The Creators: From Night City

Page 542

The ground-based air defense network was fully activated. The Third and Seventh Air Defense Regiments of the Kadian Army deployed mobile ion turrets at the main Void Shield power supply points in the north and south, forming a low-altitude kill zone to prevent Chaos from boarding these two areas and attempting to paralyze the Void Shield power supply.

Creed divided the world into six theaters of war, authorized theater commanders to make independent decisions, and adopted a supply rationing system in preparation for a long and protracted war to come.

On the same day, the Chaos Fleet deployed a large number of void minefields and surveillance satellites in the geosynchronous orbit breach area controlled by Cardia. Any ship attempting to break through the atmosphere would be tracked, locked on, and subjected to concentrated fire.

Without the restraint of outer orbit defense platforms, Blackrock Fortress was able to approach Cardia in these hollow areas and systematically bombard the planet's surface factories, transportation hubs, and energy nodes.

Under the cover of intense orbital bombardment, Chaos launched its first desperate airborne assault.

Braving attacks from surface-to-air missile sites, close-in weapon systems, laser arrays, and other anti-aircraft firepower, and suffering nearly half of their casualties, the Black Fleet managed to airdrop a large number of demonic forces into three main areas. They also used blood trails and psionic rituals to tear open three unstable subspace rifts and teleport a large number of demons.

The Khorne demons descended upon the Arctic ice plains; the Tzeentch demons in the equatorial deserts and the Slaanesh demons in the southern mountains.

The appearance of the three demons was like three drops of ink falling on a blank sheet of paper, rapidly spreading outwards.

The defenders of Cardia reacted swiftly.

The Alien Inquisition led its auxiliary forces to seal off the desert, establish a purification zone, and implement an eradication blockade.

The Mechanic Guardians were fighting against the Sorceress Legion in the southern mountains.

Only on the Arctic ice sheet, the identities of those who carried out the mission are kept top secret and do not exist in the world.

Cardia, the Arctic.

87° North latitude, 112° East longitude, "Pale Cemetery".

There are no wrong nicknames, only wrong names.

The Arctic region of Kadia is indeed a no-go zone for living beings.

The ancient permafrost has an average thickness of 3.2 kilometers and natural ice fissures that are hundreds of meters deep are scattered throughout the frozen wasteland.

Everywhere there are cracked ice fissures and glacial fissures. Many ice cracks are so large that they expose the ancient seabed and geological faults below, with height differences of hundreds of meters. Often, a single misstep can mean the difference between life and death.

The ice sheet is constantly battered by blizzards with wind speeds exceeding 100 km/h, and visibility is almost zero for nearly half the day. Temperatures remain consistently between -45°C and -60°C.

Amidst the swirling snow, a pure white wave of light suddenly swept out, and before the dispersing snow could dissipate, it was blasted back into the sky by the shockwave.

After a flash of psionic light, a well-equipped and disciplined squad of Grey Knights appeared on this white wasteland.

Upon landing, the Grey Knights did not rush into action but maintained their defensive formation. They first unleashed a portable Geller force field generator shaped like a holy coffin, creating a Geller force field approximately 15 meters wide.

The process exuded a professional air.

Chapter 1099 Someone beat them to it

Three servo-controlled skull units immediately took off and began to detect the surrounding environment, quickly arriving at accurate conclusions.

"Location has been confirmed: the missing ice sheet observation station 'Sentinel Alpha'."

"The current stability is 69%, and it is continuing to decline."

“Psionic background radiation increased by 800%.”

"Alert! Traces of Khorne cultists detected within the observation station, suspected of being taken over!" The Grey Knight's specially customized servo skull detected the demon's presence and issued an alert.

But the next second, it reassessed the result.

"The relevant readings have been verified. There were 31 Khorne Berserkers, and they are all dead."

Squad commander, High Knight Garen Thor, hesitantly withdrew his foot and reactivated the Blessed Power Halberd.

"Dead?" His words were full of doubt.

The team sent on this mission is the 7th Purification Squad of the 4th Brotherhood of the Holy Hammer Order, the "Ruthless."

The leader, the Supreme Knight Garen Thor, is a veteran who has served for 187 years and has extensive experience in dealing with demons, but he still cannot understand the scene before him.

Khorne Berserkers were often cut in two or four pieces, their blood and internal organs flying everywhere, freezing into ice sculptures with an unusual beauty in the low temperature.

The scene was nothing short of a massacre; compared to the Khorne troops, the perpetrators' style of action was clearly far more brutal.

"It's not an internal conflict," Deputy Commander Knight Cassius concluded after a thorough examination of the scene.

"Be vigilant, mission first."

The servo skull ascended and quickly located their mission target 12 kilometers from the observation station.

Through the images transmitted back by the servo skull, the Grey Knights saw that the permafrost glacier had been melted into a blood lake with a diameter of nearly 800 meters. Inside, the rudiments of flesh and brass structures were beginning to rise, and an unstable subspace rift was gradually taking shape during the blood sacrifice.

Without the slightest delay, Commander Garen Thor issued the battle order: "Prepare for battle."

Every second of delay increases the demons' power, and every second of waiting allows the subspace rift to expand, increasing its threat to the real world.

The 12-person team set off immediately.

The Grey Knights, as the Empire's anti-phantom special force against demons, are among the Empire's top-tier units in terms of personnel, equipment, and operational authority.

After all, their main job is to cleanse demons, exorcise evil spirits, and disrupt dangerous rituals of cultists.

Take this current twelve-man Grey Knight squad, for example; their equipment is so sophisticated that even Guilliman's previous champion guards were not equipped to this extent.

Squad commander, High Knight Garen Thor, wears the "Fortress of Faith" type power armor, which contains a precious miniature anti-phantom field generator. He wields the inherited weapon "The Evil Breaker" and also carries the finger bone of Saint Sebastian. He is also a powerful gamma-level psionicist.

Vice Commander Cassius, ritual expert and rune engraver.

In addition, there were two elite psionicists, four assault troops wearing special Nemesis Terminator armor, and four interceptors carrying teleportation backpacks. Their weapons and armor were all consecrated sacred weapons.

Three points later.

The Grey Knights squad ascended the "Pale Ridge".

As a high vantage point in the vicinity, it offers an easy view of the great rift where the Khorne demon resides.

The servo skull quickly detected the sacrificial altar erected by the Khorne cultists, a large number of Khorne pioneers responsible for maintaining the ritual, and swarms of wandering Khorne vampire squads.

To their surprise, however, people were already fighting against these heretics.

“It’s the same group from Sentinel Alpha. Judging from their armor paint, they should be Black Templars,” Vice Commander Cassius said with certainty.

“The demon formation is in disarray. We’ll join the battle from the flanks and prioritize eliminating the ritual nodes.” Garen Thor had no intention of investigating the identity of this mysterious combatant. At this moment, disrupting the ritual and expelling the demons were the most important things to him.

So, less than 50 minutes after landing, the Grey Knights squad engaged in combat with the Khorne Demon.

Like an ancient knight, the silver power armor engraved with prayers accumulated terrifying kinetic energy. Under Garen Thor's skillful control, the power halberd, flashing with the blinding light of the disintegration field, directly severed the body of a bloodletting demon in one fell swoop.

The Khorne demons, caught off guard, did not panic but instead fought back with high morale.

The sanctified bombs, marked with the mark of purity, are extremely precious. Each one requires the infusion of the ashes of a soulless individual and the completion of a complex consecration ritual, but at this moment they are being fired out in a frenzied and merciless manner.

The two Grey Knight psionicists simultaneously lowered their scepters, creating a psionic shield that weakened any demons that dared to enter.

Meanwhile, the Terminators, responsible for the frontal assault, have already begun close combat with the enemy.

As the most elite unit of the human empire and a special force to deal with demons, the Grey Knights are a rare unit whose combat power surpasses that of ordinary demons.

The two Terminators, wielding the Nemesis Power Halberd and Storm Bomb Gun, protected the flanks of High Knight Garen Thor and Knight Cassius, firmly maintaining their formation. The other two, with their twin Storm Bomb Cannons and heavy flamethrowers, fired wildly behind them, increasing their slaughter efficiency dramatically.

With slashes, smashes, thrusts, and psionic strikes, spearheaded by Garen Thor, the squad advanced at breakneck speed into the enemy lines, surrounded by hordes of Khorne demons.

Garen Thor had no intention of engaging in a prolonged fight; he knew perfectly well that if the ritual was not disrupted, the number of demons would be endless.

But soon, packs of flesh-and-blood hounds were released and charged at them. These ferocious, twisted beasts could easily bite through their armor with their sharp teeth, and their numbers and agility made them extremely dangerous in a group attack.

Instead of engaging in close combat, the Gray Knight squad immediately halted, unleashing a barrage of crossfire from Storm Bombs and flamethrowers in an attempt to annihilate the enemy.

The bloodletting demons, now able to catch their breath, immediately formed a neat square formation and, blessed by Khorne, began to crush this tough nut to crack.

As a professional anti-pseudo-power unit, Garen Thor's response was undoubtedly the best he could do in the shortest amount of time.

The squad immediately deployed all anti-psychic fields, covering the combat area and weakening the enemy's formation bonuses.

The two psionicists, together with Garen Thor, used psionic energy to "weave" a psionic bomb, which briefly dispersed the abundant warp energy in their area.

The Bloodlust has indeed been weakened to some extent, but there is no doubt that a tough and bloody battle still awaits everyone.

Chapter 1100 Fierce Battle at the Blood Lake

Soon, the two interceptors responsible for support, whose defenses were the weakest, had their power armor pierced by the Blood Axe. Although their vital signs were stable, Khorne's curse began to spread through their blood, greatly affecting their combat effectiveness.

Psionicist Terranis, having overused his precognition to evade danger for his team, began experiencing severe nosebleeds, while the team's overall sanctified ammunition reserves were rapidly depleting.

Parrying a slash from a champion bloodletter, Garen Thor, with heavy but agile steps, kicked his opponent to the ground. However, before his power halberd could strike, a commotion suddenly broke out among the Khorne demons.

They unusually abandoned the Grey Knights and turned to retreat towards the glacier behind them.

The answer is actually quite obvious: someone beat them to it, broke through the Khorne demon's defenses, and rushed into the heart of the enemy.

Filled with astonishment and confusion, the Grey Knights arrived at the inner battlefield and witnessed a chilling scene.

The carpet of blood and bones, a scene that should have been commonplace, seemed rather unusual to the Grey Knights.

This is because these bones and blood did not come from innocent citizens of the Empire, but from the Khorne demons who died by the roadside.

Three warriors of average height fought, or rather slaughtered, the demonic tide.

The trio of priests were like three all-consuming meat grinders, fighting their 'prey' with such fervor that the Black Templars behind them could hardly keep up with their pace.

Their hunting techniques, derived from Yharnam, meant their movements lacked any aesthetic appeal, but rather exuded a brutal and explosive quality.

The priest's two-handed power axe was less of a chop and more of a smash, while Old Henry's explosive shotgun was not satisfied with just getting close to fire; it had to be driven deep into the demon's wound before it would stop.

The slenderest crow was the most insane one.

She wielded a sacred chainsaw sword with unparalleled skill, sawing off arms and legs with swift and decisive movements. Her unique hunting techniques resulted in each attack spraying copious amounts of enemy blood, staining her entire body and face, to the point that the others couldn't tell who the true bloodsucker was.

More importantly, the three men's fighting style was different. Compared to Asta and his ilk, they were more accustomed to trading blows for lives, making all their attacks as efficient as a massacre.

The nano-shells created by Lily were equally cunning in the face of the demon's attacks. Although there were no blood collection bottles to heal their injuries, the flowing nano-elements made the three of them look like three humanoid slimes, and their wounds healed almost instantly, which was practically cheating.

Of course, the enemy did attempt to use fire or energy weapons, but the Om Messiah Apostles, surrounded by the Black Sanctuary at the center, were simultaneously replenishing their depleted nano-elements.

With her ultimate support, the three cyber summons were unstoppable, pushing the battle all the way to the Blood Lake.

Thick, bubbling blood churned and boiled, its pungent stench assaulting the nostrils. A fissure resembling a tornado was guarded at its center by the demons, emanating waves of Khorne's warp power.

Every now and then, the outlines of blood demons, berserkers, and even demon engines gradually rise from the blood lake, as if they are about to break through the invisible barrier and take shape in this world.

Stepping into the lake of blood, deep enough to reach an average person's calves, the escorting Black Sanctuary instantly felt as if they had stepped into a desolate wasteland of slaughter, battle, violence, and bloodshed. The sweet, pungent smell of blood was like an intangible yet exquisite temptation, luring these powerful warriors into the embrace of violence.

The power of Khorne was able to manifest itself in the material world through this blood; the area where the blood lake spread could be understood as a projection of His domain.

If a mortal were to step into this realm, they would have long since become bloodthirsty and mindless, turning into a Khorne berserker who only knows how to behead and kill. However, the Black Templars are soldiers meticulously created by the Emperor, and thus possess considerable resistance to such attacks.

As for the three old hunters, needless to say, these three had only recently quit their blood addiction, and in this blood lake it was like coming home. They were all invigorated, their faces full of intoxication, and their bodies were completely relaxed, almost causing the Black Templar who was traveling with them to have an emergency.

The Grey Knights are also in excellent health. They are experts at dealing with these evil rituals, and from the gene seed to their daily training and equipment, they have all been professionally protected against these situations.

As they whispered the imperial maxims, the corrupting influence of Khorne's whispers had little effect on them.

However, the demons in the Blood Lake were greatly enhanced. They were as if they had returned to the endless plains of war in the warp, their deformed bodies shrouded in blood mist and surging with the brutal power of Khorne.

Several bloodthirsty champions finally appeared and engaged in a chaotic battle with the two teams.

The Grey Knights' exorcism primarily utilizes Imperial Maxims, the ashes of the Soulless, specialized equipment, various runes and patterns belonging to forbidden knowledge, coupled with unwavering faith and psychic power.

The old hunters' exorcisms were simple. As beings born with spiritual vision, they cut the flesh and the soul with their knives. There were no spells, no prayers, and not even any intellectual elements involved; only violence.

But this method is exceptionally effective.

Soon, both sides advanced to the edge of the rift.

This place has been transformed into a Khorne Temple by Khorne's followers. It is unknown where these cultists obtained the large number of skulls, which are piled up on both sides of the temple to form a terrifying wall of wailing.

A Khorne Crusher stood between the crowd and the rift.

This massive demonic engine was clearly a hasty creation; its body, which should have been clad in armor, now had large patches of flesh exposed, and it was also missing all the weapons it should have been equipped with.

However, it remains a significant threat.

The Blessing Bombs rained down, but the effect was far from satisfactory. Instead, the Supreme Knight Garen's Power Halberd charge attack tore a huge gash in the opponent's unarmored chest, revealing the engine core inside.

Without needing to communicate, the veteran hunters approached the demonic engine from three directions, bracing against the crusher's counterattacks and working in perfect coordination to shatter the engine's core into pieces.

The massive brass power claw pierced right through the priest who was responsible for taking the damage, but under the watchful eyes of the gray knights, he pulled himself off the giant claw.

Like sand, nano-elements frantically swirl back, filling in the hideous wounds.

To be honest, Garen almost took out his sword and struck those three as well.

Fortunately, the importance of exorcising evil spirits puts the need to verify the purity of the other party secondary.

Without a moment's hesitation, the Grey Knights beheaded the cultist who was kowtowing like a chicken scurrying across rice without a second thought. The deputy commander, array master and ritual expert Cassius, immediately inscribed the corresponding counter-attack array on the ground, while Garen, carrying the sacred halberd, watched the crimson lake beside the crack with the Grey Knights.