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Although Soldier 11 clearly saw Anby intercept the strike for her, she showed no gratitude whatsoever. Instead, she lashed out with a side kick that sent Anby flying several meters away.
Watching the situation unfold gave Ignis a headache. None of the three women were his enemies, yet the situation was spiraling badly. He had to find a way to resolve this mess.
Soldier 11 was bleeding—her wounds needed immediate treatment. Jane Doe, on the other hand, looked to be corrupted by a Chaos God, and he had to determine whether she could still be saved.
If she could not be saved, the Salamander was already prepared to eliminate her personally.
"Soldier 11!" He decided to secure the one who still had her sanity first.
That single shout drew the attention of all three women at once.
"It's me—Ignis. Anby has no hostile intent. Stop attacking my companion."
The Defense Force elite turned her gaze toward Anby, a trace of disgust flashing in her eyes. To be honest, Ignis could not understand it. This was clearly their first meeting—why did Soldier 11 harbor such intense hostility toward Anby? The only explanation he could come up with was the pride of the Defense Force, a natural wariness toward any unknown helper.
"How amusing. So, you're involved in this too?" Soldier 11 said, staring at Ignis. "The Green Knight of the Night."
"I told you to stop calling me that ridiculous name. It makes me feel like someone's about to force-feed me bath water," Ignis said as he walked over. "I have a name, you know. Can you at least remember it?"
When Jane Doe saw the Salamander, she froze for a brief moment—but only for an instant. She immediately resumed her attack. The blood flowing from Soldier 11 exerted an overwhelming attraction on her. The Rat Thiren sprang backward into the deep darkness, beyond the reach of the burning blade's light.
Ignis, of course, could still see her. Jane Doe scraped the blades on her shoes against the ground, throwing up sparks to create the illusion of moving left, while in reality she shifted right. The underground garage was full of echoes, and with poor visibility, Soldier 11 tried to track her by sound—but with very limited success.
"Stop!" The iron-clad giant charged forward, placing himself directly in front of Soldier 11. Jane Doe's small knives were utterly ineffective against the giant completely encased in ceramite armor, only producing a few sparks as they struck.
"Jane!"
Ignis called out her name. He firmly believed that a woman who had spent years walking the dark side of New Eridu would not be so easily controlled.
At least in the Salamander's eyes, she was far more resolute and courageous than himself. The Blood God would never be able to fully dominate her will.
Her movements paused subtly, though she did not lower her guard. The Rat Thiren stared at the giant, hopping backward as the blades on her shoes extended, her left hand hidden behind her back, adopting a fully threatening stance.
Seeing her hesitation, Ignis grew more convinced. Perhaps there really was a way to free her from the Chaos God's grip.
Jaxcalibur-01 finally ran over, pulling an emergency hemostatic spray from his combat suit.
Soldier 11 took it and sprayed some onto the wound on her abdomen, stopping the bleeding.
"So, this is Jane Doe?" Anby also noticed something was wrong. "I'll try to knock her out."
"None of your business. I can kill her on my own," Soldier 11 said, tossing the spray back to Jaxcalibur-01. She dragged her blade across the fuel pack once more, reigniting the flames.
"A mere gang enforcer—prepare to die."
The Defense Force elite lunged forward, the firelit blade carving a brilliant arc through the darkness.
"Soldier 11!" Ignis had no desire to become hostile with the Defense Force. If he tried to stop her by force, it would be easy for the already-wounded Soldier 11 to get hurt again.
At a moment like this, the only one he could trust was Anby.
"Anby!" Before he could finish speaking, the white-haired girl already understood. She nodded and charged straight at Soldier 11.
She did not pull the trigger. The chainsword remained still, but electric arcs were already crawling across it. Anby knew very well—the best solution was to deprive her of mobility first.
"Don't interfere!" Soldier 11 saw her coming, twisting her blade and swinging down toward Anby.
Another clash of weapons rang out, CRACKLE—POP! Electricity snapped violently. Even without spinning, the chainsword's teeth blocked Soldier 11's blade. Anby immediately reached out to grab Soldier 11's right arm, trying to restrain her, but Soldier 11 kicked Anby hard in the thigh and used the recoil to retreat.
Ignis shifted his focus back to Jane Doe. The Rat Thiren looked at him with suspicion, but she lacked the boundless frenzy typical of Khorne cultists. Something was clearly off. Jane Doe had not been fully taken over—otherwise she would have charged him with bloodshot eyes long ago, fighting to the death.
He slowly extended a hand toward her. "Easy. It's me, Ignis. Your friend."
That gesture immediately provoked a violent reaction from her.
She leapt backward, lowering her body as the blades on her shoes sparked brightly and she rushed toward Ignis. The Chaos God had enhanced her speed—she was incredibly fast. Ignis could barely track her movements with his naked eye, relying on his power armor's automated systems to lock onto her in the darkness.
He dared not activate the power fist's disintegration field, nor did he dare use his full strength. For a Primaris Space Marine, crushing a living person was far too easy. All he could do was reach out, trying to intercept her, hoping that the psychic gifts bestowed by The Emperor might offer some help.
The short blades on her hands, shoes, and tail raked across his gauntlets in a shower of sparks. Her strikes were viciously precise; all aimed at the joints of his power armor. Unfortunately for her, there was no flesh there—only servo motors—causing no real damage at all.
Ignis tried to grab her, but the Rat Thiren was as slippery as an eel. With a powerful push of her legs, her blades carved a line into the ground as she retreated several meters away.
Once again, the situation fell into a stalemate.
Anby and Soldier 11 were fighting just as fiercely. Their technical skill levels were comparable, their combat styles strikingly similar—fast, direct, and brutally efficient, with almost no feints or wasted motion, only lethal exchanges. In such head-on clashes, neither side gained an advantage. Their weapons collided and intercepted again and again, and at close range they resorted to punches and kicks. Bruises bloomed across both their faces and bodies.
Neither held back in the slightest. Several times, Jaxcalibur-01 tried to sneak an attack on Soldier 11, only to be met with fists and boots.
Some blows came from Soldier 11, others from Anby. After taking several solid hits, he wisely decided to back off and stop interfering, leaving the two women to settle it themselves.
Jane Doe was in a similar situation. She launched multiple attacks at Ignis, targeting weak points in his armor. But against heavy ceramite plating, her short blades achieved nothing beyond leaving shallow scratches.
The Salamander continued speaking to Jane Doe, calling her name over and over, but it only seemed to make her more agitated. Her attacks grew faster and more frequent. Ignis tried several times to grab her, yet the cunning Rat slipped out of his grasp every time.
"I've taken control of the tactical mechs," Jax-05 reported over the comms. "We can't delay any longer. We have to end this now."
Ignis ignited the flamethrower on his right arm, releasing a small burst of flame as a light source, and with his left hand, he removed his helmet and hooked it at his waist.
"Jane Doe, do you remember this face?" Ignis illuminated himself with the flamethrower's fire. "The one you invited to meet you outside the music bar. The one who helped you gather supplies. The one you asked to go fishing with."
Ignis saw Jane Doe waver. Her expression twisted as she clutched her head, her face contorted in pain.
It worked—she was fighting the Chaos God that was controlling her mind.
"You once asked me if I could beat Razor," Ignis said, slowly closing the distance between them. "I told you, 'I will win.'"
The Rat Thiren woman remained wary of the giant's approach, backing away step by step.
"Just a few days ago, you asked me to meet you in the Fourteenth Street district," the Salamander spread his arms slightly as he advanced. "Do you remember?"
"In the back of the truck, you barely said a few words before falling asleep on my lap. You said it had been a long time since you'd rested so peacefully. You hoped I could end all of this as soon as possible. Today, I'm here. And I hope I'm not too late."
"Resist Him. I believe you won't be deceived. You're far stronger than I am. He cannot fully control you—you still have your reason!"
The giant advanced step by step. Jane Doe retreated step by step, until her back hit the garage wall, leaving her nowhere to go.
"I… Ig…nis." Her speech was broken, her pronunciation warped, scraping like metal against nails. Even so, the Salamander understood—she was calling his name.
"It's me. I'm here." Ignis began drawing upon the psychic gifts granted by The Emperor. A warm, pure golden light spread outward, forming a gentle membrane around his power armor.
With his left hand, the Salamander reached back to his power pack and pulled a packet of compressed vegetable sticks from a storage compartment.
"Sorry. I only know you like these. I don't really know your other preferences," he said, extending his left hand while extinguishing the flamethrower in his right.
"I… Ig… nis…" Jane Doe spoke each syllable slowly. Her bloodshot eyes shifted back and forth between the vegetable sticks and his dark face, as if trying to confirm something.
"It's me. Do you remember anything?" He moved closer at a careful pace, trying to seize her the moment she reached for the food.
"Run… run…" Jane Doe trembled violently. Under Khorne's power, she recoiled in terror before the force of the golden sun.
"Don't be afraid. I'll try to purify you. It may hurt, but I won't let you fall under the Blood God's control," Ignis said. His left hand kept her attention as his right hand moved closer—he had to be careful not to hurt her by using too much strength.
"Run!" She suddenly erupted in a hoarse roar, blood-red flames igniting across her body.
Khorne seized control.
The Rat Thiren leapt into the air, her short blade thrust straight for Ignis's throat.
Run? Ignis had considered countless possibilities—but never running. He could accept the regret and pain of killing her with his own hands, but he could never endure the shame of abandoning her.
The blood-flame-cloaked Rat Thiren made the sacred mark on Ignis's face burn with searing agony. He realized this was his best chance to seize her.
The short blade cut into the Salamander's obsidian-like skin, warm blood flowing down from his neck. In midair, she could make no further adjustments. Ignis closed his arms around her, pulling her into a tight embrace.
Golden psychic light and blood flames collided, canceling each other out as sparks of power burst through the air. The pain was so intense it nearly shattered Ignis's mind. His body screamed at him to let go, yet his will held firm. At the same time, he had to carefully restrain his strength—one mistake, and he could crush Jane Doe entirely.
He heard horrifying laughter. The Blood God was laughing. He felt his soul being torn from his body.
Blood flames and golden fire devoured one another. Ignis closed his eyes and sensed, within the raging vortex of fury, hatred, and madness cradled in his arms, a tiny spark of golden light.
With the last of his strength, he tried to reach out to it.
Almost instantly, it responded.
In the pitch-black cargo hold of a truck, Jane Doe lay asleep on his lap. To grant the Rat Thiren a moment of peaceful rest, Ignis had once used The Emperor's psychic power to ease her mind.
Those same energies had prevented her from being completely overtaken by the Blood God. In a corner of her consciousness, she had preserved a territory that was still her own.
"Jane Doe… if you can feel this…" Ignis tried to merge his thoughts with that faint golden light. "I've come to fulfill my promise."
Golden radiance flowed in and out of Jane Doe's body. Under the assault from both within and without, the blood flames vanished from her form. The clash of powers ended with the cold sun of the Immaterium emerging victorious.
The Rat Thiren struggled to open her eyes. Blood was still flowing from the dark-faced giant's neck, yet his ember-like eyes in the darkness were overwhelmingly reassuring. "You finally came…" her voice was weak. "I thought you wouldn't make it in time."
"I think I had a nightmare. Something took control of my body… Razor discovered my identity… he drew a symbol on me with blood."
"Don't talk," Ignis shifted his arms, letting her rest in the crook of his elbow. "I'll take you somewhere relatively safe to rest."
"What, you don't like holding me anymore already?" She forced out a weak smile, reaching beneath herself to pull out the packet of compressed vegetable sticks. "Ah… they're all crushed."
Hearing her joke again at last, Ignis finally relaxed.
Yes—this was the Jane Doe he knew.
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