Seraphs of the Emperor’s Judgment

Chapter 69: Angels Descend

"Commander, we are being attacked by those mortals. We need to show them that we are Space Marines, not animals."

Armin murmured angrily; in his heart, he wanted to teach those bastards a good lesson.

"No, there are others nearby."

Suddenly, the usually silent Sol's voice rang out over the vox-channel. Wearing ordinary power armor and a helmet, he looked no different from the other warriors, with the only distinction being the sword at his waist.

"Silence."

Soshyan immediately issued the order, then turned and moved to the back of the formation, where Sol was positioned.

He carefully observed the jungle. With the aid of his night vision goggles and infrared sensors, he spotted the stealthy figures moving through the undergrowth.

They appeared to be mortals wielding crude light weapons, but there were many of them, closing in from all directions.

Soshyan's squad was situated precisely between them and the city's defenders.

Furthermore, due to the night and the complex environment of the jungle, these people had not recognized what was standing before them. Mistaking the squad for the city's defenders entering the jungle, they launched an attack on their target.All at once, the jungle was filled with the continuous cacophony of gunshots and shouts.

"Kill them!"

Soshyan then heard Armin let out a battle cry, emphasizing his fury with a bellowing voice.

"Armin, reform lines."

Soshyan shouted to his men.

"If anything comes at us from behind, kill them immediately."

Soon, the roar of bolters and the sound of flesh being torn apart echoed from deep within the jungle, accompanied by screams of death and the wails of the heavily wounded.

Suddenly, the ground began to tremble. Soshyan turned his head and saw a path being bulldozed through the jungle, tree sap spraying outward as trees were hacked into flying splinters.

A Sentinel walker, towering like a giant from legends, stood before Soshyan. A reaping chainblade was fixed to the front of this bipedal mech's mechanical arm, and a heavy flamer was mounted directly beneath the cockpit.

Perhaps because the jungle was too dark, before it could even identify its target, the Sentinel walker engaged its flamer.

A bright ball of fire surged through the jungle, turning everything in its path to ashes.

Soshyan's superhuman reflexes barely saved his life; with a sprint, he dodged right underneath the Sentinel walker.

He knew the flames sprayed outward in a cone, which meant the safest place was right next to the machine.

Of course, most Sentinel walkers were not equipped with melee weapons.

This pincer-like weapon, obviously salvaged from an agricultural harvester, roared to life amidst a thick cloud of black smoke. Sweeping downward, it carved a deadly arc aimed straight at the silver-grey figure.

Soshyan raised his red-glowing Holy Flame Sword in an attempt to block it.

In an instant, the kinetic energy of the massive chainblade made even the Space Marine's arms go numb.

Soshyan gritted his teeth, tensed his reinforced muscles, and tightly gripped the sword in his hand, its runes glowing faintly in the fierce clash.

Soon, the teeth of the chainblade were chipped away. Then, Soshyan forcefully rammed forward, the Holy Flame Sword slicing into the machine's interior, sparks flying between the blade and the gears.

Soshyan could hear the rest of the squad engaged in a fierce battle with those unidentified enemies.

Judging by the sounds of impact, the booming of bolters, and the snapping of bones, he knew roughly that it was an absolutely one-sided massacre.

Without waiting for the heavy Sentinel to restart, Soshyan hoisted his longsword with both hands and slashed viciously at the knee joints of the Sentinel's legs.

With a loud clang, the Holy Flame Sword severed the drive shafts, and the Sentinel immediately lost its balance.

It struggled to remain upright on its single remaining leg for a few seconds before toppling forward, the nozzle of its heavy flamer smashing into the dirt.

"Get out of here!"

Simultaneously, Armin angrily hurled a corpse high into the branches of a tree; it was an emaciated man in tattered clothing.

As the bolters roared, the other squad members easily drove the attackers back out. Even with a sneak attack, these mortals were simply no match for the demigods.

Moreover, they had realized what they were facing, immediately losing all their courage.

Though the gunfire had ceased, the ground began to tremble once more. More enemies were approaching.

Soshyan felt the vibrations in the earth. Based on the noise of the engine, he could discern the direction of the vehicle.

The defenders had sent out something new to burn this entire stretch of jungle to ashes.

The blazing fire expelled by the heavy flamer brightly illuminated the Astartes' power armor. The demigods emerged from the sea of fire, but the defenders didn't seem to have realized anything yet.

"They think we are the enemy and are firing at us."

"Kill them all!"

"Hold on."

Soshyan suppressed Armin's fury, then stepped forward and grabbed the hatch of the destroyed Sentinel walker.

With astonishing godlike strength, the Space Marine tore the hatch open, exposing a terrified, dripping-wet pilot inside the cockpit.

"Get out."

Soshyan commanded.

The pilot mumbled something, then scrambled out of the hatch and lay flat on the ground.

Soshyan then yanked a vox-caster out from inside.

"Damn it!"

Soon, he let out a frustrated growl, shaking the small spoil in his hand.

This vox-caster was already broken.

"Brothers, hold your positions."

After giving the order, Soshyan sprinted with all his might and charged headlong into the kill zone. The heavy stubbers mounted on the walls immediately responded, instantly kicking up a cloud of dust on the ground.

He constantly changed directions, dodging bullets and struggling to observe his surroundings.

Bullets struck Soshyan's shoulder pad, but they failed to interrupt his stride.

To his left, another Sentinel walker equipped only with a flamer charged forward, though it was still out of range.

To his right, he spotted the source of the earlier firepower: a tracked armored vehicle modified from a tractor.

He hoped those defenders would realize that this giant clad in silver-grey power armor was not some beast from the jungle.

Sure enough, the Sentinel walker slowed down; perhaps that pilot possessed at least a little sense.

But the gun turrets on the walls kept firing, though fortunately, they lacked accuracy.

However, the driver of the modified armored vehicle seemed to panic. Activating his engine, he actually charged toward Soshyan.

The Space Marine also began to charge.

He let out a battle roar, tensed his legs, and leaped toward the armored vehicle using the auxiliary power of his armor.

In the next second, Soshyan stomped heavily onto the hood of the armored vehicle, then proceeded to tear the roof of the cockpit off with his bare hands. He dragged the screaming mortals inside out one by one and tossed them aside.

His plan succeeded.

The gun turrets ceased firing, and the people on the walls, along with the lone Sentinel walker, became hesitant.

Soshyan took a deep breath, stood up, and removed his helmet.

"In the name of the Emperor!"

He shouted loudly:

"By attacking the Adeptus Astartes, you have committed an unforgivable capital offense!"

Panic erupted on the walls. Most of these people couldn't understand High Gothic; they were simply awed by the giant's furious roar. However, among the defenders, Soshyan spotted several figures dressed in ornate clothing.

The true leaders had appeared.

"It's the Astartes! The Angels of the Emperor have descended!"

The eyesight of the higher-ups was indeed far better than that of commoners; they recognized the identities of these giants at a glance. Panic and shock rapidly spread across the ramparts.

"Open the gate."

In the end, Soshyan simply commanded.

Trembling, the gates leading into the city of Cetis opened, and the Space Marine squad finally emerged from the jungle.