"Rrrip! Shhk!"
The wet, sticky sounds of metal tearing through flesh and severing bone rang out at the end of the treasury passage, brief and efficient, before giving way to the heavy tread of power-armored boots.
Two royal guards, loyal to their duty until the final moment and clad in ornate armor more ceremonial than practical, never even managed a proper parry. Two flashes of gleaming steel, swift as lightning, left them broken husks twitching on the floor.
Temur had not even fully activated the energy force field of his Power Scimitar, the Fang of the Hurricane. Its extraordinary material and its wielder's savage strength alone had accomplished the slaughter.
Thick blood slid down the curved blade, leaving a broken trail of dark red across the gem-inlaid tiles.
Without so much as glancing at the fallen guards, Timur planted his bloodstained soles heedlessly on their still-warm corpses and strode toward the closed alloy doors at the end of the passage, carved with elaborate images of guardian beasts.
"BOOM!!!"
A deafening crash reverberated through the passage. Under a vicious kick into which the Space Marine Company Captain poured all his fury and strength, the thick, solid-alloy doors and their exquisite stone frame buckled inward and split as though struck head-on by a battering ram. The hinges groaned under the unbearable strain.
Then the entire door panel spun inward with tremendous momentum, crashing into some object inside the treasury and setting off a cascade of shattering noises.
Temur stepped over the warped threshold and entered the treasure chamber where Cassandra's royal family had amassed untold wealth over countless generations.
What filled his vision was a glittering splendor almost dazzling enough to blind Mortals' eyes.
Mountains of uncut gemstones shimmered with hazy light in every color beneath the emergency lighting.
Finely cast gold