Unlike the Word Bearers, every Thousand Sons Sorcerer had their psychic power and wisdom enhanced by Ahriman's Rubric of Ahriman. However, in contrast, these Thousand Sons Sorcerers still retained their physical bodies. This also meant that these Thousand Sons Sorcerers were more susceptible to various weapons.
Laser beams and plasma penetrated the Thousand Sons Sorcerer's psychic shield, which had become fragile due to insufficient psychic reserves, and then slammed into the Thousand Sons Sorcerer's ornate armor.
"You, you damned ant!"
Although the two attacks failed to penetrate the armor, the Thousand Sons Sorcerer, feeling attacked by mere mortals, still shouted in exasperation.
"Kill him!!!"
Immediately, at the Thousand Sons Sorcerer's command, seven or eight Red Word Warriors broke free from their entanglement with Titus and the others, and flashed towards Marcus's position.
"You can't win a one-on-one, so you gang up? How shameless!"
Marcus cursed under his breath, and quickly dodged the Red Word Warriors' attacks.
"You're not the only one who knows how to call for backup!"
With that, Marcus ducked into a blind spot, out of everyone's sight. He quickly opened the system panel and summoned a smaller Tyranid warbeast—a Neurothrope.
Immediately, under Marcus's command, the Neurothrope, with astonishing speed, avoided everyone's sight and ran out of the hall.
Tens of seconds later, Marcus sensed through his connection that the Neurothrope had reached the entrance where everyone had entered earlier. He then pressed the summon button.
"Roar! Boom!!!"
A terrifying roar and the sound of a shattered door emanated from the hall's entrance, immediately drawing everyone's attention. A few seconds later, a massive Exocrine, accompanied by a cloud of dust, charged into the chaotic battlefield. Thanks to the Neurothrope's ability to strengthen the connection between himself and the Tyranid warbeasts, Marcus could now summon the Exocrine from a greater distance.
The Exocrine, charging into the center of the battlefield, roared skyward, then set its sights on the Red Sorcerers, beginning a terrifying, brute-force charge. Even armored vehicles couldn't withstand the Exocrine's savage charge, let alone the stiff-moving Red Word Warriors.
After just one charge, ten Red Word Warriors had their armor shattered, and their soul dust dissipated into the air. This charge also successfully helped Marcus out of his predicament. With the behemoth Exocrine attracting the attention of the Thousand Sons Sorcerer and Titus, Marcus was able to focus on attacking the Thousand Sons Sorcerer in the air.
A red ork 'choppa' shot out, quickly and stealthily stabbing towards the Thousand Sons Sorcerer in the air. The Thousand Sons Sorcerer, already weakened by psychic energy loss, didn't even notice Marcus's renewed attack.
Moreover, Marcus's target this time wasn't the Thousand Sons Sorcerer himself, who was wearing power armor. It was his staff!
The ork choppa suddenly stabbed at the Thousand Sons Sorcerer's right hand, which was holding the staff, at a tricky angle. Under the immense impact, the Thousand Sons Sorcerer, who had not anticipated this attack, instinctively released his grip on the staff.
Accompanied by the Thousand Sons Sorcerer's shrill scream, a scorching plasma orb struck the staff, which was engraved with profane markings. Although this plasma didn't directly destroy the staff, it happened to send it flying under the feet of the rampaging Exocrine.
The ten-ton Exocrine lifted its feet, then stomped down forcefully.
"No!!!"
Amidst the Thousand Sons Sorcerer's screams, the exquisite and ornate staff immediately broke into two pieces. The blue-purple flame that had been burning at the top of the staff slowly extinguished. Without the aid of his staff, the Thousand Sons Sorcerer, who had already lost a large amount of psychic energy due to the effect of the Energy Feedback ability, immediately lost most of his combat capabilities.
Realizing this, no matter how much he hated the Corpse Emperor's dog in front of him, the Thousand Sons Sorcerer knew it was time to retreat.
"No! This is not a retreat! It is the will of the Lord of Change! Everything is within His plan!"
The Thousand Sons Sorcerer hypnotized himself in his mind.
"You filthy ants, next time we meet, you will become sacrifices to the Lord of Change!"
While shouting, the Thousand Sons Sorcerer began to retreat towards the Warp Rift under the cover of the remaining Red Word Warriors.
"Dishonorable traitor! Just as cowardly as your fallen gene-father!"
Chairon in the battlefield looked up at the retreating Thousand Sons Sorcerer and roared. Immediately, Chairon knocked away a Red Word Warrior in front of him, wanting to give chase.
Marcus, in the corner of the battlefield, naturally wouldn't let his prey escape. One minute passed, and the cooldown for Energy Feedback had just ended. Marcus activated the Mark of the Star Spirit's Fire again.
The familiar psychic rift once again appeared above the Thousand Sons Sorcerer's head.
"No! Damn it, who is it!"
Accompanied by the Thousand Sons Sorcerer's weak shriek, the psychic rift rapidly drained the little psychic energy the Thousand Sons Sorcerer had just managed to accumulate. As the last trace of psychic energy was drained, the Thousand Sons Sorcerer fell helplessly from the air.
The next second, before the Thousand Sons Sorcerer could even get up from the ground, a huge, terrifying figure had already approached. The Exocrine's massive hoof came down with a thud, squarely stomping on the Thousand Sons Sorcerer's chest. Even ceramite power armor, enhanced by sorcery, could not withstand this stomp.
Inside the power armor, the Thousand Sons Sorcerer's body, distorted from years of exposure to chaotic energy, had over a dozen ribs instantly broken. Two of his three lungs and one of his two hearts were also crushed. An unprecedented sensation of near-death, something he hadn't experienced in ten thousand years, enveloped the Thousand Sons Sorcerer's entire being.
Before the Thousand Sons Sorcerer could react, the Exocrine's massive scythe-like claw swung down violently. Under the terrifying brute force, the Thousand Sons Sorcerer's power armor, engraved with Chaos profane marks, began to twist and deform. Until finally, it burst open! A large amount of blood gushed out from the power armor's opening, splattering all over the Exocrine.
"Detected that the host has completed mission objective 2: Kill a low-level Sorcerer. Mission evaluation in progress. Evaluation passed, mission rewards being issued. Obtained random draw chance x 1. Obtained title 'Sorcerer Slayer'. Title effect: Slightly increases damage against psychic enemies. Each of your attacks has a small chance to drain the opponent's psychic reserves and deal additional damage."
The system's prompt sounded in Marcus's ear.
However, Marcus didn't get distracted to check; he still needed to put on a show. Immediately, Marcus issued a retreat order to the Exocrine through their mental link. The Exocrine used its scythe-like claw to hook the Thousand Sons Sorcerer's shattered body and the staff from the ground, as if showing off its spoils of war. After a skyward roar, it once again broke through the encirclement of several Red Word Warriors and quickly exited the hall along the way it came.
Marcus pretended to raise his hellgun and plasma pistol, firing several times at the Exocrine's hard back armor. He even tried to charge out in pursuit.
Until Titus next to him held him back.