The moment Zhou Ye set foot on the Battle Moon, a sound echoed from the Warp.
Hahahahaha...
A laugh, both extremely familiar and exasperating to Zhou Ye, resounded. Old K was late, but he had arrived.
At the same time, Fulgrim and his forces, who had been bull-rushing their way forward, looked up at the sky with twisted expressions. A horde of Khornate daemons was descending from above.
This time, however, Old K had come unprepared. He couldn't throw Angron over, and he couldn't even manage to send more than a few Greater Daemons. Still, with the appearance of a massive number of Khornate daemons, the melee escalated once again. While there had been Khornate daemons before, they were only present in small pockets. This was clearly a major deployment, paid for out of Khorne's own pocket. What that dog-headed god was thinking, probably only he knew.
"Speaking of which, this four-meter height... is the standard for a Primarch. A bunch of people think I'm a Primarch, so does that mean I am one now?"
Zhou Ye mused to himself. In the Warhammer universe, it was best not to dwell on such things. It wasn't so much faith as it was a concept similar to the Orks' belief system: if enough people thinks you are something, then to a certain extent, you become it. For instance, many suspected that Commissar Yarrick's incredible prowess had something to do with the collective belief of a massive horde of Ork Boyz.
So, Zhou Ye quickly cast aside these distracting thoughts and led his forces forward. Soon...
"Ah, so it's Black Templars. Never mind then."
Looking at the fallen Astartes in their black-and-white livery, Zhou Ye waved his hand. An Apothecary immediately stepped forward to harvest their Gene-seed. In a situation like this, without his presence, recovery would have been impossible.
"Ugh..."
Just then, Asmodai suddenly trembled.
To be fair, these fanatics from the Inner Circle were truly formidable fighters. From the Emperor's Children contingent, only Ashira had been able to keep up. Yet, every single one of these Inner Circle members had managed to stay with the group. And they were surrounded by Primaris-tier warriors. It just went to show that while they were fanatics, their combat ability was undeniable.
Still, they're just some dead Black Templars. Why such a strong reaction? Zhou Ye wondered. It's not like they're the Black Templars fighting beastmen. What's the panic?
But after advancing a short distance further, Zhou Ye himself couldn't help but pause. He saw a group of warriors in black armor fighting against a massive Ork horde. They were pinned down, unable to lift their heads. Among them were the figures of Black Templars, a monstrously twisted and deformed creature, and... a squad of Dark Angels in black armor.
Seeing this, even Zhou Ye was a little stunned. Black Templars were normal. Fallen Angels weren't a huge problem either. At this point, Aldrich had already placed his power claw on Asmodai's shoulder, a clear warning that another word out of him would result in an Aruba.
But this last group... was on another level entirely. Looking at the livery on the monster's armor... it looked like a Super Raven Guard. This was even more serious.
---o---
On the other side...
"Sons of Rogal Dorn, you must retreat immediately! I will buy you one last chance!!!"
The mutated Raven Guard Astartes roared at the Black Templars beside him. He was the one who had sent the distress signal, hoping to find someone to help him destroy this Battle Moon, which posed an immense threat to the Imperium. As it turned out, only the Black Templars had received the message.
They had followed the coordinates and boarded the Battle Moon directly, only to be met with an endless army of Orks in the narrow corridors.
"Victory or death!"
He had fallen into the Warp during a battle and had crashed directly into an Ork warband that possessed a Battle Moon. With a grim determination to die for the Imperium, he had begun to fight the Orks within their own fortress. But the more he killed, the more they came.
He had killed so many that the entire Battle Moon had started to malfunction. The loss of so many powerful Orks had caused its Waaagh! field to temporarily fail, at which point it had become entangled with several other derelict ships drifting in the Warp.
These Dark Angels had been thrown in later and had joined him in his fight against the Orks. Now, thrown back into realspace, his first instinct was to call for reinforcements to destroy this Battle Moon and the Ork leader on board.
If it weren't for this Super Raven Guard holding the front line, their losses would have been much greater. Now, seeing that the situation was dire, the Raven Guard had decided to sacrifice himself to buy the others time. After leaving the Warp, the pressure on the Orks had been greatly reduced, giving them the strength to finally corner them.
To be fair, Zhou Ye's advance had been swift and almost lossless precisely because the Orks' main forces were all inside the Battle Moon. This was why he had been feeling uneasy. The quality of the Orks outside was too low. They hadn't even deployed their Titan-class units. If he hadn't brought his Emperor Titan, the Orks crewing those war machines would probably still be inside, rounding people up.
So, the Raven Guard, who had been able to hold his ground until now, could finally hold on no longer. As one of the original five hundred Raven Guard, he could guess the final fate of his brothers. But he couldn't stop. If these Orks, who had been drifting in the Warp, were to enter the material universe, they would unleash a terrifyingly powerful green tide.
"Ancient..." the Black Templar Marshal, Giovanni, roared. The sons of Dorn never retreat. Although his first instinct upon seeing this ancient Astartes had been to draw his weapon, the warrior's actions had proven his loyalty.
An ancient Raven Guard from ten thousand years ago. Though he had never heard of him, he could not, under any circumstances, leave such a veteran behind to cover their retreat.
The sons of Dorn could die, but they could not be cowards. How could they face Dorn, how could they face their first Grand Marshal, Sigismund?
So, Giovanni tossed aside his overloaded plasma pistol and drew his power sword.
"You must get out..." The Raven Guard grew anxious, seeing this. During the Horus Heresy, he had charged to his death, hoping to kill more enemies before his mutation consumed him. But unfortunately, because of his incredible regenerative abilities, he couldn't die. In the end, none of them had fallen to corruption. They had silently allowed their Primarch to kill them, which had driven the Raven King into a deep depression, forcing him to embrace his Warp essence.
He didn't want to see a group of men charge with him, only for him to be the sole survivor.
"No Pity! No Remorse! No Fear!"
But just then, a voice rang out from behind them. The Emperor's Champion that Zhou Ye had created leaped into the frenzied tide of Greenskins. The black sword in his hand, a creation whose specifications even Zhou Ye himself didn't know, swung up and down, and the powerful Orks fell like wheat before a scythe.
"Huh?"
The group of Black Templars froze, recognizing the familiar swordsmanship and lethal skill. When had such a badass joined their expedition fleet? No, wait... while his armor was predominantly black, it wasn't the black and white of the Black Templars. It was black and gold, with a shoulder insignia they had never seen before. Where did this Emperor's Champion come from?
Bang, bang, bang!!!
In the next moment, a dense and accurate volley of bolter fire rang out, passing through their ranks to precisely strike a large group of Orks.
Then, four ancient Contemptor Dreadnoughts equipped with shields strode forward, directly blocking the Greenskins' advance. Zhou Ye wasn't sure if the original Contemptors had shields, but he had installed them on all of his during his later modifications.
"Ancient?"
Seeing the four Contemptor Dreadnoughts radiating an ancient aura, the group of Black Templars was completely stunned. The aura emanating from one of them was incredibly familiar; it was a ten-thousand-year-old Contemptor from their own lineage. But the problem was, when did they ever have such an ancient Dreadnought?
When the Legions were divided, Sigismund had taken the Templar Brethren to form the Black Templars. The old Dreadnoughts of that era had all remained with the Imperial Fists. But unfortunately, during the War of the Beast, the Imperial Fists had been wiped out. Literally wiped out. So they shouldn't have such an ancient Dreadnought.
"Brothers?"
Just then, the few Fallen Angels spotted a group of warriors also clad in black armor, but unlike the black-and-gold livery, their shoulder insignia was that of the Dark Angels. The Fallen Angels were overjoyed. It was clear these newcomers were not tainted by Chaos, and their wargear looked quite good. They must have held a high position within the old Dark Angels.
But what surprised them was that, for some reason, these other Dark Angels were trembling. Their weapons were shaking, especially the Chaplain, whose crozius was crackling with light. This brother must be tough, they thought, to have snatched a suit of Chaplain's armor from the most fanatical of all the madmen.
"Repent..."
Just then, the leading Fallen Angel in the Chaplain's power armor seemed about to say something...
Splat.
But at that moment, a black shadow flashed past. The lower half of an Ork's body flew through their ranks and accurately struck the Chaplain, the immense force knocking him to the ground.
"..."
Although it wasn't the time, seeing the killing blow delivered by one of their own Dreadnoughts left everyone except Zhou Ye's own Astartes a little confused. What just happened?
"This is a secret..." Asmodai, lying on the ground, regained his senses and broadcast to everyone present on a private Inner Circle channel.
This was an untouchable, unspeakable secret. He could guarantee that if he dared to open fire, he would be strung up and whipped by the Primarch, or grabbed by the Dreadnought for another round of Aruba. And this time, there would be no machine spirit to protest. Then he would be locked up until the battle was over.
If it were just any ordinary moment of glory, it would be one thing. But this time, there was a Daemon Primarch and a ridiculously powerful Greenskin. If he didn't participate in a battle like this, it would be a fate worse than death!!!
Thinking this, Asmodai silently picked himself up, grabbed his crozius, and walked past the Black Templars and the Fallen Angels to stand beside his own Dreadnought.
"Repent! All of you, repent! Repent!!!"
This furious display left the Fallen Angels dumbfounded. Brother, are you a World Eater with Butcher's Nails?
"Ancient! And you, brother! It's dangerous here!!!"
Seeing the Dreadnought from his own lineage, Giovanni grew panicked. The number of Greenskins was terrifying. If anything happened to the Dreadnought before him, they could all go on a penitent crusade. The quantity and quality of these Greenskins was simply staggering; even a Contemptor Dreadnought could be in trouble.
But just as he finished speaking...
BOOM.
A massive explosion echoed. Giovanni stared, dumbfounded, as a giant over four meters tall descended from the sky. Black armor, golden sword. With a single strike, a thousand Greenskins were vaporized. The area in front of them was completely cleared. In that instant, even the frenzied, bloodthirsty minds of the Orks paused. Many of them slowly began to back away.
This human big guy was too tough. It was like Gork and Mork had descended.
Holy crap, a Pri...!!!
This was the only thought in everyone's mind. Such terrifying power in a single blow. That, combined with his massive frame... in that single instant, everyone had the same thought.
"WAAAGH!!!"
And as if in response to Zhou Ye's sudden appearance, a roar echoed from the depths of the Battle Moon. Hearing that sound, the cowardly Greenskins rallied.
"WAAAGH!!!"
With another roar, they charged at Zhou Ye once more.
This big guy was so Waaagh! More Waaagh than those red choppy boyz! They weren't having it! They had to be more Waaagh!!!
With this thought, the Greenskins charged at Zhou Ye, leaped high into the air, and brought their choppas down.
But facing such an attack, Zhou Ye simply grabbed the Ork's head and, with a squeeze, crushed its brain. A strange fluid splattered everywhere.
He paid it no mind. While this thing would grow new spores, it wasn't a big problem. This place was already teeming with spores that could grow into Greenskins; one more didn't matter. When he took over this Space Hulk, he had a million ways to render these spores completely inert, so that not a single Greenskin could grow.
After all, while Orks were tough, their spores were not. There were planets where the Greenskins had been wiped out simply because it was too cold for their spores to grow.
After dealing with the Greenskin, Zhou Ye turned to look at the Raven Guard behind him. He could see a longing in the other's eyes: a longing for release, a longing to be executed by a Primarch.