Chapter 49: Rogue Trader Pummels Space Marine!
"Draw chainswords! Inject stimms! For the Dynasty, for the God-Emperor! Charge!"
Seeing that these Astartes were not invincible after all, everyone found their courage once more.
Stimms placed a great strain on the psyche; Damon had cautioned everyone to use them sparingly, only when absolutely necessary. Now was clearly such a time.
As the stimms took effect, the Raiders forgot their fear, their strength and speed surging again as they clashed with the enemy.
The combat suits gave these Raiders an overwhelming advantage against ordinary Chaos cultists; only when facing the Word Bearers and the three Possessed Marines did they seem somewhat outmatched.
But they were not without success. Relying on their ceramite combat suits, the Raiders traded injuries for injuries, lives for wounds, hacking at these traitors.
Some Firebats even launched suicide charges at the Word Bearers, clutching melta bombs. With the Word Bearers unfamiliar with these Firebats, they detonated the bombs and ignited the plasma fuel tanks on their backs. The resulting inferno, comparable to a melta blast, completely engulfed both the Firebat and a Word Bearer.
The Word Bearers fought with growing alarm. Had they somehow traveled through time during their stint in the Warp? Were the Imperium's mortal troops all this formidable now?
Ian, seeing a Possessed Marine charging towards him, was about to unleash another psychic spell when the Khornate Possessed Marine reached him. A blow struck with all its might didn't directly break Ian's shields but still sent him flying into nearby ruins.
A huge cloud of dust rose, but Ian did not get up.
Without Ian's suppression, these Possessed Marines became even more unrestrained. Loyalist blood continuously splattered across Pilgrim's Square, splashing onto the God-Emperor's holy icon as if it were weeping tears of blood.
Lucan, under the protection of Damon and Verre, watched the battle before him.
"Why don't the Astartes seem that fast? Shouldn't a Possessed Marine be stronger after a daemon takes control of its body? Why do they look… just like this to me?"
At this moment, in Lucan's eyes, nothing on the battlefield seemed to slow down, yet he found he could effortlessly track the movements of these traitors.
Lucan seemed to realize something. Due to the intensity of the battle, he hadn't had a chance to check the changes in his Psy-crystal count.
When Lucan checked, he discovered his balance had now reached 250,000.
And this enormous sum had directly doubled the power of his Warp projection.
As this vast Warp power was purified and fed back into his physical body, the resulting strength was even more astonishing.
At this moment, Lucan's physical strength might have already surpassed his own imagination.
And that Possessed Marine also sensed Lucan's gaze. That disdainful look made it even more furious. It had intended to finish off Ian, but now it felt it had found a more valuable head.
The distinct combat suit, different from the others, and the tense expressions of Damon and Verre…
"Could he be that Rogue Trader? If I take his skull, the Blood God will surely be even more pleased!"
The Possessed Marine changed its target, no longer attacking Ian, but charging towards Lucan.
"Captain! Run! He's targeting us! I'll cover you!"
Verre quickly shielded Lucan and urged him to flee. Even though the opponent was an Astartes, and he knew he was no match, he intended to fight. Damon also watched the charging Possessed Marine with a grim expression; he had never seen such a grotesque, humanoid warrior.
Nearby loyalists also noticed the abnormality and immediately rushed to assist.
"Run?! Can we even get away? Charge with me and finish him!!" Lucan roared.
"What are you saying, my Lord? How is that possible?!" Verre, at this moment, only thought Lucan was speaking nonsense.
But before he could stop Lucan, Lucan had already rushed out at an incredible speed.
"So fast!"
Even the Possessed Marine was startled by Lucan's speed, yet Lucan's charge only made the Khornate daemon within it more excited.
"Weak mortal! I admire your courage! Fight! Exhilarating!"
Compared to easily obtained skulls, Khorne, the Blood God, preferred offerings gained through pure combat.
"Slow… so slow…"
After entering a combat state, Lucan felt his senses further enhanced.
With both charging at full speed, they reached each other in the blink of an eye.
The Possessed Marine, raising its chela-claw high, swung down at Lucan with all its might.
Verre watched this, his eyes wide with fury and despair.
"Captain!"
In his mind, it was impossible for Lucan, with a mortal body, to block the enemy's attack.
But to everyone's astonishment, Lucan was completely unharmed, while the Possessed Marine's chela-claw went flying high into the air…
Within the Imperium, mortals capable of defeating an Astartes in melee were not unheard of, but most of these individuals could no longer be considered purely human.
Powerful Magi of the Adeptus Mechanicus could do it; mighty warriors enhanced by various gene-treatments and potent implants, clad in force-feedback armor, could also do it. Those blessed by the God-Emperor went without saying. But ordinary human bodies had their limits.
Verre knew Lucan had only undergone the most basic gene-enhancements; he didn't have a single implant on his body.
The Possessed Marine stared incredulously at its missing arm. Its eyes could barely follow Lucan's movements, but its body couldn't keep up?
"Is this thing really still human?!"
What terrified the daemon most was that it wasn't just its arm that had been severed, but also a part of its soul. It even felt its connection to this Word Bearer's body weaken the closer Lucan got.
It was like powerful signal interference, making the Possessed Marine's body increasingly clumsy.
In the daemon's eyes, Lucan's projection in the Warp appeared before it.
Countless tentacles were reaching for the daemon's soul.
"No… you are not human! You are definitely not human!"
And it was the first time Lucan truly knew the strength and combat level of his current physical body. At this moment, he needed no techniques; relying solely on this body's power and reaction speed, he was more than capable of dealing with the opponent, provided they had no other tricks.
And once Lucan had a clearer understanding of his own strength, his fighting style became even more unrestrained.
The adamantium combat suit allowed Lucan to tank the Possessed Marine's attacks.
And every time his slash struck the Possessed Marine's body, the creature felt a part of its soul being drawn out. Moreover, Lucan was weakening its connection to the Warp. A punch from Lucan that landed on its chest even directly shattered the power armor plating.
"You… you are a Blank?!"
The Khornate daemon within the Possessed Marine was terrified. It had originally known that even if it died fighting with all its might, Khorne, the Blood God, would allow it to be reborn in the Warp. But when the fear of utter annihilation enveloped it, the power Khorne had granted it also began to leave.
With one side waxing and the other waning, the Possessed Marine completely lost any chance of victory or escape.
Looking at the increasingly weakened Possessed Marine, Lucan swung his most fatal blow and decapitated him. The daemon's soul was utterly extinguished, and the Word Bearer's body also lost its life force.
Watching the massive corpse fall to the ground, Verre came back to his senses, realizing it had all been real.
"We… we won?" Verre stood rooted to the spot.
The two had exchanged dozens of blows, yet in Verre's eyes, only two or three seconds had passed.
And the result? The Rogue Trader had, in a frontal engagement, killed a Traitor Astartes completely possessed by a daemon? This was enough to become a legend, spread throughout the Expanse.
The remaining two Possessed Marines, seeing their most powerful battle-brother slain by Lucan, also couldn't believe what they were seeing.
"No! There's something wrong with this human!! He might be one of the Corpse-Emperor's Chosen!"
(End of Chapter)