Sams Has Arrived

Khir's shattered spine proliferated madly, twisting and spreading. His plate-like ribs split apart one by one, proudly spreading open like an eagle's wings. His internal organs transformed into indescribable things that clung to his skeleton.

His mass increased rapidly, and that mass came from The Empyrean. The laws of physics were distorted here; the power of the Warp entered the real world through souls and death.

Ventanus and the others swiftly retreated. They realized their mistake—this Word Bearer's surrender had been a trap from the beginning.

He had come here to die. His death would awaken something far more terrifying, and their rashness had allowed his plan to succeed.

Khir's death formed the final link of the ritual. His own flesh and blood became the sacrifice that brought a being from The Empyrean into the real world.

That thing took root and sprouted within his remains, constantly shaping its own form.

A monster crawled from the Word Bearer's corpse. The remaining flesh proliferated and mutated; fine scales and a thick mane covered the creature's body. A massive new head unfurled, with several-meter-long horns jutting from its brow like the horned demons of ancient myths.

Accompanied by laughter like cannon fire, a vast swarm of buzzing flies and insects surged from the distant sky. They whirled around like a green sandstorm, chanting a single name in unison—Sams.

"Sams, Sams has arrived!"

Those who witnessed the Word Bearer's transformation had no time to stop it. The foul power of The Empyrean had warped the very concept of time. It might have taken several minutes, or perhaps only an instant.

Lox's heart pounded wildly. He heard the blood rushing through his body, while his ears seemed covered by something, leaving him able to hear only an evil shriek.

Only one name remained: Sams.

It was a daemon, a daemon far more terrifying than any they had encountered before.

The instant he saw it, Lox understood the thing's nature. It was the projection of a loathsome creature from the Warp into the real world. Perhaps such a thing could be called—a Greater Daemon.

Faced with this monster that should have existed only in nightmares, even a battle-hardened veteran like Ventanus felt his limbs stiffen. Some form of mental suppression disrupted their wills, making fear rise uncontrollably within them.

The daemon casually swept out with its slick, fleshy claws, sending the four Ultramarines who had guarded Khir flying. One warrior, who took the brunt of the impact, was torn apart along with his armor. The spray of blood and flesh jolted everyone awake.

Every weapon—bolters, lasguns, plasma weapons, even miniature missiles—rained down upon the daemon called Sams. Yet the moment they struck, an eerie psychic force drastically weakened the attacks. It was as if it had suffered no injury at all. Sams howled and charged forward.

Its target was clear.

"It wants to take this mortal! Get him out of here!"

Ventanus instantly saw through its intent. The daemon was rushing straight for Lox. It moved like a bat that had landed on the ground, absurdly comical yet astonishingly fast.

Even the Space Marines' enhanced motion vision could barely catch its trajectory.

"Sams means ending and death. Sams surrounds you. Sams will crush your bones. Beware! Sams has arrived!"

Overwhelmingly terrifying malice struck Lox's consciousness. His vision nearly went black before an Ultramarine scooped him into his arms and sprinted toward the rear.

Ventanus and Sullus charged the daemon. They broke into a run, their power swords gleaming with the cold light of disruption fields. The next second, their blades reached the daemon and plunged completely into its body.

The daemon finally noticed the cobalt-blue tin cans attacking it. They were so tiny, as frail as helpless infants before Sams.

It knocked down the walls of the Universal Museum. Its raw physical strength alone was enough to destroy those solid structures. Its enormous wing slammed Sullus flying, driving him deep beneath the turf as his armor cracked apart.

The mortal auxilia brought in something larger. A Shadowsword tank crushed the fallen wall beneath its tracks, then smashed through the gates with its hundred-ton bulk. Its massive Volcano Cannon began charging.

The hum of gathering energy grew increasingly intense. Then, in the next instant, the thick fog was pierced as the blazing Volcano Cannon beam struck Sams in the head—but did not penetrate it.

Sams finally let out its first roar of rage since the battle began. Black vapor drifted from its head, while its flesh was charred and steaming. The deeper organs appeared to have been damaged.

This was an attack capable of destroying a super-heavy tank of the Baneblade pattern!

Roaring, the daemon shifted its target. Like a small mountain, it destroyed everything in its path as it charged toward the Shadowsword.

The super-heavy tank attempted to recharge, but its notoriously slow rate of fire became a fatal weakness at this moment. Sams had arrived. Its enormous claw seized the tank's side armor, its blade-like tips tearing through great slabs of metal as easily as if they were butter.

Sams roared. In theory, no living creature could overturn a Shadowsword weighing more than three hundred tons with its bare hands, yet that unimaginable feat happened now.

The daemon lifted the tank off the ground. The turf was utterly destroyed beneath its huge footprints and the tank's tracks. The Shadowsword's engine fought desperately, its roaring reactor pouring out every bit of power as the cannon swung around to fire at point-blank range.

Yet its intelligence was far more formidable than expected. Sams suddenly slammed a claw onto the Shadowsword's barrel. The immense brute force shattered the internal drive shafts and mechanical systems, and the Shadowsword collapsed helplessly as though its spine had been broken.

Ventanus was running. He leapt onto the toppled buildings, continuously gaining elevation until he climbed to a height level with the daemon's head, then launched himself into the air.

The daemon's fur-covered, scale-armored neck filled his vision. Ventanus had only Khir's ritual dagger, seized earlier. Without hesitation, he drove it down, gripping its hilt with both hands and plunging it into Sams with all his strength.

It was so small, yet Sams's roar became a wail. The ritual dagger inflicted a devastating wound it could not endure.

Its flesh dissolved. The obsidian-sheened dagger should not have possessed such sharpness, yet that was the truth.

Ventanus gripped the dagger and let gravity pull his body downward, using the blade to slide from Sams's head all the way to its abdomen. At last, it collapsed to the ground.

Sams gave Lox and Ventanus one long look. Then its mountain-like body rapidly melted away, like an iceberg beneath the blazing sun, leaving behind only tiny, indescribable fragments.

Rain poured down in sheets. Like the hero of a myth who had slain a monster, Ventanus let the rain wash the filthy liquid from his armor.

"I think we need these sorcerous weapons. They are highly effective against daemons." Lox stood beside Ventanus.

"This is only a temporary measure. They contain dangerous power." Ventanus examined the dagger radiating evil force in his hand, his tone utterly calm.

"Now we need to rendezvous with Macragge's Honour. The Weapon Array on the orbital platform must be retaken."

Ventanus led the remaining Ultramarines back into the Universal Museum. The Word Bearers in this area could no longer mount any large-scale attack. It was time to rejoin the Legion.

"Leave the rest to me," Lox said.

Several hundred Ultramarines stood in neat formation on the open ground before the Universal Museum. The mortal auxilia remained on the surface; they were not suited for combat in space.

Lox summoned the Red Alert from low orbit. The starship released a teleportation beam, and when the light faded, the Ultramarines and Lox had vanished from the spot.

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