Wrapping Up

As Liang Bing brazenly crashed into the Greater Daemons' battle group, the focus of the entire Eternal Gate Plaza shifted in an instant.

The holy stream of light collided violently with the berserk crimson energy of Khorne's Greater Daemons, unleashing shockwaves that tore through frozen time and space!

The hurricane generated by the surging energies scattered the frozen flames and blood mist.

Witnessing this wild scene, Guilliman frowned beneath his helmet, yet the anxiety born from the defensive line's imminent collapse eased within him.

Though this "Apocalypse King" acted eccentrically and pursued inscrutable goals, her power was beyond question. More importantly, she was indeed dealing with the greatest threat before them—the eight Greater Daemons of Khorne!

"An opportunity!" Guilliman's mind sprang into action like a precision war machine.

He no longer spared attention for Liang Bing's utterly mad fighting style, instead devoting all his focus to commanding the battlefield as a whole.

Guilliman's voice rang out through the battlefield communications channel, carrying the authority and unquestionable decisiveness unique to a Primarch, overwhelming the demons' roars and the thunder of clashing energies.

Order after order was issued clearly and swiftly.

The Imperial forces, previously on the verge of collapse beneath the demonic tide, were rallied once again.

The Primarch's return and his clear command instantly ignited the warriors' fighting spirit!

"For the Emperor! For the Regent!" Thunderous battle cries rose once more, filled with the ecstasy of surviving certain death and endless rage.

The golden Adeptus Custodes once more formed an unyielding dam before Lion's Gate; the Space Marines' power swords and bolters spewed flames of vengeance; the Sisters of Battle's flamethrowers and heavy bolters wove a deadly net of fire; the Sisters of Silence's force fields became invisible millstones, continually weakening the demons' very essence.

At the same time, Apocalypse One, hovering overhead, demonstrated its terrifying battlefield-clearing capabilities.

There was no more temporal stasis. Several energy nodes beneath its hull lit up, and beams of pure, almost holy white light swept with divine precision across the plaza's outskirts and the incoming demonic tides!

There were no earth-shattering explosions, only silent annihilation.

Any demon struck by those beams, whether a lowly Bloodletter or a powerful Bloodthirster, was instantly erased as though by an eraser, reduced to the most basic particles of dust!

Wherever the beams passed, swathes of demons were "purified," forcibly carving several vacuum zones through the surging crimson tide!

The pressure plummeted! The Imperium of Man finally gained a precious moment to breathe and began an orderly counterattack, reinforcing its defensive line.

Guilliman himself moved like an efficient war machine, the golden wrath-flames of the Emperor's Sword sweeping across the battlefield.

Without the Greater Daemons holding him back, ordinary demons were nothing but weeds before him. Every swing of his sword sent great heaps of filthy flesh and twisted metal fragments flying.

He moved swiftly, plugging weak points in the line, bolstering morale, and keeping the rhythm of the entire battlefield firmly in his grasp.

The situation on the battlefield rapidly became clear.

The demonic tide on the outskirts was contained, divided, and destroyed beneath Apocalypse One's "purification" beams and the Imperial forces' desperate counterattack.

Meanwhile, Guilliman ordered the plaza's central area cleared, forming an enormous encirclement.

Every Imperial elite who could spare a hand stood solemnly at the edge of the encirclement, their complicated gazes fixed on the fierce battle within.

Inside the circle, the sight was... utterly beyond comprehension.

The pair of energy wings behind Liang Bing, rippling with distortions of time and space, had fully unfurled. Every beat warped the air and produced a piercing shriek.

At some point, she had changed into a set of light armor gleaming with red metallic luster. Wielding the holy, razor-sharp Angel's Sword, she moved like a phantom amid the encirclement of several massive, terrifyingly powerful Greater Daemons of Khorne!

There were no flashy exchanges of energy, no long-range sorcery—only the most primal, savage, blood-pumping close-quarters combat!

Clang! Bang! Boom!

The Angel's Sword slammed against the Greater Daemons' burning battle-axes, blasphemous chainswords, and bony fangs, throwing off dazzling sparks and deafening crashes! Every block, every dodge, every counterattack brimmed with explosive power and astonishing combat skill!

Liang Bing's face wore a smile bordering on ecstasy!

It was the exhilaration brought by pure battle, rising from the depths of her soul!

"This feels amazing! Damn amazing! Hahaha!" She could not help laughing aloud amid the brutal exchange, her voice piercing the battlefield's clamor. "Now this is a fight! Fist to flesh! Blade to blood!"

Her movements were broad and forceful, filled with a brutal beauty, yet every fine detail displayed astonishing precision.

The Angel's Sword seemed alive in her hands, sometimes striking as slyly as a serpent's tongue, sometimes chopping with the overwhelming force of a mountain-splitting axe!

Wherever its edge passed, even the resilient demonic hide and heavy bony armor of Khorne's Greater Daemons were easily torn apart, leaving wounds deep enough to expose bone and spraying scorching demon blood!

Celestine, the Living Saint at Guilliman's side, watched that red figure dance wildly amid the demons' assault, then looked at the soft golden radiance around herself, a symbol of faith and sacrifice. Her eyes were filled with indescribably complicated emotions.

She unconsciously shook her head slightly.

This "angel's" fighting style... had nothing whatsoever to do with the word "holy." It was filled with the aesthetics of violence and a pure desire for battle, yet it was so powerful that it left people breathless.

The surrounding Adeptus Custodes and Space Marines were even more dumbfounded.

They had seen countless valiant warriors, including the Primarch himself, but they had never heard of anyone like Liang Bing, who displayed such pure, such... "enjoyment" in battle. If she were not fighting Khorne's Greater Daemons, they might have taken her for one of Khorne's chosen!

Liang Bing truly was having the time of her life!

As commander of the Holy Judgment Legion, she had to constantly maintain an imposing, rational fighting style befitting her status within the Hilling Empire.

Technological supremacy, long-range strikes, efficient purges... Those were certainly forms of power, but they were like dancing in shackles, suppressing the savage warrior soul within her that craved hot-blooded combat.

Now, in this "lawless land" far from the Empire's core, facing these thick-skinned, violently powerful "perfect punching bags" that would not die easily no matter how much she hacked at them, she could finally cast aside every restraint and unleash herself to the fullest!

"Come again! Put some strength into it! Haven't eaten, you red-skinned idiots?!" Liang Bing knocked aside Kabanha's massive axe with one stroke, then backhanded another Greater Daemon across the waist, leaving a wound deep enough to show bone as she taunted them excitedly.

However, just as she immersed herself in the long-missed, ultimate thrill of unrestrained slaughter, a sudden change occurred!

One Greater Daemon she had given special "attention" to, drenched in blood and with nearly half a wing severed, let out a roar filled with endless resentment and unwillingness before its enormous body suddenly collapsed inward!

It escaped! Or rather, Khorne's power forcibly "recalled" it!

"Huh?!" The wild joy on Liang Bing's face instantly froze, turning into the anger of someone whose toy had been snatched away.

The change rang through her like an alarm bell, instantly awakening the reason that had nearly been drowned in the thrill of battle—her "research material" was escaping!

"Trying to run? Did you ask me first?!" The excitement in Liang Bing's eyes was instantly replaced by the cold greed of a scientist.

She abruptly looked up and shouted at the sky, "Apocalypse One! Lock onto the targets! Intercept them for me!"

Bzzzz—!!!

Beneath the hull of Apocalypse One, the enormous energy focusing device erupted with an unprecedented, blinding radiance!

It was no longer a purification beam. A deep azure energy field, flowing with countless mysterious runes, spread like a precisely cast net and instantly engulfed several other Greater Daemons likewise showing signs of energy collapse!

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle—!

The azure force field collided violently with the crimson retrieval energy from Khorne that enveloped the Greater Daemons, eroding each other! Space groaned under the strain! From the depths of the Warp came what seemed like an enraged roar!

In the end, under Apocalypse One's reckless energy output, the azure force field forcibly tore through most of the crimson energy and, like an enormous bubble, dragged out one relatively smaller Greater Daemon—the most heavily wounded and weakest in its struggles!

The other Greater Daemons became streaks of light and vanished into the rifts.

The azure force field wrapped around the Bloodthirster, which roared and struggled endlessly yet was like an insect trapped in amber. It was swiftly reeled in and disappeared into Apocalypse One's hull.

Complex energy patterns lit up across the ship's surface, clearly signaling the activation of advanced containment measures.

On the plaza, as the final Greater Daemons vanished and the outer demons were largely purged, the deafening slaughter quickly subsided, leaving only the groans of the wounded, the crackle of burning flames, and the shriek of overloaded equipment.

The battlefield fell into a brief, blood-scented calm after the catastrophe.

Guilliman took a deep breath, suppressing the agreement he felt toward her combat style. He adjusted his damaged armor and walked toward Liang Bing, who still floated over the battlefield's center, her wings slowly folding behind her as she brushed away demon blood that did not exist.

"Madam," Guilliman said steadily, with sincere gratitude in his voice. "On behalf of the Imperium of Man, I thank you and the Hilling Empire for your timely assistance." He gave a slight nod.

Liang Bing was still unsatisfied, casually flicking nonexistent drops of blood from the Angel's Sword. Hearing Guilliman's thanks, she merely waved a hand dismissively.

"Enough, enough. Save the formalities." She cut him off, her blazing gaze fixed on Apocalypse One overhead as though she could see through its hull to the precious "live specimen" inside. "I've just got my little pet, and it's still fresh! I don't have time for pleasantries! Research comes first!"

Before her words had even faded, she did not spare Guilliman another glance. Familiar purple ripples spread through the space around her, and she vanished from the spot.

Guilliman froze where he stood, looking at the place where Liang Bing had disappeared. Beneath his helmet, his expression was helpless yet faintly amused.

The surviving Imperial soldiers on the battlefield exchanged looks, their feelings equally mixed.

This powerful, beautiful, yet bizarrely behaved woman had left an extraordinarily deep impression on them.

However, this brief calm was soon shattered.

Bzzzz—!

From within the holy white hull of Apocalypse One, hovering overhead, came a muffled, agonized roar!

The roar was filled with primal fury, endless bloodlust, and... a trace of indescribable misery, as though its source were enduring some inhuman torment!

"Rooooar—!!!"

The roar pierced the ship's heavy hull and echoed clearly over the now-silent Eternal Gate Plaza, making everyone who heard it shudder.

Then the entire ship seemed to tremble slightly, as if some primordial beast imprisoned within were frantically smashing against its cage!

Guilliman and every Imperial warrior instinctively raised their heads to look at that holy warship, their eyes complicated.

Beneath its sacred exterior, some secret and exceptionally "brutal" academic activity seemed to be underway.

They had no doubt that the unfortunate Greater Daemon of Khorne was undergoing a "research" process ten thousand times more painful than being slain by the Emperor's Sword.

No one ever learned the details of the subsequent "research," but the increasingly shrill and despairing demonic roars that occasionally came from within the warship became the strangest and most chilling background sound at the end of the brutal Battle for Terra.