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

Chapter 944 Ruth's Decision

There are countless heroes like Galad, brave and fearless, with extraordinary abilities, on the incredibly chaotic Void battlefield of the Eye of Terror.

However, even the most outstanding Space Marines, unless they reach the level of the Primarch, can only delay their death when faced with the endless stream of Warp Demons.

With Galad's death, his battle group was also declared to be on the verge of destruction.

The Dark Angels used every available force: relic weapons, war machines, all the Voidships, and their own lives, to forcefully halt the advance of the first wave of Warp Demons.

The demon army, like a tsunami, crashed into the rocks on the shore. Although the rocks were shattered, the tsunami's trajectory became increasingly dispersed, losing its destructive power.

All of this eventually came together and became yet another piece of the latest war intelligence for the Primarch.

On the holographic star map, the dark green markers that originally represented the thirteen Dark Angel battle groups on the first line of defense have now all turned into dazzling red afterimages.

They flickered a few times like candles in the wind, before finally being completely annihilated in the crimson tide representing the Chaos Army.

The intelligence officer's deep, solemn voice echoed in the vast command hall: "...Confirmed, all forward combat groups have lost signal. Those combat brothers have given their last loyalty to the Emperor."

The dark angels in the hall subconsciously lowered their breathing, and even the hum of the Thinker's computer seemed to subside.

Thirteen battle groups, tens of thousands of original Astartes, millions of loyal auxiliary troops, and countless war machines.

They were the sharpest spearhead of the First Legion, but in a short period of time, they were all lost on the edge of this battlefield of the Eye of Fear.

Standing before the holographic star map, Ryan Johnson's face was as smooth as if it had been sculpted from Caliban marble.

His deep eyes quickly scanned the changes in the enemy and friendly forces on the star map, calmly analyzing the situation.

"The sacrifices have been made, their struggles were not in vain, the momentum of the Chaos Vanguard has been dampened, and their offensive axis is showing a trend of dispersion, which has bought us more time to adjust our deployment."

The lion's voice was steady, without any emotional fluctuation, as if it were merely stating the result of a tactical deduction that had nothing to do with itself.

"To be loyal to the Emperor and humanity is the inherent glory of the Dark Angel."

However, Luther, standing behind Lane, keenly noticed those subtle details.

The years he spent with Lane were far longer than anyone could imagine.

He saw Ryan's fingers, covered in precision-engineered power armor, unconsciously tighten for a moment on the tactical tabletop armrest;
He saw a fleeting stiffness cross Ryan's broad shoulders;

He also saw a fleeting, subtle pain deep in Ryan's eyes as his gaze swept over the vanishing green dots.

Luther remained silent; he knew Lane better than he knew himself.

Ryan was not heartless; on the contrary, his Caliban knightly pride and sense of responsibility to the Legion's offspring far exceeded that of ordinary people.

He was simply used to locking all his emotions under the armor of cold reason and duty, like a wounded beast that would only choose to lick its wounds alone in a corner where no one could see it.

This unchanging commanding posture itself is a form of extreme repression.

“Command,” Ryan’s voice rang out again, breaking the silence and drawing everyone’s attention back to reality, “Second Sequence Combat Group, under the unified command of Astram.”

The holographic star map changed accordingly, with denser, darker green dots representing the second line of defense being marked and connected.

"The operational orders are as follows:"

"First, each combat group shall immediately depart to take over the original first line of defense and blockade area, and carry out mobile hunting and area encirclement and annihilation of the scattered enemy in the form of combat patrol formations."

"Second, the core of the operation will shift to 'flexible defense' and 'delayed operations'. Make full use of the lunar debris field, asteroid belt and pre-prepared minefields to carry out tiered blocking."

"Third, establish a real-time communication and coordination network with the combat white dwarf fortress and other combat planets. If you choose to evacuate, you can rendezvous with them on your own."

Ryan's orders were clear and precise, taking into account battlefield variables at every step. They gave frontline commanders sufficient autonomy while ensuring the achievement of strategic objectives—to continuously bleed the enemy while preserving the core strength of the First Legion to the greatest extent possible.

This is not a retreat, but a clenched fist that, after delivering a series of swift blows to the enemy, methodically retracts, preparing for the next, even more lethal strike.

“Luther,” he called, his voice low.

“I’m here.” Luther stepped forward.

"Inform Dorn that the pressure on the second and third lines of defense will increase significantly, and have his men prepare."

"clear."

Luther accepted the order and left. He knew that Ryan neither needed nor would accept any form of comfort.

All he could do was assist the lion and do his utmost to win the war, so that the souls that had perished would not have been sacrificed in vain.

……

"Lane's sons suffered heavy casualties under the onslaught of those damned demons."

“They are all good, but we Fenris are not cowards either. What the Caliban can do, we can do too!”

As the Primarch, Lemanrus also has the highest authority over battlefield information, and he can see the battle groups that the Dark Angels have arranged at the forefront of the battlefield dimming and going out one by one.

This means that tens of thousands of dark angels, as well as many more mortal warriors, have given their lives in this war.

Lemanrus admired their dedication, but at the same time, he also felt a strong competitive spirit.

Space Wolf and Dark Angel have always maintained a special relationship that is both adversarial and friendly.

What the Dark Angels can do, the Space Wolves can do too.

Now that the First Legion is shedding blood for humanity, the Sixth Legion naturally cannot allow the Sons of Ryan to enjoy this honor alone.

As the wolf king's roar echoed through the communication channel, all the space wolves howled in response to their lord.

"This is the great hunt that Ruth promised us."

"This is the great wolf moment!"

Beside the Wolf King, the ever-loyal Bjorn also set aside his maturity and composure, responding to Russ's howl.

“My lord, let us launch a full-scale attack! The waves of warp demons have already been broken up by the Dark Angels’ defenses. Now is the time to take advantage of the chaos and wreak havoc behind their backs!” Bjorn and several other wolf lords volunteered.

Rusmo caressed the Dionysian Spear that the Emperor had bestowed upon him. To be honest, he didn't like the weapon, but at this moment, he needed its immense power.

As one of the Primarchs who awakened the nature of the Warp, the Lord of Fenris possesses power far beyond what mortals can imagine.

When he unleashes the full power of his innate psychic abilities, all technological weapons, such as bomb guns and plasma pistols, become worthless, as they are not even as powerful as the psychic lightning that Ruth casually releases.

Even the melee weapons used by the Primarch, such as Ruth's Frostblade Battle Axe and the Siren's Devouring Chainsword, often cannot withstand the Primarch's immense power. Once too much power is injected, these pieces of equipment, made from mortal materials, will collapse and disintegrate.

Only the Spear of Dionysus, this powerful weapon forged by the Emperor himself, can perfectly contain Ruth's power and amplify his psionic amplitude.

In normal circumstances, Ruth would be able to handle most situations even without exerting his full strength.

But in this decisive battle where chaos has launched a desperate counterattack, any force that can be utilized should be firmly grasped and placed on the table as a trump card.

"Stay calm, Bjorn."

"Our three Astartes Legions are all on the first line of defense, and the Dark Angels are under the greatest pressure on this first line of defense, followed by the Iron Hands. Our Space Wolves' biggest mission is to find the enemy's weak point and break their spine!"

"We cannot act rashly before finding the high-value targets hidden within the Chaos Army, otherwise we will be wasting our strength."

Ruth stared intently at the tactical star map, and combined it with the war intelligence transmitted by Ryan, analyzing the enemy's next move and strategic intentions.

"The demonic armies of the four Chaos Gods have all gathered together, forming a united force to launch an attack on us."

"Such a large-scale troop movement must have a unified brain to command and control it; otherwise, the internal conflicts that erupt among them alone would be enough to bring them to a standstill."

"Our brain is Ryan, so who is the brain of the enemy?"

Ruth is also well-versed in the ways of war. Although he is not as good as Ryan, there are few people in the entire galaxy who can match Ryan's command ability.
He regained his composure, undisturbed by external pressures, and devoted himself almost entirely to the analysis.

"Who exactly is commanding the Chaos army? The chief archdaemon of the four gods? Chaos Warmaster Abaddon? Or those traitorous Primarchs?"

Understanding the enemy commander is arguably one of the top five most important aspects of warfare. After all, knowing this allows us to indirectly determine the enemy's tactical style and personal habits, and thus predict the next phase of the war.

"It can't be Abaddon. That guy came from the Shadowmoon Wolf Legion. Even though he has now founded the Black Legion, the mark left on him by Horus in the past is not so easy to wash away."

Ruth quickly flipped through the information about the skirmishes transmitted from the Dark Angels, searching for clues in the enemy's movements.

"No particularly obvious traces of decapitation tactics were found in the warship clusters that fell to the Chaos Demon Army's attack."

The enemy seems to prefer using warp magic to forcibly disrupt the Geller Force and open teleportation portals, then allowing their demonic army to directly enter the warships and wreak havoc.

"It wasn't that damned Hydra, Omega either. After the annihilation of the cult, he disappeared with Abaddon and seems to have distanced himself from the conflict, no longer interfering in the war between humanity and the warp."

"If it were him, his signature infiltration and sabotage tactics would have been discovered, rather than this simple, crude, and low-tech assault."

Ruth muttered to himself, and Bjorn and the others around him followed the Primarch's line of thought and soon came to a similar conclusion.

"As for the chief demons of the four gods, the chances are even lower. It would be extremely difficult to get one of them to completely subdue the other three."

So... there's only one answer left.

Ruth breathed a sigh of relief, confirming the idea in her mind.

Seeing that his genetic father seemed to have relaxed, Bjorn also shared his conjecture.

"Is it that traitor Primarch, Loka Aurelion, my lord?" Ruth smiled. There were quite a few clever people among the Space Wolves, and Bjorn's judgment was not unexpected.

"I'm 80% sure it's that bastard. Only he has the qualifications and the ability to command those damned Chaos Demons."

"After all, my traitorous brother is best at manipulating psionic energy and sorcery, and then using the power of the warp to help him achieve his goals."

"Once we find him and cut off his head, those Chaos Demons will inevitably erupt into chaos."

"Order is not a concept for them. These monsters, born from the emotional waves of the warp, are essentially the embodiment of chaos."

“This would be an incredibly risky operation, my lord.” When Bjorn heard Russ’s idea to behead Luo Jia, although he also wanted to do so, reason led him to offer a word of advice.

"Those waves of warp demons are surging forth from the deepest part of the Eye of Terror."

We have no idea where Luo Jia is hiding. He might still be lurking deep within the warp, using psionic magic to spy on the outside world, and then using those endless demons to wear us down.

Bjorn's concerns were very valid, and Russ understood that they were not unfounded.

"But some risks are destined to be borne by someone. The three Astartes Legions are standing on the first line of defense. Although there won't be any problems in the short term, the longer it drags on, the more passive we will become."

"We don't know where Luojia is, so why don't we ask those who might know?"

After the Wolf King finished speaking, he immediately summoned all the rune priests around him and had them begin to divine the location of the enemy's vital points.

"As for myself, I will inquire about the attitude of the Father. Although the power of the God-Emperor is firmly restrained by the Four Gods in the depths of the subspace, it does not mean that He is unable to provide revelation and response."

Ruth then returned to his throne, which was covered with thick fur, held the Spear of Dionysus to his chest, took a sip of mead, and fell into a deep sleep.

He wanted to enter a state of deep sleep, in that ethereal realm, to establish a closer connection with the God Emperor.

King Fenris snored loudly, and hundreds of experienced rune priests began their divination and prophecy amidst the snores of Ruth.

They took out various ancient ritual bone artifacts, pottery, and wooden objects carved with runes, chanting ancient songs of Fenris and making devout calls to the world spirit of Fenris.

The Eye of Fear isn't actually that far from Fenris, and the abundance of psionic energy here makes it much easier for rune priests to perform spells and divination.

As the psionic rituals of hundreds of rune priests gradually began, an ancient and primal consciousness slowly pulsed deep within the vast warp.

It was not born from pure physical laws, but rather from the reverence and prayers of countless generations of Fenris' people for the harsh nature: the sky, the sea, and the ice and snow, nurtured into a warp entity—the Spirit of Fenris.

Its thinking is as slow as a frozen glacier, and its consciousness is as blurry and complex as a pervasive blizzard.

When the ancient chants and psionic calls of the rune priests pierced the clamor of the warp, like familiar horns entering its chaotic senses, this vast and sluggish consciousness was awakened once more.

Not long ago, when Lothie and the others went to Fenris to contain the Burner's fragments, it briefly awoke and tried to stop the humans' dangerous actions, but with Lemanrus's assurance, it tolerated the humans taking the Star God's fragments.

This interval was almost an instant to the spirit of Fenris, and now it has received the call of its people again.

It was not angered by the disturbance, but rather, like a wild beast sensing the cry for help from its cubs, it followed its deepest instincts and responded to the rune priests' prayers.

The children want to know... where the enemy's leader is...

The thought arose in the consciousness of Fenris's spirit, and it immediately sent an invisible force into the boiling tide of demons at the edge of the Eye of Terror.

Although instinctively it did not want to get involved in this dangerous war, it was willing to try for the sake of its people.

Its methods were primitive and direct; the spirit of Fenris easily seized several demonic entities that were roaming in the warp.

Even in the warp, the Spirit of Fenris is a powerful being. The faith of the Fenris people and the space wolves for generations has nurtured its essence and given it immense power.

Faced with this ancient being, whose size far exceeded their own and which exuded a savage and oppressive aura, these low-ranking demons felt the most primal fear.

Warp creatures prey on each other, and devouring is almost commonplace, but these warp entities soon realized that the Spirit of Fenris did not seem to want to eat them.

It simply wanted to ask a few questions about the horrific war that erupted in the Eye of Fear.

The warp entities shrieked and scrambled to reveal all they knew: they were servants who had answered the call of the Great Four to fight at the edge of the Eye of Terror.

The Four Gods have announced that anyone who contributes to the war, whether through killing, spreading fear, or completing specific tasks, will receive blessings and rewards from the Chaos Gods.

The Spirit of Fenris obtained this information and then crushed these weak warp entities.

How could something that could be worshipped by the Fenrisians be a benevolent being? Once it has no further use, it is naturally destroyed.

However, it obtained far too little information. So, the spirit of Fenris clumsily imitated the appearance of those demons, trying to conceal its enormous presence as much as possible, and then blended into the torrent of demons that was gathering and surging toward the battlefield.

It wanders through the chaotic demonic frenzy, searching for fragments of information that may or may not be useful.

Finally, after it had destroyed countless subspace entities, countless fragments of information slowly converged into a relatively clear coordinate system within its primordial consciousness.

I've found Luojia... Aurelion's location.

The Spirit of Fenris relayed the information it had gathered directly back to the Rune Priest via a psionic communication, while its curiosity was piqued, and it continued its journey toward the place where the demons had gathered.

……

Meanwhile, Lemanrus, seated on his throne, had already sunk into a deep sea of ​​dreams.

His dream was not peaceful and serene; all around him were churning blocks of color and noise representing the power of the four chaotic gods.

They are like thick walls, attempting to isolate and distort any attempt to penetrate them and make contact with the God-Emperor.

Ruth held fast to her mind, relying on pure willpower and the essential power of the Primarch to carve a narrow path through this filthy psionic storm.

"Father……"

He made a silent call in his dream.

"I need to find the enemy's leader. Tell me, is it Luo Jia? And where is he?"

The dream began to fluctuate violently, and the four gods seemed to sense a force probing the truth, so they exerted even greater pressure.

Ruth saw Fenris burning under the ravages of demons, saw the Space Wolves fighting to the death in the endless tide of demons, and saw Luo Jia on the distant other side, weaving a ritual of destruction with a mocking smile...

"Get out of my way!" Ruth's dream avatar roared, and the Spear of Dionysus shone with pure golden light in the dream, dispelling the illusions that tried to shake his will.

He held fast to his belief in the Emperor, a belief that acted as a stabilizing force, preventing his consciousness from getting lost in the waves of the Warp.

Suddenly, all the noise and disturbances receded like the tide.

At the heart of the dream, a glimmer of light appeared.

The light was initially faint, like a candle flickering in the wind, but it quickly stabilized and grew stronger, eventually transforming into a magnificent figure burning with golden flames that defied description.

Ruth couldn't see the God Emperor's face clearly, but he felt boundless majesty and a deep, infinite love for the human race.

The Wolf King vaguely heard the God Emperor's reply.

"Yes."

A single word confirmed the goal.

Immediately afterwards, a stream of information flowed into Ruth's consciousness. It wasn't a detailed map, but a strong sense of direction, a feeling that could be called "intuition."

It felt like a pack of wolves in a blizzard suddenly smelling the scent of a particular prey that had inadvertently been emitted.

This feeling was fleeting; clearly, even for the God Emperor, maintaining this communication that had penetrated the Four Gods' blockade was no easy task.

……

Lemanrus suddenly opened his eyes, his chest heaving violently, as if he had just fought a fierce battle.

The aroma of mead around the throne had not yet dissipated, but his eyes were already clear and resolute.

He took a deep breath, feeling the incredibly clear sense of direction in his mind, and immediately felt at ease.

Almost simultaneously, the rune priest in charge of the ceremony strode forward, his face a mixture of exhaustion and excitement.

"My lord, the Spirit of the World has responded to us. It has provided coordinates pointing to the command center of the demon legion, and the enemy leader has been confirmed as Loka Aurelion!"

Ruth stood up, the Dionysian Spear humming softly in his hand.

He glanced at the rune priest before him, then looked around at the wolf lords awaiting orders, and a relieved smile appeared on his face.

“Very good, the Spirit of the World and the All Father are pointing to the same goal.”

"Then what we need to do next is very simple."

The Wolf King raised the Spear of Dionysus high, its tip pointing directly at a certain area on the star map.

"Assemble the fleet! All operational ships, proceed to target location!"

"You wolf cubs, put away your playful thoughts and sharpen your fangs and claws!"

He roared, his voice carrying across the entire Space Wolf Fleet via the communications network.

"The time for the hunt has come! We will cut off Luo Jia's head amidst the enemy ranks, for our father! For Fenris! For all the fallen heroes!"

"Let's begin this—great final hunt!"

(End of this chapter)