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"I have a way to seal the rift!"

"You have a way? What way could you possibly have? You're just Astra Militarum."

"I have this necklace my parents gave me!"

"A double-headed eagle statue? The craftsmanship is so crude that I could carve something prettier than that from any random bone I picked up."

"Trust me. If you can throw this statue into the rift, it can close it. That was the greatest hope that kept me crawling and fighting my way here from the gate!"

Bennett looked at the Third Company captain, unsure what to say. But he had no other choice, did he? Taking the unremarkable statue and gripping it in his hand, he found it so light that he could barely feel any weight at all.

But the next moment, he sensed an unprecedented, immense power of faith contained within the holy icon.

Before his eyes seemed to rise a magnificent palace built atop the entire Himalayas. Along both sides of the Heroic Stairway leading to The Emperor's sacred throne, the carved skulls of countless nameless heroes housed their loyal souls. The grand hymns sung in unison by thousands of heroic choirs and Ecclesiarchy zealots seemed to ring in his ears.

The holy hall, overflowing with boundless golden light, illuminated Bennett from head to toe, bringing tears of excitement to his face beneath his wolf helm.

An indescribably majestic voice rang out in Bennett's mind, entrusting him with a sacred mission.

Lin Fan watched Bennett go completely still after accepting his holy icon, panic rising in his heart. Just as he was about to snatch the icon back and do it himself, Bennett moved.

"All Wolves, escort this Astra Militarum soldier to the rift at any cost."

Their long training and mutual understanding left the warriors with no need for excessive questions. In perfect coordination, they discarded their nearly empty boltguns and drew the melee weapons they carried. Following Wolf Priest Bennett's lead, they charged the daemon enemy before them.

Like unstoppable war machines, the Space Wolves swept aside every daemon blocking their path. Their power armor was left with deep, irreparable gashes under the counterattacks of daemon claws and profane weapons.

Bennett tossed the statue to Lin Fan and signaled for him to follow. Lin Fan raised his chainsword and ran behind them.

The Space Wolves formed an insurmountable wall, keeping the daemons outside.

500 meters.

400 meters.

300 meters.

They were getting closer. Just a little closer, and Lin Fan could throw the statue in his hand into the rift, sealing it completely and ending this daemon assault.

"Hohoho, you little darlings!"

A purple, barbed whip shot from the rift and lashed Bennett and several Space Marines beside him.

The immense force carried by the whip sent them flying, one after another crashing into a more distant mass of daemons. The armor over their chests was shredded by profane barbs, exposing flesh embedded with metal fragments.

A long, slender purple-pink figure strode from the rift with exaggerated grace. Its androgynous face wore a frenzied smile of delight. In its four hands were a whip, a rapier, a round shield, and a golden goblet. It regarded the Space Wolves, now facing a grave threat, with utter contempt.

Lin Fan watched Bennett and his warriors rise and resume fighting behind him, and inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. He had thought that single lash would kill them all outright. The quality of this daemon assault was simply too high. If these terrifying things charged all the way from the lower levels to the gate, the Astra Militarum soldiers would be as good as dead. Amid the rotting stench of the Great Unclean Ones, batch after batch of warriors sprouted pustules and all manner of decaying fungi. Under the temptation of the Keepers of Secrets, they mutilated themselves, drained their blood, and wore their comrades' skin over their bodies.

And this was without even a Bloodthirster of Khorne appearing. Or perhaps one had already appeared, and Lin Fan simply did not know it.

"For Russ and the Allfather!" the Space Wolves roared in unison as they charged the Keeper of Secrets.

The Keeper of Secrets moved with a dancer's agility amid the Space Wolves' encirclement, effortlessly blocking every attack from the Wolves. After each perfect parry, it took a deep drink of blood from its luxurious golden goblet. As though entertaining itself over a drink, the Keeper of Secrets toyed with the Wolves' fury.

"You stinking bitch, take this!" Lin Fan rushed the Keeper of Secrets, slashing at it with his chainsword.

The Keeper of Secrets spun elegantly, snapping its whip into a ring that forced the Wolves back, then used its rapier to block Lin Fan's attack. Lin Fan was knocked away, but he did not give up. Instead, he swiftly reached out and grabbed the ornate rapier with his bare hand.

Under everyone's stunned gaze, Lin Fan was enveloped in a golden radiance. The blood and filth on his body rapidly evaporated and dispersed, while his lightly armored ballistic vest—so badly worn and scratched that no Legion insignia could be made out—began repairing itself beneath the golden light.

The rapier snapped in two within Lin Fan's golden hand, and blazing golden flames raced along the blade toward the Keeper of Secrets. The previously relaxed Keeper of Secrets convulsed in agony as the sudden flames burned it. This pure pain even severed its connection to the Great Prince, leaving it unable to derive the slightest pleasure from the burning.

Golden flames scattered in every direction as the Keeper of Secrets writhed and rolled. Every flame that touched a daemon burned it utterly to ash.

"This is the Allfather's power!" Seeing this, the Space Wolves' morale surged. Amid the flames, they hunted down the daemons fleeing in every direction to escape the fire.

Lin Fan stepped over the still-burning body of the Keeper of Secrets and threw the statue in his hand toward the enormous rift.

The instant the statue touched the rift, devout chants rang through the entire passageway. A chorus praising The Emperor and humanity suppressed the roars and whispers emanating from within the rift, while threads of light stitched the rift shut bit by bit.

The rift vanished in the light, and everything fell silent.

The burning golden flames and the daemons all vanished like smoke, leaving only shell casings, blood, and traces of explosions in the vast passageway. Bennett checked the survivors' injuries: three severely wounded, two dead. Including the one ambushed earlier, that made three dead. A whole Grey Hunters squad had lost a third of its members, with half its combat strength gone. How could Bennett not feel heartbroken?

After digging Lin Fan's body out of a pile of ashes, Bennett used his experience to assess his injuries. Aside from exhaustion and physical collapse, there were no other wounds. He could even faintly sense a sacred power coursing through Lin Fan's body.

With reverence, Bennett lifted the brave guardsman into his arms and sternly ordered the remaining Grey Hunters, "You will keep everything you saw today to yourselves. I will then request memory erasure from the Rune Priest. Not knowing such secrets is the best protection."

"Understood, sir."