novelnext Page 320
Page 320
Draconion.
The moment that network was opened by Luo Jia's foolish actions.
Accompanied by the ever-changing tides of malice, it is both the moment the demon was born and the present moment when the internet was opened.
In the highest heaven, everything is the eternal present.
Light exists within the malevolent darkness, and this perceived light also attracts darkness. Touched by the forces surrounding it, this light flickers, screams, and ultimately dissolves. Sharp fangs and claws appearing out of nowhere shatter all dreams and memories.
It appeared in the network channel.
The furious roar contained a thirst for blood and flesh; Draconion's birth was not merely a sacrifice to a simple death.
It originates from the mutual hatred and murder that humanity has had since the beginning of its existence, and feeds on the souls of countless people who have died as a result.
Until the end of humanity.
—Or rather, right now.
The eternal present.
......
To protect Holy Terra and the Emperor himself, the Royal Guard and the Silent Sisters became a fragile barrier protecting the Throne World with their own flesh and blood.
But this still couldn't stop, nor could it stop, that bizarre demon—even the Silent Sister, who could shield herself from spiritual power, could only have her shattered limbs scattered and flying in the net under its claws.
In this alien creation with endless circuits and branches, completely defying human spatial reasoning and thus incomprehensible, the monster continued its slaughter.
It wasn't just Draconion; along with Draconion emerged an endless army of undead demons, guided and blessed by the dark gods.
With each passing moment, the power unleashed by Luo Jia's foolishness continues to grow stronger.
Like a breached dam, it began as a trickle, gradually becoming a roaring torrent. Now, it is a raging storm, never ceasing and never weakening.
Karata.
The ancient Eldar abandoned city, despite the erosion of time, still retains a structure many times larger than that of the sacred Terra.
It makes one marvel at just how powerful the Eldar Empire once was.
During the ancient Eldar Empire, countless cities of this size were built at the connection points of the Web Hub. Among the man-made Web Hubs constructed by humans, this ancient Eldar city was regarded as an important hub of the human Web Hub system.
In this first and last city in the web of humanity, the Imperial Guard is fighting desperately against an endless army of demons.
"His Majesty!"
The tribunes of the plebs, La Endymion, felt that he had connected with the thoughts of the great Lord of mankind.
“I will send Diocletian to the surface to gather more manpower and mobilize all available troops. Your Majesty, now that the Legion of Ten Thousand Men is fighting alongside the Silent Sisters, if you just leave the Golden Throne to support us for a short while, we will surely be able to launch a major counterattack against the ‘Fool of Luojia’ and recapture hundreds of lost tunnels.”
“I cannot leave the Golden Throne,” the Emperor said, his tone concise and curt. “No.”
"My Lord..."
“I cannot leave the Golden Throne. Every route between the Imperial Palace and the City of Miracles will be filled with the tide of the Undead. You can only rely on yourselves, Ra. Isolated and helpless.”
In order to prevent the rift from expanding further and to suppress the ever-emerging demon army from the web, the Emperor could not leave his golden throne.
As for Magnus, who is imprisoned... he can indeed suppress the ever-expanding web rifts beneath the Golden Throne to some extent, temporarily taking the Emperor's place.
But... the emperor did not trust him.
Especially now that the Net Path is being used by the corrupted members of the Thousand Sons Legion, it is very likely that their surprise attack was launched in advance to rescue Magnus.
He also did not believe that Magnus could be so great as to willingly guard the golden throne forever and endure endless suffering for the future of all mankind.
No, he won't.
The Emperor clearly understood that there were some things that only he would sacrifice for humanity, and only he had the ability to do so.
Perhaps only now will he realize his own naiveté.
Since the Emperor was so wary of him that he wouldn't even reveal the secrets of the Web to Magnus, how could one expect him to endure countless years of suffering for the sake of humanity after the Web exploded?
At this moment, all he could rely on was his old friend.
—Magic Pattern Macado.
But now is not the time; there is a more important battle to be fought.
"Oh, right, La, there's something else I need to tell you."
"The emperor said, but his tone seemed full of hesitation."
But he finally made up his mind—at this point, he had nothing else to lose.
"What is it, my lord?"
"The next batch, the next batch will be the new Imperial Guard spears brought by Diocletian..."
"I didn't design those spears."
From that point on, the Emperor severed all psychic communication with Ra.
"...my lord?"
"What are the changes to the new Guardian Spear? Why are you emphasizing that it wasn't your design?"
"Hello? My lord?"
......
Let's rewind to the present.
Eastern Galaxy War Zone, Ultramar 500 Worlds.
Makulag.
As the massive fleet of the Imperial Pride traversed the tunnels formed by the Pharos beacons and finally appeared above Macragge, a long and enthusiastic cheer erupted from the crowd.
After a long period of war, erosion, harassment, and warp blockade, some encouraging good news has finally appeared in this turbulent time.
The people of the five hundred worlds of Altera have suffered too much in the past few days.
First, Luo Jia and Alpharis led their legions to the agricultural world of Kos in the Extreme Star Sector.
Here, the Ultramarines had already prepared a welcoming ceremony for their two brother legions.
To solidify the bond between the brothers, the command of the 13th Army Corps was very enthusiastic about the arrival of the other two army corps.
In this context, reports of the strange behavior of the Word Bearers and their auxiliary forces were ignored. Only a very small number of Ultramarines officers, led by Hill, questioned the Word Bearers' discordant chanting and seemingly pointless combat drills.
This isn't like the Word Bearers' usual style. As for Alpha Reis... they're too mysterious and unwilling to contact the Ultramarines. Nobody knows what they're up to.
However, just when they were completely off guard, as the three legions were about to hold a grand banquet in this agricultural world, Luo Jia and his Word Bearers suddenly launched an attack on the unsuspecting Limit Warriors.
In this battle, the Ultra Warriors suffered heavy casualties.
Hours before the open war broke out on Koss, a large number of commanders of the Thirteenth Legion, along with their followers, had been wiped out by the Word Bearers and the Alpha Reis assassins—who infiltrated the Ultramarines' encampment under the guise of friendship and turned their blades on their allies when all the Ultramarines thought it impossible.
At the same time, the Whisperers and the Alpha Fleet in orbit simultaneously began orbital bombardment.
Large quantities of Ultramarines' equipment were blown to pieces before they could be fully armed. Without the guidance of the command system, the Ultramarines frantically tried to get even the slightest reply from the communication signals amidst the sudden explosions, but received no response other than even louder explosions.
Faced with this unforeseen situation, Guilliman's carefully crafted doctrines and guidelines made no mention of how to deal with a blow from friendly forces.
For a moment, the entire Ultra Warriors system was in a state of shutdown.
Faced with the frenzied slaughter by the Word Bearers and Alphareth, they were unable to mount any effective defense.
Meanwhile, after receiving guidance from the Legion of the Thousand, the Word Bearers began carrying out large-scale sacrificial activities in the densely populated areas of Koth—under those bloody and filthy rituals, countless portals to the warp were established throughout the world of Koth.
The Word Bearers would carve bones from the bodies of unsuspecting allies to build grotesque monuments symbolizing their betrayal, as part of a blasphemous ritual.
They sacrificed the souls of their fellow human beings to the devil.
With the ritual and the portal in place, a large number of undead demons appeared before the panicked humans for the first time.
Under the madness of Alpha and the Word Bearers, these doomed cities were swallowed up in a sudden, widespread panic.
Not only in Kos, but also in other star systems around the world, the defenders were attacked by the Word Bearers at the same time. As the rituals and soul-sacrificing arrays spread to almost countless worlds, the warp storms seemed to become increasingly turbulent, making it even more difficult for the Ultramarines' defenders to reach them.
The Ultra Warriors had already been scattered.
Even the Primarch himself and his flagship, the Radiance of Macragge, were not spared.
The sudden attack by the demons summoned by the Word Bearer caused the impact to tear open the hull, catching Primarch Guilliman off guard and throwing him out of the cabin through the breach.
(Very embarrassing)
Blood, debris, and howling air formed a vortex that swept up a dozen or so other high-ranking officers and propelled them into the void along with the Primarch. Moreover, even more monsters born from the Warp, the Shadow, and the High Heavens simultaneously landed on the flagship.
Large numbers of ordinary crew members were slaughtered without any warning, their consciousness instantly shattered by the horrific scene they witnessed.
After the bridge disintegrated, the Glory Queen battleship, having lost all command, became a headless fly, at the mercy of the Word Bearers who came to board.
Despite the Ultramarines' attempts to organize small groups of fighters to fight back, their counterattacks were unable to reverse the rout.
The Ultra Warriors are in danger.
Guilliman must regroup his troops.
Assembling an entire legion is no easy task. Hundreds of thousands of Ultramarines, Space Marines, and armored combat vehicles are scattered across nearly a thousand distant fleets and expeditionary forces.
The furthest Ultramarines were unable to reach their destination due to the warp storms, and while on their journey, they could do nothing but wait anxiously.
The Ultramarines atop Koss were completely unable to cope with the combined attack of the two legions—especially the addition of Alpha, which was too fatal. They made up for the Word Bearers' carelessness and used their powerful assassination and infiltration methods to extinguish the scattered fragments of the integrated force before it could even put up a fight.
If things continue this way, the Ultramarines will likely face annihilation in the Battle of Kos, under the combined attack of the demons and the traitor Astartes.
Fortunately, at the critical moment, whether it was triggered by the emperor's glory or the manifestation of some strange miracle, Angertai, who had been imprisoned by the traitors of the Word Bearers, broke free of his shackles and came to the center of the battlefield.
He not only commanded nearly a third of the Word Bearers warriors, who were incredulous at the sight of their allies' tragic fate and the appearance of demons, to defect on the battlefield.
Upon arriving aboard the Glory of Macragge, they helped the Ultramarines gain a respite from being besieged by two legions, and also provided them with the best means to deal with demons.
Melee, fire, psionic.
Those bombs that were originally surprisingly effective were not very effective at killing demons. To expel demons, it was necessary to use religious rituals or fire and fragrant oil, as recorded in ancient books, to completely expel them.
Of course, you can also just crush the other person to death.
Meanwhile, during this time of organizing a counterattack... Red Helmet Hill, left behind on the Glory of Macragge to fight alone, remembered the plan that had come from Commander Kasgar of the Sons of the Emperor.
Hill initially thought that the other party's statement about "exclusively for demons" was a joke, simply comparing certain strange and other supernatural beings to demons.
...Who would have thought that today, an endless stream of demonic creatures are pouring out from beneath the portals of the Word Bearers and Alpharis, wielding their blades and giant axes in fierce battle against the loyalist Word Bearers led by Angortai.
He has already obtained information on how to defend against the demons, but the current situation does not allow him to leave.
The Primarch's fate is currently unknown. Loyalists and rebel Word Bearers, demons and humans, as well as mortal auxiliary forces are all fighting each other on this shattered flagship. The entire battlefield is in chaos, and it is impossible to even distinguish friend from foe.
What made Hill even more desperate was that, seemingly seeing Angertai leading a number of loyalists of the Word of the Believers to escape here, the number of traitors marked with the Alpha Legion outside the portholes was also increasing. With the extension of the boarding tools, Macurag had almost completely fallen into the hands of the traitors.
......
It's too difficult for the Ultramarines to deal with both Word Bearer and Alpha at the same time.
Fortunately, this time the Ultra Warrior won't be fighting alone.
As the warp storm spread across the eastern part of the galaxy, the war blacksmith Danteok, as Guilliman had previously instructed, activated the Pharos Beacon when the warp storm was strong enough to obscure the starlight, and located it in Macragge.
Little did he know that Guilliman was currently floating aimlessly in mid-air.
Shortly after the beacon was deployed, Imperial Warmaster Fugrim arrived with her fleet of the Emperor's Sons.
This is good news: with the warp storm sweeping everything away and the Primarchs disappearing during the Battle of Koss, the fact that a Primarch of sufficient stature has arrived and taken charge of Macragge is a stroke of good fortune amidst misfortune.
But... on the other hand, this is not good news either—if even the Imperial Warmasters are forced to land in Macragge, what about Holy Terra?
It seems that, in the absence of a clear boundary, the only force capable of protecting the Astartes Legion, the Imperial Fist of the Seventh Legion, is...?
Moreover, the Emperor's Son fleet didn't stay for long.
Upon arriving in Macurag, Casca was alarmed to hear that Guilliman was engaged in a fierce battle with the forces of the Word Bearers and Alphas at Koss. He immediately ordered the navigator to turn the ship around and head towards Koss.
No, putting aside the fact that the timing is a bit messy this time, how come there's an extra Alpha?
Fortunately, with the help of the beacon, the navigator could open passages to other regions with the power of his mind—and plunge into the star system where Kos was located along with the newly assembled Ultramarines.
The war situation is not optimistic—with the intervention of the Alpha Legion, the overall war has become completely one-sided.
Even the head of the Radiant Macragge has been destroyed, and Kos is even worse, almost entirely occupied by the rebels.
If it weren't for the loyalist Word Bearers, led by Angorte, still waging guerrilla warfare, this battle could have completely wiped out the Ultramarines.
Fortunately, the Third Legion, led by Fugrim and Kasgar, had ample experience with demons.