Under the starless sky, it was pitch black, the combined force of various subspace substances reduced visibility, the howling wind threw gravel and soil into the storm, and heavy rain poured down.
Neither fact mattered to Azrael; the visual sensors on his helmet filtered and illuminated the darkness, allowing him to see as clearly as day.
A large amount of tactical and situational data rolled over his right eye, absorbed by his enhanced memory.
His left shoulder had been slightly damaged in the course of the previous battle, but the servos were functioning within normal limits, and the command team had formed a defensive line around the damaged Rand, their ID tags and vital signs hovering over Azri
The periphery of the retina display.
"Stay alert! The enemy may still be nearby."
Deathwing Grand Master Belial's voice crackled over the voice link.
Azrael glanced at his target, with walls made of hive ruins rising from all sides. He glanced at them as a new set of data floated across his helmet-mounted display.
The main materials of this fortification are metal and rock, which can withstand comprehensive bombardment.
"Keep your formation tight, the storm is limiting communications."
There was obvious annoyance in Azrael's tone.
"Lord of the Stone, can your instrument still guide our attack?"
"Undecided, I need time to evaluate."
The Master of the Armory's reply sounded hoarse in Azrael's ears.
"We continue to attack."
Azrael dropped the hissing communicator.
"Use melta bombs and cutting equipment."
The heavy fortifications were torn apart with the hiss of high-pressure gas. After the Dark Angels poured into the fortifications, some moved to the right and some to the left to patrol.
Azriel couldn't help but frown, because his helmet was working hard to filter the rotten air.
Signs of battle are everywhere. Broken illuminators flicker from the ceiling, casting jagged patches of light around the entrance room, and the walls are riddled with holes the size of fists. Sparks pour from exposed cables hanging in bundles,
The metal of the floor was scorched, and blood and guts were everywhere.
"There is no body."
Asmodai spoke Azrael's thoughts.
"The dead are not our concern, keep your eyes open to the living."
Azrael aimed his pistol into the adjacent corridor and walked behind a crude barracks.
This place had apparently once been a base for Chaos rebels, who had taken shelter from orbital bombardments under thick rubble, but now it was deserted.
According to the scan results, the passage will extend for half a kilometer, and then a set of stairs will lead them to the central area of the Attica Hive, where the governor's residence once stood.
"This is the perfect place for an ambush."
Sappho, the priest, stared at the dark passage warily.
"Orias, leave a company here and take up the watch duty."
"as you wish."
Third Captain Orias struggled to hide his dissatisfaction, although he knew that the Supreme Master was right - they would be forced to advance side by side along the corridor, and there would be no room for more warriors.
Then, Azrael entered the darkness.
As the Grand Master walked down the corridor, he could hear Belial's footsteps behind him, the hissing of cables as they struggled, the shifting of metal—
Azriel turned sharply to his left as a grenade struck the ground, and his visual sensors dimmed, shielding his eyes from the blinding flash that filled the room.
With a bang, half a dozen ceiling grates fell to the ground, and a group of figures in soaked uniforms descended and opened fire.
"Enemy attack!"
Azrael shouted into the communicator, even as a bolt of laser fire flew from his armor.
"quantity?"
Beria turned his head, and sporadic weapon fire illuminated the corridor behind him.
"There is also one ahead."
Azrael raised his relic bolt pistol, advancing and firing as lasers erupted from further down the corridor.
In the firelight, Azrael saw the attackers carrying the Imperial Eagle on their filthy chests.
"traitor!"
He roared, gritting his teeth as the laser blast hit his helmet.
During the charge, the Supreme Master held the Secret Sword tightly and twisted the handle to activate the energy core.
The weapon's energy field roared, a manifestation of the rage coursing through its owner's veins.
The Grand Master rushed towards the traitor, ignoring the lasers that pierced the armor.
The traitors tried to hold their ground, and Azriel swung his sword upward like a tiger among sheep, slicing the man in front of him in half from groin to shoulder, ripping the first of them open.
As the two halves of the man's torso hit the ground, Azrael had split the other in half from hipbone to ribcage. The third died as he completed the move, the Grand Master slicing his sword directly into the man's head and killing him.
Drag the heart out of his ribs.
Even between battles, he did not forget to observe.
Azrael counted fifteen muzzle flashes. The traitors only used this number of people to ambush them?
The cowards hid behind some overturned supply crates and metal plates they had dragged up from the floor, and Azrael used his bolter to sew a line across the barricade, as the exploding bullets struck the metal and exploded flesh.
Enhanced hearing registers ever-changing sounds.
Only twelve muzzles flashed.
To his left, Belial's storm bolter fired with a deafening roar, sending a line of fire down the corridor.
The barricade exploded in a blue flash as the bullets struck their target, some screamed as superheated shrapnel pierced the traitor's body, and some were more fortunate and returned instantly to death.
Azrael knew that beneath Belial's helmet, the Grand Master of the Deathwing must be smiling - his hatred for traitors was unparalleled.
A ragged traitor stumbled over the corpse of his comrade. As he struggled on all fours, desperately searching for a weapon, Azrael shot him in the head.
"The fate of traitors!"
Faced with an enemy whose armor bore the guts and blood of their comrades, the traitors retreated.
Only one person was still holding his position, staring at Azrael with wide eyes, and took out a box of grenades from his backpack.
But he underestimated the Space Marine's reaction speed, and Azrael rushed up and chopped off his head in an instant.
Grenades dropped from the fingers of the headless corpse.
Ahead of him, the remaining traitors gathered behind a pillar, and he could see the fear on their haggard faces as the Grand Master emerged from the shadows, unharmed.
They actually thought the pillars would protect them from the Emperor's wrath?
This is an insult.
Azrael roared, the metallic resonance of the helmet's audio amplifier giving the sound a beast-like quality.
One of the traitors peed his pants.
Then, the Supreme Master rushed towards them. He jumped in the last few meters and passed his sword through the pillar when he landed.
The blade sliced open the traitor's body, spurting out blood and shattered organs, chewing the metal of the pillar and piercing the bodies of the two traitors closest to it.