The Legio Cybernetica units crouched among the furnaces, staring in horror and despair as the God-Machine was destroyed by the bizarre creature, toppling like a mountain.
They refused to believe a God-Machine could be destroyed, unless they were in a nightmare.
This was a nightmare, one they desperately wanted to wake from.
They raised their weapons, firing at the monster, trying to break the ridiculous illusion.
The Osseivores's crown was scorched black. Enraged, it disdainfully turned its attention to the insignificant insects, unleashing a dense salvo of energy beams.
The beams slammed into the furnaces being used as cover, vaporizing them instantly.
Rising clouds of vapor made the organic parts of the Legio Cybernetica feel as if they were plunged into a furnace.
Not far away, Ramsey, hidden in the shadow of a human slave, looked back. He saw industrial dust swirling in the wind.
Falk's Vostroya-pattern Rhino command vehicle burst through the dust curtain, speeding forward.
Dozens of armored vehicles followed their Lord, racing along the highway, unleashing dense barrages at the enemies blocking their path.
Ramsey's comm buzzed. He activated it, and Falk's voice came through.
"Librarian, report status."
"The Titan breached the Osseivores's energy shield. It likely cannot be reactivated for some time."
Ramsey spoke, his eyes deep, his bio-lightning extending towards the towering creature.
Receiving feedback, he continued.
"The Osseivores is lightly wounded, but it's not significantly affected."
Several seconds of silence on the comm channel, then Falk spoke decisively.
"We cannot waste this opportunity. Target: the Osseivores. Attack!"
The Vostroya-pattern Rhinos and Gabriel-pattern Predators swiveled their guns, aiming at the Osseivores.
Cannons roared in unison. Tongues of flame swept across the Osseivores's body, turning patches of it to green mist. Broken branches rained down.
The Osseivores grunted in pain. It abandoned the insects, turning its body and aiming its arms at the black armored vehicles.
The black armored formation scattered, swerving left and right to evade the attacks.
Several Gabriel-pattern Predators veered off the highway, searing light immediately chasing after them.
The "Monster," guided by psychic intuition, worked the controls with both hands.
The black vehicles weaved recklessly between the furnaces, like a drunkard out of control.
But Ramsey saw clearly: not one black vehicle struck a furnace. As they dodged, they never stopped firing at the Osseivores.
A hail of shells struck the Osseivores. Green mist billowed and churned.
The Osseivores let out a sharp roar. The beams of energy suddenly split into dozens of fist-sized orbs.
'The Osseivores can manipulate the form of its energy weapons?'
Ramsey frowned. He saw a Gabriel-pattern Predator barely dodge a beam, only to be immediately hit by dozens of orbs.
The "Monster" yanked the controls. The machine-spirit roared in anger, engines screaming for more power.
The black armored vehicle lurched out from among the orbs, leaving a trail of pockmarks on the steel roadway.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Furnace after furnace was destroyed. The Gabriel-pattern Predator's room to maneuver shrank rapidly.
With an explosive roar, two orbs struck the black armored hull simultaneously.
The orbs tore two large holes, their remaining force piercing through the vehicle, leaving two devastating wounds.
Four more orbs struck. The Gabriel-pattern Predator was hurled into the air, crashing against a towering furnace.
'I must do something!' Ramsey thought, stepping forward.
The "Shadow Ascetic" surged forward, moving swiftly through the shadows of the xenos.
Foul odors swept past his nose. The "Shadow Ascetic" did not shut off his senses, lest a perceptive xenos suddenly detect his presence.
Ramsey felt a dissolving sensation within him.
Like the nutrient porridge he had drunk today, rapidly dissolving in his body.
More pronounced than when he had moved through the ranks of the Shadows of Order earlier.
A xenos with a trunk like an elephant's twitched its nose, sniffing around.
It seemed something had infiltrated their ranks.
Just as it stepped forward to search, it heard the rustling and trembling of branches.
"Attack! Destroy the human armored vehicles!"
The xenos immediately halted, following the Osseivores's command, and charged at the black armored vehicles.
On the tactical hololith, Falk saw countless red dots converging on his force.
"Evade!"
"If you can't evade, ram!"
"Continue attacking the Osseivores! Don't let its energy shield reactivate!"
The driver jammed the controls forward. The sharp spikes on the Vostroya-pattern Rhino's prow snapped a xenos' legs, viscous liquid splattering the black hull.
Following the orders, the gunner's storm bolter roared, firing mass-reactive rounds.
To increase firepower, another gunner popped up through the top hatch, firing hunter-killer missiles from the second pintle-mounted storm bolter at the Osseivores.
Flames from the mass-reactive impacts scorched the Osseivores's body.
The hunter-killer missiles streaked through the air, accurately striking the branches atop its head.
Under the sustained barrage, the Osseivores's body swayed, tilting backward.
Falk watched the tactical screen, capturing the moment. He clenched his gauntlet. His decision to strike while the Osseivores was weakened had been right.
At that moment, sensors suddenly emitted a piercing shriek.
Hundreds of energy orbs shot towards his command vehicle.
"Abandon vehicle!"
Falk had concluded from the earlier battle that even split, the energy weapons that could destroy a Titan were not something armored vehicles could withstand.
A few orbs would heavily damage an armored vehicle. A dozen would destroy his command vehicle. Hundreds would erase it completely.
The "Barbarian," wearing the Saturnine-pattern Terminator prototype, leaped from the command vehicle faster than his Honor Guard.
The shockwave from behind slammed into his conversion field, producing a series of piercing cracks.
Falk was hurled forward, slamming into a furnace with a crash.
CLANG! The furnace crashed heavily to the ground.
Though disheveled, he was unharmed. He pushed off the furnace with his right hand and stood.
After jumping down, he immediately checked his helmet's display.
Five of his Honor Guard members had survived.
Falk raised his arm, activating the 10th Chapter's only heavy conversion beamer, mounted on the Saturnine-pattern Terminator prototype.
A blinding beam of light flared, its brilliance surpassing even the orbs emitted by the Osseivores.
The conversion beam struck the Osseivores's crown.
The layered crown was blasted open, a hole larger than an Shadow of Order torn through it.
The Osseivores roared to the skies. The remaining branches trembled.
All four of its arms swiveled, aiming at Falk.
Four blinding beams illuminated the gloomy sky, temporarily blinding the Shadows of Order.
Seconds later, the light faded, vision returning.
The 10th Chapter's comm channel filled with the sorrowful voice of the Honor Guard Captain.
"The Lord is dead."
Falk was not just dead; he was utterly annihilated, erased without a trace, along with his armor and the surrounding furnaces.
In grief, the 10th Chapter unleashed a furious barrage at the Osseivores.
The "Shadow Ascetic" slipped into the green mist. He immediately felt his armor grasped as if by countless slime-covered tentacles.
The gas seeping into his rebreather was foul, pungent, and coppery.
'Toxic!'
The Librarian's eyes deepened. Bio-lightning infused every cell of his body.
In seconds, Ramsey expelled the invading toxins.
The "Shadow Ascetic" moved through the Osseivores's vast shadow. He saw a colossal foot, formed of branches, lift and sway backward.
The branches of the foot slapped down, crushing the corpse of a Legio Cybernetica unit beneath, turning it to pulp.
The "Shadow Ascetic" didn't stop. Reaching the Osseivores's back, he extended half his remaining psychic energy, touching that immense shadow.
A black cat emerged from the shadow, each paw gripping a dagger.
The "Shadow Ascetic" using Spirit Vision, staring at the cat. He noticed it and its daggers were more solid than the shadow-shaped panther and blade from before.
'The stronger the shadow's owner, the stronger the shaped animal or weapon?'
The black cat climbed the branches, ascending swiftly. Each time its paws landed, it stabbed the shadow-shaped daggers into the branches.
The Osseivores didn't notice at first, until one leg failed to move as commanded, while other parts of its body functioned normally, causing it to lose balance.
The branch-joints on its other two legs bulged, trying to stop the backward slide.
Too late. The off-balance Osseivores crashed heavily to the ground.
The black armored vehicles scrambled to flee.
Hundreds of Rangdan xenos, caught off guard, were crushed beneath the falling Osseivores, reduced to pools of gore.
.....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
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