[You instinctively activated the Iron Shell. The hydraulic systems screamed as they mobilized. Three servo-arms unfurled once more, their clawed feet grabbing the rocky surface, propelling you toward Draigo with spider-like agility and sudden, immense speed.]
[The Bloodthirster, Kabanha, suddenly beat its blood-red wings and leapt skyward with startling grace, easily soaring over the towering wall of psychic flame that Draigo had raised.]
[Without even looking back, relying purely on the targeting system, you fired the last of your Storm Bolter's rounds at the airborne daemon using your final servo-arm. The bolts sparked harmlessly off his hardened armor as he ascended. You knew it was a futile effort. You only hoped the noise would buy a few more seconds of distraction.]
[Your cyan wolf eyes narrowed, baring your fangs in a grimace. Suddenly, you began to laugh silently, a raw, harsh sound that was quickly swallowed by the mountain wind. You had accepted your fate. You were ready to sacrifice yourself in loyalty to the Emperor, giving Draigo the necessary opening.]
[And then... with a thunderous boom and a spray of shattered ceramite fragments, a massive Khrone Axe slammed down on Draigo's Storm Shield. The raw brute force sent his towering figure flying backward, the shield ward momentarily failing under the sheer impact.]
[You seized the moment. Commanding your servo-arms, you rapidly closed the distance between you and Draigo, meeting his momentum head-on. Raising one thickly armored arm, you braced against the Terminator's power pack, digging your heels into the rock and halting his momentum by sheer, amplified strength.]
[You looked into the white-bearded Draigo's shocked eyes and flashed a quick, grim grin. Then, without breaking stride, you reached out and snatched the Titansword from his grasp, pulling the sacred sword free of his failing hand.]
[Your wolf eyes widened, and from deep within your throat came a long-suppressed roar of absolute exertion and defiance. Summoning every ounce of strength within your body and driving the Iron Shell's power systems to their absolute, redlining limit, you hurled Draigo into the sky.]
[Your aim was precise: the edge of the Bloodfall's summit, the only place he could potentially escape.]
["Boy! You...!" Soaring through the chaos of battle, Draigo seemed to understand your intent—the sacrifice—and the sheer necessity of the moment. Midair, his jaw clenched tight, and his deep eyes blazed with renewed, desperate hatred for the daemon that chased him.
You watched as Draigo's figure, though damaged, vanished from sight over the crumbling edge of the peak.]
[You straightened your back, the strain immense, and smiled. Then, you let the Khorne Axe fall from your palm, the monstrous blade embedding itself deep in the rocky ground, a final, definitive rejection of the Blood God's gift.]
[You turned to face the massive figure that landed with a thunderous crash nearby: Kabanha, whose blood-filled eyes were seething with boundless rage at your intervention. You didn't even glance at the seven other Bloodthirsters converging behind you; they were already secondary to the general.]
["Kneel before my master's throne. Accept his gift. Become a true Daemon Prince, the rightful Champion of Khorne, his first chosen, and his only Warlord!" Kabanha's massive daemon horns tilted as he spoke, his voice like a thunderous growl, the offer a final temptation.]
[You instinctively narrowed your cyan wolf eyes, letting the immense hatred for the daemon fill you. You took a deep breath, the movement a final, spiritual commitment, and bared your fangs. You said nothing to Kabanha, refusing him the satisfaction of verbal defiance. Instead, you tightened both black-armored gauntlets around the hilt of the Titansword, feeling its pure, sacred chill.]
[Then, you dropped to one knee.]
[Kabanha's bloodshot eyes narrowed in anticipation. A wicked, triumphant grin twisted his monstrous face, believing you had finally submitted.]
["For... the Emperor," you whispered softly, the words barely audible, a vow sealed in blood and psychic fire.]
[You flipped the Titansword and drove it deep into the rocky ground between your legs.]
[In that instant, warpflame burst forth from the sacred blade in an unstoppable torrent, channeled by your immense, forcibly grown psychic power. In the blink of an eye, the expanding flame consumed the seven unsuspecting Bloodthirsters converging behind you, incinerating their horrific bodies with ease, their forms dissolving into ash and raw energy.]
["Damn you, insect...!" Kabanha's blood-red eyes widened as he let out a roar filled with infinite wrath and realization. He flapped his crimson wings and launched himself into the air, abandoning his offer for pure, murderous revenge. His bloody feet brushed through the warpflame erupting around him as he dove toward you, his massive axe raised.]
[Still kneeling, committed to the moment and the channeled power, you had no time to dodge. All you could do was rip the burning sword from the ground and raise the blade in a desperate, final parry.]
[A moment later, the colossal Khorne Axe slammed into your chest. The brutal weapon cleaving straight through your Iron Shell's thick black armor, its edge penetrating the metal, pierced your chest, shredded your organs, and crushed your spine with devastating force. The force of the blow slammed your ruined body into the rock, sending shards flying in every direction. The shockwave split the land with deep, spreading cracks. The summit of the Bloodfall began to quake violently, as crumbling stone rained down the slope.]
[Blood gushed from your mouth and nose, splattering across your cracked visor. Even a Primarch could not survive such a fatal blow.]
[Kabanha hoisted your ruined body on his axe, lifting you to eye level, savoring his kill. Your azure eyes opened wide. You stared into Kabanha's monstrous face, now only inches away.]
["Greetings... daemon," you whispered through a bloodied smile, your voice a ragged hiss.]
[Then, using the last of your strength, you rammed the Titansword, burning with explosive warpflame, deep into his chest.]
[Kabanha let out a terrible, soul-searing scream as the fire consumed him from within. He swung his axe wildly, his massive frame staggering back, engulfed in roaring, purifying warpflame.]
[You were flung off the axe like a ragdoll. Your broken body flew through the air and began falling from the crumbling peak of the Bloodfall, tumbling down the precipice.]
"[No...!" Kabanha, writhing in pain as the fire devoured him, his roar mixing agony and frustration, tried to stop you. But it was too late. The warpflame incinerated his monstrous form, leaving only a roar of pure hatred and unwillingness that dissipated into the crimson sky.]
[Shattered stones tumbled around you as you fell. You plummeted toward the abyss below. It felt as though you passed through an invisible veil, the barrier between the material and the immaterial. And once more, you descended into the warp, chaotic immaterium.]
[At the same time, shapeless warp-native creatures surged toward you, wrapping you in their ghostly limbs and tendrils, drawn to your power and your dying body. The Titansword in your hand erupted again with warpflame, obliterating the creatures in an instant, burning the very substance of the Warp.]
[A powerful psychic force, the protective ward of the simulator, enveloped your broken body, rapidly healing your mortal wounds and repairing the Iron Shell. Your consciousness began to fade, overwhelmed by the psychic intervention and physical trauma. You slowly closed your eyes. Your Sassan cerebral membrane activated once again. You slipped back into suspended animation.]