Half-Hour Reinforcements!

Axes and swords clashed.

Metal rang against metal.

Tyrennius and the Skull Vanguard were locked in fierce combat.

An ordinary Astartes had actually used the Holy Chainsword to block the Skull Vanguard's attack—and even countered several times.

The Holy Light Sword was truly fierce. It directly breached the Skull Vanguard's brass armor and hacked one of his shoulders open, leaving it drenched in blood.

Without that layer of Holy Light, an Astartes's standard Chainsword basically could not penetrate brass armor.

The Chainsword's buzz seemed to have sped up by two levels, practically roaring like a tractor as it spun out sparks.

Machine Spirit rejoiced! Machine Spirit rejoiced! Machine Spirit rejoiced! Machine Spirit rejoiced--

Chaos filth! Die!

Lin En and the others almost felt that Tyrennius might actually win.

What if?

What if he was the chosen protagonist, with the Emperor possessing him?

But.

Right at that moment.

The Golden Light on Tyrennius's Chainsword suddenly flickered. Then it slowly changed from dazzling gold to dark gold before gradually fading even further.

Lin En's mind buzzed.

Thirty minutes.

--The Weapon Enchantment's thirty minutes were up.

Weapon Enchantment had a time limit. Once half an hour passed, it expired.

"Tyrennius!!!! Run!!!!" Lin En's expression changed drastically.

Enchanting had a cooldown. He could not apply it to the Chainsword again right now.

An ordinary Astartes without Holy Light's blessing had absolutely no chance against the Skull Vanguard in brass armor wielding a Rune Axe.

Tyrennius would only end up hacked to pieces.

The demon noticed it, too.

The Golden Light that had just torn through the Chaos energy when it struck the demon's great axe, scorching its arm until smoke rose from it, now produced only a brittle metallic clang when it struck.

The Skull Vanguard lowered his head and glanced at the notch the Chainsword had carved into his axe blade, then at the standard Chainsword in Tyrennius's hand, its light already dimmed.

The demon laughed wildly. "So it has a time limit."

His brass, serrated teeth glinted in the dark-red radiance, cold and sharp. "Mortal--little--trick--"

Before the final word had even fallen, the great axe was already raised above the highest point of his horns.

The red flames on the axe blade surged back to life, burning higher and fiercer than before.

The great axe came crashing down from above.

Tyrennius raised his sword to block. The axe blade slammed into it, and the Golden Light exploded into its final cluster of sparks before going out completely.

The disparity in strength returned to its original scale the instant the Holy Light went out.

The Ceramite armor on Tyrennius's left arm burst under the tremendous impact. Several fine cracks split the armor plate from wrist to elbow.

The immense force drove Tyrennius to one knee, his knee smashing a shallow pit into the ground.

The brass teeth bit into the cracks in the already-split Ceramite, and then the greater demon suddenly yanked backward.

Tyrennius was dragged bodily into the air. He spun halfway around before crashing heavily into the rock wall to the right of the altar.

The impact left a massive crater in the rock wall, and Tyrennius rolled to the ground.

A layer of dust covered the Blood Angels' beautiful crimson Power Armor, which was also dented in countless places. The handsome angel now looked battered and grimy.

Lin En clenched his fists.

Earlier, he had smugly thought that he could dominate with just a few support skills. Now it seemed he had been far too proud, far too soon.

His strength was still too weak.

Tyrennius braced himself against his sword and staggered to his feet. Dark-red fluid seeped through the gaps in his helmet's breathing grille.

He was spitting blood.

Although Astartes had two hearts and three lungs like supermen, they could still die when facing a truly powerful enemy.

Tyrennius swayed, unable to stay upright, and collapsed to the ground.

"Sis!!!!" Lin En shouted, his voice cracking.

Cecilia did not need him to call out. The moment Tyrennius hit the ground, she had already charged out from behind the cover.

The Bolter fired repeatedly, three bolts flying toward the demon's eyes in a triangular formation.

A few Bolter rounds could not possibly kill the Khorne Vanguard, but as long as they could make him turn his head, they would have a chance to escape.

The demon indeed turned his head slightly.

The bolts exploded against his skin without even breaking through his defenses.

But in that brief instant while his head was turned, Cecilia had already reached Tyrennius.

She grabbed the handle on the Power Pack behind Tyrennius's chest armor. It had originally been meant for Tech-Priests to hoist Power Armor during repairs, but she now used it as a drag handle.

The joints of the Power Armor creaked under the strain. The Battle Sister's vertical pupils burned brightly in the dark-red radiance as she strained to drag Tyrennius's massive body away from the altar's edge.

"Iron Hammer! Smoke grenades! All of them!" Cecilia shouted.

Iron Hammer used both hands and all four mechanical auxiliary limbs to yank more than a dozen smoke grenades from his pack and hurl them toward the greater demon.

The grenades exploded in midair. Gray-white smoke instantly swallowed the altar, completely cutting off the Skull Vanguard's line of sight from them.

An enraged roar came from within the smoke, followed by the great axe striking the rock wall and sending sparks flying.

"Lin En! Run!" Cecilia had already dragged Tyrennius to the tunnel entrance.

Lin En grabbed Tyrennius's other arm and turned to run, with Iron Hammer following behind them.

The four of them fled for their lives through the narrow tunnel.

They pulled the nearly one-ton Astartes out by sheer force, one on each side.

Power Armor was incredibly heavy. They could not run fast, but they still had to keep dragging Tyrennius, lowering their heads and hauling him forward.

Lin En's meager mortal strength was not much help, but he still struggled to drag one of Tyrennius's arms. If he could lessen Sister's burden even a little, then he would.

A flicker passed behind Tyrennius's helmet lenses. His helmet hid his expression, but it moved slightly, as if he wanted to say something.

But Sister Cecilia's tone sounded like she was ordering a disobedient recruit around. "Don't talk! Save your strength and run!"

"..." Tyrennius could only lower his head again.

Danger Sense kept ringing. Lin En desperately searched through the widespread hostile signals for a slightly clearer path.

The Sister kept firing.

The cultists around them kept firing as well.

Lin En activated Thirty Days and quietly blocked the shots from behind.

It hurt so much.

The temporary shield lasted only three seconds. Once its cooldown ended, he had to use his own body to block the shots.

As long as he endured without crying out, it was still bearable.

If a shot hit him, it hurt for a moment. If it hit Iron Hammer or Sister Cecilia, they would be finished.

Cecilia firmly supported Tyrennius's left arm.

Tyrennius had recovered somewhat compared with before. At the very least, he could stand and run on his own now. He stayed beside the Sister, his Ceramite armor helping to shield her from the gunfire.

Cecilia shifted to supporting him as they retreated, while Lin En dragged the slow-moving Iron Hammer.

Iron Hammer had plenty of mechanical limbs, but his body was basically unmodified, and he was truly slow. Lin En had to pull him along while helping shield him from the gunfire.

They struggled onward.

"Four o'clock! Straight ahead—don't stop!" Lin En directed them along the path.

The sound of the underground river grew louder and louder.

They ran past the outer edge of the altar cavern, crossed through the cultists' supply passage, and turned into a fork in the road that Lin En recognized.

Cecilia recognized this fork as well. It led to the Hive City ruins.

There was only one passage between the Hive City ruins and the underground caves, and the passage entrance was narrow. They had to decide in advance whether to enter.

They could escape that way, but if the demon blocked the entrance after they went in, they would be trapped like turtles in a jar.

They were hesitating over this when--

A sudden "beep" sounded from the communicator in Tyrennius's helmet.

--A communications signal.

Tyrennius pressed a hand to his earpiece and listened intently.

Then he suddenly relaxed a little, as if he had heard an unexpected signal that he had nevertheless been hoping for. "The Blood Angels' Battle Barge has reached orbit outside Astartes III and is preparing to land. Reinforcements will arrive in half an hour!"

Lin En nearly missed a step and fell into the underground river. He turned around, overjoyed.

Half an hour. Reinforcements!!!

A Battle Barge was the main assault ship of the Astartes Order. It was equipped with bombardment cannon arrays, Void Shields, and enough orbital drop pods to deploy an entire company of Astartes directly onto the surface.

There would certainly be more than one person. How many Blood Angels warriors could a Battle Barge carry? A Tactical Squad—at least one Tactical Squad.

The Skull Vanguard could easily defeat a lone Astartes, but if there were more than five Astartes gathered into a Tactical Squad, they could banish the Skull Vanguard back to the Warp.

A bright light appeared in the Sister's eyes as well.

There was hope now. They only had to hold out for another half an hour.

Just half an hour.

That would be easy, right?

Far behind them, the Skull Vanguard's axe blade split open the rock wall.

The shattered rock crashed into the underground river, and the resulting splash could be heard even from two hundred meters away.

He was in no hurry at all. He leisurely pursued the prey ahead, clearing away the rocks blocking his path.

The four of them could only keep running.

Lin En gritted his teeth as he ran.

The Blood Angels' Battle Barge would be here soon.

You damn demon, just wait!

Enjoy your arrogance for a little longer.

Once the Blood Angels arrive, I'll skin that demon behind us and roast him whole--!!!!!!!