A Trio

In a dark cellar, twisted, blasphemous power filled the cramped space. Corpses of people who had been ripped open lay scattered across the floor, their blood and organs smeared over the walls and ground to form profane symbols.

Matthew, deeply corrupted, no longer looked human. Pitch-black eyes without a trace of white covered his face, while all manner of protrusions and spikes grew from his body. His once-presentable clothes had been discarded somewhere, leaving only a tattered black shroud draped over him.

"I can feel it!" Matthew's heavy voice had changed as well, taking on an eerie magnetism and a strange, echoing quality.

He stretched out his mutated hand and adjusted the fresh flesh.

At the center of the cellar, a rift incompatible with reality slowly opened, ceasing to expand only once it was large enough for several people to pass through. As Matthew felt the Warp wind brush over him, the mutations on his body grew more severe. His fingers fused together into massive bony claws; his face lost all trace of a nose or mouth, filled instead with black eyes of every size. His body slumped to the ground, his skin seeming to melt and stick together. The swollen lumps and spikes that had already grown from him continued to expand, bursting forth with even more limbs.

Matthew now resembled a massive, horrifying spider of flesh—except he had no mouth at all.

Hugh Ronald, Pidat, and Oktamante, three men of the Black Legion with superb sabotage skills and stealth experience, emerged from the rift.

Ronald looked at the lowly Chaos Spawn before him, irritation welling up inside him. He raised his gun, ready to kill the eyesore, but Pidat stopped him. "Leave him. He can help draw some attention."

Every Chaos Spawn looked different.

"Hmph." Accepting Pidat's suggestion, Ronald lowered his gun and reviewed the mission the great Warmaster Abaddon had given them.

"The thing is in this area." Oktamante gestured to the other two Black Legion warriors, indicating the location of the Eye of Kaznamak. He fiddled with a specialized Auspex calibrated by sorcerers. "I'll take the Auspex and find it. You two destroy the planet's signal systems and incite those lowly creatures to attack the forces stationed here."

The two exchanged a glance, neither having any major objection. It seemed Oktamante was the commander of the three. With practiced coordination, the three giants blasted through the thin layer of earth above the cellar and rapidly advanced toward their respective targets.

Relying on his familiarity with the Warp's blasphemous powers, Pidat quickly found the corrupted Chaos civilians and Planetary Defense Force troops. He was fairly satisfied with the number of Chaos fodder under his command. After all, in just over a month, gathering so many Chaos cultists was already quite an achievement. Pidat used his superhuman strength to kill several fools who failed to recognize their place, establishing his authority among the cultists. Then, with his insight into human nature, he swiftly painted these ignorant believers a "brilliant" future. After learning the deployment of nearby forces, he divided this massive Chaos "army" into two groups. One group, consisting of tens of thousands of civilians and three to four thousand Planetary Defense Force troops, would attack the 2nd Company stationed in the fields. He himself would lead the remaining tens of thousands of civilians and over two thousand Planetary Defense Force troops against the 1st Company's urban garrison.

Though in Pidat's eyes, this city was hardly any better than the countryside.

Another tedious slaughter. Pidat was almost bored enough to yawn. The synchronizing of his helmet's targeting system and the weapon in his hand, combined with centuries of combat experience, allowed him to effortlessly aim at the slow, weak figures hiding behind cover. But he had no time to waste. If taking down a single 1st Company was this troublesome, then dealing with the 2nd Company would not be any quicker. These Planetary Defense Force troops were pathetically weak. Even Orks firing in volleys could aim better than these fools.

With a few casual shots, he blew apart several laughable figures still trying to fight back. Then Pidat saw Yukagel and his group retreating underground. "If I let you get away, that'll be troublesome." He sprinted toward them, intending to give them an endless surprise, only for the muffled explosion from within the tunnel to darken his expression.

The patient facade he had maintained until now shattered in that instant. Enraged, he smashed open the tunnel before him with his fist, creating a vast open space. The instruments on his helmet revealed the fleeing figures of the Imperial Guard in the dark passageway.

A cruel smile spread across his lips as he pulled the trigger. A long barrage of blasphemy-laden bolts poured from his bolter, rushing toward the Guardsmen's backs with terrifying shrieks like the mockery of dark gods. There were barely even any cries of pain. The powerful bolts punched through one soldier's armor after another, piercing flesh and blasting everything apart. The exquisite sounds and captivating sights of exploding bodies brought Pidat's furious heart a measure of comfort.

But another explosion immediately sealed off the passage, while a small group of soldiers who had failed to keep up soured Pidat's mood once again. After casually gunning down those unlucky stragglers, Pidat ignored the Chaos cultists who had lost control while creating massacres throughout the city. Relying on his experience and judgment, he swiftly identified every possible exit from the tunnel and headed toward them.

Yukagel watched the massive transport vehicle in the distance without making any rash move. Instead, he lay in ambush on both sides of the road, preparing to strike.

"Th-there are your comrades ahead, but they don't seem very friendly." Using her modified eyes, Delia scanned the soldiers hiding behind earthen mounds and vegetation from far away.

"Did you see any strange markings or symbols on them?" Lin Fan calmly asked Delia.

"No. Nothing like that. They just look filthy, like they've just been through a battle."

Upon hearing this, Lin Fan immediately realized they might be the remnants of the 1st Company that had withdrawn from nearby Keton. After having Delia stop the vehicle at a safe distance, he used the vehicle's loudspeaker to call out to the disguised figures. "This is Soap, acting NCO of the assault squad, 1st Platoon, 3rd Company, 37th Regiment. What unit are you from?"

Yukagel curled his lip at the strange name Soap, though he did know there was someone like that in the 3rd Company. Among all those messy names like John George, Soap was particularly memorable.

Taking a deep breath, Yukagel responded in the booming voice all officers possessed. "This is Captain Morris of the 1st Company, 37th Regiment. Yukagel. We were just attacked by rebels and suffered severe losses. Prove your identity, or we'll open fire."

Under Damian and Delia's worried gazes, Lin Fan readily climbed down from the vehicle and walked toward the 1st Company.

Seeing Lin Fan alone, Yukagel was not so frightened that he ordered his soldiers to concentrate fire and kill him. After all, Lin Fan was indeed wearing standard-issue military body armor, though it was so damaged that it probably offered little protection anymore. There were no strange graffiti or symbols on him, nor did he have that abnormal fanaticism in his expression. As Lin Fan approached step by step, Yukagel quickly reached a decision. This man had not defected. He made a gesture as well, telling his soldiers they no longer needed to hide.

Their own situation was far from good, after all. Who knew when that black-armored giant would appear before them again and cast the shadow of death over them once more.