The footsteps on the metal deck vanished.
Replacing them was the teeth-gritting, heavy sound of power armor knee joints grinding against the floor.
That god-like giant was prostrate at Leticia's feet in a posture nearly akin to full prostration.
Blasphemous prayers, fanatical worship, viscous thoughts... Everything fell into an eerie stagnation as that pink-purple halo receded.
Holding the warm body in her arms, Leticia's breathing returned to absolute steadiness at this moment.
She looked down at that purple helmet, once arrogant but now humbly almost touching the floor. In those black eyes, just baptized by divinity and seemingly capable of swallowing light, there was not a trace of pity or emotion.
Only ice.
Bone-chilling, extremely rational ice.
She knew very well that this mental control based on the "Divine Charm" aura was nothing but a castle in the air.
It originated from her own resolute will called "Protection", and it would inevitably weaken as her will calmed.
Once the opponent broke free from this fanatical faith...
The consequences would be ten thousand times more miserable than when she first faced him.
Just at the moment this thought flashed through her mind.
Leticia keenly sensed that the psychic fluctuation in the air, filled with filth and malice that had been forcibly suppressed, began to squirm uneasily and ever so slightly, like a viper pinned down by a boulder.
The Chaos Space Marine prostrate on the ground, that metal gauntlet pressed against the deck, its knuckles twitched uncontrollably.
Time was running out.
Without the slightest hesitation.
Leticia held Terrania, turned around, and took a step.
She didn't even choose to run.
Running would bring violent shaking, causing unnecessary secondary injury to the girl in her arms who was already severely wounded.
Her pace was steady and fast. Her high-heeled military boots struck the metal deck, making a crisp "da, da, da" sound, like a funeral bell tolling as Death departed.
Every step was precisely calculating the distance and the passage of time.
Every step pushed the potential of this body to its limit.
She walked past the twisted hatch, her cold gaze not shifting in the slightest.
The narrow corridor retreated rapidly beneath her feet.
The tightly closed alloy door of the bridge rapidly enlarged in her field of vision.
Behind her, that suppressed malice was becoming clearer and clearer.
As if the viper had already poked half its head out from under the stone, flicking its tongue, its scarlet eyes beginning to focus once again.
"My... master..."
An intermittent thought, filled with struggle and confusion, once again entered Leticia's mind.
"Where... are you going..."
Leticia's steps did not pause for a second.
Finally, she arrived at the bridge door.
There was no keypad lock, only an ancient mechanical valve that needed to be rotated manually.
She held Terrania with one arm, grasped the cold valve wheel effortlessly with her other hand, engaged her core strength, and gave it a fierce turn.
Screech—!
Accompanied by the harsh sound of metal grinding, the heavy hatch opened in response.
A scent even more stale, mixed with ozone and dust, rushed at her.
Leticia slipped inside.
At the very second she stepped into the bridge.
Roar—!!!
An inhuman roar, filled with rage and betrayal, exploded from the end of the corridor!
In that sound, there was no longer any worship or awe.
Only monstrous anger remained, born from a faith that had been desecrated!
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The heavy, violent footsteps sounded again like a battering ram, rushing madly towards the bridge in an unstoppable manner.
The "Divine Charm" aura had failed.
Leticia backhanded the close button on the bridge door, and the heavy alloy door slammed down, temporarily isolating that violent roar outside.
But this door could not stop him.
Leticia knew clearly that this could at most buy her less than ten seconds.
She turned around, her gaze sharp as lightning, sweeping rapidly across the entire bridge.
It was not big here, one could even say it was somewhat crude.
The semi-circular command space faced a huge viewport, outside of which lay the silent and cold sea of Decay stars.
The curved console was covered with dense buttons and runes.
Most indicator lights were off; only a few core systems were still flickering with faint light.
Leticia could not understand them.
Those twisted, ancient runes, like serpentine characters, were Greek to her.
But the experience of piloting starships in the virtual world for countless days and nights in her past life allowed her to lock onto her target in an instant.
At the most core and conspicuous position of the console.
That area painted blood-red.
A huge metal lever, filled with industrial violent aesthetics, stood quietly there.
On the base of the lever, a line of warning was engraved in even older, pictographic symbols.
Leticia still could not understand it.
But the form of the symbol—a twisted space with an arrow forcibly passing through it—was a common language for all civilizations in the universe.
Emergency Jump.
That was it!
Boom!!!
With a loud bang, the bridge hatch was slammed from the outside.
The entire ship trembled, and a clear, inward-dented fist print appeared on the door.
Time, only a few seconds left.
Leticia held Terrania and dashed to the console in one stride.
She reached out without hesitation and gripped the cold lever.
Upon touching it, there was a heavy, numbing sensation with a faint electric current.
Boom—!!!
The second impact was more violent than the first.
Spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the alloy door.
Leticia gripped the lever tightly, using all her strength to pull it down violently!
Crack—!!!
The lever was instantly pulled to the bottom.
The entire bridge, all the lights extinguished in an instant, plunging into absolute darkness.
One second later.
Hum—
A piercing, high-frequency buzzing sound echoed throughout the ship, and all the emergency lights turned on, dyeing the bridge a blood-red.
A cold, emotionless, electronically synthesized voice echoed inside the bridge.
"Warning! Emergency Jump procedure activated!"
"Warning! Jump engine is forcibly charging!"
"Warning! Hull structural integrity is below safety threshold! Jump may cause unknown disintegration!"
"Jump countdown... ten, nine, eight..."
Rumble—!!!
The third, and also the final, impact.
The sturdy bridge hatch was torn and pierced by that terrifying force!
The purple Chaos Space Marine, radiating endless rage and killing intent, squeezed through the broken opening.
His scarlet lenses were locked onto Leticia, the killing intent almost materializing, making the air freeze.
"Seven... six... five..."
The countdown continued.
The giant took steps, step by step, towards Leticia at the console.
He was no longer impatient; his movements instead returned to that suffocating, predator-like elegance and cruelty.
He wanted to personally, slowly, twist the neck of this mortal who dared to deceive and toy with his deity.
Leticia did not move.
She just stood there quietly, holding Terrania with one hand, the other hand still resting on the Jump lever.
She even turned slightly, watching the approaching embodiment of death with composure.
"Four... three... two..."
The cold countdown was the most beautiful music in the world at this moment.
The Chaos Space Marine walked up to her.
The huge shadow once again completely enveloped her.
He raised that giant hand encased in purple metal high, five fingers spread, flickering with ominous energy arcs, reaching towards Leticia's fragile, swan-like neck.
Closer.
Even closer.
Leticia could even clearly see her own face, calm to the point of indifference, reflected in his lenses.
Just at the moment before that hand was about to touch her skin.
The corners of Leticia's mouth curled up slightly.
Because she knew, she felt this ship seemed to have a life of its own, and creatures it did not recognize could not perform a Jump.
A stunningly beautiful smile, filled with provocation and contempt, bloomed on her face.
She said silently, with lip movements only the two of them could hear.
"Goodbye."
She paused for a moment, as if thinking about which word was more appropriate.
"Scum."
"One!"
The countdown reached zero.
The world, at this moment, lost all sound and color.
Outside the bridge's huge viewport, that silent, decaying star sea seemed to be grabbed by an invisible giant hand, then fiercely and roughly twisted into a distorted twist.
All the stars were stretched into streaks of colorful light.
Time and space lost their meaning.
The Chaos Space Marine' hand, which was close at hand, just froze in mid-air.
He was instantly repelled out of the ship.
His face still held a cruel, grim grin, but deep within those scarlet lenses, it was filled with an extreme, incomprehensible shock and horror.
And that ship and they completely disappeared.
The Jump was successful.
A distant, unknown star sector.
A black warship, like a moving temple, vast enough to obscure a star, was floating quietly in the void.
The warship's bridge was more magnificent than the entire hull of Leticia's escape ship.
On the throne, a Chaos Champion wearing magnificent power armor was gently tapping the armrest with his fingers.
He was Salasis.
Just now, by sacrificing the souls of thousands of slaves, he had established a faint psychic link with his warrior who was executing a "hunting" mission on the front line.
He "saw" it.
He saw that god-like girl who made the fiercest warrior under his command kneel and submit.
He "smelled" it.
That ultimate "Pleasure" fragrance emanating from the depths of the girl's soul, pure enough to make every cell in him tremble and every thought go wild.
That was not a sacrifice.
That was... the deity itself!
Then, he watched helplessly as that light, that "God," slipped through his fingers.
Salasis stopped tapping.
The entire bridge was pin-drop silent.
All the Chaos believers were prostrate on the ground, not daring to make a sound, fearing to incur the wrath of the Lord of the Realm.
But Salasis was not angry.
He just stood up slowly, walked to the huge viewport, and looked out at the empty star sector.
From his loudspeaker came a low and fanatical whisper, like that of a lover.
"Run..."
"My cute, unique... little relic."
"Run to your heart's content in this sea of Decay stars."
"I will find you."
He turned around, his scarlet lenses sweeping across the entire bridge.
"Everyone, pursue."
"Broadcast her coordinates to all warbands serving the 'Prince of Pleasure'."
"Tell them..."
Salasis's voice carried a hint of a morbid, pious smile.
"God has descended."
In the light and shadow tunnel of the Subspace.
"genesis" was violently jolting.
Leticia, who had just escaped, had not yet had time to catch her breath.
A sharp alarm, more urgent than any before, echoed throughout the ship again.
"Warning! Warning! Hull structure collapsing!"
"Jump engine overload! Imminent disintegration!"
"Main power system failure! Backup power system failure!"
"Warning! Ship about to exit the Subspace! Crash imminent!"
Lines of blood-red warnings flooded the console screen.
Leticia's pupils suddenly constricted.
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