Datch stepped out of the green teleport portal and looked at the stunned crowd.
Glancing around, he realized he was inside an arena aboard a warship.
The dome was extremely high; numerous corpses hung from iron chains and hooks.
A zone covered by an isolation field had been designated, and World Eaters and Word Bearers stood around it watching the fight.
The ground was slick with flowing blood; nearby lay a beheaded Ultramarine.
At Datch's feet lay the corpse of a World Eater torn to shreds by the teleport portal. The sight was nothing short of gruesome.
In that instant, every sound stopped.
The World Eaters and Word Bearers who had been spectating, and the Night Lord lurking on a high platform overlooking the entire arena, all radiated hostility and wariness.
Several of the men immediately drew their chainswords and activated them.
The sharp teeth spun, slicing the air and producing a low rumbling mix of metallic hiss and the sound of flesh being eaten.
The Night Lord standing far above rose from his crouch and activated his power claws, which emitted a cold light.
Sensing the hostile gazes of the battlefield traitors, Datch raised both arms and shouted.
"Glory to the gods, eternal Horus!"
His voice was extremely loud and rang in everyone's ears.
The traitors were startled by the cry.
The rotation speed of the chainswords in their hands suddenly dropped.
The boltguns in their hands were also instinctively lowered and were no longer aimed at the mysterious visitor who had suddenly appeared.
For a moment they all thought Datch was on their side.
The next instant, however, Datch drew a frost-bomb gun and opened fire.
Bang… bang… bang…
The gunshots rang out continuously, yet they were not frantic concentrated fire but precise, rhythmic bursts.
Every time a shot rang out, a traitor was accurately struck by an ice bomb.
The moment a traitor's body was hit by a freeze bomb, it instantly froze and became an ice sculpture.
Immediately afterward, a cracking sound rang out as the ice shattered, and the frozen flesh and power armor collapsed together.
Broken fragments scattered across the ground, clattering.
Persson saw this and was so shocked he could not close his mouth.
When the other party shouted "Glory to the Wolf God Horus!" he had tacitly acknowledged that the other party was a traitor.
Why were they attacking the other traitors?!
Was this an internal struggle?
Furthermore, the enemy's explosive gun looked a little strange. Why could it turn the traitors into gigantic blocks of ice?
The spectator stands of the arena were extremely large and had many obstacles.
Even if Datch opened fire indiscriminately by surprise, it was impossible to kill everyone.
The traitors who sensed the situation immediately began to counterattack.
They either raised roaring chainswords and charged the opponent, or took up slings and fired without mercy.
Bombs rained down like a storm. Datch could not dodge in time and was instantly bathed in a rain of bullets.
The clown helmet could not withstand the impact and shattered into pieces; Datch's head was blown off along with it.
The headless corpse staggered for a while, then collapsed to the ground with a thud.
"That's all?" Persson sighed inwardly. After such a spectacular entrance, he had thought the other party must be hiding some secret plan to change the flow.
Looking back now, I realize I was simply overthinking it.
A World Eater swinging a battle-axe leapt down from the spectator stands. His power armor, which should originally have been white, was now covered in dried, darkened blood.
He approached Datch's headless corpse, intending to drag it out and hang it.
Suddenly, a portal of light appeared from empty space in the center of the arena.
A group of fully armed, tall Astartes appeared.
Mordachi appeared first, followed by Proto-Forged Space Marines emerging from the portal in two columns.
Their footsteps were perfectly synchronized; every time their heavy boots landed on the ground, the ice crystals scattered across it shattered.
Before the World Eater could react, more than a dozen boltguns were aimed at him.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Gunshots rang out; the Devourer's head exploded, and the headless corpse was slammed to the ground.
Strangely, the mysterious corpse that had been lying in the arena vanished without anyone noticing.
In a short time the traitors in the arena were defeated; screams of agony echoed around them.
Persson's eyes widened. From the double-headed eagle emblems the mysterious warriors wore, he understood that they were all loyalists.
Yet they were clearly taller than ordinary Astartes, and the style of their armor was also different.
After the gunfire stopped, he looked around.
The arrogant traitors who had dominated the arena only a few seconds earlier were now the targets of a massacre.
The Ultramarines commander who had been hanging in the arena was also rescued.
Upon inquiry, it was learned that his name was Calvin Walker.
Walker's injuries were severe; his abdomen had been sliced open from the lower edge of the chest to the position of the belt.
It was not a precise surgical incision but a far more cruel, jagged laceration.
The organs that should have been properly protected by the abdominal wall were all exposed; the sight was extremely unsettling.
One eye had been gouged out; the other eyelid had been cut off so that it could not close; various blasphemous runes had been carved into his body.
The golden laurel crown that was a symbol of honor had been nailed to his skull, turning it into a symbol of humiliation and mockery.
Persson's heart ached at the commander's fate. A commander who had suffered such severe wounds would, even if rescued, meet a hopeless end.
At that moment, an unexpected person appeared before his eyes.
The man who had shouted "Long live Horus!" and worn the clown mask was that very man.
Persson's eyes immediately widened.
Wasn't this person killed?
How is he still alive??
This! This!
It doesn't make sense!
Datch ignored the astonished NPC, took the Golden Hammer from his in-game inventory, and struck the Ultramarines commander with it.
Clang!!
With a sharp sound, the Ultramarines commander recovered his stamina at a visible speed.
The laurel crown that had been driven into his skull fell away naturally; the bloodstains vanished, and it regained its original luster.
The eye socket that had lost its eyeball and the regenerated eyeball.
His severed hands were restored to their original state.
Even the lost lower half of his body regenerated.
Realizing the miracle that had happened to him, the company captain was so shocked he could not close his mouth.
The next instant, he suddenly turned his head, stared at the World Eater beside him who was not yet completely dead, and let out a roar of anger.
The unfortunate man had fallen in the first volley. A shell from a Proto-Forged Space Marine had struck him directly in the waist.
This forced them to crawl across the ground and completely robbed them of the ability to walk or run.
Walker walked over, crouched down, and picked up a battle-axe covered in spikes and grooves of bloodstains.
Dried, darkened bloodstains left by the owner during countless massacres still remained on the axe blade.
"This is merely out of interest."
Saying that, Walker swung the battle-axe, cut off the man's head, raised it, and roared.
Having witnessed many brothers meet terrible deaths in this vile, shameless, merciless assault,
he harbored far too much terrible hatred in his heart and needed to vent it.
There was only one thought in Walker's head: vengeance — to avenge the dead brothers and to rescue the surviving brothers.
"I will never betray… never betray…"
Walker had not even finished speaking when he stood up again and stared with wide eyes at his brother whose mouth hung open.
This… this… wasn't his head cut off?
How did he come back to life??
Of course, all of this was Datch's doing. He had used the Time Stone to rewind time and resurrect the dead.
The resurrected people looked at one another; their eyes were filled with disbelief and shock.
Unfortunately, they still did not have time to think about it.
Mordachi and the other early Space Marines were given weapons so they could arm themselves and prepare to face the enemy outside the arena.
"Cleanse the entire warship swiftly."
Datch's order was simple. Cleanse the entire warship.
"For the nameless one, for the Emperor — act." Following the nameless one's order, Mordachi raised both arms and shouted.
"Why is the nameless one before the Emperor?" Walker asked in confusion.
The other resurrected Ultramarines were equally puzzled.
In the Imperium of Man, should not the most revered person be the Emperor?
To stand above the Emperor — who is this nameless one?!
"You would not understand."
"In a situation like this, even if I named His Majesty the Emperor first, His Majesty would not have the courage to accept it."
Mordachi did not give a detailed explanation, yet his words carried a frankness that was hard to put into words.
He can resurrect the dead at will, make the four Chaos Gods doubt the meaning of their own existence, and create a world with a mere gesture.
A value this high would bewilder even the Emperor. The Emperor too would try to curry favor with someone this powerful.
Unable to obtain an answer, Walker set the problem aside for the time being and had no choice but to prepare to fight and escape together with the loyalists who had appeared from nowhere.
Footsteps could still be heard from outside. Traitors who had received news of the incident in the arena were rushing in from every direction of the warship.
Among them were several Word Bearers dressed as Saturnine Terminators.
Together with their team, they appeared from the main passage toward the bridge and completely sealed the corridor.
Saturnine Terminator power armor is heavier than standard Terminator armor and is not suited to rapid maneuver.
However, in a narrow passage like this, it becomes a weapon of mass destruction.
Their weapons are armed with multi-barrel heavy bolt cannons — so-called "hellguns."
Once fired, they can produce a concentrated barrage of bullets covering every direction.
If Astartes wearing standard power armor encounter them even once, they will instantly become sieves.
Taking into account the threat posed by these metal giants, Datch used the power of the Space Stone on the Infinity Gauntlet to open a teleport portal at the feet of the Saturnine Terminators.
On the opposite side of the teleport path was a plasma reactor; they were instantly destroyed and left no trace of remains whatsoever.
Because they were not suppressed by the Saturnine Terminators, Mordachi and the other early Space Marines succeeded in escaping the arena, continued to advance, and expanded their results.
Along the way, members of cult groups leapt out one after another with primitive weapons and attacked Datch.
They were not Astartes but merely groups of humans filled with hatred for the Emperor and fanatical faith in Chaos.
The majority of them had lost their ordinary human form and mind and become existences situated between human and daemon; the Word Bearers called them the "Blessed Ones."
The Forged warriors showed neither mercy nor hesitation and did not waste explosives. Instead, they used chainswords and gun stocks to tear these traitors to shreds.
Combat inside the warship intensified. The loyalists steadily seized control of the ship while the rebels resisted fiercely.
Despite not being that important, they continued to shout the names of the gods and launched attacks.
On the opposite side of the warship, Commodus and the other prisoners remained locked in their cells.
Their limbs were bound with restraints and movement was difficult. The only thing they could move freely was their heads.
Footsteps were heard.
An unexpected visitor appeared at Commodus's cell. It was a Word Bearer chaplain.
Entering the cell, he stared intently at Commodus, and after a while slowly opened his mouth.
"You boarded this warship seeking atonement and glory, yearning to be accepted by your comrades once more."
"But there is no honor here. You who worship the false Emperor have no value whatsoever."
"When we don your power armor and throw this world into chaos, you will merely remain here and become targets of entertainment for the slaughterers."
"In the eyes of your brothers you will forever be traitors."
Commodus had seen through their intention. Only recently had he happened to overhear the conspiracy between the Word Bearers and the Alpha Legion.
They intended to impersonate Ultramarines who had survived the Battle of Calth and launch a surprise attack on the Primarch.
"Brother, do you want this armor of mine?"
Commodus paused a little, then continued. "If you let me out of here, I will hand it over with both hands."
The Word Bearer chaplain sneered, then waved his hand.
"As you wish, Brother."
Two servants stepped forward, removed the restraints from Commodus's limbs, and freed him.
However, the power-armor battery pack had been removed, so he had no choice but to rely on his own physical strength to move this gigantic suit of armor.
Commodus stretched his limbs.
Then, without any warning, he immediately launched an attack and smashed the head of the servant who had freed him from his bonds.
Even without a power backpack, a mere flesh-and-blood traitor cannot withstand an Astartes punch.
His head shattered into pieces, and his body slowly collapsed to the ground.
Commodus looked up at the Word Bearer chaplain.
"For my brothers."
The Word Bearer chaplain wore a cold smile and raised the warhammer in his hand, engraved with the eight-pointed star. His intention was clear: to execute Commodus with his own hands.
"For the Five Hundred Worlds, for Guilliman."
Commodus roared and forcefully drove the unpowered power armor toward the Word Bearer chaplain.
Unfortunately, many things cannot be achieved by effort and devotion alone.
The Word Bearer chaplain wore full power armor and held a weapon in his hand.
Commodus had only one set of power armor without a battery pack, and it was rather unwieldy.
In only one round, he was thrown to the ground, and his chest was stepped on.
"You don't seem very strong."
"Now it is time to end the match."
The moment he finished speaking, a roar rang out from behind.
"Traitor, your enemy is me."
Heavy, hurried footsteps approached.
The Word Bearer chaplain involuntarily turned his face and saw a fully armed Walker charging toward him.
At this time the company captain was wearing the power armor given to him by the nameless one.
Before the Word Bearer chaplain could react, he was thrown into the air.
The activated warhammer slipped from his hand; after it hit the ground, deep-purple electric shocks flashed several times violently and then vanished.
The Word Bearer coughed and tried to stand, but Walker leapt in front of him and in an instant pierced his chest with an electrically charged power sword.
"You don't seem very strong either."
Walker seized the Word Bearer chaplain's helmet, tore it off, and a face covered in chaotic runes appeared; Walker returned the other party's words verbatim.
"How did you recover?" The Word Bearer chaplain looked at Walker's face and showed an expression of surprise and confusion.
The man he had taken over was already disabled, hung in the arena, and had helplessly watched many comrades die on the battlefield.
Now everything had been restored, yet the armor he was wearing was not the original.
"Go to hell and ask the gods there."
Walker wasted no words, raised his sword, cut off the man's head, and helped Commodus — who was equally confused — to stand.
"Teacher, how did you recover?"
"I can't explain this well either. First let's rescue the other brothers; we'll talk later."
Walker recovered the power battery, installed it on Commodus, and restored his ability to move.
"Understood," Commodus said, asked nothing more, and turned to free the other brothers who had likewise been imprisoned.
The original Space Marines and the rescued Ultramarines instantly formed an invincible force and swept away every enemy inside the battleship.
Every Word Bearer, World Eater, and Alpha Legionnaire aboard the battleship was annihilated.
The traitors were no exception. Every last one was executed.
Once the last traitor was killed, this plot would end for Datch.
He did not linger and planned to head for the next stage: Nuceria.
Nuceria, located at the edge of the Ultramar star system, is the site where Angron landed.
It is the place where the Butcher's Nails were driven into him, the place where he became eternally captive — a prisoner and a slave.
This planet is the terminal point of the Shadow Crusade and the place where the Butcher's Sting ascended to daemonic power.
During the Shadow expedition, Lorgar was dissatisfied that Angron was wasting time repeating world-scale massacres on low-value planets.
Until the Battle of Armatura ended.
The Battle of Armatura was the most brutal battle.
The combined fleet of World Eaters and Word Bearers encountered, in orbit around that planet, the fiercest resistance since the start of the Shadow Crusade.
The void war lasted a full seven days of Terra standard time and became the ultimate battle… The warriors' fleets launched counterattacks again and again from every direction of the galaxy.
Despite several days of orbital bombardment, the ground fortresses stubbornly continued to pour out anti-aircraft fire.
On the sixth day of combat, Angron ignored Lorgar's request, boarded a drop pod himself, and plunged into the center of the largest fortress on Armatura's surface.
In this battle, Lorgar witnessed Angron lose himself to rage.
He realized that because of uncontainable anger, Angron would soon burn himself out.
To ensure Angron's survival and to appease the gods, he intended to take Angron back to Nuceria and unravel the secret of the Butcher's Nails.
They planned to raise him to the status of a daemon in order to save his life.
When Rick used the teleport gun to open a portal to Nuceria,
a certain idea suddenly floated into Datch's head.
If a loyal Lorgar and a rebellious Lorgar encountered each other, which would win?
How would a traitor Angron look upon a loyal Angron?
Doesn't it sound interesting just thinking about it? Why not try it?
Thinking that, Datch closed the teleport portal and instead summoned the TARDIS telephone box.
He intended to find Angron and Lorgar from another timeline and have them deal with the Lorgar and Angron of this timeline.
That is truly a wonderful idea!
A player without his level of ability would never come up with such an idea.
Thinking that, Datch involuntarily hummed a little melody, anticipating what was about to happen.
…