Seraphs of the Emperor’s Judgment

Chapter 17: Collapse

Just as Soshyan stood up straight, preparing to face the next Canoptek Spyder, an unprecedented tremor penetrated the soles of his boots, throwing him to the ground.

When he climbed back up, he noticed that changes were occurring in all directions. It seemed the entire World Engine had begun to disintegrate.

On the ground, on the walls, and even on the pillars and statues, millions of Xenos characters flickered, emitting a sickening green light.

Even worse, a massive number of Necron Warriors emerged from both sides of the main doors. Accompanied by the hissing sounds emitted when green energy activated, they continuously closed in on this side, while the team led by Forlo was still engaging in bitter combat with the Canoptek Spyders.

The only good news was that the tightly shut main doors had cracked open a sliver due to the intense tremors, enough to accommodate a Space Marine passing through.

Having flipped over the Canoptek Spyder on his body and stood back up, Forlo immediately issued a new command.

"Alexei, take your men and go support the Chapter Master. We will cover your rear!"

"Affirma... what?"

"Execute the order!"

Without waiting for Soshyan to continue questioning, Forlo roared:"Focus fire! Clear the way!"

In an instant, the roar of Bolters firing echoed through the corridor. The concentrated firepower immediately tore those Necrons blocking the space between the battlefield and the main doors to shreds. Even more of them convulsed while emitting sparks, then collapsed paralyzed to the ground, allowing those Canoptek Scarabs to crawl upon their bodies to perform repairs.

"Hurry!"

Urged by Forlo, Soshyan cast all thoughts aside and began sprinting at an accelerated pace, continuously firing forward.

Ned and Axel were on his left and right, forming an assault arrowhead, penetrating deep into the Necron infantry formation.

Meanwhile, the limping Occam volunteered to take the position of covering the rear. Moving with difficulty, he occasionally stopped to fire a clustered volley of bolts toward the path they came from behind.

"Melta Bombs!! Thirty-second fuse!"

Forlo's roar echoed across the comms channel. Soshyan could only put his head down and charge fiercely, sprinting madly all the way toward the fissure in the main doors.

But it wasn't until they got close that they discovered this place wasn't free of obstructions.

The fifth Canoptek Spyder was impressively entrenched atop the main doors. It was just that it had been completely motionless previously, leading people to mistakenly believe it was a statue.

After Soshyan's group of people drew near, it revived.

The massive metallic construct contorted and trembled upon its black pedestal. The green crystal clusters connected to its head flickered intermittently, and energy pulsated within the circuits connected to the pedestal.

"You keep moving forward! I will cover you!"

The last one to arrive, Occam, unhooked the final Grenade from his waist and forcefully threw it toward the awakening Canoptek Spyder.

With a massive boom, Soshyan and the other two scattered and passed through the fissure in the main doors under the cover of the Grenade. But just as Occam was also moving forward, a metallic appendage extended out from the cloud of devastation formed by the explosion, lashing toward this old veteran.

This strike carved deeply into Occam's shoulder, causing him to stagger backward.

Although it didn't draw blood, this blow also caused Occam to lose the opportunity to enter the fissure.

"Soshyan, don't look back. Keep walking."

Tossing out these words, Occam turned off his own vox, raised his gun, and opened fire upon the target.

Amidst the roaring sounds, projectiles bursting with blue flames destroyed one of that construct's appendages, but it was merely limited to this, because the Necron Warriors behind them had already caught up.

Boom——

A burst of flashes and a massive detonation finally made Soshyan realize he had already entered the central shrine.

"This place looks like it's going to fall to pieces."

Even in this sort of situation, Axel maintained a minimum modicum of humor.

But he was correct, for at the entrance to this gigantic shrine, sections of the vaulted dome had already caved in, and the floor had also begun to collapse. If they lingered here any longer, they would very likely be crushed or trapped.

"Keep walking."

Soshyan's voice was accompanied by a burst of thunderous bolter roars. He turned his head and took a glance past his backpack at the path they came from.

Through the fissure in the main doors, Soshyan could clearly see that that dazzling green light had vanished, replaced by the crackling sounds of Flayed Ones' razor-sharp claws and hatred-filled emerald eyes burning in the darkness.

It was already impossible to turn back, and the roars of Bolters were gradually fading into the distance as well...

After briefly holding a few seconds of silence for his own Battle Brothers, Soshyan led Ned and Axel to continue penetrating deeper. They passed through a magnificent promenade and entered a grand hall filled with statues and munitions. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but shattered metallic wreckage, and occasionally they could catch a glimpse of a streak of bloodstained silver.

It was very obvious that a fierce battle had once erupted here.

However, what was strange was that there was still a small number of intact Xenos on the ground. Upon their completely bald heads was only a single giant eye, and scattered beside them were some ranged weapons of exaggerated proportions.

No wounds could be seen on the exteriors of these strange Necrons; they just lay sprawled on the ground, completely motionless.

The three men were extremely careful when passing by them. Soshyan even fired an extra shot at the head of one of them, but there was still no reaction whatsoever.

"No people, and no Xenos."

The muzzle of Ned's gun continuously shifted about on the right side of the three-man squad. But within the grand hall, there was only a patch of dead silence, as well as darkness that even Night Vision Goggles couldn't penetrate.

"Truly strange."

Axel suddenly spoke up. He was maintaining vigilance on the left side.

"What?"

Soshyan's footsteps paused for a moment.

"Don't you find it strange?"

Axel turned his head toward him. Even through the helmet, Soshyan could tell what sort of expression the other party possessed.

"Lord Forlo seemed as if he specifically existed to escort you inside. The Company Commander had this attitude previously as well. It's simply... simply as if they were fighting for you."

"What kind of strange nonsense are you spouting."

"I have also been feeling this way the whole time."

Ned's voice joined the channel.

"Soshyan, there's a matter I haven't told you. Namely, when we were entering the Drop Pods, I noticed the Chapter Master seemed to be watching us the whole time."

"The Chapter Master?"

Soshyan reminisced for a moment, yet he didn't recall whether Amulad had made an appearance.

"That's right, I saw it very clearly. He was standing together with the Master of the Forge, Salax. They were about two hundred meters away from us, behind a storage rack—"

Before his words hit the ground, a bolt of lightning piercing through the air like a whip struck straight at Ned's body.

"Ah!"

With a low roar, Ned staggered backward. He lowered his head and took a look, discovering his left arm had become a bloody severed limb.

"Enemy attack!"

Axel's furious roar immediately rang out. Soshyan hurriedly raised his gun and surveyed the surroundings.

He saw countless figures moving within the profound darkness, and moreover, they were converging. Their weapons, glowing with green light, crackled as terrifying energy operated within them. Further away, the silhouette of a pyramid was gradually revealing itself.

Boom——————————!

Right when Soshyan's group was almost surrounded, a roar and tremor akin to a volcanic eruption transmitted through the ground to the soles of their boots. The three Space Marines hurriedly activated their Mag-locks to anchor themselves in place, whereas those Necron machines fell over one after another, like puppets being pushed down.

Then, a terrifying collapse occurred within the grand hall. Millions of tons of giant boulders came crashing down. Soshyan hurriedly took cover together with his two Battle Brothers.

During this process, through a gap exposed in the vaulted dome, Soshyan saw a massive construct currently ascending toward the void. Its shape was like a giant and razor-sharp scythe.

After briefly hanging in mid-air, it flew away at an unbelievable speed, followed by two smaller models.

Soshyan knew these were Necron flying vehicles, but their posture at this time reminded him of the Escape Pods on the Storm.

It seemed they were currently fleeing...

However, considering the nature of these soulless machines, escaping from battle was somewhat inconceivable. Could it be these Necrons were actually not of one mind?

Right when Soshyan was focused on the anomalies in the sky, the originally already tottering vaulted dome completely collapsed. Just before a pile of giant boulders enveloped him, a hand shoved him violently from behind.

(End of Chapter)