Daqi fought alone amid the enemy tide, holding off the seemingly endless Chaos army by himself to buy time for the Imperial forces to withdraw.
Mixed among the enemy were quite a few Chaos Space Marines. Each of them bore the blessings of the gods, had been tempered in the Eye of Terror for who knew how long, and even had daemons assisting them.
Daqi was no match for them at all. The moment he revived, he was hacked to pieces by the enemies swarming in.
If not for simple mode allowing instant resurrection with no death penalty, Daqi truly would not have been able to hold on.
No equipment. This was way too damn hard.
When would he finally get a full set of divine gear and start mowing everything down?
To be honest, Daqi still preferred those mortal traitors. No other reason—they were easy to bully.
The Chaos side was also on the verge of breaking down. They had no idea what was going on with the guy in front of them. He could resurrect infinitely.
No matter how many times they killed him, he always came back to life and continued attacking them.
Just who had been blessed by the gods here, you or us?!
Do you even know how bugged you are? Does your Corpse Emperor know?!
The port was protected by walls and surrounded by trenches. Chaos vehicles could not get through and were all jammed at the only passage Daqi was guarding.
“Open fire! Provide support for that angel of the Emperor!”
Creed kept shouting, pouring out the last of their ammunition to block the enemy’s advance.
Their efforts allowed the allied forces to withdraw smoothly into the port, board the transports, and head for the transport ships in orbit.
When the Chaos army flooded his entire field of vision and no more Imperial troops came, Daqi chose to retreat back into the port.
【You have successfully completed the mission. Cadia’s survivors have been safely evacuated.】
【Rewards obtained: 700 experience points, 700 points, Reputation +30, Hades-pattern Terminator Armor *1】
A set of green-quality Terminator power armor appeared in the game warehouse.
This Hades-pattern Terminator power armor also had a blessing attribute.
【Unyielding Protocol: When activated, gain 90% ranged damage reduction, but movement speed is reduced by 50%, melee attacks become unavailable, and a roar is automatically emitted: “We are the fortress.”】
Without another word, Daqi immediately changed into the Terminator power armor with even better defenses.
Creed had been watching Daqi the whole time. He only saw a flash of light appear over this mysterious warrior.
Then, he had changed into an even heavier suit of Terminator power armor, leaving Creed’s heart filled with confusion.
How exactly had the other party done that?
Creed suppressed the doubts in his heart. This was not the time to let his thoughts run wild.
He walked up to Daqi and spoke to him.
“Most of the soldiers and civilians have already withdrawn. We should leave too, but the enemy is pressing us hard. There’s no telling how many of the troops holding the rear will be able to get out. Can you help us?”
As soon as he finished speaking, a mission prompt appeared before Daqi.
【Mission: Find a way to let the last troops withdraw safely.
The enemy is still in hot pursuit. Castellan Creed is troubled over how to withdraw the final troops from Cadia. Please find a way to help him stop the pursuers entering the port so that the rearguard troops can withdraw safely.
Mission reward: 800 experience points, 800 points, Reputation +40, Power Weapon: Ruyi Staff *1】
“Stop the pursuers rushing into the port?”
Daqi looked around, then took out his mithril pickaxe again.
He knocked down everything that could be knocked down, then built wall after wall at astonishing speed.
When the Chaos army charged into the port and saw one high wall after another, their mentality collapsed on the spot.
Were these Imperial bastards possessed by Dorn’s soul?
Addicted to building walls, were they?
By the time the Chaos army destroyed the walls obstructing their advance and reached the landing pad,
Daqi and Creed had already boarded the last transport, leaving the surface and rushing into the hellish skies.
…………
Somewhere in the port,
a pair of eyes glowing with ghostly green light watched the departing transport.
“How very interesting.”
This person was none other than the Necron Overlord who had released Greyfax and the other human reinforcements, and guided Archmagos Cawl to discover the secret of the blackstone pylons—Trazyn the Infinite.
He had originally intended to add Ursarkar E. Creed to his collection, to commemorate the galaxy-changing moment that was the Fall of Cadia.
But the appearance of that mysterious warrior made him abandon the idea.
Clearly, this Castellan’s story had yet to end. That did not accord with the original purpose of his collection.
Trazyn withdrew his gaze and looked toward the Chaos warriors and cultists roaring in fury on the landing pad. He tossed out the cube in his hand, which was exuding a mysterious radiance.
The entire landing pad fell into stasis. Every Chaos traitor froze like a statue.
“Then I shall take you as the harvest of this trip.”
Trazyn retrieved the cube, taking away the Chaos traitors who had been the first to charge onto the landing pad as collectibles, naming them “The Fall of Cadia.”
By the time the following Chaos forces flooded onto the landing pad, he had long since departed, leaving behind only infuriated Chaos commanders and daemons roaring at the sky.
………………
The entire sky was shrouded in artillery fire.
The Imperial Fists’ Stormhawk Interceptors engaged in aerial combat amid the swirling dust storms, doing everything they could to cover the withdrawing Imperial forces.
But they were too few in number and powerless to withstand the frenzied flying monsters.
Daqi stood by the window of the transport, watching as yellow fighters fell under the siege of Heldrakes, plunging toward the ground, their wreckage burning fiercely.
Creed walked to Daqi’s side. Thinking this mysterious warrior was grieving for the fallen pilots, he spoke to comfort him. “These are necessary sacrifices.”
Daqi glanced back at Creed, ignored him, and continued browsing through the shop.
After spending a little time, Daqi found what he wanted.
【Item: TIE Fighter (1 day). The standard starfighter deployed en masse by the Galactic Empire, full name “Twin Ion Engine Fighter.”
Combat performance: Capable of flying through the void. Two laser cannons are mounted beneath the spherical cockpit.
Evaluation: A flying heap of scrap metal.】
This aerial battle had been made so realistic. It would truly be a pity not to participate.
Daqi excitedly exchanged points for a one-day trial card of the TIE fighter,
planning to have a thrilling dogfight with the Chaos traitors.
With a flash of light, Creed saw a strange black fighter appear outside the transport.
It looked like a round ball with solar panels installed on both sides.
Daqi’s figure also disappeared from the transport and appeared inside the cockpit of the TIE fighter.
“How exactly does this guy do it?” Creed’s eyes widened. The other party’s actions once again refreshed his simple worldview.
Whether on the Imperial side or the Chaos side, everyone felt puzzled as they looked at the bizarre fighter that had suddenly appeared.
They had never seen a fighter of this style before.
“Hahaha, here I come!”
Daqi had just finished shouting excitedly when he looked at the control panel and went dumbfounded.
The control panel was covered in densely packed buttons. Although their functions were labeled, there was absolutely no way to master them in a short time.
“You said this was a virtual reality game, not that you’d copy every single design wholesale! Do you understand what idiot-proof design is?! Fuck!!”
The TIE fighter made a few nonsensical collisions in the air, then plummeted toward the ground at tremendous speed and exploded into pieces with a boom.
The Chaos traitors who had noticed this special fighter were all speechless.
Were you a clown hired by an Imperial theater troupe?
Was your method of defeating us to try and make us die of laughter?
Creed: …………
With a flash of bright light, Daqi once again appeared inside the transport.
【Congratulations, you have obtained the achievement “Fastest Crash.”】
Daqi: …………
Official, are you insulting me?
After experiencing the crash, Daqi became honest. He silently watched the intense aerial battle and did not buy any new fighters.
But in his heart, he silently swore that he would definitely find a chance to learn the skill of piloting aircraft.
The transport broke through the atmosphere and finally entered Archmagos Cawl’s Ark Mechanicus, the Steel Vengeance.
After the last batch of Imperial troops boarded, the Phalanx, like a floating fortress, slowly left Cadia’s orbit. Using its formidable firepower, it opened a path through the void for the other ships and withdrew toward a region where the structure of spacetime was stable.
Following close behind were the battle-scarred warships of the Imperial Navy, as well as the few civilian vessels that had survived Cadia’s fall. Last came Belisarius Cawl’s Adeptus Mechanicus fleet.
Because Cadia had fallen and the Eye of Terror had gone out of control, warp turbulence raged, making warp travel an extremely dangerous matter.
The fleet had to get far away from the turbulence before it could enter the warp again.
Before that, they had to travel through realspace at sub-light speed.
And the captains under Abaddon’s command swarmed in like locusts, attempting to annihilate this Imperial fleet that sought to withdraw.
………………
The Vengeful Spirit.
The Warmaster of Chaos, chosen by all Four Gods—Abaddon—admired his own masterpiece. The planet Cadia, which had obstructed him for ten thousand years, was slowly breaking apart.
The Eye of Terror had gone out of control. The Corpse Emperor’s empire had already been fitted with a noose.
With just a little more force, all of this could be ended completely.
At that moment, the doors to the strategium rumbled open, and his chief sorcerer-advisor, Zaraphiston, walked in.
“My lord, we should pursue them as soon as possible.”
Abaddon revealed a look of disdain. “The Corpse Emperor’s lackeys have already been defeated. Let those pieces of trash gnaw at them. That routed rabble of fools is not worth any more of my attention.”
Zaraphiston frowned. “But there is a ship carrying something precious. If we do not stop it in time, variables may arise.”
“There is nothing aboard the Phalanx worthy of my attention,” Abaddon scoffed.
Zaraphiston’s third eye blinked slightly, and a half-smiling expression appeared on his face.
“My lord, I am not speaking of the Phalanx, but the Ark Mechanicus Steel Vengeance under Belisarius Cawl’s control. Within it is a precious relic, the key to reviving Roboute Guilliman.”
Unease surfaced on Abaddon’s face. “What did you say? Reviving Roboute Guilliman?”
“Yes. In the hands of the Martian sage is a suit of armor capable of reviving Roboute Guilliman. If he is allowed to reach Macragge successfully, the consequences will be unimaginable.”
“No!” Abaddon shouted. In his fury, he smashed his fist into the table, reducing it to fragments.
“The age of the Primarchs is over. I will never allow Roboute to ruin my plans.”
“Order all ships to pursue at full speed. The Steel Vengeance must be intercepted.”