A Perpetual Paradox: A Warhammer 40k Odyssey

by DiabloDragonGod

Awakening in 40k wasn't a pleasant experience at first. I wasn't a primarch, a space marine, a guard, not even a member of the Imperium. To make matters worse, the literally damned planet I started on was under invasion by chaos undivided. As you can imagine, I tried to survive and was almost immediately ripped apart. I guess it's a good thing I did get one Perpetual advantage.

5. Chapter 5

Third person POV

Dust blew over the wide ruined streets of the under hive that lay littered with blooded rotting corpses and rubble. Fires burned which would occasionally form mini fire cyclones that blew precariously across the seemingly dead landscape. Above, the crimson storm raged on as green lightning loomed like a predator, occasionally reaching down to strike the surface with spite.

CRUNCH

A demonic skull with multiple horns, one of many varieties littering the floor within the massive dome of the red barrier, was smashed underfoot by the black metal boot belonging to Seranz Steel. On a fixed course for the centre of the dome where the literal beacon of a spire of energy, the woman's electric blue eyes shifted from side to side, her new bolter tightly grasped within her hands as she scanned the streets.

Just in front of her were the forms of her irregular companions with the sole male of their formation leading the way as he strutted forth without fear or pause. She found herself envious of the guy's endless stamina as he never slowed and never seemed to tire as evidenced by the oversized chain sword he was lugging around over his naked shoulder and the full-sized bolter he held aloft with one hand, pointed to the sky.

She knew somebody of his short stature and average build wouldn't walk more than a few steps like that as their muscles would give out. Even she would struggle to maintain a movement like that for too long as even if these kinds of bolters were scaled down for non-Astartes, they were still two-handed weapons. Added the chain sword that she was sure was heresy for him to be wielding due certainly not being one of the God Emperor's angels, and she couldn't help but feel her own fatigue getting to her from just the sight.

In the middle of their little formation was the source of her greatest internal conflict. No, it was not the woman that was garbed in the lower plate of her Order's signature black battle armour, matching her own. It was the demon who's back, the woman was ferried upon. The demon that the God Emperor had seen in his infinite and unfathomable wisdom to bless with his personal seal.

"Hey, so what do you think this box does exactly?" Kleopatra asked, holding up the small box to her eye-level to inspect it as she had been the one Rex had trusted to safeguard it. Seranz could tell the two of them were definitely beyond the point of comrades, even if she hadn't witnessed them kissing. Such things were never something she had considered as her Order's vow of chastity was absolute.

That said, it did nothing to defeat the strange feelings she had been assaulted by since that deranged scrawny little pervert had swatted her backside and been so brazing as to look her in the eyes as he shouted her down. She told herself that in that moment, the only reason he still draws breath was that she had no possible means to purge the crude little shit, God Emperor blessed or no.

Even so, as he looked back to respond to the woman's question, she couldn't help but feel that inexplicable sensation once more as she subconsciously was drawn to his blue eyes that always remained the only unblemished part of him from all the grime and blood.

"Well, assuming the scary as fuck demon wasn't full of shit, I'd wager it will suck the soul or essence or whatever out of the big fucker when I cut off its head with this sexy new baby of mine." Seranz once more felt the other less pleasant emotion she had endured yet kept to herself every time Rex had found something he liked. He always had this creepy deliberately evil laugh that made the hairs she'd yet to shave on the back of her neck stand on end. Then there was that unhinged attitude he was once more demonstrating as he caressed the blade, smearing its surface with his own blood like his did whenever he was blessing something. However, in this moment, he almost seemed to just be doing it to mark the weapon as his.

"Oh? And since dear Kleopatra is to be the one transporting the device. Can we assume the responsibly is hers to suck the demon's bound soul and essence out of their body?" Verosika opened her mouth and once more, Seranz resisted the urge to castigate the demon's vulgar words for being entirely inappropriate in their situation. All that held her back was that she was sure it would be a waste of breath and that their male companion was just as worse.

"What!? No! I-That's not!" The guardsman blushed and fumbled over her words, much to the demon's continued entertainment as she giggled. It seemed Rex also shared her displeasure for once, though most likely out of jealousy more than anything as she was aware men tended to be possessive.

"Knock it off Verosika. We are getting close, and Kleo doesn't need to be thinking about demon dick this close to one of the slut's chief whore commanders." He grumbled, lazily shooting a lesser demon dead. They seemed to be becoming more frequent by now as they neared the site. No sign of the traitors to the Emperor yet, but Seranz was sure she'd relish in purging them like she had the one which had pinned Rex with her body.

For some reason, remembering that event where she had his phallus in her heretical grasp, was not something which would leave her mind, no matter how much she internally prayed for forgiveness for her sinful thoughts she would NEVER reveal to anyone.

"Verosika." She called out, saying the demon's name for the first time, making her turn to her with a look of surprise.

"Yes, Seranz? Is there something you need?" She asked, and while the Sister of Battle would never normally waste breath communicating with a demon, she considered how they were already-if by force, accepting the assistance from a demon. As such, considering how this one seemed to really be on their side after her actions in healing Kleopatra, she supposed perhaps she could be trusted somewhat.

"You're a demon, so I assume you know the basics of their behaviour, correct?" She asked, to which the tall demon pondered her question, before answering the seemingly innocuous question hesitantly.

"Yes, I believe I can provide a decent enough explanation of the various faction's wants and habits." She affirmed, glancing to Rex to see him half-listening to their conversation.

"I have two queries of note. The first being what you know about that Zeech demon or what his motivations maybe. You warned us before his arrival, so I assume you know something." She questioned, though Verosika was surprised to not detect any suspicion within the stern Nun with Gunz's tone.

"First, it's pronounced 'Tzeentch'." She corrected. "His domains are Magic, Schemes, Hope, Ambition, Scheming, Plotting, Change, Hubris, Destiny, Mutation, Prophecy, Fate, and Unpredictability." She listed off as she strode along with Kleopatra on her back. "As for why he helped us? I honestly have no idea." She shrugged. "Apart from having a creepy interest in Rex and to a lesser extent, me. The idea that he'd betray is allies to assist us in ruining his own plan is both ludicrous, and perfectly in-line with his Patron." She explained and the other three couldn't help but agree in a weird way.

"I supposed that makes sense in a twisted way." She nodded. "As for my other question, we need a plan of attack. We cannot face the Keeper of Secrets before the Bloodthirster after all."

Looking down at the floor in contemplation as they turned onto another street, Verosika bit her lip. "I know what you mean, and in truth, I am unsure of how to make that happen. They are incarnations of rage and murder so it illudes me how Voragror managed to get it to play nice with multiple different faction peers." She admitted honestly. "Adden that they are likely fully aware of our presence now that those turned Sororitas have returned to them by now. I assume that they are simply waiting for us to come to them to die, rather than expend to effort of coming to us directly for such a small group. In all likelihood, the Keeper of secrets probably views such menial labour as beneath them."

Staring down the street, Rex spotted some demons near the ritual site as it was just a few blocks away now. Unseen by the others, the man grinned as he looked at his reflection in the blade on his shoulder.

"Guys." He got their attention. "Why don't you all go hide in that building over there." He gestured to the side with his bolter, much to their confusion.

"Hide? What madness do you preface?" Seranz questioned as Rex had stopped in the middle of the wide-open area of what seemed to be a park, though it was barely recognisable with so much damage.

"I have a plan, alright? We need to draw out that Bloodsthirster and I just realised how I can make that happen." He showed her a toothy grin, before turning on his heel and marching up to a group of Khorne demons fearlessly.

As Seranz stood flabbergasted at his actions, as well as having a sinking feeling that this was yet another of his stunts that would almost assuredly kill them, Kleopatra's voice entered her ears.

"We should do as he says. I don't know why, but I feel the distinct notion that he's about to do something stupid."

"Yeah, you're right. Come on Seranz. We can watch from the cover of that bank looking building. It looks intact, so I assume it's reinforced." Verosika shook her head and turned to one of the only mostly intact buildings they'd encountered with its only damage being the smoking dropship that had crashed against it and fallen to be just outside the door, damaging the concrete above the entrance.

"Good idea." She nodded, following the two women. "We can lend fire support from the windows and that storm bolter attached to the swivel mount on the side of that drop shop is conveniently pointing out at his park." She strategized.

As predicted, they had predicted, Rex was in fact doing something stupid as they soon heard shouting all the way from their location halfway across the hundred-meter-wide park as he approached the centre where a host of assorted demons were ripping skulls from corpses.

"OI! YOU PRICKS!" The demons turned to him, claws ready, but he continued regardless. "SOMEBODY TOLD ME THERE WAS A BITCH CALLING ITSELF A BLOODTHIRSTER WHO HITS LIKE A CRIPPLED ELDAR! YOU ALL BETTER TELL THE COWARD TO COME THE FUCK DOWN HERE, SO I CAN HUMILIATE HIS RED ASS IN FRONT OF HIS PANZY GOD!"

Seranz facepalmed. "We're going to die."

"Well ladies, I may not have gotten the chance to lay with either of you, but if its all the same to you. It was a pleasure knowing you." Verosika slumped on a couch in the main hall, placing Kleopatra next to her who held onto her side tightly for comfort.

"W-Why would he do that!? What if that thing, I don't know can kill him permanently or something? You saw what that other demon was able to do!" Kleopatra screeched, clutching the sides of her head in panic. Pulling her into her naked side, Verosika gently lowered the girl's hands into her lap.

"I know, but we survived the last dozen times he did something suicidal, right? You just watch, he'll probably be having the time of his life. We will be fine." She grinned lopsidedly to the two women. Kleopatra, to her relief, seemed slightly alleviated at that, meanwhile Seranz simply scoffed and checked her mags before turning to the door.

"Let us home the God Emperor does indeed keep protecting us from that psychopath's attempts to kill us." She said exiting the building and entering the crashed dropship, shooting an Imp that was hiding inside. Meanwhile, the other two women had moved to the upper floor windows where they had a decent view of the situation. Despite her attitude, she too shared the women's concern for the man as she looked out upon his lone form with a look of worry she was certain she'd never let any of them witness.

Standing out in the open, Rex had just made the most brazen declaration that the demons before him had ever heard. With speed, it seemed one of the lesser demons saw reason and booked it from the blood-soaked human with the bolt-gun and large sword.

Unfortunately, that small demon didn't get far as it was smashed dead by another as like its brethren, the less cowardly demons saw his declaration for the afront to their leader and their Patron God that it was, and immediately attacked.

"Oh, so you wanna fight, do ya?" He grinned. "Ok, I could do with a pre-match warm-up." He dropped his bolt-gun on the floor and hefted his chain sword to the ground where the heavy item bashed, cracking it. Taking a breath as the demons got closer at a rapid pace, he didn't activate the Sword's motor and instead swung the sword in a circle, before bringing the thing in a horizontal slice that cleaved multiple demons in two, spraying him in blood viscera as he looked up with closed eyes while being showered in the life fluid that rained on top of him from the stumps where their midsections had been and were replaced by geysers of blood from their still standing lower halves.

Looking down at the remaining more hesitant demons, he licked the blood from his lips with a savage grin. "Well, you cunts?" You gonna call your pussy boy boss, or do I gotta start removing limbs?" He threatened, to which the smaller demons backed off and ran away out of the park, presumably to let their boss know about the insulant human which had issued a scathing direct challenge to him.

Knowing he had a little bit before a reaction, he took this moment to look down at his sword in.

"Hehehe You're a mean bitch, aren't you? I haven't even turned you on, yet you already made this much mess." He joked to himself. "Still, while I like em thick, you're just too far on the heavy side for a guy like me. Let's hope all that blood I lathered you up with does what I hoped it would do, for all of our sakes." He cracked a nervous grin as he sent a glace back in the direction of his female companions.

By this point, he had done so numerous times already, and each time he'd learned something new. His sword which had gained the ability to launch fiery energy in arches. The low-level ward he'd put on the girls' armour to protect them from Warp corruption that was even able to create zombies. His auto-gun he'd left with Kleopatra, which he'd physically morphed into a new weapon entirely, going so far as to literally Pach-a-Punch it as if he was playing call of duty zombies. And finally, the fact he'd been able to make the literal Holy Grenades from Fallout New Vegas.

As such, as he once more closed his eyes, and he took a deep breath while preparing to once more use the God Emperor's gift. He used all of his thus far learned knowledge through trial and error. While it mattered that he prays, it wasn't so much the faith that mattered as he himself didn't actually believe the Emperor or the Omnissiah were Gods since he knew the truth about him and the Void Dragon which was a imprisoned C'tan.

Instead, it turned out that he was basically programming the item with a set of instructions that the borrowed never-ending pit of Psyker energy of the Emperor would make reality. He'd learned from the bundle of grenades that blood helped the enchantments take root within the item for a much stronger effect after he'd literally drowned them in it, similar to all the incense and oils the Mechanicus used. As such, he'd spent the while they'd been walking to the ritual after meeting that demon, slowly smoothing the weapon in his life fluid and contemplating the exact words he'd use when he blessed the weapon.

"In service to the God Emperor of Mankind, I consecrate this blade. In place of sacred oils and vital liquids, I instead coat its metal surface in the blessed blood of a Perpetual. Let my eternal ichor seep into its very machine spirit so it may be forever bound to me."

"I invoke the Machine God's blessing, that this blade never faulter, and to raise above its already hallowed design." He took a breath as wind began picking up and swirling around him. Behind his eyelids, he could see the glowing of the blade with golden radiance.

"For I, Rex, envision an even greater blessed blueprint. Let its hungry metal teeth devourer my enemies with unparallelled hunger, consuming all they were to forever temper its strength and resolve."

"By the will of the Omnissiah, I reforge this weapon into my own image. A weapon fit for a slayer of demons and terrors of humanity. So, awaken O blade! With the rites of activation, I charge you with eternal duty, and with this name, now once more bind these to my service as a symbol of my devotion to he who guides humanity! Chain Crucible!"

BOOM

The area shook as a dusk cloud was sent out in all directions from the centre of the destroyed park. The women in the distance had to take cover as they felt the warm strong gust that washed over them signalling the birth of something new.

"What did he just do!?" Kleopatra asked, coughing dust as she climbed back tot eh window which had just been blown out.

"I believe he just blessed another weapon, but this time… he seems to have done something different. That blade… It feels terrifying. Like it wants to eat me." Verosika said to her, shuddering for the first time, and certainly not from her usual lack of attire. Staring wide eyed as the golden light dissipated, only to be replaced by a wrathful red glow which outshined even the crimson sky above.

Opening his eyes, Rex beheld his new weapon which felt completely different in his grasp.

Three meters long with deadly ridges on the flat of the blade, outlined by two lines of lava-like energy, coalescing at the tip of the blade. Along its edges, a line of sharp teeth begging to begin eating whatever was unfortunate enough to come within range. Its black two-handed handle was tipped with a bulbus sharp pommel. In the centre of the cross guard, a glowing red and amber core burned with the rage of a trillion demons who seemed to reach out to become sharp axes at the tips of the cross guard either side.

Rasing the now truly massive blade felt as light as a wooden cain in his hand. As evidenced by when with a strike faster than lightning, he severed the head from one of the only surviving statues. Seeing its effectiveness, the man's grin was now truly maniacal.

"Doom Slayer, eat your heart out." He cackled, turning to the women of his group, fully aware they were watching and waved his sword that now made him look comedically small. To Seranz, she was unsure about which sword he was trying to show them as even from their distance, they could collectively make out his… Joyful reaction to his new weapon.

"Did he really just get a hardon form a sword…" Kleopatra deadpanned.

"I believe he did, Ufufufu." She watched as her demonic temporary guardian licked her lips lustfully.

As for Seranz, the woman was just standing astonished at his feet as he'd not only once more demonstrated his blessing from the God Emperor, but to such an extent that even from this distance and with no Psyker powers, she could tell it was powerful.

{WARNING, THE MOST GORE I'VE WRITTEN TO DATE AHEAD, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.}

THUD RUMBLE THUD RUMBLE THUD RUMBLE

Following Rex's joyous celebrations, the ground began shaking, making him feel the vibrations in his feet, looking up, he was just in time to witness a building be body slammed out of the way by a 35ft red humanoid demon with gigantic dragon's wings that battered the dust and debris like it had offended him and a long thick reptilian tail with a thagomizer on the tip. Its bloodied skin was scaly with splotches of fur and hair like on the back of its neck and its sharp goatee. Muscles and rage, the creature was nothing, but pure hatred given manifest. Its face was bestial with a snarling maw and fangs like swords.

"YOU!" It roared like thunder, smashing the ground and leaving a crater with its war hammer that was decorated in skulls and leather, just like the demon's entire attire which was nothing but a loin cloth and thousands of skulls.

"Yeah, me." Rex snarked, pointing his new sword at the horror given form like he was about to face a rather nasty bug. "Sub bitch."

"YOU INSOLENT MORTAL WRETCH! I WILL RIP YOU APPART AND GRIND YOU TO DUST!"

It all but screamed, smashing the ground yet again with its hammer as if just saying that much without attacking was taking every iota of willpower.

"HAHAHAHA! I take it my message reached you well enough then? I'm fuckin glad honestly as I was half expecting you to send your Slaaneslut boyfriend to fight for you." He continued, having fun poking fun at the demon who by now, if it was possible actually seemed angry as its baritone voice broke trying to convey its rage.

"I'LL RIP YOU APPART!"

Rex didn't even get a chance to attack as in the next moment, the demon had extended its gigantic wings out and flapped, propelling it like a 10-ton bullet. It him into the dirt with its bare fist again and again, each time pressing him further and further into the ground and grinding his naked body into paste.

That was until it roared in pain and retracted its hand, only to find its middle and pointer fingers had been severed, falling to the ground in the five-meter crater the demon had created. Inside of which, Rex was coughing as his body tried desperately to reform from being turned into literal blood paste.

It seemed this small reprieve was over as in the next moment and will a roar of rage, the demon had brought its hammer down upon the human with the fury of a burning freight train as fire ignited from it.

Being smashed into paste again, Rex was barely aware of his surroundings as he was suddenly lifted in the air with his vision correcting just long enough to stare into the demon's wrath incarnate orange eyes, before throwing up his literal organs as it squeezed seemingly with all its might, drawing its own blood as it stabbed its palm with its own claws so it could apply the max pressure. In the next moment, Rex found himself being smashing into the ground repeatedly as the demon roared in rage. Trapped in its fist, it seemed to be fighting the ground just as much as him.

Seemingly bored, the demon suddenly bit his head off and threw his body to the ground, but he wasn't done as the demon summoned a hideous barbaric black axe from the Warp and cleaved the ground he was splattered against in-two, splitting his torso down the centre.

With his head reforming, Rex saw the fist of the demon once more approaching, before with an uppercut, a fist the size of his body sent him careening across the park and into a building. Coming to rest in the rubble, sword long since discarded, Rex dizzily gazed at the approaching demon, feeling every bit like a ragdoll.

"FIGHT BACK PATHETIC MORTAL!"

It roared once more, violently plucking him out the of wall he'd tumbled through with the force of the demon's throw, only to me ripped apart once more with the demon raising him above its mouth, letting his organs flow into its ravenous gullet. Crushing what was left of his upper torso it its grip, the demon once more smashed him into the ground, this time stomping on him repeatedly like a child throwing a tantrum.

Still, as Rex desperately reached for his sword which was now more than 70-meters away, the demon seemed oddly amused.

"I'LL GIVE YOU ONE THING, MORTAL. YOUR REGENERATION MAKES YOU A FUN TOY. YOUR SOUL WILL BE DELICIOUS. TAKE PRIDE THAT A BLOODTHIRSTER OF THE BLOOD GOD SAW FIT TO DEVOUR YOUR PATHETIC MORTAL VESSEL."

It hissed; its yellow lipless maw stretched into a sneer/grin. Picking Rex up, it once more raised him to its maw, this time intent on swallowing the now most certainly panicking man who by now realise he may have been far too overconfident in coming into this fight as even with his regeneration, it meant nothing if he couldn't even hurt the Greater Demon.

"Wh-wha-AHHHHHHH!" The Perpetual suddenly cried out as he felt something tugging on what he could only describe as his literal soul, the closer he got to the creature's now fiery glowing mouth. Vaguely, through the pain he thought he heard an anguished shout.

DAKA DAKA DAKA DAKA DAKA DAKA DAKA DAKA

Suddenly, Rex was yet again thrown out of the hungry monster's dreadful grasp as it covered its face from a flood of bullets which had taken its distraction as a good moment to shoot its eyes out, making it wail in agony and rage, before it turned to the source of the noise.

With horror, Rex noticed that in an effort to save him, the girls had stepped in and were actively shooting the monster. However, it seemed almost immune to ranged damage as all bolter rounds, even from Seranz's mounted Storm-Bolter, were uselessly bouncing off or ricocheting off its hardened scales.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! INSOLENT CURS! DIE!"

Opening its healed smouldering eyes once more, the demon soared across the battlefield and was about to smash the building Rex's companions were in, only for his sword to suddenly burst from the monster's chest, making it hunch over and crash into the dropship, sending Seranz flying where she smacked into the wall of the building with a visible blood splatter.

Looking back at the human, the demon watched as the sword flew back into Rex's outstretched hand, however, the human's eyes were not fixed on the demon.

Wiping his bloodied lip and snorting out blood, Rex grit his teeth in pure rage, staring at Seranz's downed form that he barely noticed Verosika's mist form was bringing inside for safety.

"ALRIGHT YOU CUNT! NOW I'M GONNA HURT YA!" He roared with venom as he approached the demon, his sword carving a fissure in the earth alongside him as it glowed a menacing red, almost as if it was responding to his emotions.

"SMALL WORDS FROM A PATHETIC INSECT. I SHALL COMMIT ALL OF YOUR SOULS TO KHORNE!"

Grabbing the dropship in its grasp, the demon threw it at the human like a rock that was immediately cleaved in two as Chain Crucible finally ROARED to life, scarlet teeth bared to feast on demonic flesh. Following this, the demon dashed forwards once again, this time aiming to crush Rex where he stood, only to be hit with a red energy wave that knocked him back. Unrelenting, the Bloodthirster raised its hammer and brought it down, only for it to be split in two just as easy as the drop ship was as the human sprinted at him with as much rage as a chaos marine berserker.

"GIVE ME YOUR FUCKING ANKELS!" He bellowed, his sword glowing a bright red as it got stuck into the monster's leg, sawing through skin, muscle, tendons, and finally bone with minimal resistance.

BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The demon cried out for the first time in true pain as it backed away in a limp as its foot was barely holding on by a thread. Using its axe as a cane, it maintained its balance and suddenly breathed fire hot enough that it melted bones, leaving only ash remaining.

The spectators were shocked and crying as they believed it over with the monster about to claim victory, only for the Chain Crucible to lodge itself into the monster's wrist, making it drop its axe and lose balance, tumbling to the ground.

Raising from the ashes like a phoenix, Rex called the sword back to him and approached the demon that immediately took off, spitting flames at him once more, only this time, Chain Crucible shot force and severed the demon's right wing, making it plumet to the ground.

Slowly, menacingly, Rex approached the demon's thrashing form. Rage equal to the demon's own burning within his eyes as he dragged his sword along the ground like an executioner's axe. Seeing his approach, the demon who was shocked at how a human weapon could be so powerful, was unable to muster a coherent word beyond animalistic fury as it went to crush the human, only to retract its blood spurting wrist, now devoid of a hand.

Getting closer, Rex was impaled by the demon's thagomizer through his chest, only to cut off its spike and with it, the lower portion of its tail, once more spraying him with demon blood.

For the first time in a long time aside from rage the demon felt fear, true fear as the much smaller human neared it with that sword that it could feel had been draining its vessel's bound soul and its Warp essence.

Cutting off the struggling demon's limbs, relishing in its screams with each amputation, Rex stood atop its heaving chest.

"You know mate." He said conversationally. "This was never personal. You were just in my way, literally." He then pressed the blade into the demon's chest, making it cry out in helpless agony. "That all changed the moment you hurt Seranz." He hissed, slowly carving a three-letter word and another into the demon's chest. "For that, I'm going to make good on my threat of humiliation." He added, finishing the inscription which read 'REX'S BITCH!' in bold letters.

"Y-YOU'RE BLOOD WILL-"

The demon couldn't finish as suddenly its throat was skewered by Chain Crucible's blade, silencing it to simple wet gurgles.

"Now, while I'd let you have last words so I could hear you beg, you'd probably curse me or something." He then raised his sword with a sadistic smile that the demon believed suited his kind more than a human. "So, up the fuck shut and DIE!"

BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

"AAAAAAAAAHHHH-"

The demon's gargled scream was suddenly cut off as the blade severed its huge head which rolled away from its body, showering Rex with so much blood that he felt he could swim in it as it made a massive puddle below it.

Lethargically, now that the adrenaline was leaving his system, Rex slid off the corpse he'd just given the world's most violent shave and stumbled for a few steps before falling to his knees and breathing hard, actually feeling tired for the first time as he learned he actually did seem to have a limit to the amount of regeneration he could do in such a short amount of time. A pity it took him being pasted many, many times to learn this, he lamented.

Footsteps caught his attention a few minutes later and he looked up slowly to the unexpected face of Seranz, who was now sporting a head bandage.

"Seranz!" He gasped, scrambling to his feet and looking her up and down, much to her discomfort as she placed a hand atop his head to still him a few feet away.

She then unexpectedly looked down at him with an actual grin. "I'm fine Rex, Verosika is a great medic." The demon seemed to preen at that as she smirked with her head raised smugly. "It was a stupid plan, and it very nearly got us all killed, but you did well Rex. What you just did is something even the Emperor's angels couldn't pull off easily." She praised in an oddly big sisterly way, ruffling his hair before removing her hand with a smile that the other three found to be genuinely beautiful as opposed to her usual pretty yet stern expression.

"I'm just glad its over" Kleopatra sighed in relief. "That thing's terrifying." She shuddered averting her gaze from the severed head of the Bloodthrister that looked like it could still wake up and eat them all.

Sigh, Rex fell back on his butt and pulled his sword to his side. "You have no idea, Kleo. I never want to do that again." He stretched, feeling the bones in his back realign after reforming over and over again.

"What's with that sword Rex? It looks terrifying and it feels like it wishes to devour me. I feel like I've seen it somewhere before." The good demon pondered while leaning down to observe the aura of dread emanating from the demon killer sword.

Rex tiredly grinned. "This is Chain Crucible, my first named weapon. I bound it to myself so I can't lose it." He explained pridefully.

"That's good, you do make it a habit of losing weapons regularly." Seranz snarked, crossing her arms and cocking her hip to the side in a way which had all present noticing but her.

Leaning in, Kleopatra whispered to Verosika. "Is it me or is Seranz acting… weird."

"Yeah, not that you mention it." The demon nodded as the usually stoic woman had gone back to stoking the man's head in an oddly affectionate way. Not that the guy seemed to be against it as, they admitted as he seemed to relax into her hand like a puppy.

"Not that it isn't nice to see you dropping your usual attitude miss ice-queen, but we need to use the artifact." Verosika chirped, making Seranz straighten and almost jump back after realising she'd been acting without thinking. Coughing into her fist, the woman looked away with obvious reddened cheeks.

"Right! Ahem, well then. I'm just glad you're all right." She said, fully turning away and fiddling with her bolter.

Smirking, Rex shook his head in amusement as he turned to the other two women. Kleopatra, at seeing his look, pulled out the box with it instantly opening to reveal a strange stone that immediately began sucking in red essence from both the demon's corpse and Chain Crucible. Staring at his sword which seemed to be glowing less and less, Verosika could feel the blade's hunger growing through the Warp.

When it was finished, the orb in the box was glowing a deep crimson red like a perfect spherical ruby.

"I've never seen anything so captivating before." The black-haired woman gasped, looking closer at it.

"That's one pretty gem, I can feel the essence and soul of that Bloodthirster within it. It's so strong." Verosika remarked while Kleopatra stared in awe, seemingly entranced.

"Ahem, girls." Rex chuckled as they blinked, looking sheepish with Kleopatra handing the box to him.

"Right, go any idea how to activate it?" He questioned, scrunching his brows at the object as he tilted it around to look for an activation or something.

"Are you still sure we should be doing this? There may still be another way. What if it kills us all?" Seranz explored, still highly distrustful of using a demon's weapon of unknown origin.

"Well, that's just the risk we gotta take. I don't see any other way to not get enslaved by the Keeper of whores, so we gotta do this." Rex said resolutely, offering a reassuring smile to the woman, who couldn't help but frown.

"If I am damned to oblivion as a heretic, know that I will hold you accountable." She scoffed, looking away, but clearly not going to stop him.

He sighed, seeing their group's most pious member seemingly consenting for him to use the item.

"Maybe if take the orb out?" Verosika offered, with Rex doing just that as he tentatively moved his fingers to the foreboding sphere.

All was calm for a moment, that was until Rex's eyes and mouth suddenly shined with red light and he fell to his knees, feeling like his body was on fire as scarlet lighting streamed across every muscle and fibre of his body.

"REX!" Kleopatra dived to help him, but Verosika caught her and kept her on her back while Seranz could only stare in shock and regret as she grit her teeth. Internally validating her ever suspicion.

Gritting his teeth, feeling his skin bubble and his muscles shift underneath Rex clenched his fist even tighter as he glared at it. Fortunately, after five minutes of suffering, the lighting died down, as did the light show, much to everyone's relief.

Still, Rex was no longer moving and was instead staring at his tightly closed fist. Slowly, his fingers shifted to reveal his empty hand with the scarlet orb now missing. In its place was a foreboding red demonic aura of malice and rage all around his body.

CH-CH

"What are you doing!?"

"ARE YOU INSANE!?"

Cocking her bolter and levelling it at the him, Seranz took a deep breath, ignoring the two women.

"Rex, are you still with the Emperor's light?" She questioned as he remained unresponsive, making all of the women concerned as the demon and human also turned to the man who had just absorbed the essence of a Bloodthirster.

Standing slowly, Seranz was prepared to pull the trigger, when he looked up to them with a grin so malevolent, that it made them take a step back.

Slowly, like the waves of the ocean creeping in at high tide, a material composite began growing from the centre of his chest and expanding out to encase his entire body in sinuous fibre-like materials. The material looked alive as it conformed to his body completely.

They women began to back away as Chain Crucible shot into the encased Rex's grasp and it began glowing like it had every time it had fed on essence previously, only to dim and light up over and over.

Slowly, the figure began bulking up, the fibres moving like a colony of ants as they formed layers of wires and plates of an unknown metal-like material. However, as Seranz and Kleopatra started in fear and shock, Verosika widened her eyes in recognition as she released where she now recognised some of the features of Chain Crucible that she'd seen in Rex's memories. Looking down, upon the three women the armour finished forming with a blue visor forming over the eye area with a rebreather below on the helmet which had a vent atop it.

When it was finished, the hulking creature stood staring them down like an automaton or statue.

"THE FUCKING DOOM SLAYER!? ARE YOU SERIOUS?" That was until Verosika marched up to it with her hands on her wide hips and shouted at it, confusing the other two who had no idea what she was talking about.

Suddnely, the armoured figure's visor became transparent, revealing a blue light inside letting them see Rex's face inside.

"What? I thought it would be cool!" He defended, while laughing. Flexing his arms, he beheld his new battle armour that looked far more advanced than anything any of them had ever seen.

"What are you two talking about? What is a Doom Slayer? And why do you look like a slimmer Astartes Terminator?" Seranz questioned, lowering her bolter and staring up at the now much taller man. Turning to the woman, Rex grinned like a demon.

"Well, when I absorbed the orb by accident when I picked it up, I thought I was fucked!" He laughed, making the two humans glare at him for his light-heartedness in the face of something so serious. Seeing they were not laughing with him, he sheepishly looked to the side. "Anyway, so I felt it invading every part of my body. Eventually, it calmed down and told me to envision the form I wanted, and I figured the armour of the most badass demon killer envisioned on my world, was the dream ticket."

"So, this Doom Slayer is a famous hero, or legend?" Seranz questioned, raking her brain for any tale she'd heard that may fit the description.

"No, its more… Its like a story. The guy's rabbit gets killed by demons and so he goes to hell for trillions of years, killing demons with his bare hands while occasionally using weapons including guns because he found them 'fun'. Eventually the guy kills what basically amounts to the Warp God of creation." He explained, still inspecting his armoured form like a child who just got a new toy.

"I take it your Chain Crucible is meant to be the Crucible?" Verosika guessed correctly as Rex nodded. "So now you're, what? Cosplaying as the Doom Slayer?" She asked, amused.

"You seem to know a lot about this guy." Kleopatra asked from her back.

"Well, I have unfettered access to Rex's memories." She grinned, looking up at the armoured male who gulped at the knowledge that she knew his EVERY experience. Fortunately, it seemed this amount of banter was enough for the Sister of Battle to tolerate as she got everyone's attention.

"Well, it better be enough to destroy this next demon. That Tzeentch demon said this artifact came from the War in Heaven. Whatever that is, so I hope we can be enough. That said, we should get this done and get out of here." She remarked, looking to the crimson energy spire which had yet to abate and only seemed be collecting strength.

"I'll explained it to you and Kleo another time. For now, though." He turned to the spire as well. "We need to take down this barrier." He cracked his knuckles and placed Chain Crucible on his back, where it magnetised. "My Hud has an operating system that is telling me I can project an ant-Warp barrier that will negate corruption or manipulation."

Verosika grinned up at him. "Let's go kill a slut." She extended her nails to sharp claws, getting Kleopatra to startle as she avoided said sharp claws from cutting her thighs as. "Sorry Kleopatra." She blushed, retracting her claws.

Off in the distance, Voragror was watching with what most likely passed as smile on his vaguely avian face, after witnessing the battle. Flapping could be heard as a three-legged crow landed upon the demon's staff. The bird was holding a finger in its beak that it handed to the Lord of Change, before changing into a small cyan two-headed basilisk that curled around the golden staff's shaft.

"Ah, Scintathrura. Thank you for your foresight as to collect a sample of our new little acquaintance." The demon then placed the digit in a container which he made appear and disappear with blue Warp mist. "What a peculiar use of Krork technology. Its design is unlike anything I've witnessed before, do you recognise it, old friend?"

"Hiss~" The creature of Tzeentch's eyes shined purple along with Voragror. The result being numerous images of an armoured figure depicted on a poster and within a viewing device with a screen. It slaughtered what looked like Khorne's demonic horde which were occasionally enhance by the Dark Mechanicum with cybernetics. The depicted creature even had a prophecy.

In the first age, in the first battle, when the shadows first lengthened, one stood. Burned by the embers of Armageddon, his soul blistered by the fires of Hell and tainted beyond ascension, he chose the path of perpetual torment. In his ravenous hatred he found no peace; and with boiling blood he scoured the Umbral Plains seeking vengeance against the dark lords who had wronged him. He wore the crown of the Night Sentinels, and those that tasted the bite of his sword named him... the Doom Slayer.

When the purple light left the Basilisk demon's eyes, followed by Voragror's, it was proceeded chuckling which before long turned into full blown laughter. The Chaos being couldn't help but be thoroughly amused by the human's Hubris at fashioning himself after such a being. He had to admit that after watching how brutal his face-off against the young Bloodthirster had been, he certainly fulfilled part of the legend.

"I see." The Lord of Change grinned his sharp teeth. "This Perpetual is fashioning himself as this realm's Doom Slayer to give life to the legend in this reality. Most intriguing. It appears my intervention was indeed worthwhile. Haha. What fun!" He spread and raised his arms. "Indeed. The greatest act of betrayal to an entity of Chaos, is surely to assist the creation of the next Anathema to threaten its existence!" The demon's laughter resounded across the open air atop the roof the pair of demons resided on.

Approaching the ritual site with minimal resistance as it seemed the smaller demons weren't willing to attack Rex's new much larger form, who was leading Rex their path once more as a vanguard. Seeing that the area seemed to be sealed off with rubble in a vague method of fortification, they used a flattened building which was presumably the work of the massive Bloodthirster and entered the area from the top of a hill of rubble, the remains of a shop. Oddly enough, as they all heard a loud noise they couldn't quite make out. They entered an area that overlooked the ritual site, finally giving a clear view of the origin of the scarlet energy spire.

"What the fuck!?" Rex gasped, his sentiments shared by his companions who reacted in their own ways with Verosika making a face of disgust and joining Kleopatra who was throwing up the little that was in her stomach over her shoulder.

"By the God Emperor." Even Seranz covered her mouth with wide eyes as she stared at what could only be described as an outdoor charnel house.

"That's not right." Rex sneered, reaching behind himself and pulling his sword off his back, the sword now looking much more proportional to him with the much-increased height afforded by his new armour. His helmet's Hud zoomed in on several aspects and gave him various pieces of information, some of which he did not want to hear.

The entire ritual site was overgrown with wicked purple plants that vaguely looked like trees and barbed vines, though there was the occasional tooth ranging from a foot to a couple of meters, literally growing from the various places, like a macabre garden of pain. There were even carnivorous plants with teeth longer than a man's arm.

The noise they had been hearing turned out to be the agonised wails of thousands of bodies that were pinned to basically every surface available by the barbed vines that ran them through. Terrifyingly, every one of them was being used to feed the Slaanesh demons that at the moment of death, would expertly drain the pained souls of their victims, before moving onto another.

That wasn't all as that was the most tamed of what was witnessed by their unfortunate eyes. Humans had been sawed together in some macabre art that the demons seemed to take pride in. Everything from a man with his nose swapped with his genitals, to what Rex recognised as the literal human centipede, only with actual bug's legs as a mutation, with the head being that of a snake.

Of course a ridiculous amount of sex was happening, though even that wasn't normal as chaos animals were all over the place molesting the unfortunate humans at the instruction of Slaanesh demons who watched on with glee.

Tentacle monsters that were a large amorphous purple blob that would rape multiple people while tearing another group of people apart slowly so a group of tortured humans could choose amongst themselves who would get which fate, even resorting to violence to save themselves, only to torture them regardless.

Fetishes from vore, to mutilation, cannibalism, and body horror were all over the place, blanketed by a thick air of purple miasma which emanated from the disgusting purple plants. Everything here was in the spirit the sickest twisted pleasure derived from pain that could be attained.

Surprisingly, none of this was present in the centre of this playground of excess, as the area around the scarlet spire was entirely untouched, even from the fog. In the middle of the circle of red energy was a metal capsule that seemed to something they could not make out.

"Verosika… I just want to say that I am eternally grateful that bisexuality is your most adventurous kink." Rex growled with unrepressed anger, though not directed at the naked demon woman behind him who was wiping her lips of bile.

"To see the lengths demons in service to Slaanesh will go… It's horrifying." She gagged, patting Kleopatra's back as she once more was letting out all that she could onto the ground after Verosika had placed her on the ground to avoid it ending up on her.

"Rex." Seranz uttered without averting her hardened gaze from the macabre scene before her, gripping her bolter tightly.

"Yeah? What ya thinkin?" He responded, tightly gripping the handle of his sword while also refusing to look away from the scene.

"The Emperor demands retribution for this afront to humanity. These people… They require the Emperor's mercy." She solemnly stated.

"Understood, no survivors." Following his utterance and needing no further provocation, he reeled his arm back, before launching Chain Crucible into the thickest concentration of corruption and sin.

BOOM

A blast of energy resounded from the sword, draining its last vestiges of energy to incinerate all within a 30ft circle around its landing point. That was not all, as demons shrieked in shock and horror not only from the sudden attack, but watching as the broken charred bodies of humans and demons alike had their essence and souls suddenly ripped from their broken vessels, denying the demons the return to the Warp as they were consumed.

Charging forward at a speed eclipsing a space marine, Rex was too angry to notice as he stomped through a tentacle monster and making its viscera splatter in all directions, before shoulder-checking a demon of equal size to himself to the floor where he proceeded to relentlessly whale upon the creature's face, smashing it in within the first few hits. Standing up, he summoned his sword to himself, just in time to spin it in an arch, taking the leg from an even larger demon, before with reflexes he normally did not possess, he retuned the blade to its upper torso, bisecting the already falling creature and being showered in blood.

He was not alone as Seranz who wasn't far behind, was firing her bolter and cutting down the heathens with righteous fury. Every tortured human and atrocity she witnessed before granting them the God Emperor's mercy, serving as a further enhancement to her rage fuelled graceful carnage. Ducking below the swing of a daemonette's crab claw, she shot its knee, making it roar in rage and swing for her again which she spun around, ending up with her bolter an inch from the vile naked demon's face for the rocket propelled round left her weapon's chamber to be fed directly between the monster's eyes blowing its upper face off.

She was not done as she had to dodge back from another lesser demon's blade that it had swung at her from behind in a desperate attempt to gut her. She never gave it a chance as she dived to the side, before pulling her new power sword and duelling the creature. "FOR THE GOD EMPEROR!" She roared, kicking the daemonette in its gut to make room, before she pulled a bolt-pistol from her waist to make a hole in the chest of a mutant with tentacles that was going to intervene from the side. Falling dead, Seranz magnetised her bolt-pistol back to her waist, before once more blade locking with the daemonette that screeched in a demonic language she didn't even want to comprehend.

Elsewhere. "Kleo! Cover our sexy asses! I am not having these creepy fuckers take my anal virginity today!" The crude cry of Verosika was met by bolter-fire from behind her as she felt the recoil travel through the body of Kleopatra who was now strapped to her back facing behind her with a harness found in the dropship from their earlier battle.

"Stay still and maybe I can keep them off of us!" The crippled woman, though visibly terrified by the hundreds of demons that surrounded them, was regardless firing at anything and everything with a shade of purple that approached them.

The pair had found an arrangement similar to a WW2 fighter plane where the Guardsman would fire at anything that chased them Verosika would sprint around at speeds a human couldn't usually attain and spread flames enhanced by the mark granted by the Emperor, to carpet entire areas in a purple inferno.

Back with Rex, Chain Crucible was cleaving a giant tentacled penis snake in two, before igniting the abomination in flame.

"What the bloody hell these monsters!?" He raged on, cutting, chopping, and smashing anything that looked vaguely alive while for once bot being torn apart by the demons he fought. "Seriously, a bloody dick of all things? That whore God needs to be burned with bleach." Seeing Seranz was battling a demon much taller than herself and was slowly being pushed back, Rex grabbed the unsuspecting demon by the back of its neck, before raising it in the air and smashing it down on the pavement like it weighed nothing. The woman then proceeded to behead the disoriented demon, killing it.

"Much appreciated!" She huffed, spinning to behead another demon, making her shoulder-length platinum blonde hair move in a way that Rex found highly badass and attractive with the accompanying blood splatter that followed.

Idly, as Rex tore a demon in half before beating another to death with the upper and lower portions of its deceased ally, Rex noticed how his suit's power supply was being refilled with their essence with every demon he purged depending upon how violently he did it, like it rewarded him in a war to literally encourage him to go for Glory Kills like he was playing Doom. It was in this moment that he had to wonder which faction this armour was from in the War in Heaven.

"HELP!" His world and thoughts were frozen as a large mass of black mist coalesced into a 30ft tall entity that held Kleopatra within its grasp as she struggled fruitlessly. Under its foot, a bleeding Verosika lay unable to move as demons approached her vulnerable form.

The creature was a tall purple man with a crown of thorns and horns on its head. Its ears were pointed, and the creature had a single breast covered by a wicked torture device that stabbed it through it like a horrific piercing. It was also proudly displaying its human sized inhuman cock that squirmed about as if it was sentient.

Around its feet, the surviving demonized Sororitas from earlier were naked and on their hands and knees. Each one of them were crying and in pain with bloodied marks from whipping and other torture methods clearly inflicted upon them. Rex guessed it had been from their failure, not that he paid them much attention as he bared his dripping sword at the demon who was staring with malice at the woman within its grasp.

"Hmm, what do we have here? A damaged morsel? Pretty for a standard human, aren't you? Ooo! You even have purple eyes. Oh, how I love that terrified look you're presenting me. Yes, for such a lucious gift, I'll reward you. I'm thinking, the tail of a snake, it's not like you possess the appendages to walk like a human anymore anyway, right? I just love it when humanoids breed with things other than themselves. I can't wait to fuck your snake pussy." The giant monster jubilantly said like it was picking a dress to wear in the morning for a nice event.

Kleopatra screamed out in terror as the monster spoke, tears streamed from her eyes.

"As for this thing." The monster's tone shifted to scorn as it eyed the demon it had squished beneath it's clawed foot so it couldn't escape. "An entity of chaos that not only helped humans against us, flies in the face of the prince of pleasure's very principles by being a virgin? Unacceptable. No traitor, I will not kill you and consume your bound vessel's soul. Instead, I shall keep you alive to experience all that you all, bringing you to the height of agony bound pleasure." It rasped, pushing its foot down to inflict the much smaller demon with delicious pain.

"OI! GIVE HER BACK, YOU SLAG!" Unexpectedly, the demon who had been so absorbed with its own world, hadn't noticed the appearance of the armoured mortal who was now approaching her at a steady pace, trampling everything in his path. The demon sneered at such a being, finding its blood-soaked and unkept demeaner the opposite of perfection.

"Eww, be gone, you foul mortal. Your mere presence offends me." With a flick of its wrist, the vines around moved to bind the man and his lone Sororitas companion to the point their didn't seem to be able to move. "Honestly, I've seen what's inside you human's armoured suits. You may look different but I'm sure you're yet again another of those filthy ugly larger humans that are only good for fighting, and not fucking. Your companion on the other hand looks very tasty. Certainly, prettier than her kin whom I brought to my service after revealing what they had been missing." The demon hissed, a vine tenderly rubbing the cheek of Seranz, who turned her head away from the touch as she felt the vines trying to remove her armour while she attempted to resist.

In the background, the demonised women where whimpering and cowering from the demon who entrapped them all in sharp barbed vines that sliced their skin. "SHUT UP YOU FAILURES! I will not have my precious hearing wasted by your pathetic whimpering. I'll be sure to consume EACH and EVERY one of your pathetic souls for allowing these humans to get this far." It sneered, making its distain known, which only served to make the women cry even harder.

Turning back to the girl it its hand, the demon grinned and licked her cheek, making her cry out even harder.

"Oh, I love a good virgin, I can't wait to split you in half and remake your lower half in one of Slaanesh's designs." It rasped, its cock raising to her armoured lower half like a tentacle, extending while the monster grinned and was about to rip her mismatched lower attire off.

SLICE

"W-Wha-AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"GET YOUR BLOODY FILTHY HANDS OFF HER YOU CUNT!" Roared Rex with rage, he forced his arm free of the vines and sent Chain Crucible forth like a BULLET with only one target.

Cupping its bloodied crotch, the demon cried in agony, having dropped Kleopatra with her all but forgotten about as the Greater Demon of Slaanesh found its genitals nor squirming on the floor like a worm who'd lost its lower half, but still alive.

Kleopatra fell to the floor while the demon backed away, all of its previous pride present as it hissed and wheezed in agony. The woman who'd narrowly escaped certain torment crawled to tend to the downed Verosika who was clutching her side which had been pierced by a demon sword.

Behind her, Rex had returned his sword to his hand and cut himself and Seranz free. He noted the state of Verosika with blind fury, stomping forward towards the Keeper of Secrets while cracking his knuckles.

"You like pain? Is that fucking right." He marched forwards to the recovering demon who looked up, just in time to turn to mist to avoid a slash from his sword and a bolter round form Seranz. "Stop running and fucking face me."

"YOU! I WILL MAKE YOU PAY FOR THIS INSULT!"

The demon cried; its voice noticeably higher. Rex would have found it funny if the demon hadn't tried the same seduction sorcery it had done to the Sororitas and Death Watch marines. Despite this, Rex only charged forth with Seranz at his side as the suit's field protected them.

"WHY WON'T YOU SUBMIT BEFORE MY PERFECTION!?"

"IT'S SIMPLE, YOU BASTARD! I AIN'T GAY!" He roared, decking the monster in the face as Seranz stunned it with a shot to its arm that marked its unblemished skin.

Falling to the floor, the demon disappeared and reformed a distance away, seemingly changing targets as it tried the same trick upon the lesser demon and human.

"AHHH! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" Verosika suddenly screamed, clutching her head and curling in on her side, making her wound worse as Kleo tried and failed to keep the woman still.

In the next instant, a warp-gate opened up, with a flood of demons from both Slaanesh and Khorne streaming through like a Mexican bull run.

BRRRRRRRRR

Rex didn't miss a beat and activated his sword, tossing it like a boomerang, carving a bloody swath with the blade glowing redder and redder until it was surrounded by a violent vortex of crimson energy.

Meanwhile, and seeing that he had things covered, Seranz backed off to protect the other two.

BANG BANG

Or she would have if she wasn't completely cut off from them by the horde while firing upon the perverse macabre of hellish denizens to protect just herself and watch Rex's back.

"HAHAHAHA! YES! KNOW DESPAIR AND REVEL IN REVEL IN THE AGONY AS MY SURVANTS OVERCOME YOUR MEAGER DEFENCE!"

The demon gloated. Meanwhile the lonely Kleopatra was surrounded while she desperately fought the demons off with her bolter that she'd dropped when she was grabbed. Unable to move from her spot, both because she couldn't stand and because Verosika was also immobile, she could only fire desperately and watch helplessly as the horde slowly approached like the warp storm that would consume the planet if they failed and the old Tzeentch demon decided to complete the ritual.

Looking around desperately for another weapon or something, she eyed the bloodied and abused Sororitas demons who dared not move from their group huddled together.

"Please!" She desperately cried, tears streaming from her cheeks. "If any part of you remains, please help us!" She implored the cowering demon women who truly looked broken by whatever the Keeper of Secrets had done to them. Even still, Kleopatra kept on, using a combat knife to stab the eyes out of an Imp, before slitting its throat.

"Surely this is not the life you desire, knowing who you once were even after becoming this? I'd always admired the Orders of Sororitas who valiantly faced the threats of humanity despite being nothing more than normal human women!" Her voice began picking up in intensity as desperate bagging gave way for grievance, before settling into anger. "In the last two days, I've faced more death and horrors than all the time I've been here! I've lost greatly and gained very little, and so I now know what that sacrifice means to fight for humanity. Do you!? Or have you truly turned your backs on us!?"

She finished speaking, deciding that this was it as she cursed hearing the tell-tale clicking of her Bolter. Seeing the demons still approaching like a tide, she could only clutch onto Verosika's body tightly and pray for death to be quick.

DAKA DAKA DAKA DAKA DAKA DAKA DAKA DAKA DAKA DAKA DAKA DAKA DAKA DAKA DAKA

Just as the horde reached her, bolter rounds flew overhead, killing the demons in a constant and well-practiced stream with all flanks covered. Looking up, Kleopatra couldn't believe her eyes as the demon Sororitas were holding back the horde of Warp demons that desperately clawed for every inch of land, only to be killed and sent back to oblivion.

To her side, two women crouched down and gestured for the blade still embedded in Verosika's side as she clutched her head in agony from both the wound and invasion of her mind by the Greater Demonic entity.

Nodding, Kleopatra backed off as one held Verosika down while the other began getting to work removing the blade and patching her up while their sisters covered them with well-practiced motions.

"Thank you." Kleopatra could only utter to the two women who gave her a glance and small smiles.

In another part of the massive ritual site, the horde was being amassing in such a way that Rex could only liken it to World War Z with them climbing over the bodies of their eviscerated allies just for the opportunity to scratch the paint of their armour.

Still, back to back against the horde, Seranz had long since run out of bolter rounds and had resorted to her power sword while Rex had Chain Crucible as his one and only weapon. Just two humans standing sentinel against the hordes of demons.

"Sera! We gotta shut that fucking ritual down! The endless Warp energy running through the thing is letting these cunts pour through that gate like a bloody waterfall!" He said, eyeing the Keeper of Secrets that seemed to be using this time to try any regenerate its wounded pride (dick) and plan how to defeat them.

Idly, bolter fire made him notice with no small amount of shock and infinite relief that the demon Sororitas were defending his other two companions who he was cut off from since he couldn't just charge through the horde, or else he'd have to abandon Seranz.

"Your sword skills appear to be improving." The Sororitas praised, watching him carve a demon apart like he was preparing a turkey.

"Thanks! I've been following you! Soon, I'll be perfect, better than you!" He grinned behind his helmet, sending an arch of red fiery Warp energy from a swing of his mighty sword that reaped the essence of demons left right and centre.

"Better than me? Doubtful." She seemed amused as she two made short work of the demons with their banter helping them keep their battle rhythm up with Seranz taking anything shorter than 7ft while Rex body-checked anything even she couldn't handle. "Also, considering the enemies we are facing, perhaps perfection isn't the word you should use." She pointed out, with visible amusement, spitting out some blood as she was hit in the face, only to head-but the same demon and stab it in the chest, dropping it dead.

"Ahhh, who cares? If I were to become any kind of demon, I'd be a Knorne demon. I much prefer red violence to all this self-obsessed purple." He casually remarked, stomping a daemonette's head underfoot, before using the heavy sharp pommel of his sword to break the nose of a larger demon, before twirling the sword around to bisect the creature that exploded in purple gore when he stood on its chest, prompting his suit to tell him he'd once more powered it with larger amounts of Warp essence from the Glory Kill.

"You're such a heretic!" She laughed, giving into her inhibitions in the heat of battle as adrenaline was coursing through her every fibre of her being.

Ignoring her clearly light-hearted jab, the armoured man spied that they were getting closer to the spire and narrowed his eyes.

"Sera, I got a plan, but its risky and I need you to trust me." He called out, prompting her to roll her eyes while defending against a multitude of Imps that her power sword ruined with blood and missing limbs promptly.

"Sure, since when don't you? What is it? He-Hey, what are-? Put me down!" She prompted to which without a word, she was suddenly and violently picked up and placed under Rex's arm like a sack. The juggernaut then proceeded to sprint at full speed, the heavy thuds of his boots crushing skulls and cracking pavement alike.

Quickly, he'd barrelled through the horde and ended up at the site where Kleopatra's new allies were holding of the enemy. Placing the now dizzy woman down, he ignored her protests and turned to the black-haired woman who'd noticed him and called out.

"REX! It's Verosika, she's hurt!" The Cadian informed him, to which he moved over to observe that the woman was being tended to by two women he didn't recognise as any who'd attacked him earlier. As such, he assumed their punishment most of been dolled out to every converted Sororitas, even the ones that had been taken to the ritual instead of being left to defend the in case of another assault by the Imperium's response forces.

The bloodied sword was left beside the naked Sororitas medics who were now busy stitching the wound with what little supplies they had.

"Don't worry Kleo, I'm gonna end this now." He growled at watching his weakened demon friend who'd been his first companion. Fortunately, it seemed the screaming she'd been doing since before he approached had been stopped now his protection field was in Range to stop the Greater Demon's sorcery.

"How will you do that? With the ritual going on, we can't do anything against the Keeper of Secrets since it just turns to mist constantly and attacks our minds. Not to mention the demons as they just keep coming and the demon Sororitas only have so much ammo!" She responded frantically at their dire situation.

Retracting his helmet and picking her up in a princess carry, he kissed her full on the lips in front of everyone. He thought he even heard a whistle from one of the women who were defending their position against the hordes. Pulling back, he smirked down at the woman who seemed to melt in his strong grasp. He admitted it was nice being so much taller than the women he was around for once, instead of the other way around. Gazing into her half lidded purple eyes, Rex spoke confidently.

"Simple, I'll deal with that catalyst." He said simply, not elaborating further as he placed her back near Verosika, who's cheek he tenderly stroked with his thumb, both filling himself with happiness that she was ok, and filling himself with rage that she'd been hurt so much to begin with.

Chest tight with determination, he turned to Seranz with an order.

"Seranz, if your vow of commitment meant anything back in the Emperor's church when I was marked, work with these demon women to protect them. That's an order." At his words, the woman turned to the former members of her order who she'd normally slaughter in a heartbeat. The traitorous signs of their fall to chaos in the form of horns, tails, and bat-like wings all to apparent. Still, she nodded determinedly.

Smiling, Rex activated his blue visor, before raising his fist to her. Raising her hand to meet it, the woman held it against the much larger appendage for a moment before shifting and going to join the line.

Turning to the horde that had only increased and coalesced into a demonic ocean now that he had paused in culling them. He cracked his knuckled before taking a breath.

"For the Emperor!" His vox caster boomed as jets ignited on his back, before he suddenly shot forward in a full sprint, the now familiar BRRRRRR of Chain Crucible carving a bloody swath through the horde on the way to the scarlet spire behind them.

"BACK AWAY MORTAL!"

Suddenly he was held back as the sword of the demon came swinging for him, only to meet the gnashing hellish teeth of Chain Crucible who seemed to begin sucking the soul out of the Greater Demon's Chaos Sword. Seeing this, the demon disengaged and became mist, before spitting acid at the man who tanked it, his suit more than capable of protecting him.

Suddenly, he felt his back being pieced by a sword, as he looked back to see the smirking face of the demon luring down at him like a predator from behind. Rex was honestly more shocked that the weapon could penetrate his armour than anything else.

Still, setting that look on the demon's face, he couldn't help but almost piss himself as it reminded him of a sexual predator who'd just found their victim, which could be exactly what this was. The demon, however seemed to take his terror as a sign that Rex was shocked, he'd been defeated.

That all took a turn as Rex took great satisfaction as in the next moment, he whirled on the demon, slicing its arm off at its elbow and making it let go of the demon sword that Rex left in his back as it didn't bother him.

"AHHHHHH! H-HOW!? HOW ARE YOU ALIVE!? THE SWORD IS AN ANCIENT MASTERWORK FORGED WITHIN THE DEPTHS OF THE WARP ITSELF! IT WAS PERFECTED IN SUCH A WAR AS TO PENETRATE ANY ARMOR! HOW ARE YOU UNAFFECTED BY SUCH A GRIEVOUS DEADLY WOUND!?"

The wounded demon almost seemed to be throwing a tantrum at Rex, who reached back to pull out the sword from his back to eye it with curiosity and suspicion while keeping an eye on the demon.

The weapon was a simple black longsword with no special markings on it, though Rex's suit Hud was telling him it was at least a million years old and possessed no curses and instead was powered by a trapped soul's essence.

"Nice sword, I think I'll keep it." He grinned, making a show of magnetising it to his back while the hole in his suit closed up thanks to its seemingly living nature.

"Y-You would dare steal MY SWORD MORTAL!?"

The demon once more launched for Rex, turning intangible with mist. This gave Rex an idea, however; pulling his new black longsword back out, he swiped the mist, hearing a saticfied hiss of pain as the now rematerialized demon clutched its side in pain with a noticeable purple bleeding gash. It also resulted in the demon rolling to a stop near the rituals catalyst.

"I-I-I Will not stand for such an attack against my perfect form!" The demon once more tried to turn intangible, only to stare with wide-eyed shock. "W-What is this?" It cried out in shock, staring at its remaining hand in shock.

Stomping forth while swinging dual blades to cleave demon that approached to save their master, Rex barely paid them any mind as he attacked the demon once more swinging his blads down, only for the demon to dodge to the side send a punch at him which knocked him back. With what looked like visible pain and strain, a new arm burst from the stump which the demon flexed. Once regrown, the demon growled in rage.

Rex for his part began walking to the side as the demon mimicked him in their face off.

"We are so close to completion of our ritual to corrupt this system. I will not have some random mortal denying me from my rightfully earned praise and recognition from the Prince of Pleasure for my efforts." The demonsneered down the man, who even while clad in his armour, was less than half the height of the demon. Still, he wasn't swayed, as he snorted.

"Funny, I didn't think slags who served the Princesses of Whores could get recognition beyond giving a good blowjob. Not that I'd ever let you near me, you disgusting sack of shit." He flexed his finger, activating Chain Crucible that spun with hunger. "That said, considering what I did to that other asshole Greater Demon, I'm gonna enjoy carving off your ugly mug for what you did to Verosika." He threatened, stopping his movements and turning to the demon.

"Such a pathetic traitorous bug. This is my promise human. I shall enjoy torturing all of those women you care for, including those double turncoats who rejoined your side in a pathetic attempt to save themselves." The demon also stopped and prepared to attack, long black sword-like claws extending from their fingers. "That is my promise to you."

No further words were needed as with the signal of the sickly green lightning above, demon and man rushed for each other, meeting in the middle with the demon swinging its right hand like a rage, which Rex met with Chain Crucible, only to have the demon's other hand slash at his side, visibly damaging the armour with a small gash that began repairing itself and using the Warp energy Rex had accumulated.

In response, Rex swung his new black sword for the demon's torso, only for it to meet the weapon with its own claws, surprising him.

"It may 'pierce' any armour, not cut through anything foolish mortal!"

The demon grinned as it kicked him away, before extending massive bat-like wings from its back and flying into the sky, before diving down upon him, smashing Rex into the cracking ground with a force he found dizzying.

"My sword."

The demon hissed, pressing down on Rex's armoured chest with its foot while it ripped its sword from his grasp, it then kicked off of him, narrowly avoiding Chain Crucible's thirsting maw as the blade instead carved into another demon's chest with its core lighting up with red satisfaction.

Jumping to his feet with the assistance of the rocket boosters on the back of his armour, Rex felt indignant that the demon had just stolen the sword back and as such vowed to make his death twice as painful.

The demon in turn smirked with superiority and distain as it twirled its sword with expert finesse.

"I will admit, you temporarily disabling my abilities with this weapon and that strange anti-Warp field your armour possessed is actually a stroke of luck. After all, it's been so long since I face something I couldn't simply back stab that I fear my skill with the blade may have gotten rusty. I thank you for this opportunity to sharpen it to perfection. That's all this is, after all. Do you truly believe this will be as easy as killing that crass unrefined excuse of a Greater demon?" The demon taunted, seemingly quite smug with itself and viewing everything thus far as a simple fluke. Rex took all this in with his anger growing, the demon's smug attitude working to increase his anger.

"Let's find out." Rex growled, the jet boosters on the back of his armour roaring to life as he shot forth at blistering speeds.

Smashing into the demon, his momentum was redirected by their excellent sword work as he was parried and kicked back, only for Rex to play dirty and launch Chain Crucible like a javelin, the result being the black sword being knocked out of the demon's grasp, much to its surprise and aggravation.

Turing, Rex was relentless as he dived for the demon once more. Seeking to make distance and knowing it would be in a disadvantage in a close quarters fight, the Keeper of Secrets extended its wings to take flight, only for Rex to jump on its back, bringing the monster down with a scream.

Smashing into some pillars, and kicking up dust near the catalyst container, the demon was the first to right itself due to its superior reflexes and with claws extended, it swung!

"DIE, LIKE YOUR ALLIES WILL!"

Rex responded by tanking the claw strike which carved deeply into his shoulder, before retaliating with a rocket enhanced punch, courtesy of small boosters on his forearm and elbow. The hit having the effect of sending the demon off its feet where it scrambled back up just in time for Rex to grab it by the back of its neck and yank it up to its knees.

"My mates are tough. You and yours are the ones who will die." He declared, punching the demon in the back of its head, only for it to turn around and uppercut him into a surprise attack from a large well-built Khorne demon lurking atop the wall behind them. The demon jumped atop him at the moment when he reactivated his rocket booster in his armour's back, sending the three of them off-course across the open area and into another wall that crumbled upon them.

"ROAR!"

Getting up, Rex was too slow to react as the Khorne berserker roared it's battle cry, before slicing him across the chest with a long rusty barbed sword that was strapped to a bracer on its right arm along with another weapon that turned out to be a crude salvaged bolter that it fired and missed, prompting Rex to return its aggression in kind as he tackled the demon. Grabbing its weapon arm with both of his and twisting/bending it, the demon cried out in agony until it's thick and powerful limb snapped like a branch, spraying the area with blood and bone shrapnel, and allowing Rex to point the bolter attachment at its face where he pulled the trigger and blew half of the red monster's face off in a shower of blood.

Not yet defeated as it whirled around, it tried to point its broken gun arm at the armoured man, only for him to bat it aside with enough force to rip it off and make the demon stumble back. As a final insult to injury, his arm thrusters ignited and he punched the demon's already half missing face with enough force to not only crush it but send it through a wall that collapsed upon it.

Turning to the Keeper of secrets that had recently recovered its sword, Rex stomped some demons that were throwing rubble at him, before charging the demon while calling Chain Crucible to him and swinging for the defending Greater Demon who narrowly blocked the strike with his sword, deflecting it just enough that the whirling blade cut deeply into the bridge of his nose, ripping off his lower nose as the sword savoured his blood, and buried itself in the concrete behind him.

Absolutely horrified at its own ruined mirror image in the reflective black surface of the sword that was highlighted by its lava-like energy, the servant of Slaanesh that strived for perfection was left with a wrath like it had never felt as it twisted Rex's outstretched arm and hip him in the joint of his suit's elbow, breaking it and making him turn away. The demon then proceeded to stab into the armour from behind and rake the blade down, disabling the suit's left line of rear thrusters.

Spinning around, the Greater Demon delivered a vicious strike with the pommel of its sword, disorienting Rex who was just in time to catch the sword's slash from another for his head with his hands that were cut deeply into. Fortunately, his hands weren't actually in the suit's hands since it was so big compared to him and it functioned more like a mech suit.

Copying the demon's twirl from earlier, though with less fitness, Rex ripped the sword from the demon's grasp once more taking possession of it and came back around to stab it through the demon's back, and out of its chest where it screamed in agony, before with a grunt, Rex used the new handle to drag and slam the depraved Warp creature into another concrete wall where it kneeled.

Moving to stand in front of the demon that looked up at him with actual horror, Rex retracted his visor so it could look him in his cold blue eyes while he placed his hand on its shoulder, before gripping the sharp end of the blade.

"GIVE ME YOUR FACE!" He snarled, tearing the sword all the way through the demon's chest while threading it under his jar, which had the side effect of not only ripping off the battered entity's skin, but it's lower jaw as well, leaving it to make horrid gargling sounds as copious amounts of blood sewed from its horrendous facial wound. Its tongue, which had been cut and split from the sword running through it, was limply dangling as it rasped wet noises that indicated it was trying to breathe, meanwhile its lidless eyes were bulging in agony.

Not having any sympathy as he watched satisfaction, the monster tried to struggle for safety and crawl away, he instead shoved it and dragged the monster until it was kneeling over the container which held the catalyst in the centre of the Ritual Site. Rex's fist then burst from its chest in yet another blast of blood and viscera that hosed down the container as he held the thing's heart, his Hud having the ability to see through a being to see their organs, so it was more like picking an especially ripe berry.

The demon watched helplessly through eyes that no-longer closed, its own still beating heart in Rex's grasp as he ripped his right arm back through its centre and left a large cavity. The entity then felt its strength leaving it as Rex followed it down to about halfway, relishing in its death.

"I RISE! You fall." He stood fully, letting the monster fall against the dais where it gurgled and breathed its last with purple blood pouring form its open mouth and wound.

The demons around could only watch in terror as they stopped fighting the group of humans and converted demons, before retreating and scattering back through the closing Warp gate that could no longer sustain itself now that its summoner was perished and no longer able to maintain its energy through Warp sorcery.

Looking down at the large container up close, Rex noticed that it looked out of place around demon, and almost medical in nature. Pulling a lever which looked like a shut off switch, the energy spire stopped feeding the sky and barrier with energy, the result being the barrier and storm giving way for a sight he had not seen in a while. That being bright blue skies and puffy gentle clouds. He took a moment to bask in the sunlight, as well as his victory, before he heard footsteps behind him.

Turning, he was met with his usual three girls, and much to is relief, Verosika was walking amongst them. Though this was not all as the demon women who were surprisingly still alive were also with them, trailing behind them in a group. All of which were gawking at the corpse of the demon which had yet to disappear.

"Verosika, are you alright?" He asked, finally divesting his armour from his body which disappeared under his skin, making him feel weird at now being much shorter than everyone else and as a consequence, naked. He'd have figured the sight of his dick would trigger the demon girls, all of which to the contrary, were seemingly aboiding looking at him. Probably in fear of what he'd done to the Keeper of Secrets.

"I've been better." She hissed at the pain in her side as she held her palm over the wound to finish the patch job the other demon girls had done. She was leaning with her arm around Seranz who had Kleopatra on her back since her usual mount was out of commission.

"Well, I'm just glad you're ok." Walking forwards, Rex hugged the demon around her waist, being mindful of her healing wound. She returned the hug with one hand as the other was occupied. Pulling away, he turned to the demon girls that all averted their eyes from him. An odd sight to him since they all shared a likeness to Seranz, only with a few having black or blonde hair. They all had the same tattoo on their cheek. He also idly noted that they were naked and he now wondered what Seranz looked like if these women were this buff.

Seeing him staring, and guessed his thoughts, the woman in question tapped him on the shoulder. She pondered what she would actually say to him for a moment as there was so much to process. That, however; before the grins from both Verosika and surprisingly Kleopatra, encouraged her to do something the she of a couple of days ago never would have dreamed of.

"Play your cards right, and whatever you're thinking… I may consider it." She said with a red face, figuring she could give the short guy a consolation prize for killing, not one' but TWO greater demons in one day. A feat even the God Emperor's sons wouldn't scoff at. That said, as his eyes gradually grew wider as he took in her words, she once more couldn't help but reconcile the amazing warrior shed just witnessed slaughter this demon, with the short, weird-'cute' guy standing before her.

The thousands watt grin he then sported as he eyed her up in her battle armour was once more spiking that emotion again that seemed to now live in her lower gut that had only grown as they'd been locked in combat together against the hordes of chaos.

Before they could get sidetracked further, the demon coughed into her hand, wincing at the ill-advised action's painful consequence as it tensed her healing stomach.

"What do we do about them?" She asked, pointing to the women, who seemed startled at being spoken about.

"They are traitors, it is only right they face the Emperor's judgement." Seranz predictably stated matter-of-factly, making the women all tense as if she'd open fire upon them all. If Rex was to be fair to them, the fact she had taken the safety off her Bolter for the statement told him he shouldn't put it past her.

"No! We can't! They saved Verosika and me. Also, if they hadn't covered for us, Rex couldn't have been able to square up against that Greater Demon." Kleopatra defended, looking down at Seranz, who looked troubled and looked to be having an internal war with herself over her beliefs.

"Right, they may have done wrong, but they were MVPs in the last stretch of that fight." It seemed Verosika wasn't for behind in that belief as she took a stop forward in the other demon's defence. Probably sympathising with them to some degree. Rex internally found her use of his world's terms to be hilarious and nodded his head in understanding.

"Still, Rex. We surely can't just let them off with a slap on the wrist. They killed sisters from my Order, THEIR Order, and the Emperor's angels. That cannot be easily forgiven, nor can they ever rejoin the Imperium as demons, it stands against everything the Sororitas stand for." Seranz protested, making Rex scratch his crack his knuckles in thought. After all, he could see her point. A group of twenty-two demon Sororitas wasn't exactly an easy thing to hide. Least not when he'd have enough trouble hiding Verosika when the time came.

"What's your call Rex?" Kleopatra asked him, though unknown to Seranz who wasn't looking above her, she was using a secret technique to sway his answer. A weapon that even his armour couldn't defend against.

Puppy dog eyes.

"Sorry Sera, but you've been outvoted." Rex decided, much to the woman's annoyance. Still, she didn't say anything and was instead mumbling about traitors and sharp knives in beds. Hearing this, Kleopatra sweat dropped and gently massaged the woman's neck, making her relax slightly, though not so much as to drop her.

Rex idly noted that Seranz likes massages. He'd remember that for later when he moved in the cash in on her offer.

The demon Sororitas seemed relieved at this as they all visibly relaxed, before tecing up again when Chain Crucible flew into Rex's outstretched hand.

"So, we gonna crack open this box to see what's inside?" He asked, turning everyone's attention to the large container pod. Its outer covering was grey and looked medical in nature, leading many to speculate what could be inside.

"Maybe it's a mummy." Verosika teased, doing a shambling-like walk on the spot with his hands raised in front of her. Sadly, nobody else got her joke as only Rex snickered while the rest just gave her odd looks.

"I could a stone or gem of some sort with enough raw power to channel the ritual." Seranz guessed, going with the logical choice.

"What if it's a monster? You know, like something from the train?" Kleopatra shuddered at the unpleasant memories, feeling phantom pains from her missing feet.

Shrugging, Rex walked back over to the box. "Only way to find out." He shrugged. Pulling another lever which looked like it was the release as it was the only other one present.

Immediately, steam and cold smoke blew from the crack in the casing formed by the door slowly, and gently opening vertically in just a few short seconds to reveal its contents.

"Huh? Well… fuck me. That was unexpected." Rex raised both brows in genuine surprise, an expression mirrored by all present.