Have You Asked Me?

"You want to use Psionic Energy to harm my child?"

He murmured to himself, his voice echoing in the empty hall. "Did you ask me?"

With a slight twitch of his fingers, an invisible Psionic Energy barrier expanded once more, enveloping the entire battlefield.

The Psionic Energy attacks from those Zoanthrope couldn't even penetrate one ten-thousandth of this barrier.

On the battlefield, Titus had already spotted his target.

Hive Ship.

That was the core organism of this Leviathan squadron, the source of all Tyranids, and the ultimate manifestation of the Hive Mind in this star system.

Its size is beyond description—if the Gloriana-class Battleship represents the pinnacle of human engineering, then this Hive Ship is a miracle of biological evolution.

Its surface is covered with countless biological organs, some like eyes, some like mouthparts, and some like some incomprehensible sensory organs.

Its interior surged with countless life reactions—the nascent Tyranids creatures, a reserve force ready to be deployed to the battlefield at any moment.

It was surrounded by a dense array of protective organisms, like a swarm of bees guarding a hive.

Titus took a deep breath—though there was no air in the vacuum, the action itself had become a habit.

He spoke into the communications channel, "All units, target the Hive Ship. Follow me—"

He paused.

Then, the voice boomed like thunder. "Charge!"

One hundred thousand blue figures turned at the same time.

Their direction was toward that giant beast.

Their target is its heart.

Their determination is unstoppable.

The giant beast seemed to sense the threat as well.

Its countless sensory organs simultaneously turned, aiming at the blue torrent surging towards it.

Its surface began to undulate, and countless biological weapons emerged from its body—those were bio-plasma cannons, those were living missile launchers, those were Psionic Energy focusing organs, those were the ultimate weapons of the Tyranid creature -evolution over ten thousand years.

The next moment, they went all out.

Bioplasma clusters poured down like a torrential rain, each one capable of melting a tank.

The living missile, trailing a biomass tail flame, precisely locks onto each Ultramarines.

The Psionic Energy shockwaves surged forth in layers, powerful enough to tear apart the souls of mortals.

Logically, this level of firepower would be enough to destroy the entire fleet.

But at this moment—those blue figures did not stop.

The plasma cluster hit them and bounced off.

The live missiles exploded on them, leaving not even a scratch.

The Psionic Energy shockwave swept over them, but was completely blocked by Guilliman's barrier.

They continued on their way.

Getting closer and closer.

Titus could already see the details of those biological organs—those eye-like things were staring at him, and there was a faint... fear in their gaze.

The Hive Mind is in fear.

Titus smiled.

His speed suddenly increased dramatically, like a blue meteor, crashing into the guards surrounding the giant beast.

At that moment, even the void seemed to tremble.

Titus's fist slammed into the head of a Hive Tyrant, and the massive head exploded like a watermelon.

His body spun in the vacuum, kicking and shattering the chest cavity of another Tyranid Warrior.

His Power Fist grabbed a Gargoyle that was trying to sneak up on him and tore it in two alive.

Behind him, 100,000 Ultramarines had already arrived.

A blue torrent crashed into the insect swarm's protective perimeter.

The scene was indescribable.

If I had to describe it, I could only say that blue overwhelmed gray.

Order overwhelmed chaos.

Humans overwhelmed the Xenos.

It is the ultimate crushing of life by life.

The guardian swarm is decreasing at a rate visible to the naked eye.

Hundreds of thousands, millions, tens of millions—those numbers pulsed wildly in the perception of the Hive Mind. Each pulsating number represented the complete disappearance of an individual, the utter loss of countless biological materials, and the fleet's march toward—annihilation.

The tentacles of the Great Devourer finally made their final decision.

That was a decision it never imagined it would make.

A decision that should never have occurred in the calculations of the Hive Mind.

But at this moment, with all conventional options rejected and 100,000 blue Ynnead closing in on the core mothership, it had no other choice.

It detonated the mother insect.

The Queen Beetle—it is the very core of this fleet, the ultimate embodiment of the Hive Mind in this star system, and the source from which all Tyranids life originates.

Detonating it would mean the complete destruction of this fleet, the total loss of countless biomass, and a wound that the Hive Mind would need countless hours and resources to heal.

However, detonating it can also unleash a psionic shockwave Psionic Energy enough to destroy everything.

The shockwave was powerful enough to kill those blue Ynnead.

At least... it can kill some of them.

This gives the remaining insect swarm a chance to escape.

The concept of "escape" appeared for the first time in the tentacles' thinking.

The Hive Mind never allows for escape.

The Hive Mind is only to conquer, devour, and expand.

But at this moment, the tentacles no longer cared.

It just wants those blue things to disappear.

Instructions issued.

Inside the mother insect's body, the countless organs specifically designed to store Psionic Energy simultaneously began to overload.

Those organs are the product of millions of years of evolution, the most sophisticated and powerful weapons of the Hive Mind.

The Psionic Energy they store is enough to tear planets apart, enough to devour galaxies, enough to kill Primarch.

At least theoretically so.

The mother insect's body surface began to glow.

That light was the manifestation of Psionic Energy, the wails of countless souls, and the anger and despair accumulated over millennia by the Hive Mind.

It grew brighter and brighter until the entire mother insect transformed into a burning star.

Then -- the impact.

The shockwave spread wildly in all directions from the mother insect as its center.

Wherever it passes, even the void itself is distorted.

The insectoid creatures were instantly vaporized in the shockwave, not even having time to scream.

The Ultramarines ' blue figures trembled violently in the shockwave, as Guilliman's Blessing fiercely battled against this destructive force.

Titus felt that power.

It was pure, absolute, and almost infinite destruction.

It impacted his body, his soul, and the blessing from the Primarch within him.

He could feel the barrier of blessing being squeezed, torn apart, and penetrated.

The shockwave broke through the first barrier.

Titus's body trembled slightly.

The shockwave broke through the second barrier.

A trickle of blood escaped from the corner of Titus's mouth—in the vacuum, the blood instantly froze into ice crystals.

The shockwave broke through the third barrier.

Titus felt real pain; it was the feeling of death approaching.

Then—everything suddenly stopped.