The convoy bounced along the road before stopping on a mountain about five kilometers from the industrial zone.
The reason they hadn't dared to get any closer was that scouts had reported a major battle underway in the industrial zone!
Wang Zhong was the first to jump out of the vehicle. He lay at the edge of the ridge and raised his binoculars.
The players behind him quickly spread out to keep watch. The Crimson Wind members mounted machine guns on the vehicle roofs, aiming in every direction from which enemies might come.
In Wang Zhong's field of vision, a bizarre scene was unfolding over the industrial zone.
The site of the industrial zone was now covered by a semi-transparent barrier.
Geometric patterns and fragments of language continuously formed and shattered across its surface. Just looking at those symbols made his head throb.
Beyond the barrier, the joint forces of four factions were locked in fierce combat.
"That's the Cult of the Machine Thought's Logic Lockdown Field."
A player's voice came from behind him. The man crouched beside the second vehicle, his eyes glowing faintly with psychic blue light. "A typical countermeasure against Tzeentch Daemons. They use a barrier that imposes rules to restrict the projection of firepower from the physical universe."
Wang Zhong zoomed in.
The armoured forces of the Adons Knight Family were charging.
Twelve Knight mechs painted black and gold strode forward, each heavy step leaving a crater in the wasteland.
The Melta Cannons mounted on their shoulders fired in unison. Their searing white beams blasted against the barrier, but only produced ripple after ripple.
Inside the barrier, the scene was even more horrifying.
Over a hundred Tzeentch Horrors leaped among the ruins.
The twisted blue creatures had avian claws, reptilian scales, and insectile compound eyes. Each one wielded a weapon forged from pure sorcery.
They shrieked with laughter, hurling fire, frost, and lightning at the joint forces' lines.
Deeper inside, the Lord of Change and Mystery summoned by Ren had grown to three stories tall.
It now had seven arms, each ending not in a hand, but in a constantly changing organ: a book with fluttering pages, a vial dripping poison, or a tentacle inscribing runes.
"Report their firepower."
Wang Zhong lowered his voice.
Observer player [Tau Has Pretty Girls] spoke up. "By visual estimate, the joint forces have twelve Knight mechs, and the wreckage of Leman Russ Tanks... Damn, at least twenty have been blown up. Eight are still moving."
"About thirty Sentinel Mechs, and the infantry... I'd estimate seven thousand."
"They won't hold."
[Have You Been Loyal Today] said, "Look at their formation. The Adons Knights are in front, while the Simans Chamber of Commerce's private troops are slacking off in the rear."
"The Khomo Psionic Family's psyker squad hasn't even entered the fight. They're hiding in their transport."
[Traitorous Sins Are Unforgivable] spat. "Classic teammates."
Just then, the battlefield took an unexpected turn.
Four self-propelled artillery pieces opened fire from the rear. They were assets of the Cult of the Machine Thought, their barrels covered in binary prayers.
The high-explosive shells traced arcs through the air, but a hundred meters from the barrier, they bizarrely changed course and flew back toward the artillery positions!
"Mirror reflection!"
[Have You Been Loyal Today] cried out. "The Lord of Change and Mystery's signature ability! It can twist the causal direction of an attack."
The explosions swallowed the artillery positions.
Three Basilisks were blown to pieces by their own shells. The fourth stopped abruptly, its barrel twisted into a pretzel.
The joint forces' lines began to waver.
Wang Zhong saw a platoon of Adons Knight infantry trying to retreat, only to be intercepted halfway by Flesh Hounds bursting out of the ground.
These Khorne Daemons looked like skinned dogs, their muscles exposed and their fangs dripping with corrosive saliva.
In three quick strikes, they tore through the joints of the Power Armour, dragged the soldiers out, and devoured them alive.
"Khorne's things really are vicious."
Wang Zhong muttered, "This doesn't seem right. Isn't it?"
"Commander, something's wrong."
The veteran driver spoke up suddenly. "Look inside the barrier—"
Wang Zhong turned the binoculars.
All seven arms of the Lord of Change and Mystery were pointing toward the ridge where they stood.
On its head, three eyes made of ghostly blue flame stared straight at them from five kilometers away.
"It's spotted us."
Wang Zhong's hair stood on end. "Fall back! Everyone, get in the vehicles!"
Almost as soon as he gave the order, a crack opened at the edge of the barrier.
Twelve Tzeentch Horrors squeezed through.
Unlike the other Daemons, they didn't charge toward the battlefield. Instead, they raced toward the ridge with bizarre strides.
"Drive! Drive!"
Wang Zhong scrambled into the passenger seat. "Old Driver, put your cargo-hauling, traffic-dodging skills to work!"
"Got it!"
The old driver floored the accelerator, and the transport's engine roared.
The five vehicles made a frantic U-turn on the ridge, kicking up clouds of dust.
In the rearview mirror, the Horrors were moving at a terrifying speed.
With every step, glowing geometric patterns appeared beneath their feet, and then they blinked forward dozens of meters. At this rate, they'd catch up in three minutes at most.
"Open fire! Suppressing fire!" Wang Zhong grabbed the vehicle's radio.
The machine guns on the roofs opened fire.
The crude heavy machine guns spat flames, their 20mm black-powder rounds tracing visible paths through the air.
But the Horrors only giggled and twisted aside just as the bullets were about to hit. It wasn't a physical dodge; their bodies briefly turned intangible, letting the bullets pass through the space they had occupied.
"Psychic phase-shifting!"
A psyker player shouted from the second vehicle. "Ordinary physical attacks are unlikely to hit! Use lasers! The heat from laser weapons can disrupt their phase stability!"
"You could've said that sooner!"
[Have You Been Loyal Today] leaned halfway out of the third vehicle's sunroof, a Laspistol in hand.
He pulled the trigger repeatedly.
Crimson beams tore through the air.
The first shot missed, melting a hole in the ground beside a Horror.
The second grazed a Horror's arm as it phase-shifted. Its blue scales instantly charred, and it let out a shrill scream.
"It works!" [Have You Been Loyal Today] grinned.
More laser weapons opened fire.
The players leaned out through windows and sunroofs, wielding standard Lasguns and Laspistols. Some even pulled out two Hecate-pattern Laser Carbines. The Crimson Spirit Chapter had bought them at great expense as Chapter property; each one had cost 230 coins.
Beams crisscrossed into a net.
After being hit by three laser beams in quick succession, one Horror's phase-shifting ability finally collapsed.
Its body became solid, and a 20mm round struck it square in the chest.
Blue scales and twisted flesh exploded outward. The creature fell to the ground and melted into a smoking puddle of pus.
"Kill record: Tzeentch Horror ×1. Estimated recovery value: 350 Imperial Coins."
The game system's notification rang in every player's ears.
"Damn, that's worth a lot. Shame we can't collect it right now," [Have You Been Loyal Today] said regretfully.
A player said in the regional chat, "Should we turn around and take them on?"
"They're worth so much. Kill two and we've made our money back."
"One's worth three days of mining!"
"Turn around! Let's take them on!"
"Take them on, my ass!"
Wang Zhong shouted into the regional chat, "Keep retreating! Look behind you!"
More Horrors were pouring out of the barrier.
Not twelve, but thirty, then fifty...
And it wasn't just Horrors. Bloodletters were coming too—Khorne's lesser Daemons, wielding burning great axes and leaving scorch marks with every step.
Before you continue