Nikanna and Hill

The Ultramarines on the ground naturally couldn't contact the flagship Glory of Macragge, as the bridge of the Gloriana-class warship had been destroyed by the Word Bearers' Warp sorcery.

Along with the Ultramarines Primarch Roboute Guilliman, a large number of Legion high command were either dead or sucked into the cold vacuum of space.

The entire high command of the Ultramarines Legion had suffered a severe blow in a short period of time.

Chapter Master Marius Gage survived the supernatural explosion from the Warp, being swept against the bulkhead by the shockwave, collapsing helplessly in his own blood.

He was losing a lot of blood, the Warp taint was corrupting his augmetics, making his wounds difficult to clot and stop bleeding, and a terrible fever was also tormenting the Chapter Master's will. The xenos from the Empyrean were completely unknown to the Ultramarines.

The Adeptus Astartes had their fear removed during augmentation, and long wars and training further suppressed their perception of fear. Even when subjected to torture or facing death, Space Marines could maintain their composure and equanimity.

But now, Marius felt a long-forgotten fear. His iron will fought against the fear from the unknown. He thought he had already understood the essence of fear in his battles against the enemies of the entire galaxy, but now, he realized this was arrogance and conceit.

Marius struggled to get up from his blood, realizing that the deep-rooted arrogance of the Ultramarines was a weakness. The fame the Ultramarines carried made them ignorant, lacking fear, and arrogantly believing that nothing in the galaxy could inspire fear.

The Chapter Master recalled the Primarch's teachings at this moment. He had once admonished the Ultramarines for being too arrogant and having a tendency to be self-righteous and detached from reality. They just hadn't truly taken it to heart.

Gage wished to personally confess his sins to the Primarch after this war, but this was a luxury from a rational perspective. Guilliman had been sucked into space during the explosion, and even the Gene-Father's creations couldn't survive in space.

The Primarch might already be dead.

He reached this conclusion with extreme pain, which was more painful than all the injuries he sustained combined. The Gene-Father was threatened with death because of their incompetence. He would rather die himself to save his father, but there was no such trade in the world.

As Chapter Master, he had to pull himself together and continue to lead the entire Legion in revenge against the despicable Word Bearers.

His throat was filled with bitterness. The fever had subsided slightly, but weakness and exhaustion still enveloped Gage. The strange toxin continuously weakened him. At this moment, even taking a breath brought severe pain to his lungs and trachea, a pain that even the painkillers injected into his power armor couldn't stop.

The compartment was filled with thick smoke and dust, debris from the explosion circulating continuously. Air from other parts of the flagship rushed in due to the pressure difference. Nothing else was alive besides him.

He saw a dead Ultramarine, his head twisted and crushed into a grotesque posture. Further away, several mortal officers huddled together, their bodies bearing signs of being gnawed and desecrated, which was not caused by the explosion.

Among the corpses, Gage found the culprit of everything. A rough humanoid, a giant ape-like monster twice his height, roamed the area. The air around it warped as if near a hot object, shrouding it in an illusory veil, making it elusive like a nightmare.

It had no eyes, its body covered in long black fur, its head twisted, and its massive mouth filled with dense teeth. Venom dripped everywhere, pattering onto the floor.

The floor smoked as it was corroded by the venom, and a strong stench quickly spread.

The empty eye sockets turned towards Gage. The Chapter Master immediately realized that this abomination had bitten him after the explosion and injected the toxin into his body.

Gage wanted to draw his bolter, but it was gone, and he had lost several fingers, making it difficult to pull the trigger. His power sword was further away, and in his condition, he couldn't pick it up and grip it.

Weak, powerless.

The Ultramarines Chapter Master had never been in such a predicament, but now he tasted its bitterness.

The monster from the Empyrean discovered Gage was still alive. It lunged, like the living beasts of the physical universe, trying to tear at the Adeptus Astartes' throat. But in his desperation, Gage mustered his last strength, gripping the monster's throat tightly with his right hand.

But his strength was too weak. The monster took his right hand into its mouth and began to chew and tear at it, accompanied by the sound of power armor and reinforced bones shattering. Gage's arm was torn off.

Having lost an arm, the Ultramarines' disadvantage increased, and he gradually lost the struggle.

The intense pain even momentarily overshadowed the pain from the toxin. Gage roared and punched the monster's face with his left fist, smashing out two of its teeth.

But it wasn't enough. The monster continued to lunge. Gage's severed arm had already been swallowed whole by it, and it craved more flesh and soul.

The Chapter Master's resilience and courage were more delicious than flesh and blood in the eyes of the Warp demon. It craved to devour his soul.

The soul, the soul of the brave, held a fatal attraction for Warp demons.

And now, this sweet and delicious soul was within reach.

But its craving could only go so far. Two figures, one black and one blue, knocked it over. The stab from cold weapons severely wounded its core, causing it to howl and writhe on the ground.

For eons, myths, legends, and fables had reinforced one concept: only fire and steel could defeat demons. These Warp creatures, infused with human fear, naturally inherited this weakness.

Before the Chapter Master, who had fallen helplessly, stood an Ultramarine covered in scars, wearing a red helmet. He held an energy sword and a power axe, and beside him stood a Raven Guard warrior clad in black power armor, completely unharmed.

How could there be a Raven Guard on the Glory of Macragge?

A thought flashed through Gage's muddled mind. Under the influence of the toxin, his thoughts became sluggish, even wandering into bizarre associations. The blood loss exacerbated this.

Before the thought vanished, the two warriors had already moved.

The warrior with the red helmet roared and swung his power axe. The disintegration field on the axe blade tore through everything in its path. The colossal axe, capable of severing objects at a molecular level, cut through the Warp demon's body, spewing out a foul, decaying black liquid that contaminated the ship's deck.

The Raven Guard, meanwhile, kept his distance, his bolter spitting fire, precisely targeting the enemy's limb joints, face, and other vital organs.

Although the powerful bolter rounds couldn't completely kill the enemy, they effectively suppressed its movement, giving the red-helmeted warrior a chance to decapitate it.

One far, one near, with the cooperation of the two, the Warp demon's roars grew weaker. Its limbs shattered, it could no longer contain this entity from the Empyrean. It was bound by the rules of the real world and finally banished.

After the two warriors finished their opponent, another combat squad quickly followed. They included several Ultramarines, but more were mortal soldiers, armed with a variety of weapons, not the identical standard issue.

"Flamethrowers! Clean up those contaminated traces! Ensure not a single speck is missed!"

The soldiers shouted, and soldiers carrying promethium fuel tanks aimed the nozzles of their flamethrowers at the ground. Blazing flames consumed the remnants of those abominations, burning them to ashes.

The Apothecary in the squad immediately rushed to the fallen Chapter Master, using his equipment to stop the bleeding and disinfect Gage. His wounds were quickly cleaned, and the injection of painkillers made Gage's mind clearer.

"What is your name? Sergeant."

The Ultramarine with the red helmet calmly replied, "Hill, Aenid Hill, warrior of the 135th Company, Chapter Master."

"Did you organize these men? Including this Raven Guard?"

Marius sat up. He didn't ask why an ordinary Ultramarine was commanding the battle. The Thirteenth Legion was in the most chaotic period of its history. The heavy casualties among the Legion's command structure had left the Ultramarines without a guiding mind.

"I did, sir," Hill replied. "But Nikanna was not organized by me. This Raven Guard brother returned with Captain Lucius. They claimed the Word Bearers had already betrayed us, just as the Bell Tower began to accelerate."

Nikanna Sharokin removed his helmet and nodded at Gage.

"We are survivors from Istvan, bringing news of the Betrayal to you."

"It seems we were still a step too late, the Word Bearers made their move."

"Words cannot express my gratitude, Brother-Sergeant of the Raven Guard."

Gage was already able to stand. He tightly gripped Nikanna's palm with his remaining hand, realizing at that moment that the earlier warning from Kaos had come from these Istvan survivors. They, without fear of hardship, had delivered the message to the Ultramarines.

Although the Thirteenth Legion was still heavily damaged, the Chapter Master knew that these injuries were not fatal. Half of the fleet's warships had started their engines and begun to counterattack.

Without that warning, the entire Legion would have been lambs to the slaughter.

"I want to know what happened, Chapter Master?" Hill asked.

"It was the Word Bearers. They released something that destroyed the bridge, and many were killed."

"Are you referring to the senior command staff, besides yourself?" Hill's voice remained firm and calm; he needed the truth beyond these ambiguous answers.

"Including the Fleetmaster and most of the senior officers, Chapter Master Varred, Chapter Master Banzo, and your Chapter Master Antoli."

Hill stared intently into Gage's eyes and asked the name he was unwilling to mention.

"What about the Primarch? Is he still alive?"

"I did not see him die, but he was swept into space. I cannot answer that question for you." Gage's voice was hoarse. He firmly believed the Primarch was still alive, even if the possibility was minuscule.

Hill finally fell silent. His calm and decisiveness were not unconditional. Now, he needed time to process this shocking information.

The communicator on Nikanna crackled, a communication request from Loci on the surface of Kaos.