Chapter 56: Ship of Magic (Part II)

"Strange."

Soshyan took a step forward. He felt as though he could smell a faint scent of rust, despite his armor being completely sealed.

The squad had split into two parts, moving in groups of three from the left and right flanks toward the command platform. Soshyan was at the very rear, heading straight for the command center.

"More servitors," Armin reported to Soshyan over the comms channel.

"You're right, sir. There is no sign of any other crew members."

"Same here," Roglis's voice followed on the channel.

"But these inscriptions on the bulkheads—they aren't Gothic, nor are they the language of the Adeptus Mechanicus. I don't recognize them."

"Do not focus on the writing. We are on a traitor's ship; anything could be corrupted," Soshyan said calmly. He had found an answer to one question on the command platform, but it had brought more questions in its wake.

He had found a soldier.

Clearly, this was not a soldier of the Word Bearers Legion; the undimmed deep purple livery and the faded eagle icon on the chest confirmed it.

However, most of the armor was unrecognizable. Most of the markings that could identify identity or affiliation had been destroyed. One could only see that the overall style remained Baroque, with a few unfamiliar symbols and emblems etched into the plate.

The only certainty was that this soldier had been slaughtered and dismembered, then reassembled in the crudest possible manner.

It was an open desecration of an Astartes. This method made Soshyan realize that this was likely a "sacrifice"—a sacrifice offered by those low, cruel Chaos Space Marines to their evil gods.

"If I may venture a bold deduction," the Tech-Marine said, stepping up beside Soshyan and looking down at the broken power armor in a low voice. "Space and time in the Warp are ever-shifting. Is it possible... that this ship of the Seventeenth Legion was participating in a battle and, due to some reason or arrangement, has appeared here now? But it is merely a frozen moment of that war, not a physical entity. It may have once existed in real space but was destroyed; it is a true 'ghost'?"

"A ghost ship?"

If that were the case, it would explain why no remains of crew members or other Space Marines were seen on board, and why this "sacrifice" on the ground was preserved—it was a part of the ship's "memory."

But why would such a true ghost ship be heading straight for the *Ignis*?

"Damn it!"

A scream pierced through the comms, entering Soshyan's ears.

He turned instantly to see a massive creature pinning a warrior down. The creature's body was riddled with holes, yet it continued to carve bite marks into the shoulder plate of the screaming soldier.

As other soldiers attacked it, the creature roared, a sound that seemed to make the entire ship vibrate.

"Fire! Open fire!"

Shouts filled the comms channel once more, and the muzzle flashes of bolters illuminated the bridge.

Amidst the sequence of gunfire, Soshyan saw more monsters.

They crawled out of the bulkheads and ran, trailing pink flames, as if they were being pulled in from outside the ship, chirping and cheering.

Without a word, Soshyan took two massive strides across the command platform. He raised his Holy Flame Sword high, and the moment it fell, it obliterated nearly a square meter of the deck, along with a dozen of these Chaos creatures in front of him.

"Form up! Everyone!"

At Soshyan's command, the warriors quickly gathered, taking defensive stances and methodically repelling the invaders with their bolters.

The entire bridge was filled with the flashes of bolter fire.

But on the other side of the platform, the pinned soldier was being dragged toward a pitch-black corridor by a monster. His bolter lay on the ground, and his gauntlet clawed desperately at the floor, leaving a trail of sparks.

Soshyan raised the Holy Flame Sword high and lunged toward the beast with a roar.

In the next second, the creature recoiled from his blade, springing away like a mass of jelly. Even though the burning scene did not pierce it or make physical contact, it appeared to be in great pain; it even abandoned its prey and fled, clutching its head.

Under Soshyan's fury, the Gloom Domain was released at full strength.

He became a massive soul-black hole. The flowing colors and howling sounds dissolved around him like snow meeting fire. The monsters swerved around him as if avoiding a natural predator, or turned and fled.

For a moment, Soshyan seemed to have become a stubborn boulder in a torrent; the rushing things smashed themselves to pieces against him, yet could do nothing to him.

This scene deeply shocked the warriors behind him.

Armin, who was continuously firing and observing, had a feeling that it wasn't the weapons killing those Chaos creations, but that man.

Even from such a distance, he could feel Soshyan's steady, rational fury.

It was like a violent wind blowing over a frozen forest, slowly tearing the loathsome things apart with the ruthless chill of frost. This chill made even Armin shudder—he had not shivered once since his augmentation.

He had never realized it could be so cold near Soshyan; even his superhuman constitution instinctively wanted to distance itself from the man.

"Ha!"

Soshyan smashed a monster mid-air, and it immediately exploded. Acrid, corrosive matter splashed onto him, making his armor hiss.

He gripped his weapon tightly with both fists and let out a roar.

He was born to fight, born to win; every muscle in his body, far exceeding that of a normal human, was now taut.

However, a bone-chilling cold was pressing toward his heart, and the flames on the Holy Flame Sword were growing dimmer.

Soshyan had never used the Gloom Domain for this long.

Taking a deep breath, he spoke to everyone.

"Tactical retreat. Return to the *Ignis*."

He adjusted his voice to a wider frequency so that everyone could hear.

"Install melta bombs on the bridge, set the timer, and we leave immediately."

This was the last resort. Since this ship was not moving via engines, Soshyan could only attempt to destroy its "brain" to make it stop.

Armin ordered the warriors to take out the pre-prepared melta bombs and install them on the bridge. This took only half a minute, and in that time, Soshyan had annihilated countless monsters.

But they were endless.

Despite their intense fear of Soshyan's Gloom Domain, they surged forward relentlessly, as if driven by something.

"Sir! Installation complete!"

Armin's shout was mixed with the roar of bolters.

"Retreat! Everyone, stay close to me!"

Soshyan roared, breaking into a sprint toward the corridor they had come from. That path was now crowded with distorted, hideous creatures; some limbs were even thrusting directly out of the bulkheads.

The entire ship seemed to boil, or rather...

It had become a living thing.