Anyone who had survived the Old Night Era had one or two special skills. After all, without some ability to protect themselves, they would have been run over by some xenos from who-knew-where long ago.
As the battlefront continued advancing, Atlas also began suffering random casualties. However, thanks to their excellent self-regeneration and support from the Spartan Auxilia, the casualty rate remained within a small range until they breached the Hive City.
No matter the era, street fighting was always an infantryman's nightmare. Even with heavy armored units assisting them, it was difficult to deal with ambushes by Old Schemers appearing from every direction.
When Mordred charged ahead and led his soldiers into the Hive City, even a lunatic like him was stunned by the sight before him.
Vines. Vines were everywhere, covering the entire space. At the source of those twisted vines stood a golden giant tree whose top could not be seen, its trunk piercing through the entire Hive City.
"Holy crap, it's beautiful!"
Every corner of the Hive City within sight was covered by branches. Beautiful leaves glittered with golden light everywhere, and when the artificial lighting shone on them, they nearly blinded Mordred's 24-karat titanium dog eyes.
Fortunately, the enemy gave them no time to admire the scenery. The guards, Long Prepared, opened fire in an instant. Countless scorching plasma blasts streaked down toward the spearhead of their charge.
An Atlas Space Marine took aim and fired. The bolt shell drew a perfectly straight white line from the muzzle, then accelerated a second time under the thrust of its miniature rocket, punching straight through the heretics' laughable cover.
Aim. Fire. Every bolt shell took a life. As long as they had enough ammunition, their superhuman reaction speed made ambushes and sneak attacks nothing more than a joke.
In the blink of an eye, the battlefield that had been roaring with gunfire fell silent. Only the scorched stench of ozone mixed with smoke proved that a completely one-sided skirmish had taken place here seconds ago.
However, just as the enemy had been wiped out and Atlas began establishing a forward outpost, a corpse that should have been dead crawled back to its feet and glared at them with hatred.
"Shameful xenos! You aren't human at all. You're merely monsters stealing the name of humanity."
The Khan wanted to shoot and kill this heretic who had turned the natural order upside down, but a hand stopped him. Looking at the soldier whose lower body had vanished and whose intestines were hanging out, Mordred felt a trace of curiosity. He was curious how the man was still alive.
"Don't move. I want to see what this thing is. Leave this enemy to me."
The Primarch had spoken. As his sons, the Space Marines naturally dared not disobey. They lowered their weapons and stood guard, guaranteeing their father a perfect chance for a duel.
But the soldier took Mordred's order as arrogance. With a roar, fine vines surged from his abdominal cavity and pierced through the surrounding scraps of shattered flesh. In an extremely short time, they fused into a Symbiote monster.
Regardless of how strong it was, its flashy appearance, comparable to a mutated Tyrant, was enough for Mordred to give it a passing grade. He continued observing the creature's every move.
In the blink of an eye, the Symbiote monster devoured all the flesh around it. The fragmented limbs pierced by vines seemed to be reborn, twisting into a form completely contrary to biological evolution as they picked up weapons and aimed them at the coldly observing World-shaking giant.
"Ancestors! Bear witness! You arrogant beast that has stolen the name of humanity, remember my name! I am..."
Bang—
A somewhat muffled sound of flesh exploding rang out. Before the elite monster could finish its line, its skull burst apart, and Mordred, who had teleported behind it, ripped out its entire spine.
Looking at the flesh-and-blood spine in his hand, its neural network completely replaced by vines, Mordred said with faint mockery:
"Idiot. I thought you were some kind of mini-boss. Turns out you're just a useless showpiece."
Mordred casually accepted a sealed container from one of his sons, preserved a sample of the human remains in his hand, uploaded a battle record through the internal network, and ordered Goff:
"The forward outpost is complete. Send in more reinforcements. The enemy has Symbiote soldiers with immortality. Their weaknesses are the head and energy weapons. Kill every one you see. Leave no survivors."
"Understood!"
The Second Company Captain's reply was as concise as ever, so much so that he seemed nothing like the talkative Atlas. He was more like a Ultramarines Cogitator that had gained human form.
Sure enough, after Mordred's order was issued, more and more troops encountered these Symbiotes. As the elevation increased, the closer they got to the upper reaches of the Hive City, the greater the proportion of Symbiotes among the enemies.
By the time they reached the upper Hive City, Atlas was facing no humans at all. Every enemy was a Symbiote. It was only thanks to their Warp countryman's help that they avoided suffering massive casualties.
To exterminate the enemy more effectively, Atlas began switching to plasma weapons. Even the Spartan squads received some, leaving the newly arrived Fourth Legion green with envy.
As far as Mordred was concerned, Atlas lacked everything except secondhand equipment. He immediately had someone give the group of little Canned Ones a batch of plasma weapons.
Watching the Primarch leading the charge at the front and displaying the bearing of a king, the Grinder Boys felt warm inside at receiving care from an elder for the first time. Even though they knew this was only a substitute, a substitute could still fill their stomachs!
By then, five standard Terra hours had passed since Atlas joined the battle. Thirteen thousand Space Marines moved through every part of Inkarati, sweeping the battlefield alongside three hundred thousand Auxilia.
At that moment, the outcome of the war was no longer in doubt. The Void Shield arrays were destroyed one after another, and with complete air superiority, Atlas quickly cleared out the enemies scattered across the various regions.
The Black Knights Guard led by Mordred had finally fought their way into the Hive City's spire.
By eating human brains, the Black Knights' leader, The Khan, directly located the enemy headquarters and used melta bombs to blast open the adamantium doors.
Yet even after their own crystal had been blown up, these so-called Federation holdouts still refused to surrender. Instead, they began resisting to the death and launched a barrage of verbal abuse at Mordred.
"Monsters! Pretenders! We are the true humans... Go eat shit!"
Mordred had originally intended to spare their lives and give them the full package of brainwashing and modification. He had not expected them to be so ignorant of their own situation. Even if what they said was very likely true, Mordred was not going to waste time suffering an identity crisis. He directly ordered them to open fire.
When the last Symbiote was burned to ash, Inkarati had completely fallen into Atlas's hands.
Looking at the Forge World that had been reduced to ruins, Mordred, who had been holding himself back for so long, could no longer restrain himself. He led everyone in a thorough looting spree.
Lost technologies, abandoned weapons—everything that could be carried was packed up and taken away. Anything that could not be carried was taken by whatever means necessary, especially that enormous Golden Tree that looked extraordinary at a glance.
Mordred researched the thing for half a day without figuring out what it was. He only felt that it was extremely valuable, and an inexplicable impulse urged him to claim it for himself.
According to his theory, since the people here could coexist with the vines, that meant the thing had to be artificial.
However, after reading the planetary governor's records, he discovered that reality was completely opposite to what he had imagined. The tree's history was older than the Hive City itself.
According to the records, when the Old Night descended, Inkarati was still a feral world. A luckless colony ship had been forced to make an emergency landing there.
After discovering that the tree could coexist with the human body and grant its partners immortality beyond that of ordinary people, the survivors built their civilization around the Golden Tree. In the end, they developed into a stellar power.
It did not matter that he had not found an answer. At worst, he could take it back and study it slowly. It was not as if the thing could run away.
Unfortunately, the thing was simply too large. Its volume was about the same as a destroyer, and it had already grown together with the Hive City. It was impossible to pull it out.
But gold would shine anywhere. Frix, eager to prove himself, found Mordred.
"Your Highness, I have a way! As long as you give me a month, I can use explosives to cut this tree out and offer it to you, Uncle!"
How could Mordred not be delighted by such an attentive subordinate? He immediately gave Frix full authority and ordered him to pull the treasure out for him.
You had to admit that the construction boys were skilled. In just one week, they perfectly cut out the Golden Tree. They spent the remaining three weeks installing a Plasma Engine.
Watching the enormous plant rise into the heavens, carried into space by its powerful propulsion, Mordred had already begun thinking about where to plant it. Perhaps right outside the gates of his own Hive City.
A month was enough time for the Department of Administration fleet to arrive. Mordred left behind a company of Space Marines to garrison the site, then fled with the loot the day before the Department of Administration ships arrived.
Perhaps he had remembered that Alpharius was still an unstable bomb in his own ranks, because the company Mordred left behind happened to be those Hydras.
As for A-Fa, Mordred had kicked him out as well. Before doing so, he had drawn a full tank of blood from him, enraging Alpharius into cursing Mordred as a bastard.
When the Department of the Munitorum personnel arrived and saw Inkarati stripped down to bare ground, as though some monster had licked it clean, their heads buzzed. Hadn't the Department of the Munitorum said this was a Forge World? Where had everything on it gone?
Atlas's departure was not important, but the loss of the Golden Tree attracted the attention of another faction.
An illusory gate made of bones rose over Inkarati. The uninvited visitors crossed the blockade and slipped silently into the Hive City, where they saw the enormous pit left by the brutal excavation of the tree.
"Damn savage monkeys! They dared to dig up my family's ancestral tomb! No, I have to capture a few prisoners and interrogate them."
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