The Bizarre Adventure of the Warhammer Guard

The scorching sun shone on a plain in Terra.

Elpis was wielding his spear to deal with the traitor in front of him, a Thunder Warrior, covered in wounds and wearing tattered MKⅠ power armor, with blood constantly seeping from the armor.

The Thunder Warrior stared intently at Elpis through his crimson goggles, panting heavily, his hands gripping a chainsaw sword as he slammed it down on the golden-armored warrior before him.

Elpis swung his spear with all his might, deflecting his opponent's chainsword, and then thrust the end of the spear straight at the Thunder Warrior's knee.

The heavy blow caused the Thunder Warrior to grunt and lose his balance. Elpis clenched his left fist and punched the Thunder Warrior in the head.

As his helmet was knocked off, the exhausted Thunder Warrior was dizzy and disoriented. Before he could regain his footing, a flash of light appeared, and Elpis's Guardian Spear pierced through the Thunder Warrior's neck.

The spear was drawn, and the Thunder Warrior's body fell backward, crashing to the ground.

Elpis twirled his spear, shaking off the blood, and then looked around.

Hundreds of royal guards clad in golden armor and Astartes in dark green armor launched a fierce attack on the Thunder Warriors.

These Astartes in their dark green armor are the warriors of the First Legion under the Emperor's command; they are the new generation of Space Marines. Although they are weaker than the Thunder Warriors, they are more stable and efficient.

These Astartes of the First Legion fought one Thunder Warrior in groups of four or five, while the Imperial Guards pursued the Thunder Warriors one-on-one.

La was engaged in combat not far away. His fighting skills were light and swift. In the blink of an eye, he dodged several enemy attacks, and then with a backhand strike, he severed one of the enemy's arms.

Diocletian ended the duel, leaving his enemy lying on the ground covered in blood, while Diocletian himself had some wounds on his arm armor.

Elpis withdrew his gaze and continued to slaughter the traitorous Thunder Warriors.

"Constantine Waldo!" Suddenly, a roar came from afar.

In the center of the battlefield stood a Thunder Warrior, even more imposing than the Thunder Warriors and taller than the Imperial Guards. He wore an alloy armor made of unknown animal hides stitched together, its patterns and decorations tattered from the long battle.

This was Usohn, the Primarch of the Thunder Warriors. The towering Primarch stood there like a raging bear, surrounded by the Imperial Guard and Astartes attacking him.

Usotan sent a guard flying with a powerful punch, and several Astartes rushed forward. Usotan used his superb skills to block one of the attacks with his sword and dodged another Astarte's swing by sidestepping.

The third attack came, and Usotta took the initiative to meet it. This attack struck his breastplate directly. Usotta did not stop. He sidestepped, causing the opponent's sword to get stuck in his breastplate, and then used his heavy shoulder armor to ram into Astartes, who was attacking him.

The Astartes was thrown several meters, and Usotan pressed his advantage, drawing the sword that was embedded in his breastplate and piercing the Astartes' neck through the joint between his helmet and armor.

"Face me!" Usotan roared, "Constantine Waldo!"

At that moment, a golden figure rushed towards the roaring giant, covering a hundred meters in an instant. With a clang, swords clashed, and the immense force even caused ripples in the surrounding air.

Then, the two giants quickly engaged in a fierce battle, and amidst the flashing swords, no one was able to join their fight.

As the battle raged on the battlefield, strange things began to happen. When a Thunder Warrior was beheaded, his armor suddenly shattered, and large amounts of deformed flesh grew out, with tentacles bizarrely sprouting from the surface of the flesh.

The tentacle was so powerful that it knocked over an Astartes who was trying to attack him.

Then, one after another, Thunder Warriors seemed to be summoned by something, and they all mutated into this filthy thing, and the battlefield seemed to be shrouded in a halo of interwoven green and red.

Elpis's expression changed. Something was wrong with this mutation. Had the power of chaos arrived in Terra now? This plot was different from what he knew.

"Flame wrench!" Elpis roared immediately, "Burn these unclean ones!"

The Astartes equipped with flamethrowers sprang into action, unleashing a deluge of flames that illuminated the entire battlefield. The mutated Thunder Warriors crackled and popped as they were burned in the flames, emitting inhuman roars.

"R-Diocletian!" Elpis shouted as he severed the disgusting tentacles that were attacking him, "Get to the Marshal's side."

Although La and Diocletian did not know what Elpis was planning to do, they still believed Elpis's words. They quickly broke away and broke out together in the direction where the Marshal and Usotan were fighting.

With the cover of Ra and Diocletian, Elpis quickly reached a spot a few feet away from Usotan, where he was immediately blocked by a Thunder Warrior.

"Usotan! Look around you!" Elpis shouted at the enraged Usotan while parrying enemy attacks.

"What have you done! Look at yourselves, are you even human?! What are you fighting for?! Is it just for the thrill of killing?" Elpis's furious voice exploded in Usotan's ears.

Usotan paused, his fighting spirit diminishing slightly. The Imperial Guard Marshal seized the opportunity, kicking Usotan away and ceasing his attack.

"No, we just..." Usotan seemed to want to refute something, but when he saw the deformed tumors growing from his wounds, his muscles growing larger and stronger in a bizarre way, and the mutated, inhuman Thunder Warriors around him who only knew how to destroy, he couldn't say anything.

"Stop, my brothers, if you still trust me, please stop," Usotta shouted to the remaining Thunder Warriors who were still in human form.

As Usotan finished speaking, the remaining Thunder Warriors stopped attacking and gathered around him.

The battle soon ceased; the Imperial Guard and the Astartes dealt with the deformed creatures and then surrounded the remaining Thunder Warriors.

"Ha, did he foresee that we would become these things?" As the battle ceased, Usotan felt his life being devoured by this grotesque tumor. He looked at the Royal Guard Marshal with a mocking smile, "He wouldn't even allow us to die as humans?"

"My lord gave you a chance; you could have had a new life," Waldo said in a deep voice.

"That's not what I wanted." Usotta used his knife to cut off the horrific tumor growing on his body. The intense pain caused Usotta to kneel down on one knee, but the loss of life did not stop, and thick blood seeped from the wound.

"I at least lived, Marshal," Usotan said in a pale, gruff voice. "Not long, and it was painful, but in the name of the Nine Hells, I lived. Like everyone else, I experienced sorrow and joy."

"I pity you, Constantine. Although I have only lived a short time, I have at least lived as a human being, while you have no feelings or humanity other than duty." Usotan breathed heavily.

"I know you, Elpis." Usotan turned his head, letting the blood drip onto the ground. "You are different from them."

"I have always been a human being!" Usotta's lips curled into a slight smile, whether he was speaking to the people present or to the being on the throne.

Waldo let out a long sigh, then plunged the knife into Usotan's chest, ending his old friend's suffering. He did nothing more, simply standing there silently, gazing at the distant scene.

He then sheathed the blade and gently wiped away the blood.

"Yes," he replied softly.