"Warp Insight"

Nimrod had just conquered Grosseto Island when he received a distress signal from Szczesny.

He immediately boarded his aircraft and flew toward Trinio.

When he saw the giant sea monster known as Zhangya, he could not help but marvel at the sheer scale of the Tooth-Devouring Octopus.

Malena's eyes were filled with hatred: "Zhangya is the largest of the Tooth-Devouring Octopuses; it has devoured countless Sicilians."

As soon as she finished speaking, she saw the giant leap down from the craft.

After Szczesny severed one of the monster's tentacles, he drew its frenzied assault. He dodged about in a sorry state, but the Rodent Octopus did not have only eight limbs like a common octopus; it possessed dozens of tentacles.

He was swatted away several times, and it was only because his subordinates opened fire in time to divert the pressure that he had managed to hold on until now.

This also invited the monster's mad retaliation, causing the 4th Regiment to suffer heavy losses; at least dozens of warriors with fewer Iron Warrior augmentations and over a hundred candidates were consumed by the Tooth-Devouring Octopus.

The morale of the Trinio people collapsed; they fled in all directions, screaming in terror in a local Low Gothic dialect that Szczesny could not understand.

Only Jorginho remained by the commander's side, shouting at his kin and rallying thirteen recruits who had passed the selection.

Just as the 4th Regiment fell into crisis, a massive figure descended from the sky, slamming into the long, narrow head of the Rodent Octopus.

Szczesny's eyes lit up as he saw Nimrod drive his heavy halberd deep into one of the monster's compound eyes.

The Iron Warriors watched as the Rodent Octopus was struck as if by a meteorite, smashed into the sea, and sent a hundred-meter-high tidal wave surging into the sky.

They looked up at the towering figure standing upon the surface of the sea with reverence, erupting into thunderous cheers.

"Perun, the God of Thunder!"

"Svantovit, the God of War!"

"..."

Each of them associated Nimrod with the deities of Old Night, charging into the sea like pilgrims to launch a frenzied attack on the tentacles.

Nimrod pulled out his heavy halberd, blood staining the sea surface, and Zhangya let out a painful wail.

The Primarch keenly sensed that the previous attack had not been fatal to the Rodent Octopus; this massive sea monster possessed vitality to match its size, and its eyes were not its vital weak point.

A whistling wind sounded behind his head, and Nimrod rolled forward, leaving a deep gash in the monster's long, runway-like head and torso with his halberd.

He activated his Spirit Sight, attempting to observe Zhangya in the same way he had captured the Mother of the Sea, seeking a weakness that his physical senses had failed to detect.

Dozens of python-like tentacles thrashed wildly; Zhangya had not been injured in over a thousand years, and it was enraged, intent on swallowing the detestable prey upon its head.

On the aircraft, Malena held her staff high, aiming at the vile creature that had devoured so many of her people.

Two brilliant beams of light shot from the skull, striking the tentacles.

Cells boiled and burned, and the gray tentacles instantly turned into red-hot, serpentine flesh, writhing in madness.

With a loud crack, the tentacles shattered into thousands of pieces, splashing in all directions.

The strike landed, but Malena furrowed her delicate brows.

Zhangya's vitality is so strong; I only managed to shatter one of its tentacles with that blow.

At the same time, Maria and her two companions injected themselves with the Kournikova family's combat stimulants.

Tsvistna pulled the trigger rapidly, emptying her energy magazine in an instant, and an arc of light rained down upon the monster's head.

The other two assassins leaped down; Dementyeva turned sideways, gripping her blast shield, and slammed it hard against the Rodent Octopus's head.

Maria swung her curved blade, carving an arc to cleave through a tentacle Zhangya had lashed out, and as she landed, she drove the Flao Glass Blade deep into its slick skull.

The overlord of the Coral Sea let out an earth-shattering roar, its remaining compound eyes bloodshot as it angrily reared its head.

Maria and Dementyeva raised their weapons, intending to plunge them into the monster's brain, but just as they swung their arms, a tentacle whipped through the air and struck their limbs.

As the two women were flung away, Zhangya's head rose to its highest point, yet it was still dozens of meters from the aircraft.

Tsvistna, having swapped her energy magazine, pulled the trigger, strafing the monster's gaping maw.

Malena realized something was wrong and shouted in Vostonian Low Gothic: "Get out of the way! It's going to spray ink!"

The pilot did not have time to think, instinctively pulling the control stick to perform an emergency evasive maneuver.

Jet-black ink splattered against the bottom of the aircraft, and the streamlined airship spun out of control in the air.

The pilot struggled to stabilize the craft, breaking out in a cold sweat; the ink had nearly struck the nose of the airship.

While everyone else was in a sorry state from Zhangya's attacks, Nimrod found his opening.

He entered that wondrous state once more, feeling as though he were standing in the void, overlooking the entire sea; the whole battlefield was brought within his "sight."

He did not see the movements of individuals; he saw their projections within the Warp, the ripples upon the sea of souls.

The fear of the Trinio people and the pilot, the faith of the Iron Warriors, the towering hatred of Malena...

Most importantly, Nimrod saw Zhangya's projection in the Warp.

Within the octopus's form, the most peculiar feature was its ink sac, which manifested two opposing lights: a shimmering light of life enveloping a pitch-black void filled with the agonizing wails of countless souls.

With his Spirit Sight active, he also saw the spiritual radiance flickering upon it.

Nimrod realized in his heart: The ink sac of the Tooth-Devouring Octopus is both its weakness and an extraordinary material.

As Zhangya rolled over, exposing its weakness completely, he seized the opportunity and let his body slide naturally.

Nimrod swung his heavy halberd violently in mid-air, piercing precisely into the top edge of the ink sac beneath the Rodent Octopus's head.

He twisted his torso, and the heavy halberd in his hands carved an arc, sliding toward the lower right.

The Primarch's body seemed to have shed the constraints of gravity; he and his halberd, like a butcher's blade, sliced along the edge of the ink sac.

Zhangya felt the area beneath its head being slashed open and struggled desperately to alter its backward tilt, but it could not control its body with the inhuman precision of Nimrod.

Its massive body tilted slightly to the right and slammed heavily into the sea.

Amidst the shockwaves of wind and spray, Nimrod took large, arcing strides forward.

The entire ink sac was cut away, intact with the skin; the Primarch reached out, grabbed the slippery Rodent Octopus hide, and gave it a forceful tug.

Zhangya's tentacles waved feebly; as the ink sac left its body, its life force ebbed away rapidly.

In Nimrod's perception, as he landed in the sea, the spark of Zhangya's light in the sea of souls flickered out.

Having successfully tapped into his own potential, the Primarch could not help but smile.

I should give this ability a name. It is different from the Aetheric Sight of psychics or the Spirit Sight of Beyonders.

When I use this ability, seeing the emotions of living beings is merely incidental; its more critical function is locking onto an enemy's weakness.

This ability is somewhat similar to the Sequence 5 Beyonder power "Weakness Detection" of the Red Priest pathway, but it is not activated from a mystical perspective; rather, it observes directly through the Warp. Since that is the case, I shall call it "Warp Insight."

Nimrod thought of the Eleventh Legion he was to take over from The Emperor before long.

I wonder how many of my gene-sons will have unearthed the ability to inherit my "Warp Insight."

The Trinio watched the giant dragging the ink sac back, his eyes filled with worship. He had actually killed Zhangya, the beast of the Coral Sea, ending the nightmare that had plagued the Sicilians for thousands of years.

Malena stepped off the aircraft and walked toward Nimrod, bowing low.

"Thank you for killing Zhangya. With its head, the Sicilians shall offer you their loyalty."