The giant Superbeast Custodes now recognized his opponent—the infamous Chaos Space Marine Khârn.
A veteran of ten thousand years, once a Captain under Angron, Primarch of the World Eaters. After the Heresy, he became Khorne's Chosen.
He'd read Khârn's file in the Imperial Palace on Terra.
Khârn: former Captain of the World Eaters, Khorne's mightiest champion, a first-class combatant! Among Khorne's champions, Khârn's strength was second only to Angron—at least, that was old intelligence.
But today, seeing this gigantic Khârn in action—his power could not be compared to old Primarchs.
This was vital intelligence. The Emperor had to be told: the damned traitors had mastered gigantification.
"I'll drink your blood," Khârn grinned, bloodthirsty.
After being modified by the Chaos god Vashtorr, he gained gigantification, and once fought his gene-father Angron to a standstill.
Ever since, he'd longed to unleash this power in battle—the Custodes before him was the perfect test.
Come! I'll make you bleed, I'll offer your blood to my master, to mighty Khorne, to the Blood God.
With a roar, Khârn wildly swung his power axe, charging at the Custodes, as if to tear him apart.
The Custodes snorted coldly. If it's a fight, so be it—did he look afraid? As the Emperor's loyal guardian, he feared no foe.
He swung his power halberd to meet Khârn's axe.
Today, he'd slay this traitor, this Chosen of Chaos. After Superbeast gigantification, his power was beyond mortal comprehension.
The Custodes were once just bodyguards. After Superbeast augmentation, they were terrifying engines of war—berserk weapons.
They could shut down pain, fear, and all emotion in battle, vastly boosting their will to fight to the death.
Two 60-meter-tall giants faced off in the ruins of the orbital fortress above Terra, the air thick with blood and burning metal.
Khârn's crimson axe and the Custodes' golden halberd clashed, unleashing energy waves that tore the void.
Ordinary Marines and Chaos Marines fell back, not daring to approach this super-scale slaughterfest—the shockwaves alone would tear a normal man to shreds.
The warp energy radiating from Khârn could instantly corrupt any mortal.
Khârn attacked first, his axe imbued with Khorne's evil power, slashing at the Custodes' chest.
The Custodes swept his golden halberd to block, the clash booming, shockwaves leveling the ruins, metal shards raining down.
Khârn's axe-head erupted with blood-crystal spikes, trying to pierce the Custodes' armor. But the Superbeast's golden plate was no ordinary metal—nanite repair fluid instantly sealed the wounds, forcing out the spikes.
The Custodes countered, thrusting for Khârn's throat, aiming to decapitate the Chosen, but Khârn caught the halberd with his daemon-claw.
"Your blood will be offered to mighty Khorne!" Khârn snarled, wrenching the halberd away.
The Custodes leapt up, kicking Khârn in the chest, sending him crashing into half a fortress.
"Call for backup! Get our Dreadnoughts who can gigantify, and alert Lord Calgar!" the 27th Company Captain shouted.
Right now, the two giants seemed evenly matched, but Khârn was truly dangerous—a legend of a thousand years. At equal size, the Custodes might lose.
So only those who could gigantify could join this battle.
"Sir, I've tried calling for help, but there's no response. The area seems sealed by warp energy," reported the 2nd squad leader.
…
Meanwhile, the titanic battle raged fiercer still.
Under the Custodes' savage assault, Khârn's power armor was shredded, his flesh cut to ribbons, even losing a hand.
It looked like the Custodes had the upper hand.
"Mighty Blood God, protect me—I am undying!"
Khârn's eyes blazed with bloodfire, his body rapidly healing under Khorne's blessing. Shattered bones rejoined, flesh regenerated before their eyes. He hurled a blood-red chaos energy orb from his axe at the Custodes.
It exploded with force enough to vaporize a starship, turning several kilometers of ruin into molten lava, incinerating nearby Chaos Marines.
The Custodes burst from the lava, his golden armor destroyed. After Superbeast transformation, his flesh was as hard as power armor—gigantic armor was just a shell. He discarded it.
He tossed aside his broken halberd, raising his massive iron fists, pinning Khârn to the ground and pounding his head.
Blood sprayed as Khârn let out a scream of ecstasy—this was the battle he craved, the bloodiest of wars.
"For the Emperor!" the Custodes roared, his voice thundering over the battlefield.
Though weaponless, he fought on. Khârn's body kept healing before their eyes.
The Custodes' fists crashed down like meteors, smashing Khârn's skull into pulp.
Yet Khârn only laughed harder, as if pain was part of the joy—his body, under Khorne's blessing, healed instantly.
He'd been blessed by two gods—one, the Blood God, the other, the Lord of Change. Now, he was immortal.
"Your fists aren't hard enough! You can't kill me, lapdog of the False Emperor!" Khârn laughed, grabbing the Custodes' wrist, snapping his arm.
The Custodes grunted but made no cry—Superbeast augmentation had disabled his pain. His eyes burned with battle-lust.
He opened wide, firing a golden beam from his mouth, blasting a hole in Khârn's chest—but it was only a superficial wound.
Khârn seized the chance, kicking the Custodes in the chest, sending him flying into a ruined fortress.
The Custodes rolled through the rubble, finally staggering upright—his chest caved in, ribs broken, blood gushing from his mouth, but his gaze was iron-steady.
He sensed it—today, he would die for the Golden Throne.
"For the Emperor!" the Custodes whispered, dragging his battered body toward Khârn again.
His fist could barely clench, but with all his strength, he swung at Khârn's head.
Khârn laughed, dodging easily, counterpunching the Custodes in the gut.
The force bent the Custodes double, blood spurting from his mouth. Khârn seized him, lifted him, and smashed him into the ground.
Boom!
The earth cracked; the Custodes was embedded deep in the earth. Khârn looked down at the loyal guardian, eyes filled with contempt.
"Your False Emperor can't save you. Today is your death day," Khârn muttered, raising his foot for the final blow.
But as his foot fell, the Custodes grabbed his ankle. Though weak, he halted Khârn for a moment.
"The Emperor... is... with me!" the Custodes gasped, mustering his last strength to flip Khârn down.
The Superbeast's resilience let him keep fighting—as long as he wasn't shredded, he could fight, even missing limbs or half a brain.
With his last strength, he pinned Khârn, pummeling his head.
Khârn's laughter ceased as his skull shattered again, blood and brains splattering the Custodes.
But Khârn's body healed at once, his laughter returning—this battle would never end.
The Ultramarines roared, firing at the monster to aid the Custodes. Others tried to help, but were stopped by endless daemons and Chaos Marines—the warp rift kept pouring forth Chaos.
"You can't kill me, lapdogs of the False Emperor!" Khârn laughed, grabbing the Custodes by the throat and lifting him.
Empowered by Khorne, Khârn's strength was overwhelming—the Custodes' struggles grew futile.
His vision blurred, body at its limit. He knew he could not kill Khârn today, but he would not give up—so long as he could move, he would fight.
"For... the... Emperor..." he whispered, swinging a last, feeble punch at Khârn.
Khârn remained unshaken—the punch was weak, the Custodes at his limit.
Khârn laughed madly, raising the Custodes high and tearing him apart, shredding him into pieces—completely dead.
Khârn, Chosen of Chaos, exhaled in satisfaction—he had won. What incredible vitality these Custodes had—almost equal to Khorne's own champions.
The Chaos Marines, daemons, and sorcerers roared in excitement.
"Vengeance!" the Ultramarines and Rhodes's gene-sons bellowed.
Though they fought on, the enemy's numbers were overwhelming, and the warp had isolated them—no help could come.
At that moment, a surge of psychic energy smashed into the barrier, tearing at the warp field.
Crack! Crack!
The warp barrier shattered.
A huge blue figure descended from the sky, standing before Khârn.
"Calgar... ha, is it you?" Khârn whispered, looking up.
A massive figure landed, blue power armor shining brightly—Ultramarines' former Chapter Master and now Deputy Chapter Master, Calgar, had arrived.
"Khârn, your atrocities end here," Calgar's voice thundered, his power fist glowing with destructive energy, aimed at Khârn's head.
Recently, Calgar too had undergone Superbeast augmentation, becoming a giant. Upon learning of the situation, he ordered Chief Librarian Tigurius to break the warp barrier together.
But he was still a step late—most Custodes were dead, and at least half the Ultramarines and security forces had fallen.
Khârn laughed, tossing aside the Custodes' severed head, turning to face Calgar. Today was a good day—so much blood to drink, and two giant foes to slay for his master.
"Come! Let me see how strong the great Calgar is!" Khârn roared, grabbing his power axe and charging at Calgar.
Calgar raised his power fist to meet him—their battle exploded across the field.
Meanwhile, Chief Librarian Tigurius called for reinforcements.
….
At the same time, on Holy Terra, Guilliman received a psychic message from his sons:
"Khorne's Chosen Khârn has attacked Macragge—and even killed a Superbeast Custodes!"