My Life as A Death Guard
Chapter 515: The All-Out Naval Battle
"Ram them!!!" Vorx screamed at the top of his lungs.
Through the wedge-shaped observation window, he saw the Depression—the vanguard of their fleet—charge forward. The light cruiser slammed decisively into the battleship that was preparing to launch its Cyclone Missiles.
The Depression struck directly into the enemy battleship's main gun array. The ammo magazines and engine cores of both ships detonated simultaneously. A colossal flash of light erupted, and the resulting shockwave capsized countless frigates anchored beside the behemoth, followed by a chain of secondary explosions.
The Fourth Horseman, where Vorx stood, was also close enough to the epicenter. They had intended to ram the enemy themselves, but the Depression had beaten them to it.
Twenty-three seconds later, the shockwave reached the Fourth Horseman. The ship bucked violently, throwing Vorx off balance. He gripped the railing for dear life.
The Fourth Horseman surged forward, hurtling through the severed hull of the cruiser and opening fire on another battleship currently loading munitions at the far end.
The Fourth Horseman scraped against the cruiser's wreckage, a violent jolt nearly flipping the massive ship over.
Crack! The handrail Vorx was gripping snapped with a sickening groan. The First Company Captain was thrown to the deck, slamming hard into the floor.
In his spinning vision, Vorx saw the mortal crewmen—their lower bodies permanently fused into the ship's systems—struggling to maintain control. They were veterans of such chaos.
"Attack! Keep attacking! Disrupt their orbital bombardment! Prioritize the battleship!" Vorx roared, scrambling to his feet. Only then did he realize he was drenched in cold sweat.
The screen's fluorescent glow reflected off his armor, casting a chilling, bone-deep light.
Garro had already sacrificed himself to provide the fleet with intelligence!
He couldn't lose Hades now!
This was Garro's duty, entrusted to Vorx by Mortarion. He had to—he had to hold this sector of space.
At this very moment, every ship in the Warmaster's fleet anchored over Cadia's equator was raining fire upon the planet. Countless beams of light pierced the continent. Amidst this, Vorx received a signal—a suspected deployment of Cyclone Missiles.
Aboard the Vengeful Spirit, Mortarion's vengeance raged on. Above Cadia, Hades' escape was a desperate, stumbling flight. But for this war, the naval battle Vorx commanded was the decisive front.
The duty of commanding the naval battle had originally been Garro's. Vorx usually followed Mortarion into battle, but this time Garro had adamantly insisted on swapping places with him. Vorx had understood Garro's intention—but he never imagined everything would happen so quickly!
Vorx would rather have fallen on the Vengeful Spirit than stand here, commanding a war that felt utterly hopeless for any single individual to control!
For a fleeting moment, Vorx seemed to see Garro silently patting his shoulder before every battle, a gesture that told him Garro trusted his abilities.
Vorx trusted his own strength too—but not in a naval battle!
Yet, despite his burning impatience, Vorx kept his gaze fixed on the signals on the Stormbird. The Death Guard needed to let the smaller ships, incapable of launching Exterminatus, break away first, and focus on destroying the most threatening battleships.
This was no easy task. Even though the Death Guard had already inserted themselves from the left side of the battlefield and disrupted the Warmaster's fleet, the battleships—surrounded by countless frigates and cruisers—could not be easily sunk. They could only manage to initially disrupt the enemy's formation, denying them the chance to bombard Cadia.
But the Death Guard were vastly outnumbered by the Warmaster's ships! Their recent success had been bought with sacrifice and speed, merely stalling the Warmaster's assault.
Once the enemy ships reacted and began a counter-encirclement, time would run out, and the Death Guard would be doomed to defeat!
Vorx was originally responsible for the evacuation of the Vengeful Spirit and the Death Guard's retreat—but at this moment, the highest priority was to save Cadia!
Under Vorx's command, tens of thousands of torpedoes were launched from the Death Guard ships, leaving absolutely no ammunition for their own return journey!
The torpedoes' primary targets were not the enemy warships, but the Cyclone Missiles already launched toward the planet's surface! In an instant, a chain of colossal, brilliant explosions erupted, turning the densely packed battlefield into a sea of fire.
Countless frigates and even light cruisers were engulfed by the blast waves, while the resulting chaotic radio interference plunged both fleets into utter disarray.
Vorx stared at the observation window, now a blinding sheet of white light. Sweat beaded on his forehead as he calculated the battlefield's trajectory and the enemy's next move. In this arena, the Death Guard fleet had gambled everything! He could not afford to lose!
Inside his helmet, the radio channels crackled and shrieked with static, but Vorx ignored them. He drew two daggers and, as the ship lurched and swayed, drove them through his boots, pinning himself to the deck. Then, he straightened his back and stared out at the chaotic battlefield.
Beads of sweat poured down his face, leaving the inside of his helmet a stifling, humid mess. He paid them no mind. His focus was absolute, his mind constructing a three-dimensional map of the countless ships engaged in the fray. The Death Guard might not excel in naval warfare, but Vorx himself was a master at anticipating and predicting the enemy commander's next move.
He only needed to be one step ahead. He had to stop the enemy from finding their next optimal orbital bombardment position!
He had to fulfill his duty! The Primarch's charge! Garro's death! The rescue of Hades!
He, Vorx, was leading the Death Guard—a legion ill-suited for naval combat—against the Warmaster's fleet, a force that blotted out the stars.
Snap
The last string in Vorx's mind finally broke.
Everything—everything except this utterly chaotic battlefield and the specifications and data of every single ship—had been forgotten by Vorx. In his mind's eye, Garro lay collapsed on the ground, his armor shattered; Mortarion's back, stubborn and indifferent to all, was visible on the Vengeful Spirit; Hades smiled helplessly on Cadia, saying he trusted him; the crew members on the ship wailed as their limbs were blown off... Everything had been forgotten, leaving only the small dots flickering on the Stormbird before him.
Vorx's gaze was calm, devoid of any emotion as he looked at the battlefield. At this moment, he seemed to have detached from his own perspective, looking across to see the commander of the Warmaster's fleet.
Vorx lowered his head.
He could hold out for three minutes and twenty-two seconds.
For three minutes and twenty-two seconds, Cadia would absolutely not be struck by the Exterminatus's Cyclone Missiles.
After three minutes and twenty-two seconds, if the fighting on other battlefields had not ceased, if no additional reinforcements arrived, if they still chose not to retreat—
Then, it would be the end.
This was already the absolute limit Vorx could hold out.
Vorx didn't even have the time or energy to mourn this.
But just as Garro, Mortarion, and Hades trusted Vorx to command the naval battle, Vorx believed that on the other battlefields, they would be able to win.
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Tn: I updated the story once every 2 days, but if you want to see more chapter of this story ahead of time, please go to my Patreon.
Latest Chapter: Chapter 525: The Erasure[1]
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[1] https://www.patreon.com/Thatsnakegirl/posts/my-life-as-death-164167815
[2] https://www.patreon.com/Thatsnakegirl/posts/my-life-as-death-164167815