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

Chapter 946 The Sacrifice Ritual and the Arrival of the Wolf King

"It's a pity, it's a pity."

"The souls of those dark angels were taken away by the God-Emperor at the moment of their death. We can only obtain their flesh and blood, as well as the genetic seeds contained within them."

"Otherwise, my sacrificial ritual would have been even more perfect, drawing upon even greater power from the warp. Right now, with only the gene seed... it's barely feasible."

"By then, neither the three Astartes Legions blocking our way nor the void fortresses called Battle Planets that are backing us up will be able to stop our offensive."

Deep within the Eye of Fear lies a corrupt and decadent world of demons.

This planet, which was pulled into the Eye of Fear long ago, has long since lost its original form and physical laws.

On the land where dark red and purplish-black intertwine, there are fleshy plains everywhere that writhe like entrails, while in the sky, an energy vortex composed of pure malice and madness eternally rotates.

Twisted, shrill vegetation stretched out of the ground like tentacles, and the air was filled with a blasphemous stench of sulfur, rotting flesh, and incense.

Here, the structure of reality is as thin as a cicada's wing, and the power of the subspace is like a real storm, never-ending.

At the heart of this nightmare realm stands the Dark Temple of Loka Aurelion, his core of power and sanctuary of blasphemy.

The temple itself was forcibly cast from countless corrupted boulders, twisted metals, and the remains of victims.

Its spire pierces the murky sky, its outline constantly shifting in subtle ways, as if switching between existence and illusion.

Stepping inside the temple, the sight was enough to drive any rational being completely insane.

The ground was paved with tightly stitched skulls, still dripping with viscous blood. Faint embers of souls flickered in the hollow eye sockets of these skulls, and their jaws opened and closed silently, as if eternally chanting some kind of dark prayer.

The walls were covered with writhing human entrails and twisted metal runes, outlining blasphemous reliefs depicting human depravity, the destruction of empires, and the chaotic truth.

The most striking feature inside the Dark Temple is the skeleton of giants, skinned and twisted together in a reverse joint position. Some of them are still wearing tattered power armor, and the distinctive sword wing insignia of the Dark Angels can still be vaguely discerned.

The remains of these Space Marines, recovered from the battlefield, knelt in the temple in an extremely humiliating manner, forced to bow their heads and submit completely to the chaotic eight-pointed star depicted in the sky.

The Great Word Bearer slowly took fresh, warm blood from a container held by his attendant and used a brush to draw blasphemous chaotic runes on the armor and corpses of these Astartes.

The deep chanting came from all directions; it was the endless chanting of the dark chapters of the Book of Words by countless believers of the Word and demons. Their voices twisted and overlapped, forming a constantly echoing harmony.

After demonstrating a few times, Luo Jia handed the brush to the attendant.

"Faust, the rest of the work is in your hands. Cherish this opportunity; you will be able to experience the essence of primordial truth more deeply, a power far more powerful than the four Chaos Gods."

Luo Jia's voice rang out in the hall. The Word Bearer named Faust, who was following behind him, nodded solemnly, then took the pen from the Primarch and continued preparing for the ceremony.

Faust is a new bloodline that Luo Jia selected and nurtured after his ascension to demonhood.

The former followers of the Great Word Master... Colphalan, Eribus, Angeltai, Lajac, some have died, while others chose to betray their genetic father.

Amidst the constant ups and downs, Luo Jia was shocked to discover that she no longer had anyone she could trust to rely on.

So Faust came to his side, and Luo Jia used his own gene seed to personally perform the modification surgery on him, and regarded him as the leader of the new generation of Whisperers.

The number of Imperial Astartes remains in the temple hall is extremely large, often numbering in the thousands. Writing Chaos Runes on each of them would be a rather complicated task.

Besides Faust, there were dozens of Word Bearers preparing for the sacrificial ceremony. They were all working meticulously, fearing even the slightest mistake.

In Luo Jia's view, as the current commander of the Chaos Demon Army, how could he possibly waste time on such trivial matters?

What he needed to care about were the important things that would help win the war.

The Primarch stared with his eyes, burning with dark flames, at the psionic star map before him.

On the star map, humanity's first line of defense is being fiercely attacked by the Chaos Demon Army he sent out, and is now teetering on the brink of collapse, forced to begin a retreat.

Luo Jia was not surprised by this outcome at all. After all, he could mobilize the Chaos Demon Army, which belonged to the Four Gods. Moreover, these demon legions had reached an alliance with each other and would not easily engage in internal battles and waste resources.

Moreover, the environment of the Eye of Terror is more suitable for the Chaos faction to perform well. The veil here is so weak that it will break at the slightest touch, almost identical to that in the Warp.

"My brother Ryan, how are you going to break through my attack?"

"Yes, I am indeed inferior to you in war command, but I don't need to compete with you in command ability at all. Anyway, I have more troops than I can use. I can just use my strength to intimidate others."

"In the face of an absolute disparity in strength, any means are laughable and powerless."

A ferocious smile appeared on Luo Jia's face, which was covered in scales and keratin. He seemed to see the famous Lion King helpless and desperate in the face of an enemy with overwhelming advantages.

Although they have not yet breached the first line of defense, those stubborn human warriors are using their lives and blood to continuously delay the Chaos army's advance.

The continuous stream of Dark Angels, Steel Hands, and the remains of Space Wolves being sent to the Dark Temple is the best proof of this.

Luo Jia commanded the demons not to destroy the bodies of those who killed the Empire of Astartes, but to bring them back here to be used as the basic materials for his sacrificial ritual.

Luo Jia believed that given more time, the three Astartes legions would inevitably be unable to sustain their current losses and would choose to retreat and fight alongside those giant celestial fortresses.

The second line of defense for humanity, a solid fortress belt composed of combat white dwarfs and numerous combat planets, was gleaming with a stable light that he loathed.

"Just the petty cleverness of mortals... trying to rely on these ridiculous planets to stop the advance of chaos."

Luo Jia chuckled in a low voice, a chilling killing intent slowly creeping into his eyes.

“When they gather together, I will send them all back to nothingness.”

Although the Great Manifesto spoke harshly, he was well aware of the power of the Empire's celestial fortresses. If he was not careful, the situation could take a sharp turn for the worse.

Back when the human empire was at war with the ghoul orc empire, he and other demonic principalities had tried to take advantage of the chaos to kill Vulcan.

Although the attempt ended in a crushing defeat, it was not without its gains: at least they witnessed the power of humanity's new and cutting-edge weapons.

When the white dwarf attacked the Orc Empire's homeworld, it crushed the Orcs' battle planet with overwhelming force. Luo Jia memorized all this information and constantly reviewed and considered countermeasures.

Luo Jia objectively compared the strengths and weaknesses of both sides in space naval warfare and quickly discovered that if they were to fight head-on against human celestial fortresses, even their derelict space ships would have no advantage whatsoever.

The best approach would be to utilize the power of the subspace to launch a targeted strike that would directly erase the existence of these celestial fortresses.

That's why he kept having the demons collect the bodies of fallen human Space Marines. Compared to those weak mortals, the Space Marines were far more significant as ritual sacrifices.

Through the efforts of the Word Bearers, the remains of thousands of Imperial Astartes underwent the corruption ritual, their genetic seeds were extracted, and they were subjected to secondary processing according to complex ritual requirements.

These warriors, who fought to the death for humanity, suffered inhuman torture and humiliation after their bodies fell into chaos. The scene was so horrific that it would drive either Ryan Johnson or Leman Russ to madness.

Luo Jia's smile grew even brighter. He raised his enormous hand, covered in runes and totems, and the chanting in the temple suddenly rose, becoming sharp and fervent.

"It's almost done, almost successful. The High Heaven has responded to me, but it needs more sacrifices."

"The original truth is fair; the more we sacrifice, the more it rewards us, and the higher our chances of destroying those celestial fortresses in one fell swoop."

As the ceremony progressed, the trophies piled up in the temple, as conspicuous as small mountains, began to stir.

Whether it was the shattered remains of fallen Dark Angels, Steel Hands, or Space Wolves recovered from the battlefield, or the blood-stained, broken power armor and shattered weapons, they were all being dragged by an invisible force and slid toward the blood pool in the center of the temple.

The specially extracted gene seeds were shrouded in the light of chaos, containing the warriors' dying pain and anger, their loyalty to the emperor, their hatred for chaos... all these extreme emotions became the sacrifices that Luojia needed.

What he wanted to disrupt was the chaotic and vast power of the warp itself, and the more ancient and primal nature of destruction that existed outside the domains of the four evil gods.

"Using the flesh and blood of these blindly loyal people as sacrifices..."

"Using human suffering and despair as its chord..."

"Hear my call, you primordial power dormant in the sea of ​​souls..."

Luo Jia's chanting blended with the blasphemous chorus of the entire temple, and a massive amount of spiritual energy began to converge madly around him.

The sacrifices in the blood pool quickly dissolved, transforming into streams of pure chaotic energy that flowed into the massive ritual array he had constructed.

The light from the magic circle illuminated his inhuman face, revealing all his fanaticism and ugliness.

"The power of the warp and the power of the real universe have reached a delicate balance. The warp storms created by the four Chaos Gods have resisted the rules of the real universe that humans have strengthened using the power of the Star Gods."

"This balance is extremely fragile, and the Empire will inevitably try to break it; it is their only way to achieve victory."

Luo Jia thought to himself, perhaps the Empire is trying to gather more Star God fragments to completely defeat the power of the subspace.

He must seize the initiative before the empire, break this balance first, or at least use this imbalance to solve the tough problems.

"Once my ritual is successfully completed, the High Heaven will unleash a primordial chaotic torrent powerful enough to tear apart the structure of reality and annihilate stars."

Those battle dwarfs and battle planets, like iron nails driven into the front lines of the Kadia campaign, will be completely wiped out by this torrent.

"Once these fortified strongholds are both physically and conceptually wiped out, humanity's defenses will have an irreparable and massive gap."

"Kadia, that damned planet blocking the entrance to the Eye of Fear, will ultimately be reduced to cosmic dust before the absolute power of chaos."

……

“We are approaching Luo Jia.” “I can almost smell the stench emanating from him. He is definitely plotting something despicable. We must hurry.”

Thanks to the cover provided by the Dark Angels and the Steel Hands, Ruth's flagship, the Fang of Mokai, led the Space Wolves' fleet and tore a breach in the flank of the Chaos Demon Army.

Hundreds of colossal warships, following the Wolf King's will, sped toward the direction of Luojia as perceived by Rus.

With the information obtained by the rune priest from the spirit of Fenris, and the guidance given by the God Emperor, Ruth was able to lead his fleet, which had traveled thousands of miles, precisely through the chaotic space within the Eye of Terror.

Although the Chaos Demon Army is under the unified command of Luo Jia, it is wishful thinking to expect these warp demons to obey orders like a human army.

Once they pass through the area where the demon legions initially gathered, Ruth's fleet will be free to roam, leaving the other warp demons far behind thanks to its superior mobility.

Moreover, given the organized nature of the warp demons, their attempt to intercept the Wolf King before Lemanrus arrives at Luojia's location will only result in their death.

The space wolves' sharp teeth and claws tore the scattered demons blocking their path to pieces, and even the massive space wreckage could not withstand them in the slightest.

After the atomic clock on the Mokai's Tooth had run for another two Terra days, Lemanrus finally discovered some different enemies.

It was neither a variety of bizarre warp demons nor those massive spaceships, but rather human warships that existed in a strict order and were forming a defensive posture.

By observing the serrated sun emblem on the warship's armor, Lemanrus immediately confirmed that this was the warship of the Word Bearers Legion that they had been searching for.

“That’s their Trinity Prayer ship. If the ship is here, then Luo Jia must be here too.”

“That damned traitor has been plotting and harming the empire in the shadows ever since Horus fell.”

"I swear in the name of my father, I will kill him and use his blood to atone for the sacrifices!"

Ruth raised his Dionysian Spear high, and the fully armed space wolves behind him could no longer contain their excitement and desire, howling in unison.

The Space Wolves' fleet pushed its engines to the limit, speeding madly toward the star system where the Word Bearers' fleet was based.

Through the scanning array, Russ discovered that these warships were patrolling around a planet in the star system, seemingly on guard and on guard against something.

The Mokai Fang immediately sped towards its target planet like an alpha wolf that had caught the scent of its prey.

"For our father! For the empire! Tear these damned traitors to shreds!"

Lehman Ruth's roar was like a thunderclap, echoing through every Space Wolf warship via the communication network.

The wolves, who had been unable to contain themselves any longer, finally bared their fangs.

The Space Wolves' fleet, like a pack of wolves leaping out of a snowfield, charged headlong into the hastily organized defensive lines of the Word Bearers.

They formed the most suitable wedge formation for charging into battle, with Lemanrus's flagship "Mokai's Fang" as the arrowhead, like a red-hot blade, piercing the heart of the Word Bearers fleet.

If a soldier with white scars were present, he would recognize that this was actually a variation of the Fifth Army's "chisel" tactic.

After a long period of learning and drawing lessons from others, Space Wolf's naval combat capabilities have also improved significantly, at least much stronger than its past self.

The Word Bearers' warships were clearly caught off guard by the sudden appearance of the Space Wolves. They couldn't understand why the Sixth Legion, which should have been stationed at the edge of the Eye of Terror, desperately resisting the invasion of the Chaos Demon Army, had appeared deep within the Eye of Terror, and even near the Word Bearers' base.

The sirens blared and chaotic commands mingled on their communication channels, accompanied by a cacophony of foul curses, but the wolf attack was not delayed in the slightest.

Despite the Word Bearers' attempts to mount an effective resistance—the arrays of light spears on their warships began to charge and the macro cannons hastily turned—their hasty reactions appeared clumsy and sluggish in the face of the well-prepared wolves, who were extremely adept at close-quarters combat.

Of course, this is also related to the fact that Angeltai parted ways with Luojia and took away a large number of veterans of the Word Bearer Legion.

The "Those who cherish words" that Luojia later cultivated were fundamentally different from the veterans who had fought in the Great Expedition and experienced the Great Rebellion.

The bow nova cannon of the "Mokai's Fang" roared first, and a destructive torrent of energy instantly crossed the void, accurately hitting a Word Bearer battleship that was trying to block its way.

The psionic shield on the surface of the warship shattered like a soap bubble, its thick armor was melted through, and the chain reaction of the internal explosion broke the ship in two, turning it into a fireball that kept expanding.

Immediately following, all the weapons on the broadside of the Wild Wolf Fleet opened fire simultaneously.

The blazing white beams of the light spears darted back and forth like the javelin of death, while the barrage of the macro cannons pelted the enemy ships' armor like hail, exploding into dazzling yet deadly fireworks.

Like sharks smelling blood, the dense torpedoes, trailing dazzling trails, skillfully evaded intercepting fire and finally penetrated the enemy ship's most vulnerable structural parts.

In space naval warfare, the Space Wolves, which had long been equipped with upgraded equipment, almost completely overwhelmed the old warships of the Word Bearers.

Moreover, the Space Wolves' fighting style is extremely wild, even bordering on insane.

They were unafraid of close combat, and even took the initiative to drive their warships, using their sturdy rams to ram the smaller ships of the Whisperers.

The Fenris's savagery was particularly difficult for the Word Bearers to adapt to. Even with the advantage, they still fought so aggressively. What kind of enemy was this?
Various boarding torpedoes and assault landing ships, like the sharp teeth of wolves, bit down hard on the enemy ships. Then, the hatches opened, and the howling wolves leaped onto the enemy ships, launching the bloodiest boarding battle.

The roar of bomb guns, the howl of chainsaw axes, and the war cries of Fenris echoed inside the Word Bearer warship, cutting down and slaughtering the believers who were obsessed with the blasphemous rituals.

The Word Bearers' fleet also attempted to retaliate, but their lines quickly crumbled under the wolves' ferocious assault and precise firepower.

One after another, the Word Bearers warships were reduced to cosmic dust in the explosions, their wreckage raining down on the demon world below.

The breach was quickly torn open, and the "Mokai's Fang" led the core assault fleet, ignoring the sporadic resistance on the flanks, and rushed straight towards the planet shrouded in corrupt energy at top speed.

"Target: the largest blasphemous building on the surface! All weapons, saturate orbital bombardment!"

Ruth stood on the bridge, his gaze fixed on the distorted dark temple on the holographic projection, and gave the order without hesitation.

In an instant, the weapon arrays of the "Mokai's Fang" and its escort fleet roared deafeningly once again.

Light spears, macro cannons, missiles... all weapons capable of ground attacks unleashed a devastating barrage of bullets upon the Dark Temple and its surrounding area.

The scorching beams of light lashed the earth like the whips of a god, while the fireballs from the exploding cannons bloomed like flowers of death, turning the writhing, fleshy plains surrounding the temple into scorched earth.

However, this demon world has long been deeply corrupted by the dense warp energy, and the rules of reality are shattered here.

Most of the energy from the orbital bombardment was deflected, absorbed, or directly annihilated by the ubiquitous distorted psionic field after entering the atmosphere.

Only a few of the most powerful attacks managed to break through the interference and strike the protective barrier of the Dark Temple, creating violent energy ripples that razed some of the surrounding, less protected, blasphemous structures to the ground.

The ground was cratered and riddled with holes, like festering sores on rotting skin, but the core Dark Temple still stood firm under the protection of Luo Jia's spiritual power.

Deep within the temple, the violent tremors and the booming explosions from the outside world threw the Word Bearers, who were performing the ritual, into a state of panic.

But Luo Jia, seated on the throne, merely raised her eyelids slightly, a hint of annoyance flashing in her dark, flame-like eyes.

"Ruth...you reckless wolf, you've finally come knocking on our door."

He whispered, raising one hand. The immense psionic energy acted as an invisible shield, further strengthening the temple's defenses and offsetting the aftershocks of the orbital bombardment.

"The ceremony cannot be interrupted... it must be expedited!"

He could sense that the response from the Primal Truth was becoming clearer and clearer, and it was just one step away from being completed. He absolutely could not let Ruth ruin everything at this moment!
"Faust! Keep the ritual running at all costs!"

Luo Jia gave the command, and at the same time, his consciousness sank into the depths of the subspace, calling out along a hidden contractual connection.

"Bilak, Lord of Shadows! Keep your promise and stop Ruth!"

Although Luo Jia was arrogant, he was not entirely confident that he could deal with Lemanrus, the barbarian from Fenris.

He needs help, and the former chosen one of the Four Gods, Bilak, is clearly a good option.

Meanwhile, on the bridge of the "Mokai's Fang," Leman Ruth looked at the Dark Temple, which still stood firm despite the bombing, and spat out a mouthful of corrosive saliva.

"Damn psionic tricks! I have to go down there myself and smash Luo Jia's shell with the Spear of Dionysus." He grabbed the Spear of Dionysus leaning against the throne, and the heavy, finely crafted power armor on his body clanged as it operated.

"Wolf lords, follow me!"

He glanced around at his most elite warriors—Bjorn was already fully prepared, and many more Primal Space Wolves had cold glints in their eyes, eager to drink the blood of their enemies.

"We'll parachute onto the top of that temple and drag Luo Jia out of that filthy throne!"

"The time of the wolf has come!" the warriors roared, their eyes burning with the excitement of the hunt and the will to die.

Soon, psionic light began to flash intensely on the teleportation deck of the "Mokai's Fang".

Lemanrus led the charge, wielding the golden Dionysian Spear, followed by thousands of the most elite veteran Space Wolves.

The Mechanicus precisely locked onto the coordinates at the top of the Dark Temple. Despite the interference from the warp, teleportation was still feasible at such a close distance, guided by Ruth's powerful psionic energy.

"Teleport!" As the command was given, blinding light engulfed everyone's figures.

The next moment, atop the ever-changing blasphemous spire of the Dark Temple, amidst the foul air thick with the stench of sulfur and blood, a dazzling golden light tore through space and crashed down upon this world.

Lemanrus and his most loyal pack of wolves descended like divine warriors, setting foot on this land deeply corrupted by chaos, to confront their ultimate prey:

The traitorous Primarch, Loka Aurelion.

(End of this chapter)