As the mixed squad led by Kasim began advancing toward the warehouse district, Anxi Seikurt, hiding in the shadows of an alleyway, held her breath.
Her indigo skin almost blended seamlessly with the dimly lit walls, leaving only her amber eyes locked on the unimaginable battle unfolding at the alley's entrance.
Each clash between the Iron Warriors and the World Eaters seemed to carry the force of a thousand thunderbolts. Sparks from power swords colliding with chainsaw axes appeared to strike the walls near her.
For someone like her—a Tylek who had never seen an Astartes before—it was nothing less than a war of legend brought to life.
ROAR—!
A bone-chilling howl suddenly came from the right.
?!
Anxi shuddered as a Bloodhound poked its hideous head around the corner of the alley.
It looked like a skinned hunting dog, its exposed muscle tissue pulsing with twitching veins. Saliva dripped from its fangs and corroded the metal ground beneath, releasing wisps of white smoke.
Even more terrifying were its eyes—there were no pupils, only two blazing orbs of blood-red flame.
Its nostrils flared violently; clearly, it had caught the scent of her "terror."
Anxi's tendrils instinctively stiffened, and her right hand reached for the vibrating dagger at her waist.
As the beast pounced, she rolled to the side just in time to avoid it. The metal dumpster she had been leaning against was shredded by the Bloodhound's claws.
"Damn it!"
ZAP—ZAP—ZAP!
She cursed and drew her plasma pistol, firing three rapid shots. The crimson beams burned charred wounds into the Bloodhound's body, only making the creature more enraged.
It kicked off its hind legs and lunged again. Anxi could even smell the stench of rotten blood mixed with sulfur.
At the last second, she kicked off the wall and leapt backward, her vibrating dagger tracing a deadly arc through the air.
The blade struck cleanly at the Bloodhound's exposed spinal joint, and the high-frequency vibrations sliced through the tough muscle fibers like butter.
ROAR—!
The beast let out a shrill howl, but its tenacity kept it from dying immediately. It twisted its head to bite.
Landing, Anxi didn't hesitate—she pressed her plasma pistol against its blood-red eye and pulled the trigger.
BANG!
The Bloodhound's head exploded like an overripe fruit, spraying thick black blood across her face.
URGH—!!
She gagged violently and stumbled backward, finally able to inspect the twitching corpse.
Up close, the creature was clearly no product of natural evolution—
Its skeleton was grotesquely misshapen, with bone spurs growing from certain joints, and fragments of metal embedded in its muscle fibers, as if it had been forcibly modified by some evil force.
Most revolting of all, even in death, its exposed blood vessels kept writhing unnaturally. Eventually, the corpse dissolved into a puddle of foul black fluid.
"What the hell is this thing?"
She wiped the blood from her face, her tendrils curling from nausea.
As a mercenary who had traveled across dozens of star systems, she had never seen a creature so profanely violating the laws of nature.
BOOM... BOOM!
Explosions erupted outside the alley, shaking the entire passage.
Anxi immediately determined her hiding place was no longer safe and moved low to the ground toward the alley entrance.
WHOOSH~—WHOOSH—!
Just as she emerged, a volley of micro-missiles screamed overhead.
Without thinking, she dove into the ruins of a half-collapsed shop nearby. The instant she hit the floor, the alley behind her was engulfed in flames.
Inside the shop, display racks were knocked over by the shockwave, and various goods rained from the shelves.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
She groped through the smoke, trying to stand—then froze.
THUMP, THUMP!
Heavy metallic footsteps echoed outside the shop.
A shadow nearly two and a half meters tall emerged from the smoke.
To Anxi, it was a giant. But to the Iron Warriors, it was a World Eater missing an entire left arm, the exposed wound still writhing with raw tissue.
Cracks riddled its power armor. Half the skulls embedded in its chestplate were shattered. Yet through the cracked visor, its blood-red eyes still radiated terror.
"Another little rat."
A raspy voice came from the helmet, harsh and metallic.
Only now did Anxi notice the creature's right hand dragging a chainsaw axe, now silent, its blade crusted with coagulated blood.
And it had clearly sensed her.
She fired instantly, several plasma bolts striking the exposed neck—but only left shallow scorch marks on its abnormally thickened carapace.
"Heh..."
The World Eater laughed coldly and casually hacked apart the metal rack in his path.
The screech of the chainsaw blade echoed in the narrow space, twisted shards raining down around Anxi. The warrior's damaged armor wheezed out murky steam with each breath.
"Nice try, little thing."
The World Eater kicked aside the wreckage, his magnetic boots leaving deep dents in the floor.
WHIRR—!
Anxi's right hand trembled uncontrollably. Her vibrating dagger buzzed violently, the blood on its blade turning into tiny droplets flung through the air.
Her amber eyes narrowed into slits, quickly scanning for possible escape routes.
As a seasoned mercenary, she knew her only hope was to cause chaos and run.
When the World Eater closed to five meters, Anxi suddenly sprang into action.
Her indigo form blurred in the dim light as she lunged, aiming her vibrating dagger at the exposed hydraulic line on the creature's left knee.
It was a strike honed from experience—sharp, precise, and fast, targeting the weakest armor joint.
But just as the blade was about to connect, the World Eater's remaining left hand shot out at an inhuman speed, clamping down on the base of one of her tendrils like a vice.
"AH!"
Agonizing pain tore through Anxi's nerves.
Tylek tendrils were their most sensitive and vulnerable parts. The searing pain made her vision flash with white light.
The creature lifted her easily until they were face to face.
Through the shattered visor, she saw two eyes burning with blood-red flame. Black smoke reeking of sulfur spewed from his helmet seams.
"Your fear... smells delicious."
The monster began chanting a blasphemous incantation, its syllables so twisted they barely resembled speech.
Anxi was horrified to see the captured tendril blackening visibly, and a sickly numbness rapidly spread through her nervous system.
She stabbed frantically at his wrist with her dagger, but her movements were slowing, as if wading through resin.
Worse still, the voice was now whispering directly in her mind.
It offered power. Vengeance. All she had to do was stop resisting...
Just as her consciousness began to slip into the abyss, a blinding flash lit up the world.
KABOOM—!
The entire wall of the shop exploded in a deafening blast. Shelves and products were flung into the air.
Through her blurred vision, Anxi saw three steel-gray giants emerge through the smoke, their power armor gleaming coldly in the firelight.
"Put her down, traitor."
The lead warrior leveled his bolter, its muzzle glowing ominously red. The insignia on his shoulder plate stood out clearly through the haze. The tactical number etched on his backpack marked him as Sergeant Kasim, squad commander.
The World Eater's chanting abruptly ceased.
He flung Anxi like a ragdoll into a corner. His mutilated left arm twisted grotesquely, and dozens of mucus-coated bone spikes erupted from the stump.
"Perfect timing, lapdogs of the false Emperor! The Blood God hungers—"
BANG BANG BANG!
Multiple bolter rounds struck his chest at once.
The severely wounded berserker didn't even finish his curse before the concentrated fire tore him in half.
Anxi curled in the corner, trembling as the Iron Warriors executed their gruesome cleanup with terrifying precision.
They approached the still-twitching remains cautiously, firing pinpoint bolter shots at any suspicious tissue. A final plasma burst vaporized the reforming flesh, ending the execution.
"Civilian?"
Kasim crouched, his armor joints hissing softly.
His helmet scanner buzzed faintly, red lenses reflecting Anxi's pale face.
"A Tylek... interesting." His voice was cold, filtered through his helmet. "Can you stand? We need to move."
Anxi opened her mouth but found she'd lost her voice from sheer terror.
She nodded stiffly, trying to communicate with body language.
Only then did she realize she was still clutching the vibrating dagger, her knuckles white from the grip.
Worse, the tendril tainted by Chaos had gone completely numb, dangling over her shoulder like a dead snake, contrasting starkly with her healthy indigo tendril. Then she blacked out.
Kasim's helmet screen scanned her vitals, data scrolling across the projection.
"Heart rate 40, blood pressure plummeting, neural toxin contamination..."
He muttered the readings, gently pulling back her eyelid to see her dilated pupil.
"Classic signs of Warp corruption."
"Should we execute her, Sergeant?"
Behind him, the rookie had already raised his bolter, aiming between her eyes.
Kasim paused, his gaze falling on the dagger in her hand.
This Tylek woman had survived a Chaos creature's attack and even held her own against a World Eater. Whether due to latent psychic potential or sheer skill, she warranted further evaluation.
"No." He stood. "Let the Helljumpers carry her. Have the Apothecary conduct a quarantine inspection. The Inquisition's purifying serum contains Pure Bloom—she might still be saved."
"Yes, sir."
Soon, two fully armored Helljumpers arrived and placed Anxi on a makeshift stretcher.
One noticed her death grip on the dagger. When he tried to remove it, her fingers were too rigid to pry open.
"Send it with her," Kasim ordered. Then he turned and said, "Sangheili squad, I need your cooperation to continue the advance."
"Aw~! No problem."
The five Sangheili veterans had already secured the warehouse entrance. Their steel-gray armor still bore the scorches of the last battle, and their energy weapons crackled with menace.
Their squad leader raised his jaw and let out a Sangheili war cry: "Blood and glory!"
The warehouse gate was already twisted and broken, marred by violent destruction.
When Kasim's unit breached the final barrier, they were hit by a wave of stench and desperate wailing.
Thousands of slaves of various species were chained to the walls, while dozens of Bloodletters "played games" among them—slowly slicing limbs from live victims with serrated blades.
"Eliminate those filth."
Kasim's voice was ice.
The battle erupted and ended in an instant.
The Iron Warriors' precise bolter fire blew apart half the demons' heads. The Sangheili energy swords sliced the rest clean in half with elegant arcs.
The freed slaves stared blankly at their sudden saviors, only snapping out of it once their chains were cut.
"A god... it's a god..."
A burly Zabrak man knelt, trembling as he touched his freed wrist.
"Not a god," Kasim corrected sternly. "Iron Warriors of the Human Empire."
And thus, the warehouse district was officially secured.
The surviving slaves huddled together, looking at the giant warriors with a mix of awe and fear.
A Tylek girl even reached out to touch the Sangheili captain's armor—then recoiled as if shocked.
At that moment, the roar of transport engines filled the sky.
A Luna transport ship descended onto the open space outside the warehouse. As its rear ramp unfolded, over two hundred fully armed auxiliaries sprinted out in formation.
They quickly took over the defenses, mounting heavy hardlight machine guns and plasma turrets at key positions.
"Sergeant, report from the Apothecary," the rookie said to Kasim. "The Tylek woman's condition is stable."
"Good."
Kasim nodded and looked toward the transport, then back at the still-traumatized slaves.
"Inform the platoon leader: we've secured the objective. This location can serve as a temporary base."
"Yes, sir."
From an aerial view, the battle across Kotheran Port was beginning to clarify.
Not only had Kasim's squad made gains—nearly the entire Iron Warriors platoon had simultaneously purged large numbers of traitors, heretics, and demons.
And with control of Fral's near-orbit falling into Company One's hands, cleansing the remaining World Eaters and filth on the surface was now only a matter of time.
(End of Chapter)
[Get +20 Extra Chapters On — P@tr3on "Mutter"]
[Every 50 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter Drop]
[Thanks for Reading!]
[Use Code D8986 for 33% Off on All Tiers — Valid Until October 5th]