Chapter 54: Chapter 54: Traitors and Loyalty! Are Souls Really That Weak?
Russ had never imagined such a scene, not even in his wildest dreams.
The power of a single person was now comparable to that of an entire fleet, and this wasn't just raw power, but the ability to precisely strike every target.
The Primarch had no idea what exactly had happened on the planet below.
Was it really as Axis had said?
Had half the Astartes on the planet already been wiped out?
But the explosion had been so violent, it was as if several destroyers had bombarded the planet's surface.
Even Russ's gaze toward Axis had changed; the child's combat strength far exceeded his expectations.
If this kid wasn't kept under control, he would become a walking, human-shaped natural disaster, no, a walking apocalypse.
Axis merely smiled at Russ, white ki flames erupting from his body as he led the way, flying toward the other side of the planet.
The two Saibamen obediently followed Axis's command, taking the Wolf King along as they all flew at top speed to the planet's far side.
With ki's enhancement, Axis and his team's flight speed was astonishing.
Within just a few minutes, they had reached the opposite hemisphere.
On the surface, the Astartes army had no time to react. Ever since they'd been transformed by the Rangda, they had lost all basic human reason.
Just like their Primarch, they had been turned into monsters, only a few loyal Astartes remained, bewildered and at a loss.
None of them understood what that white death from above even was.
The comrades they had once fought alongside, their brothers in arms, were suddenly obliterated by the descending white light orbs, killed in an instant, bodies shattered to pieces the moment they were hit.
It was a hellish scene to behold.
Your enemies exploded right before your eyes, not just one or two, but countless ones, all at once.
Some of the loyalist Second Legion Astartes even closed their eyes, ready to accept death, waiting for the white rain of death to fall on them as well.
But in the end, every one of them was safe and sound, not a single loyalist Astartes was harmed, aside from the few who catched the strays!
"What… what exactly just happened?"
"Was this some kind of weapon strike?"
"Could it be a new weapon the Imperium just developed? Has Imperial reinforcements already arrived?"
"No way! I've served for decades. The Imperium of Man has no weapon this precise and efficient, at least, not yet." A loyalist Second Legion captain shook his head.
"The captain's right! There aren't any battleships visible in the sky, either. If there really was a bombardment, with our equipment, we'd at least see an Imperial destroyer up there." The Astartes peered skyward with their optical visors, but the heavens were empty, no sign of any Imperial fleet.
"Then what was this? The attack seemed almost sentient, as if it consciously targeted only the traitors, sparing us."
"It didn't just miss us, it deliberately avoided us. I saw a beam of light coming straight for me, but for some reason, it suddenly changed direction and struck elsewhere." Another Second Legion Astartes spoke up.
"Stay alert! Our father has betrayed the Imperium. We don't know what new enemies await us, but no matter what, we remain loyal to the Imperium! Loyal to the Emperor!"
"Loyal to the Imperium, loyal to the Emperor!" All the loyalist Astartes raised their weapons and shouted in unison.
On the other side, among the traitors, the Second Primarch was clutching his head in agony.
He was the Emperor's proud son, a Primarch of the Imperium, commander of an Astartes legion.
'No! You are a slave, a slave of the Great Galactic Alliance! You must fight for the Alliance! You must destroy the enemies attacking the Alliance!'
[A/n:Rangda mutants were not a single species, but rather an amalgamation of many alien races. One served as the core, while all the others were subordinate.]
Two conflicting voices kept echoing in his mind.
Around him, the traitor Astartes wandered about in a daze.
They had originally come to support the Dark Angels in fighting those abominable xenos.
But their Primarch had been ambushed, a control device implanted in him, and they themselves had fallen under the enemy's massive psychic manipulation.
The good news was that all the xenos had been slain by the Dark Angels.
The bad news, even with the evil Rangda xenos dead, their mental control remained unbroken.
Not long ago, the white brilliance from the far side of the planet had caught the attention of all the traitor Astartes.
However, after the Rangda's ultimate psychic weapon strike, most had lost their minds; the Astartes even began to slaughter one another.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Vrrrm! Vrrrm! Vrrrm!
The roar of bolters and chainswords filled the air.
Once Axis reached the far side of the planet, he began to sense every living being on this hemisphere.
He locked onto every traitor Astartes, for within the perception of ki, every lifeform on half the planet was as clear as day.
Even though they possessed no ki within their bodies, their life force could serve as a substitute.
If they were in the world of Dragon Ball, these Astartes, given their physical prowess and combat training, could easily learn to wield ki.
Their battle power would be at least one or two hundred, and as for their upper limit, there would be none.
How far they could go would depend on themselves.
At that moment, Axis found it a bit strange.
Malcador had once told him his soul was nothing special, yet by using ki, he could sense all the life across half a planet!
His spiritual strength was obviously powerful, strong enough to sense and organise half a world with ki.
Was his soul really that weak?
Axis didn't dwell on it.
There would be time to investigate soul matters later; for now, he had more important things to do.
Raising his palm, he began to gather a massive ki blast once more.
"Hah!!"
In the sky, it was as if a second sun had appeared.
The light Axis released now was nearly as dazzling as the planet's own star.
Once again, the white rain of death descended from the heavens!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Violent explosions rocked the world.
Half the planet trembled, as the traitor Astartes suffered near-total annihilation.
The entire planet shook beneath Axis's power.
When it was over, Axis landed beside the strongest living creature on the planet, accompanied by Russ and the two Saibamen.
It was a massive man, standing three point eight meters tall, clad in blood-red power armor, his build even bulkier than Russ's.
Something, presumably a mind control device was clamped on his head, its spider-like form embedded deep into his skull.
Blood streamed down as the eight slender mechanical legs of the device continued to pierce and stimulate the Primarch's cranium, causing him to grunt in pain.
This was the Primarch of the Second Legion.
"My brother… you've been tortured into such a wretched state. But fear not, you shall be set free."
Seeing the miserable sight of his brother, Russ let out a heavy sigh.
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