Warhammer: Don't Call Me the God of All Machines

Chapter 528: Retreat! Retreat! (Please subscribe)
Even the most brave and fearless commander would be powerless when faced with a force a thousand times greater than his own.

This is no longer a disadvantage that can be compensated by so-called strategies or tactics. As long as the opponent puts its entire army on the line, all resistance will be destroyed immediately like a tsunami.

What's more, the enemy before them is a Queen of Glorious-class battleship like the Spirit of Vengeance. Although she is no longer the most advanced imperial battleship, everything is meaningless in the face of the absolute gap in numbers.

A Thundercloud-class planetary battleship can easily defeat a Glory Queen. When facing three Glory Queens, you need to be careful not to be surrounded by the enemy. When facing six Glory Queens, you can only choose to fight and retreat.

And when the gap expanded to ten ships, even the celestial battleships could hardly do anything about it.

"Six thousand Vengeful Spirits. Our fleet, including those battleships, cruisers, transport ships, and frigates, doesn't even have half of that number. How can we defeat them?"

Luo Xi said helplessly, his voice hoarse, like a dry traveler in the desert.

He was also very desperate. It was obvious that Horus was no longer able to play with it.

"Lion, retreat. We can't fight against this trump card of Horus. What if we put our entire fleet on it?"

"Returning to Terra and relying on Terra's defense to launch a counterattack is the option with the highest chance of winning."

"I don't believe that his 6,000 Spirits of Vengeance can appear in the real universe without limit. So what was he doing earlier? If he had summoned these warships earlier, there would have been no need for such a strenuous betrayal. Even the Great Crusade could not stop this kind of enemy."

Roxi really hoped that the Lion King would stop being stubborn. His battle with Horus had undoubtedly reached its final moment.

The two experienced a space naval battle, a brutal fight on Betagarmon II, and finally came to Betagarmon III to continue the unfinished war.

Lion defeated the enemy in the space naval battle, but was strategically transferred to World III by Horus, completed the sacrifice ceremony, and now summoned more than 6,000 Spirit of Vengeance battleships.

He knew well the lion's persistence and desire for victory, especially since his competitor this time was Horus, whom he had been thinking about all the time.

"Loch is right, Jonson... retreat before it's too late."

Russ, who was seriously injured, roared as loudly as he could. He didn't want his brother to be blinded by the desire to win and hatred.

Ryan remained silent, and no one knew what he was thinking under his cold appearance.

"Fortunately, we have recovered the Titan Corps and surface troops on World II. If they were still on the ground, we would really be out of time."

The lion suddenly raised his head, his eyes were clear and calm, and he didn't seem to be as stubborn as Luo Xi imagined.

"You worry too much. I never thought of fighting to the death with Horus here."

"Honor and the desire to win mean nothing to me."

"Before the war began, you elected me as the supreme commander and formulated Betagarmon's strategic goal - to stop the enemy and bleed them dry in this star region."

"We have already completed our mission in excess. There is nothing to linger on. All fleets must move out immediately, start the engines at full speed and retreat towards Terra."

Luo Xi looked at Ryan with some surprise, and couldn't believe that such words could be said by the stubborn and self-centered Caliban Knight.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Ryan spread his hands and actually made a joke for the first time. "I will do whatever it takes to achieve my goal, but I'm not a fool. I will still get hurt for meaningless things even though I know I'm going to die."

"My life belongs to something more important - loyalty. Dying in vain is not a sign of loyalty. It is just cowardice and stupidity. If the Emperor needs me to die, then I will never hesitate for a moment, but now the Empire needs me, and I cannot fall yet."

These words of Llane undoubtedly greatly changed Roche's impression of him, from the arrogant and conceited Llane Jonson in Macragge who always kept countless secrets, to the one who later went through untold hardships and finally returned to Terra, accepted the Emperor's commission and entrustment, and took on the heavy responsibility.

By now, Lion was no longer swayed by his emotions or likes and dislikes, becoming more of an exceptional commander. "So... let's retreat. We need to understand the extent of Horus's Dark Void's expansion and its weaknesses before making any plans."

Roche did not believe that there actually existed such a strange domain that could expand infinitely. After all, the real universe belonged to matter, and it would instinctively expel things that did not belong to it.

This is true for the Warp, and so is it for the Dark Void.

Under Roche's control and guidance, the huge fleet is changing direction at extraordinary speed and tacit coordination. They are carrying the vast majority of humans in this galaxy and are about to leave their homeland forever.

But not everyone left. Many mortal armies still remained in the positions on various planets. Some of them were unwilling to leave their homeland, while others did not catch up with the retreat sequence.

The dark void is continuing to expand. Even without a scanning array, one can see with the naked eye that an area filled with despair is covering the original sea of ​​stars.

Is Horus on the verge of death due to the old wound of the Spear of Dionysus? Will the dark void with Betagarmon III as its origin expand infinitely until it swallows up the entire galaxy?

No one knew, even Luo Xi felt confused and helpless about this.

Horus, or perhaps it should be said that the four gods behind him really couldn't afford to play with him. Realizing that the Warmaster might be about to fail outside the solar system, he simply turned the table over and started cheating.

"Those warships are exactly the same as the Spirit of Vengeance. They are filled with a sense of disorder and distortion of time and space, and there is also a hint of rust from Vashtor's dirty furnace. Perhaps they come from different timelines?"

"These evil gods can walk freely on the timeline. In fact, they have no concept of time. So we just need to salvage different warships on different timelines and gather them together. We should be able to gather 6,000 souls of vengeance."

Roxi could only guess in his mind, he had no way to confirm these things because what Horus released was completely unscientific.

The Dark Void quickly spread to the planet where the Titan's death occurred. The flames of the past war were still burning on the planet. The human hive world was burning like a giant torch. The promethium fuel and the evil fire of the warp were entangled with each other, forming a kind of psychic fire that would never go out.

The stacked remains of the Titans were buried by the wind and sand. Although many of these divine machines with extremely strong vitality had died, their bodies had not completely withered. Some plasma reactors and weapon systems were still in operation. Perhaps they would not be completely extinguished until a long time later.

The Anvil Orbital Defense System, which was destroyed by the rebels' explosion, is still bound to the sky by the electromagnetic tower, like a dying dragon, forcibly imprisoned and frozen on the eve of the crash.

But they no longer have a future. The dark void created by the blasphemous power from the warp has touched the planet, bringing eternal silence and darkness.

Whether it was the toxic gas and nuclear dust cloud that covered the sky, or the burning remains of the Titan, they were all swallowed up by the black domain. The huge planet disappeared without a trace as if it was swallowed by some indescribable monster.

"It seems that the oil guys will not have the chance to dig up the Titan's tomb here." Luo Xi looked at this scene and suddenly told a joke.

"My dear brother, your joke makes me feel like I'm back in Fenris. Uh, I mean... it's quite cold." Leman Russ held a barrel of Fenris mead, took a sip and complained.

The wolf king completely ignored Luo Xi's bulging expression. This guy was only one breath away from death, but he still couldn't help drinking the damn mead.

Countless Astartes and mortal soldiers crowded outside the warship's portholes, watching intently as the place where they once fought was swallowed up by the Warp.

There is nothing here, not even the bizarre and strange sights and creatures in the subspace.

Even the subspace is not so lifeless. In fact, the Sea of ​​Souls is far more lively than humans imagine.

Souls, emotions and fantasies from many worlds and universes merge here, interweaving into various incredible existences. Change is the essence of the subspace.

If the dark void released by Horus can really expand infinitely, perhaps this galaxy and this universe will enter a timeline other than entropy.

(End of this chapter)