Laser blasts and boltgun fire exploded against the forms of the Hedonites. For the Veteran Astra Militarum Troopers, firing at such close range against unprepared humanoid targets essentially guaranteed hits, with every round finding its mark on the enemy.
Flames of pink and the chaotic energy of the Warp surged, twisting alongside the horrific screams that erupted from the Hedonites whose limbs were burned and shattered.
In just one confrontation, several Hedonites were banished back to the Warp, almost half of them doing so because they reveled so much in the pleasure of death that they did not even attempt to dodge.
This was one reason why Hedonites were less deadly compared to the servants of other Chaos gods; fundamentally, what Slaanesh craved was extreme sensory stimulation. Killing the enemy was merely a byproduct of their desires.
Hedonites, as progeny of Slaanesh, dedicated their entire existence to seeking pleasure in this form.
If an adversary could provide them with a higher level of stimulation, they would readily surrender themselves without higher orders or missions.
Moreover, their minds could hardly comprehend concepts beyond extreme excitement, such as the "boring" practice of honing skills or reflecting on battle tactics.
Thus, unless a Daemonette was driven by the pursuit of perfect technique for pleasure, very few of these daemons could retain knowledge of combat skills or strategies.
Without a leader, their tactical proficiency was hardly superior to that of beasts; indeed, they were often worse off, as beasts at least had the instinct to survive while most Hedonites could inflict harm and take pleasure in being killed without a care.
As several comrades were torn apart, the remaining unprotected Hedonites finally realized they were being deceived.
In their thrill derived from the notion of being "the noble Hedonites humiliated and banished by lowly mortal tricks," they felt no moment of grief for their comrades, and a new wave of excitement coursed through the remaining Hedonites as they ripped off their disguises, revealing their grotesque true forms.
With hooved legs, clawed pincers covered in shells and lumps of flesh, and hair growing from their scalps, they presented an unappealing sight.
Aside from these common traits, there was hardly any two Hedonites that were equally ugly. Strangely enough, parts of their grotesque bodies occasionally bore one or two features that could indeed be called alluring.
Their skin was soft and delicate, with well-defined muscle lines that suggested a touch could leave a lasting mark. They had long, elegant profiles connected to a pronounced nose, with eyes structured to be enchanting, especially when their pupils shifted and their lashes flicked up, displaying an alluring gaze.
If it were possible to combine these features into a single entity, perhaps it would rival the beauty of Amilia. However, these characteristics were scattered across several dozen pink-skinned abominations, with none residing where they would normally belong.
Zhang Ge spotted one Daemonette with a seductive eye growing from its tongue and could hardly imagine what it saw when it tried to eat… perhaps that constant feeling of being crushed was what it truly desired?
The psychological chill intensified his grip on the trigger.
Dying at another's hands was one thing, but Zhang Ge certainly didn't want to perish at the hands of such creatures. If he suffered some ultimate humiliation before his death, even ascending to their level afterward would not spare him from a lifetime of disgust.
Yet, as ugly as they were, Hedonites still possessed the formidable physical capabilities of demons. Once they started moving, the veterans' accuracy plummeted to almost a quarter of what it had been, leaving Zhang Ge as the only one able to track the fast-moving fiends.
Moreover, as the distance closed, it became increasingly difficult to hit them, for the movement speed of their barrels was starting to lag behind the rapid motions of the Hedonites.
However, Zhang Ge was not the only person on the front line.
Amilia was the first to engage those Hedonites at close range.
Without a hint of dodging, she charged directly at the particularly robust, leading Daemonette, welcoming its colossal pincers, not even raising her weapon to block.
Was she planning a counterattack?
No, not at all.
Her speed was so great that, combined with the monster's own velocity, the swing of the pincers triggered the activation threshold of the Rosarius.
The unexpected deflection caused them to hesitate, leaving no opportunity for a follow-up strike.
Once the force field absorbed the deadly blow and collapsed, Amilia crashed into the creature's exposed flesh with her heavy shoulder armor, echoing with the sound of breaking bones.
As the pulverized flesh sprayed in all directions, the Daemonette was sent flying back at an even greater speed than it had charged, its once towering form nearly folding in half.
In theory, this reckless tackle maneuver had little combat value; after all, similarly ranked enemies usually excelled in their abilities. Most simply needed to take a minor step back to evade incoming attacks right before contact—just enough to allow the tip of the weapon to enter the force field, then resume exerting force again.
However, with some demons only knowing to slash mindlessly, this tactic proved effective.
Amilia thought as she tore through another Daemonette, slicing through until she had decapitated the final one obstructing their attack, their rush had finally met a formidable spearhead.
After witnessing Amilia's gruesome and brutal slaughter, many surrounding Hedonites became excited and charged directly to her, leading to a complete collapse of order in their ranks, scattering them into disorganized rabble.
As High Canoness Heloise and Isis took down some other Hedonites, only a few managed to reach the "vulnerable" veterans before being stopped.
Zhang Ge drew his sword while retreating a step, narrowly avoiding the swing of a Daemonette's pincers aimed at him, delivering a precisely angled slash to sever its arm as the residual force dissipated.
In the next moment, Dominica unleashed the incendiary blast from her boltgun and flamer, engulfing the Daemonette just as it sought to use its other claw to attack, the holy flames searing every inch of its skin and flooding its senses with pain, even causing it to momentarily lose focus.
It was during this brief window that Zhang Ge drove his sword into its still-burning head, sending the charred remains rolling to the ground.
Elsewhere, seven veterans had formed a triangle formation, wielding their laser guns topped with bayonets, crafting long spears to face the oncoming threats.
One overzealous Daemonette lunged toward the team with fewer personnel.
It moved too quickly for a normal person to track… in fact, it was indeed so fast that the nearest veteran appeared to have not reacted in time. As his two fellow soldiers stepped aside, he froze while reaching for something at his belt.
The Daemonette laughed cruelly, utterly unconcerned; even if that mortal were to chuck a grenade, it had enough time to slay all three before escaping.
Its pincers swung down, tearing through the veteran's ballistic vest, easily penetrating into his chest cavity.
It could distinctly feel its claws ripping through muscle and heart—a magnificent sensation.
However, the vest was not without merit; it created a minor delay in the Daemonette's assault.
In that brief moment, a nearby veteran thrust his weapon forward, driving the bayonet deep into the exposed elbow joint of the Daemonette, locking it firmly between two bones as leverage to prevent the arm from retracting.
The Daemonette sensed trouble; with its joint pinned, it found it difficult to reclaim its limb.
Meanwhile, another veteran executed a similar maneuver, driving his bayonet into its knee joint.
With two nearly two-hundred-pound men applying pressure on the Daemonette's joints with their blades, even a Daemonette featured a brief delay in its movement.
It had to glance over to gauge its surroundings and promptly cleaved the peon pinning its knee before returning its attention.
What the Daemonette did not notice was that, even with merely half of their body remaining, humans could continue functioning for a while longer.
As it twisted its head back, the veteran who had been cleaved in half now held a grenade with its pin pulled. His companion had already withdrawn his bayonet and retreated a few steps.
With a grin, he punched the defensive grenade squarely into the Daemonette's face, and in an instant, his entire hand was ripped apart from the explosion that detonated from within, but not just his hand—half of the Daemonette's skull disintegrated in the process.
The shockwave swept across the remaining veteran's body, most shrapnel absorbed by the Daemonette's form, with a few fragments embedding themselves in his ballistic vest and non-lethal zones, blood pooling out from wounds.
However, he paid no attention to his injuries, rushing again toward the Daemonette that was now lurching sideways. After deftly stabbing through the skull with his blade, he followed up with multiple strikes, returning the abominable creature to the Warp.
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