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The thing looked slightly taller than Ignis, emitting a piercing, grating shriek that set nerves on edge.
Its skin was a sickly lavender—the favorite color of the Prince of Pleasure. Its body was swollen, veins and muscles bulging and pulsing violently through the stretched skin. Bones twisted into grotesque shapes, and what should have been an arm extended into a massive pincer.
"What… what is that?" Cecilia's legs trembled.
Her voice drew the creature's attention. Blood vessels and bones within its body churned violently, and suddenly its skin ruptured, spraying foul blood in such quantity that it extinguished the burning fuel on the ground.
A grotesque face emerged, with two enormous, filthy yellow eyes perched on the swollen mass. The eyes were misaligned—one above the other—and the eyeballs seemed semi-uncontrolled. After a chaotic spinning, the bloodshot yellow eyes finally focused on them.
Instantly, the flesh-ball monster grew excited. Its body split open in countless places, spraying more corrupt blood. Around its two massive eyes sprouted dozens of mouths of various sizes, each screaming ear-piercingly. The cacophony surpassed even the entire night market of Vesmir in noise.
"Hey, get that young lady somewhere safe," Ignis said, turning to Cerakos. "Looks like we need to deal with this Chaos Spawn before we can leave."
"For the Emperor!" the Lamenters Space Marine let out a war cry.
The Chaos Spawn surged toward them, perhaps finding two-lSpawned movement too slow, sprouting multiple tendrils to assist its locomotion.
Cerakos, clad in power armor, took the lead to attract the monster's attention. The noble son of an angel charged fearlessly, swinging his power sword toward the creature's lavender hide. He noticed countless large swells moving beneath the surface. As his blade tore through, tainted blood spewed out, carrying a strange, pungent aroma. He twisted his head to avoid contact, but the stench still infiltrated his nostrils, making him momentarily dizzy.
Luckily, he quickly recovered. A gust of air brushed past his ear—the monster's pincer claw lunged straight at his head.
Ignis intercepted the strike with precision. A 30mm steel ball hit the base of the claw. It didn't sever it completely, but it halted the monster's attack.
Honestly, Ignis felt uneasy facing a Slaanesh Chaos Spawn. He would never forget the hollow depths of the Flowerbed, the numb victory, and the gaze of the Prince of Pleasure—even then, he had power armor and could fight with power fists. Now, all he had was a short knife and a homemade shotgun. Cerakos had a power sword, but it couldn't project decomposition fields—just a relatively sharp blade.
A defining feature of a Chaos Spawn is constant mutation. Such monsters are the results of those unable to endure the Prince's gifts. Once transformed, rational thought disappears. These Immaterium beasts act on basic desires: killing and consuming. They mutate and heal rapidly in battle until their bodies collapse or are rendered inert.
Cerakos danced around the creature with precise swordsmanship, dodging the newly grown tendrils while hacking and thrusting relentlessly. Each strike drew blood, but without a decomposition field, the wounds quickly healed.
Ignis loaded his shotgun. Its firepower was unimpressive, but better than nothing.
Clang! The metallic vibration and tremor in his hands shook the angelic warrior. As he swung at the monster, teeth sprouted instantly from the wound, biting his blade. He twisted the sword free, but in that brief moment, multiple tendrils lashed at him. These flesh-and-sinew weapons were lined with sharp teeth—getting hit would be painful even through power armor.
The Lamenters Space Marine wielded his sword with astonishing speed, forming a near-impenetrable wall of power blade. The living whips were severed, writhing on the ground, still attempting to grasp anything within reach.
The Chaos Spawn lurched violently, forcing itself to sprout more tendrils to maintain balance.
Ignis shook his fist. Thanks to his reinforced muscles, a single punch tore a bloody hole in the Spawn's hide, but against a constantly regenerating, mutating creature, it was hardly meaningful. Still, it drew the monster's attention to him.
After the hide healed, countless small yellow-green eyes sprouted like pimples, fixating on Ignis with malice. Quickly, the newly grown teeth chewed them up, and sticky tissue fluid splattered anew.
He regretted punching the creature. His palms tingled painfully.
Even under a two-front assault, the monster held its ground. Against Cerakos, it used tendrils; the Lamenters Space Marine' power sword could slice flesh and bone but not its core. Against Ignis, it wielded its pincer—without power armor, every strike had to be treated cautiously.
His short knife was ordinary, his homemade shotgun a giant pea shooter against a Chaos Spawn. He longed for the Salamanders' famed weapons—Melta guns. One multi-barrel Melta weapon could have reduced this nuisance to ashes in a few shots.
Even a lever-action Dragon's Breath would have been more effective than his broken gear.
While Ignis dodged the pincer claw, he wondered why Slaanesh's minions always featured claws prominently, even when mutated into Chaos Spawns.
"Brother, any more incendiaries?" Ignis shouted.
"None left—only this one, it's expensive!" Cerakos sliced another deep wound into the Spawn, penetrating roughly a third of its depth. But for most enemies, a fatal blow; the monster only wavered slightly, the wound rapidly closing.
If Cerakos hadn't quickly withdrawn his sword, the regenerating tissue might have ensnared him.
Ignis considered how to eliminate it. With such regeneration and mutation, only irreversible structural damage mattered. Melta weapons were first choice, plasma next, or a flamethrower if all else failed.
Wait… the Emperor's psychic flame?
Suddenly, Ignis realized—he could wield the Emperor's Golden Flame. Nothing else could compare. Pure destructive power, surpassing thermite weapons.
He stepped back, silently praying to the Protector of Humanity for the gift of the Golden Flame to incinerate humanity's enemies.
Soon, the ordinary short knife ignited with golden fire—cold, merciless, a direct manifestation of the Emperor's power.
"That is…?" Cerakos glimpsed the golden flames on Ignis' knife, astonished. Such flames could only represent the great Emperor of Holy Terra.
"Light of the Emperor! Guide me!" The angelic warrior gasped, swinging his power sword to cut incoming tendrils from multiple directions.
Empowered by the Emperor, Ignis simultaneously raised his psychic shield while wielding the Golden Flame. Both forces drained him mentally—he had to end the fight quickly or risk collapse.
Clang! The Chaos Spawn's pincer struck the golden psychic shield. The creature didn't understand shields, only applied force. With its defenses exposed, Ignis struck back.
The flaming knife cleaved, the wound ignited, burning away tissue. The monster's healing attempted to repair the gap, but tiny tendrils couldn't bridge it—the wound appeared like a spatial tear, vanishing near it.
For the first time, the Chaos Spawn felt threatened. Dog-masked faces appeared beneath its hide, snarling, then opened their mouths, unleashing a cacophony.
The force stopped Cerakos' movements. Though versed in minor psychic tricks, he had never been immobilized like this—even against the Minotaur battle company. His vision dimmed, his body lost some control, and the sword lowered.
Ignis noticed immediately, rushing in and using his psychic shield to endure a dozen lashes from the Chaos Spawn, each blow sending his mind into disarray.
Cerakos heard a gentle voice.
"Do not fear. Follow my song; I will guide you."
Warm, compassionate—the angelic warrior shed tears.
"Grasp your weapon. I bless you, brave child."
His vision cleared; the Lamenters Space Marine felt stronger than ever. The beast attacked Ignis' shield, but his towering cousin protected him. These good people were always so kind—he couldn't let them be harmed.
A golden line of light seemed to guide Cerakos. He gripped his power sword tightly, the black ribbon on the hilt fluttering unnaturally. He ducked and charged toward the Chaos Spawn, cutting through tendrils effortlessly.
The Spawn's maw suddenly opened, filled with arm-length fangs dripping corrosive fluid. It lunged, but Cerakos, drawing strength from the mysterious song, showed no fear.
The guiding golden line halted his charge. He stepped back, avoiding the bite, then raised his sword high and struck. The tough hide and bone yielded like butter, revealing a fragile internal structure.
He immediately targeted a pulsating organ—perhaps the heart. His sword pierced the membrane, muscle, and emerged from the other side.
The Chaos Spawn screamed; the shock shattered Ignis' shield. Cerakos prepared to check his cousin but a gust of wind struck his face.
The giant's left hand burned with Blood Flame; the right knife wreathed in Golden Flame. He dodged a new tendril attack, closing in on the monster.
A left hook of Blood Flame ignited the Spawn. The right-hand knife plunged into the beast, immovable.
The Golden Flame spread, quickly overpowering the Blood Flame. The Chaos Spawn's body collapsed, the enormous eyes exploding from heat. The filthy blood evaporated before spilling.
The creature tried to roar, but flames surged inside its mouth.
"Hope this works…" Cerakos grabbed the bomb, set a five-second timer, and tossed it into the gaping maw.
When the electronic music played, the explosion followed.
The Chaos Spawn was obliterated; debris flew, consumed by Golden Flame, leaving no trace.
"Can't believe we actually did it," Ignis muttered, his mind reeling from energy expenditure.
"I felt guidance… like a long-lost friend whispering, helping me fight evil," Cerakos touched his face, water running down. "Did I cry? When?"
"Finished?" Cecilia emerged, checking the Lamenters Space Marine. "Did you cry? Are you hurt? Need first aid? We'll get out quickly, stay safe!"
"You're all I've got!" She scrolled her phone, calculating the shortest path.
"Don't worry, I'm fine," the Lamenters Space Marine wiped his face. "I glimpsed something worth remembering… but it slipped away."
"Really? No injuries?" Cecilia asked. the Lamenters Space Marine jumped, signaling he was unharmed.
"And you, any issues?" Jane Doe approached.
"Yes—if you don't kiss me, I'll lie down right now," Ignis joked.
"Huh, all good then, and still joking," Jane Doe stepped away slightly.
The Salamander felt a pang of embarrassment over his request. Before he could dwell, Jane Doe ran, leapt, and pressed her lips warmly against his.
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