Sword light and claw shadows intertwined in the hollow chamber.
Fogremia's figure moved so fast that only a silver afterimage remained, each flash accompanied by the sharp ringing of a blade tearing through demonic chitin.
However, the cult leader possessed by the spider demon was like a tumor rooted in the evil of this place.
Its wounds writhed and healed rapidly under the gloom-green psychic energy, and every beat of the mechanical heart in its chest, made of flesh and cables, drew filthy power from the ugly altar behind it.
Fogremia's attacks were fierce and perfect, yet she could never land a fatal blow.
This was a vicious cycle.
Without destroying the altar, this demon was immortal.
But to destroy the altar, one had to first bypass this mad demon.
Leticia's gaze shifted from the stalemate to the surviving Astra Militarum Soldiers hiding in the corners of the cave.
Their minds had been damaged by the psychic shock; although they had regained some sanity, they were still firmly gripped by fear.
They huddled behind cover, their hands trembling while gripping their lasguns, having lost even the courage to look up at the battlefield.
They were soldiers of the Empire, hardened veterans who had survived a hundred battles.
But the enemy before them was beyond the scope of what mortals could fight.
"Cannon fodder..."
In the Empire's war machine, that was exactly what they were.
A flicker of pity, which even she had not noticed, flashed through Leticia's heart.
She took a step and walked slowly toward the soldiers.
Fogremia immediately noticed her movement, forced the demon back with a magnificent sword dance, and flashed in front of Leticia, her purple pupils filled with vigilance.
"Big Sister, it's dangerous here."
"I know."
Leticia's voice was calm. She bypassed her knight and walked straight to the group of soldiers.
Her appearance made the soldiers instinctively shrink back even tighter.
They were in awe of her, but they were also terrified of the incomprehensible, transcendent power she represented.
Leticia did not care about their reaction.
Her voice reached everyone's ears clearly.
"Your weapons may not be able to kill the demon."
Upon hearing this, the last trace of color faded from the soldiers' faces, and their eyes became even more desperate.
Even she said so...
However, Leticia's next sentence made them all freeze in unison.
"But your courage can."
Courage?
A veteran with a severed arm wore a smile that looked worse than crying.
"What's the use of courage? Can courage block the demon's claws? Can courage let our lasguns burn through that shell that even the Primarch's sword cannot cut?"
He dared not say these words out loud, but that doubt and powerlessness were written on every soldier's face.
Leticia saw through their thoughts.
Her pure black eyes scanned the faces shrouded in smoke and despair.
"Fighting for the Empire and for the Emperor, you feel fear."
This sentence was like a precise scalpel, dissecting the reality they were most unwilling to admit in their hearts.
Yes, they were afraid.
The Emperor was far away on Terra, and the Empire was cold and distant.
They bled here, they died here, and everything they fought for was so empty, so... unreal.
When death arrived, those grand slogans could not offer them any comfort.
At this moment, Leticia's voice seemed to carry a strange, warm magic.
"Now, fight for me."
She paused, extended her slender finger, and pointed gently at the girl with brilliant golden hair behind her who was clutching the corner of her clothes tightly.
Terrania felt everyone's gaze, subconsciously hid further behind Leticia, and her pure golden eyes held a trace of timid, adorable panic.
"Fight to protect her by my side!"
The moment the words fell.
Boom—!
A burst of golden radiance erupted and spread from Leticia's body!
It was not the glow of psychic energy, nor was it holy rain of light.
It was a halo composed of the purest and most fervent will!
The color of the halo, like the rising sun, was filled with fearless Battle Intent and the glory of protection, yet it lacked even a shred of bloodthirsty madness, let alone any fury born of destruction!
This was the authority of the [Battle Intent]!
It was that supreme power belonging to warriors, which originated from Khorne but had been thoroughly purified by Leticia with a heart of "protection"!
The golden halo, like a warm tide, instantly swept through the entire underground chamber, enveloping every Astra Militarum Soldier present.
The moment they were touched by the halo, all the soldiers' bodies shuddered violently.
They felt the bone-chilling fear that had been lurking in their minds melt away instantly, like ice thrown into a furnace, leaving no trace behind.
Replacing it was an unprecedented, scorching warm current rising from the depths of their spines!
Endless strength poured into their exhausted limbs.
Absolute courage filled their empty hearts.
They threw away their crutches and straightened their spines that had once been bent by fear.
They raised their heads, and in those eyes that had originally been occupied by despair and confusion, raging golden flames, identical to the halo on Leticia's body, ignited!
"Protect her..."
"Protect the Goddess..."
"Protect the angel by the Goddess's side..."
A clear, firm, and unquestionable thought emerged in all the soldiers' minds simultaneously.
This thought was so direct, so pure.
More concrete than "loyalty to the Empire."
Warmer than "devotion to the Emperor."
Because the object they were to protect was standing right in front of them.
She would heal their pain.
She would ward off death for them.
She would tell them that their courage was not worthless.
The youngest soldier was the first to stand up.
He threw away the broken gun butt he had been using as a crutch and picked up an intact lasgun from a comrade's corpse.
His action was like an order.
The second, the third...
All the soldiers who could still move stood up.
They silently but incredibly quickly reformed into a combat formation.
The movements were precise, clean, and filled with the composure and professionalism of veterans, as if the defeated army that had been crushed by fear earlier was just a hallucination.
Valerius watched this scene, dumbfounded.
He saw that in those soldiers' eyes, there was no longer fear, no longer confusion, only a pure Battle Intent that he had never seen before, burning for a specific goal.
That was not the discipline forced out by a Commissar with a bolt pistol.
That was a kind of active, glorious... loyalty from the soul.
"For the Goddess!"
It was unclear who roared it first.
"For the Goddess—!"
The next moment, a uniform roar exploded like thunder throughout the entire underground chamber!
This roar was no longer the empty slogan of imperial propaganda, but a war cry filled with power and determination!
They took the initiative to charge!
Dozens of soldiers advanced in standard three-man combat teams, providing covering fire for each other.
The lasguns in their hands spat out dense, crimson death rays!
This time, the muzzles did not tremble.
This time, the trajectories did not deviate.
Dozens of laser beams formed a precise and deadly web of fire, engulfing the demon host that was fighting with Fogremia!
Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!
The dense sound of burning merged into one.
On the demon host's indestructible body, clusters of charred blood mist exploded instantly.
It let out a painful roar, and in that roar, for the first time, there was incredulous astonishment.
A group of mortals...
A group of ants...
Actually, hurt it?!
Its movements lagged for the first time.
Fogremia seized this fleeting opportunity, her figure approaching like a ghost, her longsword tracing a perfect arc, precisely severing the other mechanical leg supporting the demon host's body.
"Roar—!"
The demon host lost its balance, and its massive body crashed to the ground.
The Astra Militarum Soldiers did not pause for a second; their web of fire pressed lower and denser, pinning the fallen demon to the spot.
The battle situation reversed in an instant!
Being suppressed on the ground by a group of "food" in its eyes was an unbearable humiliation for the arrogant spider demon.
It was thoroughly enraged.
Those gloom-green flame pupils bypassed all the mortals shooting at it and locked firmly onto the source of that golden halo.
Locked onto that black-haired, god-like woman!
"Die—!"
A roar of unwillingness, filled with the desire for destruction, exploded from the depths of the demon host's throat.
It gave up struggling.
The mechanical heart in its chest, made of flesh and cables, began to beat frantically at a frequency beyond its limits.
The filthy psychic energy in the entire underground chamber, as if drawn by an invisible force, turned into streams of black energy visible to the naked eye, frantically pouring into its body!
Its body, like a balloon inflated with excessive gas, began to expand rapidly and ominously!
Fogremia's expression changed.
"Big Sister, look out! It's going to self-destruct!"
On the demon host's face, expanded to the limit, appeared a hideous and ecstatic smile.
It wanted to use its own polluted shell to perish together with all life in this area!
And its primary target was the... Goddess who had given the ants courage!
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