Chapter 197: The Liberation of Drune (Part 4)
Hades looked at Branka with a speechless expression.
Why does it feel like Branka's attitude toward him has shifted?
If it needs to be put into words… it felt like Branka was being noticeably more respectful than before?
Weren't they on good terms before?
The last person who gave Hades this kind of vibe was Garro, but that was just because Garro followed military regulations and Hades had been promoted.
Branka, on the other hand, normally didn't care much about that sort of thing.
Still, Hades could more or less guess why Branka had suddenly become so cautious—it was probably because he'd been spooked by his use of the Black Domain.
Sure, his Black Domain had always been like that, but this was the first time he'd deployed it on such a large scale during a battlefield operation.
Branka gave Hades a complicated look.
"You... you could do that from the beginning?"
Hades blinked.
"Not in the beginning. At first, I could only do it via physical contact. But now I can affect an entire area."
Hades did a quick mental calculation and found out that at its current level, his Black Domain could instantly kill ordinary people at the very edge of its range, which was approximately a 1-kilometer radius centered on him.
But since the people controlled by the Xenos tendrils had clearly incomplete souls, even if he further diluted his Black Domain potency, he could still completely suppress them.
The closer someone was to him, the stronger the Domain became. Conversely, those near the outer edge might survive under its influence.
Hades had come to realize that the only ones truly immune to his Domain were the Untouchables. But if his Domain became strong enough, even they wouldn't be able to withstand it.
As for psykers—if their psychic abilities were relatively weak, the Black Domain was highly effective against them. But if their power exceeded the Domain's level, the Domain would be suppressed instead.
That said, Hades hadn't yet encountered a psyker stronger than him—setting aside the Emperor and the Primarchs, of course.
Maybe Malcador could also count as one.
"Are we actually dragging you down in combat by supporting you?"
Branka asked hesitantly.
Without them around, wouldn't Hades have been able to extend his influence even further?
He couldn't directly perceive the Black Domain, so he didn't know that Hades had already used it at full capacity just now.
Hades began to think deeply for a moment.
Right now, the Death Guard were in a phase of rest and reconnaissance, waiting in a low-lying area for the main force from the first front to arrive.
So, Hades took off his helmet and gave Branka a bright, relaxed smile.
"It's not as dramatic as you're thinking, Branka. I already expanded the Black Domain to its maximum just now."
"Besides, the only reason why I was able to subdue these xenos is because they don't have any heavy long-range firepower."
If the enemy had heavy ranged firepower—or worse, air superiority—then what he just did would've been suicide.
Charging into enemy territory and wiping out an entire zone? Of course the enemy would want to bomb the hell out of him. He was standing right in their range, and they didn't even have to worry about friendly fire.
That's why Hades had considered using Knights, since they had some armor and mobility. But if the enemy had overwhelming firepower for ground clearance, even Knights would fall.
Another solution would be high mobility, ideally paired with a constantly active Black Domain—but so far, no one had survived prolonged exposure to his close-range Domain. He'd have to think of other possibilities for that.
So, for now, he could only afford to go all out in situations like this.
He really liked fighting these types of psychic-based races—who only knew how to chant spells and use warp powers, but had no concept of a diversified military force.
To be fair, psychic-based races were almost unbeatable in their own element.
Even aerial units could be disrupted by psychic interference—and when you're piloting an aircraft, having your mind disturbed like that is really bad.
It turned flying into a nightmare-level challenge.
But then again, on a battlefield not dominated by warp powers, if your side had air superiority and heavy artillery, you'd just bomb the place.
There'd be no need for him to charge in and open his Black Domain like that.
So Hades understood that, in non-psyker battlefields, he was honestly kind of a chicken-rib—too weak to be the main course, but still a waste to throw away. If there were more beings like him, maybe they could be used as a flexible strike unit—like mobile bombs—but the casualty rate would likely be high.
Unfortunately, there was only one of him. So that plan was out.
"The main force is still the backbone of the battlefield. I'm just a specialized unit for psyker targets. Branka, you guys are the true strength of the Legion. I should be the one supporting you."
"Think about it—if it were just me, and the enemy deployed some kind of targeted long-range weapon..."
"No matter how strong an individual is, it's hard for them alone to change the course of an entire war."
Without relying on Blackstone Towers, Hades could only clear a small area of souls. Planet-wide coverage was out of the question.
In this world, many of the campaigns the Legion participated in weren't limited to just a single planet. Battles stretching across entire sectors were commonplace.
Take the campaign against Galaspar, for example. Hades' powers were basically useless there. That war was all about interstellar fortifications.
Hades chuckled, scratched his head, and looked sincerely at Branka, as if to say, "Trust me, really—trust me."
And it wasn't just Branka he was talking to, he's also talking to the entire 7th Company.
Branka fell silent. After a long moment, he stepped forward and patted Hades on the shoulder.
"You brat... I knew I made the right call when I picked you."
This time, Hades beamed, grinning wide.
He suddenly pulled Branka into a big hug in response to the shoulder pat, which startled the veteran so much he yelped. Branka started cursing and thumping Hades with his fists.
"I was the one who picked Hades for the 7th Company, you know!"
Back aboard the Endurance, Branka's words had barely left his mouth when Garro quietly interjected. All Death Guard communications were routed back to the command center here, so Garro and Vorx had just "accidentally" listened to the entire conversation between Hades and Branka.
Vorx turned to Garro with disbelief in his eyes. Did Garro just—refute Branka?
"You were the one who picked me for the 7th Company too, sir."
Garro nodded quietly, arms crossed, saying nothing else.
Clearly, the fact of being able to pick both Hades and Vorx, indicates that Garro had a good eye.
After all, the best of the Barbarus-born rookies were all from his old 7th Company.
. . . . . . .
+ Two troops are attacking from the front and back +
+ The one from the back is more dangerous. +
+ Annihilation failed +
+ Cannot let them attack together. Three priority targets are at risk. +
Inside the main city, a massive arch was constructed from the moaning bodies of humans. Behind the arch, the warp shimmered chaotically—the barrier between reality and the Immaterium was becoming thin.
A colossal tendril, large enough to cover the entire city, writhed, twisted, and split apart. On closer inspection, this massive tendril was made of countless smaller ones.
But each of those smaller tendrils was far thicker than anything Hades had previously encountered, and the psychic pressure radiating off them was intense. Eyeballs pressed against eyeballs, twitching in frantic, nervous spasms.
+ Lure him in and isolate him +
Hades looked up at the sky. Stormbirds circled overhead, marking and clearing some of the potential obstacles ahead.
According to the intel from Mortarion, the main force would arrive in half a Terran hour. When that happened, they would launch the assault together.
So in the end, the White Scars still hadn't shown up.
In Hades' memory, the final moments of the Drune campaign saw three Primarchs and the Stormseer of the White Scars directly confront the tentacled final boss. One single psychic attack from the boss had instantly floored both Mortarion and Horus.
The Khan, protected by the Stormseer, managed to stay in fighting shape and ultimately, it was he who landed the killing blow.
It wasn't that the Khan was stronger, but rather that more than a dozen Stormseers around him had sacrificed their lives to preserve the Khan's offensive power.
During the boss battle, aside from the three Primarchs, one psychic attack from the boss had wiped out every other combatant.
That was not good news—Hades felt his teeth ache just thinking about it.
It meant that, against this boss, unless you were an elite unit, charging in was just a suicide mission.
Could his Black Domain suppress that boss? He wasn't sure, after all, that thing had brought two Primarchs to their knees with a single strike.
Sure, part of that was because Horus and Mortarion didn't have any psychic talent. If Magnus had been there instead, odds are the psyker boss would've been taken down.
Psychic powers were just too busted against non-psyker types.
Hades sighed deeply.
But just as he was pondering that, the ground beneath their feet began to soften. A sudden surge of warp energy erupted.
?!
[ALERT!]
Hades quickly put his helmet back on and ordered the Death Guard to evacuate the area immediately. The entire force began to move, but damn it—the whole surrounding region seemed to be turning into a swamp.
Tendrils burst from the semi-swampy earth, slithering up to entangle the moving Death Guards, trying to parasitize them.
'Damn it, damn it, damn it,' Hades cursed inwardly. Psykers were notoriously hated by every Legion for good reason. Unlike conventional enemies, in the absence of a Librarian or psyker advisor, many psychic phenomena were almost impossible to detect.
Because Branka and the others were present, Hades had no choice but to dilute his Black Domain to the extreme. That weakened the psychic attacks from the tendrils, but the veterans still had to rely on sheer willpower to resist.
Unfortunately, the diluted Domain also weakened the willpower of those very veterans.
Hades nearly bit through his own tongue in frustration.
He could run, sure—but if he did, this unit would almost certainly be wiped out.
It was obvious that the enemy was using Branka and the others to pin him down.
[Hades, the terrain behind you is turning into marsh.]
Garro's voice came through just in time.
[Where's the nearest safe location?]
Garro stared at the map. All of the grassland surrounding the central city was being turned into swamp—except…
[The main city.]
[The hard ground inside the city is still intact. I've marked a location for you—capture the plaza on the western side of the city. If you can hold it, the air units can use it as a landing zone for evacuation.]
Stormbirds couldn't land in the marshland. If they got entangled by those tendrils, there was no guarantee they could take off again.
The ground beneath them was getting harder to walk on by the second. Hades took a deep breath.
[Advance toward the main city—we're launching an early assault!]
'Goddamn it!'
If Branka and the others died, Hades swore he'd unleash his Black Domain at full force and go down with the enemy.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
At the same time, Mortarion and Horus' forces were also being ambushed.
But unlike Hades' group, the terrain around their retreat route hadn't been swamped.
Listening to Garro's report on the situation at the second front, Mortarion realized something was wrong.
"We need to fall back and regroup," Horus said over the Vorx.
Mortarion ignored him.
He stared intently at the direction of the main city, but the dense warp interference blocked their view.
The Vorx crackled again—Hades' voice came through:
[Can the main force still begin the siege on schedule? We've been ambushed and are launching early.]
[We've been ambushed too. The main force can't begin the siege on time.]
There was a brief silence over the channel. Then Hades' voice came again, low but steady:
[Mortarion, don't be reckless. Remember, you're responsible for the whole Legion.]
Crack
A burst of gunfire drowned out the signal.
Mortarion inhaled sharply and opened the main channel.
[Garro. Bombard the central area of the city.]
The enemy's psychic defenses were thick—high-altitude bombardments wouldn't penetrate them. At best, they might drain some of the enemy's psychic power.
But the cost of fleet munitions compared to the meager reduction in enemy strength? Not worth it.
For the Legion, this was a losing trade.
But if it could aid the second front?
Then the order would be justified.
<+>
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