Man in Warhammer, starting Primarch.

Chapter 216:23, For the Warmaster, For the Emperor
Mortarion spread his wings in the mist and flew to the top of a Gothic spire. He looked down the spiral staircase and overlooked the ruins of the battlefield.

He carried a supernatural poison mist on his body, trying to lock onto Doom Commander Doom who was behind a ruined bunker somewhere.

"Son of Dukel, what a shame, you are going to die here."

As the Lord of Death whispered his verdict, a sudden war cry from the sky overwhelmed the silence here.

"Fight for the Imperial Regent! Fight for the Emperor!"

The Ultramarines Commander Calgar and his Honor Guard landed on the battlefield on Thunderhawks and blocked the Lord of Death.

And they were not the only ones present, as the Doom Slayer's valiant charge opened an unobstructed passage for the Imperial Legion in the heart of the Purifiers.

More warriors in azure power armor rushed into the heart of the factory, and the moment they appeared, they opened fire on the Daemon Primarch from all directions.

A dozen Redeemer-type dreadnoughts emerged from the gap in the wall, firing fiercely at Mortarion as they moved.

The flames that spewed from their gun barrels were just like the rage in their hearts. In the previous Plague War, the trauma that Mortarion inflicted on the Five Hundred Worlds has not yet healed, and countless loyal warriors have died at the hands of the demon primarch.

The Ultramarines remember this blood feud. They are the sons of vengeance, and now is the time for reckoning.

But the rage did not cloud Calgar's reason. The battle between the Doom Slayer and the Purifiers bought him a considerable amount of time. Calgar used this time to quickly and thoroughly set up a siege.

In such a tight firepower network, even Mortarion found it difficult to escape for a while.

Doom fought his way through the howling horde of heretics, killing every Chaos cultist he could find and moving towards Mortarion.

Except for him, no one present had any chance to fight back against the Lord of Death, and he could not allow his fighting brothers to die under the scythe.

He took the initiative to accept the heavy responsibility of confronting the Daemon Primarch head-on.

The sky filled with billowing chemical smoke had now turned into a fierce battlefield, with aircraft from both sides circling and fighting over Doom's head.

Weapons clashed, guns roared, and the soldiers' roared oaths merged into a deafening harmony.

Doom's armor was covered in blood, and the Doom Soldier fighting beside him were also stained red with blood.

With every step they took forward, their heavy steel boots made a sound of bones breaking as they crushed corpses under their feet.

The Slayer rushed to the top of the slope, stepping on the broken bones all over the ground, and walked onto the high-rise platform where the factory's iron fence had been broken. He ignored the wet chemical poison water all over the ground, and the unclean runes that were smeared on the surface of the machinery, symbolizing death.

They continued to move forward, and when they passed a gap in the wall, Doom stood there and looked around, seeing the tragic battle.

Dante also rushed here. He led the Blood Angel Guards to cut into the enemy's line from the north side of the battlefield and surrounded a large group of plague zombies and death worshippers beside a huge chimney that was emitting poisonous smoke.

The swift and powerful Sons of Sanguinius are ruthlessly hunting their prey.

To the northeast of the factory, the Dark Angels' armored forces faced off against the Word Bearers who were chanting blasphemous scriptures. On the crumbling high-rise building, the two sides engaged in a fierce clash using never-before-seen technological creations and blasphemous demon engines.

In front of Doom, the largest number of Ultramarines wearing azure armor were fighting a bloody battle with the Plague Soldiers.

Doom's eyes swept across the brutal scene, and finally looked firmly at the top of the Gothic spire, where the Ultramarines' Honor Guard were fighting Mortarion.

The fierce battle spread to the edge of the factory, the outer wall collapsed, and bricks and stones fell to the ground around the tower like a landslide.

The corridors and the ruined columns revealed the brutal battle scene. The corpses of the World Purifiers and Ultramarines were scattered all over the ground. Doom's extraordinary vision allowed him to see the tragic scene clearly.

These tall and heroic warriors had horrific wounds on their bodies. They lay silently on the ground, looking horrible and dead.

Some bodies even fell into the highly toxic and corrosive chemical liquids in the industrial zone. The ceramic steel armor was corroded by the strong acid, and their incomplete bodies floated in the industrial tanks like specimens soaked in cans.

A Redeemer-type dreadnought mech with a golden sky eagle printed on it fell down. Its pilot detonated it at the last moment. The violent explosion shattered the partitions between the floors, and the remaining parts fell from the broken holes in the floors, like a burning, winged angel, falling helplessly among the shattered ruins.

The flames of war soaked every inch of the ground with blood, and every wall was covered with streaks of congealed blood.

Mortarion was inevitably hurt by such firepower. There were scorch marks on his body. The flames ignited the poisonous mist on his body, and thick sticky smoke continued to emerge with a sizzling sound.

Even in the face of such a tight encirclement, he still killed almost all the warriors besieging him in a short period of time. The efforts made by the Extreme Warriors to exile the Lord of Death did not even slow down his speed.

He was like the god of death, reaping lives on the battlefield.

The Doom Slayer increased his speed again and rushed towards the place where they were fighting. Doom watched with some pity as the Demon Primarch's death scythe slashed through the standard-bearing officer of the Glory Guard.

Then the body of the glorious guard was thrown out and fell from the top of the Gothic spire, and the bright red blood of the hero stained the fallen flag.

Doom was furious at the heavy price paid by the Ultramarines who came to support him in order to rescue the Slayer.

He could not sit idly by and watch his allies die in their place, so in desperation he twisted the mind hub of the double-barreled shotgun, the Argentum backpack trembling, and quickly fired at Mortarion.

The Doom Slayers knew how to act without his orders. They also twisted their mental hubs and fired collectively, using Argentum-energy gunfire to ignite red flame trails in the air.

Like a giant flaming snake with a thousand heads, it bit towards the Lord of Death. Although they were far apart, the accuracy of the shooting was not lost.

Engulfed in red flames, Mortarion let out his first roar since arriving here.

These specially made reinforced warheads were able to almost damage his subspace essence, shattering his armor on a large scale. The shotgun's energizing warheads even managed to penetrate his physical form.

Flames burned in his wounds, and even the poisonous fog could not extinguish them.

No blood flowed from his wounds, but thick smoke rose up. The severe pain made the Lord of Death give up reaping the lives of the Glory Guard and instead turned to face the Slayer rushing towards him.

Just as Doom was charging, he was less than a thousand meters away from him, a distance that the Doom Slayer could cover in just a dozen seconds.

But in such a short distance, a blue and gold figure, who was faster than them, rushed up from the broken stairs on the lower level, wielding a sword that was emitting force field light, and went straight for Mortarion's heart.

"Calga, be careful!" Seeing that the Ultramarines commander put himself in such a dangerous position, Doom immediately reminded the other party loudly and pulled the trigger in his hand to cover the other party's attack.

The enraged Daemon Primarch reacted quickly, dodging the Doom Slayer's volleys while raising his weapon to block Calgar's slash.

When the sword collided with the scythe of the Lord of Death, a shock wave was created, and Mortarion was pushed back a few steps, while Calgar was blown away dozens of meters and fell heavily on the grille of the factory.

A huge dent was smashed into the special steel-supported grille, and Calgar lay in the center of the dent and never got up.

When the Lord of Death grinned evilly on his pale face, Doom gritted his teeth unwillingly.

The commander of the Ultramarines is now lying in front of the Demon Primarch and may be killed by him at any time.

But for the Slayer, the distance of just a few hundred meters became extremely far at this moment - this short distance represented the life and death of a hero. The Lord of Death raised his sickle high, and just as Doom watched this scene helplessly, red flames suddenly rose quietly here, burning the poisonous fog with crackling sounds.

A scarlet flame suddenly rose from the dark green sticky poisonous fog, which seemed out of place, but in an instant it burned away the panic in the hearts of all the loyal soldiers.

The flame was like an illusion that ignited in people's hearts. A huge imperial beacon was outlined in the void. When this majestic scene unfolded, the anger in the eyes of the proud warriors was replaced by awe and reverence.

A tall figure walked out of the flames, his cloak fluttering like a sea of ​​blood in the blaze. As soon as he appeared, he stood between Calgar and Mortarion. The nuns chanting hymns followed closely behind him, gathered around him, and formed a perfect circular formation.

But the appearance of these holy nuns did not attract anyone's attention. Even Doom hardly noticed their presence. His eyes were involuntarily attracted to the back of the figure with the blood-red cloak.

Without any rational thinking, his genes gave the answer, and his gene seed was rejoicing at this moment, telling him the facts before his eyes.

The tall and proud warriors instinctively knelt on one knee.

Because the owner of that figure was Dukel, their genetic father and the empire's warmaster. At the most critical moment, he stood in front of all the soldiers to shield them from the threat of death.

Doom looked at the figure with excitement, but he couldn't suppress the guilt in his heart.

Because the arrival of the Primarch was precisely the proof of his incompetence.

He had sworn to the Primarch that he would resolve the Vigilante's plight. Dukel trusted him and sent a coalition of three legions and many heroes to assist.

With this powerful force, he could have dealt with any enemy, but he still ended up in his current situation.

Doom's mind flashed through images that made him feel extremely guilty - the destruction of the Vigilant Planet, the rise of the Blackstone Crest, Abaddon's escape from death, the price the Ultramarines paid on their behalf.
Not far away, the Lord of Death, who could have executed Calgar with one blow, immediately withdrew his attack and retreated quickly when he saw his brother appear.

His eyes were fixed on the Imperial Warmaster, like a venomous snake, trying to see if this former brother was just a facade.

Mortarion didn't see anything. He knew very well how powerful Dukel was, but he was also different from before.

Both Primarchs were of taciturn nature and had no intention of reminiscing with each other.

When facing Dukel, Mortarion did not dare to be careless at all, he knew that he was the challenger.

After a brief standoff, the Lord of Death took the lead in launching an attack.

As a challenger, he needed to take advantage of the first attack and suppress the opponent's attack rhythm. Mortarion rushed towards Dukel, and the sickle blade and the burning sword collided with each other again and again, splashing bright sparks.

The death scythe passed by at a tricky angle, but was knocked back by Duker with a casual punch.

The moment the sickle blade collided with the iron glove, it was immediately bounced back by a powerful impact carrying red flames.

This tremendous force caused Mortarion's giant body to stagger back involuntarily.

After seeing the Lord of Death reveal a flaw, several spiritual nuns beside Duker launched a fierce attack at the same time.

Only then did Mortarion realize with uneasiness that these nuns were so similar to the Slayer and also possessed extraordinary abilities.

The scythe of death swept across violently, and even though the nuns defended themselves immediately, they were still inevitably knocked away.

"Back off!"

Mortarion saw Dukel give orders in a deep voice, and the nuns quickly retreated and then disappeared under the cover of the flames.

He knew that this was because Duke didn't want anyone to interfere in their fight.

Just like a wild animal is unwilling to share its prey with others.

Seeing the Imperial Warmaster's high-spirited eyes, Mortarion carefully stepped back and retreated away from the opponent.

Dukel naturally would not let the other party leave, he chased after him relentlessly.

Doom was watching this scene from a distance. He guessed that Mortarion's retreat might be to keep Dukel away from the seriously injured Calgar.

Compared to deciding the outcome of this battle between brothers, perhaps killing a legion commander of the Ultramarines would be more meaningful to the Lord of Death.

So Doom took the lead and rescued Calgar with the Doom Slayer. After some examination, when he found that Calgar's heartbeat was still there, he finally breathed a sigh of relief as if a huge rock had fallen from his heart.

The two demigods fought back and forth on the top of the spire. Mortarion, relying on his superb martial arts, launched heavy blows at his opponent like a storm.

Dukel seemed more at ease and blocked every one of his attacks.

Blazing flames and poisonous fog surrounded the two fighters, making crackling sounds and releasing thick black smoke.

The sound of dense grenade launchers rang out from the lower level of the factory. As the bullets bounced off the surface of the Doom Slayer's armor, Doom's attention was pulled back to reality from the duel between the demigods in front of him.

"Doom, the Pestilence Army is breaking through the steel frame and trying to attack your line." The voice of the Dark Angels Grand Master Azrael was heard over the voice link.

Only then did Doom come back to his senses. He was ashamed to find that he was so absorbed in watching the arrival of the Gene-Father that he forgot that he still had his own war to fight.

He gathered his strength and rushed towards the enemy below, but during the battle, he couldn't help but look at the top of the spire where the primarchs were fighting.

He just saw Dukel chasing and pushing Mortarion to the edge of the platform at the top of the tower.

Dukel's offensive was as violent as ever, and every attack seemed to want to completely destroy his opponent. Under such an offensive, Mortarion, who had been so invincible just now, could only be forced to defend in a desperate situation.

In the interval between attacks, Dukel also looked at Doom. When their eyes met, the emotion in the Primarch's eyes was like a mental shock that touched Doom.

The Doom Slayer felt as if a fire was rising in his blood. Although they could not communicate directly at the moment, Doom fully understood the Gene Father's expectations of him.

The battle situation at the top of the tower changed again. Where the red flames burned, the Lord of Death had no place to stand. He spread his wings behind him and flew into the thick and lingering poisonous cloud in the sky.

Dukel took another look at the battlefield, then jumped up from the top of the tower, like an ancient chariot burning with endless flames, leaving a trail of fire in the air.

The two Primarchs disappeared from the sight of mortals.

Doom walked towards the enemy with a determined look, the sword of mind raised above his head.

"For Dukel!" he shouted, and the flames on the sword released a dazzling light like a supernova.

His oath was echoed by the Doom Soldier, and then all the loyalists fighting in this huge factory shouted their own shouts. The roar of the mountains and the sea echoed on the battlefield, drowning out the roar of guns and cannons, and lifted the poisonous fog that had been lingering on the planet's clouds for a long time.
"For the Warmaster, for the Emperor!"

(End of this chapter)