"Hmph, a minor nobleman from Ventria, he does have some guts."
The wizard suddenly chuckled and, without turning his head, raised his hand towards the maintenance passage.
"Boom!"
A bolt of Psychic Power Lightning slammed into the alloy door at the exit of the passage, instantly blasting the heavy gate into pieces.
"We've been spotted! Charge!"
Dominic let out a low growl and charged forward first.
The Power Axe, accompanied by a whistling sound, cleaved the two Necrontyr that were charging towards it in two.
Sensing the Chaos aura, the sacred amulet emitted a faint golden halo, forming a weak barrier around him.
Four Celestial Lions Guards followed closely behind, forming a fan shape to protect his flanks. They unleashed their Power Axe and Power Fist simultaneously, smashing the charging Cultists Pauper Princes a bloody mess.
"You five think you can kill me?"
The wizard stood on the high platform, letting out a shrill laugh, "How adorably naive."
He waved his hand lightly, and the nine Rubric Marines moved simultaneously.
Their steps were synchronized, their Power Halberd slicing through the air with a sharp Psychic Power gust, as they met the Celestial Lions Squad.
"Clang, clang, clang!!"
The deafening clang of metal colliding was deafening.
From the very first exchange, the Celestial Lions Squad was at a significant disadvantage.
They dared not stray more than five meters from Dominic, their formation was tightly compressed, and they were unable to fully utilize the power advantage of the Terminator Armour.
The Rubric Marines, however, showed no restraint, wielding his Power Halberd with ruthless precision. Fueled by the Psychic Power of Chaos, each strike was as heavy as a thousand pounds.
To make matters worse, the wizard was standing in the back, constantly unleashing Psychic Power missiles and distortion spells.
The armor of the Celestial Lions Guardian has begun to show signs of corrosion.
"Ah!"
A muffled groan was heard.
The leftmost Celestial Lions Guard was attacked from both sides by two Rubric Marines, and the Power Halberd pierced through the gap in his breastplate.
A strange rainbow energy surged into the halberd blade, and the sound of flesh boiling instantly came from inside his armor.
"Sir, let's go quickly..."
With his last ounce of strength, he suddenly hugged the Rubric Marines in front of him, his other hand resting on the Melta Bomb at his waist.
"Boom!!"
A violent explosion erupted in the hangar, and the molten Melta liquid engulfed the two men.
Dominic felt only frustration upon witnessing this scene.
The Celestial Lions Squad has been with him for eight years.
From the Segmentum Solar to the Segmentum Obscurus, they went through countless life-and-death experiences together.
But here, in this damned Warp trap, they don't even have a chance to use their strength.
The remaining three Celestial Lions guards were also in grave danger.
The armor cracked more and more, and its movements became increasingly sluggish.
The wizard stood on the high platform, his smile growing even more smug.
"Give up, mortal, submit to the Lord of Change, and you will gain even greater power..."
Dominic remained silent.
He gripped the Power Axe tightly, the sacred amulet on his chest growing dimmer.
He knew he couldn't hold on any longer.
The Gemstone couldn't hold on any longer either.
He slowly closed his eyes, silently apologizing to the Emperor and to the ancestors of Ventria.
He failed to complete his mission and failed to defend the warship.
He disappointed everyone.
"Communications bridge," he commanded hoarsely into the communicator, "Initiate self-destruct sequence, password..."
Before he finished speaking, he didn't see that on the wall of the hangar corridor, where the dusty Emperor statue was carved, a faint golden light had quietly appeared in the eye area.
"Sizzle~!"
The faint sound of space tearing was drowned out by the noise of the battlefield.
A narrow crack appeared without warning on the alloy wall at the far end of the hangar.
Irregular, pale flames burned along the edge of the crevice.
The flame had no temperature, yet the moment it appeared, it caused the temperature in the entire hangar to plummet.
Even Tzeentch's raging rainbow flames seemed to be suppressed, flickering much weaker.
Clumps of dark figures, burning with ghostly pale flames, silently emerged from the crack.
There were thirteen people in total.
They were over two meters tall, clad in jet-black Power Armour, with ever-burning pale spiritual flames swirling around the edges of their armor.
The shoulder and breastplates are decorated with mottled bones and flame emblems, but there are no legion insignia or unit numbers.
They stood there quietly, without saying a word, as if they didn't belong to this world at all.
The fighting inside the hangar strangely paused for a moment.
Even the crazed demons instinctively took a few steps back, letting out terrified whimpers.
The next second, they moved.
There were no shouts, no battle cries, and even the hydraulic sounds of the Power Armour were barely audible.
Like thirteen burning black Lightning, they hurtled towards the Thousand Sons Sorcerer on the high platform with astonishing speed.
"What is that?!"
The wizard's laughter stopped abruptly, and his eyes, hidden behind the mask, narrowed sharply.
He could clearly sense that those black-armored warriors exuded an aura that sent shivers down his spine.
That was pure, ultimate destruction; it was the final judgment upon all Chaos beings.
"Stop them! Stop them now!!"
The wizard screamed and frantically waved his wand.
The surrounding Pink Horror, twisted demons, and the remaining followers of the Pauper Princes surged towards the thirteen black figures like a tide.
But their obstruction was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.
The lead black-armored warrior held a Power Sword wreathed in pale flames.
With a casual wave of his hand, the three Necrontyr that rushed towards him were engulfed in flames.
There were no piercing screams, no dissipating Warp energy.
Those demons were like moths to a flame, instantly turning to ashes, not even a single fragment of their souls managing to escape back into the Warp.
Permanent demise.
The other black-armored warriors also attacked at the same time.
Their attacks were ruthless and precise, without a single superfluous movement; every strike hit the vital points.
In their hands, the Boltgun were like extended limbs; each bullet precisely pierced the demon's form, and the pale flames clinging to the bullets would incinerate the enemy from body to soul.
Ordinary weapons could only leave shallow marks on them.
Even if the body is severely injured, the severed limbs will rapidly regenerate in the pale flames, as if they will never fall.
"Charge! Kill them!"
A hint of fear crept into the wizard's voice.
The nine Rubric Marines immediately turned around, formed a battle formation, and their Power Halberd surged with Psychic Power as they faced the charging black-armored warriors.
In Thousand Sons's understanding, the Rubric Marines are almost immortal beings.
Their souls are imprisoned within the armor, making them virtually impossible to kill completely with physical damage.
But this time, they met their true nemesis.
"Clang!"
The black-armored warrior's Power Sword clashed violently with the Power Halberd.
Pale flames spread upwards along the halberd, like maggots clinging to bones, burrowing into the gaps in the Rubric Marines's armor.
"Hoaaaaah!!"
From inside the armor came the agonizing screams of a cursed soul.
That was a pain more terrifying than death.
The armor that had imprisoned them for tens of thousands of years, instead of protecting them under the scorching pale flames, became a cage that burned their souls.
In a single exchange, the two Rubric Marines at the forefront froze and fell to the ground.
The soul within the armor was completely purified and vanished without a trace.
Only the exquisitely crafted armor remained, lying empty on the metal floor with a thud.
The remaining seven Rubric Marines were thrown into disarray.
The black-armored warriors did not pause for a moment, cutting into the battle formation like precise killing machines.
Slash, thrust, shoot.
Every movement was extremely simple, yet it carried a deadly destructive force.
Pale flames spread rampantly through the hangar, leaving demons, Cultists, and Rubric Marines in their wake...
Everything related to Chaos was burned to ashes.
In just a few dozen seconds, all nine Rubric Marines were wiped out.
The wizard on the high platform panicked completely.
He could no longer maintain his formation. He summoned the Disc of Tzeentch, leaped onto it, and turned to fly towards the Chaos Frigate docked at the hangar entrance.
He wanted to escape.
He didn't want to stay here for even a second longer.
These black-armored monsters were simply beyond his ability to fight.