...
Beneath his helmet, Saul Tarviz's expression was grave as he observed the scene ahead through his visor display.
Additionally, he kept a close eye on the real-time battlefield data scrolling across his helmet's screen, and the content of that data only deepened his grim demeanor.
Since the chaos had erupted on New Argo, the 2nd Company under his command had suffered heavy casualties, and this catastrophe was far from over.
With every update to the data, Tarviz's heart felt as though it had been pierced by a blade.
The casualty numbers displayed on the screen, especially the statistics for the fallen Astartes, indicated that over four hundred battle-brothers had perished in this chaos.
These were not just cold statistics; they represented the core and backbone of his company, being stripped away at an uncontrollable rate.
The death of each Astartes felt like a piece of his soul being torn away, and it was a fatal blow to the overall combat effectiveness of the 2nd Company.
Beyond the chain of command, the loss of his brothers filled Tarviz with immense pain and anger.
However, aside from the heavy losses suffered by the company, what truly tormented Tarviz was the sheer strength of the enemy.
According to intelligence gathered from various sectors of the battlefield, the fallen Chaos Astartes, though seemingly disorganized and undisciplined, displayed astonishing individual combat prowess.
In their encounters with these fallen warriors, Tarviz had to admit that their elite capabilities slightly surpassed those of the human forces.
Of course, rather than attributing their superior physical abilities to the influence of Chaos, Tarviz preferred to believe that his brothers and subordinates had fallen due to a "lack of experience."
Based on the available data, Tarviz concluded that the Chaos Astartes ravaging New Argo were at least "centuries," if not "millennia," old.
Thus, they had experienced more battles than the human forces had eaten meals.
They had likely participated in numerous campaigns even before their betrayal of humanity, and after their fall, they had endured long ages of warfare. Every skill they possessed had been honed through blood and death.
This wealth of experience was a gap that the young warriors of the human forces could not easily bridge.
Therefore, with the blessings of Chaos and their accumulated combat experience, these Chaos Astartes were indeed formidable adversaries.
When Tarviz learned that the Company Champion of the 2nd Company, one of his most trusted brothers, had fallen, he immediately led the Company Honor Guard to this main thoroughfare.
Initially, he had been consumed by rage over the heavy losses suffered by his subordinates and the civilians, and he had been ready to personally lead his forces to confront the "Daemon Primarch."
However, the death of his close brother brought him back to his senses.
Before their Primarch arrived, any attempt to directly confront that "Daemon Primarch" would almost certainly result in swift death or complete annihilation.
That entity, with its unmatched strength, speed, and destructive power, far exceeded anything that could be comprehended.
Theoretically, the only means the 2nd Company had to pose a threat to it was orbital bombardment...
However, New Argo still housed a large number of civilians who had not yet been evacuated.
Deploying electromagnetic cannons and tactical or strategic missiles would inevitably cause catastrophic civilian casualties.
Faced with this dilemma, the option of orbital firepower had to be set aside, and they had to wait for their Primarch's arrival.
To deal with an entity beyond mortal comprehension, a similarly "transcendent" Primarch was needed.
Based on the current intelligence and real-time battlefield dynamics, Tarviz swiftly formulated a new battle plan.
He issued new orders to the 2nd Company, explicitly instructing all units to avoid direct contact with the "Daemon Primarch" and instead focus on containing the expansion of other fallen forces.
At the same time, he ordered all units to accelerate the city's clearance operations, opening safe passages for the remaining civilians and covering their evacuation.
Although this decision meant temporarily abandoning direct strikes against the "Daemon Primarch," Tarviz understood that protecting civilians and preserving combat strength were the top priorities.
By the time Tarviz led the Company Honor Guard to this main thoroughfare, Lucius had already begun charging toward his position.
"Look, look! Who do we have here?"
Lucius's voice was hoarse yet loud, carrying a mocking tone that sent chills down the spine.
Each of its steps was like a hammer strike on the metal ground of the main road, producing a clanging sound.
Behind Lucius was a group of veteran warriors who had fought alongside it for thousands, if not tens of thousands, of years.
These Chaos Astartes wore shattered yet menacing armor, each piece adorned with the marks of Chaos and corrupted runes.
What was particularly unsettling was that many of these veterans wore heavily mutated Terminator armor—once the pinnacle of Imperial technology, now twisted into grotesque forms.
Every movement they made caused the corrupted flesh and mechanical joints of their armor to emit piercing screeches and faint "groans."
These creatures followed closely behind Lucius, their eyes filled with undisguised contempt and cruelty, their movements exuding a mastery of killing techniques.
They were both Lucius's loyal minions and a fallen symbol of the Empire's former glory.
Clang—! Clang—!!
Ri~ Whoosh—!!
But Tarviz and the hundred-strong Company Honor Guard responded with a thunderous barrage of gunfire and artillery.
Beneath his helmet, Tarviz's gaze fell upon the grotesque figure clad in horrifying armor—Lucius.
Tarviz couldn't understand why Lucius had become so "excited" upon seeing him. Why did that creature, clad in corrupted armor and wearing a leering grin, seem to derive such pleasure from this battle?
For now, Tarviz had only one clear objective: to swiftly end the fierce battle raging in this area, break the Chaos incursion, and attempt to save more of his people.
He had no time to entertain Lucius's provocations.
The same was true for the Company Honor Guard.
Boom—! Thud—!!
As the muffled gunfire and explosions intertwined, the Sons of the Emperor immediately suffered heavy blows.
Several Chaos Astartes fell to the ground, their armor pierced and melted by various bolt rounds and plasma blasts.
Tarviz clearly saw one Chaos Astartes' helmet being pierced by a bolt round, half of its face blown apart, revealing the corrupted muscles and twisted skeleton beneath.
Before Tarviz's arrival, the Sons of the Emperor had already suffered heavy losses due to Lucius's desire to toy with and torment the Company Champion.
As for the ordinary heretics and daemonic creatures, they couldn't even resist the auxiliary forces, ODSTs, and elite veterans, let alone the hundred-strong Company Honor Guard that had arrived. The balance of the battle had been completely overturned.
Even with the arrival of numerous large Chaos creatures, such as the Chaos Spawn that resembled "giants" with smooth, "pinkish" skin, or the grotesque amalgamations of human bodies and mechanical spiders, it was all to no avail.
Because the 2nd Company's fleet once again demonstrated their immense war potential.
With a deafening and earth-shaking roar, six Knight Titans landed at various strategic locations across New Argo, providing crucial support to the embattled ground forces.
However, even more awe-inspiring than these already terrifying war machines was the appearance of a Titan, its deep purple armor towering at a hundred meters tall.
This Titan, designed with a four-armed structure, descended upon the battlefield like the wrath of the gods.
As it broke through the atmosphere with a low rumble, Tarviz and the others witnessed its awe-inspiring landing on the western side of the main thoroughfare.
Boom—! Boom—!!!
The Titan's landing was like an earthquake, tearing apart the ground with massive shockwaves. The street crumbled beneath the weight of the Titan's feet, and dust and debris were flung into the air by the force of the impact.
The Titan's paint scheme stood out amidst the surrounding flames and smoke, its deep purple armor seeming to devour the light of the night sky.
Almost immediately after landing, the Titan's pilot, connected via the consciousness system, smoothly raised one of its four arms, wielding a 4000mm plasma "rifle" capable of unleashing destruction.
The weapon's barrel began to glow blue, gradually forming a dazzling energy core. The air around it distorted from the energy overload, emitting a piercing hum.
Ri~—————— Whoosh——————!!!
A massive plasma blast erupted from the barrel, tearing through the night sky as if to split the darkness in two.
The blast, trailing a brilliant trail of light, streaked across the battlefield like a falling star, crashing into the area where the Sons of the Emperor were concentrated with lightning speed.
Boom——————!!!
The moment the plasma blast struck, it created a cataclysmic explosion.
The impact zone became a burning crater, swallowing dozens of Chaos Astartes and their mutated followers and daemons. The surrounding buildings were reduced to dust by the shockwave, and towering flames and smoke created a hellish scene.
The shockwave from the explosion swept across the entire district, leaving the ground pockmarked and scarred from the intense heat and force. Molten metal and glass flowed like liquid fire.
The scene seemed to freeze time, and even the air felt heavy.
...
The veteran Chaos Astartes who had fought alongside Lucius for millennia, or even "tens of millennia," were struck with awe and fear upon witnessing the Titan's devastating attack.
These Chaos veterans considered themselves seasoned experts of war, having experienced countless battlefields and being familiar with similar heavy war machines.
However, the Titan before them defied their expectations.
Its massive frame did not make it sluggish; instead, it displayed incredible mobility and precision, far surpassing the corrupted and modified war machines under their command. There was simply no comparison.
Moreover, the appearance of the Titan brought back buried memories for these Chaos Astartes—
A nightmare they were unwilling to face yet could not escape: the "Great Betrayal" from ten thousand years ago, an event that had reshaped the galaxy.
"Tarviz!!!!"
With a roar of utter fury, Lucius, buried beneath the rubble, clawed its way out with a nearly insane fervor.
Its cracked armor gleamed in the firelight, and its twisted face was even more grotesque and terrifying in its rage.
Lucius's eyes locked onto Tarviz, who stood at the heart of the human forces, calmly directing his troops to counter the Chaos onslaught.
Its fists clenched, as if ready to charge forward and settle the score with Tarviz.
Yet its steps hesitated.
The presence of the Titan was like an insurmountable barrier, filling Lucius with a deep sense of unease.
This unease was not born of fear but of the unknown.
Lucius could not sense any living "presence" within the Titan.
There was no sign of a pilot's life force, which meant the Titan might be a fully automated, unmanned war machine.
This forced Lucius to reassess the situation.
If the Titan was indeed an unmanned killing machine, its actions would be governed by cold, precise logic, unbound by emotion.
Faced with such an enemy, even Lucius had to weigh whether it was worth continuing to pursue Tarviz for the sake of its "game."
Its gaze shifted between Tarviz and the Titan, its rage still burning in its chest...
Meanwhile, the remaining veteran Chaos Astartes, seeing Lucius's hesitation, began to murmur among themselves.
Soon, the most experienced among them—a veteran whose helmet had fused with its head, giving it the appearance of a bull—stepped forward and spoke in a nasal voice:
"Lord Lucius, if you continue to fight, we may not even have a chance to retaliate against that thing. Perhaps it is time to consider retreat."
Another veteran quickly added, "Yes, Lord Lucius, we cannot stand against that Titan..."
...
Lucius did not respond.
However, Tarviz, standing at a distance, noticed Lucius and the Chaos veterans emerging from the rubble.
He was puzzled. He had never met Lucius before, let alone had any interaction with it. Why did that ugly, filthy creature harbor such deep resentment toward him?
But Tarviz had no time to dwell on it.
With a wave of his hand, he issued orders over the comms for the Titan to continue its suppressive fire.
The pilot, stationed aboard the 2nd Company's flagship, obeyed without hesitation, maneuvering the Titan and pulling the trigger.
Ri~—— Whoosh——!!
The roar of the Titan's weapon echoed once more, the blue plasma blast streaking forward like a divine judgment.
!!!!
Seeing this, Lucius abandoned all thoughts of "play" or "mockery."
One moment, it had seemed ready to face its "mortal enemy" in a duel; the next, it was scrambling to retreat like a clown, abandoning its veteran comrades and fleeing toward the city's center, where the fabric of reality had been torn open to the Warp, all while carrying a deeper sense of resentment and bitterness...
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