The planetary magnetic field of Barbarus began to spontaneously reinforce the power field Nix had created—the limit of what it could provide for all life on this world, its final blessing. For Nix, this was enough.
"What a fool... Spending its last life force on its doomed demise. Clearly, investing in our great family could grant it new..."
The Great Unclean One Ku'gath could not comprehend the seemingly foolish choice of Barbarus's planetary will. But now, he turned all his attention to the figure that had risen.
"Eleventh Legion, Nix... The one who once gave the Empyrean a new color, who even defeated the Blood God's chosen..."
"You are the 'variable' the loving father hates most. If you cannot join us, then let me, for the loving father, clear the path for our great family."
Ku'gath remained arrogant. As the loving father's favored child, the most powerful daemon of Nurgle, he was confident of his victory...
"What are you doing, clown?!"
The Plague March, like a green ocean, was violently torn apart, followed by a raging air current and the belated sonic boom. Immediately after, Ku'gath's eyes were filled with golden electric light that could illuminate heaven and earth.
Boom——!
In the moment neither man nor daemon could react, Nix had burst into the center of the Plague March. The force of the magnetic field rotation reached its peak as he pierced the mountainous, rotting body of the Great Unclean One.
Ku'gath's sudden 'death' halted the Plague March. The entire Nurgle daemon army stared at Nix, but not a single daemon dared step forward.
The tide of battle seemed to shift in an instant.
But Nix understood perfectly that this was far from the end.
"Still playing dead? Nurgle gave you more than just this."
He stared at the fallen Great Unclean One. The massive maw on Ku'gath's stomach was completely pierced, yet a repulsive, sinister smile still played upon his face.
"Truly... Terrifying... Even with the loving father's gift, I nearly died completely..."
"But the loving father never abandons his family. I will never die under His watchful gaze."
Decaying daemonic bodies converged, devouring swarms of Plaguebearers.
Boom——!
Another heavy impact sounded, and Ku'gath, who had just half-recovered, was shattered again. Nix had never been one to wait for opponents to recover—especially when the opponent was a Nurgle daemon, deserving not an iota of respect.
"It is useless, Nix... My life is linked to all my family. As long as they live, I do not fall; as long as I do not fall, the family you kill will continue to be reborn."
"You will be devoured alive on this very battlefield, as before!"
Ku'gath simply stopped pretending, and his body instantly returned to its original state—everything he had consumed were tens of thousands of Plaguebearers. For this nearly endless sea of plague, it was merely insignificant.
As the words mingled, Ku'gath secretly mobilized his psychic energy. The shredded flesh flying around began to writhe and multiply, transforming into countless Nurglings, trying to ensnare Nix's limbs.
"Nix, you should have understood long ago—no matter how strong an individual, before a true army, they cannot change everything."
The Plague Altar was raised high, and Ku'gath, smiling wickedly, erupted with terrifying force and smashed it towards Nix.
Nix, surrounded by hundreds of Nurglings, took this blow firmly. Under Ku'gath's brutal strength, the ground crumbled inch by inch. Yet even more terrifying was the horrible plague contained within the Altar—just its exhalation caused Nix, already resisting immense force, to rapidly tire and weaken.
"Resistance... Meaningless!"
The Plague Altar crashed down again.
"The loving father can bring new life to this planet, so humanity here no longer has to struggle for survival every day."
The Altar struck a third time, and even the Nurglings wrapped around Nix were crushed into pulp.
"If you truly care about them, you should submit to the loving father!"
A fourth strike, a fifth strike... Only on the seventh strike did Ku'gath finally stop. The ground had sunk into a deep pit under His preternatural strength, and the pit's bottom was filled with Nurgle's flesh and blood.
"High-sounding words, full of shit (in the literal sense)!"
The green pit of flesh suddenly blazed with white flame. Nix stepped out of the pit, raising a hand to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth.
"Putting on an act like you care about others, while doing the most anti-human deeds..."
"Why package it so nobly? If you want to take the souls of everyone on this planet, just say it!"
Nix's words fully enraged Ku'gath. He hated sharp-tongued fellows like these "blue-feathered birds" the most.
"What's wrong with exchanging a soul for the life of an entire world? At least they no longer have to suffer!"
The enraged Ku'gath swung the Plague Altar again—but this time, Nix caught it firmly.
"Happiness disguised by thought manipulation? The moment they break free from Nurgle, they'll be in agony, won't they?"
Nix clearly remembered reading accounts of fallen Death Guard who regained consciousness the moment Nurgle's blessing was lifted, finally realizing the horror of what had happened to them.
What followed was agony that even the transformed Astartes body could not bear. In the end, the Death Guard only wished to die for relief—but could they truly be freed? The answer was clearly no. From the moment they fell into Nurgle's embrace, their souls belonged forever to Nurgle's Garden.
Using false hopes to mask the essence of Nurgle's despair, masquerading under the name of 'family'—but in truth, the only ones who could truly be called Nurgle's family were these Nurgle daemons themselves.
Nix's five fingers suddenly tightened, and the Plague Altar he held suddenly emitted a deafening sound.
Crack——!
Terrifying force instantly covered the Altar's surface with cracks. Seeing this, Ku'gath hastily tried to withdraw his weapon—if the plague contained within the Altar leaked at this moment, it would severely harm Nix, but that was far from a price he was willing to pay. He also needed it to atone for his mistakes.
It was this fleeting hesitation that cost him his last chance to kill Nix.
"You hesitate...?"
"You flinched——!"
Forces gathered anew, but this time Nix's target was the Plague March still approaching the Liberators' camp. From his observation, the resurrection speed of these Plaguebearers after being killed was actually quite low, and most had to remain relatively intact.
Ku'gath had lied. These Nurgle Plaguebearers simply could not perform so-called 'endless resurrection.' And now Nix was doing the same as Ku'gath—buying time.
Because the reinforcements he was waiting for were about to arrive.
In the space above Barbarus, countless warship arrays escorted the planet, and the main battleship at the center descended slowly. On its hull shone the emblem of the Eleventh Legion.