Three explosions rang out almost simultaneously, and blazing fireballs instantly engulfed the rearguard of the column.
The high temperature of the Melta Bomb Ceramite armor; the soldiers closest to it were instantly vaporized before they could even scream.
The shockwave from the explosion spread along the stairs, instantly turning the two Plague-Cleansing Apostles closest to the back into a bloody mess, sending them crashing into the void on either side.
The first to bear the brunt was the bishop who was at the rear of the procession and responsible for maintaining the edge of the rear area.
His two lower arms were blown to pieces, his Power Armour was deeply dented, and purple blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.
The Psychic Power output abruptly stopped, and the previously stable, untouchable domain instantly left a huge gap at its tail.
"Enemy attack!"
Guyu suddenly turned around, spreading out all four arms at the same time, and the Psychic Power barrier forcefully blocked the aftershocks of the explosion.
But the moment she saw the scene clearly, her pupils contracted slightly.
The attack was carried out by three Vanguard soldiers who had been mixed in with the Decapitation Squad.
They stood amidst the flames of the explosion, half their bodies scalded by the intense heat, yet their faces bore maniacal smiles, and their eyes gleamed with a ghostly blue light.
That was a sign of being deeply corrupted by the power of Tzeentch.
No one knows whether they were traitors who infiltrated from the beginning, or whether they were quietly corrupted after entering the Land Without Extension, taking advantage of the gap before the domain covered the area.
The answer is no longer important.
Because a gap has already appeared in the field.
Hehehehe...
A piercing laugh burst from the void at the opening, as if triggering some kind of chain reaction.
The entire spiral staircase suddenly trembled, the originally stable bricks began to twist violently, and the gravity under everyone's feet instantly became unbalanced.
At the breach in the domain, the forces of Warp launched a fierce counterattack.
The next second, the entire spiral staircase flipped over without warning.
It's not tilted, it's completely upside down.
The steps that originally extended downwards became upwards, and the bricks that were once underfoot became the ceiling above.
The direction of gravity suddenly reversed, and everyone lost their footing, falling like beads from a broken string "upwards".
They were falling rapidly from the direction they had come from.
"Stay calm!"
For the first time, the sound of Guyu showed signs of change.
She gripped the side of the stairs with all four arms, her sharp fingertips digging into the bricks and stones, but she only managed to tear off a few pieces of rubble.
The entire staircase was constantly flipping and lengthening under the force of the Warp.
The spiral staircase, which originally had only a dozen or so floors, now seemed to have been stretched infinitely, with no end in sight no matter how far you fell.
Worse still, as the gap in the domain widened, countless figures began to emerge from the void on both sides.
Swarms of Pink Horror emerged, emitting sharp, piercing laughs, their sorcerous daggers unleashing ghostly blue arcane missiles, which they hurled wildly at the falling crowd.
The Flamer, trailing a dazzling tail of flames, traversed the void, unleashing brilliant flames with each swing of its hand, scorching the team's Psychic Power shields.
The team was suspended in mid-air, making it impossible for them to effectively organize a counterattack.
In zero gravity, the Boltgun is difficult to aim, and no matter how sharp the claws of the Genestealer are, they cannot touch the agile and elusive demon.
The bishops could only barely hold back the attack on half of the territory.
However, without the terrain-based Psychic Power barrier, the defensive power is greatly reduced, and attacks from all directions are even more difficult to defend against.
"Ah!"
With a scream, a monk was struck simultaneously by several arcane missiles. His Psychic Power shield shattered, and his body was instantly engulfed in ghostly blue flames, burning into a charred mess before plummeting into the endless darkness.
Immediately afterwards, two more Vanguard soldiers were blown away by the Flamer's explosion, falling into the void without even a trace of their remains.
The death toll is rising rapidly.
Of the 88 Genestealer, nearly 40 were killed in the short minutes of the explosion and fall, leaving only about 50 struggling to survive.
Of the more than thirty elite Vanguard veterans, only ten remained alive, all wounded.
Most importantly, the fall is still continuing.
It's like this spiral staircase has no end; it will keep falling all the way to the deepest part of the Warp.
On the airship heading towards the Governor's Mansion, Lynn's brows furrowed instantly.
His consciousness had already connected to the senses of a Purestrain Genestealer through the Hive Mind.
The scene before my eyes spun rapidly; stairs, firelight, and the figure of a demon flashed by. A sense of weightlessness traveled through my nerves, making my heart sink.
He saw Guyu suspended in mid-air, her four arms desperately supporting the crumbling Psychic Power barrier, purple blood trickling down from the corner of her mouth.
They saw that the Armiger Knight mech was being held tightly by a dozen Genestealer and human soldiers, like a core anchor point connecting all the survivors.
Everyone held hands, hanging on the mecha like a string of pearls, relying on each other's strength to avoid being thrown off.
The Genestealer's claws clung to the gaps in the armor, and even during the high-speed descent, no one let go.
But this is not a long-term solution.
Lynn quickly analyzed the situation.
Although the inaccessible area was restored thanks to the bishops' desperate efforts, the team remained suspended in mid-air the entire time, without making any contact with the physical structure of the Land Without Extension.
Just like a boat floating on water, no matter how sturdy the hull is, it cannot stop the current from carrying the boat down.
The domain suppresses Warp energy within its range, but the "staircase" beneath their feet is itself a product of Warp distortion; without contact with it, it is impossible to solidify it.
There must first be a fulcrum.
Almost at the same moment Lynn figured out the key point, Rena on the other end of the mental link reacted.
Amidst the falling crowd, Guyu suddenly raised her head, a resolute glint flashing in her purple eyes.
Using the recoil of her Psychic Power, she landed on the shoulder armor of the servant mech. Her clear, cold voice pierced through the roaring wind and the demon's shriek, reaching the pilot's ears distinctly:
" Peter, stop the counterattack, find a point of leverage on the side wall, and brake."
Inside the cockpit of the knight mech, Paladin Peter gritted his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead.
He could feel the weight the mech was bearing, the weight of fifty Genestealer plus ten human soldiers.
Each of them was heavily armored, and with the inertial energy from the fall, the total load was close to twenty tons.
The mech's hydraulic system had long been creaking under the strain, and it could break at any moment.
This tearing sensation was transmitted to Peter through the neural connections of the Throne Mechanicum, causing him excruciating pain.
But upon hearing Guyu's command, he did not hesitate at all.
He had clearly seen the scene of the Psychic Power cutting through the Chaos Spawn in the passage.
This woman's fighting ability and judgment far surpass his.
Trust her this once.
"May the Emperor protect you..."