Chapter Fifty-Five: The Chosen of the God of Blood

Even though the travelers, the Imperial Guard, the Grey Knights, and the Silent Sisters fought with all their might against the forces of Khorne, the demonic army was simply overwhelming. The lasguns of the Imperial Guard and the palace's artillery barrages could do little to harm the daemons from the warp. The only ones capable of inflicting real damage upon them were the superhuman warriors battling atop the Lion's Gate, clashing their fearless blades against the hellspawn.

Wang Ming wielded his power spear, locked in combat with a Greater Daemon of Khorne, leaving deep gashes upon the monster's body with each strike. Yet, no matter how powerful Wang Ming's attacks, he could not force the daemon back. On the contrary, the opportunity to duel with a Primarch thrilled the Greater Daemon, who fought Wang Ming with frenzied vigor. Its battle axe swung and collided relentlessly with Wang Ming's power spear, producing earth-shattering sounds.

Seizing a brief opening, Wang Ming thrust his power spear into the daemon's chest. The beast roared in rage, its attacks growing even more berserk, its twin axes whirling like windmills. Wang Ming, seeing the daemon's madness, abandoned the spear, dodging its onslaught. Now unarmed, he began to assault the daemon with his fists.

The superhuman strength of the Primarch was unleashed. Wang Ming pummeled the Greater Daemon with blow after blow, fighting with abandon. The daemon, seeing Wang Ming forsake weaponry, tossed aside its own axe, intent on proving its courage and might to the Blood God through hand-to-hand combat. Yet, as Wang Ming unleashed a flurry of blows, the daemon realized its error in attempting to box with a Primarch—at least, with this particular one.

Though Wang Ming lacked finesse, his raw power was among the greatest of the Primarchs, his towering four-and-a-half-meter frame imposing. Soon, with a swift and accurate punch to the neck, Wang Ming seized the daemon by the throat. Gripping it firmly, he began to batter its head with his fists—one punch, two, three, four… thirteen in all.

Wang Ming struck the daemon's head thirteen times, pulverizing it into a pulp. With the Silent Sisters present, the creature could not be banished back to the warp; it was dead beyond all hope of return. Wang Ming hoisted the corpse and dragged it to the vanguard of the Khorne demon army, where the travelers and the daemon horde were locked in mutual slaughter.

Now leading the travelers was Captain Hu Jin of the Second Regiment, whose approach to warfare was well known among those present. Under his command, the travelers—both veterans and four thousand newly arrived—fought like a second demonic army, throwing themselves recklessly into battle with the Khorne legions.

The Greater Daemon that fought Wang Ming had been isolated by the travelers through sheer weight of numbers, pushed toward him to give Wang Ming the chance for single combat. This was part of the plan: the death of a Greater Daemon would show the mortal soldiers of the Imperial Guard on the walls and those in the palace district witnessing the battle that the invading daemons were not invincible hellspawn, but merely monsters defiling the Holy Throne World.

More importantly, it was meant to demonstrate to the corrupt High Lords the power of the Primarchs, the Emperor's divine sons, making clear to the worms among them the consequences of plotting behind their backs.

Wang Ming flung the corpse at the front lines of the Khorne army, his mockery of the Blood God plain for all to see.

"Are you ready?" Wang Ming asked the travelers and Imperial soldiers fighting alongside him.

"Ready!" The travelers raised their weapons, bracing for the furious, frenzied onslaught from the enraged Khorne legions.

Meanwhile, the Imperial Guard, Grey Knights, and Silent Sisters swiftly withdrew into the palace; the coming battle would be too costly for them.

Wang Ming looked at the surging tide of daemons before him, took a deep breath, and proclaimed: "Khorne is nothing but a brainless, rage-filled dog-headed cripple. I daresay he's not even as formidable as the Eldar God of War, Khaine!"

No sooner had Wang Ming finished speaking than the Khorne army erupted in wrath. The warp storm above the Lion's Gate churned violently, as if something unspeakably terrifying were about to emerge; amidst the boiling chaos, a giant hand clad in bronze armor reached forth.

"Bloody hell, did I just provoke the real K himself?" Wang Ming thought uneasily, watching the enormous hand reaching out from the warp storm.

Just then, a brilliant golden light burst forth from deep within the palace. The giant hand hesitated, then withdrew back into the storm. But before departing, it hurled something from the warp—a humanoid figure clad entirely in bronze armor, hurtling toward Wang Ming at high speed.

As the figure neared, Wang Ming instinctively slapped him, driving his head into the hard ground.

"Damn you, Khorne! I didn't want to come here at all!" The man pushed himself up, pulling his head free from the earth, cursing Khorne nonstop as he did.

"Wait, who are you, brother? Isn't this the Second Battle of Terra? Where are the Imperial Guard?" The bronze-clad man looked at Wang Ming, bewildered.

"Are you from Earth too?" Wang Ming asked, guessing from the man's words.

"What the hell! You're from Earth as well?" The armored man stared at Wang Ming in surprise.

"Not just me—everyone behind me." Wang Ming helped him up, gesturing to the five thousand travelers gathered behind him.

"Wow, I've found my people!" The man, seeing the crowd of travelers, drew his blood-red longsword and turned to face the Khorne army.

Thus, Khorne's chosen traveler betrayed him in the very first battle.

The Khorne demons were utterly baffled by what had just transpired. First, Wang Ming mocked Khorne, provoking the god to descend in person. Then, the bronze-armored man stopped him; afterward, Khorne threw out a chosen champion to deal with Wang Ming, only for the two to recognize each other and immediately rebel.

What was going on? Was this battle even going to happen? The Khorne army looked at the travelers in utter confusion.