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.
Soshiyang 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 muzzle flashes of bolters and the sparks from cables that had been ripped apart in the fierce battle.
The enhanced senses allowed Sosh Yang'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 the 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 are also covered by masks, except for a narrow red slit where one eye is.
A hundred of these warriors huddled in a domed hall, sheltered behind broken machinery and furniture.
Those armored soldiers formed a solid line of defense and opened fire as soon as the Space Marines emerged from the passage.
Red lasers erupted from the defenses, 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, 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 fire shredded the bunkers. Warriors specializing in close combat broke into the gaps in the opponent's line and carried out bloody killings with their 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 chainsaw halberd and killed the enemy with fierce and efficient melee combat.
Thanks to Sevetar's training, each of his strikes was impeccably lethal, and every step was 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 body lay at his feet, the man's armor shredded, a crack splitting the mask that covered his face in two.
Frozen blood 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.
A blank 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 sword high into the central dome.
The soldiers rushed into the dust and smoke created by the explosion of the iron gate, and then passed through the smoke and entered the interior of the building.
Marcus was right, this was a temple.
But at the same time, this is also a slaughterhouse.
It was cold inside, freezing cold.
Steam rose from each Space Marine's power pack, a shaft of light stabbed 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 clearly arranged in a certain pattern, with each corpse 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. Whether they were 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 warrior carrying the chapter's standard, 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, making a whining sound, as if looking for any living targets.
Marcus was also following Soshyan, his expression unreadable but his body language clear.
"They did it themselves."
The Inquisitor shook his head and continued walking forward.
None of them could make sense of what they were seeing, it was too foreign to their understanding and did not fit into 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 the 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 as if the temperature was getting lower.
"They formed equidistant columns."
The Death Cult assassin spoke suddenly, his face hidden beneath a pale skull mask managing to convey the disgust they all 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?”
Golgri pointed his sword towards the middle.
"I don't see an altar."
He was right, there was no altar, just a sunken pit from which wisps of mist drifted.
Soshiyang 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 body.
