Chapter 217: The Matter is Concluded
Rafael's blade and armour were slick with the blood of traitors. The corrosive fluids, tainted by the warp, hissed and steamed in the air. He had already identified the bishop's true form. This creature, who had made a pact with a daemon, had gained the ability to wield the foul energies of the warp and was now pushing the ritual to its conclusion.
This made Rafael anxious. But the traitors were using their psykers as a last resort, doing everything in their power to block the Imperial forces' attack. And under the influence of the increasingly crimson incense, the effectiveness of their ranged weapons was becoming more and more limited.
WHOOSH!
A bolt of blue psychic fire struck a Blood Angel. The warrior, clad in Gravis armour, his Belisarian Furnace instantly triggering, collapsed to the ground. The Astartes did not waver. They continued to press forward. Auxilia-serfs quickly maneuvered a simple rescue-skid to drag the grievously wounded warrior back. They were not without a means to counter the enemy.
The Antioch Sphere was a precious holy weapon used by the Black Templars. This grenade had been invented thousands of years ago by a Black Templars Techmarine named Antioch. By mixing holy oil and sacred acid with high-yield explosives, and having the casing inscribed with runes of High Gothic by devout believers—curses upon the blasphemers, blessings upon the faithful of the God-Emperor—each grenade became an exceptional weapon against heretics and daemons.
The Dawnbreakers had made a slight modification. They mixed in the blood of Sanguinius and had begun mass-producing them for the various Chapters and Imperial forces that frequently dealt with heretics. Its destructive power did not distinguish between friend and foe; all life within its radius would be incinerated. But only the blasphemers would suffer the ultimate agony in its flames. Their flesh would be slowly carbonized in the purifying fire, their souls branded with an eternal torment. Not even a daemon would wish to be baptized by this weapon.
And now—
Rafael raised his hand and threw an Antioch Sphere directly into the heretics' formation. In an instant, a star-like golden light erupted, and a searing white heat consumed everything. The traitors' flesh twisted and blackened in the holy flames, their screams dying before they could fully escape their throats. And those heretics who dabbled in warp sorcery were the first to be consumed. Their bodies carbonized and disintegrated the moment they touched the light, their very souls burned to ash.
The shockwave of the explosion even shook the ritual site in the depths of the hall. Nine Chaos sorcerers surrounded a not-yet-fully-activated warp portal, their bodies under their robes long since twisted and mutated from overexposure to chaotic energy. The portal, framed by all manner of crystal and brass, slowly rotated in their midst. It was not yet fully open, but the energy it had accumulated was already enough to cause a large-scale rupture in reality.
Amidst the hail of fire, the sorcerers were struggling to control the ritual, to prevent the energy from leaking. Their target was not this ruined church, but to tear open the veil of reality and let the true terror of the warp descend. However, the explosion of the Antioch Sphere had already destabilized the ritual.
"The altar!" Seraphina's psychic message pierced Rafael's consciousness like a blade. Her fingertips sparked with azure lightning, but it was swallowed by a writhing warp-barrier before it could reach the altar. "Destroy the altar, quickly!"
Rafael's sword had already cleaved through the bodies of three daemonhosts. He looked up at the blasphemous gate, built of bone and black stone. The explosion of the Antioch Sphere seemed to have triggered a backlash. The warp rift above the altar was twisting and expanding. Tentacles and bone spurs began to sprout from the skin of the Chaos traitors, and their attacks grew more frenzied.
There are too many of them. Why are there so many heretics hidden on a cardinal world? Rafael frowned, studying the features of the cultists. He noticed their skin was unusually thin, so much so that he could see the muscle fibers beneath. Void-born. A group that was discriminated against even within the starships. Until they could completely reverse the fact that life in the Imperial underclass was hell, they could not stop those who lived in hell from embracing an unknown tomorrow.
"I'm trying!" Rafael roared back. The roar of his boltgun suddenly stopped. Their ranged weapons were not even able to fire in the thick mist.
At this critical moment, a Battle-Sister of the Order of the Bloody Rose suddenly lowered her boltgun. Her movements were solemn and resolute. Her blood-stained fingers took an Antioch Sphere from her belt. Her other hand clutched the holy symbol on her chest, the silver Ecclesiarchy icon digging into her palm, blood dripping down the lines of the scripture. The other Battle-Sisters who saw this looked on with reverence—this was the ritual declaration of a martyr.
The third chapter of the Lectitio Divinitatus declared: He who gives his life for the Emperor shall be seen by Him; he who dies in battle for humanity, his soul shall find His protection. It was this faith that had driven billions of believers to charge into the blades of heretics, to drown the unclean in the blood of the righteous. For this sister, this was the holy moment to fulfill her vow. Her lips parted. As she pushed forward against the pressure of the psychic assault, she prepared to recite her final prayer—
But the sound of tearing space came from her side.
"Get back!" a heavy voice boomed from behind them.
A large number of heretics were torn to pieces by a tall, blue figure. Using Seraphina's teleportation, Titus and his combat squad had joined the battle. Their bodies were still slick with fresh blood; they had clearly just come from another battlefield. The arrival of this squad broke the delicate balance. The crimson mist seemed to have no effect on Titus; he moved through it like a fish in water, easily lunging at the heretics and tearing them to pieces.
The heretics' morale began to crumble under the assault. This Ultramarine, who had undergone the Primaris augmentation, had, in a few short moments, almost completely broken their defensive line. But the cornered cultists still held one last, desperate card.
At the heart of the ritual, in an area that repelled all external forces, the twisted warp portal was vibrating violently, the unstable energy forming a terrifying vortex within its frame. The heretics had two choices: detonate the portal and release enough warp energy to level the entire cathedral, or... change the summoning target, diverting the energy meant to transport an entire Chaos army to instead summon a single, terrifying Greater Daemon.
The ritual requirements for the latter were not as strict, and the Greater Daemon's arrival could restart the portal, allowing more daemons to enter this world. But it required the most painful of prices: the souls of the summoners.
"Yes, just like that... offer me your souls..." a tempting whisper echoed in the Chaos sorcerers' ears, coiling around their minds like a serpent. The nine sorcerers all drew ritual daggers inscribed with blasphemous runes and pressed the blades to their own throats. A mad light shone in their eyes, their lips twisted into a grotesque smile. Some were riddled with plague, some were covered in bloody sigils, and some had unnaturally sensitive limbs. But now, at this very moment, a faint blue light tinged all their eyes.
"Yes, just like that... only then will I descend and save you. Do not be afraid, my children..." the voice continued to seduce them. "I will embrace your souls... you will experience the boundless expanse of the Great Changer."
Driven by this daemonic whisper, the sorcerers, one by one, slit their own throats. The gushing blood did not hit the ground, but instead turned into a bloody mist and was absorbed by the portal, along with their shattered souls. With each sacrificed soul, the vortex in the portal grew more solid, turning from pink, to green, until a strange red light began to swirl within it.
One, two... eight. As the sixth and seventh souls were consumed, two waves of disappointment rippled through the empyrean.
As the last Chaos sorcerer raised his ritual dagger with a trembling hand, the warp energy had reached its peak. In the warp, the circling daemons were completely drawn to this point, like sharks to a net full of fish. The veil of reality had become as thin as paper. Titus charged forward, directly into the tide of the warp.
'Wrong!' The voice in the warp, noticing the invisible protection around him, shrieked. Faced with the terror of the unknown, it frantically tried to reverse the ritual.
As the last Chaos sorcerer was about to raise his ritual dagger, another, crystal blade burst from his chest, ending his life. Titus was confused. His instincts told him something was wrong. He quickly cut down the body of the sorcerer, grabbing the crystal sword. A pulsating soul was within it.
This made Titus instinctively believe he had stopped the ritual, but the warp vortex in the portal became more active, its dark colors brightening, a vivid blood-red appearing within it and beginning to burn. The vortex grew larger. Realizing what was happening, Titus charged towards the portal. Behind him, the Chaos heretics were suddenly seized by a mad killing intent and began to attack everyone indiscriminately. And all the Imperial forces, including the Astartes, felt their blood boil, an uncontrollable rage welling up within them.
This feeling had little effect on Titus. He had always been driven by anger, but as always, he knew he did not need to indulge in it. He would use this anger to turn the tide!
Rrrrip—
Two giant hands tore through the rift, extending from the portal, as if trying to break free and enter the material universe.
Rafael looked up, his strong soul allowing him to resist the bloodlust. He noticed the strange state of the portal. "Catch!" he roared, cutting a gap in the now-completely-chaotic heretic line. With his other hand, he took his last Antioch Sphere and threw it to Titus.
On the other side, Titus, holding the crystal sword, had reached the rift. As the ugly, demonic face of a Khornate Bloodthirster peered out of the portal, Titus stabbed it through the chest with the sword, then smashed a fist into its face. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, he grabbed it by the horns and dragged the Khornate beast out of the warp.
Rafael understood immediately. He had Seraphina teleport a cloned Aeldari body to him, and using a pre-prepared daemonhost ritual, forcibly stuffed the daemon's essence into it. Then, the Antioch Sphere was thrown into the warp portal.
"TZEENTCH!!!"
In an instant, a flash of light, and in the explosion, the roar of the Brass Throne echoed from the warp portal. The crimson portal began to shake violently, and finally collapsed in on itself.
In the warp, a certain Greater Daemon of Tzeentch watched all this, let out a long breath, and looked relieved.
"Get out of here!" Titus turned and, along with Rafael, escorted the daemonhost, shouting to the others. Everyone understood immediately and began to run for the cathedral's exit. The energy condensed in the portal made the ground tremble. After everyone had evacuated the room, the blood-red energy began to fade, eventually turning into a brilliant blue. The portal vanished in an instant.
The warp energy slammed into the cathedral's foundations, and the surrounding area began to shake from the impact. The tremors grew stronger. The evacuating forces on the lower levels began to plant demolition charges to erase their tracks, then led any troops they found to safety.
Crash!
At the first moment of chaos, a male guest had thrown himself over his female companion. In return, his back was cut by several shards of glass. Fortunately, the wounds were not fatal, blocked by his many ornate and expensive accessories. If the explosion had been closer, these luxuries would have been like the steel nails in a fragmentation grenade. He tore off his decorations to prevent any further accidents.
This was not the greatest risk. In this total darkness, the panicked crowd was the real danger.
"Lights! Can we get some lights?" the man shouted, pulling his companion to her feet. He tried to remain calm, to use his powerful oratorical skills to soothe the crowd. He then called to his attendants and quickly moved towards the edge of the cathedral. The most important thing now was to provide a light source and restore order. They absolutely could not panic. If a stampede occurred, this place would instantly become a bloodbath.
Just then, a shout rang out. "Calm! Everyone, stay where you are! Do not move!"
Seraphina, having cleaned up the traces of their actions, quickly returned to the upper level of the cathedral with her troops and began to maintain order. "Calm!" she shouted, punching a guest who was on the verge of losing control, knocking him unconscious. The braziers behind the Battle-Sisters brought light and warmth, bringing a sense of comfort to those around them. They checked everyone, disarmed them, and then observed their souls.
The male guest, seeing the squad's actions, quickly dropped to the ground, covering his head, and cooperated with their inspection. After about a minute, the Battle-Sisters and church-serfs responsible for local security also appeared to help maintain order. They held up light sources and quickly ran towards the now-repaired altar. For them, the safety of the local bishop was more important. It was only then that the man heard a scream from the high platform.
"The bishop has been killed!"
"Report. Mission complete," Rafael and Seraphina said, debriefing in a less-conspicuous chapel on Astorgius. They detailed the mission, the losses incurred, and whether the objectives had been met. They also handed over the wargear that had been exposed to the chaos baptism. Some of the consecrated weapons would be kept, but the vast majority would be destroyed. It was extravagant, but it was the best way to ensure safety. The corruption of Chaos was insidious.
"You have done well," Romulus said. He was handling administrative affairs with Drakus's assistance. Navradaran's mental state had been a bit unstable recently, and he didn't want to put too much pressure on the Custodian. He took the physical document Rafael handed him and placed it on a stack of files nearly as tall as a Primarch. "The Zha'hak district will require your continued attention." No one had expected a simple anti-corruption operation to uncover a nest of heretics.
Seraphina and Rafael saluted solemnly. "For Humanity!"
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