Twisted Love

Busi's ears might as well have stopped working.

"M-my lord... what did you just say?!"

The Mechanical Worm said calmly:

"In twenty-four hours, the Xenos battle group is expected to reach the Titan Temple.

With the remaining 200,000 elite Skitarii, 500,000 Combat Servitors, and more than a million workers we can mobilize, plus three steel walls and our gun emplacements, our chance of repelling the Xenos attack is less than 0.0000001%!

Once the Xenos battle group enters the battlefield, our forces will hold out for three hours at most!"

Pain flashed through his mechanical eyes.

"The Omnissiah's creation, the Divine Titan, must never be defiled by Xenos!

I will lead the final twenty-four hours of prayers for the Titan Machine, then send it into the Lava Lake.

The Lava Lake will purify everything. The Titan Machine's Divine body will remain undefiled by Xenos, and his Machine Spirit will pass through the lava and return to the Omnissiah's embrace!"

Disbelief filled Busi's face.

"M-my lord! But look at him. His psychic power is overflowing. If you give him a chance to board the Titan Machine—"

"Shut your mouth!"

Before Busi could finish, the Iron Skull Archmagos bristled like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

"Rules are rules! To board the Titan Machine and face the Machine Spirit's trial, he must first withstand the impact of 5,000 Cogitator Arrays on the Ascension Throne. The previous supreme commander set that rule!"

Busi staggered back two steps, his eyes clouded with confusion.

"My lord, I don't understand!

You... you would rather push the Titan Machine into the Lava Lake than let Earl try to start it and stop this world-ending crisis?!"

Anger flashed through the Iron Skull Archmagos's calculation unit.

"Acting Archmagos Busi! Your conduct makes me doubt you are a professional!