The Feast Without Sustenance

Aboard the Iron Hands strike cruiser Iron Wrath in orbit, Captain Castor silently watched the live feed from the planet's surface through the tactical display.

No expression could be seen on his half-mechanized face, but the streams of data flickering through his optical augmetic eye showed that his logic engine was running at overload.

"...Captain," a Techmarine beside him said with difficulty. "We... cannot understand this."

On the screen, a cultist clad in rags and covered in mushrooms was hugging a Hormagaunt's leg. He laughed in contentment as he gnawed at its carapace with his own teeth. The Hormagaunt, meanwhile, bit off his head without hesitation.

"According to our intelligence analysis, a Genestealer uprising has broken out on this planet. But... the behavior patterns of these rebels do not match any known cult in the archives."

"They simultaneously display traits of worship toward all four Chaos Gods. Khorne's bloodlust, Nurgle's plague, Tzeentch's schemes, Slaanesh's indulgence... yet they are united beneath the banner of that... 'Four-Armed Emperor.'"

"More importantly, they... are actively welcoming the Tyranids? They are helping the Tyranids slaughter their own people?"

Castor remained silent for a long time.

"Heretics," he finally said. "A hybrid breed of heresy unlike anything we have ever seen."

He shut down the tactical display.

"Whoever they are, whatever their purpose, they and those xenos are enemies of the Emperor."

"Prepare for planetary assault. Objective: the Astronomican communications station at the Governor's Palace. Before the planet falls completely, we must send Terra the xenos alert and this report on a... 'new form of heresy.'"

"As for this planet..." He paused. "Execute Exterminatus. Everything here has already been contaminated. It must be purified completely."

Deep beneath the planet, in the church that had become a shrine to the revelry of the four gods, Liu Zhipeng stood at the center of the altar.

Beneath his feet was an enormous, intricate runic formation carefully designed by the Eye of Change. Its power came from geothermal energy deep within the planet's core, as well as... the life psychic energy of the Patriarch within the nest.

He could feel the souls within the Broodmind network "ascending" in fanatic ecstasy, one after another. Their lives, faith, rage, resilience, wisdom, and joy flowed like countless streams into the formation beneath his feet, fueling this final ritual.

Katz, Grochi, Spiral, and Lost Echo stood beside him. They were the final sacrifices, and the most essential ones.

"High Priest." Katz looked at him with unprecedented fervor and trust. "Can we... truly meet the four-in-one true god?"

Liu Zhipeng smiled.

"Of course. And in a way none of you could possibly imagine."

He raised his head, as though he could see the Iron Hands fighting bloody battles aboveground and the Tyranid swarm about to engulf everything.

"This world is too boring. A simple uprising, a standard Tyranid infestation, a routine Exterminatus... the script is far too stale."

"So I decided to add a little 'surprise' to this story."

He spread his arms.

"The time has come."

"In my name, with the souls of countless descendants, and the genes of the progenitor as sacrifice!"

"Rend the veil! Open the heavens!"

"—Welcome your true... master!!!"

With his final roar, he drove a ritual dagger made from the Patriarch's spinal bone straight into his own heart.

At the same time, Katz and the other four cult leaders ended their own lives in the same manner.

Their blood and souls, together with the purest emotional energy unleashed at the instant millions of followers "ascended" throughout the Broodmind network, poured into the underground formation.

The entire planet of Viridia let out a dull groan, as though it had risen from the depths of hell.

The sky—the dark vault already obscured by Tyranid bio-ships—was suddenly torn open by a massive rift flowing with blood and the light of Chaos.

A colossal figure made of pure rage and brass was the first to charge from the rift. His universe-shaking roar even drowned out the Patriarch's psychic shriek.

"—Blood for the Blood God!!!"

It was Kabanha.

Following close behind were Nurgle's Great Unclean One, Tzeentch's Lord of Change, and Slaanesh's Keeper of Secrets. Billions of Warp Demons flooded from the Warp rift into Realspace like water through a broken dam.

The Tyranids battling the Space Marines across the planet, along with the Iron Hands carrying out their "purification" operation, all stopped moving at once.

They looked up, staring blankly at the sight in the heavens that defied all logic and reason.

Kabanha, the great Bloodletter, instinctively sought out the strongest soul presence in this world after bursting through the rift. But then he froze.

He sensed countless lives, yet... not a trace of "soul" existed within those living beings. It was an empty ocean containing nothing but pure biological instinct.

They had flesh and blood, but no enraged souls to offer Khorne in sacrifice.

The Tyranids were equally bewildered.

The Patriarch's will scanned those newly appeared enemies brimming with energy. Yet... the result was complete emptiness.

They had forms, but no "biomass" to consume.

Warp Demons desired souls, but the Tyranids had no souls. The Tyranids desired flesh, but the Warp Demons had no flesh.

A battle that should have been one of life and death suddenly became a paradox.

Kabanha stood stunned for a full three seconds.

Then the simple logic of a battle maniac overcame his philosophical confusion.

Target has no soul? Target is moving. Anything that moves... is an enemy! Kill it first!!!

Roaring, he raised his massive axe and charged headlong at the nearest enormous Tyranid Dominatrix, a creature like a living fortress.

The Patriarch's logic was equally simple and efficient.

Target has no biomass? But target is attacking me. Anything attacking me... is a threat! Devour it first!!!

And so, upon Viridia, a planet destined for destruction, beneath the dumbfounded eyes of the surviving Iron Hands and human troops, two ultimate predators from the most terrifying dimensions of the universe—existing for entirely different yet equally pure purposes—began an earth-shattering... battle of the ages over a reason that held no "meaning" for either side.

Through his helmet's visor, Captain Castor watched a Great Unclean One pour tons of plague-ridden vomit over a bio-Titan, only for the bio-Titan to blast the Great Unclean One into a burst of green fireworks with its bio-cannon.

"...Retreat." He gave the order in an utterly emotionless tone.

"All combat personnel, return to the Iron Wrath immediately. This planet... is beyond our ability to handle."

"Leave its fate to the Emperor... and those two packs of lunatics."

Within the unnoticed gap between the Warp and Realspace, Liu Zhipeng's soul, about to enter reincarnation, watched the grand spectacle he had directed with satisfaction.

[Second Life: Completed]

[Behavior Assessment: As a Genestealer, carried out Chaos subversion. Successfully twisted the faith of the entire cult, transforming a rebellion against the Imperium into a carnival of sacrifice to the four gods. In the end, at the cost of himself and all his followers, summoned Warp Demons and Tyranids into a meaningless war, buying the Imperium of Man precious time to retreat. Demonstrated a profound understanding and practical application of the true meaning of "incitement" and "sacrifice."]

[Permanent Passive Ability Acquired: Heretic Leader]

[Ability Description: Your words and thoughts possess a natural bewitching power over intelligent beings. You can easily discover and exploit the inner contradictions and desires of a group or civilization, implant your ideas, and make them take root until they become part of their faith. Your followers will display extraordinary fanaticism and willingness to sacrifice for you.]

The immense Wheel of Reincarnation began to turn once more.

And in Realspace, the war for Viridia continued for several more decades.

In the end, the Tyranids won a costly victory. They annihilated the last Demon, and the Warp rift closed along with it.

But when they began to "clean up the battlefield," they discovered that no valuable biomass remained on the planet. All life had been utterly destroyed in that meaningless war. They could not even reclaim any energy from the Demons' "corpses."

After losing nearly half its forces, the vast hive fleet had gained nothing. Dragging their "hungry" bodies behind them, they left the system in frustration like diners who had gotten into a brawl at a buffet yet failed to eat a single bite.

Viridia became a true death world. Only those mad rocks, doubly contaminated by demonic energy and Tyranid viruses, silently told of the most absurd war the universe had ever witnessed.