The Emperor’s Angel of Death

After knocking the enemy down, Mishina pulled his combat knife from the opponent's body, attempting to sever their throat directly. As he succeeded and twisted his wrist to pull the weapon out, another Ork charged at him. He could only roll over and sweep his leg, pouncing as the Ork fell.

The two strong warriors wrestled on the ground, Mishina trying to stab the knife into the Ork's mouth, but the beast was incredibly strong. They fought with all their might until the Sergeant of the Tenth Squad suddenly took a blow to the head.

As a Grot in the distance snickered wickedly, a bullet turned it into a pile of meat. The stone it threw struck Mishina on the corner of his left eye, causing a momentary lapse in concentration.

The Ork seized the opportunity, suddenly using its arms to lock the Space Marine's neck, forcefully rolling over and pinning him down, opening its foul-smelling maw.

"Damn it—"

Mishina stared at the fangs covered in rancid mucus, realizing the Ork was about to take a bite. He desperately tried to raise his arms, but couldn't stop the Ork's head from gradually lowering. If he were wearing power armor, he could easily push the Ork away, but he only had scout armor.

In a moment, he felt a sense of regret that he hadn't taken these recruits to a safe place. They were likely the only remaining bloodline of the Chapter. After witnessing the destruction of the ancient monastery, he had practically given up hope.

"Only the Emperor... He is our... protector and guardian."

Mishina struggled to utter these words, watching the fangs close in on his eyes, the Ork's terrible breath making his eyes water.

Thwack—

Suddenly, the Ork stopped moving. Mishina felt a warm liquid dripping on his face. He opened his eyes to see a sharp spear tip, very, very close to him, so close he could almost feel its sharpness and the faint hum. The liquid spraying his face was the Ork's blood. The spear had pierced through the Ork's gaping maw from the back of its head.

It was then that he suddenly noticed the gunfire had stopped, only the screams and wails of the Orks remaining, as if they were encountering some terrible enemy.

Just as Mishina was wondering what was happening, the spear suddenly whooshed out of the Ork's head, and the limp body fell on him. The Space Marine pushed it away in time.

When he stood up, all he could see was chaos. The Orks had charged into the cave's interior, their bodies scattered everywhere. Then, the other recruits emerged from their hiding places.

"Sergeant, the Orks seem to have all retreated."

Mishina looked outside the cave, but the smoke from the explosions and fires was too thick. He couldn't see anything. He turned around, squatted down, and cleared away the rubble to check on the recruits' condition.

His left rib had a laceration, but it wasn't very deep. His left forehead had a more serious wound, likely from shrapnel that had embedded in his skull, which was why he had briefly lost consciousness. Fortunately, he had already completed his augmentations, so it wasn't fatal.

After spending two minutes using tweezers from the first aid kit to remove the shrapnel from his forehead, and then using first aid spray to treat the wound, he looked at the others.

"One of you stay and watch Aeger. The rest of you, come with me and check things out."

"Yes, sir!"

Mishina retrieved his dropped sniper rifle. Although it was out of ammunition, it still provided him with a sense of security. The idea that 'the gun is here as long as I'm here' was an obsession for many snipers.

Holding the weapon, he cautiously moved towards the cave entrance. The path was littered with Ork corpses. Mishina keenly noticed that some had been killed by bullets, with wounds in the front, but others had been killed by other weapons, possibly lasers, but the cuts were too smooth, and there were even cuts, all from behind.

Some force had attacked the Orks from behind.

Were they reinforcements?

But judging by the wounds inflicted by these weapons, they didn't seem like Space Marine weapons...

With unease and vigilance, the five warriors of the Tenth Squad tiptoed closer to the cave entrance. The closer they got, the more Ork corpses there were, many of them mutilated, as if they had been neatly dismembered by huge blades.

"Wait!"

Suddenly, Mishina raised his hand. The others immediately instinctively leaned against the rock wall, and he also crouched down, cautiously looking outside. In the twilight of dusk, there seemed to be some strange silhouettes, slender, elongated, riding on something ferocious, but they could also be strange shadows cast by trees, but he felt that those things were alive.

Just as he was considering whether to step out of the cave, a gust of wind howled, instantly dispersing the smoke covering the cave entrance.

"Xenos!!!"

A recruit cried out and raised his weapon, but pulling the trigger only produced an embarrassing clicking sound.

"Don't move rashly, follow my orders!"

Mishina immediately turned his head and stopped the others from attacking, as it could lead to destruction. Then he looked at those standing outside the cave.

This was the first time he had seen Eldar. In the past, he only had study materials and video footage.

They wore armor that looked like bone, with decorations like branches and animal bones, helmets in a unique egg shape, and rode bipedal beasts resembling cold-blooded animals. They held spears, scimitars, and firearms, and stood motionless, watching them, numbering about one or two hundred.

Around them lay hundreds of Ork corpses, many with bite marks, presumably from the beasts they rode.

Eldar riding beasts, this was indeed a bit different from the information provided.

But regardless, they had killed the Orks and saved them, but Mishina reminded himself that Xenos could not be trusted. They were no different from the Orks lying on the ground.

Suddenly, he heard a flapping sound overhead. He looked up and saw a huge flying beast in the sky. An alien was riding on the beast's back, probably the leader, wearing a dragon-shaped helmet and holding a spear. Mishina realized that it was that spear that had saved him just now.

Then the beast lowered its altitude and landed on the ground. The alien on its back jumped down and walked towards him.

The other scouts watched the alien warily, but Mishina was calm. With the alien's power, they would have killed them long ago, so it certainly wouldn't be hostile.

After the alien walked over, it didn't say much but handed him something. Mishina took it and saw it was a data-slate. When he activated it and saw the lines of text scrolling across it, he exclaimed:

"The Chapter Master is still alive! He and the other brothers are defending New Rynn City!"

"What!"

Hearing this, the recruits also exclaimed in surprise and gathered around.

The data-slate contained lines of communication text, issued in the name of Kantor, calling on everyone on the continent who could still move to go to New Rynn City, where it was relatively safe.