Chapter 73: Ventris the Deceiver
"—... hurts... where am I?" Omega awoke from his unconsciousness, the four corners of a chair imprinted on his forehead, his body aching all over. His memory was a jumble from the impact. "Old Bai? Brother Bai? Bai-bro? Little Bai! What just happened? Rhea! Jacob! Louis! Aedus! Paul! Are you all okay?"
Remembering where he was, Omega frantically called out on his comms, but there was no response. He could only endure the pain and force himself to get up.
"Beep!"
"Little Bai, you're okay. Begin self-diagnostics. Call me when you're done."
"Beep!"
Omega limped to Little Bai's hatch. Before he could touch it, the hatch opened automatically. He poked his head out and saw a scene of utter devastation. The air was thick with radioactive dust. There were few moving figures in his field of vision. "Dad, if this is your skill level, you should have said so earlier!" Looking at the terrifying destruction, Omega's first reaction was that the Archmagos's nuclear bomb had gone off. Considering Veyl's reputation, the possibility was not low.
"No, the source of the impact is in the direction of the warp rift! Did my words come true?"
"Beep!"
"Little Bai, are you damaged?"
"Beep, beep!"
"Good. Let's go and take a look."
With Little Bai's own technology, they dodged overturned vehicles, wailing wounded, and the dead and dying soldiers and Tech-Priests, and arrived at a location where the augur-array showed a battle was taking place. Omega looked through his observation instruments and saw Ventris leading the Space Marines, slaughtering daemons and heretics. Their enhanced bodies and full power armor had protected them from the worst of the impact.
"Little Bai, go!"
"Beep, beep, beep!": "Watch this!"
With its rotating drill, shimmering with the blue light of a disruption field, Little Bai plunged into a horde of daemons. In its wake, it left only the mangled limbs of daemons and heretics. Its cylindrical body extended its mechanical arms, operating its volkite, grav, and melta weapons, covering the remaining 270 degrees and sending the lucky heretics who had escaped the initial charge scattering.
The Space Marines, seeing this strange machine, knew who had arrived. A vehicle with such a distinctive profile was unique in the allied forces. "Hello? Hello? Lord Ventris, can you hear me?" Omega tried to call Ventris. The interference was too strong. Even though they were close, he didn't know if the other party could receive his message.
"Tzz—... received, Omega."
"Phew. Sir, what happened?"
"The warp rift was hit by a high-yield nuclear weapon."
"...You had a secret plan?"
"No."
Both of them fell silent. They didn't know what had happened. But what had happened was not important. What was important was what to do now. The gloves were off. Even if it wasn't them, it was them. Seize the opportunity, strike while the daemon is sick. That was the key.
"Sir, leave the daemons here to me. You go to the warp rift, quick!" Omega said decisively.
"Good. Be careful," Ventris replied immediately. He understood what was most important now.
There weren't many daemons and heretics here to begin with. Some had been wiped out by the impact, some had been cleared by the Space Marines. The rest were no match for Little Bai, with its void shield, its ability to attack from a distance and in close combat. Besides, the allied forces were not completely annihilated. Those who were lucky enough to be uninjured had already begun to organize rescue efforts and support the front lines.
"Ram them! Ram them into the ground!" With Ventris gone, Omega had no more inhibitions. He let Little Bai off the leash, to slaughter to its heart's content.
In the eyes of the daemons and heretics, Little Bai was like a living steel behemoth, hunting and toying with them. They had seen men crushed by tank treads, but this was the first time they had seen men stepped on by them. Anyone, man or daemon, who tried to get close to this steel monster was sent flying by the shaking of its body. Those who were close to the treads were crushed like insects under a giant's foot. The engine of this steel monster did not roar; it bellowed.
No matter their size or strength, the Allfather's gift of an undying body was as fragile as vellum before its rotating fangs. The sorcery that could rust metal, even if it passed through the void shield and hit its body, had no effect. This was a beast full of rage.
The heretics and daemons were terrified of the beast. Omega, its master, was nauseated. "Little Bai, slow down! I'm going to throw up! Ugh..."
When the "remnants" of the army, still capable of fighting, arrived to provide support, they found that Ventris and the Space Marines had already left. There was only one vehicle on the scene, "tearing" at the daemons. Little Bai, seeing someone trying to steal its prey, was about to run over the "food thieves" as well. A terrified Omega threatened to pull its power lines and let it go back to being a decoration if it didn't obey. Seeing that Omega was truly angry, Little Bai could only kick up a cloud of yellow dust, to let these "useless" food thieves know who the "Great Sage" was.
The daemons and heretics, having been repeatedly beaten, were no longer able to organize a resistance. The rest were either killed and banished, or had fled. Little Bai, with no more prey, could only, under Omega's command, chug along in pursuit of Ventris and the others.
The journey to reinforce Ventris was much smoother than Omega had imagined. The power of the nuclear explosion was greater than they had estimated. He had originally thought the explosion would be on the periphery of the warp rift, since the inside was full of daemons and impossible to enter. But the further in they went, the more severe the damage to the buildings, and the fewer the surviving daemons.
"What hero is so brave? To be able to break through the blockade of the Nurgle daemon army and detonate a nuclear bomb at the warp rift!" Omega marveled at the incredible answer.
The only downside of not being blocked by daemons was that Omega's reinforcements could never catch up to the Space Marines led by Ventris. By the time they reached the warp rift, Ventris and the others were already in a heated battle with the Greater Daemon.
Rotigus the Rainfather's current appearance was a mixture of disgusting and pathetic. He now understood the feeling of the Plaguefather after being hit by an orbital bombardment and then stabbed to death by a mortal. He had often mocked Ku'gath for it. Now, it was his turn. He had never thought he would be deceived by this treacherous little man, Ventris. The negotiation, the duel, the schemes, even the preparations for breaking the contract—it was all a smokescreen released by this little man. He had deceived him, deceived the chief Greater Daemon of the Allfather. He had made him a laughingstock. He had made his plan fail.
"Ventris, you deceiver! You liar!"
"..." Ventris did not respond, just kept swinging his sword.
"Deceiver! I curse you! You will never be trusted by anyone again!"
"..." Ventris still did not respond. He was an honest man. He did not want to explain, especially to a daemon.
"I will let the entire galaxy know you are a deceiver! This will be your eternal title!"
Ventris couldn't take it anymore. He did not want this nickname, even if it was given to him by a daemon. Imagine, in the future, heretics would see him and shout "Deceiver," and warn everyone not to be fooled by him. Ventris, who valued honor as much as his life, felt that even his image among the daemons needed to be saved.
"It wasn't me who bombed you!"
"I don't believe you! You're trying to trick me again!" the Rainfather's reply was like that of a young woman deceived by a scoundrel.
"It really wasn't me—" Ventris's tone was like that of a scoundrel pretending to be wronged.
"I will never believe you again!" the Rainfather, heartbroken by the scoundrel, said resolutely.
"Then die!" Ventris's angry appearance was no different from that of a scoundrel who would kill his wife and abandon his children for wealth and glory.
The above description is from the report of the battlefield entertainment journalist, Omega.
The Rainfather took a nuclear blast to the face. The plants at his feet withered, and the Flood of Nurgle became a Nurgle breeze. His massive body, covered in toothed orifices, was severely maimed by the nuclear flame. If it weren't for his thick fat and his inexhaustible filth, he would have been cut down by Ventris long ago.
The Primaris Space Marines, in their heavy Mark X power armor variants, were tying up the Greater Daemon in the front, while also holding back the Nurgle daemons still pouring out of the warp rift behind him. The rest, some using the heavy firepower on their vehicles to deal damage, some using their boltguns and shoulder-mounted lascannons or plasma weapons to aim at the Greater Daemon's exposed weak points. The Astartes of the Covenant of Fire, in their red and gold power armor, were cooperating with their Librarians, trying to shrink the size of the warp rift through a ritual.
Seeing this situation, Omega made a decisive move. He had the mortal forces pull back and then unleashed a barrage of long-range fire at the passage to the warp rift, allowing the Space Marines to free up more men to deal with the Greater Daemon.
Since his birth, the Rainfather had never been so pathetic. No one had ever pushed him to such a state. His fame, his cunning, had made the beings of the galaxy tremble and worship. He was a master of conspiracy, a master of deception. He had laid the facts before humanity and let them fall on their own, just as he had, in the library of Macragge, given the historical records of the "Second Imperium" to that truth-seeking historian.
Thinking of such a failed outcome, an emotion the Rainfather had never felt before was born in his heart. He was afraid. Afraid that because of this failure, he would lose the Allfather's favor, lose his position as the chief Greater Daemon. He had only just been promoted. No! This does not belong to me! I will make a graceful exit! the Rainfather thought.
"Deceiver, we can talk!"
Ventris: Talk my foot! If the Codex-thumpers in the Chapter find out about this damn nickname, I'll be in for it!
"Don't you want the contract with your mark on it? I can give it to you!"
"..." Ventris just silently swung the Blade of Ventanus.
Seeing that the other party was unmoved, the Rainfather upped the ante, dodging and counter-attacking as he said, "I will leave, and I will never set foot in this world again. As long as you let me leave gracefully. Didn't you say that the most important thing for a great man is to be graceful? Leave a way out, so we can meet again in the future! The Regent's kindness, I will not forget."
"Fine! Give me the contract first, then we'll talk!"
Ventris waved his hand, and the others stopped their attack. Although the Space Marines were puzzled, they all stopped their weapons. Their trust in Ventris could not be shaken by a few words from a daemon.
"That's right, that's it. There's no need to make it so awkward."
"Cut the crap! Stay there! Throw the contract over! As long as you show enough sincerity, anything can be discussed!" Ventris's tone carried an imperceptible greed.
Hearing this, the Rainfather was overjoyed. A plot to use this greed was born in his heart. He took the contract from the maw in his belly and dangled it between his filthy fingers. Ventris's gaze followed the swaying of the contract.
Hah, humans are indeed... Before Rotigus could finish his thought, he felt the ground beneath him tremble. He looked down, but his large belly blocked his view. He instinctively stuck out his large butt, trying to bend over and see what was going on.
The moment Rotigus bent over, a spiral drill, shimmering with blue and red light, burst out of the ground, hitting the bullseye.
Little Bai: Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann! My drill is the drill that will pierce the heavens!!!
Omega, observing this scene through his telescope, thought, Little Bai, you did it.
"Oooooooooooh—"
The Rainfather let out a strange cry. The filthy daemonic fluid was flung and vaporized by the spinning drill. The Nurgle's malevolent power within the Greater Daemon was also corroding and twisting Little Bai's body. But the fired-up Little Bai ignored the mutation of its body and the Chaos scrap-code appearing in its data. Its Machine Spirit was burning. To use its soul as fuel, to burn to the end of its life—Tengen Toppa!
Spin! With all the power of the spiral! Boss, witness me! For the Omnissiah!
"Go, Little Bai!" Omega shouted from the top of a vehicle, cheering for Little Bai. Before the action, he had told Little Bai that this was a one-way trip. Little Bai had just beeped once: Then it will be a one-way trip!
Let's rewind to before Little Bai went underground.
Seeing the Rainfather in such a state, still able to fight back and forth with Ventris and the others with his rotten fat, Omega was anxious. He was reluctant to let Little Bai take the risk, but Little Bai, upon seeing the Rainfather, had not stopped beeping. Omega had only managed to stop it with a combination of coaxing and threats. After much thought, he finally made a decision.
"Little Bai, today, you will make the Rainfather start over as a daemon!"
"Beep!": RAAAGH!
"Remember, 'Tengen Toppa' is your code name. Your drill is for breaking through the heavens!"
"Beep, beep!": "Let the world see my spiral power!"
"That's right! With your sharp drill, make the Greater Daemon tremble!"
"Hey! Lord Ventris! Hold the Greater Daemon in place! I have a killing move to end him!" Omega shouted into the comms at Ventris.
Ventris, who only wanted to silence this "resentful daemon," was overjoyed. This "resentful daemon" was unbelievably tough. Omega, though small and strange, was one of the most capable individuals Ventris had met in his centuries of life.
After communicating with the Blade Champions who were tying up the Rainfather, they immediately changed their life-and-death struggle to a more agile and coordinated one, making the Greater Daemon lose his footing and only be able to spin in circles in a small area.
The Greater Daemon's body was split in two. The half with the head struggled to look at Ventris. The Rainfather asked in disbelief, "Didn't we already make a deal? Didn't you want the contract?"
Ventris walked over to the dying Greater Daemon, took the contract from the fingers of his other half, and said, "Fool. If I kill you, it's mine anyway."
"You tricked me again! Deceiver! Deceiv—"
"Scoundrel" Ventris did not give the "resentful daemon" a chance to continue slandering him. He banished the Greater Daemon with a single stroke of his sword, putting an end to all the suffering on Teyedan. Oh, no, there was still the warp rift.
The Chaos Sorcerers who were maintaining the ritual, seeing the Rainfather's miserable defeat, didn't care about anything else and plunged into the warp rift. The psychic defense shield that had been protecting the ritual table, with no one to maintain it, quickly dissipated. The unprotected Chaos sorcery was destroyed in the wrath of the Omnissiah. Under a reverse ritual presided over by the Covenant of Fire Librarian, the warp rift was closed. To prevent this fragile part of the veil from being used again, the Librarian, while setting a seal, reminded the newly arrived Veyl that he must pay close attention to this place in the future. Only when time had healed the scar on the veil could it be considered truly safe.
The Archmagos did not have psychic powers, but he had seen enough to know the threat of a weak point in the veil of reality. He thanked the Librarian for his reminder and promised to be extra careful.
The chaos on Teyedan was over. As the Fabricator-General, he had too many things to deal with. For example, his son, who was currently leading a group of Tech-Priests in kowtowing to the excavator that had killed the Greater Daemon.