Seraphs of the Emperor’s Judgment

Chapter 214: Slaughterhouse of Beasts

The smoke from the explosion gradually dissipated, and Soshyan climbed back up from the ground. Shaking his dizzy head, he walked over to Sol and glanced at the claw marks upon his pauldron.

"What was that?"

"I don't know, but it absolutely was not a Genestealer."

Sol raised the sword in his hand, recalling that fleeting, seconds-long encounter.

"An experienced killer. Agile movements, immense strength, and it even carried a slight scent of the Warp."

"It seems the situation underground is far more complex than anticipated."

Soshyan inspected the mine tunnel, confirming there were no living enemies remaining before he began considering their next route of action.

"The enemy already knows we are here. If we continue following our originally planned route, the ambushes will only multiply. We need to carve out a new path."

He subsequently took out the map provided to them by the Departmento Justitiae. After staring at it for two seconds, he spoke in surprise:

"Hah, it seems someone has already paved a path for us."Sol turned his head to look, discovering that exactly as Soshyan had said, separated by merely a single wall was a parallel mine tunnel, one that would make it easier to delve deeper into the mining sector.

And that wall had just been blown wide open with a hole.

"Everyone, focus your minds."

Under Soshyan's leadership, the squad stepped over the gravel-strewn ground and entered the gap blasted through the rock wall.

The rock wall was not thick; very soon, they entered a new, considerably more spacious mine tunnel.

The moment he stepped inside, Soshyan smelled the overwhelming stench of death. When he realized he had crushed something underfoot, he looked down and discovered it was the head of a Genestealer.

This was a battlefield. The mine tunnel was littered with corpses, the walls covered in the aftermath of a massive firefight. Large numbers of Genestealer hybrids and Purestrains lay upon the ground, the vast majority torn entirely to shreds, having died thoroughly. However, they were not the only corpses on the field.

A portion of skeletal remains clad in miners' uniforms were also scattered everywhere. Soshyan inspected one male corpse and discovered a tattoo of the Cult of the Raven Lord on the back of his shoulder. Subsequent inspections of several other human corpses yielded the exact same result.

Sol focused his inspection on another aspect. After looking carefully, he confirmed that these people were pure baseline humans, exhibiting no mutations or distortions whatsoever. The only distinguishing feature was their skin being paler than the locals—likely the result of living underground long-term.

Then the truth was abundantly clear. While they had been fighting the xenos, another group of people had also been engaging the xenos right here.

"It seems we are not far from the truth."

Soshyan felt that the explosion was absolutely no accident, because the timing was simply too coincidental, almost as if someone had deliberately intended for them to take this path.

"Keep moving."

Suppressing the bizarre thoughts in his mind, Soshyan led the squad as they began moving down the corpse-littered mine tunnel.

This mine tunnel sloped downward, with tracks on one side and stairs on the other. The warriors advanced slowly in a three-man formation, providing mutual fire support for one another.

Soshyan led the squad from the front, the lumen beams from his helmet piercing the darkness that shrouded this terrifying stench.

Very soon, they reached the end of the mine tunnel. A massive blast door stood wide open before them, emanating the foul stench of death from within.

"Advance with caution. Check all angles."

After Soshyan finished speaking, Sol added another sentence.

"And check above."

His voice was concise, sounding as if spoken through gritted teeth. That brief clash just now had left him with a very bad premonition.

The Astral Knights stepped silently into the darkness, on high alert for further enemy contact.

But there were no enemies here.

This place was a central hub used for loading and unloading ore. Tracks from all directions converged here. Overturned ore carts and collapsed iron towers could be seen everywhere.

As they moved, Sol looked up to inspect the hub's towering ceiling and discovered a massive number of shadows hanging above.

Upon closer inspection, he realized they were countless corpses hanging upside down.

He subsequently put this matter aside, shifting his attention to the cartilaginous remains of the corpses beneath his feet.

It was a mixture of various corpses, including miners, mining sector guards, and xenos. They shared only one connection—they had all been mercilessly cut down and violently torn to shreds by something.

Judging from the wounds upon them, this was likely the masterpiece of the attacker from just now. This much was certain.

Soshyan was currently standing at the edge of a filtration pool, looking down at the xenos corpses blanketing the surface of the water, and a single corpse draped in a pale purple robe. That thing possessed a swollen, engorged head; without a doubt, it was also a xenos hybrid.

At the same time, on a crane not far away, a headless corpse was pinned to a steel plate. A banner was draped over its body, upon which the coiled image of an insect could faintly be seen.

"That thing was slaughtering xenos here."

Sol took a deep breath of the blood mist that had yet to dissipate from the air.

"This was less than an hour ago."

Click...

Suddenly, a subtle movement caught Sol's attention. He turned around, his gaze locking onto a stealthy figure, resembling a cloaked phantom.

"Enemy contact."

After speaking over the public channel, Sol practically flew forward in a single bound, attempting to catch the peeping figure.

But the entity was incredibly agile. Exactly like a piece of cloth fluttering in the wind, it drifted straight up into the gaps of the scaffolding above, before melting seamlessly back into the darkness.

Halfway through his charge, Sol suddenly stopped in his tracks.

Because he heard even more footsteps.

"Enemy contact."

Soshyan had heard it too, and immediately shouted his command.

"Fall back, regroup!"

Just as the Astral Knights hurriedly retreated toward the passage they had come from, a massive shadow poured forth from the tunnels converging into the hub from all directions.

They advanced at high speed, slapping the ground with all four limbs. Their extra arms were raised high, the massive claws wreathed in sinister psychic energy looking exactly like fluorescent lamps in the darkness.

A massive horde of Purestrain Genestealers surged forth like a tidal wave, charging straight toward Soshyan and the others. The very caverns trembled under their assault.

"Looks like they won't be easy to deal with."

Soshyan fired as he spoke. Subsequently, the other warriors also began pouring devastating firepower into the xenos.

Bolter rounds struck tough hide, ripping out large chunks of flesh and bone. Their continuous roars transformed into shrieks of agony and rage.

The vanguard collapsed with a crash. The Astral Knights purposefully fired their bolters into the creatures' forelimbs, shattering the joints and blasting the limbs cleanly in two.

The xenos fell to the ground one after another, rolling and roaring. Yet their kin behind them pressed forward, using their claws and fangs to tear open the exposed abdomens of their fallen brethren.

In less than a moment, the second wave of xenos was completely covered in the blood of their companions.

Hundreds of xenos fell, yet the momentum of their avalanche-like charge remained utterly unstoppable.

The Space Marines continued firing without the slightest hesitation. More Genestealers fell, for as the distance closed, the damage output surged exponentially.

The transfer hub transformed into a slaughterhouse. The foul, bloody stench completely filled Soshyan's nasal cavity.

It was a suffocating, hot, and humid smell. It was also the smell of the enemy falling.