Zhang Ge knew that regardless of whether he would die today, that androgynous heretic would certainly meet their end.
However, although he mocked them in such a manner, he had no intention of acting rashly. After all, he had no experience dealing with such a situation, and any hasty action would likely be seen as deliberately seeking death.
What Zhang Ge didn't know was that the others were also facing such a scene for the first time. Incidents involving demonic invasions by heretics were extremely rare, especially to this extent. The Commissar, the Ogryn, and the Priest, though they had fought many battles, had mostly dealt with ordinary heretics and rebels.
Sister Amilia had seen the most, but previously, she had always been accompanied by a full squad of Battle Sisters, with each person handling their specialized tasks. Now, they were a hastily assembled group, and she dared not act recklessly.
Among the five who were trying to figure out a response based on their limited past experiences, it was Priest Ryder who acted first. Without a word, he raised his melta gun, aiming not at the dancers on the stage but directly above them, and pulled the trigger.
The melta beam erupted from the gun's barrel, instantly sweeping across the entire theater, vaporizing any liquids in its path and extending a faint red ring as it struck the ceiling where the fleshy tendrils were connected.
Upon contact, the searing beam instantly melted the curtain at the point of impact and ignited the surrounding fabric materials, but it disappeared into the deeper darkness, leaving only flickering flames that added a layer of destructive madness to the already eerie stage.
The voice that had been silent for a moment spoke again:
"How dull... I had planned to let you watch my new performance, but since you're so impatient, let my concubines play with you."
As his words fell, the lights of the entire "theater" extinguished from bottom to top. In the pitch darkness, only the light of the cross still enveloped the group, corresponding distantly with the flames on the stage. The incessant "applause" became particularly piercing in the silk-like, thick darkness.
After all the lights went out, a cylindrical beam of light, like a spotlight, shone down from above, illuminating one person.
Unlike the twisted heretics and demons outside, this person's figure was robust yet perfectly proportioned. Although their legs were replaced by two pink, backward-bending limbs, they seamlessly integrated with their body. Paired with their handsome face and shoulder-length silver hair, it instead accentuated an otherworldly, mysterious beauty akin to a forest elf.
Under this stage-like spotlight, the voice spoke again, tinged with excitement and delight:
"Allow me to introduce one of my perfect concubines—"
Zhang Ge responded directly with action: his left hand moved to his waist, placing the lasgun aside while simultaneously pulling out a flare and igniting it. The crimson flare soared into the air, its red light piercing the darkness and illuminating the remaining three concubines. At the same time, his right hand drew a plasma pistol.
The gun was raised, the trigger pulled, and faint currents of electricity danced along the excitedly flickering body of the plasma pistol. Under Zhang Ge's unrestrained, full-trigger pull, a needle-like sense of danger instantly enveloped the concubine posing below.
The concubine's pupils contracted as he decisively ignored the potential punishment that might follow, defying his master's command to remain still, and leaped to the right in a swift evasion.
But the sudden burst of bright blue light seemed to anticipate his dodge, striking his chest the moment his body overlapped with another concubine. The light, carrying intense heat, instantly charred and then vaporized his blessed body.
However, due to the plasma's extreme temperature, the concubine's nerves were burned away before he could feel any pain, granting him a merciful death... But the concubine behind him was not so fortunate. The ensuing explosion purified the former's upper body while engulfing the second concubine.
The plasma melted her eyes and further penetrated her brain through these vulnerable points. Though this was not immediately fatal for her, the sudden pain granted her more blessings, allowing her to clearly feel her internal organs being destroyed by the heat and her life slowly slipping away.
Finally realizing that none of them had much experience, Zhang Ge casually fired his gun and said:
"How about we just burn this place to ashes and leave the rest to the Emperor's judgment."
Sister Amilia had already sprung into action the moment Zhang Ge moved. Wielding her two-handed sword with one hand, she swiftly leaped across the rows of seats, her feet precisely landing on the chair backs each time, sparing the emaciated figures further suffering.
In an instant, she confronted the remaining two concubines. Their combined attack was torn apart by the immense kinetic energy she carried from her momentum. Though she held the sword with only one hand, she abruptly stopped in front of the two concubines after breaking their stance, and the next slash she delivered with a forceful pull of her hand was noticeably faster than when she was on the ground.
Under the stiffness caused by the powerful first strike, the sword flashed, and in a single encounter, one concubine's right hand was severed.
But the battle was far from over. In the crimson light, the increasingly frenzied attacks of the two concubines and Sister Amilia's figure flickered as they clashed, the sound of blades colliding ringing out incessantly.
In this barrage of attacks that would be difficult for an ordinary person to even react to, the Sister remained calm, almost indifferent, expressionless as she responded. Her sword slashed and thrust, never once going on the defensive.
She wielded the two-handed sword with one hand, using her body's strength to guide it. With the sword's greater mass, she precisely intercepted and countered the concubines' attacks, holding her own against two opponents and even beginning to suppress them.
Turning back to the remaining four, they weren't supporting the Sister because they didn't want to, but because they had a bigger problem on their hands.
The Mayor, seeing Zhang Ge recklessly destroy the carefully crafted atmosphere and kill two concubines with a single plasma shot, was already too enraged to maintain any semblance of decorum. With his arms mutated into curved blades, he tore through the luxurious wooden panels behind the stage, revealing his true form.
"Lackeys of the False Emperor, I shall offer your suffering as a sacrifice to the True God!"
His body was bloated, massive, and purplish, with six legs arranged beneath it. His arms had mutated into long, curved blades, and a handsome face adorned this grotesque body. The voice came from the mouth on that face.
Using all six legs, he charged forward, crushing two dancers and countless chairs in his path as he barreled toward the four.