As the subjugation force emerged from the portal, they arrived in the heart of Rome.
Though it was a Rome now twisted beyond recognition. Once a jewel of the Empire, even ravaged by civil war, the city had now become a nightmarish vision straight from the depths of hell.
The sky above was stained in sickly hues of pink and crimson, unnatural and oppressive, casting an eerie glow over the city. The very ground beneath them had turned black and foul, corrupted by the rampant demonic taint that stretched from the desecrated city center to the farthest reaches of the horizon.
The once proud monuments and structures were overrun by legions of daemons and corrupted human cultists, reveling in their vile desecrations. Scenes of unspeakable depravity and violence filled the streets, a testament to the presence of the Dark Prince, Slaanesh, whose influence had twisted the once-prosperous city into a grotesque playground of excess and horror.
While the sight was nothing unusual for the hardened veterans of the Grey Knights Legion and Sigismund, the Chaldean Servants gasped and recoiled at the very sight of what the city they once stayed, had become. A playground for the Daemons to fulfill their unspeakable desires for pleasures and sensations enhanced by their worship of the Dark Prince.
"W-We must hurry and save the people!" Jeanne said urgently while looking at Adam and his Grey Knights. Unfortunately, the armored giants simply stared at her like an idiot.
Save? What left is there to save? Irredeemable cultists that had their very soul corrupted by Slaanesh himself? They had a better chance convincing either of the fallen Primarch to switch sides than saving those humans that are no different than a Daemon in everything but their appearance.
"It's too late for that, Jeanne." Adam spoked with a stern and cold commanding tone unlike before. After all, in front of her is no longer Adam Black. But the Primarch of the Grey Knights Legion.
"Those humans are beyond saving and the only mercy he would afford them is a swift death to liberate their souls from Slaanesh's clutches." He said as he turned back to look at the burning city. His regretful voice at the end shows some hint of wavering upon the mask he now wore.
Jeanne wanted to argue again but fell silent. Adam scolded some Servants before about duty. A small moment of hesitation is the difference between overwhelming victory and crushing defeat. In this situation, she can feel all the people in the city are corrupted by Daemon. But their objective is to defeat Slaanesh, the cause of everything. Not to save civilians.
Jeanne is no idiot. She once led the French to liberate their homeland from outside power that sought to conquer them. She can see the strategy value of each action. Yet her naïve compassion made her desire to save those pitiful people.
Surprisingly enough, Adam glanced at Jeanne and didn't scold her for straying from her objective. Instead, he frowned and scanned his eyes over to the remaining two Servants before Kaldor Draigo interrupted.
"My Lord…" Kaldor Draigo left his words unsaid as Adam surely already knew it as both stared at Jeanne with worry hinted in their voices.
"Artoria and Jalter are thankfully unaffected. But it seems Jeanne isn't unaffected as I predicted. Something about Slaanesh definitely has changed." Adam said to Kaldor Draigo and the other Grey Knights members as he held Jeanne's head and injected her with his Psychic power to purge the foreign influence that affected her mind unknowingly.
As said before, Jeanne isn't an idiot. She once served as a general and knows the strategic value of each action. Knowing that she joined the subjugation force to defeat Slaanesh yet she insisted on saving the people is strange yet not out of character. Hence, Adam decided to probe her body with his Psychic sense and surely enough, he found the strand of foreign influence trying to amplify her desire to save the corrupted people of Rome. Ray deduced it's Slaanesh because desire is one of its domains of control. But to affect her desire to save is strange since the normal trend of Slaanesh's influence is indulgence of pleasures.
It's clear that whatever results of the fusion between Slaanesh and the Beast VI, it's nothing good for them.
"Let us dally no further from delivering the Emperor's Wrath upon the Dark Prince." Sigismund urged as his eyes lay upon the center of the swirling corrupting power emanating from the Imperial Palace sat at the center of the city.
Adam had no objections and nodded as the Grey Knights under his leadership raised their weapons in preparation.
"For the Emperor, we rise as titans! For mankind, we offer blood, soul, and steel! No daemon shall dare stand against our holy might! No heretic shall escape the fire of our righteous fury!"
"We are the blade of His divine retribution, tempered in the crucible of eternal war! Through our hands, the Emperor's vengeance is unleashed! The wretched spawn of Chaos shall tremble, for we are the storm that cleanses, the flame that purges! None shall escape the Emperor's infinite judgment!"
"In His sacred name, we strike with thunderous might! In His boundless wrath, we bring down the heavens! With every blow, the abyss shall tremble, and with every stride, the blackened stars shall falter! We are the Emperor's Chosen! His eternal light is our burning banner, His will, our inexorable command!"
With morale reaching through the roof, the Grey Knights unleashed their battle cries before collectively unleashing their Psychic power that together amplifies their might. The true way of battle for the Legion is filled with powerful Psyker Space Marines.
Sigismund watched in awe and shock despite his abhorrence of Psyker in general because Psyker generally are ticking time bombs in battle against Chaos. But his abhorrence is only reserved for the uncontrolled and untrained Psyker. He for one, treated well trained Sanctioned Psykers well for example the Navigator and Astropaths which is essential for the fleet bound Chapter of Black Templar to launch their numerous crusades.
The Chaldean Servants is no different from Sigismund, sharing even greater awe as the Grey Knights and Adam project their Psychic power into a beacon of light upon this tainted soil and actively dissolving the same taint spread by Slaanesh with their mere presence.
But just as Sigismund and the Servant Trio expected the Grey Knights to jump into battle along with Adam. Turn out Adam launched himself alone onto the walls of the Imperial Capital like a massive cannonball and smashed through it like wet paper before he went on a rampage.
Sensing the confusion from Sigismund and the trio of Servants, Kaldor Draigo answered their doubts.
"You all must wonder why we do not accompany our Lord Primarch into battle." Kaldor Draigo said with a slightly proud tone.
Sigismund and the trio Servants nodded while Kaldor Draigo nodded too before turning back to the direction of the city before he answered mysteriously.
"Just watch. You will understand in a moment that our presence there is nothing more than a burden upon him. Nevertheless, it does not mean we should stand here and do nothing." Kaldor Draigo paused for a moment when the earth itself suddenly shook like a massive earthquake just erupted and the wind turned erratic and violent like a storm raging upon the land.
At the center of all those devastating occurrences was Adam like a real War God, carving paths through Daemons as he marched upon the Imperial Palace unhindered while leaving behind deep scars of craters and ravines in his wake as the fragile fabric of reality struggled to accommodate the power he displayed.
"Lord Adam's Psychic power is not inferior to Lord Malcador or The Emperor. Perhaps, even greater. Hence, he rarely ever displays it in reality and only ever fully unleashes it within the Warp where he had no fear for collateral damages or otherwise, there will be nothing but desolated ruin and husks of world left where he fought upon." Kaldor Draigo explained with respect and reverence for Adam.
"As for us. Our job is to take care of the grunts and let Lord Adam to focus on his battle against his opponent while we prevent the other Daemons from interrupting him."
"Charge!" Kaldor Draigo ordered with his Nemesis Force blade pointed at the battlefield that awaits them.
Without hesitation, the Grey Knights rallied under his order and charged into battle, unleashing flurry of steel and Warp Sorceries upon the Daemons that dared to tread onto the palace where they stood their ground and defended.
Sigismund only made a grunt of acknowledgement before he joined the battle.
As for the Chaldean Servants, afraid to be left behind. They also quickly enter the fray and cut down Daemons and Heretics as they pin their hope on Adam who is confronting Slaanesh alone. The task only he is equipped and capable of taking care of.
———
Deep in the heart of the Imperial Capital, the heated sound of battle accompanied by the sound of metal boots echoing across the once pristine marble floor.
"To think you dare to enter the palace alone, Champion of Humanity!" A group of Keeper of Secrets guarding the halls before the throne room mocked Adam as he slew another horde of Lesser Daemons and corrupted Roman soldiers trying to stop him.
After stabbing the Daemonette he just killed moment ago and twisting his blade to kill it. Adam lift his helmeted head and look at the group of three Keeper of Secrets waiting for him before the throne room. His visor show a glint originating from his eyes as he glanced at the door behind the Greater Daemons as his head quickly analyse the information with cold rationality and logic.
It's unlike Slaanesh to hide behind his subordinates especially when it comes to himself. The usual Slaanesh would already welcome him in and fight him. But instead, Slaanesh sent out three Greater Daemon to stall him. Without a shred of doubt, something is off and Adam is assured of it.
The question is, if whatever happening to Slaanesh right now is good or bad. That question remain unanswered for now until he exorcise this three Greater Daemons.
Now, not to say that a Greater Daemon is weak. No. In fact, Greater Daemon is the highest order of the Daemon hierarchy within the ranks of the Chaos Forces. Akin to Primarch if compared to the Imperium. But generally, a 1v1 between a Greater Daemon and a Primarch will be evenly matched when not accounting their advantages and only looking at purely combat power. However, when special powers is accounted for, the Primarch will came out victorious most of the time due to Primarch being perfectly designed and highly trained for warfare, well equipped with powerful relics and often have power like Magnus with near limitless Psychic power or Vulkan being an Immortal.
In the case of 1v2, it's difficult to be ascertain. Either the Primarch will lose or barely win. Even more so in a 1v3 situation.
But not for Adam since he is the perfect counter for any Daemonic entity. Immunity to Warp based power, immunity to Daemonic corruption not even the Chaos Gods could make him waver and his Pariah Gene which normally wouldn't allow him to wield Psychic power but The Emperor's hard work paid off as he created an antithesis for Daemon.
In a match up that a Primarch would struggle to secure a victory against a Greater Daemon, Adam could fight against three and still overpowering them. Reducing the Psychic power of the Greater Daemon innert and could only rely on a melee battle which Adam excel nearly without equal within the previous universe.
Looking at the three Greater Daemons, Adam let out a rare chuckle.
"Why should I dare not? In fact, I should praise the three of you newborn Greater Daemons to willingly stood on my way even when knowing you had no chance of victory." He said as menacing presence leaked from his body and casting fear upon the Greater Daemons witb how he read them like an open book.
When it came to Daemons. No one dare to claim he is more knowledgeable than Adam as he spend nearly ten millennium fighting exclusively against them. He knew their habits of speech or combat, the way their body ticks and everything else like the back of his own palm.
The two original Greater Daemons Slaanesh brought with him was slayed prior to his ascension and Adam make sure to annihilate their souls and ensuring they had no chance returning to Slaanesh. Hence, the three Keeper of Secrets in front of him has to be a newly elevated ones. Inexperienced and novice in regard to their newly obtained powers. A measure hastily put up by Slaanesh in his desperate attempt to buy time for some reason…
"Prepare to die, foul Daemons." Adam announced as his body propelled by his Psychic power to leap forward to cover distance normally impossible but made possible with support of sorcery.
Adam appeared before the three grotesque and hideous humanoid yet fused with bovine apperance of the Keeper of Secrets. They tried to muster their bladed limbs and normal limbs wielding weapon to halt Adam's advance. But with another explosion of Psychic energy, the Keeper of Secrets staggered backwards by the powerful repulsion force that impacted them while they desperately tried to muster the gift of their patron only to find it unresponsive as Adam's sword beheaded one effortlessly like fighting a bunch of sluggish and inexperienced Daemonettes disguised as Greater Daemon.
With another swift slash to block the incoming bladed before kicking the attacking Daemon crashing against the wall, smashing through it into the throne room.
The last remaining one was afraid and abandoned it's patron's order as it tried to fled. However, Adam isn't the type to show Daemon any mercy as he cut off one of its leg, causing it to fell to the ground still trying to crawl away pathetically.
"AHHHH!" The Daemon released a shrill cries when Adam stomped at the stump of his amputated leg to prevent it from escaping.
"No Daemon shall survive. No heretic shall escape The Emperor's judgement." He said as his sword suddenly crackling with silvery lightning.
Adam lift his sword high with a reverse grip before stabbing into the Daemon's heart as it released another ear piercing cries as it's heart was being burn away by Adam's purifying Psychic energy, killing it permanently.
Once the obstacles preventing him from entering the throne room was dispatched, Adam turn his sight to the door leading to the throne room.
His eyes remain peeled off from his surroundings and senses focused within the throne room, trying to gain any and every piece of information possible in advance to prepare himself.
Yet, he finds nothing noteworthy at first sight. It seems he must venture in to find it out himself.
—————
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