Aboard the Iron Fury, a Strike Cruiser of the Iron Hands Space Marine Chapter in orbit, Captain Castor silently watched the live feed from the planet's surface on a tactical screen.
His half-mechanized face betrayed no expression, but the data streaming through his optical implant showed that his logic engine was operating beyond capacity.
"...Sir," a Techmarine beside him said with difficulty, "we... cannot make sense of this."
On the screen, a ragged cultist covered in mushrooms clung to a Termagant's thigh, laughing in satisfaction as he gnawed at its carapace with his teeth. The Termagant promptly bit his head off.
"According to our intelligence analysis, a Genestealer rebellion has broken out on this planet. But... the rebels' behavioral patterns do not match any known cult in our database."
"They simultaneously exhibit signs of worshiping all four Chaos Gods. Khorne's bloodlust, Nurgle's plagues, Tzeentch's schemes, Slaanesh's indulgence... yet all of these are united under the banner of that... 'Four-Armed Emperor.'"
"More importantly, they... are actively welcoming the Tyranids? They are helping the Tyranids slaughter them?"
Castor remained silent for a long time.
"Heresy," he finally said. "A hybrid heresy unlike anything we have ever encountered."
He shut off the tactical screen.
"Whoever they are, whatever their purpose, they and those xenos are enemies of the Emperor."
"Prepare for a ground assault. Our objective is the Astronomican communications station at the Governor's Palace. Before the planet falls completely, we must transmit the xenos alert and this report on... a 'new form of heresy' to Terra."
"As for this planet..." He paused. "Carry out Exterminatus. Everything here has been corrupted. It must be utterly purged."
Deep beneath the planet's surface, in the church that had become the Temple of the Four Gods' Revelry, Liu Zhipeng stood at the center of the altar.
Beneath his feet lay an enormous, intricate runic magic circle painstakingly designed by the Eye of Change. It drew its power from geothermal energy deep within the planet's core, and... the vital psychic energy of the Patriarch himself in the Brood Nest.
Through the broodmind network, he sensed soul after soul fervently "ascending." Their lives, their faith, their anger, endurance, wisdom, and pleasure flowed like little streams into the circle beneath his feet, fueling this final ritual.
Kaz, Grotch, Spiral, and Mystic Voice stood beside him. They were the last sacrifices, and the most essential.
"High Priest." Kaz looked at him with unprecedented fervor and trust. "Will we... truly see the Fourfold True Gods?"
Liu Zhipeng smiled.
"Of course. And in a way none of you could ever imagine."
He raised his head, as though he could see the Iron Hands fighting desperately on the surface, and the tide of Tyranids about to engulf everything.
"This world is too boring. A simple uprising, a standard Tyranid infestation, a routine Exterminatus... this script is far too clichéd."
"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 Patriarch as our offering!"
"Tear apart the Veil! Rend the heavens!"
"Welcome your true... masters!!!"
With that final roar, he drove a Ritual Dagger fashioned from the Patriarch's spine deep into his own heart.
At the same moment, Kaz and the other four Hall Masters ended their lives in the same way.
Their blood and souls poured into the underground circle, together with the purest emotional energy unleashed by millions of followers throughout the broodmind network at the instant of their "ascension."
The entire planet of Viridia let out a low groan, as though it rose from the depths of hell.
The sky, its dark expanse already obscured by Tyranid bioships, suddenly split open into a vast rift flowing with blood and the radiance of Chaos.
An immense figure formed of pure rage and brass was the first to charge through the rift. His universe-shaking roar drowned out even the Broodlord's psychic shriek.
"Blood for the Blood God!!!"
It was Ka'Bandha.
Close behind him came Nurgle's Great Unclean Ones, Tzeentch's Lords of Change, and Slaanesh's Keepers of Secrets. Countless warp daemons flooded through the warp rift into realspace like water bursting through a broken dam.
On the planet below, the Tyranids locked in bloody combat with the Space Marines and the Iron Hands carrying out their "purification" halted at the same time.
They raised their heads and stared blankly at the sight in the sky, something beyond all logic and reason.
After charging out of the rift, Ka'Bandha, the mighty Bloodthirster, instinctively sought the strongest soul presence in this world. But he froze.
He sensed countless living things, but... there was not the slightest trace of a "soul" within them. It was a hollow ocean containing nothing but pure biological instinct.
They had flesh and blood, but no wrathful souls to offer to Khorne.
The Tyranids, too, fell into confusion.
The Broodlord's will scanned these newly appeared enemies, brimming with energy. But... the scan returned nothing.
They had physical forms, but no "biomass" to devour.
The warp daemons wanted souls, but the Tyranids had no souls. The Tyranids wanted flesh and blood, but the warp daemons had no flesh and blood.
What should have been a war to the death suddenly became a paradox.
Ka'Bandha stood stunned for a full three seconds.
Then the simple logic of his war-crazed mind overcame his philosophical confusion.
[The targets have no souls?][But the targets are moving.][Anything that moves... is an enemy!][Kill them first!!!]
Roaring and swinging his enormous axe, he charged straight at the nearest massive Tyranid "Overlord," a creature like a living fortress.
The Broodlord's logic was equally simple and efficient.
[The targets have no biomass?][But the targets are attacking me.][Anything that attacks me... is a threat!][Devour them first!!!]
And so, on Viridia, a planet doomed to destruction, beneath the dumbfounded gazes of the surviving Iron Hands and human troops, two forces of ultimate predators from the universe's most terrifying dimensions, each existing for a wholly different yet equally pure purpose, launched a world-shattering... battle for the ages, over a cause utterly "meaningless" to both sides.
Through his helmet's optics, Captain Castor watched a Great Unclean One pour tons of plague-ridden vomit over a Bio-Titan, which then blasted the Great Unclean One into a burst of green fireworks with its bio-cannon.
"...Retreat," he ordered in an emotionless voice.
"All combat personnel, return to the Iron Fury immediately. This planet... is now beyond our capacity to handle."
"Leave its fate to the Emperor... and these two packs of lunatics."
Unnoticed by anyone, in the gap between the Warp and realspace, Liu Zhipeng's soul, about to enter reincarnation, watched the spectacle he had directed with satisfaction.
[Second life: ended] [Conduct assessment: in the body of a Genestealer, you carried out a true subversion through Chaos. You successfully twisted the faith of an entire cult, turning a rebellion against the Imperium into a revel offered to the four gods. Ultimately, at the cost of yourself and all your followers, you summoned warp daemons to wage a meaningless war against the Tyranids, buying precious time for the Imperium of Man to retreat. You profoundly understood and put into practice the true meaning of "incitement" and "sacrifice."] [Permanent passive ability acquired: Heretical Leader] [Ability description: your words and ideas possess an innate power to beguile intelligent beings. You can easily discover and exploit the internal contradictions and desires of a group or civilization, implanting your ideas and allowing them to take root until they eventually become part of its faith. Your followers will display extraordinary fervor and willingness to sacrifice themselves for you.]
The immense Wheel of Reincarnation began turning once more.
Meanwhile, in realspace, the war on Viridia continued for decades.
In the end, the Tyranids won at a terrible cost. They destroyed the last daemon, and the warp rift closed with it.
But when they began "clearing the battlefield," they discovered that there was no valuable biomass left on the planet. All life had been utterly destroyed in this meaningless war. They could not even recover any energy from the daemons' "corpses."
After losing nearly half its forces, this enormous Hive Fleet had gained nothing. Dragging their "hungry" bodies along, they departed the star system in bitter frustration, like diners who had fought a brawl at a buffet without getting a single bite to eat.
Viridia became a Death World in the truest sense. Only the crazed rocks, contaminated by both daemonic energy and Tyranid viruses, silently recounted the most absurd war in the universe that had once taken place there.
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