Ten minutes later, with AlphaBravo's withdrawal, an earth-shattering explosion occurred.
The melta bombs, carefully placed on various load-bearing structures, detonated simultaneously. This magnificent Governor's mansion, spanning several square kilometers, let out a dying wail amidst a series of dull, continuous roars.
The foundations cracked, the domes collapsed, and countless beautiful sculptures and frescoes turned to dust. The entire building, like a giant whose skeleton had been removed, crashed inwards.
The rising smoke and dust even reached the three Valkyrie circling high in the sky.
"If we can't blow it up from the outside, we'll blow it up from the inside," Muad'dib declared, his voice ringing with triumph from inside the cabin. He gazed out the porthole at the spectacular scene of destruction engulfing the palace. "Twelve defenders? I knew they were Helldivers. A dozen people defending a fortified structure, to my eyes, is just a target designation on a shooting range, existing only for me to blow them to smithereens."
"Can you please stop using metaphors?" Robert, utterly nonplussed, turned to AlphaBravo, who had just arrived, covered in soot. "Status report. How many of the remaining Space Marines are still active?"
"Some were crushed to death directly, and those who weren't are firmly pinned underneath. It looks like they won't last long..." AlphaBravo stopped mid-sentence, his peripheral vision catching something. His expression suddenly changed. "Tell the Valkyrie to ascend, quickly!"
Before his words faded, a dazzling sword light pierced through the thick, visibility-obscuring smoke and dust, shooting straight up into the sky!
This sword light was unbelievably fast, precisely striking one of the Valkyrie and cleanly slicing it in half in mid-air! The explosion's firelight flashed in the smoke and then vanished, terrifying the pilots of the other two Valkyrie. They immediately shoved their control sticks forward, their engines screaming at maximum power as they desperately climbed upwards.
"Holy crap, this is insane!" Archer, the pilot of one of the Valkyrie, cursed. "They're even using ki swords now! Is this still Wahammer? Can it get any more ridiculous?!"
At the same time, on the ground, an invisible gale suddenly rose, blowing away the smoke and dust, which would have taken tens of minutes to dissipate, in just one minute.
The full extent of the ruins was revealed before all the players.
At the very center of the collapsed palace, Yarvis' long hair fluttered in the wind, his magnificent purple-gold power armor gleaming in the sunlight. He held his power sword aloft, its tip pointing to the sky, and declared, solemnly and sonorously, word by word:
"Space marine — Enemy of the Anathema!"
"Oh, come on," Robert muttered, looking at the scene as if a savior had descended. "With this stance, are we the villains after all?"
Despite his words, Robert's actions showed no hesitation. He decisively ordered: "All units! Fire at this posing hunk!"
From the positions already set up around the ruins, heavy stubbers, heavy bolters, and autocannons roared simultaneously! Countless deadly projectiles and energy beams wove into a net of death, surging towards Yarvis in the center of the ruins.
However, the target of the attack merely slowly lowered his sword-wielding hands to his chest. A visible purple psychic shield suddenly expanded, and all attacks aimed at him were strangely delayed and suspended the moment they touched the shield.
The next second, Yarvis swung the long sword in his hand violently!
All the attacks he had caught were returned in full! And because they were mixed with his domineering sword ki, their power was even greater! All the heavy fire points that had just attacked Yarvis were precisely detonated by their own attacks in an instant!
"Mamma mia!" Muad'dib bellowed, startled nearly off his feet by the miraculous move. "Where in the seven hells did that come from?! It's a full-on 'Reflexive Kinetic Divergence'!"
"How did he even pull off that kind of Ammunition Absorption and Counter-Fire?! He just vacuumed up the entire salvo, supercharged it with his god damn magic, and spat it right back in their faces!"
"This is bad..." Cold sweat trickled down Robert's forehead. "Is a unit of this level really something we can defeat at our current stage? He alone could probably wipe out the entire hive city, couldn't he?"
Just as everyone was stunned by this god-like power, a roar broke the silence.
"Awooo!"
Cain didn't care about any of that. He directly activated his newly bought Thunder Hammer and, enveloped in electric light, charged out from the position.
"Don't go sacrifice yourself!" Robert exclaimed in alarm, sensing that something was amiss.
However, facing the unstoppable charge of Cain, Yarvis in the center of the ruins did not use those god-like methods from before. He simply raised his sword and held it horizontally in front of him.
"Clang—!"
The collision of the Thunder Hammer and the power sword produced a deafening sound. Yarvis' figure was actually shaken back several steps by the immense force before he regained his balance!
"Hmm?" Robert's eyes instantly lit up. "Could it be... this boss must be fought in melee?"
"Everyone!" He immediately ordered in the command channel, "Don't use ranged attacks! All of you, pull out your knives and go hack the bastard!"
Robert's order also instantly snapped the stunned players back to reality.
"I get it! Only good old melee attacks can damage this boss!"
"I knew it. Lately, it's been all artillery bombardment and combined arms, good ol' Wahammer flavor. Turns out it was waiting for us here!"
"Guys! Charge! For humanity!"
In an instant, nearly a thousand players surged towards the center of the ruins like a tide.
Yarvis' sword was extremely fast, so fast that those he struck often returned to the resurrection point as a white light before they even felt pain. This clean and decisive killing was an extreme deterrent for normal mortals, but for players... without even the sensation of pain, there was even less reason to retreat!
In Yarvis' eyes, the scene before him was incredibly shocking. No matter how devastatingly he used his sword skills to kill the enemies before him, their companions fearlessly pressed on, one after another. They were extremely resolute, and many even picked up the weapons dropped by their fallen comrades and continued to charge at him.
"Brave warriors..." Yarvis' aura surged again. "As the Third Legion, the glorious space marine, come! I will not flee, let us fight to the death!"
A bloody storm, centered around Yarvis, thus erupted. The storm of shredded flesh and severed limbs lasted for a full half Terran standard hour. After sacrificing thousands of "lives," the players finally... inflicted the first wound on Yarvis!
A chainsword, taking advantage of a gap while he was killing another player, ripped a gruesome gash in his waist.
Although the space marine's powerful Larraman's Organ quickly produced coagulant cells to stop the bleeding, and the player who inflicted the wound was also pierced through the heart by Yarvis' backhanded sword strike.
But this also meant...
"His health bar is showing! Guys, kill him!"
The wave of players grew even more ferocious.
Yarvis couldn't help but inwardly praise: "Terrifying warriors... such fighting will, it's comparable to the Solar Auxilia during the Legion era..."
Thinking of this, Yarvis suddenly paused.
Why did he think of the words Legion era? Was there... another era?
It was this momentary distraction that caused Yarvis to sustain another serious injury! A power sword nearly severed his sword-wielding right hand entirely! Fortunately, he instinctively dodged, only tearing a deep, bone-exposing wound on his arm, but this further exacerbated his disadvantage—the injury to his hand would undoubtedly affect the precision and strength of his sword usage.
Just like the collapse of a dam, it starts with a small breach, and then is continuously widened by the surging water. Yarvis' disadvantage began to rapidly expand, and he gradually became unable to resist the players' fearless and frenzied attacks.
Finally, as his injuries gradually accumulated to their limit, a power sword pierced his heart. Yarvis used his last ounce of strength to swing his sword and kill the player in front of him, but the deformation of his movements due to his injuries also left him wide open.
In an instant, several chainswords and power weapons simultaneously plunged into his chest.
Having lost all his strength, he knelt on one knee.
He had expected to be dealt the final blow by his enemies very soon, but that fatal strike never came.
Yarvis looked up in confusion, startled to find that these mortals had suddenly all retreated several meters and were looking at him with extremely wary eyes. Many even recoiled several more meters in fright when they saw him look up.
"Why... do you not kill me?" Yarvis said in a deep voice, blood gushing from his mouth.
"We're afraid you'll self-destruct with psychic power," a player shouted honestly from the crowd. "It wouldn't be good if you blew up my equipment then."
"Heh heh... heh heh heh..." Yarvis let out a low laugh. "No need... to worry. As a Legion Swordsman... I do not possess many psychic powers... that is a method only Librarians use."
All the players had expressions that said, "who you trying to fool looking ahh," and the situation reached a stalemate.
Until Cain stepped forward again: "Move aside! You guys don't want the last hit, I do!"
As the Thunder Hammer, gleaming with electricity, grew larger in his vision, Yarvis' mind flashed with one last thought: "To die as a Legion warrior... truly... an honor..."