Seraphs of the Emperor’s Judgment

Chapter 192: A Pinnacle of Slaughter

For a brief moment, the two diametrically opposed forces seemed locked in a stalemate, the Greenskin pressing its weight against this creature that caused it to tremble.

But for some reason, at this moment, it did not seem as powerful as it appeared earlier; rather, the tiny creature before it felt more like an existence more colossal than itself.

Seconds later, the shield was the first to give way, turning into a dispersing translucent veil before vanishing entirely.

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!

The Ork Dreadnought howled, its siege drills spinning at high speeds, their tips aimed straight for Soshyan's neck.

But its opponent was already on the move. The Holy Flame Sword slashed toward the Dreadnought's knee joint, tearing open the internal hydraulics and churning into the inner thigh, causing the entire machine to stagger.

Following that, he dug ever deeper, sawing back and forth like a surgeon, even gouging a massive hole in its chest cavity just so he could stab further inside.

The Ork Dreadnought stumbled backward, hammering a fist down on the Holy Flame Sword in a dying struggle, knocking it from Soshyan's grasp.

Although Soshyan quickly grabbed the hilt, in truth, he no longer needed the sword.

He gripped the Ork Dreadnought's wrist tightly and began twisting the continuously spinning siege drill backward.The Greenskin also resisted with all its might, but for some reason, its own mechanical motive force proved inferior to the strength of this human tin can.

The secondary power units along its spine, overwhelmed by the strain, ruptured one after another.

It wasn't long before its arm was completely wrenched into a different direction by Soshyan, the drill pointing straight at its own face, while the pistons mounted on its wrist simultaneously burst and detached in succession.

"Sweet dreams, monster."

Soshyan gave a grinning smile, then forcefully shoved the tip downward, piercing straight through the armor plating.

In an instant, blood mixed with electrical sparks sprayed out together.

Only uncontrollable shrieking now emitted from the Dreadnought's augmitters, until Soshyan silenced it forever with one final, savage downward chop.

He tossed the Holy Flame Sword to the side, used his bare hands to pry open the thoroughly mangled metal plating, and hauled out the half-dead creature still breathing within—the pilot of this Dreadnought, a crippled Greenskin reduced to half a torso, covered in blood, and tightly bound by Cranial implants and bundles of nerve fibers.

Soshyan dragged it out of the cockpit, picked up the Holy Flame Sword, and impaled it through the chest. Then, he hoisted it high into the air, shaking off the cables still dangling from this lifeless remnant in the process.

"Purge the xenos!!!"

His voice exploded like thunder as he forcefully hurled the corpse of the Ork Dreadnought pilot away, smashing it against the far wall beneath the dome.

The Astral Knights answered their Chapter Master with deafening roars, immediately charging into the battlefield and driving the remaining Greenskins—still frozen in shock—back behind their trenches.

A new round of slaughter began once more.

Sol looked toward Soshyan; the young Chapter Master stood proudly at the very heart of the enemy redoubt, his feet planted atop a small hill of bleeding, mangled metal scraps.

This suddenly brought his mind back to the days before the Imperial Truth had been shattered.

Back then, he had also fought side-by-side with great warriors just as he did now, striking down innumerable xenos warlords, forging by their own hands what they believed to be the most powerful and magnificent Imperium of that era.

Suddenly, Sol broke into manic laughter, raising the sharp sword in his hand high, as if saluting an ethereal target.

"For the Imperium!"

He roared, exactly as he had done in the distant past.

Then, he broke into a sprint, throwing himself into the all-too-familiar combat.

His sharp sword thirsted for blood. Sol narrowed his eyes as the thrill of slaughter surfaced from the depths of his soul once again.

Dealing with the Greenskins here didn't take much time; their morale had been utterly shattered by Soshyan, leaving nothing but panicked unease.

When the energy web covering the exterior of this structure was entirely shut down, aerial combat erupted beneath its shadow.

The Imperial Navy's fighters no longer needed to keep their distance from ground targets; they began hunting at close range, fully displaying the advantages of their firepower.

Simultaneously, as the energy generators powered down one by one, the warships in orbit also commenced a new round of bombardment.

Among them, the Fire of Punishment could be considered the most terrifying presence. Its bombardment not only destroyed dozens of redoubts but also pierced through the Ork ammunition depot buried deep underground and encased in heavy metal with one precise, beautiful lance strike.

What followed was a violent tremor comparable to a level ten earthquake; the resulting explosion nearly tore away a fifth of the western sector of the main fortress.

It was incredibly lively outside, and the interior of the redoubt was no different.

Fully securing the entire redoubt actually took quite a bit of time. Even though the battle automata joined the fight later, the massive internal structure remained the primary factor slowing their progress.

The Astartes were forced to fight from one cavern to the next, destroying weapon systems, slaughtering defensive forces, and smashing everything they encountered along the way to dust.

Likewise, they encountered more enemies and more pre-dug trenches, each of which required battle automata equipped with heavy weapons to completely clear out.

Even so, the Astral Knights ultimately seized this critical node.

The 'gate' leading to the main fortress had been opened.

What followed was a bombardment aimed at the main fortress, purposed to weaken the enemy's defenses.

The orbital bombardment lasted for a full hour, the artillery fire rolling over the designated drop zones like a torrential downpour again and again.

At the same time, the orbital fleet's augurs continuously scanned without pause, searching for potential weak points appearing across the defensive lines.

Before long, signal feedback arrived first from the causeways of the Ork main fortress, subsequently beginning to spread to the surrounding areas.

All indicator lights signifying combat status lit up, and amidst the shrieking of warning Klaxons, these messages were transmitted into every drop pod.

All the combat squads, having long been stuffed into their cages, were fully prepared to smash into the battlefield.

When the squads received the precise coordinates, the bay doors opened in unison, the void shields silently rolling back in receding ripples. Iron claws gripping the drop pods propelled these metal constructs into the starry void outside the ship. They hung suspended above Vorenus's atmosphere, looking like rows of steel fruits lining the ship's railings.

With a single command, the clamps retracted, and explosive bolts continuously popped with thunderous detonations. Thrusters burned furiously, scorching flames carving fiery trails of smoke through the stars. Countless iron coffins of death plummeted unstoppably toward the planet's surface, their target pointing directly at the crimson world below.

The Thunderhawks and Stormravens also fired up to full power, plunging into the endless downpour right behind them, maintaining a tight distance from the clusters of drop pods hurtling toward the surface.

And behind them, the blinding light blooming from the laser weapons mounted on the naval gunlines surged endlessly. These lethal strikes nimbly weaved through the trajectories of the descending drop pods, accurately striking their designated targets and kicking up billowing clouds of dust across the surface of the defensive arrays.

Soon, the color of the drop pods' outer shells shifted from red to orange, then melted into incandescent spheres of pure white light. They were piercing through the planet's atmosphere, their outer silhouettes becoming blurred and indistinct due to the immense pressure and constantly accelerating speed they endured.