The First Battle (Complete)

When did things take such a sharp turn for the worse?

Joel of the Fourth Company Eighth Legion had no answer; all he knew was that he had to pull his sword from the damned Xenos face in front of him—and he did, then immediately slashed horizontally, blood and a mangled head flying high into the air.

He turned around and used a stepping slash he had learned from Richter Nair Narth of the Eighth Company to cut the two Xenos that were trying to ambush him in two.

The young combatant gripped his Chainsword with hatred, stepped over their corpses, and charged towards another group of Xenos not far away. He spun like a dancer, slicing one Xenos to pieces, then grabbed another, crushed its head, and then sawed the third in half from top to bottom.

The carnage was quite loud, and the clanging of Chainsword was especially noticeable. Some of the Xenos quickly realized that the enemy they were looking for was behind them.

Joel had anticipated this; he immediately shut down the Chainsword, which drifted past the shattered corpses like Shadow and disappeared in another direction.

His heart pounded, and the surgery and adrenaline gave him tremendous strength, allowing him to take cover among the collapsed ruins before their bullets arrived.

This is not the end; it is only the beginning.

Joel, panting, turned to survey the situation outside the ruins. They were still looking for him, which was good.

So he started calling, from the company channel to the legion's public channel, calling again and again. He hoped for a reply. His brothers, his superiors, his company commander—anyone would do, even the Primarch and his instructors would hear his current pathetic voice.

He didn't care anymore; he needed to know how everyone else was doing.

"This is Joel from the Fourth Company," he said softly, not just because he needed quiet.

"Can anyone hear me? Repeat, can anyone hear me?"

A hissing sound filled the channel, indicating that their communication was being disrupted. Joel angrily lowered his head and began swinging his Chainsword, causing the bits of flesh stuck in it to fall off.

He called three more times, and after almost giving up hope, he finally heard a reply on the public channel, though it was a curse, but something was better than nothing.

"Damn it," the voice on the channel said hoarsely. "Joel, Fourth Company. This is Sergeant Dion Livas, Second Company. Where are you? What about your company?"

"I don't know, sir."

"You don't know what that means—wait, fucking—"

Dion Rivas continued cursing, and the next second, a series of rhythmic bursts of gunfire came from his direction. Half a minute later, Joel heard his voice again as he waited anxiously.

"--Did the ground crack open?" the sergeant from the Second Company asked grimly. "And then you all fell in?"

"Yes, sir."

"Damn it, those damn scum who're allied with Xenos aliens, listen up, Joel, I'm separated from the company just like you, and this damn communications system is down. I bet it's because they blew up the makeshift communications post."

"But you can communicate with me, sir."

"That's because we're definitely not far apart, which is why the Power Armour's servers were able to connect us. Damn it, didn't you know that?"

"I read very little, and I don't have a good relationship with my superiors or the Techmarine."

"Not reading is one thing, but the latter is quite unwise. Forget it, are your radar and tactical displays even usable?"

The young combat comrade raised his eyes and glanced at the readings at the top of his eyepiece; half of them had turned into a jumbled mess of data.

A few seconds later, he replied to the grumpy sergeant, "Only the tactical display works."

"That's not bad either."

The sergeant answered casually, his voice softening. This made Joel realize something.

"I'll send you coordinates. Head here. Don't die, Joel."

"Understood, sir."

"No, you don't understand—I mean, don't die, understand? It's best if you can come, but it's okay if you can't. Just survive. Damn it. We've probably died enough already, these damned alien Xenos."

The sergeant cursed and hung up the communication. A monotonous notification tone followed, indicating that the coordinates had been reached.

Joel took a deep breath; he knew that everything from now on would likely depend on him alone. He bent down, using the ruins and bricks as cover to observe his enemies' movements.

The Xenos, about two meters tall, communicated with each other using a strange, muffled sound. As humanoid Xenos, their voices were utterly repulsive. Joel frowned, not just because of disgust.

He now faces two choices.

One option is to kill them all before leaving; the other is to take a detour and head directly to meet up with Dion's soldiers.

Without hesitation, he immediately chose the first option—when Joel crawled out of the buried ruins, all he saw were the bodies of his brothers.

He was originally working with seven brothers, following the company commander's orders, they entered the power plant. Everything was going smoothly; they killed many Harkosus, and then...

The sky collapsed, the earth caved in, they fell, fell—the pain was excruciating, almost causing them to faint. His brothers roared, and swarms of Xenos opened fire on them; their cursed weapons could actually pierce through Power Armour.

Then, Joel was left all alone. He didn't know if it was lucky or unlucky, but putting that aside, he couldn't even gather his brothers' bodies, because the Xenos, who were prepared, had already surrounded him.

He was forced into the darkness as the last survivor.

Now, he won't let this opportunity for Vengeance slip by.

Joel dashed out of the ruins, the dangerous hum of the Chainsword returning, and the Xenos immediately opened fire in his direction. Joel felt no regret for his recklessness—why should he?

As the monomolecular saw blade sliced into the chest of the first enemy, shredding its hideous flesh and bones, Joel felt only pleasure. He didn't yet know what it meant, but he would soon find out.

"For the Eighth Legion!"

He growled as he grabbed the Xenos's lower body and used it as a half-shield against his shoulder armor.

His speed and a bit of luck saved him from being hit by the Xenos' dangerous weapons. Three seconds later, he killed the sixth Xenos, broke out of the encirclement again, and sped away.

But this time was different; he entered the darkness with a Xenos, which screamed horribly as he tormented it.

Joel poked one of its eighteen eyes with his cold fingers, a cold smile spreading across his face—yes, that's it, fear it, wail it, you have only death as your choice.

The young combat comrade was unaware that the power and speed he was unleashing at that moment were not solely due to the modification surgery and adrenaline. He would find out eventually, but not now.

--

Karyl stood calmly in the darkness, the corridor behind him looking as desolate as if it had been swept by a storm. The metal walls and ceilings were completely destroyed, the words were gone, and the floor was covered with a shockingly thick layer of frost.

"Instructor, something's wrong," Anric Barbatos said anxiously over the comms. "This tower... this tower is strange."

"Has it come back to life?" Karyl asked softly, turning around to gaze at the dust swirling in the air. A faint sigh came from beneath the skull mask.

"What?"

"Did it come back to life, Anric?"

"No—I mean, its internal structure is changing, instructor." The Eighth Company Commander's voice sounded extremely confused. "Is this some kind of trap? What level are you on now?"

"Yes, it's part of a trap. I'm on the fiftieth floor."

Karyl looked down and saw the Eighth Company soldiers fighting inside the spire through its walls. They weren't fighting the Harkosus, nor were they fighting the Xenos. In fact, they were fighting the spire itself.

It is alive.

It's misleading them.

"Soldiers of the Eighth Company, this is Kael Lohars." He began, his tone seemingly light. "Whatever happens next, please remain calm and rational."

"Instructor?!" Anric blurted out, a sudden unease rising in the Eighth Company Commander's heart. "What are you going to do now?!"

"Just do my job."

Karyl hung up the communication and rejected all subsequent communication requests.

He sneered.

What a simple scheme, so simple it's almost foolish—the way to break it couldn't be more obvious, couldn't it?

The Daemon even offered to reveal the solution himself.

The ceremony can be stopped if the Eighth Legion halts its recapture of Harkosus.

The spire itself was undefended against him; after the mist shrouding it was torn away by the monster behind the Veil, he saw its full form. The spire was indeed a medium.

In the past, it was worshipped by the people of Harkosus as the abode of the gods, and the Xenos living underground also knew about the tower and worshipped it as the abode of the gods.

Which god do you worship?

The God of Burning Fire – God of Vengeance and Hatred.

The first name is nothing more than a crude trick; it is the Vengeance and hatred in the language of Harkosus, a language that no one in Harkosus speaks anymore. But it is ancient because it was not a naturally occurring language at all.

Language has power.

The older it is, the more powerful it is.

Now, once this spire is activated, it can fully realize its function as a medium.

The number of offerings on Harkosus I wasn't enough to elevate him to godhood, but it was enough to bring him back into the Veil's notice.

The last time he traversed the universe as a skeleton, it was by a trick. Without the Emperor's help, he should have returned to the Veil completely back then.

This time, even the Emperor was powerless. No matter how powerful he appeared, he was still just a human being.

But

He is the true master of power.

Are these emotions of Vengeance and hatred unique to the Harkosus at this moment? He knew what was happening outside; the Spire had reported it to him.

He closed his eyes, and the spire obediently submitted to his control. The terrifyingly solid structure began to shake, almost as if it were alive, writhing—it broke through the ground, broke free of layers of metal, and crashed into a vast underground world.

Go and kill!

Karyl opened his eyes and spoke to the warriors of the Eighth Legion using his psionic powers.

The first battle is over, and now, a much longer war is beginning.

That's all for today, my hands hurt, I can't write another 10,000 words.

(Thinking)

Also, there haven't been many posts lately, are you all busy reading books?