As the rolling green smoke from the exploding Spore Mines dissipated, the previously intense battlefield immediately fell silent.
The corrosive acid, meticulously evolved over billions of years by the Hive Mind, instantly dissolved the Fiends' bodies, which were filled with chaotic power. Those Fiends, who had been shouting unknown blasphemous languages, were all buried in the chain explosions produced by the Spore Mines. Only some fragmented limbs that had not yet been completely corroded remained.
And the once magnificent ancient power armor on the Red Word Warriors was also riddled with holes from the Spore Mines, no longer retaining its former glory.
The Thousand Sons Sorcerer, who had just recovered from the pain caused by the Energy Feedback, was initially terrified by the loss of his psychic power. The next second, over a dozen Spore Mines rushed towards the Thousand Sons Sorcerer , who had not yet had time to react.
"No!"
The Thousand Sons Sorcerer only had time to let out a scream before being engulfed in the explosion. Some of these Spore Mines, specifically prepared for the Thousand Sons Sorcerer , also contained super-strong lethal venom, specifically to deal with the Thousand Sons Sorcerer's flesh beneath his armor.
As the smoke cleared, the Thousand Sons Sorcerer's body, losing its psychic support, immediately fell to the ground. However, Marcus knew that these attacks alone could not kill a Thousand Sons Sorcerer.
Just as Marcus raised his hellgun, about to deliver the finishing blow, Chairon, who had been hiding behind cover, avoiding the Spore Mine explosions, instantly rushed out. He roared and plunged his chainsword into the Thousand Sons Sorcerer's chest.
Accompanied by the roar of the chainsword, the Thousand Sons Sorcerer's body was quickly torn to shreds.
"I didn't expect someone as seemingly upright as you to also like stealing kills." Marcus muttered to himself, and remotely recalled the Spore Beast and Enhanced Lictor.
Standing up and leaving cover, Marcus looked around the battlefield. After the Thousand Sons Sorcerer's death, the three Warp Rifts on the field immediately vanished without a trace. The remaining Red Word Warriors also lost control and fell into a state of stagnation. After quickly destroying these Red Word Warriors, everyone regrouped.
"What was that situation just now? Those Spore Mines, were they the work of the Tyranid?" Gadriel couldn't help but ask.
"Perhaps it's because the Thousand Sons hindered their plan to devour biomass? So the Tyranid regarded the Thousand Sons as enemies?" Valerius, an experienced Tech Sergeant, put forward his conjecture.
In the past, the Imperium of Man had observed many battles between the Tyranid and Chaos forces. Because demons need to feast on the souls of intelligent beings, while the Tyranid need to devour more biomass. Both of their goals were the people of the Imperium of Man. Furthermore, since Chaos demons do not possess true flesh and blood bodies, the Tyranid would consider Chaos forces as hostile predators, leading to battles.
"The Emperor protect us, I hope the xenos and Chaos fight more, so we can have a moment to breathe." Chairon said, shaking the Sorcerer's blood off his chainsword.
"Focus, and be careful of other Chaos traitors around." Titus said in a deep voice.
"According to the report, the Tyranid are about to invade the dome area, we need to hurry." With that, everyone immediately went to the Chaos altar and destroyed it. The originally ceaseless Chaos rays that had been bombarding the temple gate also stopped.
Looking at the still tightly closed temple gate, the group was about to force their way in when... The gate slowly opened, and a figure in a red robe, holding a scepter, slowly walked out from inside the temple.
"Morias Leuze?"
Leuze raised his head and looked at the group at the entrance. "I owe you my life."
"Come with us, to the battle barge."
Leuze nodded: "But I must speak with Archamagos Nozick immediately."
"He's dead."
Upon hearing Titus's reply, Leuze looked shocked, stepping back a few steps in disbelief. "Dead?"
"You are to succeed him."
Leuze's expression was very complex upon hearing this; he opened his mouth, but in the end, said nothing.
At the same time, a thunderhawk slowly descended behind the group.
"Get on board, you'll know more detailed information later."
Leuze was silent, and could only follow the group onto the thunderhawk gunship. The thunderhawk gunship slowly ascended, then headed towards a nearby Imperial position.
Upon reaching the Imperial position, Valerius from the team left the thunderhawk gunship. He still needed to remain in the Central Hive to continue defensive work. Looking at Valerius's departing back, Marcus nodded almost imperceptibly.
In the original game's plot, Valerius would have been ambushed and killed by mortal rebels using a melta bomb. His death would then provoke Chairon, causing him to break away from command and charge alone into the enemy ranks, facing the Thousand Sons. This would further deepen the rift between Titus and his squad members.
But now, because of Marcus's intervention, Valerius successfully survived, and naturally, these subsequent events would not occur. Coupled with Titus's earlier voluntary disclosure of his past on Glaia, the atmosphere of the entire squad is now much better than in the original game. For Marcus, this was a good thing.
After Valerius left, inside the thunderhawk's cabin, Marcus touched the seat under his butt. It was the same position he sat in when he was ambushed by the Biovore and fell from ten thousand meters high.
Marcus asked with slight curiosity: "Is this still the same thunderhawk we took when we came here before? The damage caused by the Biovore shouldn't be repaired this quickly, right?"
Chairon, who was beside him, answered Marcus's question. "Of course not, although we successfully escaped the Biovore's pursuit before, the thunderhawk's damage was still too severe to be repaired in a short time, so the Tech Sergeant from before stayed there to repair the thunderhawk."
"What about that despicable xeno?" Marcus was somewhat curious about the Biovore's fate. Thanks to that creature, he had the opportunity to act alone and greatly expand the variety of Tyranid warbeasts in his codex.
"It was shot down by Cadian soldiers using a Hydra, otherwise that beast would have torn us to shreds."
After hearing Chairon's answer, Marcus didn't feel much regret; anyway, there would be plenty of opportunities to encounter Biovores later. If he could kill a Biovore, he would have a high-speed mobile aerial combat unit. Moreover, it could serve as a perfect aerial mount.
Marcus is currently very dedicated to collecting various Tyranid codex entries. Firstly, to increase the quantity and quality of the Tyranid warbeasts at his disposal. Secondly, because of the Alien Facehugger egg stored in the system warehouse. The best parasitic target for Facehuggers is naturally a powerful Tyranid Hive Tyrant. But if he can't obtain the Tyranid Hive Tyrant's codex, Marcus isn't picky about other equally powerful Tyranid.