possessed Marines had caught Vlahos by surprise.
But their local advantage couldn't change the fact that the enemy had already lost the battle overall.
Nearly two-thirds of the targets had been destroyed. That was enough.
Without engine power or the ability to steer, the transport ship couldn't escape the planet's atmosphere.
"Stinger Squad—whew, we just took out a Possessed Marine. We expect to reach our target in three minutes. Wait... where's Qingshan?"
Gult looked around and called out loudly.
"He was driven over there by another Possessed Marine." An Ultramarine pointed in that direction.
Gult raised his Power Sword, ready to go after him, but one of his subordinates grabbed him and held him back.
Vlahos's voice came over the comms at just the right moment:
"Gult, you have two minutes. Take out the third engine room now!"
Gult lowered his voice. "Sir, the White Scars kid drew a Possessed Marine away by himself. He's missing."
There was a brief silence on the other end.
Vlahos replied slowly, "Gult, our tactics call for a swift victory. Don't get bogged down in a fight."
"Understood!" Gult answered firmly.
With that, he took a long look at the passageway where Fu Qinghai had disappeared, then resolutely turned and led his squad across the blood-soaked slaughterhouse toward the engine control room.
"Thud!" The heavy impact of two massive figures crashing onto the floor rang out as they fell together into the lower deck.
Dust billowed through the dim cabin.
"Clatter."
Fu Qinghai shoved the Possessed Marine off him.
The Possessed Marine rolled helplessly onto its back. A Power Glaive was embedded in its tooth-filled mouth.
Fu Qinghai staggered to his feet, gripped the Power Glaive's handle with both hands, and gave it a hard twist and pull.
"Clang!"
The blade, which had nearly pierced straight through the Possessed Marine's helmet, came free.
It brought with it a long, forked, purplish-black tongue that looked like a snake's.
Fu Qinghai caught his breath and looked down at the tongue, which was nearly forty centimeters long and as thick as his wrist at the base.
He hoped a female streamer would never see this.
He flicked the slimy, wet thing away with the tip of his blade.
Fu Qinghai looked around.
As his gaze swept over the area, a row of lights flickered on above the dark corridor to his right.
Huh?
Fu Qinghai stared at the narrow corridor and the rows of iron-barred cells illuminated by the lights...
It looked a bit like... a prison?
Fu Qinghai raised his Power Glaive and walked over.
As he went, he spoke into the comms. "Gult, Gult, this is Qingshan. Do you read me?"
The only response was a crackling burst of static.
No signal? What was going on?
Fu Qinghai found it strange, but kept walking toward the narrow corridor.
Aboard the Bloody Worm.
Devitt calmly pulled his Power Sword from the body of the last Reincarnator.
The ordinary man, who had been holding a strange weapon, crumpled to the floor.
He had no idea why the Chaos Space Marines had suddenly turned on them.
But the Reincarnators had still mounted one last desperate counterattack just before they died.
M16s, AK-47s, 98Ks, and other weapons lay scattered across the floor.
Devitt didn't recognize any of the guns.
But it was clear they hadn't done the slightest damage to the two Astartes in Power Armor.
"Put them on the altar." Devitt shook the blood from his sword and gave the order casually.
"Yes, sir." His subordinates dragged several bodies toward the altar.
Klofa's voice came over the comms:
"Devitt, get back to your post at once. Prepare to release that thing. Our counterattack is about to begin."
"Understood, my lord."
Klofa watched Vlahos's figure on the security monitor in the control room. Just then, Vlahos looked up at the camera.
As he watched the Invictarus Ultramarine wearing an eagle-winged helmet, a cruel smile tugged at Klofa's lips.
You think you've got this in the bag, don't you? Klofa thought.
Klofa looked away from the monitor and turned to Liaoxia Hong beside him.
"Please begin your performance, Mr. Wizard."
Liaoxia Hong nodded, closed his eyes, lowered into a horse stance, and formed several intricate hand signs.
He suddenly opened his eyes and shouted:
"Domain Expansion!"
An invisible, soundless ripple spread outward from Liaoxia Hong, passing through walls and barriers as it rapidly expanded across the entire transport ship and continued to spread beyond it.
Inside the Bloody Worm's second engine control room.
After hearing that Stinger Squad had destroyed the engine control system, Vlahos looked up and glanced out the porthole.
Beyond a narrow rift in a mountain pass, he could see the dark, gloomy sky.
I should have brought the White Scars warrior down with me. Then the White Scars kid might not have died... That was the only thing Vlahos regretted.
Vlahos spoke gravely:
"Sotharan, prepare to teleport us back to the ship."
"Understood, my lord." The Tech-priest's voice rang out, mechanical and lifeless.
A dazzling white light flared around Vlahos as Aether particles filled the space around him.
The same white light appeared around every Ultramarine aboard every transport ship, including the wounded lying on the ground, the Ultramarines fighting the Possessed Marines tooth and nail, and Fu Qinghai, whom Stinger Squad had already "abandoned."
But just then,
An invisible, soundless ripple swept past.
The white light around everyone instantly went out.
Vlahos's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha!" A sudden burst of wild laughter echoed through the control room. Klofa laughed aloud. "Well done, Wizard!"
Liaoxia Hong gave a small, smug smile and bowed modestly. "Thank you for your praise, my lord. You may also call me a Jujutsu Master, if you like."
Klofa laughed, rose from his broad seat, and picked up the massive double-edged Power Axe beside it.
"Whatever you call yourself, I'm going to chop off that Ultramarine commander's head with my own hands. Let's see if he can keep that arrogant look on his face as he dies."
Before leaving the room, Klofa turned back and ordered:
"Keep this spell going."
"As you wish, my lord." Liaoxia Hong bowed again.
Before you continue