"What's the situation?"
"Something troublesome is coming," Yuki said, his eyes locked onto the Blood Angels. "Yuno, let's wrap this up as quickly as possible."
"It won't take long."
Yuno's massive psychic energy collided with an unidentified hostile psychic shockwave. Dante and his Sanguinary Guard charged forward instantly. Yuki never underestimated the Sanguinary Guard; these Astartes were the honor guard of the Blood Angels, the elite cadre surrounding Dante.
A power axe swung from the right, a chainsword lashed out from the left. Dante had already leapt high into the air. It was difficult to imagine an Astartes jumping so high without the aid of a jump pack.
"Don't you dare lose!"
"Not a chance!"
Yuki was surging with excitement. The anticipation of fighting Dante welled up within him. "Come and fight!"
Bone blades sprouted from Yuki's body. To maintain high mobility and agility, his physique didn't change much even as the blades grew. When the bone blades clashed with the power sword, Yuki was inwardly startled: How is Dante this strong?
He was completely different from an ordinary Space Marine. Wait, isn't this guy over a thousand years old? He's nowhere near the Primaris crossing yet. What's going on?
Yuki felt a slight sense of unease. In the Warhammer world, divine manifestations were a real possibility. If Dante was truly being blessed by a Warp entity, things would get complicated.
"Yuno!"
"Don't nag me! That psyker named Mephiston has power beyond my expectations. I have to pull the fleet back!"
Yuno's current body only possessed Alpha-Plus level psychic power; she required fleet support to reach higher tiers. The newly awakened Mephiston carried the collective projection of ten thousand years of the Blood Angels' Black Rage from within the Warp. In the short term, Yuno indeed found him difficult to suppress.
Dante severed Yuki's bone blade with a single strike. Yuki flashed a wicked smile. Hook, line, and sinker!
Yuki's entire body was a weapon. He flattened his fingers into a blade-like palm and thrust directly at Dante's chest plate. How could ceramite compare to Yuki's tempered flesh? One of Dante's hearts was ripped out by Yuki's bare hand.
Immediately after, Yuki saw Dante's bolt pistol leveled at him. In Warhammer, weapon damage was always fluctuating; the same weapon in different hands could display vastly different lethality. This was because gods actually existed and could bestow blessings. Yuki knew his defense should be impenetrable to a mere bolt pistol, yet his psychic precognition screamed at him to prepare for a heavy blow.
BANG!
Dante fired only once. Yuki heard only one report, yet half his head was blown away. This power was far beyond what a bolt pistol should possess. Yuki was forced back, still clutching Dante's heart. He nonchalantly pressed the organ into the gap in his own head.
"Be careful."
"I will."
Dante's cells were consumed and assimilated by Yuki's own, rapidly transforming into brain tissue. Meanwhile, Dante, having lost a heart, was clearly no longer capable of truly opposing Yuki on equal footing.
"Chapter Master!"
"Don't worry about me. Where are the others? Call them here immediately! We must kill this monster at any cost! For the Imperium!"
Yuki turned to Yuno. "What do you think? Can we wipe out the Blood Angels here?"
"Unlikely. The Ultramarines and other Chapters are also on this planet. Killing Dante would be the greatest harvest."
"Who... what are you exactly?" Dante demanded.
Facing Dante's question, Yuno chuckled. "Human? I am no longer human."
Hearing Yuno's strange cadence, Dante asked no more. The only language enemies and xenos understood was the roar of bolters and chainswords.
Mephiston's psychic fluctuations finally stabilized, but it wasn't Yuno's doing. Yuki knew that this Astartes, powerful beyond logic, was learning to control his new strength.
"Yuno, strike now!"
Yuno's attack was vicious. She didn't bother with tedious melee, unleashing a high-speed psychic shockwave. The Sanguinary Guard standing in front had their bones shattered instantly, but they managed to block the most lethal wave of the attack.
Yuki seized the opening and lunged toward Dante. Dante didn't waver. Even as the hole in his chest bled slowly, he showed no intent to retreat.
"By the blood of Sanguinius!"
Dante swung his sword, but his movements had slowed. Yuki was jubilant; at this rate, the future victory at Baal was assured!
Suddenly, an immense force bore down on Yuki's arm, snapping his bone blades in an instant. Above him, a golden figure descended. Pure white, magnificent wings beat slowly behind him—a perfect angel. Any Blood Angel from the Great Crusade era would have mistaken this figure for Sanguinius, their glorious Primarch. Even Dante, who knew better than anyone that his Primarch had sacrificed himself for the Imperium, for a split second thought the Great Angel had returned.
Unfortunately, it was only a phantom—an apparition capable of slaughtering across the real universe. Yuki whispered his name: "The Sanguinor."
The Sanguinor was a mystery in everything but name. He appeared only when the Blood Angels faced grave crisis or on their most vital battlefields. No one knew his true identity, though some worshipped him as the Primarch himself. Yuki realized he wouldn't be able to kill Dante today.
"Yuki, more Astartes are coming. Imperial Guard too. Do you still want to try?"
Yuki frowned. He hated this. The Sanguinor's attacks kept pushing him back. The doors had been breached; blue-armored Ultramarines and more Blood Angels were ready for battle. And the Librarians... while their individual power couldn't match Yuno's, their numbers and willingness to sacrifice themselves would protect Dante. If dying meant saving a Chapter Master, those "Blue Smurfs" who followed the Codex Astartes would gladly march to their deaths.
"Retreat, Yuno. They got lucky this time."
"Got it!"
Yuno gestured, and the roof of the building was torn open. The hidden Tyranid shuttle appeared. Yuki looked at Dante.
"Chapter Master, we will meet again. Next time, fate will not be on your side."
"Xenos, don't think you can escape!"
"Goodbye then."
Yuki and Yuno attached themselves to the shuttle. The craft's design was unmistakable now, and Dante finally confirmed their identity.
They were Tyranids!