"Everyone here?"
Corax slowly swept his gaze over his surroundings, an amused smile playing on his lips.
His eyes passed over Hercules's burly frame, Anna's icy eyes, Argel Tal's half-human face, and Royst's weapon, blazing with psychic fire.
The battle seemed to have become little more than a backdrop.
The Space Marines fighting around them tacitly kept their distance. Word Bearers and Raven Guard alike avoided the area, whether consciously or otherwise.
They knew this battlefield no longer belonged to them.
This was a battlefield for a Primarch and the strongest beneath the Primarchs, a realm that mortals and even ordinary Space Marines could not enter.
Anyone who dared approach, regardless of allegiance, would be torn apart in an instant by the shock waves of their battle.
"One Space Marine, one of the Men of Iron, one half-dead wretch, and one Librarian..." Deliberate contempt laced Corax's voice as he extended his claws, counting off his opponents one by one.
"Do you Word Bearers really have no one who can put up a fight?"
He paused, then grinned, baring sharp teeth. "Oh, right. Your Primarch is already dead."
"Lorgar's corpse is lying in some dark corner right now, waiting to be resurrected. You loyal dogs are merely risking your lives for a dead man."
His grin grew more savage. "Since you're so eager to follow your Primarch, come on!"
The instant his words fell, Hercules and Corax charged at each other.
Their figures became two streaks of light across the battlefield.
One gold, one black, both hurtling toward each other faster than the naked eye could follow.
Golden psychic flames burned along Hercules's Power Sword, leaving a dazzling trail through the air.
Black Chaos energy coiled around Corax's Talon Blades, leaving a warped fissure in the air.
Royst acted at the