Some Khorne Warriors murmured eerie incantations, and the blood runes on the ground surged faster, forming a circle that covered the entire forecourt of the Church of the Celestial Woman.
The Great Sister, wearing a black headscarf, rushed out and saw the unholy marks on the courtyard ground.
Experienced, she knew what this meant and immediately urged those singing hymns in the Church of the Celestial Woman to concentrate and sing louder.
The Sisters of the Sacred Rose, forming a battle line, poured down a rain of fire on the invaders while chanting hymns.
Through the efforts of many devout individuals, this defiled rune finally stopped. It tried to surge into the Church of the Celestial Woman, but as soon as it touched the steps below, it began to evaporate into black chunks, forcing it to retreat.
The place it sought to defile was where tens of thousands of people were gathering the power of faith.
Although individuals were weak, such a large-scale faith still made this holy place radiate with the light of faith, sacred and inviolable.
Meanwhile, in the void, dozens of frigates patrolled near Abyss Port.
They launched multiple search beacons but still failed to find any trace of the attackers.
Captain Afiel stood on the bridge of the battle barge, his eyes narrowed, vigilant of his surroundings.
All Blood Angels could sense the pure, bloody killing intent. Although they hadn't found these enemies hidden among the shattered stars and debris, they indeed felt this unsettling presence.
"Maximize the augur search frequency and find that guy. I'll rip his head off with my own hands," Captain Afiel gritted his teeth, his voice low.
At this moment, amidst a field of asteroids.
On a crimson battlecruiser, a Khorne Warrior sorcerer, clad in crimson ceramite armor and wearing a horned, boar-faced helmet, was secretly accumulating unholy energy with Khorne's servants.
They encircled a crimson magic circle marked with Khorne's symbol. In the center knelt eight human captives, their flesh pierced by iron hooks. These individuals were sacrifices for the ritual, their eyes red and their mouths hoarsely roaring.
"My lord, the ground has fulfilled the conditions of our great ritual!" an ancient, withered old man with bleeding eyes and a set of hideous fangs exclaimed in ecstasy.
"Blood and skulls, no matter whose, the master will like them!"
"There are three of his offspring right before us! Our master is already thirsty, He wants the Blood Angels' blood, He wants more!" The warrior-sorcerer held a sword in one hand and a staff in the other.
He stepped forward and ruthlessly swung his sword, neatly severing eight heads.
The heads fell to the ground, gushing blood.
Then, with his blood-stained sword, he cut a gash into his own hand, letting black blood drip to the ground and mix with the fresh blood.
The magic circle suddenly erupted with a dazzling crimson light. A hideous, horned skull laughed terrifyingly in the flames, its laughter echoing throughout the entire chamber. The warriors on the ship, clad in brass baroque armor, roared with excitement.
"Let the Angels bleed!!!"
In front of the Church of the Celestial Woman, the blood runes on the ground emitted an unusually dazzling light.
Except for the Battle Sisterss, almost everyone was affected by this strange power.
Horatio felt a hot, surging Fury boiling in his heart, and the evil whispers lingering in his ears made him irritable. He desperately wanted to cleave the annoying fellow talking in his ear with a single sword stroke.
In an instant, the air below the hall seemed to be split by a sword, and a blazing, fiery rift was torn open in mid-air.
But almost at the same time, a golden light emanating from the saintess statue at the top of the Church of the Celestial Woman interrupted the expansion of the rift.
The rift did not fully open, revealing only a tall, two-meter but not wide, slender black opening.
And behind the rift were countless pairs of blood-red eyes that had been waiting for a long time.
"God Emperor, it's demons! Sisters, form up! Annihilate these abominations!" the Great Sister cried out.
A large group of hunched demons, with long, pointed heads, goat horns, and slightly shorter than humans, leaped out of the crack. Their bodies were black and red, and they wildly wielded black greatswords nearly as tall as a man, their blades burning with ominous, fiery red flames. Their twisted, disgusting purplish-red tongues greedily licked the bloody air.
[They are Bloodletters!]
As a transmigrator, Horatio knew that these demons were Khorne's vanguard. They were cruel and savage. Although their strength was not strong among demons, they were numerous, and their 'Hellblades,' under the unholy blessing of the Warp, possessed destructive power comparable to a disintegration field.
They were extremely numerous, overwhelming the entire courtyard, indiscriminately killing both towards the Church of the Celestial Woman and outwards.
Regardless of whether that person was a Soldiers of the Imperium or a devotee of the Blood God, they only wanted his head.
All Imperial Army personnel retreated to the steps in front of the Church of the Celestial Woman, resisting the crimson tide that threatened to engulf them.
"Servants of the False Emperor, your heads will adorn His throne!" A Bloodletter charged towards Horatio. He could hear them speaking human language in hoarse, slurred tones.
"You won't!" Horatio shouted, swinging his sword.
The black blade and red sword collided, and two similar yet different killing intents instantly erupted.
The unholy chaotic energy allowed Horatio to directly feel Khorne's tyrannical power.
But Old K isn't biased; as long as it's a warrior, whether or not they pledge allegiance to Him, they will receive the same combat power boost.
The Bloodletter's attacks were swift and fierce. After a few exchanges, Horatio found that its attacks were without any discernible pattern, simply wielding its Hellblade with raw, primal force.
[These demons are not intelligent.]
Upon realizing the combat mentality of these demons, Horatio quickly formulated countermeasures in his mind based on what he had learned.
Horatio first used the strong part of his sword to parry and repel it. Before it could swing its sword to chop, he immediately followed with a forward thrust that turned into a horizontal slash, feinting its diagonal chop. The rapidly spinning roaring sawblade sliced across its face.
The Bloodletter shrieked, began to burn, turned to ashes, and quickly vanished from Horatio's sight, leaving nothing behind.
[This is what demons are like, without a physical form in the real universe….]
"Ugh…" Horatio felt a headache, a throbbing pain brought on by anger. The desire to fight and kill in his heart was difficult to suppress, and an impulse called him to jump down from the high ground and fight the demons. But Horatio still used his willpower to restrain this reckless behavior.
But some Cadia Soldiers were also affected by Khorne's power. They roared, abandoning their orderly alternating fire, and directly charged down with fixed bayonets, shouting 'For the Emperor,' disregarding anyone's attempts to stop them.
"Come back!! Hold the line!!!" Horatio roared, grabbing a Soldiers and pushing him behind himself. The Soldiers, who had fallen onto the steps, saw Horatio's terrifying expression and fierce gaze, and the fear in his heart gradually restored his sanity.
Other veterans, Sisters, and Blood Angels also restrained and maintained the battle line. After some effort, most people were pulled back to the line.
But a small number of forward Soldiers had already rushed into the demonic horde without hesitation, bravely fighting the demons, and the endless tide quickly engulfed them. It was like throwing a stone into water, just making a splash.
The Soldiers who went down were successively cut down, their heads brutally severed. The Bloodletters who seized their trophies were like happy children, howling in terrible language, raising the heads high and throwing them into the rift.
[+Everyone! Get into the Church of the Celestial Woman quickly! Otherwise, the crimson power will corrupt your sanity!+] the Great Sister shouted.
[+Immediate retreat!+] Horatio used the Hand of Command to assign new battle positions, and the remaining forces began an orderly, alternating retreat under his command.
Fortunately, he had the Hand of Command to assist him; otherwise, given the current situation, the retreat could easily devolve into a chaotic rout.
The Battle Sisterss recited purity prayers, mitigating the influence of the bloodlust and Fury on the warriors. They saw the projected battle positions Horatio had given them, retreated in alternating sequence, then quickly turned and fired at the pursuing Bloodletters, covering the next group as they moved up, in a repeating cycle. No one was killed during the retreat.
Horatio was covered in sweat, and his rapid thinking made him feel somewhat drained. But through his hard work, as a Lieutenant Commander, he preserved the maximum possible effective force for the internal defenses of the Church of the Celestial Woman.
Everything seemed to be under control; they should be able to hold out until reinforcements arrived.
"Sister Claire! Watch your back!" Sister Arabella shouted.
Thousands of Bloodletters swarmed up the steps. They used the steps to jump onto the Rhino armored vehicles, ambushing the Battle Sisters operating the heavy bolter on the vehicle's roof from behind.
"Ah!!!" The Battle Sisters let out a painful scream.
Her chest was pierced from behind by a burning blade, and blood stained her sacred silver armor, splattering onto her storm bolter.
"Die… demon. Cough, cough."
The strong Battle Sisters coughed up a mouthful of blood and, with her last bit of strength, pulled the pin on the high-explosive grenade in her hand, leaning weakly against the hatch.
Bang!
The Bloodletters surrounding the Rhino transport vehicle were instantly banished in large numbers by the detonation, covering the retreat and also shattering the Sister's body. She did not allow her head to be defiled by the evil god.
Although the gap created by the explosion was quickly filled by a new wave of Bloodletters, all remaining defenders had passed through the long steps and reached the top of the stair platform to reorganize their battle line.
Meanwhile, inside the Fleet Military Intelligence Headquarters.
Countless Naval Officers rushed through the narrow corridors, clutching documents. Tables were piled high with flight vehicle and deployment schedules, and emergency call and troop assignment hotlines rang ceaselessly. Everyone was exhausted.
"Listen, I don't care about your nonsense! Even if it's the Archbishop, no matter how bad the relationship between the Ecclesiarchy and the Order of the Sacred Rose is! I will transfer troops from Upper Hive and the spire to reinforce the Church of the Celestial Woman. If you're so capable, make the Star Realm Navy Department remove me from my post!" Vice Admiral Hood slapped the table and roared. After a full day of phone calls, his voice was already hoarse.
"Reporting, Vice Admiral, a Warp rift has appeared in the direction of the Church of the Celestial Woman, and demons… are pouring into the Church of the Celestial Woman. Their numbers are too great, and the outer reinforcements cannot break through! We have suffered heavy losses," Lieutenant Commander Elphinstone took the report from Lena's hand and rushed to Vice Admiral Hood.
Facing the news of demons appearing, the seasoned Vice Admiral Hood did not show excessive surprise, but the news was still enough to trouble him.
At the same time, a message from his daughter also reached his hands.
'++Dad, the Church of the Celestial Woman is about to be overrun by demons. Horatio and the rest are inside, preparing for a last stand. I beg you, I beg you to immediately send more reinforcements. Please forgive my willfulness. Your loving daughter — Farida++'
The Vice Admiral's face showed no emotional fluctuations. He slapped the phone to hang up the call from the Archbishop, then immediately redialed the captain of the Retribution-class Battleship 'Holy Will':
"Deploy all Naval Officers prepared to join the expedition to the Church of the Celestial Woman! Send as many aircraft as possible… Yes, I'm sure! I am the overall commander of this battle fleet, and I have the authority to issue such orders! I will bear all responsibility for any delay in the expedition's departure! Execute immediately, Captain! Otherwise, I won't mind having the fleet commissar point a gun at your head to enforce my command!"
Vice Admiral Hood leaned on the table, exhaling heavily, sweat constantly rolling down his head. The general mobilization order for the expeditionary fleet had been issued.
But his heart was unsettled. Even though the order had been issued, it would take at least one and a half terra time for the main force of the armed forces entering the void to reach the vicinity of the Church of the Celestial Woman by transport, plus the time required to launch an attack on the Church of the Celestial Woman.
Communications were experiencing strong psychic interference. He didn't know the current situation at the Church of the Celestial Woman, but it certainly wasn't optimistic. He prayed that his mobilization order would arrive in time.
He didn't want to see his daughter cry again on St. Giles Festival, just like the day her mother died eight years ago.
[Horatio, you better hold on! If Farida is sad because you died, I'll drag you back, you bastard, even if I have to charge under the Golden Throne!]
Vice Admiral Hood bit his lip until it bled, veins bulging on the back of his hand, and slowly, heavily slammed his fist onto the mahogany desk piled with documents.