Buzz—Buzz!
The ethereal blue disintegration field tore through the air with the rapid swing of the blade, emitting a distinctive hum.
The power sword, shaped like a Roman gladius, clashed with the power claw, and the collision of metal and the repulsion of the force fields erupted into a piercing electromagnetic shriek.
Apher fought fiercely with the renegade Terminator Space Marine.
Everyone present had found their opponent, but the Blood Angels outnumbered them, with many fighting two-on-one, and more Blood Angels continued to join the chaotic battle, having fought their way through other compartments.
Even the Holy Blood Priest of the company, wielding a Chainsword and his ceremonial staff, joined the fray; his distinctive skull helmet quickly became stained with blood, turning from white to red, deepening in color, and gradually matching the color of his battle-brothers.
Perhaps battle group chaplains from other battle groups are intelligent strategists with slightly weaker combat capabilities.
But the battle group chaplains of the Blood Angels are different; they are usually responsible for disciplining brothers deeply afflicted by the Black Rage.
It is not easy to discipline these brothers lost in illusions; it requires not only Holy Blood scriptures but also the use of force.
A battle group chaplain who can beat a Black Rage Blood Angel into remission naturally possesses extraordinary combat prowess.
Chaplain Voltaire was seen wielding a Chainsword in one hand and swinging a staff in the other.
The staff, which had an censer, unexpectedly turned out to be a power maul.
Within three moves, the chaplain used his Chainsword to pin his opponent's power axe, then swung his staff to strike the opponent's head.
The disintegration field directly smashed the traitor's head, along with his sturdy helmet, to a pulp, like a baseball bat hitting a watermelon.
Blood mixed with brain matter splattered onto the warriors in a chaotic melee to his left, bathing them in blood.
Even without power armor, the rescued Salamanders Company Champion's exquisite close-combat skills allowed him to trade blows evenly with his enemy, even using the enemy's weapon to suppress his opponent.
This extremely contrasting reversal startled his opponent, who had no choice but to pick up another axe to engage him.
The traitor was so focused on intercepting the champion's deadly chain axe that he didn't hesitate to take several heavy blows to his helmeted face, finally being struck by an elbow from the dark-skinned champion, leaving him dizzy and staggering backward.
Apher finally encountered an experienced opponent, much like the Death Shroud Warrior he faced last time.
This traitor's attacks were extremely swift; the greatest advantage of his massive claws was their incredibly fast attack speed in close combat.
If it were a normal Blood Angel, under such a fierce power claw counterattack, their weapon would likely be melted.
But Apher is a prodigy; he has served the Blood Angels battle group for less than a century and a half.
With only one service stud, he is already the Captain of the Blood Angels Second Company, and also the battle group's Watch Master (Disciplinarian).
He stands on equal footing with Cato Sicarius, the Second Captain of the Ultramarines, who has produced countless extraordinary individuals.
Among the Blood Angels, who often live for five or six hundred years or even longer, he is clearly a powerful warrior, young and talented, much like Horatio.
Therefore, the moment he first saw Horatio, he saw a reflection of himself.
Before Apher became Captain, he was already the youngest and most powerful battle group champion swordsman in the Blood Angels battle group.
Even the Death Shroud, who served as Mortarion's bodyguards, were merely average among the enemies he had faced.
He was also the successor to First Captain Karlan of the Blood Angels, personally designated by Dante.
This proposal was approved by Dante, but considering Apher's youth, he still needed more experience.
But no one knew that this experience would be tested in the future battles of the Shield of Hades, Cadia, and the defense of Baal.
The renegade Terminator fighting Apher knew he had met a formidable opponent from their very first exchange, but he did not know the identity of this individual.
However, after a few more exchanges, he, clad in Terminator power armor, was even more surprised to discover that he was uncharacteristically unable to keep up with the speed of the Space Marine before him, whose every movement exuded a murderous aura, despite the Marine wearing ordinary Champion muscle armor.
This was an incredibly perplexing situation, as Champion armor merely added symbolic embellishments to standard Space Marine power armor, with little difference in performance.
But this young champion, with less than a third of his own service studs, not only attacked swiftly, but he even managed to utilize every muscle in his body for his relentless offense.
This offense was so fierce that even if the champion swordsman before him made no defensive preparations, he, with his ostensibly faster power claws, could not find an opening to attack him.
Clang!
The renegade Terminator staggered, and two of the three claws on his left gauntlet had already begun to malfunction from parrying the swift sword strikes; the disintegration field flickered, and the machine soul was clearly displeased.
Before he could catch his breath, the Captain stepped forward and delivered a swift strike.
The renegade Terminator instinctively raised his claws to block, and the corrupted machine soul on the left, already extremely displeased from frequent parries and not tasting blood, completely lost the ethereal blue glow of its disintegration field when struck by the blade.
Without the recoil of the disintegration field, the power claw was merely three sharp thin plates, their strength utterly incapable of blocking the Champion power sword, forged from the Blood Angels' special material, 'Angel Steel,' which even the Adeptus Mechanicus coveted, and formed in one piece.
Swoosh!
The moment the ethereal blue-glowing Angel Steel blade struck the power claw, the three claw blades instantly snapped.
Two flew far away, embedding themselves in the bulkhead, piercing Khabandha's painted chest and head with uncanny precision.
The other directly impaled one of the Terminator's eye lenses.
"Ah!!!!"
The renegade Terminator let out a deafening roar through his helmet's vox-grille, blood gushing along the claw blade and dripping onto his sturdy chest plate.
Before the renegade Terminator could react, Apher kicked his opponent in the abdomen, sending the heavy Terminator stumbling backward.
The Champion Captain seized the opportunity of his opponent's arms spread wide, desperately trying to maintain balance, and charged forward, thrusting his power sword.
The Terminator quickly blocked with his strong, broad forearm armor, but the sharp power sword, aided by the disintegration field, directly pierced through the entire arm, the blade continuing to thrust forward.
"Who are you!!!" the traitor shrieked, his voice incredibly loud.
There was no time for the traitor to swing his other hand at the Captain; the Champion power sword, with its indestructible, sharp Angel Steel, had already sliced through the thick Terminator chest plate.
The power sword drove straight through; even the adamantium framework built into the Indomitus-pattern Terminator armor could not stop this loyal companion, which had accompanied Apher throughout his years as a battle group champion and continued to be used even after he became Captain.
"I am…,"
Thud!
The entire blade was plunged into the renegade Terminator's body, its tip emerging from his backplate.
Gurgling blood poured from the wide, long wound like water from a sluice gate, soaking the Captain's hands and making the sword hilt slippery.
"The Blood Angels' Watch Master! Donatos Apher! Go tell your tyrannical, evil master my name! My brothers and I await his death!"
Apher shoved aside the impaled renegade Terminator with an arm, and the power sword instantly tore horizontally out of the traitor's body, blood splattering onto the deck and forming a pool.
The renegade Terminator's crimson eyes lost their light, and his heavy corpse crashed to the ground, making the deck tremble.
The Captain stomped on the shattered, bulging chest plate, swung his sword to sever the Terminator's head, and impaled it on the sword tip.
He raised his power sword high, holding the corpse aloft, and shouted:
"For the Emperor and Sanguinius! Kill!"
"For the Blood of Sanguinius!!! Kill!!!!"
The Blood Angels let out an earth-shattering roar, breaking through the eightfold sacred mark Khorne Warrior's defensive line.