Chapter 134: The Daemon Primarch and the Legion of the Damned

"Ahhhhh!!"

The Daemon Prince felt its flesh and soul scorched by the human psychic fire. This extreme agony was unbearable even for a Prince of Slaanesh, a creature that normally delighted in suffering.

Slaanesh's blessing was eradicated by the human fire, restoring normal human sensation to the Daemon Prince. The dual agony of flesh and soul caused its body to begin twitching involuntarily.

Wang Ming looked at the Daemon Prince burning in the golden flames and delivered another sword strike, directly decapitating it and ensuring it was thoroughly dead.

The Daemon Host's twisted head rolled onto the ground, while the remainder of its body burned away in the human fire, which would consume its sinful vessel.

"Salasel!"

Suddenly, a cry of despair echoed from the distance. Wang Ming was startled by the roar and swiftly turned his head toward its source.

"Salasel!!"

Kedar looked at Salasel, who was being consumed by the golden flames, roaring its name in utter despair. They had been close friends for ten millennia, through the Legion era and the Horus Heresy, standing together through the fires of the Long War.

They were friends, brothers; Kedar's ascension to daemonhood had been undertaken to ensure that both he and Salasel would not be slain by Wu Xuan. Yet now Salasel was dead. Filled with boundless fury and abandoning all thought, Kedar charged blindly toward Wang Ming, driven solely by the desire to kill the slayer of his brother, even though that person was a Primarch.

Watching the Daemon Prince charging toward him with psychic lightning crackling across its entire body, Wang Ming raised his golden greatsword once more and charged forward to meet it.

"Snap!"

Just as Wang Ming closed the distance, a bolt of psychic lightning struck him first.

The psychic lightning hit Wang Ming, but it was deflected by the defensive field of his power armor. His momentum remained unchecked as he charged swiftly at the Daemon Prince.

Seeing that the lightning had inflicted no harm, the Daemon Prince began swinging its various twisted claws, pressing its attack against Wang Ming.

"Clack!"

The moment Wang Ming and the Daemon Prince collided, just as the golden greatsword was about to cleave the daemon's claws, a sudden sound caused both combatants to halt.

They looked simultaneously toward the source of the noise, which was not far away and clearly visible to them both.

In an empty clearing, the fabric of space shattered like glass. A colossal claw reached out from the breach, followed rapidly by a massive, twisted form that dragged itself through the warp rift.

"What the hell, Fulgrim?"

Seeing the horribly warped and terrifying figure, Wang Ming instantly recognized the entity. It was none other than the Daemon Primarch of Slaanesh, formerly the Primarch of the Third Legion, Fulgrim.

Emerging from the portal, Fulgrim was gripping the previously fleeing Lu Xiaoxia in one of its hands. Lu Xiaoxia had been thoroughly punished by Fulgrim on Slaanesh's orders for attempting to escape.

"Ohh~, we meet at last, my unfamiliar brother~"

Spotting Wang Ming, Fulgrim tossed Lu Xiaoxia onto the ground and charged forward with ecstatic excitement. Slaanesh's command had been to corrupt Wang Ming. Upon receiving this order, Fulgrim had been utterly thrilled, already imagining all the experiences it and this unfamiliar brother could share.

"Let's deal with this one first."

Watching Fulgrim charge toward him, Wang Ming instantly swung his sword at the Daemon Prince standing nearby, who was stupidly watching Fulgrim with a joyful expression. The blow aimed straight for the daemon's neck.

Putting his full strength into the strike, Wang Ming needed to dispatch this Daemon Prince quickly so he could focus entirely on dueling Fulgrim. The greatsword bit into the daemon's neck, and golden flames poured instantly from the blade into its flesh, reducing the Daemon Prince to a heap of ashes from the inside out in a matter of seconds.

Having instantly eliminated the Daemon Prince, Wang Ming took up a defensive stance to face the approaching Fulgrim. Suddenly, he felt his body become immensely heavy, as if an entire Titan had been placed upon his shoulders.

This was not merely a psychological sensation, but a physical force pressing down upon him with such magnitude that the ground beneath his feet began to crack.

"Witchcraft."

Feeling the anomaly in his body, Wang Ming forced his head up to look at Fulgrim. He now understood the source of the psychic art: behind Fulgrim, another massive figure stood alongside several Thousand Sons Space Marines, all holding staff-wielding hands as psychic light blazed wildly around them.

"Magnus!"

Seeing the giant holding a staff and casting psychic spells, Wang Ming felt his scalp tingle. How was he supposed to fight two Daemon Primarchs at once?

"Oh my~, what is wrong with you, my brother? Are you unable to move~?"

Fulgrim reached Wang Ming's side and said excitedly, looking down at him as he was pinned to the ground by the psychic pressure. While speaking, Fulgrim leaned down and licked Wang Ming's helmeted face with its disgusting tongue.

"You..."

Looking at the twisted visage before him, Wang Ming was struck by a wave of sickly sweet perfume that filled his nostrils, causing immense revulsion. He felt profoundly grateful for his helmet; it was utterly sickening.

"Fulgrim, hurry. He is struggling fiercely, and we cannot suppress him for long."

Magnus said, watching Fulgrim wriggle playfully in front of Wang Ming. Wang Ming had been struggling ceaselessly since being suppressed, and although his strength was immense, it still proved largely futile against the combined might of a cabal of Thousand Sons Sorcerers and the Red Magnus himself.

"Fine, fine. He will belong to me in the end anyway."

Fulgrim replied to Magnus's prompt before drawing a blade and holding it against Wang Ming's neck.

"Oh~, my brother, enjoy yourself~. When you wake once more, you shall share in the boundless pleasure with me."

With those words, Fulgrim drove the knife into the armored gap of Wang Ming's neck. The demonic blade pierced his under-suit and entered his flesh, carrying Slaanesh's corrupting venom deep into his system.

Wang Ming watched the blade pierce his neck as his consciousness steadily blurred. After persisting for a minute, he finally collapsed limply to the ground.

"Success! His soul has been dragged into my master's realm."

Looking down at the fallen Wang Ming, Fulgrim spoke excitedly to Magnus.

"Let us hope so."

Magnus gazed at Wang Ming on the ground, released the spell, and replied to Fulgrim. It did not believe Slaanesh would ultimately succeed, knowing from their first encounter on the moon that Wang Ming was a unique Primarch—one driven by a specific purpose, much like itself.

"Enough, take him away now."

Magnus told Fulgrim, keeping its inner thoughts to itself, as sharing them would be pointless.

"Bang, bang, bang!!"

Just as Fulgrim moved to take Wang Ming away, a volley of bolter shells suddenly struck its body.

The three Krieg brothers had finally arrived. Looking at Wang Ming on the ground, a surge of inexpressible fury erupted within their hearts.

Bai Qi charged toward Fulgrim wielding a thunder hammer, while Wang Ben and Zhang Liangjie laid down continuous suppressing fire with their storm bolters to cover his charge.

Bolter fire inflicted negligible damage upon a Daemon Primarch, but it served to distract Fulgrim. Under the cover provided by Wang Ben and Zhang Liangjie, Bai Qi closed the distance. Just as he raised his thunder hammer to strike, Fulgrim lashed out with a single blade stroke, cutting Bai Qi cleanly in half at the waist before the latter could even register the movement.

The chasm in capability between Primarchs and Space Marines was laid bare in that instant. Slashing through the three Primaris Space Marines clad in Cataphractii Terminator armor as easily as slaughtering chickens, Fulgrim watched them fall. Magnus shook its head at Fulgrim's actions; while it understood the unique nature of these transhuman warriors, it had not stopped Fulgrim in time.

"Fulgrim, you should not have killed them."

Only after Fulgrim had dispatched the three Krieg brothers did Magnus speak up.

"What?"

Fulgrim asked, feeling a sense of confusion. They were merely Space Marines; why couldn't they be killed?

"Bang, bang, bang!"

While Fulgrim remained baffled, a barrage of bolter shells suddenly struck its back from behind. Fulgrim whipped around to see the three Space Marines it had just killed standing beside Wang Ming, raising their bolters to fire at it.

"Impossible. Their corpses are still right there on the ground. How can this be?"

Fulgrim thought in shock as it stared at the three Space Marines.

"When dealing with them, suppression is a far better choice than killing."

Watching the startled Fulgrim, Magnus finally raised its staff and pointed it at the three Krieg brothers.

Just like Wang Ming before them, the three Krieg brothers were pinned helplessly to the ground by the crushing weight of the psychic field.

"Enough, take him away quickly. That side cannot hold out for much longer; if we drag this out, the Father will arrive."

Magnus told Fulgrim, having received word from Tzeentch that its position was crumbling—though whether that claim was true remained to be seen.

"Snap!"

Just as Magnus finished speaking, Space Marines wreathed in flickering flames suddenly materialized all around them. These warriors wielded bolters firing strange, unearthly fire, continuously attacking Fulgrim and Magnus.

The esoteric flames inflicted real damage upon the two daemonic entities, however minor. Though Magnus and Fulgrim swiftly slaughtered the appearing Space Marines, the warriors emerged from the warp in endless waves, paying no heed to losses.

"We are too late."

Magnus thought as it surveyed the surrounding Space Marines. It knew the Father had arrived, and their plan to abduct Wang Ming had failed.

Yet this was of little consequence; Slaanesh's corrupting venom had already been planted, and their primary mission was accomplished.

"This... this is my brother."

As Magnus pondered their next move, it heard Fulgrim utter those words.

Following Fulgrim's gaze, Magnus saw a giant wreathed in raging flames charging toward them among the Astartes, wielding a massive thunder hammer. The giant's hands were metallic, its head entirely absent, and its entire body blazed with an infernal fire.

"Ferrus?"

Magnus instantly recognized the giant: the Primarch of the Tenth Legion, Ferrus Manus, whom Fulgrim had slain with his own hands ten millennia ago.

The headless giant charged directly at Fulgrim, swinging his massive hammer toward its head. Though caught off guard, Fulgrim managed to parry the blow.

"Clang!"

Staring at the giant before it, Fulgrim engaged him in rapid combat. Their movements were blindingly fast as longsword and hammer clashed in mid-air.

During the exchange, Fulgrim instinctively aimed a slash at the giant's neck, only for the strike to meet empty air—for the giant had lost his head ten thousand years ago.

Taking advantage of Fulgrim's wasted motion, the giant delivered a devastating blow with his thunder hammer, sending Fulgrim flying backward through the air.

Yet the headless giant did not pursue. Having knocked Fulgrim away, he simply stood guard beside Wang Ming, flanked by the freed Krieg brothers.

"Indeed, we are merely tools, even in death."

Magnus watched the headless giant standing sentinel over Wang Ming and said with a note of sorrow.

"Fulgrim! We can leave now!"

After using psychic sorcery to slaughter several Space Marines who were pressing the attack, Magnus called out to Fulgrim, tore open a warp rift, and swiftly vanished into it alongside its gene-progeny.

"I know."

Pulling itself up from the ground, Fulgrim stared at the headless giant for a moment before grabbing the Slaanesh champion from the ground, tearing open its own portal, and retreating back into the Warp.

"Boss, boss, wake up!"

Bai Qi looked down at the unconscious Wang Ming, calling out in a desperate attempt to rouse him.

"It's over, it's over. The boss is going to intensive care again."

Observing the wound on Wang Ming's neck and recalling Fulgrim's earlier actions, Bai Qi instantly associated it with the injury Fulgrim had once inflicted upon Guilliman.

"Let's get the boss back first. Do we need a stasis field for this?"

Hearing Bai Qi, Wang Ben also thought of Guilliman and asked Bai Qi and Zhang Liangjie.

"Uhm, more importantly, have you guys noticed when the Legion of the Damned disappeared?"

Zhang Liangjie asked his two brothers as he stared at the suddenly empty battlefield.