Temple of Yesteryear

As frigid void energy surged from the immense fissures scattered across Shakuras's surface, the weather grew ever colder. Biting winds scoured the jagged, rocky ground like axes and blades, while frozen moisture coated the enormous purple crystals embedded in the earth with a layer of silvery frost.

The ground trembled as a flesh-and-blood army of millions of Zerg swarmed in like a tide from every direction. Countless gigantic creatures appeared along the front lines—Hybrid Behemoths, Brutalisks, Ultralisks, and their specialized variants rampaged across the battlefield, trampling everything in their path. A bloody gale swept across Shakuras, while the sky was shrouded by scarlet void energy shooting up from the rifts, making the world look like a vision of hell.

The road to the Xel'Naga Temple was exceptionally difficult. Mountains of Zerg corpses and heaps of burning, twisted steel littered the route ahead. The bodies had piled up so high that tanks had to shove them over and crush them apart amid cracking sounds like snapping branches.

It was a slaughterhouse beyond description.

The battle around Tamateros and the Xel'Naga Temple had already lasted for hours. Even with the front spread across dozens or hundreds of miles, so many forces packed into such a vast area still felt crowded, and attacks could come at any moment from any direction—even from beneath their feet.

Augustus rode in a Sabre Command Vehicle alongside a Marine unit from Alpha Squadron. Vast numbers of armored personnel carriers, Cyclones, and Rattlesnake Tanks moved along the road, which was covered in tracked-vehicle marks. In the perpetual dusk-like gloom, their lights gathered into a flowing, flickering torrent, like roaming fire dragons.

Fighters howled overhead. Steel birds borne aloft by flame pierced the clouds, chasing swarms of Mutalisks until they vanished beyond the horizon. The sounds of fierce combat