The corridor on the lower deck resembled a cathedral baptized in blood.
Bolter fire burst endlessly against the metal bulkheads, tearing those eerie blue veils of psychic energy to shreds.
The Word Bearers Company Captain at the front raised his Power Hammer, its head reflecting a cold arc of light beneath the lamps.
His lips moved ceaselessly beneath his helmet as he recited the holy words long since etched into his bones. His voice was like magma surging from beneath the earth, blazing with heat and unstoppable resolve.
"He who bears a thousand eyes shall wash away the sin of his spying with blood and tears!
He who grows ten thousand limbs shall atone for his transgressions by crawling in the dust!
He whose tongue is thorn and whose throat is abyss shall honor the God-Emperor's wrath with wails!
And he who is the nightmare of all forms, the daemon of all changes, the embodiment of all sins—shall become ash beneath the Emperor's fiery holy judgment!"
His voice rose steadily. Golden light began to glow across the head of his Power Hammer, and the prayers engraved in its metal lit up one after another, as though kindled by flame.
Behind him, over a thousand Word Bearers Warriors chanted in unison. Their voices crashed against the bulkheads in wave upon wave, like a tsunami, making the Tzeentch Daemons' snickering falter for the first time.
"This is the Holy Word of the Primarch!!!" the Company Captain roared, his final words bursting like a thunderclap.
With that roar, he leaped up, raised his Power Hammer in both hands, and brought it crashing down on a Chaos Spawn.
The Chaos Spawn resembled a mass of endlessly churning flesh, its surface covered in twisted eyes and tentacles, issuing nauseating wet, slithering sounds.
The instant the