What could be more despairing than this?
Luo Ji unconsciously bit through his lip, letting the rusty-tasting blood flow into his throat, his eyes wide with fury as he stared into the depths of the battlefield.
Frederick Taylor's Bone Crystal Scepter, with just a pause, effortlessly dissolved the Trinity saturation strike!
The laws of physics supporting the edifice of modern human civilization, the fundamental laws that underpin science, were nothing short of a joke before Chaos Sorcery.
Despair, like a cold viper, coiled around his heart once more.
Even the command center of the Asia-Pacific Army Group fell into deep despair.
This was not a war they could comprehend.
Steel will seemed so powerless before pure, malicious magic.
Could it be... that the hope he had just glimpsed was merely another cruel joke?
"Despairing?" Frederick Taylor's gaze held a hint of mockery. It had naturally been observing Luo Ji's every move, and seeing him sunken, pale-faced, and with unfocused eyes, it couldn't help but taunt him.
"I was once as despairing as you... especially after witnessing that dark future."
"A dark... future?"
Although far away, Luo Ji could still clearly hear the voice emanating from Frederick Taylor.
"Exactly, the dark and hopeless future of humanity under the rule of the so-called 'Emperor'."
Frederick Taylor slowly said.
"You believe in The Emperor? But do you know that beneath his cold Divine Throne, thousands of lives must be burned as fuel every day? The 'Imperium' you protect pushes billions of humans into the abyss, using their flesh and blood bodies as cogs and lubricants in factories. life, in the eyes of the Imperium, is worth less than a single coin!"
"You ask me what I saw? I'll tell you!"
"The to live are thrown into decaying, never-ending wars; the souls of the dead suffer eternal torment in the Warp!"
"The truth and faith they proclaim are false fig leaves constructed from deceit and lies!"
"The so-called Human Glory is using the flesh and blood of the entire race to feed a rotting corpse named The Emperor, sitting upon a cold Divine Throne!"
"Now, tell me... do you think such a future needs to exist?!"
Every word from Frederick Taylor was like a hammer blow, carrying a Psychic Illusion Storm that smashed deep into Luo Ji's mind!
Eternal war, meaningless war, chaotic war!
It was as if all humans, races, and life existing in the "future" were caught in endless melee, melee, melee!
The future social structure of humanity had devolved into a massive machine existing solely for war!
And every individual no longer needed so-called freedom; from nobles down to Slaves, all were cogs in this rusty machine, ready to be sacrificed for a justifiable reason whenever necessary.
Purpose?
No, they had no purpose.
Or rather, the only purpose was to cling to life, surviving just one breath longer than other races.
Frederick Taylor seized the opportunity, his voice filled with seductive intent.
"But now it's different. If you are willing to join the great Lord of Change, we will gain endless wisdom and knowledge. Even the future will no longer be shrouded in mist and uncertainty. We can completely customize a brighter future for humanity, one free of despair and darkness, full of light, can't we?!"
However, after a brief silence, Luo Ji's gaze remained resolute.
As if completely unaffected, he spoke slowly, word by word, shouting the single word—No!—as if carrying the hopes of everyone.
"I don't believe in fate! And I certainly don't believe in gods!"
"Whether it's The Emperor or the Chaos Gods ... humanity doesn't need ethereal faith. We will decide the future of our race and civilization ourselves!"
Luo Ji poured out all his strength, generating a Psychic Storm vast enough to envelop the entire battlefield.
Veins bulged on his forehead, and his entire face turned purplish-blue.
"Fuck your... Chaos Gods !!!"
This Psychic Storm created by him momentarily shredded Tzeentch's sorcery.
"Now's the chance—!"
He shouted hoarsely.
"fire saturation! Saturate that area!"
"Blast that son of a bitch to death!"
"To hell with Loki!"
Amidst roars laced with fury and defiance, humanity once again displayed courage born of desperation!
The courage fostered in despair shone like a light within humanity, illuminating the entire battlefield.
The Astra Militarum belonging to the Asia-Pacific Army Group joined alongside the Tank and Armored Corps. They charged forward relentlessly, firing fearlessly at the terrifying daemons, desperately trying to halt the advance of these monsters.
Meanwhile, the remaining fighter squadrons in the sky were fighting desperately against the daemons!
However, human courage ultimately could not overcome the treacherous Warp daemons. A torrent of sorcery formed from Pink Flames swept through, instantly causing the soldiers in front to have their bodies twisted and mutated into new daemon Minions amidst extreme suffering.
The thick armor of the Main Battle Tanks could not withstand the daemons' claws either, and they were ripped apart by daemons swarming forward in groups.
What was worse, communications at the front-line command post were suffering severe Psychic Interference!
The ceaseless crackling of current and noise were filled with the shrieks of daemons. Even soldiers with strong willpower could not resist this terrifying Mental Interference, collapsing into madness and frenzy.
The battlefield descended completely into chaos.
The Army Group lost command, and cries and screams were everywhere.
Unintelligible gibberish and corrupted Demonic Sounds filled the air. One moment they were comrades, the next they were twisted and mutated into enemies... These scenes violently assaulted the minds and wills of the surviving warriors.
Having been rejected, Frederick Taylor completely lost the last shred of interest in Luo Ji.
The Bone Crystal Staff waved, scattering more chaos!
It seemed to enjoy the process, savoring the pleasure of trampling order and reason underfoot and crushing hope.
An unprecedented sense of powerlessness, like a cold tide, drowned Luo Ji.
He wanted to save all of this, to awaken the soldiers who had lost their minds.
But he couldn't do it. He couldn't even approach Frederick Taylor; the entire battlefield was shrouded in chaos.
This wasn't a battle at all; it was a one-sided... slaughter!
It was destruction that was impossible to comprehend or resist. Human technology, courage, sacrifice... all became laughable jokes before this twisted magic. He even felt his remaining sanity becoming chaotic and warped.
Was it truly going to end...? This thought pierced Luo Ji's consciousness like a venomous barb.
Just as he fell into despair and everyone's sanity and hope were compressed to the limit, a deafening roar suddenly echoed across the sky.
BOOM—!!!
A distinct, yet even more violent and undeniable colossal sound, carrying a thunderous shock, drowned out the noise of the battlefield!
It was the continuous, roaring sound of something breaking the sound barrier, like a giant dragon bellowing, produced when its outer material violently rubbed against the air while penetrating the atmosphere at extreme speed!
Luo Ji, sinking into despair, and everyone else on the battlefield, almost subconsciously looked up.
They saw that the clouds, which had been stained with uncanny colors by Tzeentch's magic, were suddenly and violently pierced by countless scorching 'meteors' trailing long tail flames. The number of these "Meteors" was immense and highly concentrated!
They roared, burned, and carried the aura of destruction, smashing down fiercely toward the battlefield like the Thunder Spears hurled by Zeus!
These objects piercing the atmosphere were neither missiles nor fighter jets.
But... The Emperor's Death Angels!
They have arrived!
This is… this is great!
Everyone, who had long fallen into despair, seemed to have been injected with a shot of adrenaline.
Including Luo Ji, they all harbored an indescribable excitement. Their persistence and sacrifice were not meaningless.
The Astartes, representing the Emperor's judgment, finally saw the weeping humans. The Angels… had arrived!
And Luo Ji, tightly gripping his lion sword, finally relaxed and let out a long breath.
"They made it…
"
Boom!
A huge roar echoed across the battlefield.
The first drop pod to fall smashed into the Chaos daemons' formation like a meteor.
Its immense impact, like a bulldozer sweeping all directions, instantly crushed several of the Chaos daemons' heavy artillery pieces and the surrounding screaming Daemons into pulp. As the terrifying airwave exploded in a ring, it kicked up dust nearly ten meters high.
Bang!
The moment the drop pod touched the ground, its doors, which enveloped the cabin, burst open like blooming lotus flowers.
Figures stepped out from the doors, massive like moving fortresses in the thick smoke and dust.
They wore heavy Power Armor, with glorious insignias engraved on their shoulders. Their deep black-green armor made them seem like Gods of Death reaping enemies on the battlefield. Each step they took made the earth tremble!
"For the Emperor!"
A cold, majestic, and powerful voice, processed through layers of filtering systems, boomed from the loudspeaker across the entire battlefield.
The leading black-armored Space Marine was the first to open fire on the daemons.
The roar of the bolter even suppressed the main guns of tanks. The massive bullet, accelerated like a rocket, shattered a Daemon's head.
Beside him, another Space Marine, wielding a continuously screaming Chainsword, roared as he tore through a daemon's flesh.
Krast, the last to step out of the drop pod, took a deep breath.
Hmm, good… this was the air, the familiar scent they knew.
Immediately after, he spotted a pink Daemon secretly trying to ambush him and casually punched it into a bloody pulp.
His gaze fell upon the battlefield, and the tactical system immediately locked onto the high-value target… Frederick Taylor!
"Purge the heretics! Cleanse the filth! Establish a quarantine zone!"
As a battle cry rang out, carrying an undeniable command, these Power Armored Space Marines displayed exceptionally refined tactical prowess. They seemed to be born for war, every movement,
every reload, and even every action, aimed at ending the war more efficiently and powerfully!
"This is the Adeptus Astartes, Chapter Master Krast of the Sons of the Forest. Establishing a new command link."
"From now on, I will take over battlefield command!"
A more undeniable voice directly intruded into the chaotic command system of the Asia-Pacific War Zone.
Under the stable communication established by the psyker Librarian, Krast unhesitatingly took over the command link, which was extremely important on the battlefield!
"Understood, this is Mount Tai Command. Command authority has now been transferred!"
"Seventh Armored Group Army of the Asia-Pacific War Zone, saluting you, Chapter Master Krast!"
"Ninth, Tenth, Thirteenth, and Seventeenth Air Squadrons of the Asia-Pacific War Zone, extending our highest respect to you, Chapter Master Krast!"
"Asia-Pacific War Zone fire Support, rocket Army forces, connected to the command link, awaiting your orders!"
Inside Krast's helmet, the holographic tactical screen was immediately marked with the coordinates of friendly legions, as well as their remaining strength, weapon systems, and so on. A series of lengthy and complex tactical intelligence was also summarized for him.
As a Chapter Master, taking over battlefield command when necessary is an essential skill every Chapter Master should learn.
And for him, it was naturally no problem.
These complex pieces of information, which would require a massive staff to analyze for mortals, were different for Space Marines.
The information processing speed of a Space Marine's brain is almost comparable to a computer.
Moreover, they were born for war!
In just a few seconds, Krast simultaneously commanded his squad to establish positions to resist the Chaos daemons and directed the human legions in their deployment.
The situation was instantly reversed!
The human army's front lines, which were in peril under the frenzied assault of the Chaos daemons, gradually stabilized with the addition of the Astartes.
If not for the inappropriate environment, Luo Ji would have wanted to cheer loudly.
The previously arrogant Chaos daemon legion began to retreat steadily under the strike of this sudden, unimaginable force. The daemons, which humans found difficult to deal with, were like routine training in front of the Space Marines.
Simple, efficient!
These were the words Luo Ji could imagine to describe the Space Marines.
New forces also joined in the sky; these were the Space Marine Stormtroopers, assisting human fighters in defeating the Vortex Predators.
And the ground daemon legions were also sent scattering under the Space Marines' superhuman neural reflexes and strength.
But at this moment, Frederick Taylor, the psyker granted divine power by Tzeentch, once again aimed his evil sorcery at these Angels of the Emperor!
"Astartes, so what?!"
Although the sudden strike by the Astartes caused heavy losses to the Chaos daemon legion.
But, after all, they were old adversaries… Frederick Taylor put away the mockery in his eyes, showing a serious demeanor for the first time, and once again waved his Bone Crystal Staff.
"Hmph, it's too late… If they had arrived half an hour earlier, perhaps they would have had a chance to stop me, but now… let alone the Astartes, even if Emrys himself came, he wouldn't be able to stop me!"
This was by no means empty talk, nor was it a bluff… rather, he had this confidence!
Astartes, what could they do?
The demigods, who were supreme and invincible in the eyes of mortals, were nothing more than ants before a psyker!
Evil halos enveloped Frederick Taylor, and the huge daemon battle banner fluttered, once again injecting a surge of violent power into the demoralized Chaos daemons. Simultaneously, curses of weakness, slowness, and other afflictions also descended upon humans and the Astartes!
Feeling the curses of fatigue, weakness, and slowness on his body, Luo Ji finally realized that the enemy they faced was not an ordinary enemy.
But a… Tzeentchian Chosen, a powerful psyker!
This was like in a game: if a magic user was allowed to cast magic freely in the rear, even if their own legion's cooperation was tight and efficiency high, they would ultimately be unable to escape the fate of failure.
However, the Space Marines' reaction was quite surprising.
These Angels of the Emperor seemed to completely ignore this Tzeentchian psyker, who was clearly the greatest threat.
They had clear divisions of labor. After initially clearing the daemons on the front line, they did not blindly push further into the core area. Instead, with astonishing efficiency and discipline, they rapidly expanded outwards, forming a… encirclement!
"Third Squad, establish a defensive line!"
"First Squad, continue clearing heavy firepower targets!"
"Seventh Squad, suppress the right flank, purge any heretics attempting to approach!"
"Eighth Squad, clear the left flank, establish a fire support point!"
"Human legions, retreat ten kilometers!"
Krast issued commands in an orderly manner.
Although, these commands, in the eyes of the human legions and Luo Ji, were indeed somewhat incomprehensible.
Soon, the Space Marines constructed temporary defensive fortifications, forming a dense crossfire network with heavy bolters, assault cannons, and other weapons!
They precisely and efficiently shot down the daemons and mutated creatures within the encirclement!
Their objective was clear: blockade the entire battlefield, prevent the spread of Tzeentchian magic, and firmly confine the creations of Chaos to this area!
In the sky, Thunderhawk Gunships and Stormtroopers were also clearing the outer Chaos daemons with even fiercer firepower, completely seizing air superiority!
Seeing this, Luo Ji finally seemed to understand the Space Marines' intention.
They wanted to prevent the spread of contamination and establish a quarantine zone!
But what was the meaning of doing this?
If they didn't stop the psyker, even if a quarantine zone was established, it would eventually be overrun by the daemon legion!