The look of suspicion on the Slaaneshi daemon's twisted face was quickly replaced by explosive rage. It couldn't understand why these mortals were immune to its psychic powers, but it didn't care to investigate.
To a daemon, many things in the material universe were naturally incomprehensible, just as it was nearly impossible for a human to fully understand the Warp.
"Damned mortals! Since you refuse to fall, then die!" It let out a piercing shriek filled with extreme fury and contempt for mortality.
In the next instant, its body—a patchwork of countless chunks of flesh and limbs—launched a charge toward the Helldivers with eerie, surging speed. A series of wet, sticky sounds tore through the air; it moved so fast it was little more than a blurring afterimage.
Though the Helldivers had been chatting casually or even acting a bit flippant moments ago, as players who had survived countless brutal battles, their reaction speed was far from slow.
The moment the Slaaneshi daemon charged, everyone scattered almost by reflex. Lasguns, grenade launchers, autoguns, and various other weapons immediately unleashed a dense wall of fire toward the hazy silhouette.
Red laser beams, lead slugs, and grenade tracers wove into a net of firepower. However, when these attacks landed on the daemon, the effect seemed negligible.
Scorch marks from the lasers healed almost instantly, and while the bolt shells blew off small chunks of meat, the creature's body possessed a terrifying regenerative ability, restoring itself to its original state in a flash.
"Holy crap, this thing's hide is thick!"
"Are the lasguns even doing anything?"
"Don't panic, keep firing!"
Because the Helldivers had scattered so quickly, it became impossible for the daemon to use its massive bulk to crush them in close quarters.
But this Slaaneshi daemon clearly had other tricks—its originally indistinct limbs could extend wildly, turning into dozens of pink, barbed flesh-whips that lashed out in all directions, creating a massive area of effect. At the speed these mortals were currently showing, there was absolutely no way to dodge.
However, after noticing that these mortals' attacks caused minimal damage, the daemon's "cat-and-mouse" instinct took over.
It felt nothing but disdain for such weak resistance and decided to stop prioritizing efficiency. Instead, it would slaughter these tiny mortals one by one, letting them die in extreme terror and despair to satisfy its appetite for pain and depravity.
Would a Helldiver ever feel those two emotions? Perhaps a fresh "newbie" might feel fear when facing such a supernatural being, but these players—who had scrapped with Tyranids, Daemons, and Orks—had no such concepts. In their dictionary, the words "fear" and "despair" simply did not exist.
The Slaaneshi daemon, unaware of this, committed to its plan. Its twisted gaze locked onto a firing Helldiver. Leveraging its incredible speed, it lunged toward its target. Locked on and trapped, the player had nowhere to run as the distance closed at a terrifying rate.
Just as the daemon revealed a cruel grin, contemplating how to tear this mortal to shreds or what kind of torture would elicit the most beautiful scream, the mortal showed no fear. Instead, he reached for his waist.
Clearly, this Slaaneshi daemon had never encountered the "species" known as Helldivers before. Otherwise, it would have known: unless absolutely necessary or extremely confident, never get close to a Helldiver—because they almost always blow themselves up!
The Helldiver didn't hesitate. Facing the incoming daemon, he directly detonated the explosives on his body.
BOOM!
A deafening explosion echoed through the narrow Underhive street. High explosives detonated right in front of the daemon, sending a searing shockwave and countless fragments tearing through the air.
The daemon's warped body took the brunt of the blast. It let out a non-human, shrill, ear-piercing scream—like crushing glass mixed with a baby's cry—filled with pain and resentment. Clearly, it had been significantly injured by the heat and noise; large areas of charred, torn wounds appeared on its once-smooth flesh, and they didn't heal as fast as before.
However, this was just standard high explosives; a single blast wasn't enough to completely banish such a powerful Warp entity. While the Helldivers breathed a sigh of relief, they gripped their weapons tight, bracing for the daemon's inevitable, furious retaliation. They were ready for a hard-fought battle.
Yet, to everyone's surprise, when the dust settled slightly, the charred and twisted Slaaneshi daemon didn't launch a violent counterattack as expected. Instead, it turned around and bolted!
Though its movements were a bit staggered, it was still incredibly fast as it dove back into the deeper darkness from which it had come.
Everyone was stunned. The Helldivers, including Freeman, experienced a momentary mental blank.
"What the hell? It ran?"
"Is this thing really that cowardly?!"
In that split second of player confusion, several afterimages flashed past them. They were so fast they kicked up a powerful gust of wind. In the blink of an eye, these shadows caught up to the Slaaneshi daemon, which had only managed to flee a few dozen meters.
BAM!
The fastest afterimage struck with unstoppable force, a single punch slamming the daemon into the hard Underhive ground. Stone fragments flew as a deep crater appeared instantly. Then, the other shadows quickly surrounded it, forming an airtight circle around the dazed daemon. Only then did the players see who it was—the Star Claws squad, who had been trapped in hallucinations, had finally snapped out of it!
Their power armor reflected a cold luster in the dim environment, and the electronic eyes of their helmets flickered with a fanatical battle-lust.
They had already drawn their chainswords. The roaring sound of the serrated blades was like the whisper of the Grim Reaper as they began to hack and slash at the daemon in a frenzy.
Rrip! CRACK! THUD!
The scene was a whirlwind of flying flesh and spraying daemonic blood. Limbs were carved into tiny pieces under the chainswords. The Star Claws kept the circle tight, their coordination perfect and every strike lethal, giving the daemon zero room to breathe. The players couldn't even squeeze in if they wanted to; they could only watch and sigh at the "stolen kill."
"Damn, how did these Astartes suddenly get back online? I thought they were gonna sleep a while longer."
"This is straight-up kill-stealing!"
"But damn, that damage is high. As expected of Space Marines!"
At that moment, Freeman, the team leader, had a sudden realization. He slapped his forehead and shouted, "I get it! No wonder that daemon chose to attack us while we were moving instead of the Astartes standing still!"
He got more excited as he spoke: "That illusion of its wasn't that great after all. The damage from our bomb blast probably broke the 'channeling'! That's why it ran immediately after being blown up—but it couldn't get away, and now the Astartes are awake and jump-kicking it!"
Hearing Freeman's logic, the players couldn't find any holes in it. It sounded perfectly reasonable, so they accepted the explanation.
"Damn, that means someone just made a killing in merit points. That explosion probably took a huge chunk of health, and since it woke up the Astartes, he's definitely getting an assist credit!"
"Not a bad trade. That someone really stepped up!"
As the players discussed the event, the Star Claws successfully banished the Slaaneshi daemon. With one final, miserable wail, the daemon's remains dissolved into a mass of light and shadow under the whirling chainswords, vanishing into the air. All that remained on the street was a large pool of sickening slime and charred marks.
The Star Claws sheathed their weapons and turned back. The squad leader walked up to Freeman and said in a heavy voice, "We thank you for your assistance, Helldivers. It was your attack that woke us from Slaaneesh's trickery. It seems the threat in this area has been purged."
Freeman nodded, his face looking slightly serious. "You're welcome. But Captain, I don't think we can keep winging it like this."
He pointed to the "Meat Mountain" that was still wriggling but far less active than before. "No one in our squad understands psychic powers. The next one we know about is that Tzeentchian Sorcerer. If we go head-to-head with him, we're definitely going to suffer. The sorcery of those blue-feathered birdmen is no joke."
He offered his suggestion: "I think we should first look for that Ecclesiarchy Cathedral the Nurgle daemon mentioned. See if we can get help from the faithful there, or find some tools to counter psychic powers. At the very least, having a Priest present would provide an extra layer of protection."
The Star Claws looked at each other. After the squad leader pondered for a moment, he finally agreed with the Helldiver's suggestion. While purging Chaos heretics was important, blind aggression would only lead to greater losses. Finding allies—or at least obtaining intelligence and support—was the more stable choice.
"Fine," the squad leader said. "Let us go find this Ecclesiarchy Cathedral."