bookbashuk Page 767
Page 767
"You only have one chance to overthrow Szalak's rule with minimal risk. If you don't send troops, this opportunity will likely be snatched away by the Endless Tarasin."
"...the thief of that opportunity, the speculator..."
The Storm King's hoarse voice came from his throat, and the ruthless tyrant leaned forward slightly, seemingly very interested in what Orikan had to say.
Euricane knew that it had succeeded.
There's no instance of a failed attempt to use reverse psychology by mentioning Taraxin.
No overlord was more despicable than Tarachin.
Yay, it's gone!
Chapter 787 Foreign Races Guarding the Nation
Foolish newcomer, overestimating his abilities.
—The Great King of Silence, Szalak.
....................................
Pale golden subspace light enveloped a portion of the Eye of Silence's starfield, where countless sparks shone like stars, and gears hummed as they drove the defensive fortifications deep into the loess soil.
"..."
Szalak looked up at the area of clutter; the psionic signals were always discordant and needed to be blocked.
The silver-white skull opened its mouth, but faced with this scene, it didn't know what to say.
"Unbelievable..."
The Silent King's electronic voice clashed for a moment, and radio waves spread out from its body like a rippling pale green ocean. Amidst the charred ruins blasted by the shameless Tarasin, Szalak stood up angrily and furiously, gripping its scepter tightly.
"Sending troops—represents my will!"
Within the star field that had been instantly occupied, the crescent-shaped ships that had been far from the planets and anchored in the void restarted. The order had been given, and the true ruler of this galaxy had reached out his hand.
Emerging streams of emerald green ions propelled each scimitar-shaped ship to easily exceed the speed of light. The fleet assembled and headed straight for a nearby planet inhabited by the Primarchs.
A fleet far exceeding the number of Imperial ships is advancing rapidly. With a ruthless, bloodless, and tearless will, the Silent King is confident that he can wipe out the entire fleet of the Human Empire. Faced with the technology of the Fearful Ones, even if the humans steal their technology, they still cannot replicate it perfectly.
In this galaxy, there is no ship faster than the fear of death.
Within the sector, apart from the Terran ships near the planet, no other fleets were visible, clearly indicating that the Terrans knew they could not defeat the Fearful Ones in naval warfare.
【I'm calculating it! Don't rush me!】
Inside the Makula's Glory, signal lights flashed and beeping sounds filled the air.
Under the watchful eyes of Guilliman and Fernus, Magnus let out a sharp cry, and the crimson giant, his entire body glowing red, muttered incantations as he stared intently at the star chart with his single eye.
Above that, several emerald green streams were rushing towards the interior of the star field.
Numerology is complete nonsense!
Finally, Magnus cursed and decisively abandoned the auxiliary algorithm recommended by Mortarion, which seemed rather self-destructive. Magnus suddenly pointed to a point on the star map, his single eye shining brightly with starlight.
[This is it! The vast sky points in the dark, the flow of psychic energy is clear—this time I need to borrow Mortarion's power! (x3782356, y239461, z56182, t2933), Mortarion, attack here! And Soulless Oglin, (x374456, y28373, z52344, t2933), open the Dark Realm!]
The warp is never a chaotic place! The operation of everything ultimately has its own underlying truths and logic; what others perceive as warp turbulence can actually be utilized.
This is also the direction Magnus has been striving for—this is it! To drive the currents of the warp itself, forcibly opening a vortex between the warp and the physical world in this star system!
In Robert Guilliman's hypothesis, unless it comes to the very last step, this war will be a battle between Primarchs and psionics, and Hades cannot be released unless absolutely necessary.
Opposite them was the Silent King of the Necromancers, which meant it had enough means to deal with a Shattered Star God. In fact, the largest fragment of the Necromancer Star God was screaming beneath the Silent King's throne.
In addition, Pluto's characteristics make him unsuitable for fighting in alliance with the human empire.
In the pale, misty land, the giant scythe slammed heavily into the ground, mysterious numbers emerged from the white helmet, the cloak fluttered without wind, Mortarion murmured, the Primarch was transforming into the Warp, and the phantom of the giant worm appeared above the planetary fragments, spewing bursts of white mist toward a certain point in the Warp.
Thanks to Neos for the psionic training, but Mortarion didn't like the feeling of being too connected to the warp.
Didn't you say... numerology is nonsense?
Mortarian, whose eyes always seemed to roll slightly beneath his hood, spoke calmly. His surroundings darkened for a moment as several pieces of white bone crumbled away.
On the other end, the warp was screaming as some unwelcome Nether being forcibly accessed it, and psionic turbulence rushed by, hastily fleeing into the distance.
[I only have reservations—Motalian, I've already tried to prove to you with formulas that your expressions have too many uncertainties! You're just trying to find special solutions!]
Magnus retorted, but even so, the psionicist's hands did not stop. The crimson giant drew a golden rune with unimaginable dexterity—to detonate the final singularity.
I hope you'll focus, my brother.
"I'm watching the star map intently," said Guilliman, who was intently observing the star map. Magnus called out.
Why don't you question Mortarian? He attacked first.
Regardless, the glint of light from the psionicist's fingertip had already landed on that small star map, where a single point of golden light flickered—
The veil between illusion and reality weeps.
At the very center of the speeding undead fleet, the turbulent warp, with nowhere else to go, suddenly erupted. Bright yellow and misty white water, mixed with countless other colors, gushed from the anchor point, instantly engulfing the undead fleet. If this were any other race's fleet, this massive impact would have been enough to render them instantly incapable of fighting.
Even if the engine could barely run, the crew members on board had already perished in the waves that swept away their souls.
But this is a space necromancer.
"The mantis' arm is like a chariot."
After a brief period of chaos, the Space Necromancers' ranks were only slightly scattered, and the engine lights began to flash again, preparing to continue their rapid march.
Necromancers in space are the true overlords and leaders of the physical world.
At their peak, they not only personally shattered the ruling planet of the physical world, but also had the power to fight against the ancient saints of the subspace.
"A foolish race... Do humans believe that the Deathbringers fear the Warp?"
On the contrary, they immediately declared war on the Old Ones, the masters of the Warp.
The Silent King sneered inwardly. His displeasure at being ambushed by Tarasin gradually faded; it was nothing more than a lowly trick.
In the face of true, absolute power, all talk is meaningless.
But the next moment, amidst the turbulent currents of the subspace, the sharp bows of the battleships and cruisers were revealed—
“Your enemy in this battle is me.”
Amidst the swirling psionic energy, the Imperial fleet burst forth from the warp waves, gleaming with golden light. Garo, engulfed in flames, calmly gazed at the interrupted space undead fleet.
Beside Galo stood the Sun Lord Marcarius, both of them engulfed in golden flames.
On the deck beneath their feet, the Nirvana sub-center roared, the consciousness of machines and gears extending, no longer obstructing the laws of physics. Amidst the waves of the subspace, all things were to follow the laws of psychic energy.
Looking at the undead spaceship accelerating towards them without any momentum, Gara raised his greatsword, and their engines roared faster than light—
"Prepare to board!"
【，】
On the Macragge's Glory, Guilliman noticed that Fernus's expression faltered for a moment, then Fernus's will hesitantly spoke...
My power seems to have an effect on the space undead—but they are also resisting. In any case, I'll try to slow down their ships first.
[You are the commander of the naval battle, Fernus; you have supreme command authority.]
Guilliman said, looking down at the battlefield. Fernus's "main consciousness" was on those ships, while the one on the Makrag Glory was just a communication clone.
Fernus nodded, said nothing more, his brow furrowed.
They were never overly naive; tearing open the warp window was merely to create a better environment for the Imperial Navy, so that its various performance metrics could barely match the Necromancer's scythe.
But now there seems to be an unexpected surprise.
Within the chaotic starry sea, a fierce battle had already begun. Torpedoes that blotted out the sky formed a near-solar barrier in the area, their light as dazzling as the sun.
But their enemies are no pushovers either.
Facing the torpedoes head-on, the crescent-shaped ship, traveling at faster-than-light speed, directly confronted them. A brilliant explosion erupted, but it was merely a reflection of the smoke and fire behind the ship.
The Sickle-class harvesters, like raindrops falling freely, charged straight toward the Empire's Mars-class battleships, which were surrounded by cruisers. After the bayonets, the massive stone mound emerged from the shower of torpedo explosions, its lightning arc launchers already poised to fire.
Golden flames spread down from the ships of the Imperial of Man, igniting the warp waves as well, creating a vast, burning ocean that crashed against the Undead fleet.
Power surged from the corners of those machines. Fenus felt the power; he still couldn't manipulate the alien technology, but he could draw power from its very existence.
This power naturally benefited the Imperial Navy.
Meanwhile, in a corner of the main naval battlefield, another force emerged—very small in number, yet carrying a distinctly familiar aura—
At the brightly lit bow, the Endless One, Tarashin, arrived in haste!
While the human empire's navy is generally not fast enough to match the space necromancer ships, the space necromancer ships certainly are!
Tarasin activated his computing device, unleashing a torrent of data. His goal was to assist the Imperial Navy in minimizing casualties while maximizing enemy casualties.
With a wave of its scepter and a flick of its cloak, Tarachin was too lazy to even pretend anymore! The LED lights of all the undead under its command changed color! They all shone gold!
On the enormous and exquisite crown of the Endless One, gold and silver met, shining as brilliantly as crystal.
If it wanted, it could change colors and flash seven colors, but Taracin is not yet abstract or has the leisure and elegance to do so.
A strange sight appeared: the gold and green space undead ships attacked each other. The smaller and less numerous ones were clearly no match for the green ships, and they simply flew—flying into the Imperial Navy's encirclement.
If the Silent King's minions don't pursue them, those little guys will fly out again to harass them, simultaneously coordinating with the Imperial Navy's counterattack against the main battle currently underway.
There, the two ships collided head-on, each believing it had a significant advantage in the boarding maneuver.
The ships and soldiers of the Necromancers can be repaired using living metal, as can the human navy immersed in the turbulence of the warp!
Consumption—all that matters is consumption. Above the starry sky, Guilliman remained silent, his lips tightly pressed together.
Even with the aid of the warp and the assistance of the Endless Talassin, compared to ships of similar size, the Imperium of Man was still consuming the space undead at a rate of at least twenty to one, thirty to one, or even higher.
On the higher ships, the Empire had already lost a large battleship, while the Necromancers' stone mound remained unscathed.
But this was still within the expected range. Guilliman's breathing remained steady. The Necromancers were already nearly invincible in naval warfare, not to mention that they were facing the Silent King—the Silent King was not comparable to those small dynasties. It possessed outstanding strategy, extraordinary computing power, and a fleet with complete military branches.
But... all that's needed is to consume it.
Thanks to Hades, a fully-fledged human empire has long been established, with an inexhaustible navy.
The human armies on those battlefields... can all be recalled by the Emperor or Phenus, and can be redeployed as long as the generals still possess abundant psionic energy.
The best news is that, even if the number of ships lost is counted in cents, the number of ships lost by the fully prepared human empire is still less than the number of new losses.
Behind this lies the sleepless nights and relentless exploitation of countless workers—but the empire never speaks of the price of victory—victory is victory! Victory means survival!
Those who fear death are already dead! Even if ships can be rebuilt, mass production will never be possible!
This is why the Necromancers of space have no future. A race without new life is destined to die long ago. They are nothing but living corpses, but every action will wear them down until they turn to dust.
Guilliman pondered, his gaze sweeping across the other battlefields—where war had already broken out. The main fleet of the Necromancers had been intercepted, but the smaller, scattered fleets had already reached the planet and shot down the Imperial space station that had just been erected on its surface.
A destructive green light shone down, and amidst the thick, dark clouds, an ominous and enormous emerald green stared down at the Empire. Crescent-shaped, flat aircraft streaked across the sky, several of which perished under the Primarch's psionic power, but some managed to break through, leaving behind an array of doomsday obelisks suspended in mid-air.
During that time, the first space necromancer teleported here appeared with a gun, and billions of necromancer scarabs rushed straight towards the glowing green portal, immediately beginning to construct shelters and various fortifications.
【die.】
The slightly weary Primarch ascended the high ground. Behind him, millions of fighter jets roared, and the Deathbirds and Thunderhawks streaked across the sky. In front of them, suicide drones, seemingly without restraint, shrieked as they cleared a path.
Mortarion's giant scythe chugged and scraped across the soil, the Primarch's gaze remaining calm. Behind him, more and more troops were gathering, having landed in different parts of the planetary fragment.
The fearful have been dead for far too long... I can no longer sense their death.
Even the echoes of "death," which symbolize the fear of death, have faded into the annals of history; they are now nothing more than machines driven by code.
【attack.】
Mortarian jumped down first, faster than the tanks and knights following his legion. Unlike the overall steady and methodical style, Mortarian preferred to charge into enemy lines alone.
However, if Hades is present, the thrusting position will usually be given to Hades, because he is more suitable for rapid marches than Mortarion.
And now... Hades is...
"I'll calculate it again!"
Hades roared, while Tarasin paced anxiously back and forth beside him. Hades himself was crouching on the ground, his hand resting on the wreckage of a space necromancer, sweat pouring down his forehead.
"Can't you hurry up? Your naval battle is going badly right now! You're less anxious than a coward like me!"
"The Silent King has added function-level locks and dynamic cryptography to all the dynasties that later submitted to him—as well as quantum entanglement alarms. This means I have to bypass security to obtain the key. If I'm discovered, Szalak will change the key immediately! All the previous ones will be for nothing!"
They only have one chance to deliver the final blow. After breaking the Silent King's key, they can paralyze most of Szalak's units below the Space Necromancer Archon for 30 seconds.