The Son of Vulkan was the first to try to break the deadlock. The giant intended to seize back the initiative of the battle. With both sides' hands fully occupied, the attack would have to come from elsewhere.
Ignis drew his right knee back half a step in an instant, creating a sliver of space. But before his strike could begin, Razor had already sensed it. The Blood God's servant let out a feral laugh, his left-hand shield pressing forward, sticking tightly against the Salamander's body and directly nullifying the attempt.
Though the brass mask concealed his expression, Ignis could still feel the opponent's smug satisfaction. Muscles bulged along Razor's right arm as he suddenly exerted more force. Even with muscle fiber bundles and the electromagnetic reinforcement of Mark X Gravis Power Armor, the Adeptus Astartes began to strain against a body strengthened by a Chaos god.
The chainaxe crept toward his helmet, the roaring, spinning teeth drawing closer and closer. Razor reveled in this moment. He had offered countless sacrifices to the Blood God, spilling oceans of blood to gain such divine strength. As long as he killed this green-clad warrior and claimed his head, the Blood God had promised him even greater power.
But this was exactly the situation the Salamander wanted. He needed Razor to grow arrogant, to relax his guard.
"Die, freak!" Razor's voice was muffled beneath the helm. "I'll kill you first, then butcher the idiots who followed you here."
The instant the words fell, the Salamander launched his counterattack.
The Emperor's Angel of Death suddenly surged with power, the feigned exhaustion vanishing in an instant. Titanic strength tore Razor's right hand aside, ripping open his guard and exposing the brass-encased head. Though Ignis's hands were still occupied, a Space Marine's entire body was a weapon—every movable part of these living war machines was lethal.
Including the forehead—especially when encased in a helmet.
CLANG—!
A shrill metallic shriek rang out as sparks exploded. Ignis smashed his helmet straight into Razor's face in a brutal headbutt.
"Oof… that had to hurt," Jax-06 muttered despite himself at the sight, earning an immediate glare from his captain. He shrugged, then aimed at a Bloodletter charging Soldier 11 and pulled the trigger. To be honest, the damage dealt by the two Jaxcalibur Squad members was nearly negligible. These red-skinned daemons possessed considerable resistance to ranged firepower. Of course, it was also possible their weapons were simply too weak to matter.
The savage impact caused Razor to lose control for a brief moment, and Ignis did not waste the opportunity. He immediately freed his right hand. Lightning crackled violently around the Flamestorm Gauntlet as the Son of Vulkan drove a straight punch into Razor's head.
Ignis had thought this blow would end it. A power field, when it landed cleanly, could punch through even tank armor. But inside a Hollow, powerful ether radiation weakened the effect of the field—and within Hollow Zero, the ether interference was especially severe.
The brass helm shattered, revealing half a face. The Mountain Lion Gang's leader had long since lost any trace of humanity; the exposed flesh looked no different from that of a Bloodletter. This madman's soul had already been filled with the Blood God's tainted power.
Razor's eyes snapped open, murky yellow pupils brimming with madness and rage. The helm blessed by the great Blood God—marked with his master's sacred sigils—had been destroyed.
The half-man, half-daemon let out a howling roar as a crimson glow erupted from his body, his frame swelling by at least thirty percent.
"Unforgivable!"
His voice became sharp and rasping, breath reeking of thick blood stench that made the Salamander frown.
"Show me how much further you can change," Ignis said coldly as he increased the pressure on Razor's right hand. The monster's strength suddenly surged far beyond his own. "If you can, turn into a true Bloodthirster."
The Flamestorm Gauntlet struck again—but this time, Razor answered with his shield.
BOOM!
Ignis felt his right arm go numb. The Blood God's servant unleashed terrifying power; the shield bash sent numbness racing through the Salamander's entire arm. Worse still, his left arm could no longer restrain Razor's right hand.
The monster forced his arm downward, pressing the axe toward the Salamander's head. This was no longer a matter of tactics—it was brute strength overwhelming him.
Ignis had no intention of testing whether his helmet was tougher than a chainaxe's teeth. He had to respond immediately.
He shifted sharply to the right, then drove his right leg into Razor's shield. The sudden burst of force combined with the shift in balance sent even Razor staggering back several steps. Ignis released his left hand; the chainaxe crashed into the rounded pauldron and slid harmlessly off its smooth surface.
The Blood God's servant roared in fury and charged again, chainaxe and shield raised as he bore down on the Salamander.
Ignis understood the situation clearly. The enemy still had his weapons, and his raw strength far exceeded his own. A direct clash was unwinnable. The only option was to find an opening and kill him in a single decisive blow.
The chainaxe was raised high, the shield covering most of Razor's body—an extremely difficult posture to break. For the first time, Ignis felt some dissatisfaction with the short reach of the power gauntlet. Its power was immense, but its effective range was painfully limited. Still, he had to hold the line. Even if he fell, he trusted that Gotthardt could finish the battle.
But it would be better if he ended it himself. The old warrior didn't truly know how to deal with daemons.
Steeling his will, the Salamander calmed his breathing and charged forward. The two massive figures collided once more.
The chainaxe slid along the curved pauldron again. Ignis had anticipated it this time. Their immense mass slammed together, knocking Razor off balance. Seizing the moment, Ignis launched a relentless assault. The Flamestorm Gauntlet struck again and again, explosions blooming across Razor's shield as he was forced steadily backward.
But a servant of the Blood God was not so easily suppressed. Razor roared without pause, the chainaxe lashing out at every opening. Several times it carved marks into the Salamander's chest armor. If not for the reinforced plating of Mark X Gravis Power Armor, his torso would have been torn open long ago.
Their movements were lightning-fast. In barely ten seconds, they exchanged over a hundred blows. To mortal eyes, the two giants moved at speeds completely mismatched to their size. Lightning-wreathed fists and the howling chainaxe collided again and again, sparks flying everywhere.
When the clash finally paused—when Ignis drove a gauntleted fist into Razor's face and sent him skidding back several meters—the Salamander's chest plate was already scored with multiple deep cuts. The chainaxe granted by Khorne was a terrifying weapon. It had torn through layers of ceramite armor. If Ignis had been even a fraction of a second slower, his chest would have been ripped open.
Ignis drew deep, ragged breaths. Alongside exhaustion, fear crept in. Never before had he been so close to death. The monster's speed and strength were unlike any enemy he had faced. How many blessings had the Blood God given him?Was it worth it?
Razor, however, was in no better condition. Cracks spiderwebbed across his shield, one of its horns shattered completely—damage taken while blocking the Salamander's assault. His transformed left arm trembled slightly. The iron giant's onslaught had been no less fearsome, and the explosive strikes of that gauntlet were pushing him to the limit.
What remained of the brass mask was completely gone. Using his chest armor as cover, the Son of Vulkan had smashed Razor's face several times. Even now, Razor was dizzy, forcing himself to stand firm and reveal no opening.
"Blood for the Blood God!" Razor roared.
"For the Emperor!" Ignis answered without yielding an inch.
One crimson and one green silhouette became entangled once more. The chainaxe roared, the fully charged power gauntlet crackled with snap—crackle energy, and the two devastating weapons collided head-on. The resulting explosive shockwave forced them apart again, if only briefly.
The Salamander feinted to the right, the chainaxe once more scraping past the edge of his pauldron. His right fist had already been fully primed and slammed heavily into Razor's shield. Razor's left hand went completely numb from the impact, his shield-raising motion warping as his chest was exposed. Ignis had been waiting for this—his left fist followed instantly, a high, driving thrust aimed straight into the opening.
The power field struck Razor's flesh, erasing the blood and muscle from his chest outright. Yet a surge of blood-red light halted the blow, preventing it from penetrating further. Only part of the muscle mass was destroyed. Ignis intended to press the attack, to see if brute force could tear the monster's body apart—but the howling chainaxe was already closing in on his head.
The giant twisted away in haste, narrowly avoiding the sweeping strike, but the massive shield slammed into him immediately afterward. Razor's left arm had already recovered its strength. Caught off guard, the Salamander was shoved backward, stars bursting across his vision as he staggered several steps.
By the time his sight cleared, the chainaxe was descending toward his head. Ignis raised his arms to block, bracing Razor's wrist with his forearm. Razor instantly applied pressure, forcing the axe downward.
The Salamander had no intention of testing strength against him—not when the monster's raw power now surpassed his own.
"I will place your skull among my many trophies," Razor suddenly declared, the words chilling in their casual certainty.
"Then try," Ignis replied grimly, already calling upon the Emperor's psychic might.
Golden radiance erupted around him, his fists igniting with blazing gold flame. Ignis felt boundless strength surge through his body. With a single push, he broke Razor's assault and hurled him back several meters.
"Taste this, hound of a false god!"
The gold-flamed fist slammed into Razor's shield. The sheer impact caused the air around the strike point to ripple violently. This was the Emperor's wrath made manifest—his Warp-born essence, the purest force of annihilation unleashed. Cracks spread rapidly across Razor's shield as the metal-and-keratin construct began to collapse. Golden fire filled every fracture as the Master of Mankind's fury descended, delivering absolute destruction to the loathsome servant of Chaos.
"For humanity!"
BOOM! Another punch fell.
Razor's shield was utterly annihilated, shattering like an eggshell. His left arm was destroyed along with it, reduced to scattered fragments across the ground. Those fragments ignited almost instantly, golden flames consuming them until nothing remained.
Agonizing pain dredged fear back into Razor's heart. His arm was gone—erased in a way he could not comprehend. The warrior before him was like a protagonist from some absurd story, suddenly empowered by overwhelming force and effortlessly destroying one of his limbs.
He wanted to flee, just as he had that night in the darkness. But the moment the thought arose, his body betrayed him. A sudden, overwhelming rage seized control.
Blood-red light erupted violently from Razor's body. The sigil of Khorne manifested across his back. The wound in his chest sealed shut in an instant—and even his left arm regenerated anew. Eyes burning crimson, the Blood God's servant charged forward in a frenzy, his deranged roar nearly drowned out by the shrieking howl of the chainaxe.
Razor's assault became ferocious and unrelenting. The chainaxe struck again and again at vital points. Even with the Emperor's golden flames shielding him, Ignis was forced to fight with extreme caution. Previously, Razor's attacks had patterns—now he had fallen into a far more primal rage, his strikes wild and utterly unrestrained.
The Salamander counterattacked again and again, his Emperor-blessed fists hammering into Razor's body, yet it achieved little. The dense blood-red aura rapidly healed every wound. Even punches that shattered ribs and destroyed organs failed to slow the monster's assault in the slightest.
Ignis gradually found himself losing ground once more. Razor's reckless aggression carved fresh scars into his power armor.
At last, the Salamander seized an opening. As Razor raised the chainaxe high for a killing blow, Ignis surged forward, slamming into his chest and breaking his balance, sending him crashing backward. Even then, Razor did not cease attacking—the chainaxe still came down toward Ignis's head. He leapt back just in time, the blade slicing past his faceplate.
Razor landed flat on his back. There would never be a better chance.
The Son of Vulkan pounced, pinning Razor to the ground. He drove his knee down across both of Razor's shoulders, concentrating his full weight there. Golden flames roared around both fists, his intent absolute—to reduce the servant of a Chaos god to nothing but pulp.
"For those you have harmed!"
"For the innocent dead!"
"For my friends! My new life! For this city!"
Ignis roared as his fists fell like a storm upon Razor's face.
"Emperor—burn this wretched heretic!"
He clasped both hands together and brought them down like a hammer onto the already-deformed head of the Chaos servant. With a sickening crack, Razor's mutated skull exploded.
Staring down at the unmoving corpse, Ignis slowly rose to his feet. The Emperor's golden flames faded away. His mind felt unsteady—exhaustion from the brutal battle, combined with the toll of psychic exertion, weighed heavily upon him.
===BREAK===
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