Vostonia, Verkhoyansk Hive City, where the second altar was located—the shantytowns on its outskirts.
The woman in blue robes lifted her hood with a clawed hand, revealing a head shaped like a slanted moon.
After letting out a bizarre cry incomprehensible to ordinary people, she opened her beak and addressed the many Mutants in a shrill voice.
"The hive dwellers see you as vermin, as loathsome creatures of mutation."
"Is that really true? Of course not."
The blue-robed woman's left arm stretched out, her clawed hand now only an arm's length from the nearest Mutant. Blue flames ignited within it.
"Mutation is a gift from the God of Wisdom. You are the fortunate ones who have received enlightenment."
"Follow me, and you will receive the God of Wisdom's enlightenment. You will be granted gifts."
"You will reclaim the Hive City that should have belonged to you. You can tear those foolish people who despise you to pieces, even trample those lofty noble lords and the mechanical fools who worship False Gods beneath your feet."
The Mutants howled excitedly. The woman's words ignited the fury in their hearts and stirred their desires.
A Mutant with a fleshy tumor growing over his eyelid bent his legs and let out a piercing howl.
"Charge into the Hive City! Take back our food! Tear those maggots apart!"
The surrounding Mutants, including those from other shantytowns, cried out excitedly along with him.
"Charge into the Hive City! Take back our food! Tear those maggots apart!"
The blue-robed woman floated upward in excitement as Warp power surged around her.
"The time of enlightenment has come!"
As Vostonia's Mutants stirred up a storm, Nimrod, standing by the Coral Sea in the Cradle of the Sea, saw the sight before his eyes change.
A glimmer appeared upon the azure sea. It was faint, yet dazzling.
It was the radiance rising from the Sea of Souls!
Nimrod understood at once. Through the long-term worship of countless Sicilians, perhaps along with some special opportunity, the ocean before him had begun to shine in the Warp. It had already embarked upon a path of ascension beyond the mundane.
Such things were not uncommon in this world. In the underground sea of the Hive City Necromunda, there was a "Cthulhu" that had gained divinity through generations of worship from fishmen.
Worshipping the sea was hardly strange. Shamanism had three major forms of worship: ancestor worship, nature worship, and animal worship.
Even ten thousand years later, when the Ecclesiarchy had long become the mainstream faith, Necromunda's Lower Hive was still filled with countless bizarre cults.
Some Shamanic sects worshipped sewage pits, while others worshipped metal pipes. There were even those who worshipped damaged Daemon Engines.
Even beliefs themselves could give birth to new gods in the Warp through worship.
The Goddess T'au was the embodiment of the T'au Empire's political ideal of the Greater Good. She had been born from the faith of countless subject races.
The Mother of the Sea was the same, except it was far too weak compared to those minor gods of Chaos. It existed by relying on the worship of its believers, and even the waves of the Sea of Souls might tear apart its fragile consciousness.
"Outsiders call it the Coral Sea, but we Sicilians call Her the Mother of the Sea. She provides us with food and shelter."
Nimrod's pupils suddenly contracted. The faint light in his vision shifted, presenting a blurry, incomplete scene.
Two tentacles, their tips lined with teeth, coiled around the bodies of an Iron Warrior and a bronze-skinned Sicilian.
Sharp teeth tore open their flesh and burrowed inside.
The image vanished, and the light grew dimmer.
"I saw the image the Mother of the Sea showed me. I believe you saw the image She showed you as well."
"That sea monster is called a Tooth-Devouring Octopus. Its body resembles an octopus, but the mouths at the ends of its tentacles are filled with sharp teeth."
"Even the smallest adult Tooth-Devouring Octopus is as large as a room. Their bodies keep growing as they feed. The largest one we ever witnessed was as big as an island. Every time it surfaced, it caused a storm."
Malena's voice was filled with disgust. When Nimrod turned to look at her, he saw the muted sorrow and hatred in her eyes.
"They are vile Predators, blasphemous creatures. Sicilians and sea creatures alike cannot escape their revolting bites."
The Primarch had already guessed why the Coral Sea had shown him the sea monster. The Tooth-Devouring Octopuses threatened its faith, and it wanted to use his hand to eliminate those Monsters.
Clearly, the Coral Sea possesses a certain degree of intelligence. It understands what will make me act—my subordinates facing a threat to their lives.
Besides, the Sicilians are my people as well.
With that thought, Nimrod spoke.
"If that sea monster dares appear before me, I will kill it!"
"The Mother of the Sea showed you this image, which means a sea monster has already been drawn here."
She paused, then said mockingly yet sorrowfully.
"Sea monsters possess an endless hunger for flesh and blood. The blood spilled in the battle between the aliens and the Sicilians will surely draw these Predators here."
"Come with me."
Nimrod led Malena to find Vieri.
The bronze-skinned man bowed, then began his report.
"My king, I have completed the reorganization of Trani Sea Guard. At present, there are 1,952 warriors capable of fighting."
"Set out at once for nearby Grosseto Island."
After Szczesny wiped out Trinio's Flau aliens, he followed Nimrod's orders and found the clan chief.
Having lost most of his warriors, the chief ultimately chose to submit when faced with the well-equipped Iron Warriors.
Szczesny immediately ordered a rest, then recruited warriors from the fewer than one thousand Sea Guards to replenish his ranks.
With time pressing, the selection method he came up with was simple. Each batch consisted of a hundred men who would dive into the water and retrieve coral. The first seven to return would become recruits of the 4th Regiment.
The candidates of the fifth batch returned one after another. As the Iron Warriors stood by the shore checking them over, more than a dozen tentacles burst from the sea. Two of them wrapped around the waists of an islander and an Iron Warrior respectively.
Szczesny was greatly startled. He immediately took the Las-rifle from his back, aimed at the writhing tentacle, and pulled the trigger.
The beam struck the tentacle with precise, light-speed accuracy, and white smoke rose from it.
Though he had hit the target precisely, Sailor felt no joy whatsoever. He could see clearly that the tentacle had already bored into both men's bodies.
Jorginho, bronze-skinned and among the third group to pass the test, had learned some of the language during trade with the Vostonians. Szczesny had temporarily appointed him as a platoon leader.
He shouted in Low Gothic to the regiment commander, "It's a Tooth-Devouring Octopus, a vile man-eating sea monster!"
Hearing this, Szczesny drew his Chainsword and strode forward, issuing an order at once.
"Attack!"
The warriors of Vostonia's 4th Regiment immediately attacked the tentacles with the weapons in their hands.
Szczesny pressed the central power rune. Phantom Scales appeared over his arm as he brought his weapon down upon the incoming tentacle with the seventh cleaving form of "Osbergh-Vaya."
Sailor's immense strength severed a section of tentacle more than a meter long.
An earth-shaking roar of fury erupted, and the calm sea heaved as though a tsunami had broken out.
Dozens of islanders and Iron Warriors were hurled into the air by enormous waves.
Szczesny stared in stunned disbelief as an island-sized monster emerged from the sea.
Jorginho cried out in terror, "It's Zhangya! He's the most terrifying Tooth-Devouring Octopus!"
At the same time, Szczesny, who had been sent flying by a tentacle, experienced the sea monster's terror firsthand. His Chainsword had been knocked away, and his right arm was broken.
I can only ask my lord for aid. Only he can kill this monster!
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