Nykona's sword flashed in the darkness. Its disruption field shredded the daemon's eye-like organ, provoking another furious outburst. Then the power sword continued downward, wheeled around, and severed the pointed beak that had killed an Ultramarine.
This dangerous weapon could kill a fully armed warrior, though it looked like nothing more than a simple bony organ.
Hill followed close behind, driving his electromagnetic longsword into the exposed throat. Pale pink flesh and translucent bone were revealed. This thing possessed organs much like those of a living creature.
The daemon roared. Its wounds were growing ever more severe. If it suffered a fatal injury, this shell in the material realm would be unable to bear the power of the Warp, and it would be banished back into that chaotic sea.
The two men constantly divided the daemon's attention, preventing it from focusing entirely on any one Space Marine. As its body was completely cut open, the corpses of countless mortal soldiers and fallen Space Marines spilled out from within.
Their features had been utterly ruined, more than half their bodies melted away by horrifying digestive fluid, leaving only barely recognizable bones and metal armour.
No one wanted to be eaten by a daemon. It was far more horrifying than death. Their souls would not disperse, but would instead continue to be tortured by the foul things of the Warp.
"Bolts are roaring. Its vitality is rapidly declining. It's howling as it sweeps aside those irritating attacks with its long tail. It already wants to flee."
"Daemons are highly intelligent. It wants to run! Stop it!"
Hill's anti-daemon tactics continued to improve. Tested in actual combat, more of his theories were confirmed.
Daemons were more vulnerable to metal weapons such as blades and swords, while fire was also quite effective against them. Their bodies had no obvious weak points, and their vitality far surpassed that of any xenos enemy they had encountered.
But they were not invincible. As long as enough damage was inflicted, they could still be killed—or rather, banished.
The daemon fled at tremendous speed, gliding like a serpent as it quickly escaped into another compartment.
But that was exactly what Hill wanted. He and the Ultramarines beside him took out every grenade they had and threw them inside before the hatch closed.
Everyone immediately dropped to the ground. A violent thunderclap erupted behind the sealed hatch. The heat and shockwave released by the high-energy grenades nearly blew the hatch open, molten iron and flames gushing from the gaps. The daemon that had fled inside, however, was reduced to ashes.
"Enough firepower. It isn't difficult. Even daemons cannot escape death."
Hill recorded that final point, then transmitted his summarized findings over the vox to every Ultramarine and mortal soldier aboard the ship who could receive the signal.
"Do not be afraid. They are merely a new kind of enemy, and now we have a way to deal with them."
"Do not be afraid. They should fear our courage."
"We are the Emperor's angels, the primarch's loyal sons, the sons of vengeance!"
The resounding battle cry rang in the ears of every loyalist. Inspired by him, more and more people joined in the shout.
The Ultramarines regained their fearless bearing, their already fierce morale rising to a fevered pitch.
The mysterious veil surrounding the daemons was peeled away layer by layer. Hill's voice guided everyone and drove the fear from their hearts.
"A qualified leader," Marius remarked from among the crowd.
The shipboard combat force led by Hill and Nykona was rapidly growing in number. They had killed more than ten malformed daemons in succession, and their experience fighting daemons continued to accumulate.
A lone Ultramarine found it difficult to deal with these bizarre Warp creatures. Their strength, speed, venom, and other special abilities all posed lethal threats to an Astartes.
But this was not an insurmountable barrier. Through teamwork, the Ultramarines could even kill their enemies without injury and banish them completely from the realm of reality.
The Ultramarines might have lacked flexibility because of their doctrines and training, but once they entered the rhythm of war, they unleashed the greatest power of all the Astartes Legions.
After only a few coordinated engagements, these veteran soldiers had already mastered how to fight together and how to strike at daemons' vulnerabilities.
That also meant their combat efficiency rose sharply. The Ultramarines were reclaiming the warship from the enemy's grasp.
The security hatch opened before the Ultramarines, followed by the blast curtain. The flagship's auxiliary bridge appeared before them. Macragge's Honour could not possibly have only one bridge, and after the main bridge went offline, this auxiliary bridge came into use.
The control towers and workstations throughout the compartment began to activate. The automated command systems started restoring control over the entire warship. Techmarines and mortal officers worked side by side, running figures bustling across the bridge.
Gage possessed the third key, after the primarch and the captain. Among those present, Captain Homed of the Sacred Saramanth was undoubtedly the best candidate to become the new captain. Before his own warship was destroyed, his adjutant had forced him into an escape pod, which was then recovered by the flagship.
Gage handed the key to this experienced and highly decorated captain. He would replace the fallen Zedov in command of the entire flagship.
The new captain had no possibility of refusing. The XIII Legion fleet was now in crisis, and any personal reasons were utterly insignificant.
"I am ready, Chapter Master," the new captain replied in a voice as cold as a machine's.
Homed, Marius, and the Senior Tech-priests approached the primary control console. After key authorization, genetic testing, and other procedures, Homed's biological information was entered into the flagship's Cogitator System.
Through the neural-pulse link, the new captain sensed the sacred Machine Spirit of Macragge's Honour. This great entity was mourning the loss of its primarch and its previous captain.
There was no time for grief. He had to compose himself.
He did everything he could to soothe the Machine Spirit, sharing its pain and sorrow, using his sincerity to win its trust. Then, at Marius's command, he activated the scanning array.
"I need to know what is happening outside the warship. How many enemies are surrounding the flagship, seeking to desecrate this sacred vessel?"
What the Chapter Master did not say was that he wanted to know whether the primarch was still alive.
But he could not say it aloud. Not everyone knew the primarch's whereabouts, and if the father of their genes truly had died, then letting most people learn of it would be a genuine catastrophe for the XIII Legion.
If the primarch had fallen, every Ultramarine would descend into a truly relentless fury. Anger would cloud their minds, and that meant throwing away their lives in battle.
At least until the war was over, Marius Gage had to keep the secret.
Even if his brothers judged him afterward, even if they spat on him, he still had to keep the secret.
The warship was restarting. Astronomical quantities of data were being processed within the Cogitator System. Soon, the captain reported several anomalous locations, places suspected to have suffered boarding assaults by the Word Bearers.
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