Abaddon, enraged, once again struck down Datch with his daemon sword—Drach'nyen.
This sword, a symbol of the end of the Imperium and the echo of the first murder, was the embodiment of an ancient daemon and pure malice.
Even daemons born from the Warp could be slain by this sword of utmost evil.
Once, even the Emperor was wounded by this blade.
But this time, Drach'nyen failed.
Seconds later, Datch revived again.
Abaddon, seething, lunged at Datch with even greater ferocity, determined to see whether this man truly could not die.
"Horus said Loken was his favorite son. He regretted making you a captain,"
Datch taunted before being killed yet again, striking a nerve even deeper.
Abaddon roared in fury, swearing that no matter what it took, he would kill Datch for good—or make the rest of his life a living hell.
"Having me fight the final boss right at the start? The devs are real bastards."
"Forget it. Can't win, time to bail."
Revived once more, Datch cursed the game company in his mind.
What kind of sane dev puts the big boss in the newbie zone? Inhuman—worse than a Soulslike.
He sincerely wished every one of those dogged devs would be conscripted to Terra, sent to the Golden Throne as psyker fuel—or, at the very least, strapped into a Penitent Engine.
"Stomp."
Datch activated a skill, unleashing a shockwave that forcibly knocked Abaddon back.
He then turned, scooping up Lil and Dalak—their heads marked with green question marks—and fled with his bamboo-copter.
"Coward! Fight me!"
Abaddon yelled, waving the Talon of Horus and Drach'nyen at the airborne Datch.
Abaddon's men opened fire, but most shots missed, and those that hit could not penetrate the Terminator armor.
"Chase him! Tear him apart!"
Abaddon shouted.
Now, the Despoiler had only one thought: Datch must die.
…
Datch flew swiftly, soon spotting the embattled Imperial evacuation convoy struggling across the ice fields.
His sudden appearance set the convoy on alert.
The House Taranis Knight suits locked onto him, their massive cannons charging to fire at any moment.
The Mechanicus, Black Templars, and other Imperial forces leveled their guns.
It was Living Saint Celestine who stepped forward to defuse the misunderstanding.
"He is the nameless angel who aided us—do not fire."
Archmagos Cawl, seeing Datch flying in heavy Cataphractii Terminator armor, felt his logic engine overloading.
Sensor data indicated the tiny rotor atop Datch's head provided sufficient lift.
But how could something palm-sized keep tons of Terminator armor aloft?
"How on Mars is he doing that?"
Galien, Greyfax, and the others were equally shocked.
Short of the Emperor's own power, no explanation could suffice.
Just then, Abaddon and the Chaos horde arrived.
"Open fire!"
Celestine's sword pointed at Chaos.
A barrage of fire swept the Chaos ranks, detonations rocking the ice fields.
The battle instantly reached fever pitch.
Black Templar brothers clashed with the oncoming foe in brutal melee.
Datch placed the rescued Lil and Dalak onto a transport—
A prompt appeared:
[You recovered two Loyalist for the Emperor. Gained 20 XP, 20 Points.]
"Not bad, not bad."
Pleased, Datch charged back into the fray.
"Truly, the Emperor's blessing…"
Lil and Dalak watched his retreating back, their faith in the Emperor stronger than ever.
"Damn bastard, come down and fight!"
Abaddon shouted at Datch in the sky.
"Why don't you come up here?"
Datch shot back.
"Shoot him down!"
Abaddon raged.
His bodyguards opened fire, but Datch, with his agility and Terminator armor, dodged nimbly in the air.
He darted into the melee to rescue embattled Imperial troops,
sometimes using his mithril pickaxe to dig trenches and build ice walls for cover.
Thanks to his efforts, the Imperials managed to hold off the Chaos assault, retreating to an ancient ridge.
"Hold this ground,"
Celestine ordered.
Clearly, this was the prophesied place of redemption.
Yet, all around was only snow and ice—where was redemption to be found?
But with Chaos surrounding them, escape was impossible.
All they could do was trust.
Bang!!
Datch's bamboo-copter was hit by a bolter round and shattered—he plummeted to the ground.
"This time, I will kill you for good,"
Abaddon was ecstatic, leading his guard in a charge at Datch.
He looked happier than when he destroyed Cadia.
Celestine, Marshal Amalrich, and Emperor's Champion Galien all intercepted Abaddon, trying to block his advance.
But Abaddon would not be denied—his every move targeted Datch.
People began to wonder—what had Datch done to earn such hatred?
At that moment, the blizzard returned.
Chaos' Heldrakes and tanks faltered; the House Taranis Knights on the ridge, unaffected, kept up their bombardment, devastating the enemy.
Seeing the losses, Abaddon had no choice but to order a retreat, planning to strike again after rebuilding his strength.
The Chaos army withdrew.
The Imperials, unable to pursue, could only watch and wait for the next assault.
"I will never let you go."
Abaddon glared at Datch and withdrew.
"The Sons of Horus buried under Saturnine Wall at the Imperial Palace asked me to pass a message to you—Abaddon, when are you taking us home?"
Datch shouted.
At that, Abaddon lost his mind, eyes red with fury, charging at Datch despite his guards' calls.
"I'll kill you! I'll kill you!!"
Abaddon had only one thought:
to kill this wretched fool and cast his soul into the Warp's most terrible hell for all eternity.
As Abaddon's vendetta consumed him,
a force of Eldar Ynnari quietly arrived on the icy world.
…