Chapter 365: They Are Not Killing Aimlessly; They Have Their Targets
'When will all this end?'
BOOM~ BOOM~
Every so often, a tremor came from the sky tens of kilometers above. Experience in supervising and maintaining space elevators told the apprentice that another massive warship had scraped against the docking ring and locked onto its target.
Thick smoke surged from one desecrated Omnissiah shrine and research tower after another, climbing upwards.
But this apprentice, just released from months of endless production tasks, could see more.
Not far away, the massive core, towers, bastions, and streets of the Magos's Royal Bastion were completely engulfed in flames. Two hundred kilometers to the southwest, the distant silhouette of the magnificent Sky Gate, along with its unshakeable concentric ring walls and sub-gates, had been utterly destroyed. The battleships stretching across low orbit were hazy in the smoke rising from various blockaded zones.
That authority was so far away, yet closer than ever before.
He looked at the sanctuaries he had never stepped into, complex emotions surging in his eyes.
Then the apprentice took a step, entering the sanctuary he had never touched.
Straight down a few hundred meters, in the low ground where fire soared into the sky, the entrance to the castle that was once the supreme authority of the Machine God had now been reduced to a burning ruin under saturation bombardment.
Millions of fireballs splashed everywhere like exploding coal lumps. Smoke screens rose. The flash of heavy artillery fire, the electromagnetic pulses launched by the main weapons of war engines, various independent models of aircraft and assault boats, under the emergency command of various Archmagi, flocked together like birds and flew past quickly.
This would be the last lap of their long migration to their destination.
The Forge World suffered an unprecedented attack.
Including but not limited to information blockade, beyond-visual-range saturation strikes, indefensible multi-dimensional decapitation operations, and physical dimension reduction strikes against stubborn resistance organizations.
Click~
Rubble fell.
The apprentice was startled, then signaled to his colleagues on duty in the factory far away.
He looked around vigilantly, not rushing back to the safe zone, as if deadly threats lurked in the quiet shadows covered by artillery fire.
He wanted to do something. Even though he feared deep down that his mentor would settle accounts later for his leaving his post, continuing to let him waste years at a workstation filled with servitors, he also feared whether this war of unknown cause would take his life.
Even though the existence launching the attack had warned the globe to continue production tasks and wait for everything to end.
From the moment his consciousness was born from the steel womb, he knew that in this world you cannot entrust your life to any existence. You must play any role in your life. If necessary, you must be a scholar, a politician, a worker...
A warrior.
"Is anyone there?"
He drew his weapon and shouted.
Whoosh~ Whoosh~
In the toxic atmosphere, apart from the rumbling sound of distant explosions, only the clicking sound of mechanical operation remained.
"..."
The apprentice widened his eyes. His instrument was a model eliminated by his mentor centuries ago, insufficient to support him seeing through heavy walls.
"I'm coming over!"
He continued to shout, holding a plasma pistol in his mechanical arm, groping along the wall and slowly approaching.
Scrape~ Scrape~
The inferior power unit made it difficult for him to hide his movements.
The apprentice looked at the shadow.
If there was a person hiding in it at this moment, he must have been exposed.
In that corner, rhythmic breathing could be faintly heard, and abnormal air pressure changes could be observed. The apprentice was naturally extremely sensitive to reactions between substances; he felt there must be someone there.
But the apprentice was somewhat unwilling to give up.
If he retreated like this...
He wanted to retrieve his research results whose data had been confiscated, even a little bit. Combined with the resources he had saved before, maybe he could complete the research report, and then visit a new mentor to seek promotion.
A Forge World attacked, high command silent.
Such an opportunity was once in a lifetime.
'Please, if there is someone, just respond.'
His unaugmented throat behind the mask swallowed nervously. Then, mustering courage, raising his gun, he came to the rift.
Snap!
From the shadows, a powerful mechanical arm reached out and clamped onto the apprentice's neck.
The apprentice's eyes widened in horror.
In just this moment of physical contact, his body was completely locked.
He immediately looked at the green eyes under the gray robe with pleading eyes.
This Archmagos seemed to show mercy; otherwise, he would have died on the spot from the toxic atmosphere of the Forge World due to the failure of his filtration device.
"A somewhat enthusiastic but untimely welcome."
The Archmagos's gaze fell on the plasma pistol at his feet.
"For both you and me."
He slightly relaxed his grip on the apprentice.
Cough cough~
The apprentice, stiff in place due to body lock, immediately coughed with difficulty, his chest parts emitting a slightly delayed depressurization sound.
"How did you find me?"
The Magos, who seemed to have completed full-body modification, didn't care about the other's previous offense. Instead, observing the other with glowing green eyes, he asked with interest.
"Abnormal air pressure phenomena produced by the reaction of waste chemicals from the servo-skull with the atmosphere, Magos."
The apprentice answered honestly.
"Oh~ It seems I can have a good laugh at someone later."
The Archmagos played with the antique he had swiped, replying cheerfully.
"..."
The apprentice remained silent, not knowing how to respond, only feeling that this Magos was very kind.
"Where do you plan to go? This doesn't seem to be an area you can access."
The Archmagos asked again.
"..."
The expression under the apprentice's mask suddenly became tense.
Trazyn watched this bold apprentice patiently.
"I—I hope to go to my mentor Magos Upsilon-Delta's laboratory to retrieve my experimental data."
He looked at Trazyn, as if having made up his mind.
"He took my experimental data, and I need this data to pass the upgrade assessment."
He waited nervously for a response.
After a long time~
"So that's it, a tragedy that has appeared countless times in this galaxy."
The grey-green Archmagos finally spoke.
"It's really surprising. You would choose to ask a stranger for help. You actually try to believe that fairness still exists, and also try to prove with practical actions that this world can give you a relatively fair environment?"
His words sounded like mockery, making the apprentice lower his head in shame.
"I can serve you. My wisdom, my future life, my everything can be given to you."
The apprentice said hoarsely:
"This is a trade. I think I have such value."
He tried hard to persuade the Magos in front of him.
At the very least, his coming here must not be exposed.
Otherwise, he would die miserably. His brain would become a cogitator for some Magos, and his body would become part of an assembly line factory.
"Mm, unfortunately, chemistry isn't my strong suit."
In the apprentice's desperate gaze, the grey-green Magos shook his head slightly.
"Go back."
He advised, releasing the apprentice's lock.
The apprentice shook his head with difficulty.
"Look at this world, what has it done to a child seeking truth?"
The Archmagos shook his head, then reminded.
"If you continue forward, you will die, and die worthlessly."
The apprentice was about to express his determination, but the moment he raised his head, he was engulfed by endless light.
BOOM!
Heat waves rolled in.
When the apprentice propped up his head enduring countless error sounds, he found the surroundings had turned into a purgatory on earth.
Except for the tiny area where he was, everything around, including the sanctuary that might store his data, had vanished.
"See~"
Trazyn shrugged, removing the shield.
He manipulated the gravity system, carrying the apprentice back to the safe zone where he came from.
"Go back."
He persuaded again.
"..."
The apprentice seemed not to hear, looking at the lava in front of him, his eyes full of despair.
"Do you still remember how to do the experiment?"
Trazyn asked again.
"Of course!"
The apprentice replied immediately: "I just lack materials. My wealth doesn't support me conducting the experiment again."
"Then go back."
Trazyn said for the third time.
"Only by living is there a chance."
The apprentice looked blank.
"Look around, what do you see?"
Trazyn pointed to the sky and earth.
Hot artillery fire fell from the sky from time to time, and shadows of warships passed by occasionally.
Bastions turned into fragments, heavy armor completely flattened like metal foil. Magnificent fire platforms on the surface disappeared under continuous blows.
Brown-yellow dust still floated in the air, as if the block where he was was the only small piece left in the world.
"Destruction."
The apprentice murmured, the molten metal lava making his already crimson attire even redder.
"Yes, destruction, especially for the ruins buried within. Every round of lance strikes makes my heart ache. Another trace left by the Old Ones completely destroyed."
Trazyn immediately assumed a heartbroken posture, then paused for a while and continued:
"But I didn't stop them—although I'm not sure if I could, the conclusion is no, but I didn't even try much."
"Do you know why?"
The apprentice shook his head blankly.
"They brought something new."
Trazyn watched the Dark Angels' surgically precise attacks. These warriors, invincible on the frontal battlefield, also completed complex local conflicts like art.
"More tempting than cold ruins. Like you now, I think it's necessary for you to live. I want to see more."
The apprentice was puzzled.
So he was accepted?
"Sort of. You caught my eye, kid."
As if reading his mind, Trazyn continued, tossing him a piece of necrodermis.
"Something to save your life. You can certainly try to decipher and understand it, but before that, go back and stay put."
"There will always be a chance, and that chance won't be too long."
"..."
The apprentice took the prism-shaped creation, hesitated for a moment, then nodded firmly.
He turned and left.
Whoosh~
Fire flickered, burning this stagnant land.
Blades and guns rhythmic, exterminating greedy vermin within.
BOOM!
Amidst the magnificent ruins, a Warlord Titan fell.
"..."
Facing the lifeless enemy, the Dark Angels turned their backs on this burning world, heading for the next target to visit.
They were not killing aimlessly; they had their targets in mind.
Snap!
Atlas Forge World, Starport
When the desperate and reckless Magos Biologis Vitek, manipulating war machines created by genetic engineering, lunged at Arthur, he met the cold edge of the Black Sword cutting iron like mud.
The battle ended in seconds.
But Arthur still looked around, sword ready, waiting until no more hidden enemies rushed out, no sudden explosives detonated, before he sheathed his sword, turned to the door, and said.
"It's over."
With his words, his followers filed in.
As time spent together grew, the Dark Angels' reverence for Arthur gradually shifted from respect for bloodline and status to Arthur himself.
They always proactively chose to solve problems for the Lord of Knights, striving to independently fulfill the duties assigned to them by the Wardens of Steel, even blaming themselves for an operation inviting the Lord of Knights' participation.
But Arthur told them that the wars they experienced might end easily, but he was the leader of the Dark Angels, and he was here to ensure they could still return in triumph from their next battle.
He didn't like leaving these excellent warriors deep in enemy lines alone.
And now, Kay and Gareth guarded the gate. Techmarines under Zahariel and accompanying Magi from Agrippina cleared the ground of severed limbs and corpses, and checked the cogitator banks of the starport.
Their goal was about to be achieved.
All rebels were trapped on this planet; no one escaped.
"Belial, report situation."
The Lord of Knights said in the comms channel.
"Remaining traitor forces driven back to the Omnissiah Sanctuary."
Belial's reply was interspersed with intermittent communication interference.
"In high-intensity areas, Dreadwing 3rd Assault Force intervened and cleared the enemy. The entire city belongs to you, my lord."
The Dark Angels' passive handling of mechanical factories in the early stage directly led to many grassroots Magi and Mechanicus members failing to provide effective support to the upper-level ruling Magi and supervising Magi under attack in time. These massive productivity units also entered a passive state after the Forge World's counterattack fell into a disadvantage.
After completing the decapitation operation, the Dark Angels were unstoppable and did not encounter comprehensive resistance from the entire Forge World.
"Glory belongs to us, Dark Angels."
Arthur smiled and acknowledged.
Next, Romulus would take over this Forge World and quickly convert those grassroots Mechanicus Magi and apprentices.
These high-level talents who rolled out of cruel environments could no longer waste their lives in intrigue and armed conflicts between academic cliques.
Belial immediately held his head high.
"This city will belong to us, to everyone within."
Azrael corrected.
"This will be a victory of liberation for Atlas."
He finished, cut off the call, took off his helmet, and hurriedly glared at Belial, whose ideological awareness was not high enough.
Belial smiled awkwardly.
☆☆☆
-> SUPPORT ME WITH POWER STONE
-> FOR EVERY 400 PS = BOUNS CHAPTER
☆☆☆
-> 30 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Inkshaper
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you