Sosh Yang strode forward despite the hail of bullets, turning his stance and shining in the dim light.
When he came to the rock, he raised his arms and slammed his fists on the rock.
Lightning-like blue-white light burst out, and the giant rock disappeared in a thunderous explosion.
Soshyan was the first to rush into it, and this is the honor he deserves.
The interior of the rock wall was pitch black, with the only illumination provided by the flash from the muzzle of the bolter and the sparks from the cables that had been torn off during the fierce battle.
The enhanced senses allowed Soshyang's vision to penetrate the darkness. Warm air surged out from the broken entrance, and white steam rolled around him. For the first time, he saw the appearance of his enemy.
They wore gray-green armor and carried the Empire's standard laser rifles. The armor plates on their chests were inlaid with purple blasphemous patterns, symbolizing that they had deviated from the ways of the Empire.
Their faces were also covered by masks, with only a narrow red slit in place of one eye.
A hundred of these warriors huddled in a domed hall, sheltered behind broken machinery and furniture.
Those soldiers in armor formed a solid line of defense and opened fire as soon as the Space Marines emerged from the passage.
Red lasers erupted from the defense line, covering the hall in a horizontal red rainstorm.
Soshyan was hit three times, once on his breastplate, once on his greaves, and once on his helmet, flooding his senses with a burst of static.
Farzad was in front of him, braving the lasers that kept hitting the shield in his hand.
Gorgori led the Soul Drinker warriors to attack from both sides in a roundabout way, taking away the life of a renegade soldier with every swing of his power sword.
The Soul Drinker's veterans are just as ruthless and efficient as he is.
Corpses flew through the air one after another, their bodies were in a mess, and their limbs were broken in the powerful impact.
The enemy's firepower began to weaken, and the overlapping bolter firepower shredded the bunker. Soldiers specializing in close combat broke into the gaps in the opponent's line and carried out bloody killings with chainswords.
Soshiyang used his storm bolter to fire at the black figures that were shuttled back and forth. The huge impact turned the hit targets into blood mist, and the remaining parts flipped in the air.
After deciding to save bullets, Soshyan picked up the chain saw and halberd, killing the enemies with fierce and efficient melee combat.
Thanks to Savita's training, every strike he makes is an impeccable and fatal attack, and every step is precise and perfect.
Bullets ricocheted off his overlapping armor, and the flashes of battle reflected on his helmet, making him look like a warrior from ancient legends.
"We captured this entrance."
Marcus shouted as the last traitor was efficiently dispatched by the Astartes at his side.
"Blow open the door inside and you'll find the altar soon."
Soldiers carrying explosive devices rushed forward to destroy the iron door inside, and even in the roar of the explosion, Soshyanz could still distinguish the dull explosion on the other side of the door.
He lowered the halberd in his hand and took advantage of the temporary end of the battle to observe the surrounding environment.
A corpse lay at his feet, the man's armor torn to pieces, a crack splitting the mask covering his face in half.
Frozen blood was scattered around him like gems, and Sosh Yang used the end of his halberd to tear off the cracked mask.
The man's skin was covered in fine black tattoos, patterns similar to the lines on his armor.
An empty and dim dead eye stared upward, and Soshyan couldn't help but imagine what kind of power could force this man to break his oath of allegiance to the empire.
Why is the bewitchment of chaos so powerful?
He did not struggle to find an answer, because with a muffled sound, the inner iron door was also penetrated.
He abandoned the dead man from his mind and followed the figure with the powerful sword high into the air into the central dome.
The soldiers rushed into the dust and smoke generated by the explosion of the iron gate, and then passed through the smoke and entered the interior of the building.
Marcus was right, this is a temple.
But at the same time, this is also a slaughterhouse.
It's cold inside, freezing cold.
Steam rose from each Space Marine's power pack, a shaft of light stabbed down from the cracked roof, and the sweet smoke from the burning brazier lingered in the breach in the wall, seemingly reluctant to enter.
Before he even walked in, Sosh Yang smelled blood.
He saw countless corpses, probably over ten thousand.
The corpses were obviously arranged in a certain pattern, and each corpse was still standing.
This is an illusion, because each corpse is actually supported by a sharp blackened iron rod. These people are nailed here like this, and their bodies are arranged in an obviously meaningful form - I don't know.
Were they crucified alive or after death?
The meaning of this form is a mystery to Soshyan.
Gorgori led their warriors through the array of corpses, one of them carrying the chapter's banner, a glorious, scarred reminder of all they had lost and what they had fought for.
All the struggle.
The Astral Knights also followed their Chapter Master. Among them, the heavy weapon man Valen's assault gun barrel was still spinning and making a whining sound, seeming to be looking for any living targets.
Marcus was also following Soshyan, his expression unreadable but his body language clear.
"They did it themselves."
The judge shook his head and continued walking forward.
None of them could comprehend what they were seeing; it was too foreign to their understanding and did not fit any pattern of warfare they had been taught.
Marcus approached the nearest body and looked up.
The face of the deceased was scratched by a sharp blade, and his face was distorted by a mixture of terror and piety. The symbols on the face were strange geometric shapes, which gave people an indescribable discomfort.
The closer you get to the center of the temple, the clearer the arrangement of the bodies becomes.
The soldiers began to approach the center of the dome room, and they naturally gathered together. Sosh Yang felt that the temperature seemed to be lower.
"They formed equidistant columns."
The assassin of the Death Cult suddenly spoke, his face hidden under the pale skull mask trying to convey the disgust that all of them could feel.
"They radiate outward from a central point."
"It shows that what's in the center is important."
Marcus immediately replied:
"The nave of a temple was often designed as a central altar, a place for worship."
“So what’s in the center?”
Gorgri pointed his sword at the middle.
"I didn't see the altar."
He was right, there was no altar here, just a sunken pit from which wisps of mist drifted.
Sosh Yang approached the pit carefully. He saw that the pit was about three meters deep from the surrounding ground, and in the center of the pit was another impaled corpse.