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

Chapter 951 The Darkest Moment
After Luo Jia was killed by Bilak, both the Shadow Lord and the Primarch subconsciously ignored the remaining Word Bearers.

In their view, with even the Primarch Loka dead, the remaining Astartes were unlikely to cause any more trouble.

Only beings at the level of the Primarch have the power to influence the situation. Once they determine the victor, the remnants of the Word Bearers will naturally be wiped out.

But to everyone's surprise, these newly recruited Word Bearers under Luo Jia's command were so resolute and thorough in carrying out the Primarch's orders that even the Primarch's death did not interrupt their mission.

Luo Jia's final command to Faust was for him to complete the sacrificial ritual at all costs in order to break the fragile balance between humanity and the warp in the Eye of Terror battlefield.

Faust raised his hands high, holding in them the very ritual dagger that Luo Jia had used before, stained with the blood of countless human victims. He chanted his final, blasphemous prayer with all his might:

"With the blood of countless humans as a sacrifice!"

"Open the curtain of reality, let the storm of destruction sweep across the territory of the false emperor, and let the face of truth be revealed before the fools!"

"O Highest Heaven! Please accept this humble offering, unleash your wrath, and cleanse this hypocritical reality!"

As his last syllable fell, the mountain of Astartes remains, shattered weapons and armor, and the meticulously arranged gene seeds within the Dark Temple instantly dissolved and sublimated in the pool of blood.

A dazzling beam of chaotic light, like a shooting star flying in reverse, suddenly broke free from the constraints of the demon world and surged into the depths of the Eye of Terror, into the place directly connected to the warp.

"We've succeeded! We've completed the great mission entrusted to us by the Primarch!"

"The Supreme Heaven will surely achieve final victory, and the end of the Empire is imminent!"

Faust's face twisted into a smile, and then he and all the Word Bearers around him were reduced to ashes in the violent backlash of the sacrifice, their souls completely swallowed by the chaotic light.

Compared to the initial plan set by Luojia, the offerings for this ceremony are now much more abundant.

Not only the remains of loyal soldiers collected from the battlefield, but even Luo Jia himself, in a sense, became part of the sacrifice.

The moment he was killed by Bilak created a massive psionic echo in the warp, adding another fierce flame to the ritual.

At this moment, the entire Eye of Fear seemed to tremble!

This enormous scar, like a maggot branded into the northwest of the Milky Way, began to release an extremely unsettling and terrifying aura.

Originally, under the amplification of Lothie's Celestial power and Kadia's Blackstone Obelisk Matrix, the rules of the real universe within the Eye of Fear's range had been strengthened to a level that could maintain balance with the power of the warp.

But now, with the completion of the Luojia Ritual, a powerful force has emerged in the subspace that does not belong to the four Chaos Gods, yet transcends them.

It became the most unbalanced factor on the scales of this confrontation, causing the coverage of the rules of the real universe to continue to crumble.

The primordial subspace energy surged forth from the depths of the Eye of Fear like a burst dam.

It merged with the warp storm created by the four gods, and then enveloped the Dark Angel, the Iron Hand, and the Nirvana Steel that replaced the Space Wolf in guarding the defense line under the rampaging chaotic energy.

On Ryan Johnson's vast and complex tactical star map, the pale blue area that originally represented the stable realities of the universe was being devoured at an unprecedented rate by an unsettling crimson that represented pure subspace.

The veil over this area has completely disappeared. It is no longer a battlefield where reality and illusion intertwine, but has been thoroughly transformed into an extension of the subspace, a nightmare realm where the laws of physics have become a joke and idealistic forces dominate everything.

The battle reports from the front lines quickly transformed from fierce, stalemate fighting into desperate chaos and screams of agony.

"Report! The battlefield spatial environment is severely distorted, and the firing trajectory of the light spear array is deviating unpredictably!"

"Macro cannon firing has caused time distortion! Ballistics calculation has completely failed! Repeat, ballistics calculation has failed!"

"The sensor array is under intense psionic interference! We are losing observation of the battlefield!"

The communication channel was filled with urgent and slightly panicked reports from commanders at all levels. Ryan Johnson took in all the sounds, but his face remained completely calm.

Under the brutal interference of this unprecedented subspace force, the precision strike and long-range firepower advantages that human navies are so proud of are crumbling.

The light spears no longer travel in a straight line; they may trace strange arcs in the air, or even circle back to hit the launcher.
The cannonballs may have traveled through time and exploded at an empty coordinate point a few days ago, or they may have arrived several hours later, missing the best opportunity to strike.

Due to severe disruption of physical laws, various atomic and gravitational weapons became internally uncontrollable and completely malfunctioned before even being deployed to the battlefield.

Even the Geller Point, which is responsible for maintaining the safety of the warships, is constantly issuing warnings, as the subspace pressure it is experiencing has exceeded its limit.

Bad news was almost everywhere, and Ryan knew very well that with the environmental advantage slipping in the enemy's favor, it was no longer possible for humanity to maintain a balanced defense.

The warp demons that would normally have to pay a heavy price to get close under the dense barrage of fire were now acting as if injected with a violent stimulant, becoming increasingly frenzied and powerful.

Their forms became more solid, and their psychic power continued to grow. They no longer needed to clumsily climb the hull and use brute force or magic to tear open the warship's armor. Instead, they directly used psychic energy to blur the warship's protective armor and swaggered into the cabin to slaughter everyone.

The voice of Steel Hands Chief Minister Mel Irn, transmitted directly to Ryan's command center via encrypted communication, carried a subtle hint of gravity and urgency.

"Lord Ryan, our firepower efficiency has decreased by 62.7%, while the average strength of individual enemy troops has increased by one to two times."

Based on existing data models, the integrity of our first line of defense will fall below the warning threshold within three to five standard Terran hours.

The Iron Hand can continue until the last son of Feralus pledges his loyalty to the Emperor, but for the sake of victory, I implore a retreat.

"With the defensive line formed by the battle planets, we can alleviate a lot of pressure. The current situation is really too bad for us."

Unlike the other straightforward Iron Hands, Mel Irn, as the Legion's governor, naturally possessed the ability to socialize and communicate with outsiders. At this moment, he was using a more tactful tone to persuade Ryan to withdraw his troops.

Almost simultaneously, a communication from Danteok, the commander of Nirvana Steel, also came in.

The leader who reshaped the Iron Warriors Legion had a hoarse voice, yet it still revealed an unwavering stubbornness.

"Lord Zhuang Sen, the pressure on the defensive line is increasing dramatically. We have repelled seven large-scale attacks by the Chaos Demon Army, but the enemy is impossible to kill completely, and their strength is growing stronger."

Continuing to hold out is strategically pointless and will only increase casualties. I request to retreat to the battle planetary defense line and rebuild our defenses using the fortress's firepower.

Ryan Johnson, sitting upright, didn't actually need the commanders of the two legions to report the situation. His sharp eyes had already taken in the entire battlefield situation, and he had a clear view of all the details and changes.

He quickly scanned the casualty data and tactical assessments that were refreshing like a waterfall. Behind each cold number was the fall and sacrifice of countless loyal soldiers.

“Request approved.” Ryan’s voice remained calm and steady. “Governor Mel, Commander Danteok, you shall coordinate the retreat sequence of the Steel Hand and the Steel of Rebirth.”

"Execute tiered cover, retreat towards Cardia, and find an area where the rules of the real universe remain stable to re-establish defenses."

"The Dark Angels will provide cover for the entire army's retreat. All units must strictly adhere to the retreat schedule and are prohibited from engaging in prolonged combat!"

The lion's commands are clear and decisive, containing an unquestionable authority.

Having received permission, Mel Ian and Danteok immediately began organizing the retreat, their hearts burning with intense anger.

With humanity's current strength, if we encountered a warp-space demon army of this scale in the real universe, we could easily resist it, or even push it back.

The problem is that this is the Eye of Terror, and due to the renewed increase in warp energy, it has gradually transformed into a true warp.

The warp is the domain of demons, and no matter how unwilling or angry one is, one must accept this fact.

After issuing this series of orders concerning the lives of hundreds of millions of people, Ryan's gaze involuntarily fell upon the crimson area on the star map that had been completely submerged by chaotic energy.

The sudden deterioration of the battlefield situation was by no means accidental. The only explanation for this sudden and violent burst of subspace energy is that something huge went wrong on Rus's side.

Did Ruth fail? Or even...?
A chilling thought, too dangerous to contemplate, crept silently into Ryan's heart like a venomous snake.

Although he always had some minor frictions and conflicts with Leman Russ, his brotherly bond with Russ was never any less than that with any other brother.

Ryan didn't understand, nor did he believe, that the Wolf King would lose to that bastard Luo Jia, but the fact was that the power of the subspace continued to expand, proving that Russ had not achieved his goal of decapitation.

The lion quickly cleared his mind of distractions; now was not the time for such thoughts. He had to be responsible for all of humanity, for the Emperor and Lothie's plan to close the Eye of Fear.

……

Deep within the Eye of Fear lies the demonic world where Luo Jia perished.

After the Word Bearers' sacrificial ritual successfully ascended into the warp, Lehman Ruston immediately realized that he had messed things up again.

His initial and most important objective was to behead Luo Jia and then destroy the traitor's conspiracy in secret.

However, with Bilak's sudden intrusion, Lemanrus was forced to shift his focus to how to survive Bilak's clutches, neglecting his original mission.

The wolf king's face instantly fell, his eyes, which had never yielded even when facing the four gods' choice, became empty, and even his clenched teeth unconsciously loosened.

“I have let Ryan down…”

"I...I, how could I..."

"Don't get distracted, Ruth!" Corax noticed that the Wolf King seemed to have a serious problem with his mentality and immediately shouted.

"We're not out of danger from Birac yet; that damned demon is still lurking around!"

"Whatever the problem, let's talk about it after we drive out this enemy!"

With encouragement and calls from Corax, the wolf king finally recovered from his previous state of utter despair.

He could die, but he couldn't drag Corax and Vulcan, who came to his rescue, down with him.

Bilak heard Corax's roar and realized that continuing the fight would be pointless, so it decided to retreat.

"You humans are destined to lose this war. When the endless army of Chaos Demons shatters Kadia, everything will be over." "The next time we meet, you will be convinced of your defeat."

Seeing that he couldn't gain any advantage from the three Primarchs, Bilak didn't hesitate to utter a harsh threat, tearing open a portal and disappearing from the battlefield in the blink of an eye.

However, in Bilak's heart, he was not as carefree and peaceful as he claimed.

After the Word Bearer's sacrificial ritual succeeded, Birak was indeed ecstatic for a moment; the expansion of warp power was certainly good news for him.

But after its initial euphoria, a terrifying thought quickly popped into its mind.

So, is everything... going too smoothly?

Since being abandoned by the Four Gods, Bilak has learned to be low-key and cautious, and has become more adept at reviewing the current situation, which is one of the reasons why it has remained standing for so long.

It was well aware of Luo Jia's original plan. The core idea of ​​the Great Whisperers was to use the collected Astartes remains and gene seeds as sacrifices to leverage the deeper power of the warp and summon a precise strike to directly cripple humanity's battle planetary defenses.

In Bilac's view, this plan was nothing more than a conventional one. It was just that, as always, when Luojia encountered unfavorable situations, he would try to use underhanded tactics and cheat by taking advantage of the power of the subspace to deal with humanity.

This is understandable, since if even the power of the subspace cannot be utilized, then the Loka really has no advantage over other Primarchs.

But now?

The offerings for this ceremony have far exceeded the original plan.

It not only includes the planned remains of Astartes, but also encompasses all the messengers who carried out the ceremony, including Faust, on whom Loka had placed great hopes, and even Loka Aurelion himself!

What a tremendous psionic echo the death of a demonic Primarch would generate in the Warp! It would undoubtedly add fuel to the fire of the ritual, giving it a qualitative leap in effect.

Who orchestrated all of this?
It's Bilak!
However, upon reviewing his actions, Birac discovered that he had actually killed Luo Jia with the "tacit approval" or even "guidance" of the Four Gods, thus providing the most powerful and unexpected core sacrifice for this ritual.

If the four gods are unwilling, Birac absolutely cannot kill Luojia; they can either bestow blessings or impose restrictions.

Birac thought he was using the Four Gods and Luojia to climb up the social ladder by stepping on their corpses.

It believed that its meticulously planned betrayal and devouring was an independent creative chapter separate from the Four Gods' script.

But what if... what if all of this, from the moment it responded to Luo Jia's call and regained the blessings of the Four Gods, was already a move set up on the chessboard by those four supreme beings?

When a puppet is smug and thinks it can act according to its own will, does it ever realize that it is actually being guided and controlled without its knowledge?

This terrifying thought was like ice water poured over his head, instantly cooling Birac's feverish consciousness, which was brimming with power, and even making him feel a bone-chilling cold.

Its unwavering confidence, its pride as the first demon prince, its ambition to escape the manipulation of the four gods and ultimately ascend the throne of chaos... all seemed to vanish into a laughable and fragile bubble at this moment.

It can't tell the difference.

It was impossible to tell whether the blessings of the four gods that surged into its body were a tool it had obtained through its power and promises, or four invisible chains that had already been tied to its soul once again.

It's unclear whether its act of devouring Luojia's essence stemmed from its own heart or was part of a script written by some unseen, terrifying being.

If everything is as Bilak guessed, then the Shadow Lord and the Great Word Bearer are no different; they are simply livestock that have been fed more and fatter, waiting to be slaughtered in the end.

A fear originating from the very soul gripped Birac's heart, making him want nothing more than to escape this place of trouble and go into hiding once more.

As for the Primarchs like Lemanrus, it was naturally impossible for them to know the rich inner world of Birac.

Prior to this, they were completely unaware of the existence of this extremely special demon, let alone what kind of cooperation Bilak had reached with the gods.

They only saw the terrifying demon disappear in the blink of an eye, and the immense pressure that had been building up in their hearts was temporarily relieved for a moment.

"Bilak is gone, we've finally gotten through this ordeal," Corax said breathlessly. Fighting Bilak was no easy task, even for the Lord of the Ravens.

In fact, this was the strongest opponent Corax had ever encountered since the end of the Great Rebellion.

During the war against the orcs, Kolac did not participate because his legion was far away from the ghoul constellation. Instead, he focused on developing his own kingdom and eliminating various monsters and demons in the southwestern part of the galaxy.

"By the way, you still haven't told us what happened. We were supposed to be going to Kadia to provide support, so how did we end up here?" the Raven King asked, extremely curious.

Leman Ruston's expression froze for a moment, but he didn't hide anything and told his two brothers about the situation on the battlefield in Kadia and his mission.

“If I had been more careful, those Word Bearers would never have been able to complete the ritual.”

“I can sense that that damned ritual is brewing a terrible disaster deep in the warp, and it may befall our comrades at any moment.”

"But just now I only had Bilak in my eyes. This terrible demon forced me to clear my mind of all distractions and focus all my attention on dealing with him."

"Back in the Spirit of Vengeance, I had the chance to end that rebellion sooner, but I made a mistake. Now, because of me... have I really not changed?"

After hearing the wolf king's story, Corax and Vulcan gasped, thinking that Lemanrus had really gotten himself into trouble again.

Moreover, this is not a minor issue; to be precise, it could be a catastrophe for all of humanity.

Kolac and Vulcan exchanged a glance. The Raven Lord's pale face showed a hint of understanding amidst his melancholy, while the Fire Dragon Lord's broad face revealed a solemn expression of empathy.

"Dwelling on past mistakes won't change the present, Ruth brothers," Corax's voice was calm and clear.

"Self-blame is the solace of a coward, action is the answer of a warrior. What we need to do now is to mend the fence after the sheep are lost, not to sit and wait for death."

Vulcan stepped forward, his massive hand slamming heavily onto Ruth's shoulder armor with a dull thud, carrying a reassuring sense of power.

"Corax is right, Ruth. The mistake has been made, but the war is not over. Kadia needs every soldier, especially us reinforcements."

Instead of regretting it here, return to the front lines immediately, wash away your shame with the blood of the Chaos Demons, and atone for your mistakes with victory!

The words of the two brothers served as a wake-up call, jolting the wolf king out of his self-doubt.

He suddenly raised his head, and the scattered light in his eyes refocused. Although his eyes were still bloodshot and weary, the wildness and indomitable spirit that belonged to the King of Fenris had returned.

He took a deep breath of the foul air, thick with the smell of sulfur and blood, and nodded emphatically.

“You’re right! Now is not the time to lick our wounds. Let’s go back to Cadia!”

"Whether Ryan wants to kill me or send me to be a suicide squad, I have no objections."

"I will confess my mistakes to the whole Father, and I will prove my loyalty with my actions!"

Without further hesitation, the three Primarchs quickly gathered the remaining Space Wolves from the battlefield and took away the remains of the fallen, boarding the waiting Morkai Fang in orbit once more.

At the same time, Corax and Vulcan also summoned their respective fleets via psionic signals.

The warships of the Raven Legion emerged silently from the void like ghosts, while the arrival of the Salamanders and their massive green-skinned fleet added a lively touch.

Those giant orc warships, radiating intense Waaagh energy, appear to be cobbled together from countless scrap metal pieces, but upon closer inspection, one can discover that these "pieces" form a complete and stable system on their own.

The roar of the engines was deafening, and the rough roars and howls of the green-skinned orcs could even travel through the void without any medium, and could be heard directly.

The three Primarchs' fleets converged and immediately began a strategic transfer towards Cardia.

However, just as they had anticipated, in this space realm now completely dominated by warp energy, the enemy had already sensed their presence.

Almost as soon as they started their engines, a new wave of chaotic demons and a large number of chaotic demons quickly emerged from the colorful, boiling chaotic energy around them.

These demons had a clear objective: to delay or even annihilate these three powerful imperial fleets at all costs, prevent them from returning to the main battlefield, and weaken Cardia's defenses.

"They don't want us to go back!"

Corax's voice came through the communication channel. His Raven Fleet had already deployed, ready to tear a gap in the Chaos Demons' blockade.

"Then let's fight our way out!"

Lemanrus roared, though he was exhausted, his anger only burning brighter.

The "Mokai's Fang" is like the alpha wolf, leading the fleet of space wolves in a fierce counterattack.

However, the number of demons was simply too great, and in this home turf, their power was inexhaustible, their offensive like a never-ending wave, severely hindering the fleet's advance.

At this crucial moment, Vulcan realized it was time for him to step in.

"It's time for the green-skinned kids to stretch their muscles! See those flashy demons? Waaagh! Go get them! Smash them!"

Following Vulcan's command, the massive, ruggedly styled green-skinned fleet that had been following behind the Salamander fleet erupted in a deafening cheer, like mad dogs released from their chains!
"Waaagh!!"

"For Vulcan! For Mao Zedong!"

"Fight! Fight! Fight!"

The green-skinned orcs' tactics were as simple and brutal as ever. They didn't care about ballistic calculations or formation coordination. They relied entirely on their massive numbers, sturdy warships, and their unreasonable Waaagh energy to launch an attack on the demons.

The orc fleet, like a raging tide of metal, recklessly crashed into the flank of the pursuing demonic wave, covering the retreat of the Imperial fleet.

(End of this chapter)