The Emperor’s Angel of Death

"...32 hours already. That means we have to hold out for another 40 hours before the short-range fleet arrives in high orbit."

Standing on the remains of the Hive Lord, Sojusz looked at the time and was shocked to realize that over thirty hours had passed without him noticing.

Then, he leaped down, landing amidst the ceaseless shrieking of the swarm.

The ground trembled instantly. The cracks beneath Sojusz's feet widened into a chasm ahead. He swung the Heavenfall, the weapon enveloped in a ball of black flame. The crackling arcs of electricity split a path with each swing, making any Tyranid caught in the dreadful energy appear fragile and insignificant.

Lowering his shoulders, Sojusz charged forward, headbutting a Warrior bug that charged head-on. Despite the beast's ferocity, it could only watch as its chest was crushed, its claws flailing wildly and powerlessly in mid-air.

Like a road roller, Sojusz plowed a bloody path through the Tyranid horde, leaving behind a trail of blurred flesh and gore, until he stopped before a clawing Carnifex. He gripped the end of the handle, and Heavenfall clashed against the Carnifex's slashing claws.

After a second of deadlock, Sojusz exerted force, knocking the beast aside. He then stepped forward, swung Heavenfall, and cleaved it in half at the waist.

Not far away, the Astral Knights were still fighting relentlessly, silver and purple intertwined in a sea of metal and flesh.

Although they were valiant, they still relied on the power of the Grey Pith to persevere. Sojusz could even feel the throbbing and passion in their hearts, as well as the surging energy.

Blinking, Sojusz vaguely saw them strung together by threads, connected to each other, and then converging on him.

He had never felt this way before. Was it because the Void From absorbed that thing just now?

"Chapter Master!"

Just as Sojusz was curiously experiencing this unique perspective, Haughm called out from not far away and quickly ran towards him.

"Behind you!"

A silent, cloaked Lictor stood behind Sojusz, but just as it moved to strike, Sojusz lightly blocked the blow with a backhand swing of Heavenfall, then turned and struck it down with a furious blow.

Without waiting for the Lictor to struggle, Sojusz grabbed its head and crushed it instantly.

Haughm had only just arrived when he released the gore.

"I'm fine. What are the casualties?"

Haughm then briefly explained the casualties.

It was better than expected, but it still made Sojusz's heart ache. Nine men from the First Company and eleven from the Ninth Company had fallen, mostly due to devastating firepower. Only five Deathwatch remained, and Watch Master Veldrian was seriously injured, but his life seemed to be out of danger.

"Warriors, retreat."

Sojusz charged all the way to the defensive line. When they saw him, everyone cheered, and the Storm Talons hovering at low altitude also landed one after another.

"Protect the wounded in the center, First Company at the head, Ninth Company covering the flanks, I'll bring up the rear."

"Chapter Master, but—"

Mark was about to speak, but Sojusz stopped him. The First Company Captain's armor was covered in scratches, with obvious cuts on his left arm and thigh, and a cut on his helmet that almost split the eyepiece.

Sojusz scanned the crowd, then looked up at the Tyranid spire being pulled into the high atmosphere but constantly collapsing.

"That thing is about to die. The mission is a success. Now the most important thing is to reduce casualties and retreat. These bugs can't hurt me. Obey orders."

Then he looked at Ninth Company Captain Ty克斯尔, who was also scarred, but otherwise unharmed. As a former Chapter Champion who participated in the Feast of Blades, his skills were still very reliable.

"Remember to bring the relics of the fallen, so that there will be traces of them in the Hall of Valor at least."

"Yes!"

Soon, the warriors began to change formation and turn to the rear. Sojusz also took the opportunity to check on Veldrian, and after finding that the other party had fallen into a coma, he said to Nurus:

"Take care of your commander."

The other party nodded.

"Understood."

But just as Sojusz turned around, Nurus suddenly hesitated and asked behind him.

"Chapter Master Sojusz, did you take care of that thing alone?"

Sojusz paused, then continued forward, leaving only a light sentence.

"Not me alone, the Emperor is also with us."

Then he ignored the acid spewed by the Tyranids and strode into the battlefield, crushing the aliens into dust.

But there were more creatures coming, and Sojusz could hear their endless hissing and roaring.

Sojusz stood in the original Chapter's defensive position, alone.

One of the beasts charged towards him unstoppably. It was a large Carnifex with curved hind legs and covered in chitinous armor, but this was a unique variant, with a large, bulging head with a huge ram, and half of its four arms had bone-hammer flails at the ends. Even Terminators paled in comparison to this behemoth.

It was like a battering ram, crashing towards Sojusz at a frenzied speed.

However, Heavenfall directly blocked the monster's head. The impact of more than ten tons did not bend the divine weapon in the slightest, nor did it move Sojusz back even half a step, but it shattered the Carnifex's head directly into slag.

Just as the huge corpse fell, two more monsters jumped up and pounced on Sojusz. They were two Haruspexes, each wielding scythe claws. Sojusz swung his battle halberd, simultaneously parrying four claws, and countered with a backhand strike, bisecting one at the waist. As the other fired a chest harpoon, he crushed its throat and threw it out.

The massive corpse was like a missile, crushing a large number of bugs upon impact, and knocking over even more as it slid.

Sojusz did not continue to entangle, because killing more Tyranids was meaningless. They could constantly recycle and manufacture them, especially after he had initially glimpsed the dark shadow behind the Tyranids, he knew that these things were just puppets. The most urgent thing now was to investigate the origin of that mysterious star god.

But this could not be done here. The top priority was to return.

So he turned and walked towards the team, encountering a group of smaller creatures, slaughtering them was like wading through a knee-deep deformed ocean.

Whenever the team was slightly blocked, he would deal with the trouble in time, and then continue to cover the rear of the team. He had no combat tension at all, and all the killings seemed to be just a rhythmic beat, until the viscous alien blood stained the armor purple.

But even so, the Tyranids were still persistent, like a snowball, getting bigger and bigger.

After spending almost twice the original time, the team finally returned to the starting point smoothly, and there were no casualties. Fortunately, there were not a large number of Tyranids here due to the terrain, and the Stormbirds that stayed were not attacked. The automatic turrets and mines deployed before departure blocked most of the wandering Tyranid creatures.