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

Chapter 820 Victory on the Western Front
"I need a completely affirmative answer as to whether the source of that particular energy fluctuation can be confirmed."

"If that really is the fluctuation of a star god, then the forces we have deployed now will be far from sufficient to deal with the situation."

“The Star God fragments that are not under containment and monitoring pose a far greater threat than a mere Kork orc.”

"I need to report to the Emperor and request that more containment forces be dispatched to imprison that damned Star God fragment."

While the orcs were engaged in fierce fighting on the surface of the battle planet, General Claudius, who was remotely observing the battle from within the World Engine, was deeply troubled by the Star God Probe screaming wildly beside him.

As a crowned general of the Nihilarchian dynasty, Claudius always looked down on other races with a superior attitude.

The Eldar were nothing more than a dying race clinging to life, the ancient Orcs degenerated into savage greenskins, and humanity also perished in the Age of Conflict. Just when there were signs of a resurgence, the Horus Rebellion dragged them back into the abyss.

But Claudius understood one fact: the pride of the Necromancers was a joke to the Star Gods.

Even if they once held the position of galactic overlords, the space necromancers could never wash away the mark of being slaves to the star gods.

As long as they continue to use living metal bodies, they have not severed their shameful past.

The coldness of the living metal constantly reminded him that they were flesh-and-blood beings who feared death, not some kind of space undead.

They surrendered to the Star God in order to survive and became his slaves, and the living metal body was, in a sense, a slave collar.

The vengeful slaves, burning with rage, shattered most of the star gods into pieces.

They used every means at their disposal to turn these fragments of the Star God, which contained endless energy, into weapons, or simply as batteries.

The world engine in which General Dai Guan is currently located is powered by a fragment of a star god.

All space necromancers share an absolute consensus: they must ensure that every fragment of the Celestial God is under their absolute control.

Once the Star God fragment is freed, its instincts will drive it to search for other fragments at all costs and to make itself more complete.

A complete Star God and a Star God fragment are two completely different concepts.

The two sides are not only vastly different in terms of strength, but also have a huge gap in terms of intelligence.

The reason why the Necromancers of the Space were able to deal with those Star God fragments so easily was because these fragmented pieces had a severely diminished level of intelligence.

Driven mad by the fragmentation, the Star God fragments can only blindly attack any enemy they see, completely unaware of the necromantic contingency plans being laid by the space necromancers.

They could leisurely set up the Hypercube Maze in advance, and then use bait to lure the Star God fragments into the trap. This process was as simple as catching a rabbit.

The shattered fragments of the Star God are truly foolish; they have lost most of their intelligence, but they have inherited all of their arrogance.

However, the vessel of the Star God's power that appeared on the battle planet clearly possessed an absurdly high level of intelligence.

General Dai Guan speculated that the fragment might have originated from some cunning Star God, such as the Deceiver Murphy Torran, who, even in his broken state, was a hundred times smarter than his other kin.

This guy even knows how to conceal his tracks, hiding his true form inside an Astartes and walking as a human.

Furthermore, that fragment of the Star God even created a fully-fledged Astartes Legion and a controllable Iron Man Legion through its own vessel.

The fact that this fragment of the Star God could accomplish all of this means that its level of intelligence surpasses that of most life forms—that much is beyond doubt.

Claudius knew nothing about this; there was no information informing him of the existence of such a fragment of a star god.

This feeling of complete ignorance caused General Dai Guan's mind processor to generate a simulated emotion called fear.

"I should probably thank these green-skinned orcs. If it weren't for their trouble, this fragment of the Star God might have remained hidden."

Claudius's voice grew louder and louder, eventually turning into a hysterical roar.

His chief of staff, Sanders, stood silently to the side, expressionless like a statue, serving as the crowned general's only listener.

"By the time we realized something was wrong, it had probably become highly complete, freed the other Star God fragments, and gained the support of allies with a common enemy."

"Most of our dynasty is still asleep. In this state, we will pay a heavy price for the counterattack and revenge of a highly complete star god!"

“Then we should act immediately and kill and contain everyone on that battle planet: beasts, humans, and those suspected to be fragments of the Star God.”

Beside the crowned general, the living metal face of the coffin guard captain, Sanders, slowly writhed, coalescing into a fanatical expression.

War was the only thing that could cause him emotional fluctuations, even if those fluctuations were just simulated.

General Dai Guan, on the other hand, looked speechless.

“My mistake, Sanders, I shouldn’t have let you offer your ideas.”

"You never think about anything outside of war. What would happen if we wiped out those Astartes right now?"

Sanders showed no displeasure; on the contrary, he was proud of it.

"My lord, that is your duty, not mine. The Coffin Guard is only concerned with protecting your safety and eliminating even stronger enemies."

General Dai Guan waved his hand, signaling the man to shut up.

Even if we have undergone physical transformation and lost our flesh and soul, your mouth can still make me feel angry and helpless.

"I really should thank you. Your existence has reduced my risk of data loss and dementia by 12.6 percentage points."

"We can't really offend those human allies, at least we can't give them any leverage they can't shake off."

"We still need their spark to restore the soul of our people."

"If they refuse to let us use the Fire Source again, then the overlords of countless dynasties and the French Emperor will tear us to shreds!"

“Then we’ll just rob it. With our strength, it’s not impossible,” Sanders continued.

"What if they'd rather destroy the AllSpark or throw it into the warp? What should we do then?"

"Do you have the ability to stop them, my dear comrade?"

Claudius's question silenced Sanders.

He was arrogant and held humanity, a young race, in utter contempt.

However, he also knew that although human history was short, it was a race that was not lacking in courage.

Humanity has done far too many things that result in mutual destruction.

"The best option now is to remain still, since we already know about the existence of that cunning Star God fragment."

"Its biggest mistake was that it was exposed too early. If it had remained lurking in the shadows, it would have caused us even more trouble."

"We can proceed gradually and look for an opportunity to capture and contain that Star God fragment."

"We...wait, those damned Ork are coming for us!"

Before General Dai Guan finished speaking, numerous virtual alarm projections appeared in the sky above the World Engine Throne Hall.

The tomb engineers quickly analyzed the curvature of the surrounding space and discovered that several battle planets were approaching them.

The Orcs had more than one battle planet on the western front; each beast-level Orc warlord had his own battle planet.

The western front was simply too vast, and even the orcs' massive military force had to face the inevitable need to divide their forces.

Now, the other Ork war planets have gathered together, clearly intending to fight to the death, either annihilating the space undead and humans, or suffering a complete defeat on the western front.

"These dead survivors who want to challenge us should know that failure is their inevitable fate."

General Dai Guan brandished his weapon and gave the order to engage the world engine.

"Destroy them!"

The world engine belonging to the Necromancer in space adjusted its course and charged headlong into the battle planet that was jumping into the physical universe.

……

Danteok's gaze was fixed on the distant World Engine, his instincts beginning to warn him: a fragment of one of his own kind was suffering endless torment inside the World Engine.

That was a fragment of another Star God, but not a powerful Star God like the Nightbringer, the Void Dragon, or the Burner.

There is an unseen sense between the star gods, and Danteok knew that the other had also discovered him and was constantly sending him distress signals.

Danteok suppressed the urge in his heart. The Overlord Zahurash seemed to want to devour the Star God fragment; it had long since gone mad in its desire to become whole again.

He wasn't sure if Zahurash would be able to regain his will if he were to become whole.

So Danteok rejected the call without hesitation, pretending he knew nothing.

“I am human, a pure human. If you think of me as one of your own kind, you’ve got the wrong person.”

Danteok put aside his distractions and continued to focus his attention on the battlefield before him.

As a close ally of Adam, Danteok relinquished the opportunity to fight the beast one-on-one.

After a century of learning and progress, the Iron Man leader is no longer the same as before. He holds the Star God Phase Sword in his right hand and attacks the beast like a storm of blades.

Adam learned combat skills from Primarchs such as Lane Johnson, Chagatai Khan, and San Gilles, the most important of which was naturally the Primarch's swordsmanship.

Although Adam in the past was able to perfectly replicate their swordsmanship thanks to his unparalleled learning ability.

But just as Chagatai Khan commented, Adam's swordsmanship, though a perfect imitation, still lacked spirit.

He is still just mechanically imitating, without developing his own style and system.

But after a century of reflection and struggle, Adam has developed his own unique fighting style.

The beastly warlord wielded a giant axe, his savage green muscles unleashing brutal power, while Adam used the thrusters mounted on his back and limbs to move around with incredible agility.

Compared to the human body, Adam's body was characterized by its extreme plasticity and variability.

This also means that his movement and combat skills are more flexible, versatile, and unrestrained.

On his shoulders, two plasma cannons continuously released ultra-high temperature plasma, and the beast, without the protection of power armor, could only use his own flesh to withstand the bombardment of plasma.

The plasma cannon, which does not overheat, has an exceptionally terrifying destructive power; even tough-skinned wild beasts are forced to flee in terror after being blasted.

Adam's true killing move, however, is the Star God Phase Sword that flashes in his hand.

This truly indestructible weapon can easily tear through the tough skin and muscles of wild beasts, and even the hardest bones cannot withstand its blade.

Adam's strength far exceeded the wild beasts' imagination. This iron man, less than half the height of the orc warlord, could squeeze out enough power from the reactor to rival the wild beasts.

The beast tried to lock the damned enemy in place with its body, but the enemy was too fast, its agility exceeding the beast's control.

Every part of Adam's body can generate a thruster, so his displacement is completely unpredictable.

After several rounds of fighting, the beast deliberately created an opening to lure Adam closer.

Even as the Star God Phase Sword pierced his abdomen, he was determined to pull Adam into his arms and completely lock the slippery worm in place.

The beast's eyes were filled with bloodlust and madness. He gripped the iron man's body tightly, trying to crush the metal body with his savage violence.

Even a knight mech can be crushed into a discus; this is pure physical strength.

However, Adam's body melted away like water the instant it was imprisoned, easily breaking free from the beast's deadly embrace.

Adam then dragged the Astral Phase Sword and ripped a huge gash into the beast's abdomen.

The beast was almost disemboweled alive; the muscles and skin from its lower left abdomen to the middle were completely torn open, and its internal organs were cut into a pile of rotten mud.

The intense pain made the orc warlord roar even more fiercely. His fighting power did not decrease in the slightest; on the contrary, he became even more powerful in his rage.

The beast casually stuffed its spilled internal organs back in with its left hand, and then the flesh and skin began to heal at a visible speed.

He seems to be the embodiment of the brutal concept of Ok, a perfect combination of the ferocity of Gary and the cunning of Mao.

Adam raised his left hand and quickly conjured a heavy explosive cannon.

One after another, scorching metal armor-piercing bullets were fired into the beast's chest, but the orc warlord fearlessly withstood them with his own body.

However, one of the armor-piercing rounds suddenly exploded, scattering countless ashes of the untouchable, which immediately greatly interfered with the beast's waaagh energy.

Adam lunged forward again and severed the opponent's right knee with his sword. The enormous creature lost its balance and was forced to fall to the ground.

The beast used its giant axe for support, barely managing to stand. Affected by the untouchable ashes that Adam had placed there, its healing process was much slower, and blood was still dripping from its wounds.

The ancient giant legions, the Titan legions, and the newly joined giant iron men clashed together.

Although the Titans were very unaccustomed to fighting alongside unfamiliar allies, this discomfort quickly dissipated with the Iron Men's proactive cooperation. The ancient junk army was falling at a visible rate; the destruction caused by their reactor explosions even killed many Ork on the battlefield.

However, inspired by the fierce and unyielding beast warlords, none of the Ork people present lost their fighting spirit; instead, they launched an even more ferocious attack on the humans.

Space Marines like Astram and Bjorn had to temporarily set aside their idea of ​​beheading the beast and organize the Legion to block the fierce counterattack from the Green Tide.

Seeing that Adam was also unable to quickly subdue the beast, Danteok immediately teleported in front of it.

The War Blacksmith threw a punch, and the beast was sent flying backward as if it had been hit by a Titan's power claw, becoming stuck firmly in the metal ruins.

The beast's body continued its frantic self-healing process, its broken bones and flesh being repaired in the blazing green flames.

Danteok's abilities greatly countered the beasts. Although this giant orc also possessed psionic powers, his greatest strength lay in his terrifying melee combat abilities.

It's fair to say that even if Guilliman or Vulcan came, they wouldn't get the upper hand against the beasts.

The oppressive aura emanating from this ten-meter-tall giant orc completely surpassed that of the knight mech, giving the impression of being as terrifying as a miniature bio-terrorist titan.

However, close combat requires the enemy to close the distance. Faced with Danteok's ability to manipulate the curvature of space, the beasts couldn't even get close to them.

With a swift movement, Danteok lifted the beast off the ground. Adam then activated his own engine, wielding the Celestial Phase Sword, and cleanly severed the behemoth's limbs.

Arms and legs weighing several tons fell from the sky, making a dull thud when they hit the ground.

Even the limbs of the beast separated from its body were still moving instinctively, with the broken muscles constantly twitching and writhing.

The beast continued to struggle, desperately drawing upon the waaagh energy of the other orcs around him.

However, due to the initial attack by the Iron Legion summoned by Danteok and the Steel of Nirvana, the crazy boys and orc shamans suffered heavy losses.

The green psionic flames on his body burned fiercely, but he was never able to break free from Danteok's control and confinement.

If the Beast were at its peak, and had the help of the mad boy and the shaman, his psychic power would be able to completely resist Danteok's ability to manipulate matter.

However, there are no "what ifs" in the world. The repeated bloody battles were not without their effects on the beast, and his condition had been greatly weakened.

Danteok originally wanted Adam to behead the beast to prevent it from rising again.

But then he thought about it and realized that a live wild animal was definitely more valuable than a dead one.

So he opened his own dimensional space and threw the giant orc, which had been shaved into a human stick, into it.

"The beast is dead!"

The Orcs instantly felt the connection with the beasts severed; they could no longer feel their leader's surging, passionate waaagh.

Fear struck instantly, overwhelming the orcs' reason.

Adam, meanwhile, raised the beast's severed right hand, his massive battle axe still gripped tightly by the spasming muscles of his hand.

"The beast is dead!"

Adam, holding the severed hand, started the engine on his back and quickly began spreading the message across the battlefield.

The Orcs couldn't shake their instinct to rely on their leader. Their waaagh quickly faded, and they went from being fearless to becoming timid and cowardly.

The Gorgon Ironfist roared like a behemoth as it led the other Titans, in coordination with the giant iron warriors, to crush the chaotic defensive line of ancient debris.

Astram and Bjorn, along with other high-ranking commanders of the Astartes Legion, seized this rare opportunity and ordered their Space Marines to launch a full-scale attack to annihilate the large Orc army.

With the beasts defeated, the Ork have lost their most important organizational strength.

Even if they still have a lot of troops, they are now a disorganized mess and not worth worrying about.

The orcs were in disarray; unable to withstand the human onslaught, they turned and fled once fear took hold.

Even though a few orc commissars are still trying to control the situation, it is all in vain until a second beast-level warlord appears.

Astram did not personally lead the Astartes in pursuit; instead, he and Bjorn blocked the path of Danteok and Iron Adam.

Before they could even speak, Danteok's gaze turned to a certain direction on the battlefield.

The war blacksmith reached out his hand, and there stood before him the steel saint, Mel Ian, who was lying in an ambulance on life support.

The Iron Hand was severely injured by the beast and was almost dead. If it weren't for his highly mechanized body, he would probably be dead by now.

Danteok borrowed some living metal from the war-type iron man next to him and injected it into Mel's body.

He simply stared calmly at Mel, and then, accompanied by a strange energy fluctuation, Mel's mechanically modified body seemed to come alive, quickly healing itself back to its original state.

Even the body of the Steel Father is more advanced and perfect than before.

"Now that you know my identity, I will no longer hide it from you."

"I am Danteok, the former war blacksmith of the Fourth Legion, and now the commander of the Nirvana Steel Legion."

"We remain loyal to the Emperor, but we no longer have our own Primarch."

"Do you have anything to ask me?" Danteok looked at Astram. He knew this renowned Dark Angel Commander, but the other party obviously didn't recognize him.

However, to Danteok's surprise, Astram simply shook his head silently.

“We have no right to question you, Danteok,” the Dark Angel said. “I don’t know what happened to you, but it’s true that you helped us kill the beast.”

"As long as you remain loyal to the Emperor and humanity, I will not pry into your little secrets."

Everyone has secrets, and neither you nor I are exceptions.

"The battle planet has fallen, our war on the western front is over, and now it's time to join forces with the legions on the southern front to launch an assault on the heart of the orcs."

"When they meet the Primarch, they will see you in person. You can explain your situation then."

Astland's level of understanding left Bjorn, who was standing nearby, looking like he'd never seen a ghost.

When did these Sons of Ryan become so easy to talk to?
These guys are notoriously domineering; the First Legion doesn't need to consider other people's opinions when making decisions.

However, in Astland's heart, things were not as relaxed as they appeared.

He now clearly understands that the individual strength displayed by Danteok, as well as the power behind him, has exceeded the limits of what he can handle.

If too many questions are asked, or if the confrontation is too aggressive and offends Danteok, they might immediately break apart from this cooperative relationship.

Astland wouldn't do something so foolish. Even if he wanted to investigate the matter, he would have to wait until after the war.

Is your guarantee sufficiently effective?

Danteok looked into Astram's eyes and asked in a deep voice.

The Dark Angel did not answer immediately. He operated the Thinker computer on his wrist, and a holographic projection of Luther, the commander of the Western Front, appeared before him.

“I am Luther.”

"I guarantee that I will not launch an attack against you before the war ends."

“I know there are many suspicious things about you: your extraordinary power, the close relationship between the unfamiliar legion called the Steel of Rebirth behind you and the former Steel Warriors…”

"But right now, we are going through a war with foreign powers, so all these internal conflicts can be put aside for the time being."

"Let's take care of those damned orcs first, then we can deal with our internal problems."

Luther's attitude was obvious, and Danteok agreed.

In space, Luther was also directing his fleet to annihilate the Ork spaceships.

One after another, panicked orc warships were violently destroyed by the Imperial Navy's firepower.

Their debris collided and rubbed together, tearing into even smaller pieces of space junk, and then riddling more orc warships with holes.

Some warship wreckage, upon approaching the combat planet, were directly dragged by the immense gravity and plummeted towards the Earth's surface at breakneck speed.

Orc warships falling from the sky are more deadly than any orbital strike.

These warships, ranging from several kilometers to over ten kilometers in size, carry enormous kinetic energy. When they crash into the ground, all orcs within a radius of tens of kilometers will die.

The supersonic shockwave, like a model being toppled, completely reduced the Orc city to ruins. The intense heat melted rocks and metal, turning everything into a living hell.

"The fall of this battle planet is a foregone conclusion. We only need to buy some time to achieve victory."

"On the contrary, the world engine of that space necromancer seems to be in big trouble."

Luther's attention shifted to the other side, where he witnessed two more battle planets burst out of the warp and charge straight at the World Engine.

The crowned general claimed that the damaged world engine immediately launched a counterattack, with Gaussian rays powerful enough to annihilate stars crisscrossing the universe.

The Orcs, facing the World Engine's counterattack, did not dodge or evade at all; they propelled the battle planet to launch a devastating impact on the space undead.

The two sides were too close, so even if the world engine wanted to dodge, it would have no chance at all.

A battle planet collided with the world engine, and the two races' most powerful space fortresses erupted in blinding flames, deciding the victor in the most savage way.

When the light from the explosion faded, Luther saw that the shield of the World Engine had shattered, and the battle planet had been smashed to pieces.

Battle planets are war fortresses built using natural celestial bodies. They cannot break free from the original planetary framework and are naturally the first to break.

The other combat planet maintained its distance, using the opportunity created by the sacrifice of its comrades to unleash its full firepower on the World Engine.

"Fortunately, these Ork Orcs are only targeting the Space Necromancers. We are already struggling to deal with just one battle planet. If we were to deal with so many battle planets at the same time, we would probably have already been defeated."

"The Space Necromancers are truly our loyal allies; perhaps I've misunderstood General Dai Guan."

Luther's tone carried a hint of mockery, and Lieutenant Garland even sensed a certain hidden wickedness.

“General Dai Guan told us that their world engine malfunctioned during the previous war.”

"We all know this is just an excuse from the space necromancers. They don't want to see us make too much progress. They might even be thinking of showing their strength after we are defeated."

Luther was also cunning and shrewd; the necromancer's schemes did not escape his notice.

The reason he didn't say it was because it wouldn't make a difference; there was indeed a huge qualitative gap between humanity's war power and that of the space undead.

If the two races go to war, humanity's only advantage is its immense size, which it can use to overwhelm the space undead with sheer numbers.

But now, Claudius's words seem to have come true.

The Ork Orcs went berserk and attacked the World Engine, almost to the point of mutual destruction, dragging them down to hell with them.

Even if the world engine's combat power does indeed surpass that of the combat planet, it is still no match for the opponent who is fighting desperately.

Large numbers of Orcs, aboard their warships and giant rock drop pods modified from meteorites and asteroids, launched a boarding attack on the World Engine.

The Necromancers' graveyard ships and the Heavenly Punishment-class giant cruisers sped through space.

The crescent-shaped hull, like a scythe, forcefully rammed into the orc warships, its weapon systems at the front continuously firing gauss rays and death ray cannons to destroy the orc army.

The black stone structures on the surface of the World Engine suffered heavy blows from the orcs.

Even knowing they were doomed, the Orcs still sought to wreak havoc and exact revenge on these damned space undead.

"We don't need to get involved in their fight."

"Tell General Dai Guan that our warships were severely damaged while fighting the combat planet and are temporarily unable to provide support."

Luther resent Claudius's perfunctory reply to the World Engine, and the anger in his heart vanished instantly.

General Dai Guan did not reply to the humans. They were too preoccupied with the Ork to bother with the humans.

An extremely bizarre battle situation has emerged within the Black Rock Rift space:

Human warships and ground forces are destroying a battle planet, while the remaining orcs seem oblivious, relentlessly attacking the space necromancer's world engine.

This war finally came to an end after half a month in Terra.

The Necromancer's world engine suffered severe damage, but it finally managed to completely annihilate the Orcish battle planet that had been chasing it.

Meanwhile, Luther had already led his legion, along with the forces led by Danteok, into the depths of the Ghoul Stars.

Once the western front is decided, the human armies on both fronts will converge and march straight to the Ork homeworld to end this war.

(End of this chapter)