Chapter 200: The Daemon Who Wanted to Sing

Within a conduit woven from light,

the ripples of the subspace stirred gale-force winds that brushed against the rider's braids,

the rider, through gaps in the light-pipe, gazed with hawk-like sharp eyes at the subspace near Baer,

Baer's three planets reflected in the subspace, their images swathed in shadows like a swarm of countless insects, turning the subspace into a pitch-black blemish,

yet not all subspace power was sealed off by the shadows—within the dark gloom, a few flickering lights could still be faintly seen,

crimson flames roared fiercely, stained with blood, filled with rage and roars—the figure of Khorne the Daemon Prince,

black wings trembled in the void, colliding with over a dozen points of light—the Chief Librarian Mephiston and the Librarians of the Blood Angels,

more prominent than these two figures was a pure, noble white light, within which countless prayers seemed interwoven,

these prayers converged, slowly shaping within the white light a winged figure, who spread his white wings, attempting to shield Baer's three planets beneath the shadows,

the rider's gaze lingered for a moment on the winged figure within the white light, then slightly lifted,

behind the winged figure in the white light stood a towering blue giant, standing firm in the subspace—his form blurred, three utterly distinct subspace domains interwoven and overlapping upon him,

the giant slowly extended his round hand toward the searing flame symbolizing Khorne the Daemon Prince; sparks of the rider's father's might erupted from that hand, and the Daemon Prince could scarcely resist—he was swallowed whole by the blue giant's round hand,

the blood symbolizing Khorne was almost instantly drowned by the blue figure's power, part of the Blood God's domain subsequently overrun by the blue giant,

the flame symbolizing Khorne the Daemon Prince dissolved, reshaped, and reborn within the blue figure's body—its original existence utterly destroyed, reborn anew within the blue form,

the flame slowly took on a humanoid shape: thick-bodied, broad-armed, yet still indistinct—as if it still had an immeasurably long time before true birth,

at that moment, the rider suddenly raised his head, his hawk-like eyes reflecting a bizarre scene,

a mummified corpse hung upon a throne of gold, its trembling body as if woven from billions upon billions of fused souls; from its hollow eyes, tears fell, and within those tears was reflected a grotesque, eye-like rift in the subspace—before it, a tiny planet resisted the primal storm of Chaos,

the mummified corpse's gaze, seemingly drawn, shifted slightly from the planet before the rift and, like the rider, turned toward Baer,

the corpse fell silent for a moment, writhing in pain, whispering words the rider could not comprehend, then, with both revulsion and longing, tore from itself a grotesque chunk of flesh—pale death swirling upon it, as if this flesh were built from an infinite stack of corpses,

the rider understood that the flesh he saw was both part of the corpse's own spirit and flesh, and part of the corpse's domain,

severing one's own domain was nearly unimaginable for the gods of the subspace—their instincts and inclinations would never permit such an act, yet the corpse did it anyway,

one glance at that dripping, bloody flesh filled the rider with horror—even he could not bear such a vast quantity of the corpse's power,

the corpse reached out into the subspace; the flesh became a black sun burning with cold flame, tearing through the entire subspace, shredding the shadows cast by the Hive Mind, and crashing violently into the body of the blue giant,

instantly, the blue giant's form shuddered, the immense subspace power composing his body instinctively began devouring the flesh cast by the corpse,

most of the flesh flowed into his body, a small portion surged along his frame into the stout humanoid form born from the flame symbolizing Khorne the Daemon Prince,

the stout humanoid form instantly became clearer—a tall, short-haired figure with a thick nose and broad arms, clad in an orange-yellow striped tunic and brown trousers, his eyes holding both the fury and courage of the Blood God, as well as deep greed and a measure of justice—seemingly a fusion of the Blood God's, the blue giant's, and the corpse's power,

the stout figure slowly raised his head, opened his mouth wide, as if to utter the first song of his birth,

but no sound emerged from his throat—as if he still lacked one vital, uplifting song to complete his true birth,

the rider cast a wary glance at the figure—its power after birth might surpass most, if not all, of the four gods' Daemon Princes,

the blue giant-like figure had nearly fully digested the flesh cast by the corpse, and its form now appeared significantly clearer,

the rider heard the Omnissiah's chant,

the flicker of laser rifle fire lit up the battlefield,

the arrival of the hive fleet brought countless invisible microbes that silently transformed Baer's environment, seeking to turn it into a hive paradise—the air grew foul, humid, and stifling,

anti-aircraft fire behind the lines roared, shells driving back the Tyranid flyers in the sky to prevent aerial assaults,

the anti-aircraft firepower of the Angel Fortress, forged ten thousand years ago for the Legions, was so overwhelming that the hive fleet was forced to launch its assault from the ground,

precisely what the Angels desired,

Yugi screamed at the top of his lungs, hoping to drown his inner fear—the hive swarms were roaring toward the moat,

Yugi now knew the task of these mortals standing here: bait!

They were bait for the Tyranids, luring these ravenous swarms into the moat brimming with thirsting water, so that the dangerous silver liquid would kill them,

a searing laser shot from Yugi's rifle, alongside thousands upon thousands of others,

under the command of the Saint Doraemon Cult, all lasers targeted specific units within the hive sea,

in Yugi's training, these units were called node creatures,

gunner bugs, blade bugs, and other low-tier Tyranid lifeforms were like the endless oceans Yugi had only heard of in ancient legends,

when the node creatures were slain by the converging torrents of lasers, shells, or the Angels' bolters, the lower-tier Tyranids would fall into chaos—but soon more node creatures would fill the gaps, restoring order to the swarm as it surged madly toward the moat,

just a little more—just a little more,

the Thirsting Water hissed and crackled as countless low-tier Tyranids flooded into the moat—the dangerous sizzling sound rang ceaselessly,

to any resident of Baer, this sizzling sound was terrifying—but now, Yugi found safety in it,

Tyranids covered in chitinous carapaces surged into the moat; the Thirsting Water clung to these extragalactic beings, and the ancient technological relics activated their function,

the Tyranids' screams halted instantly—the silver liquid, alive as it were, coiled around them; their chitinous carapaces turned pale, speckled with white dots, their bodily fluids sucked dry, their bodies shriveled and heavy, collapsing into the Thirsting Water as if aged ten thousand years in an instant,

countless Tyranids plunged into the river, their fluids drained, leaving only shriveled husks sinking to the riverbed,

so many dead hive creatures accumulated that their shriveled bodies nearly filled half the moat,

more Tyranids halted on the opposite bank, screaming and hissing at the mortals across the moat, trying to instill fear,

"Fuck your mothers!" yelled Lag, not far from Yugi—more mortals from Laixi or Asford joined with raucous curses, firing at the Tyranids on the opposite bank and laughing with vengeful joy,

soon, the people of Baer joined in—suddenly, fear on the line vanished,

the hive fleet let out one final piercing roar—then, unexpectedly, the Tyranids on the opposite bank retreated, fleeing swiftly from the Thirsting Water that was self-replicating and spreading beyond the riverbank,

silence fell behind the line, then erupted into cheers, prayers, and songs,

the mortals unleashed their firepower, shooting at the fleeing Tyranids' backs,

"By the Sacred Blood!" an Astartes priest slammed his staff onto the ground, unable to contain himself: "We have won."

"The Archangels protect! The Emperor protects!"

Yugi watched the retreating Tyranids, exhaled sharply, and collapsed onto the ground behind the line,

he glanced at the laser rifle in his hand—its performance had been excellent; he murmured involuntarily:

"And praise Saint Doraemon, thank you for guarding my rifle's fire."

Before Yugi's words had faded, he suddenly heard wind howling from the sky,

countless Tyranid flyers, nearly blotting out the heavens, dove from the sky,

yet strangely, their target did not seem to be the line—but

anti-aircraft fire erupted, blocking the diving Tyranid flyers,

like poisoned flies, the beasts plummeted from the sky, crashing straight into the moat,

yet the truly strange thing was—even the few Tyranid flyers untouched by artillery unhesitatingly plunged into the Thirsting Water, letting it drain their moisture, leaving only shriveled husks of hardened chitin,

"What are they doing?" Yugi's face twisted with fear.

Meanwhile, on the ground, vast numbers of Tyranid titans charged from the horizon,

these Tyranid titans carried few terrifying biological weapons—only thicker bones and heavier bony armor,

this bony armor effectively shielded them from mortal laser torrents; upon reaching the moat's edge, they plunged into the water and committed suicide,

"What are they doing?!" Yugi asked again, terrified.

No one answered him—everyone understood: the hive's counterattack had begun.

(End of Chapter)