Chương 12: A Song of Slaanesh

It took Zerbe and Atreus about twenty seconds to purge the room of the remaining daemons. They worked as a well-coordinated team, while their opponents acted chaotically, simply trying to strike their enemies at any cost. All that remained of the former monsters were decomposing corpses that something seemed to be devouring from the inside. Zerbe waved his hand, and flames engulfed the bodies, incinerating them in a matter of seconds. Impressive.

"We need to check the security of the Gellar Field generator. Most likely, a large portion of the crew has gone insane, committed suicide, or become vessels for daemons. Right now they are uncoordinated and mostly fighting each other, but the moment they unite, they will become a serious threat. The field only flickered for a moment, but cleansing the ship of taint will take a long time." Zerbe instantly collected himself and got to work, devising a plan of action so we wouldn't end up dead.

I wondered what would happen to me if I fell directly into the Warp. Somehow, I had managed to survive there for quite a long time. I still had no idea how, as it contradicted all my knowledge about the Warp and Chaos, but we work with what we have. Truth be told, I didn't exactly want to test whether I still had that ability.

"I cannot leave the boy here, and I certainly cannot take him with me. Warp energy is still overflowing the cruiser, and he does not yet have the necessary level of control to mitigate the consequences. And it is unknown exactly what force we are dealing with." Atreus looked incredibly serious as he spoke. At the end, he turned to me and began boring into me with an icy stare. However, I was absolutely calm at the moment, not the least bit worried, because my power was surprisingly tranquil.

The Warp swirled around me in a maddening dance, and it was beautiful. It wasn't a delusion; I was thinking crystal clear, but my thoughts were still somehow strange. It felt as though I had existed my entire life using only one half of my brain, and the other half had only switched on a minute ago.

"I'm fine. There were some strange visions, but they passed, and everything is normal now." I tried to calm everyone down, but it didn't work very well. Judging by their looks, they definitely didn't believe me and thought the Warp was still influencing my mind. Zerbe coughed slightly, drawing the Space Marine's attention.

"Saviy, Maria, and Aaron, along with two dozen Blood Angels, should be moving here at a rapid pace. If they are alive, with that kind of support, we can clear the entire ship. And Khoron, of course, who should be heading our way right now. His skills and abilities will be critically important in the upcoming mission."

"I am already here." The voice came from behind Zerbe, belonging to a man who, I swear, had not been there a second ago. He simply appeared out of thin air, standing with a blade and a laspistol in his hands. Such a sight might have caused a lot of commotion in the past, but right now, he was our salvation. Pariahs are particularly effective against the Warp and other daemonic creatures, so everyone was glad to see him.

"He entered through the ventilation twenty-six seconds ago. Good work, boy, but I have seen better professionals." The one-eyed man said nothing and gave no indication that he had even heard Atreus's words. He continued to stand motionless in silence, which made him seem particularly threatening. Right now, he looked more like a machine than a living being.

"Now is not the time to sort out relationships. The situation is critical, and we need to act quickly if we want to survive. Khoron, what is the situation outside?" Zerbe turned to the newcomer, who did not hesitate to answer.

"A third of the crew died instantly. Most simply had their brains boiled, but some turned into actual daemonic beasts. Another twenty percent went insane and tried to kill the rest. Ultimately, roughly a third of the crew is still alive. But I am certain their numbers are decreasing with every passing second." He spoke of the agonizing deaths of tens of thousands of people without a hint of emotion, which, honestly, was entirely expected of him. I, meanwhile, tried to comprehend how often such incidents occurred.

How many great people had died like this, from an unknown and unpredictable, yet horrific fate?

"Do we have enough crew to reach the nearest system?" Even in such a critical situation, Zerbe remained absolutely calm. He wasn't nervous in the slightest and spoke as if discussing the most mundane thing, rather than our potential demise at the hands of daemons.

"In theory, yes. The absolute majority of the casualties were the menials servicing the cruiser. The Astropathic Choir and the Navigator's Spire are unlikely to have been tainted at all. Regarding the Mechanicus and Saviy, I am not entirely sure, to be honest. But even without them, we should have enough resources to reach the nearest system."

"We should be very close to our final destination. As for our artisan—if Saviy was in his laboratory, he is definitely unharmed. His shielding was expensive, but it was absolutely worth it. Otherwise... yes, there could be problems." Zerbe pondered silently for another ten seconds, then turned to the giant.

"Atreus, your assistance will be necessary in the next task. Yes, I know your mission is to protect Gabriel, but think about it: if we permanently lose the Gellar Field, how long will you live? Not even your experience and the abilities of an Alpha-Plus psyker will be enough to properly exist in the Warp." The Astartes turned his head and looked at me. He was clearly weighing the risks of leaving me in the hands of "unprofessionals." And I am certain he considered everyone else on this ship to be exactly that.

It seemed I would have to intervene myself to convince him to act rationally. I had no plans to die, especially not like this.

"Do not worry, I can fend for myself if necessary. Everyone has already told me how much power I possess and what a responsibility it is. That has to mean something, right? And they aren't going to leave me alone, are they?" I shifted my gaze to the Inquisitor, who immediately seized the opportunity, nodding and confidently confirming my words.

"They will not. I will stay with you and can protect you from any threats. Please trust me; my abilities are sufficient to eliminate even particularly powerful daemons." Atreus grunted upon hearing Zerbe's words and smiled slightly.

"You simply haven't seen truly powerful creatures. But if that is the case... Guard the boy at all costs. It is better not to know what will happen otherwise." Well, that was certainly a serious sign. Threatening an Inquisitor like that? Yes, I understand that Astartes are often very arrogant, but to this extent? And the hint that he had encountered truly powerful daemons. I would need to look into my former "bodyguard's" past very seriously.

After we survive and the threat of being permanently trapped in hell passes, of course. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Atreus nodded to me and headed toward the door at a brisk pace. Khoron, interestingly enough, was no longer there; he had already vanished into thin air. Zerbe stepped closer to me and began waving his hands, creating some sort of field of psychic energy around us.

Apparently, the Warp was affecting him as well, as the magic was particularly difficult for him to wield—by the end of the spell, his hands were shaking, and drops of blood had begun to trickle from beneath his mask. Once he finished casting, a lilac energy field surrounded us, after which he turned and addressed me in a quiet, weakened voice.

"Alright, while we are here and have the time, we can have a short lecture on what psychophenomena are and the dangers of the Warp..." Atreus gripped the blade firmly in his hand. It was not an ordinary piece of iron like the ones given to the sons of the "Little Angel." Nikos was a weapon with history. A personal gift to the Praetorian from the Emperor Himself. Most of the Ten Thousand wielded spears, and Atreus had mastered them to perfection, but he continued to use His gift.

That was why it was the only thing he had not left in the Armory when he departed. The final gift of the Emperor, which he could honor in only one way: by spilling the blood of enemies who went against His will with it. It was a work of art that rivaled the weapons of the Primarchs. The blade was a combination of incredibly complex magic and Dark Age technology. The golden blade was indestructible and could pass through any barrier, physical or psychic.

It could not completely obliterate a daemon or someone's soul, but it effortlessly sliced through spells and could disrupt sorcerous rituals. That had been the Emperor's design: He wanted a warrior for whom there was no difference between a powerful psyker and an ordinary mortal—this blade took lives equally well. And while this might seem like a rather strange and overly narrow specialization, the idea went much deeper. Few know this now, but it was not machines that plunged humanity into the Age of Strife.

Humans had destroyed every single piece of rebellious Abominable Intelligence and were preparing to rise from the ashes of the great war when they were met with a new calamity. The psychic awakening of humanity led to the birth of an entirely new threat: the mass emergence of psykers. Initially, they were treated as a blessing and a new branch of evolution, prompting the greatest minds to study Warp phenomena. This led to the birth of new technologies in various fields, but it also created a ticking time bomb.

Newborn psykers could not control themselves, succumbing to their emotions and using their powers to seize control of many worlds. Daemons were much less dangerous back then, but that did nothing to stop the bloodshed. Thousands of new empires appeared on the map of the fractured galaxy, waging a war of unprecedented scale, halted only by the emergence of Warp storms across the entire galaxy, which made space travel almost impossible.

And so, isolated worlds became the fiefdoms of practically immortal beings who became gods to the locals. And it was Atreus who was the Emperor's blade, punishing these "gods." Powerful psykers had weakened and stopped evolving over centuries and millennia, making them easy prey for the golden blade. He operated covertly and destroyed hundreds of such threats, largely thanks to the Emperor's gift. He frequently encountered cultists and daemon worshippers, who also met their end by his weapon.

And now the moment had come to use the blade for its intended purpose. Ahead were hordes of daemons, and he had to pass through them to complete his mission. Which meant nothing could stop him. The door opened, and a two-meter creature, which had formerly been an ordinary serf, immediately lunged at the Praetorian. It was now a humanoid reptile with black pincers instead of arms, and a sharp lilac tail bursting from its back.

Two additional pairs of eyes had grown on its face, which had elongated significantly, and several thin tentacles—formerly its tongue—writhed from its maw. The beast laughed maniacally and tried to strike Atreus with its pincer, but it was child's play. It took him only two hundredths of a second to cleave the beast in twain with a lightning-fast motion. However, stopping to check on the enemy was impossible right now, as time was running out.

The daemons thought they could delay him for a long time, but they had little idea what a warrior personally trained by the Emperor Himself was capable of. Atreus did not hold back his wrath, descending like a storm upon the manifestations of the Ruinous Powers. There were dozens of various monsters in the room, united by a single goal—to kill him—but it was not enough.

"No matter how many of you there are, you are mere meat, unfit even for practice. I have fought the greatest champions of Chaos, but you... are just an embarrassment." It took a mere thirty seconds to completely clear the corridor of all daemons. The golden blade was now completely coated in blood, but this was only the beginning.

"Come out, you cannot hide from me. They should have sent an Eversor instead; at least they're more useful."

"Are you aware that for revealing knowledge of that Temple, I am obligated to kill you on the spot?" Khoron appeared before the warrior, who did not flinch upon seeing him.

"Try it, and you'll find out why your tricks don't work on me." The assassin did not react to the words, instead standing motionless, listening to something.

"Shut up, we need to move. Do you hear that?"

"Judging by the number of actively moving Astartes bodies, a serious fight is taking place not far from us. I suspect they will need our help." No more words were needed, and the two men set off in the required direction. Khoron vanished into thin air once again, while Atreus surged forward at an immense speed....

"In His name, you shall know my wrath and be banished until the end of time." Maria recited a battle prayer, preparing to fight a truly powerful opponent. Before her stood a three-meter daemonette with four arms, two of which grew from its back as massive, spiked pincers. In its humanoid hands, it held a long, curved blade and a shield, the surface of which was covered in bleeding human skin.

"Is this really worth it? I can see your desires, walled up beneath centuries of service. No family, no happiness, no love, no-thing. Accept me, and I will show you the path to everything you have ever wanted." The woman did not answer, simply charging at the enemy. Her blade shone with runes and moved at incredible speed. The blade met the shield, and a small flash appeared at the point of contact. The daemonette let out a loud shriek but continued the fight anyway.

It tried to strike the warrior with its limbs, but Maria was faster. She miraculously dodged every attack, managing to strike back in return.

"Do you even realize how repulsive you are to your 'God'? He would have burned all of humanity if he knew what you would become. Worshipping a corpse on a throne, how pathetic." Maria maintained her silence, continuing to stare at her enemy with an expressionless face. After just a minute, the monster lost a limb, shrieking even louder and now striking out desperately.

But even that was in vain—just twenty seconds later, dodging another attempt to catch her in a pincer, Maria managed to sever the monster's head with a lightning-fast motion. Only the battle did not end there. Even headless, the daemon maintained control of the body and managed a surprise attack with a pincer, striking the holy warrior with a sickening crunch of bones. She was still alive, but the battle was only intensifying.

The Blood Angels could not help her right now, as they were engaged with their own opponents. Hundreds of tainted former slaves surged against the two dozen Astartes, each covered in lilac slime leaking from their ears, transforming them into hideous Warp spawn. Some had already grown tentacles, pincers, and other additional limbs. But this would not have been a threat to the Space Marines were it not for the one leading them.

With minimal mutations, a tall woman with inhuman proportions and pointed ears stood behind all the cultists. She held only a lyre in her hands, seemingly carved from bone and adorned with unknown, bloody runes. She smiled silently and simply looked at the Space Marines, playing a beautiful melody on her instrument. The music echoed throughout the entire room, seeming like the very embodiment of perfection.

Aaron moved ahead of everyone, destroying the Chaos worshippers at incredible speed, when he noticed some of his brothers beginning to slow down. He was no fool and knew how the effects of chaotic influence manifested, so he pushed toward the source of the sound even faster. He signaled the other Angels with his hand, after which the affected Astartes stepped aside, lowering their weapons, and were replaced by other Astartes.

Aaron carved a bloody path, turning dozens of mutants into minced meat, until he reached the musician. She smiled, looking at him, and didn't move even when his blade cleaved her in two.

"Primary target eliminated, now we need to..." Aaron never stopped tracking the dead body, allowing him to dodge the strike of a massive, glittering tentacle. The daemonette's remains instantly fused, becoming an even more hideous entity. The lyre became part of the creature, rendering it significantly stronger. It had merged with the monster's chest, and the moment it ran its fingers across the strings, a wave of energy swept through the entire hold.