Eve of the Decisive Battle

Meanwhile, elsewhere.

Emperor dared not waste a single moment, using Gene-seed to forge the Astartes Legions, preparing to unify Terra before venturing into deep space to reclaim the lost territories of humanity.

On the other side, the incubation pods carrying the Primarchs drifted through the Warp, scattered across the galaxy.

After the Twenty-First Primarch exited the Warp, he arrived at the edge of an unknown star system. Following a period of drifting, he was eventually captured by a planet's gravity and plummeted toward the surface.

The planet Nul. A land of light, a world of human creation from the Golden Age.

In the most glorious era of humanity, this radiant planet championed "science above all," utilizing advanced technology to establish an empire among the stars.

Looking down from space, the planet possessed magnificent, multi-colored gem-like mountain ranges, brilliant and colorful, alongside azure oceans, rolling hills, and vast plains.

The most magnificent sight was the "Ring of Nul," a man-made structure encircling the planet's equator, cradling the entire world in its embrace.

This majestic creation from the Golden Age symbolized a civilization that had once reached the pinnacle of human achievement.

Regrettably, the Ring of Nul was now dim and lifeless, showing no signs of human activity; the massive ring belt that once embraced the entire planet was completely silent.

Directly beneath the planetary ring, several giant cities were arranged along the equator, built around the supply conduits extending from the Ring of Nul. They were connected by ultra-large trains that transported resources between them.

Today, Nul faced the greatest crisis since the fall of humanity.

The Guardian Domain—the largest city on Nul—was suffering a violent assault.

Over a decade ago, a meteorite pierced the planetary shield and crashed onto the surface. When an investigation team arrived at the crater, the area was scorched earth, and there was nothing to be found; people simply assumed the meteorite had been burned away while passing through the atmosphere.

Later, reports arrived from various scattered settlements of attacks by an unknown creature never seen before.

According to witnesses, the attackers were entirely green, with ugly faces, blue-faced and fanged, possessing thick limbs and a highly belligerent nature.

They armed themselves with scavenged scrap metal, crude swords, and even their own teeth, charging without fear of death while screaming:

"Waaaaaagh!!!!!!!!!!!"

The Nul warriors fighting them called them "Ork," which in the ancient language of Terra meant "Orc," or Greenskin Orks.

The Nul warriors were brave and skilled in battle, utilizing high-tech weapons left over from the Age of Strife to repel the Greenskin raids time and again on the Nul plains.

But the Greenskin Orks seemed endless; after killing one group, the next wave would arrive with numbers ten or even a hundred times greater, overwhelming the enemy with sheer numerical superiority.

Amidst wave after wave of the Greenskin tide, humanity struggled to cope; the battle had shifted from humans hunting Greenskins to Greenskins besieging humanity.

Even more unsettling was that in each successive battle, the Greenskin weapons became increasingly advanced, and certain individuals seemed to evolve, becoming abnormally large and displaying intelligence far exceeding their peers.

As the tide turned, the battlefield moved from the wilderness to the outskirts of the cities, with humanity pushed back step by step until cities began to fall.

Greenskins flooded Nul, sweeping through every human settlement, forcing humanity to retreat and hold fast within their cities.

Now, the Orc offensive was like a tidal wave, besieging the massive human city of "Guardian Domain."

The Guardian Domain was built against the giant orbital tower leading to the Ring of Nul, with white, marble-like walls towering around the massive circular city.

This city of warriors, ruled by the warrior caste, was teetering on the brink of collapse under the relentless waves of Orc assaults, its resources exhausted after three years of siege.

The various defensive emplacements on the walls had ceased functioning due to a lack of ammunition, with only a few pure energy weapons still firing.

"Notify everyone to make a final resupply, then follow me out of the city." King Norwick wore ancient, pitch-black armor. Resting his hands on the battlements, he looked out at the green ocean beyond the walls, his brows knit together. His eyes held only helplessness, knowing full well that humanity could not escape this catastrophe today.

The war between humanity and the Greenskins had fallen into a complete disadvantage, with millions of Greenskin troops arrayed beneath the city walls, preparing to breach them and annihilate humanity.

His gaze crossed the green ocean and locked with the largest Greenskin leader; the creature's eyes held only cunning and cruelty, and the smug smile on its face was wildly arrogant.

For over a decade, humanity had never taken the Greenskins seriously, believing them to be nothing more than a race without intelligence.

Later, the appearance of the Greenskin boss had completely exceeded human expectations.

They called it: "Warboss!"

Under the boss's command, the Greenskins constantly avoided the main human forces, using small-scale harassment to wear down human troops and continuously gnaw away at human territory.

The success of this series of strategies and tactics was inseparable from the high-level war intelligence possessed by the Greenskin boss.

"Hope still remains."

Standing behind King Norwick was the leader of another human faction on Nul, a tall, thin figure dressed in solemn, pitch-black priestly robes, clutching a divine staff in both hands.

He had come from thousands of miles away: the High Priest of the City of Truth.

After ten thousand years of decline, human civilization on Nul had regressed severely, and the political structure had evolved through various inheritances and compromises into a unique pattern of feudal division.

King Norwick was the King of Warriors, leading the Night Watchers, the most powerful group of warriors on Nul, while the High Priest came from the "City of Truth."

The Night Watchers emerged during the late stages of the Machine Rebellion, organized by a group of powerful individuals who ended the Nul civil war. The name meant "In the darkest future, guard the continuation of humanity."

Since the day they took their oath of protection, the Night Watchers had shielded the humans of Nul for thousands of years.

The City of Truth was different; they used psychic powers and pursued ethereal beliefs. Their style of conduct had always been strange, but it could not be denied that the priests who wielded supernatural powers possessed immense combat strength.

"I have received enlightenment in my dreams; a savior will rescue us!" Beneath the High Priest's hood, half of his face was gaunt and pale, a relaxed smile playing on his lips.

"Isaac, we have no chance of winning," King Norwick turned, staring directly into the High Priest's pale face. "I have never believed in ethereal prophecies and revelations."

"The Greenskin Orks' offensive is swift and rapid; we will not last until reinforcements arrive."

Shaking his head in utter helplessness, he walked down from the wall and raised his right hand, pointing toward the sky. His voice drifted faintly in the wind: "If there is truly a miracle, it can only be him."

Isaac understood what King Norwick meant.

If humanity possessed control over the Ring of Nul, they could simply press a button now, and the Greenskin Orks would be reduced to ashes.

"The Ring of Nul."

The High Priest tilted his neck to gaze at the sky, his voice raspy from the strain on his vocal cords. His line of sight pierced through the clouds, where the massive structure in high orbit was clearly visible.

"We have lost everything. Since the machine uprising, the artificial intelligence tasked with guarding the Sky Ring has locked all access to high orbit. The planetary shield has become a cage, sealing us on the surface."

Shaking his head, Isaac followed in King Norwick's footsteps as they departed. Ahead, the last monarch's frame appeared somewhat hunched beneath his cloak, the crown upon his head dim and lusterless.

With the fall of the Guardian Domain, the Greenskin Orks' conquest of Nul was a foregone conclusion.

Humanity would be completely wiped out on Nul, yet their king was powerless to turn the tide.

King Norwick and the High Priest walked one after the other along the broad, stone-paved paths of the Guardian Domain, while the surrounding people bowed to them in succession.

The Night Watchers were organizing their armor and checking the weapons in their hands.

The weapons they used were unique; embedded within the tip of the metal shaft was a blue crystal, the Nul Crystal native to Nul.

Once electrified, the crystal would be stimulated to generate a unique energy blade. This blade traveled through another dimension, ignoring armor defenses and slicing through everything it touched with effortless ease.

The technology behind the metal shafts was inherited from thousands of years ago, during humanity's glorious technological era, and when combined with the Nul Crystal, it was incredibly powerful.

The power armor they wore came from ancient armories, with internal micro-fusion devices capable of providing energy for centuries. It featured personal protective fields, allowing the wearer to charge in and out of enemy lines with ease.

It was precisely because of this equipment that humanity, despite being at an absolute numerical disadvantage, had been able to repel the Greenskin Orks in the early stages and engage in constant, brutal warfare against them.

The Night Watchers stood over 2.5 meters tall with astonishing muscle density; clad in power armor, they possessed immense combat power.

Nul once had a large number of genetically ascended Gold Men. Despite ten thousand years of genetic degradation, the Night Watchers, as descendants of the Gold Men, still maintained extraordinary combat prowess.

King Norwick stopped in his tracks and asked the Chief Greatswordsman of the Royal Court, who was preparing his weapons for the next battle: "Xilan, how many men are left who can fight?"

Xilan bowed, but was steadied by King Norwick's hand on his shoulder.

Flattered, he removed his helmet to reveal a terrifying face covered in scars, and after a moment of thought, he replied: "Fewer than twenty thousand."

"Prepare a set of equipment for me, Greatswordsman," King Norwick said, patting Xilan on the shoulder. "I shall fight alongside you all."

"As you command, my King!"