The mayor, who had almost turned into a monster, appeared corpulent but was surprisingly fast. In that split second, the commissar shouted:
"Big Mouth!"
Ogryn Big Mouth sprang into action at the call. The clattering of his armor plates mingled with the dull thuds of the monster's footsteps as it charged. He slightly twisted his arm, leaned forward, and braced his feet against the steps, pressing his shield diagonally in front of the passageway. His massive body formed an inverted V, blocking the charging path of the creature.
At that moment, Zhang Ge's second plasma shot whizzed past Big Mouth and blasted toward the mayor's face.
This was the first time his usually infallible shot had failed. The mayor displayed an extraordinary reaction speed—instead of following the conventional method, he judged the trajectory of the plasma based on the brief energy buildup before it left the barrel. He tilted his head back, narrowly avoiding the plasma as it streaked past his face.
However, the situation wasn't entirely dire. The mayor's momentary loss of vision provided an excellent opportunity for a follow-up shot. Simultaneously with Zhang Ge, Priest Ryder pulled the trigger, and a searing melta beam erupted from his gun, cutting through the scorching air in an instant.
Yet, unexpectedly, this seemingly certain shot also missed. The mayor, though appearing to lose his composure, had already deduced the firing patterns from the previous two shots. Priest Ryder's attack was a straightforward trigger pull, requiring no visual confirmation to dodge. Based on the initial direction of Ryder's attack, the mayor swung his arm in the blind, the gleaming curved blade intercepting the melta beam.
Warp energy surged, a force beyond the laws of the physical universe manifesting in that moment. The intense heat, which should have melted tank armor, was deflected by the warp's reality-bending power, leaving only a bowl-sized dent in the blade and causing no harm to the mayor himself.
A hint of mockery seemed to flicker across his twisted face, but there was no time to ponder its meaning. The mayor's massive body collided head-on with Big Mouth like two war machines crashing together, the impact resonating like a cannon blast.
Under such immense force, Big Mouth's ceramite shield buckled. His eyes bloodshot, his burly arms streaked with blood from ruptured capillaries, and the bones in his supporting foot cracked audibly.
Yet, in return, the mayor's frenzied charge was halted. Big Mouth had done it—he had stopped the charging monster dead in its tracks. The mayor had underestimated the Ogryn's strength, having never faced one before.
As Big Mouth tucked himself as much as possible behind his shield, he delivered a heavy blow to one of the mayor's forelimbs, causing the massive body to topple to one side as the limb snapped.
But at the same time, the mayor's sharp thrust struck Big Mouth. The curved blade pierced through the shield and heavy armor like paper, running straight through the Ogryn's side.
Using the other blade to brace against a seat and regain balance, the mayor's true anger flared. He raised his remaining forelimb, intending to pierce the heart of this lowly abhuman who dared to harm him.
This momentary lapse in control caused him to overlook the finer details of the battle.
At that moment, the commissar, holding a melta bomb, appeared at his side. The deadly projectile forced the mayor to divert his attention, lifting a limb to hook the bomb's handle and fling it away.
In that same instant, Zhang Ge grasped the glowing cross and hurled it at the warp-spawned abomination below.
As his body was enveloped in light, a sizzling sound like roasting meat filled the air. But what truly sealed the mayor's fate was the plasma and melta beams that followed the light.
One from above, one from below—the melta beam struck his chest, tearing open a massive hole in his warp-twisted body, while the plasma ball precisely hit the joint between the blade piercing Big Mouth and the mayor's body.
With one arm severed, the panting Ogryn swung his hammer once more, striking the mayor's head as the melta bomb exploded in the distance. The forelimb that should have pierced Big Mouth's heart only managed to stab through his chest.
The third plasma shot, fired afterward, became the final blow. The radiant blue light vaporized and shredded the grotesquely fused head. The corrupted body twitched and struggled as if trying to do something more, but the blessings of the Chaos Gods were not enough to keep him fighting without a head.
As the two handmaidens' master fell, Sister Amilia seized the moment of their distraction and beheaded them.
Amid the still-echoing "applause," the mayor and his four handmaidens met their end. But for the five members of the decapitation squad, this was not the conclusion. The cultists outside would not scatter simply because the mayor was dead, and returning the way they came was no longer an option. They had to press forward and find another way out.
After retrieving the cross and gathering the bodies of the four handmaidens and the mayor, Sister Amilia poured fuel over them and set them ablaze to prevent the cultists from using the corpses for further rituals. As the flames, fed by the wooden theater and other combustibles, grew, the five made their way to the breach the mayor had created.
It was a wide corridor, perhaps due to the mayor's not-yet-fully-warped aesthetic, relatively clean compared to the outside, with no signs of warp taint. It retained much of its former grandeur, with numerous artworks and paintings lining the walls.
At the end of the corridor was an elevator large enough to accommodate the mayor's previous massive form. Just as the group was about to head toward it, Big Mouth, his adrenaline fading, suddenly collapsed to his knees.
Despite emergency medical treatment, the best they could do under the current conditions was keep him barely alive. There was no way he could continue on his own.
Big Mouth removed his helmet, coughed up blood, and looked up at the commissar, slowly shaking his head.
After a brief silence, the commissar responded:
"Big Mouth, hold here."
The Ogryn nodded, a simple, honest smile spreading across his face as he dragged himself to lean against the wall.
It was the first time Zhang Ge had seen his expression, and it would be the last.