Although the Imperium of Man could be described as utterly corrupt and extremely incompetent.
However, when facing chaos, the surrounding star systems reacted very quickly.
The knight house swiftly began war mobilization, and the planetary Governor within the hive world had already issued war directives.
The PDF and the Imperial Guard were gathering, preparing to resist the chaos invasion.
However, all of this was temporarily unrelated to Zeke.
At this moment, he was facing the front lines of the chaos invasion.
Just as Zeke was about to order his troops to retreat into the hive world to hold out for reinforcements, an unexpected development occurred.
For some unknown reason, the materialization process of the Warp accelerated significantly. Within just a dozen minutes of Zeke seeing this phenomenon, the materialized legions of the Warp had already begun to appear.
"Sir! The orbital monitoring station has detected Warp fluctuations!" the Tech-Priest's voice trembled with fear. "It's... it's Khorne's daemon legions! They're materializing!"
The Tech-Priest's words interrupted Zeke's thought of retreating first.
There was no way to retreat... Khorne's legions were about to appear before him. Retreating now would only lead to being pursued. Retreat was impossible; they could only defend their current position.
With his powerful army and the presence of knight titans, Zeke still had a certain level of confidence in holding this position.
At the very least, relying on his dark energy shield, he would certainly not be disturbed by these foolish chaos forces.
However, despite saying this, Zeke's heart remained in turmoil.
Various pieces of information about chaos constantly surfaced in his mind.
Khorne, one of the Four Chaos Gods. In the Imperial education Zeke received, these two words represented endless slaughter.
Khorne's daemons delighted in endless slaughter; they craved battle and blood.
Imperial soldiers and commanders were well aware of this, and thus most people were filled with fear and awe towards Khorne's daemon.
Furthermore, Khorne's daemon displayed extreme cruelty in battle. They not only attacked enemies but also tortured and massacred captives. This brutal behavior made Imperial soldiers deeply disgusted and terrified of Khorne's daemon.
In the education Zeke received, these entities were all considered the embodiment of evil.
By all accounts, Zeke possessed a vast amount of technology and had even established a powerful Space Marines force of his own. However, at the end of the day, this was his first time entering a battlefield, his first time directly facing Khorne's daemon.
No matter how complete his previous education was, no matter how much confidence he currently had in his own army, none of this could prevent Zeke's heart from feeling a certain madness.
Because the appearance of chaos had completely exceeded Zeke's expectations. His original reliance—
The orbital bombardment carried out by his own strike cruiser was clearly useless now; Khorne's daemon fleet was far more numerous.
His most important trump card could not play an effective role this time.
Even if the dark energy shield could guarantee his survival, what then?
Was all the wealth he had accumulated over this period to be lost in this battle?
Were all his retinue knights also to be completely annihilated in this battle?
Although Zeke hadn't spent much time integrating with his retinue knights, it was undeniable that these individuals, who could become his retinue knights, had known Zeke since childhood, and there was a certain friendship between them.
At least they could be considered friends.
Watching his childhood friends die before his eyes, Zeke was not yet so stone-hearted. His emotions would still be quite complex.
However, no matter how complex his feelings were, the necessary preparations still had to be made. It was time to fight.
"Order all units to prepare for battle now. Everyone, construct trenches on the spot. Our enemies are powerful chaos daemon. To ensure we can hold out for enough time, we cannot place all our hopes on the base shield. We must try our best to reduce the energy consumption of the base shield."
Zeke's order was swiftly transmitted to the entire army via an encrypted channel.
Ten thousand Space Marines immediately sprang into action, constructing defensive fortifications with astonishing efficiency. The mechanical arms of their power armor dug into the hard ground, quickly establishing alloy trenches across the plain.
"Sir, Warp energy peak detected!" Lissa's voice suddenly rose. "They're coming!"
The rift in the sky suddenly widened, like a wound torn open by an invisible hand. Blood-red lightning coursed through the clouds, and the air began to fill with a rusty, bloody smell.
Gravel on the ground floated up, defying gravity, as some terrifying entity was breaking through the barrier of the real universe.
"Hold steady!" Zeke shouted over the full-frequency communication.
Facing Khorne's daemon, there must be no fear. Since they had come, they would fight them.
No sooner had he finished speaking than the first bloody, cloven hoof stepped out of the Warp rift.
It was a Bloodletters, its twisted horns adorned with fresh human skin, and uncoagulated blood dripping from its brass armor. Then came the second, the third... In an instant, thousands upon thousands of Khorne's daemons surged forth like a tide.
"For the blood god!" the daemon let out piercing howls. "Skulls for the Skull Throne! Blood for the blood god!"
At the first sight of them, Zeke's face showed disgust.
The slight fear of Khorne that had appeared in his heart vanished without a trace, immediately replaced by anger.
These Bloodletters dared to wear human skin; this was a contempt for human pride.
The Space Marines under Zeke's command silently raised their Energy weapons.
These Energy weapons, crafted by Zeke, might have limited damage against the war beasts of physical orks, but they were remarkably effective against these daemons surging from the Warp.
"Fire!"
Ten thousand energy beams shot out simultaneously, tearing countless gaps in the daemon horde.
The struck Bloodletters let out pained shrieks, their bodies burning and vaporizing in the pure energy.
But more daemon charged forward, treading on the ashes of their comrades.
However, for Zeke, who utilized new technology, the attack methods of these Bloodletters were laughable. They were like fools, constantly charging and then falling powerlessly under the plasma guns in the hands of the Space Marines.
They couldn't advance even half a step, because no Bloodletters could withstand a single shot; almost every shot would vaporize them directly.
These weapons, which might lack sufficient damage against ork beasts, proved several times more effective when used against daemons.
Even the Flesh Hounds that followed the Bloodletters in their charge were meaningless; they had no chance of survival against the plasma gun attacks.
In front of the defensive line formed by tens of thousands of Space Marines and Custodes, Khorne's ordinary units had no possibility of a breakthrough whatsoever.
Moreover, the weapons held by these soldiers even had a special effectiveness against them.