Having no data stream to verify what had occurred with Yuno, the singular forward vector remained unchanged: advance.
Yuki forcibly redirected his cognitive focus toward a singular task: liquidating his adversaries and securing absolute victory for his companion.
Unfortunately, after running every strategic simulation, no tactical shortcuts presented themselves. The early reconnaissance phase had identified key topographical vectors—reducing operational attrition across the swarm—yet yielding zero bypass routes through the primary defenses.
Currently, the kinetic engagements across Baal's twin moons were entering their terminal resolution phase.
The sudden emergence of Ka'Bandha and his daemonic legions fell entirely outside baseline predictions. Fortunately, the direct intervention of Hive Fleet Aether and Hive Fleet Chronos bridged the tactical deficit seamlessly.
The true operational obstacle remained the Arx Angelicum.
The Fortress-Monastery of the Blood Angels stood as the most impenetrable hard-point within the entire system, ringed by overlapping layers of heavy military emplacements, static defense grids, and the lethal apex fauna indigenous to Baal.
Garrisoning the fortress were the combined forces of the Blood Angels and every surviving Astartes detachment that had managed to execute a strategic retreat back to the primary keep.
The exact numerical strength of the garrison remained uncataloged, though telemetry verified the density was exceptionally high.
A sharp neural ache flared in Yuki's cognitive matrices—particularly as his predictive models calculated the final phase, where they would inevitably confront massed formations of the Death Company.
Although Yuno had previously authorized unlimited expenditure of biological assets, nearly one-third of their total force had already been liquidated, with Leviathan sustaining an even higher attrition index.
Under these operational parameters, should Roboute Guilliman materialize with a crusade fleet, managing the secondary variable would prove exceptionally difficult.
Furthermore, current intelligence offered zero updates regarding how far Abaddon's 13th Black Crusade had progressed.
As these calculations unspooled, a direct plasma blast hit Yuki squarely in the chest. Discharged from an uncleared static defensive bunker, the superheated stream violently stripped away layers of muscle and chitin.
"Dammit... how did that strike manage to vaporize my biomass reserves in the exact same vector?"
Yuki issued a high-priority synapse call to nearby bio-units, ordering them to surrender their biomass for immediate structural reconstruction. Before the tissue could bond, however, the rising whine of a secondary plasma charge warned him of incoming fire.
Another blinding plasma bolt tore through the smoke. A Carnifex threw its massive frame directly into the projectile's trajectory without a microsecond of hesitation, instantly vaporizing under the thermal overload.
A handful of lesser gaunts rushed forward to feed their biomass into his frame, but the volume fell far short of requirements; Yuki remained functionally immobilized.
It was only then that his eyes registered the true nature of the threat: the weapon was no static ground emplacement, but a Warlord-class Battle Titan.
Dammit all, Dante managed to deploy Titans to Baal as well? Exactly how many battle-group assets did that ancient commander pull into this sector?
As the Titan's plasma destructors initialized another charging cycle, Yuki prepared to transfer his primary consciousness matrix to an alternate synapse node.
Before the sequence executed, a robust frame stepped directly into the line of fire. Raising a hand, the figure manifested a massive barrier of living metal, absorbing the full kinetic and thermal output of the plasma blast at immense energetic cost.
"What a bizarre engineering concept," the Void Dragon sneered, its vocal sub-routines laced with contempt. "Why do these mortals fabricate such clumsy, oversized engines of war? It possesses neither the aesthetic refinement of Aeldari constructs nor the absolute lethality of Necron engines. What purpose does its creation even serve?"
"Void Dragon? I calculated a ninety-percent probability that you had deserted the field."
"Judging a entity of my stature by your own narrow metrics is a profound error."
Lacking the processing cycles to argue, Yuki gestured toward the war machine. "If you hold yourself in such high regard, dismantle that construct."
A arrogant smirk touched the C'tan shard's features. "A trivial task."
He raised the Spear of the Void Dragon.
Yuki watched as the surrounding desert sands were violently drawn upward by the C'tan's gravitational field, which even began siphoning the residual plasma energy discharged by the Titan.
The Void Dragon—even as a mere C'tan shard—remained an extraordinarily powerful entity, capable of warping physical laws at a fundamental level. They were no mere product of technological manufacturing, but spontaneous manifestations of the cosmos itself. That reality was the most terrifying variable of all.
"I ingested a considerable volume of biomass across the secondary worlds," the C'tan remarked casually. "Human souls are crude and unpalatable, but they suffice as baseline fuel."
Staring at the C'tan's back, Yuki registered a deeply unsettled sensation within his logic arrays.
"Focus. Disrupt. Annihilate," the Void Dragon commanded.
A faint light emanated from the shard's frame, shifting smoothly from deep emerald to vibrant green.
Within that aura, uncounted fundamental particles of matter surged and recombined in real time—a raw, unadulterated display of the physical universe operating at a subatomic scale.
It was a breathtaking sight.
Tracking the staggering scale of the energy output, the Titan's crew recognized the existential threat and initialized their void shields to maximum capacity.
"Void shields... what a meaningless line of defense," the Void Dragon scoffed, hurling his spear forward.
Yuki felt a pang of genuine envy. The ease with which the C'tan generated such catastrophic destruction with a casual throw was a threshold of power he wondered if his own architecture would ever attain.
It was truly remarkable.
Yet the realization that such terrifying power was a natural phenomenon rather than an engineered system re-awakened a subtle anxiety within him.
Is the Emperor of Mankind not the exact same anomaly? Spontaneously generated by reality itself... it truly is an unfair universe.
Before the thought fully processed, the Void Dragon's spear impacted the target. Space fractured around the weapon's path under the sheer density of energy, sending violent, overlapping ripples across the Titan's void shields.
While void shields remained the most effective defense against raw kinetic bombardment, they were ultimately bound by energy consumption. Overwhelming the system required nothing more than forcing a catastrophic volume of damage through the barrier.
The spear punched clean through the void shield, striking the Titan's primary superstructure with absolute precision.
Having absorbed sufficient biomass from the surrounding gaunts, Yuki restored his damaged frame to full functionality.
Though heavily damaged, the Titan did not immediately collapse. Its secondary systems remained active, and its weapon arrays began tracking to launch a counter-strike.
"It seems the larger the frame, the higher the survival index... or perhaps machine spirits are simply that stubborn," Yuki muttered, accepting another influx of biomass to patch his outer chitin.
The Void Dragon closed the distance in a blur of motion. Without dramatic flourishes or unexpected variables, he completely dismantled the Warlord Titan in under thirty seconds.
"For an entity so erratic, his combat metrics are indisputably high," Yuki admitted silently.
Reaching down, the C'tan pulled Yuki to his feet and pointed toward the horizon.
"Is that construct the final objective of this campaign?"
"The final objective?"
"Is that not the Arx Angelicum?"
The weather was clear, and the distant silhouette of the Fortress-Monastery was faintly visible against the skyline.
"Indeed it is. That is our target."
"Though the location of the Great Devastator remains uncataloged at present, flattening that structure should conclude the parameters of this war, correct?"
"Correct, Void Dragon. Your analytical capabilities are improving."
Grabbing Yuki , the Void Dragon launched into the air, flying directly toward the distant spires of the Arx Angelicum.
Meanwhile, War and Pestilence stood in silence, watching groups of mortal defenders scramble toward the final bastion.
Neither entity initiated a pursuit, nor did the surrounding Tyranid swarms move to intercept the fleeing survivors.
"Do you calculate a high probability of success?" War queried softly.
"I calculate it will succeed," Pestilence replied with a slight nod. "It is rare for an engagement to demand my specific capability. Should this operational vector fail, I would prefer my essence to be re-absorbed back into The One."
"Will it result in the immediate toxic liquidation of every host within the target zone?"
"Unlikely. To be frank, my biological plagues cannot match the horrific potency of Nurgle's constructs. That dark power operates at an exceptionally high tier of mastery in that field."