The ascent was a massacre in fast-forward. Each floor was a new circle of green hell. The Orks, surprised by this enemy who had appeared as if by magic in the heart of their fortress, rushed at him with their usual brutality. They did not meet a soldier, but a storm.
Julius's lightsaber drew perfect, deadly circles in the corridor's gloom. The Orks' heavy axes and cobbled-together firearms were sliced clean through, their bearers following in a geyser of blood and severed limbs. His Astartes strength allowed him to strike with crushing power, breaking guards and sending the creatures flying against the walls with satisfying cracks of bone. Sometimes, a simple gesture of his free hand, charged with Beta-level energy, would throw an entire group backward, their bodies convulsing under the psychic assault.
He was not silent. The Orks' cries, their grunts of pain and rage, mingled with the constant vwoom of his weapon and the sound of his own heavy footsteps in his armor. He was a tornado of destruction, climbing inexorably towards his objective.
Upon reaching the landing of level 45, he felt the presence before he saw it. A mass of violence and brute arrogance, so concentrated it distorted the air around it. The Warboss.
The armored door to the command room had been torn from its hinges. Inside the vast room, once luxurious but now littered with debris and servant corpses, stood the Boss.
It was a mountain of green muscle, almost as wide as it was tall. It wore armor of crudely welded scrap metal, covered in spikes and symbols painted in blood red. In one hand, it held a huge, roaring chainsaw; in the other, a shoota pistol the size of a man. Its small red eyes shone with cruel pleasure upon seeing Julius.
" 'Z' A SHINY LITTLE 'UMIE!" it bellowed, its voice a thunder of gravel. " 'Z' YOU COME FOR A GOOD FIGHT?!"
Julius did not respond. Words were useless. He charged into the room, his lightsaber raised.
The fight was immediate and titanic. The Boss charged, its chainsaw aiming for a horizontal sweep that would have cut Julius in two. Julius dove to the side, the blade missing his helmet by inches, and retaliated with a saber slash that deeply gouged the Ork's armor, sending sparks and a jet of black blood flying.
"GRAAAAH! 'Z' IT STINGS, THE SHINY ONE!"
The shoota spat a burst of fist-sized crude bullets. Julius raised his free hand, and a shield of psychic energy formed before him, ricocheting the projectiles with an infernal noise. The impacts shook his concentration, but the shield held.
He counter-attacked, feinting a high attack before plunging his lightsaber into the Boss's knee. The creature screamed in pain and rage, but instead of retreating, it became even more dangerous, sweeping the air around it with its chainsaw in a blind motion.
It was a deadly dance. Julius used his speed and agility, dodging blows powerful enough to pulverize a tank, seeking flaws in the monster's armor and flesh. The Boss relied on its mass and near-infinite endurance, turning the room into a field of ruins.
Suddenly, the Boss managed to corner Julius against a wall. The chainsaw descended. Julius crossed his lightsaber with the rotating blade. A deafening metallic shock filled the room, blue and yellow sparks flying from the point of contact. The Boss's power was incredible. Julius felt his arms tremble, his boots sliding on the floor.
" 'Z' FINISHED, SHINY ONE!"
In a final effort, Julius drew not on his physical strength, but on his power. He released a wave of pure psychic force, not projected, but centered on himself.
BOOM.
The blast pushed the Boss back, making it stagger back two steps, just enough for Julius to break free. Before the giant could regain its balance, Julius leaped. He did not aim for the body, too well protected. He aimed for the head.
With a perfect motion, he drove the tip of his lightsaber into the helmet of rusty metal, right between the two stunned red eyes.
There was a brief sizzle, then silence.
The Boss's massive body remained standing for an instant, then collapsed heavily, shaking the floor.
Julius, panting, extinguished his saber. The battle for the tower was won. Down below, the sound of combat was already changing, the Orks' cries losing their coordination, becoming more desperate.
He had defeated the Boss. Alone.