Within the light-woven pipeline, Warp currents stirred up tearing winds, blowing through the rider's braids.
The rider, through a crack in the light-pipe, gazed at the Warp near Baal with his eagle-sharp eyes.
Baal's three planets were reflected in the Warp, and shadows like a boundless Tyranid swarm enveloped these reflections, creating a dark, murky stain in the Warp.
But not all Warp energy was blocked by the shadows; within the pitch-black murk, several flickering lights could still be vaguely seen.
Crimson flames blazed fiercely, stained with blood, full of rage and roars—those were the figures of Khorne Greater daemons.
Dark wings vibrated in the void, and over a dozen light points collided with the Khorne Greater Daemon; those were Chief Librarian Mephiston of the Blood Angels and the Librarians.
Even more prominent than these two figures was a holy, noble white light, seemingly interspersed with countless prayers.
These prayers converged, slowly outlining a winged figure within the white light. The winged figure spread its pure white wings, attempting to shelter Baal III beneath the shadows.
The rider's gaze lingered for a moment on Sanguinius, then subtly lifted.
Behind Sanguinius stood a towering blue giant god in the Warp. His figure was indistinct, and three distinct Warp domains intertwined and overlapped on His body.
The giant god slowly extended a round hand towards the scorching flames that symbolized the Khorne Greater Daemon. The round hand burst forth with the mighty power of the rider's father; the Khorne Greater Daemon was almost unable to resist and was swallowed by the blue giant god's round hand.
The blood symbolizing Khorne was almost instantly engulfed by the blue figure's power, and a portion of the Blood God's domain was subsequently encroached upon by the blue giant god.
The flames symbolizing the Khorne Greater Daemon dissolved, reshaped, and remade within the blue figure's body. Their original existence was completely destroyed, and they were reborn within the blue body.
The flames were slowly molded into a human form, with a robust body and broad arms, yet still indistinct, seemingly a very long time away from true birth.
Just then, the rider suddenly lifted his head, and his eagle-like eyes reflected a peculiar sight.
A suffering mummified corpse hung on a golden throne, its body trembling with pain, as if composed of billions of people. Tears fell from its hollow eyes, and in the tears was reflected a grotesque, eye-like Warp rift. Before the rift, a small planet was resisting the storm of primordial chaos.
The mummified corpse's gaze also seemed drawn, shifting slightly from the planet before the rift for a moment, and like the rider, looked towards Baal.
The mummified corpse was silent for a moment, struggling with pain, whispering words the rider could not understand at all, then both resistantly and longingly tore off a piece of grotesque flesh from itself. Pale death swirled upon it, as if this piece of flesh was formed by countless intertwined corpses.
The rider understood that the piece of flesh he saw was both a part of the mummified corpse's spirit and flesh, and a part of the mummified corpse's domain.
Severing one's own domain was almost unimaginable for the gods of the Warp; their instincts and inclinations would not allow such an act, yet the mummified corpse still did it.
A glance at the bloody flesh filled the rider with dread; even he could not bear such a large portion of the mummified corpse's power.
The mummified corpse stretched out its hand in the Warp, and the piece of flesh transformed into a pitch-black small sun burning with cold flames, tearing through the entire Warp, ripping apart the shadows released by the hive mind, and plunging into the body of the blue giant god.
Instantly, the blue giant god's figure swayed, and the vast Warp energy forming his body almost immediately began to instinctively devour the piece of flesh from the mummified corpse.
Most of the flesh flowed into His body, and a small portion surged along His body into the robust human figure born from the flames symbolizing the Khorne Greater Daemon.
The robust human figure instantly became clearer; it was a tall, short-haired figure with a thick nose and broad arms, dressed in an orange-yellow striped top and brown trousers. His eyes contained both the anger and courage similar to the Blood God, and also a strong greed and a certain sense of justice, seemingly a mixture of the Blood God, the blue giant god, and the mummified corpse's power.
This robust human figure slowly lifted his head and suddenly opened his mouth, as if to utter the first song celebrating his birth.
But no sound came from his throat, as if he still lacked something for true birth—a rousing song.
The rider looked at that figure with apprehension; the power it would wield after birth would likely surpass most Greater daemons, even Chief Greater daemons, of the Four Gods.
The blue giant god-like figure had almost completely digested the piece of flesh thrown by the mummified corpse, and his figure also seemed to have become much clearer.
The rider heard the Canticle of the Omnissiah.
Lasgun fire flickered across the battlefield.
The arrival of the Tyranids brought more invisible microorganisms. These microorganisms were silently transforming Baal's environment, attempting to turn it into a Tyranid paradise, making the air rank and humid.
Anti-aircraft fire roared from behind the lines. These shells were driving away the Tyranids from the sky, preventing them from launching an aerial assault.
The anti-aircraft firepower of Angel Keep, forged for the Legion millennia ago, was so powerful that it forced the Tyranids to launch their offensive from the ground.
This was exactly what the Angels wanted.
Youji roared, hoping his voice would drown out the fear in his heart. The Tyranids were roaring and surging towards the moat.
Youji already knew their mission as mortals standing here—bait!
They were bait for the Tyranids, luring these hungry Tyranids into the moat filled with the Water of Thirst, letting these dangerous silver liquids kill them.
A scorching laser shot from the lasgun in Youji's hand, along with thousands of others.
Under the command of the Saint Doraemon Sect, all these lasers were aimed at specific units in the Tyranid tide.
In Youji's training, those units were called Node Organisms.
Hormagaunts, Termagaunts, and other lower-level Tyranids were like the ancient sea Youji had only heard of in legends, almost endless.
When a Node Organism among them was killed by a concentrated laser torrent, shells, or the Angels' bolter fire, the lower-level Tyranids would fall into disarray, but soon more Node Organisms would fill in, restoring order to the Tyranid tide, and they would rush madly towards the moat.
Just a little more, just a little more...
The Water of Thirst Damned and crackled. Countless lower-level Tyranids poured into the moat, and the dangerous crackling sound echoed ceaselessly.
For any resident of Baal, this crackling sound was extremely dangerous and terrifying, but now Youji felt a sense of security from it.
The Tyranids, covered in chitinous carapaces, surged into the moat. The Water of Thirst clung to these creatures from beyond the galaxy, and the ancient technological creations performed their function.
The Tyranid's screams almost instantly ceased. The silvery liquids, like living things, wrapped around the Tyranids. Their chitinous carapaces turned pale, small white dots appeared, their internal moisture was sucked dry by the Water of Thirst, and their bodies became shriveled, falling heavily into the Water of Thirst, as if they had undergone ten thousand years of weathering in an instant.
Many, many Tyranids fell into the river. Their moisture was drained, leaving only shriveled bodies at the bottom of the river.
So many Tyranids had died that their shriveled bodies had almost filled half the moat.
More Tyranids stopped on the opposite bank of the river, Damning and screaming at the mortals on the other side of the moat, trying to evoke their fear.
"Motherfuckers!" Lager, not far from Youji, cursed. More mortals from Lexio or Ashford let out hearty curses. They fired at the Tyranids on the opposite bank while laughing with a sense of vengeful pleasure.
Then the people of Baal joined in this moment, and instantly the fear on the defensive line was dispelled.
The Tyranids let out one last shrill roar, and then something unexpected happened—the Tyranids on the other side of the river actually retreated! They rapidly moved away from the Water of Thirst, which was self-replicating and spreading beyond the moat.
First there was silence behind the defensive line, then an outburst of cheers, prayers, and songs.
The mortals unleashed their firepower, shooting at the backs of the fleeing Tyranids.
"By the Blood!" An Astartes priest's crozius slammed heavily onto the ground. He couldn't help but say, "We have achieved victory."
"Archangel protect! Emperor protect!"
Youji watched the retreating Tyranids, let out a huge sigh of relief, and slumped down behind the defensive line.
He glanced at the lasgun in his hand. The gun had performed very well. Youji couldn't help but whisper:
"And praise Saint Doraemon, thank you for protecting my gunfire."
Before Youji's words had even finished, he suddenly heard the sound of wind from the sky.
Countless Tyranid flying units, almost blotting out the sky, swooped down from the firmament.
But strangely, their target seemed not to be the defensive line, but...
Anti-aircraft fire began to unleash, intercepting the swooping Tyranid flying units.
Like poisoned flies, the beasts fell from the sky, plummeting directly into the moat.
But what was truly bizarre was that even the few Tyranid flying units that were not intercepted by the artillery fire plunged into the Water of Thirst without hesitation, letting the Water of Thirst drain their moisture, leaving only shriveled bodies made of hard chitin.
"What are they doing?" Youji showed some horror.
At the same time, on the ground, a massive number of Tyranid Behemoths charged from the horizon.
These Tyranid Behemoths were not equipped with too many terrifying bio-weapons; they simply had thicker skeletons and were covered in thicker bone armor.
This bone armor allowed them to effectively withstand the laser torrents of the mortals. Upon reaching the moat, these creatures plunged into the river to commit suicide without hesitation.
"What are they doing?!" Youji asked again in horror.
No one answered his question, because everyone understood that the Tyranid counterattack had begun.