Siles killed most of the Chaos Space Marines on his own.
Far away, Fabius, the "Librarian" who controlled everything, was using some kind of Warp sorcery to tear open a rift in the Warp and summon more Chaos slaves. From within it came what seemed to be the Skull Throne's endless fury, along with a roar of wanton destruction.
A terrifying, monstrous Chaos creature was struggling to crawl through the rift Fabius had torn open. Its body was even larger than a Hellbrute, and its six dreadful, crablike claws gave it a terrifying speed comparable to a Necrons Desolator Scorpion.
"Fabius?" Siles was taken aback when he found him.
When had he become so mutated?
And how had he gained the Chaos Gods' blessings?
Then Siles saw the Daemon Engine Fabius had summoned. He had seen it before, because he had once killed one.
Even from nearby, he could feel the unending hatred and fury stamped into every gear.
"Slaughterfiend! How much has this guy been hiding from me?"
"My dear Chapter Master? You've come to the battlefield in person? Look what I've brought you!"
"..."
The Slaughterfiend was a variant of the Daemon Engine Defiler.
The Daemon Engine Defiler was a dreadful weapon forged by the Blood God. It took daemonic souls drawn from the Warp and sealed them inside weapons of war crafted with the highest forging skill, then filled them with boiling human blood. The imprisoned daemons unleashed their endless hatred and fury upon every foe, slaughtering all in their path. The Slaughterfiend had abandoned most of the Daemon Engine Defiler's ranged weapons in favor of even more close-combat weapons, making it far more bloody and brutal in battle.
The first Slaughterfiend had originated with Akagha the Devourer, Skull Champion of Khorne.
He had tamed the first Slaughterfiend and infused it with his own will, making it his mount. Later, many berserkers who worshipped Khorne were inspired to follow his example, but few could truly tame one of these war beasts.
His own subordinate could summon a terrifying weapon of war like the Slaughterfiend.
And had kept it from him.
The Chaos Gate he had summoned held more than just a Slaughterfiend. It also contained a "Blood Host" of Slaughterfiends, with countless others waiting behind the first to cross the tunnel and charge into realspace.
Siles looked toward Siles.
His opponent had already carved a bloody path "to the heavens."
No matter how many Chaos Space Marines stood before him, they were no more than mortals in Siles's eyes.
He smashed one Chaos Space Marine after another.
He wiped out one Chaos minion after another.
Siles strode toward Fabius and Siles, gripping an axe wreathed in golden and red flames.
The Chaos Space Marines were terrified of him now.
Some even tried desperately to flee the moment they saw him.
They were afraid the huge monster before them would tear them apart.
He wasn't human!
No.
He was Khorne's chosen!
The skulls of Chaos Champions belonged on his shoulders!
Daemon!
Siles, both hands gripping his flaming axe, stared at the Slaughterfiend that had crawled out.
"..."
The Slaughterfiend that emerged from the rift vanished in an instant.
Its six mechanical claws let it move across the ground like a gust of wind. In the eyes of Siles, once a Salamander, the creature was so fast that it became an impossible blur. The Blood Fury rune carved into its throat seemed linked to Khorne's will upon his throne, and it let out the Blood God's furious roar.
Siles shuddered. "What terrifying speed!"
If it were me—
I wouldn't be able to follow it at all.
But Siles had spotted it.
He hadn't just spotted the creature. Even its path through the air stood out like a lamp in the dark.
Another one I've never seen?
No matter!
I'll cut it down!
His great axe swung toward the creature.
Siles had killed too many Chaos Space Marines.
He usually just cut them down.
This one was no exception.
Before absolute strength, absolute speed, and the Emperor's buff—
The newly summoned Slaughterfiend—
Had one of its crablike power claws chopped off by Siles in an instant.
It had just been about to spew deadly flames from its enormous gun mount.
Siles grabbed the muzzle.
With strength no one could comprehend—
He twisted the Slaughterfiend's muzzle out of shape with one hand, then ripped the tank-cannon-sized barrel straight out of its body.
A heap of components and black fluid burst from the Slaughterfiend's mechanical frame.
The daemon's boundless fury threatened Siles with all its might.
Siles simply raised his axe high.
Then brought it down at lightning speed.
Boom!
Its burned daemon soul let out a pained, despairing wail, its fury tinged with bitter defiance.
Siles turned away without a word.
But Siles felt a chill crawl over him. He had thought he could stand against Siles, even slay the False Emperor's lackeys.
His opponent hadn't looked at him, yet he felt as if he were being judged.
The Emperor's holy light seemed to scrutinize his soul.
But the other man didn't see him at all.
As if he were no different from the cannon fodder being slaughtered.
Humiliation.
I founded the Chaos Warband. I'm its Chapter Master. I've seized countless Gene-seed samples and cultivated countless Chaos Space Marines. I'll have my revenge on the Imperium. I'll sow the seeds of fury against the False Emperor. I—
He charged forward.
And all that met him was an axe casually swung his way.
Chop!
Like any other Chaos Space Marine, Siles was cleaved through his heavy shoulder armor and down to the breastplate. His death was no different from that of the other cannon fodder, even though he was supposedly the Chapter Master of a Chaos Warband.
Siles kicked him aside.
His body was sent flying into the sea of Chaos corpses, where dead Chaos Servitors buried him.
He wasn't willing to accept it. He roared.
He felt like a joke, a joke brought into existence by someone else's manipulation.
After becoming a traitor, he never got the chance to show the world his grand ambitions. He never got the chance to speak. No one even heard why he had betrayed them.
In his mind, he had rehearsed the victor's speech countless times, and the scorn he would heap upon the False Emperor's lackeys.
Now, not a single word came out.
He saw Fabius smirking. He seemed to see the Chaos Gods laughing at him.
The day he gave himself to Chaos—
He had already become a tool.
No one wanted to know why you had betrayed them. The one who killed you wouldn't stop to listen to how pitiful your life had been.
No one knew your dreams. No one would know what you had done before you died, either.
"I wish I could go back to Nocturne one more time..."
Siles pursued Fabius.
But the remnants of his soul were torn apart by several forces.
Siles had given Fabius hope, letting him get within one step of escaping to the other side. But he was still one step short.
Among the "Blood Host" gathered on the other side, where countless Slaughterfiends waited, a cold figure appeared.
Why was its head so pointy?
At a gathering on Atoma, the Tech-Priest responsible for supplying equipment asked the delegates, "We don't have a Standard Template Construct for a high-powered flashlight. Prisoners, what should we do?"
The hall fell silent. Suddenly, an old soldier stood up and answered, "We'll sneak in under cover of darkness, Tech-Priest!"
The Tech-Priest asked again, "We don't have a Standard Template Construct for night-vision goggles, either. What should we do?"
Once again, the hall fell silent. After a while, an Ogryn stood up and answered, "We'll sneak in during the day, Tech-Priest!"
He asked again, "We don't have a Standard Template Construct for Autoguns or Lasguns. What should we do?"
A zealot shouted, "We'll fight the enemy with swords and axes, esteemed Tech-Priest!"
Hearing the delegate's words, the Tech-Priest was so moved that oil flowed from his eyes. After thinking it over, he said, "Prisoners, thank you for supporting the Omnissiah. We've found a way to overcome our difficulties. But if each of us needs a sword and an axe, where are we supposed to find so many weapons?"
"That's easy! We'll pray to Grandfather Nurgle and ask him to give us some, esteemed Tech-Priest!" a Psyker answered.
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