"Puppet!"
"Oh no, Great Despoiler Abaddon is here!"
Reyna let out a shriek that was almost a cry of terror.
Everyone present, whether from the Black Legion or the Expeditionary Force, froze.
The air seemed to thicken and become heavy, and the power of the Warp began to grow, eroding the real universe and consuming this snowfield.
Whispers from the Warp echoed incessantly, praising the name of Great Despoiler Abaddon.
Abaddon! The ever-victorious Abaddon!
Abaddon! Lord of the Black Legion, Abaddon!
Abaddon! Pioneer of the Crimson Path, Abaddon!
Abaddon! Heir of Horus, Abaddon!
Abaddon the Despoiler! Abaddon, chosen by the Four Gods! Abaddon, the False Emperor's gravedigger!
A flash of teleportation light exploded on the snowfield.
Four emotions—cunning, depravity, rage, and despair—spread across the snowfield.
The twisted light gradually converged into a humanoid form; the Gasterling Terminators, forged from the Imperium's fires ten thousand years ago and corrupted by the Chaos Gods, stood upon the sea of snow.
The Gasterling Terminators were the elite of the Horus' Sons Legion's First Company, Ezekiel Abaddon's personal guard, and the Black Legion's sharpest blood blade.
And leading them was the Lord of the Black Legion, the former Captain of the Horus' Sons' First Company, Abaddon.
He was a man whose face was a mix of darkness and pallor, with a faint golden glint in his eyes, every muscle on his face clearly visible, and a streak of blood crossing his skin, seeping slightly.
Aside from his face, every part of his body was encased in thick, pitch-black Terminator power armor; this armor was unlike any Imperial design, with only malice and corruption adhering to it, forming twisted spikes and corrupted markings.
On his abdomen, the dark armor glowed with an eerie red light, at the center of which was an Eye of Horus, extending outwards into an eight-pointed star representing Chaos, as if the power of the Chaos Gods was attached to it.
His left arm bore a claw slightly larger than his body; Reyna knew it was a relic of his father, Horus, the very claw that had once torn through Sanguinius' body, and it housed a twin-linked bolter.
But what truly sent shivers down the spines of all humans present was the Demon Sword Drach'nyen in Ezekiel Abaddon's hand.
It was a demon sword with a blade filled with wailing, screaming human faces, and its quiet blue surface was permeated with the most primal desire for slaughter.
Just one glance, and Reyna felt an unbearable pain in her chest, as if a sharp obsidian blade was constantly piercing her chest, drawing her blood.
That was death, the death of humanity.
That was murder, humanity's first murder.
Demon Sword Drach'nyen!
Reyna had heard the name of this demon sword from Alexander and learned the specifics from Inquisitor Greyfax.
The demon sword housed the demon born from humanity's first murder, carrying the symbol of humanity's death.
Ezekiel Abaddon looked at the Expeditionary Force and let out a disdainful snort.
He moved with a speed that the Terminator power armor should not have allowed, and the Horus' Claw in his hand unleashed a howling barrage of bolter fire.
The self-propelled bullets, wreathed in fire, shot into the Imperial army.
Reyna quickly let out a low roar; her psyker power was released in its purest, most primal form, instantly clashing with the bolter fire from the Horus' Claw.
But these bolter rounds were no ordinary weapons; twin daemons symbolizing hatred and vengeance resided on the Horus' Claw, and every bullet on it was blessed by the Dark Gods, every claw having tasted the blood of gods, daemons, and angels.
Reyna let out a cry of anguish; her psyker barrier shattered instantly.
She blocked most of Abaddon's bullets, but some still carved bloody paths through the Expeditionary Force.
Abaddon's gaze flickered towards Reyna, with a hint of surprise at her psyker power:
"An alpha psyker?"
As he spoke, Abaddon rushed towards her with a speed Reyna couldn't match—
Clang!!!!
A silver longsword, burning with flames, clashed with the Horus' Claw.
White wings gently trembled in the snow, bringing a warm, sun-like glow.
Saint Celestine descended from the sky, like a golden star bathed in flames.
"The False Emperor's Warp witch."
Ezekiel Abaddon wore a disdainful expression:
"Look how depraved that corpse you worship is; he sacrificed all of humanity, indulging himself in the Warp's evil power, even creating pure Warp entities like you."
Abaddon's words made Reyna, standing behind Celestine, twitch her eye slightly.
What right did he have to say such things?
In Reyna's eyes, Abaddon's corruption was terrifyingly deep.
He was almost completely consumed by Chaos, becoming Chaos' vessel in the material universe.
Yet he himself seemed oblivious to it, as if he couldn't see the marks of corruption on himself at all.
If one were to compare the amount of Warp within them, Abaddon surpassed Celestine.
Their swords and claws clashed three or four times in the wind and snow; Celestine couldn't withstand Abaddon's continuous heavy blows and suddenly flapped her wings, flying back into the sky.
The twin handmaidens who constantly circled Celestine also disengaged from their fight with the Black Legion and hovered around Celestine.
Abaddon snorted coldly, and the Gasterling Terminators behind him swiftly surged towards the Expeditionary Force.
A torrent of data flashed in Archmagos Belisarius Cawl's eyes; this Archmagos of the Adeptus Mechanicus was clearly ready to fight for his alliance.
The Omnissiah Axe and the Gasterling Terminators' power armor clashed together.
Reyna also quickly issued orders through her psyker link with the entire One Hundred and Eighty-Fourth Regiment of Cadia, and the entire One Hundred and Eighty-Fourth Regiment swiftly formed a new battle line, resisting the Gasterling Terminators' charge.
But Reyna knew they wouldn't last long.
Bolter fire roared from the Horus' Claw, whipping up a firestorm in the void.
Celestine was fast, avoiding Abaddon's attacks as much as possible, but several bolter rounds still exploded on her gilded armor, tearing open cracks.
Celestine seized the brief pause after the Horus' Claw had unleashed a volley of bolter fire, raising the silver longsword in her hand high, and her two twin handmaidens circling her moved with her.
Archmagos Belisarius Cawl's memory still stored the blueprints for the Horus' Claw, forged by the Adeptus Mechanicus in the past, allowing Celestine to know a small flaw in the Horus' Claw.
She was able to quickly close in on Abaddon, the silver longsword in her hand burning with scorching flames.
"In the Emperor's name!"
Celestine let out a roar, and scorching flames swiftly enveloped the entire silver longsword; for a moment, it was as if the Emperor's radiance burned on Celestine's body.
The twin handmaidens followed behind Celestine, also swinging their longswords at Abaddon.
However, Abaddon sneered, dodged one handmaiden's sword, and turned to repel the other with the Horus' Claw.
Then
A sharp roar and shriek emanated from the Demon Sword Drach'nyen in his hand, contemptuously parrying Celestine's silver steel longsword.
Subsequently, the aura of death on the demon sword intensified, and Abaddon violently swung out an arc burning with death.
The two twin handmaidens were too slow to dodge, their bodies were slashed by Drach'nyen, two bloody gashes appearing across their forms, their flesh instantly disintegrating.
Celestine herself dodged slightly, but the sword's edge still irresistibly sliced off the armor on Celestine's chest, leaving a gruesome bloody gash on her body.
Celestine's body slowed slightly because of this.
Abaddon seized this moment, and Drach'nyen's blade, like a needle, stabbed directly into Celestine's chest.
Celestine spat out a mouthful of blood.
"This time, I won't let you resurrect again," Abaddon's voice was deep as blood.
"Great Despoiler!!!" A roar suddenly erupted.
Reyna's eyes flickered with a torrent from the Warp, and immense psyker power gathered on her body.
She had always been focused on the battle between Celestine and Abaddon, as the only hope for this battle was for Celestine to temporarily overwhelm Abaddon.
But Celestine had clearly been pushed to a desperate situation by Abaddon; if this Saint Celestine truly died, then the entire Expeditionary Force would be utterly without hope.
Reyna had no choice but to undo the restrictions she had placed on herself, drawing power from the Warp without restraint.
"Hoo," Reyna could feel the Great Rift, sprawling across the starry sky.
The Great Rift's enhancement wasn't just for Chaos' forces.
Reyna poured almost all of her psyker power into it.
Primal and pure Warp power transformed into an arrow, piercing directly towards Abaddon.
Abaddon felt the immense psyker power in Reyna's attack.
He quickly turned around, pulling the blood-stained Drach'nyen from Celestine's chest.
Celestine fell like a broken puppet, feathers scattering on the snow.
Drach'nyen and Reyna's psyker clashed, Reyna's eyes seemed to burn, and the boundaries between the Warp and reality around her blurred.
Pain shot through her nerves, every cell roared under the onslaught of the non-material universe's power, and her hair floated with the winds of the Empyrean.
However, Abaddon merely swung the demon sword in his hand violently, and the psyker power released by Reyna was forcibly cut apart.
The countless faces on Drach'nyen roared, and Reyna's psyker seemed so small before the demon's power.
Almost in the blink of an eye, Abaddon cut through Reyna's psyker and walked step by step to stand before Reyna.
"My former sorcerer died."
Abaddon looked down at Reyna:
"Your psyker power is strong; you should be skilled in divination and prophecy, no?"
"Serve me, mortal."
"The Emperor must have other plans for me," Reyna softly replied, "That would be the best plan."
Abaddon sneered and swung the Demon Sword Drach'nyen down at Reyna—
A golden-glowing dagger suddenly appeared in mid-air, blocking the Demon Sword Drach'nyen.
"Alexander!" Reyna let out a sudden sigh of relief.