We weren't the only ones here

(Because I misremembered, the one who arrived was actually William Theras of the Third Chapter. All earlier references have been corrected.)

(Note: I accidentally posted Chapters 52 and 53 in Volume One.)

The squad pressed on without stopping, advancing toward the deep, shadowed core of the Blackstone Fortress.

The passages grew wider along the way, their structures increasingly bizarre. Sometimes they opened into enormous vertical shafts; sometimes they became corridors spiraling downward, as though the entire fortress were a living organ that constantly reshaped itself.

Scattered resistance persisted. Creatures severely mutated by the blackstone energy field sprang from the shadows, their forms twisted and brimming with aggression.

But before the Space Marines clad in heavy Terminator Armour, these threats were like moths drawn to a flame, swiftly crushed by bolt rounds, Power Fists, and Chainaxes.

The fighting was brief and efficient. Apart from adding a few fresh scratches and bloodstains to their armour, it did nothing to slow the squad.

Lorgar walked in the middle of the formation, his strides steady.

Yet a barely perceptible frown creased his face, otherwise as perfect as a classical sculpture.

Since entering this area, an unsettling sensation had prickled at his back.

It did not come from the enemies they had encountered along the way. It was the feeling of being watched.

Cold, secretive, and steeped in malice, like the gaze of a venomous snake lurking in the dark.

He tried to extend his psychic senses into his surroundings, but the fortress's omnipresent suppression Force Field shackled his immense power like heavy chains. Less than a thousandth of his usual perception could reach beyond him. It was like trying to explore an entire ocean with a strand of spider silk; all that returned was indistinct darkness and interference.

"Gene-Father, is something wrong?" William Theras,