"HORUS!!!"
With a guttural roar, the new recruit stared at the endless swarm and screamed the name.
Although Zhou Ye had helped stabilize their gene-seed, the fact remained that in this universe, overwhelming power could make a brick fly. Nothing was absolute. For example, even the Necrons, who prided themselves on being incorruptible, had their weapons tainted by Vashtorr.
So, when emotions reached a certain threshold, the Black Rage would still erupt.
The Red Thirst, however, was firmly suppressed by Zhou Ye. That affliction, after all, was the greater trouble.
In that moment, the marine felt as if he had been transported back ten thousand years to the Vengeful Spirit. He had become his gene-father, tearing apart the enemies before him.
Until…
"Guh…!"
He felt a peculiar, warm liquid being poured into his mouth, and the world before him changed. A golden figure appeared in the depths of his soul and gently tapped him, restoring him to his senses.
Only then did he realize that the street was littered with corpses and that several of his battle-brothers were holding him down.
In his captain's hand was a golden vial—the 2.0 version of Zhou Ye's potion for the Red Thirst and Black Rage. The reason for its existence was that Gabriel Seth hadn't known when he might encounter these Lamenters or the mysterious Primarch again.
So, he had shamelessly knelt before the Lamenters. Seeing the Chapter Master of the Flesh Tearers, a man of pure lineage and high standing even among the Blood Angels' successors, kneeling before them, and considering they could reach Zhou Ye with a single jump…
The follow-up was that the acting Chapter Master, Mario, had knelt directly before Zhou Ye and told him they had run out of the potion.
Zhou Ye had just finished using up his supply of Nurglings, so he simply took some of the faith generated by the Golden Fiend, kneaded it a bit, and produced the 2.0 version for them.
This time, he had successfully solved the nausea problem, treating the Black Rage and Red Thirst through a special form of corruption—or rather, sanctification.
"Brother, are you back with us?"
Looking at the new recruit's now-clear eyes, the captain spoke slowly.
"I saw the great Lord of Trailblaze. He guided me out of the Black Rage. But the Tyranids…"
"The Tyranids have temporarily withdrawn. We've lost a lot of ground. Everyone, take a moment to rest, maintain your weapons, and prepare for the next battle."
"Yes, sir!!!"
Hearing this, the young Lamenter finally took in his surroundings.
The Tyranid corpses were piled as high as mountains. Groups of men with flamethrowers were incinerating the nearby bodies; they had no time to deal with the ones further away. He let out a sigh of relief and sat on the ground, staring blankly at a small doll in his hand.
It had been a gift from a little girl among the group of people he had saved. But in the end, he had failed to protect any of them.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't do anything…"
He looked at the doll, then gently pressed it to his face and wept in silence.
This time, neither his captain nor his older battle-brothers said a word. They had all been through it.
They, and all the Space Marines of Trailblaze, never considered themselves angels or demigods. No matter how the people of the Imperium knelt before them, to them, they were just ordinary men.
Though the Lord of Trailblaze had granted them immense strength and sharp minds, they knew this meant an even heavier responsibility. As mortals, there would always come a time when their strength failed them.
---o---
"..."
The Cadian Lord General sat down wearily to the side. He was utterly exhausted.
Commanding an army was incredibly draining; many generals were plagued by illness.
Furthermore, he was commanding a battlefield that encompassed hundreds of millions of combatants. Now, finally, he had a moment to breathe.
"Burn the bodies as much as you can."
Malakim said nothing more. It was best to dispose of the corpses now. It wasn't an urgent matter, mainly because the Tyranid invasion occurred in phases. They hadn't reached the consumption stage of biomass recovery yet, but they would die before they let the Tyranids have it.
And everyone knew the next battle would be even more brutal.
"What are your losses?"
It wasn't just him; the other two commanders had similar reactions. For a moment, Malakim sat on the ground in exhaustion, as did the Iron Warrior captain from Trailblaze.
Truth be told, like the two Astartes commanders, the Cadian Lord General had also undergone certain modifications to his brain. Otherwise, a mortal mind could never command a war of this scale.
"If we were the Chapter we once were, we would have lost over half our number by now. As it is, we are holding on."
"I remember hearing your numbers far exceed two thousand, don't they?"
The Cadian general seemed to recall something. The number of these Lamenters was simply too high.
"According to the Codex Astartes, a Chapter on crusade is not bound by numbers," the Iron Warrior interjected. He knew these honest souls would tell the truth, even though the Cadian general had no intention of pursuing the issue.
"Indeed. After seeing the terrifying numbers of the Tyranids, some flexibility is certainly required."
With that, the general went to find a place to rest. The so-called Codex Astartes was not his concern.
It was an unspoken rule that anyone who had fought the Tyranids tacitly agreed on this matter. They all paid lip service to the Codex, but when the fighting started, no one said a word against it.
---o---
The so-called peace did not last long. After only two or three hours, the war erupted once more. This time, however, the Tyranids' objective had shifted slightly.
They had noticed that these humans seemed to be desperately protecting something. Although they didn't know what it was, the fact that it was being guarded so fiercely at this stage meant it had to be important.
The only unfortunate thing for them was that the large number of Genestealers that had been here were already purged.
The Tyranids had no intel on what was being protected, so…
"They seem to have figured something out. Those Tyranids are no beasts. The Imperium's understanding of them is too shallow. All units, prepare yourselves. We must protect the beacon this time."
The commanders realized the problem, but a moment later, a message was relayed from the Lamenters' Battle Barge, which was holding position within the range of their defensive cannons.
"Alert! Alert! Special Tyranid bioform detected. Hive Tyrant and its retinue have appeared on the battlefield!"
"..."
With this news, the entire conference room fell into a stunned silence.
A Hive Tyrant. A creature on par with a Greater Daemon. It was this kind of beast that had sent Calgar to the ICU, and later during the Battle of Baal, Dante too was gravely wounded by one.
The few men who understood the creature's power had expressions of grim determination on their faces.
"Stay calm. According to the data, a Hive Tyrant does not engage lightly. They have command responsibilities. Prepare to contract the defensive line."
Farinport spoke with extreme calm.
"Let me command the withdrawal. We will have to pay a price this time. We need to lure that Hive Tyrant into a trap. None of us here is a match for that thing."
Looking at the men around him, Farinport spoke slowly.
On the battlefield, the Cadian soldiers at the front quickly received their orders. A look of grim resolve appeared on their faces as a monstrously large Tyranid bioform began directing a swarm of carapaced monstrosities—so tough their lasguns couldn't scratch them—straight towards their position, smashing through all obstacles in their path.
With the appearance of the Hive Tyrant, the entire front line began to rapidly contract.
"ROOOAR!!!"
The Hive Tyrant didn't know what the enemy was planning, but just as the Lamenters were trying to buy time, so were the Tyranids. Their goal was simple: to consume the flesh of the Primarch Sanguinius. Doing so might allow them to spawn even more powerful units.
If the Blood Angels reacted in time and moved or destroyed the flesh, it would be a strategic failure for the Tyranids.
After all, the Blood Angels' gene-seed had significant flaws. After consuming their flesh, some Tyranid organisms had even been affected by the Black Rage and Red Thirst.
So this time, the Great Devourer had dispatched a Tyrant-class bioform to crush this city completely. However, due to the complex fortifications built by the Iron Warriors and the ubiquitous minefields, their Lictors and Mawlocs had been rendered ineffective.
The former were met with saturated artillery fire the moment their stealth fields touched a tripwire. The latter were still fighting against some strange contraptions underground. So, the Hive Mind chose the most direct method.
A frontal assault. As expected, faced with the Hive Tyrant, everyone began a fighting retreat. The Tyranids pressed forward relentlessly, but every trench they crossed was accompanied by a massive explosion.
The Cadian soldiers along the way were gradually clearing a path. Finally, inside the command center…
"I don't know if this will be enough to kill it, but regardless, it's our only chance."
Looking at the Tyrant's position marked on the screen, Farinport took a deep breath. He took out a specially made grenade, a Withering Grenade. It contained an immense amount of entropic power, a limited-edition product personally crafted by Zhou Ye.
Due to its rarity, this was the only one he had. Normally, it was kept as a company relic. Now, he had no choice but to use it.
"ROOOAR!!!"
With a tremendous roar, the Hive Tyrant smashed through the defensive line. Neither the Cadian soldiers nor the Lamenters' most elite Terminator squads could slow it down in the slightest. With unstoppable momentum, it tore through the entire front and charged towards the signal tower.
But as it and its guards leaped over another defensive line into a trench, they were met not with a hail of bullets, but with the resolute eyes of Cadian soldiers.
"Cadia is eternal!!!"
With a final roar, the Cadian soldiers activated the weapons in their hands.
BOOM!!!
In the next moment, the earth shook. The entire hive world trembled, and even the men in the command room were thrown about by the massive shockwave.
Then, they saw the Iron Warrior captain, Farinport, clad in specialized armor and a jump pack, charge out.
"Iron within, Iron without!!!"
With a battle cry, Farinport charged through the massive shockwave, plunging through the smoke to the Hive Tyrant's location. With a powerful heave, he threw the Withering Grenade.
VMMMM!!!
In the next instant, a silent death spread out. Within a radius of several thousand meters, all life was instantly stripped away. Even the buildings of steel and stone rotted rapidly under the assault. All things withered. Even lifeless steel was affected in an instant.
The power of decay caused them to rust, corrode, and degenerate…
Fortunately, after such an explosion, there couldn't possibly be any living humans in that area.
SPLAT!!!
With another blast from his jump pack, Farinport returned to the line. He ripped off his helmet and violently spat out a mouthful of blood.
Charging through the shockwave and then throwing a Withering Grenade at close range had taken its toll, even on him.
"Did it work!!!"
The Lamenters Chapter Master Malakim and the Cadian Lord General Drost rushed out.
With bloodshot eyes, the two men stared intently into the heart of the explosion.
ROAR!!
But in the next instant, a furious roar tore across the battlefield. The Hive Tyrant dragged its battered body out of the crater. The guards that had accompanied it were completely annihilated.
Though it was enraged, its eyes also betrayed a flicker of terror. In that single moment, it felt as if its very soul was about to be unmade. Fortunately, its guards had shielded it with their bodies.
"All forces, rally to me!!!"
A pall of despair began to descend. Malakim immediately gathered all his remaining battle-brothers. They would make their last stand against this Hive Tyrant. At the same time, the Battle Barges and Strike Cruisers in orbit began to move. If necessary, they would become colossal bombs and crash into the planet.
"May this journey end among the stars. May the glory of humanity endure forever!!!"
Seeing the tide of Tyranids pouring through the breach, all the Iron Warriors raised their shields, forming a wall.
Behind that shield wall, all the remaining Space Marines began strapping melta bombs to their bodies. A mortal's reaction speed was too slow to get close to a Hive Tyrant. To deal effective damage now, the Astartes would have to charge through the swarm and detonate the melta charges in a final, suicidal attack.
"ROOOAR!!!"
The Hive Tyrant looked at the tall humans before it, then at the sturdy building behind them. It knew its objective was there, and it was also what these humans were dying to protect.
The entire Tyranid army surged through the breach the Hive Tyrant had created, ignoring the firepower pouring in from the sides.
"May our deaths be glorious!!!"
The young Lamenter from before stood at the very front, his body laden with explosives. He would be the first to charge into the swarm and detonate his payload.
"CHARGE!!!"
Just as Malakim gave the order and the first wave of Lamenters began to move…
Zzzt.
A sharp, electrical crackle filled the air. To their astonishment, they found their power armor had been remotely locked.
Then…
"Everyone, raise your heads and look to the stars!!!"
A voice, resolute despite being laced with static, echoed across the battlefield. But before they could react…
BOOM!!!
An explosion ripped through the sky. A massive blast erupted from a Tyranid bio-ship. One attack tore through its outer shell, followed by another beam of black light. The bio-ship began to fall from the sky, slowly disintegrating as it descended.
And then, everyone on the battlefield, Tyranid and human alike, looked up to see thousands of streaks of light converging from the heavens.
---o---