Chapter 72
In the Battle of Cadia, nothing is surprising anymore. You'll see Greater Daemons appear one after another—it's that kind of war.
After all, this battle ends with the awakening of an Imperial Primarch, and the four Chaos Primarchs turning their gaze toward the galaxy once more. It marks the true beginning of the 41st Millennium. The Primarchs will return, and new Crusades will start again.
The Imperium itself will keep wavering between the old Imperial Truth and the Imperial Creed.
But none of that matters to Godzilla.
He isn't the Emperor. He's not in charge of the Imperium's fate.
After smashing the Chaos Titan into scrap, a new red marker appeared in Godzilla's vision. It highlighted the next mission target inside the prison world.
'Who's waiting this time? Big payout for such a small job.'
[Sharasi. Daemonic Catastrophe.]
'…oh, hell no. A Daemonic Catastrophe?!'
Godzilla froze. Shalaxi Helbane—known here as "Shalasi, Calamity"—was no ordinary daemon. Among the greatest of Slaanesh's hosts, this Keeper of Secrets was legendary. In Imperial terms, she ranked as high as the ancient Thunder Warrior Commanders, even before the Custodians were created.
'So Slaanesh is really gambling big this time. If I take her down, that'll hurt.'
[Remember: Daemons cannot be permanently slain in realspace. You lack the means to destroy one completely.]
'I know, I know. That'll come later.'
Currently, Godzilla had no psychic weaponry capable of banishing a Greater Daemon. Even the Imperium itself only possessed a handful of such tools—the Emperor's Sword, the Grey Knights' wards, Exorcism rites, and not much else.
'Doesn't matter. Let's go.'
Brushing the Chaos Titan aside, Godzilla stomped into the prison complex.
Slaanesh cultists and corrupted warriors didn't even try to block him. Only a few slave-soldiers manned the turrets, firing blindly at his massive frame. Their shells bounced off his scales like pebbles against steel.
"It's time."
Isis raised her hand, signaling her warriors. The Lizardmen marched through the breach Godzilla had opened.
The Imperial commandos hesitated, but Isis called out to them:
"Follow us. Do you think I'd lead you astray?"
"Ah, no… it's just—" one of the Space Wolves stammered awkwardly.
His battle-brother clapped him on the pauldron.
"Move. We'll take their aid this time. More chances will come to prove our loyalty to the Emperor."
What had begun as a stealth mission turned into a full-on assault. The Lizardmen smashed into Slaanesh's daemonic infantry with brutal efficiency. One warrior could stand against two daemons without faltering. Sometimes, a lizardman fell beneath swarms of clawed horrors, but Isis didn't flinch. Losses were part of war.
The Imperials adapted quickly, covering the Lizardmen's flanks. They treated the reptilian warriors as temporary allies. It wasn't unheard of—after all, the Imperium fought alongside abhuman auxiliaries like Ogryns.
Even Space Marines had a saying: Magnus, the Crimson Cyclops, could be compared to a massive, one-eyed Ogryn—an old battlefield joke.
With the Lizardmen shielding the vanguard, the Astra Militarum and Inquisitorial retinues took almost no casualties. Even mortal soldiers felt a strange sense of safety marching beside these hulking reptilians.
"It looks primitive," one Space Marine remarked, "but it's efficient. Psykers in the center, warriors around them, assassins striking from the shadows. Offense and defense as one."
Godzilla's thunderous steps echoed overhead, shaking the armored ceilings.
"For them," another Marine muttered, "it must feel like their Primarch walks with them."
"Not their Primarch," a third corrected. "The Emperor Himself is with us!"
Godzilla reached the top level of the prison complex. The Lizardmen deliberately split, taking paths along both sides of him. They knew what he was about to do.
He glared down at the structure below, dorsal fins glowing with nuclear light. His maw opened wide.
'Here we go.'
Atomic energy gathered in his throat, too intense for any ground force to withstand.
Atomic Breath!
A blinding beam of blue lanced downward, burning through armored plating. The first bulkhead melted instantly. The second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth levels collapsed one after another, until a massive shaft cut through the prison, glowing molten at the edges.
The beam nearly reached the Conqueror Chapter's Astartes several floors below. Only their gene-forged resistance saved them from lethal radiation. Warning runes flashed across their helmet displays as radiation levels spiked dangerously high.
"By the Throne! Is this thing a miniature sun?!"
"This is the god of those demi-humans."
"Maybe the Emperor Himself once knew them…"
The Space Marines wisely fell back. The molten debris alone could drown them, never mind the beam itself. They kept close to the Lizardmen's path—the safest route.
Godzilla continued blasting, straight down to the planet's crust, before finally cutting off his attack.
'That should do.'
He was about to leap into the crater when a killing intent washed over him. From the shadows, a tall, lithe figure stepped forward.
Shalaxi Helbane—Shalasi, Calamity.
At the same time, five other Greater Daemons of Slaanesh emerged, cutting off the Lizardmen's advance. The battlefield turned silent.
"A Greater Daemon?!"
The Imperial commandos froze. The Inquisitors' eyes blazed with holy fury.
"How dare such filth stand before the servants of the Emperor?!" one roared, igniting his power sword.
Even knowing the odds, an Inquisitor cannot retreat. Their duty was to wound, bleed, or stall the enemy—whatever it took, even at the cost of their lives.
One muttered grimly, "Had I known, I'd have summoned aid from the Grey Knights…" Still, he loaded his weapon without hesitation.
"Let them taste our loyalty!"
"Advance! Advance! Charge!!!"
Courage is humanity's anthem. Life is the Emperor's coin. Sacrifice is the Imperium's foundation.
The Imperial warriors surged forward, power swords and chainswords raised high. Their devotion echoed across the Warp, and even tens of thousands of light years away, the Emperor felt their faith.
[No sacrifice is too great to accept. No betrayal too small to punish.]
Isis felt another psychic ripple.
From the shadows, Space Marines in black armor appeared—bolters roaring, flamers spitting fire. Reinforcements had arrived.
The Black Templars had entered the fight.
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