The battle lines in Midtown are visibly shrinking inward.
The Vanguard of the northern route used Heavy Bolter and Meltagun to tear through the outer defenses of the Chaos Cultist.
The Ecclesiarchy's Sisters of Battle ' flamethrowers ripped burning furrows through the twisted streets.
The chants and the roar of Chainsword intertwined, forcing the Supreme Thrallband, entrenched in the industrial zone, step by step toward the core of the Warp Domain.
In just two hours, the Imperium Allied Forces advanced a full three kilometers, destroying hundreds of Chaos temporary fortifications along the way and killing countless Cultists and demons.
Although the Southern Route's Lower City Allied Forces were poorly equipped, they relied on their familiarity with the alleyways of the Hive City to launch surprise attacks from the sewers and ventilation ducts, and managed to take over three supply warehouses occupied by Chaos.
Scavengers and gang members charged forward, stepping over the corpses of their enemies, their roars mixed with vulgar curses, yet they somehow managed to display a fearless and valiant spirit.
Everyone felt that victory was only a matter of time.
But in the deepest Warp Domain, beneath a Chaos Spire newly cast from flesh and alloy.
Atia stood with his hands behind his back, his blue sorcerer's robes fluttering in the distorted air currents.
He watched the retreating enemy lines, his face showing no panic, but rather an indifferent air of complete control.
"That's about it."
He said something softly, then shifted his gaze to the priests beside him.
The priests had long since removed the iconic red robes of the Adeptus Mechanicus and donned dark blue ceremonial robes embroidered with gold trim, the robes covered with eerie runes representing change.
Twisted flesh grew from their exposed prosthetics and the joints, and the optical lenses flashed with a frenzied blue light.
He was no longer a follower of Omnissiah, but a loyal servant of Tzeentch.
The leading priest bowed deeply, and a fervent, hoarse voice emanated from the metal microphone:
"Lord Atia, the goods have been brought."
As soon as he finished speaking, four Flesh Change -blood Servitor staggered forward.
Their lower bodies had fused with the metal tracks, while their upper bodies had grown several wriggling tentacles, which together carried a metal box about half the height of a person.
The box was engraved with the ancient coat of arms of the St. Garus Family, and pale blue Psychic Power mist seeped from the gaps, indicating that it was sealed using the highest level of sealing techniques.
"That foolish knight Lord Regent, he actually thinks we'd play some kind of childish game about family revival with him."
The leading Chaos Priest let out a piercing laugh and gently tapped the box with his metal prosthetic arm.
"The entire St. Garus Family, starting with that old bastard Caladogon, is nothing more than a pawn on my master's chessboard."
"While she was locked in combat with Lynn on the third basement level, our men easily retrieved the master's fragments from the deepest secret chamber of the castle."
Atia nodded slightly and extended his hand.
The seal on the box disintegrated automatically under the power of witchcraft, and the heavy lid slowly rose.
A metal sphere about one meter in diameter floated up from inside the box and hung in mid-air.
The sphere is not a single, complete object, but rather a combination of countless metal components of varying sizes, ancient chips, and broken parts.
The fragments are held together by some strange force, and their surfaces are covered with densely packed ancient characters.
These characters change and flow like water, sometimes forming complex mechanical drawings, sometimes breaking down into unfamiliar formulas.
This is an STC standard template construct.
More precisely, it's a "shard of magic" that Tzeentch left behind here.
Atia stepped forward, his fingertips lightly touching the surface of the sphere.
In an instant, a strange change occurred.
The human characters that had been flowing slowly suddenly accelerated, like grains of sand being swept up by a gale, and frantically rearranged.
The ancient mechanical inscriptions crumbled one by one, replaced by twisted, eerie, and sinister Tzeentch.
Pale blue light burst forth from the cracks in the fragments, growing brighter and more dazzling.
Indescribable blasphemous whispers emanated from the sphere of light. They were not in any language, yet they could penetrate directly into the depths of one's soul, stirring up the deepest desires and madness within.
The surrounding light began to distort and bend, as if space itself was deformed by this force.
The temperature near the spire suddenly dropped, and a layer of eerie, rainbow-colored ice crystals formed on the ground.
Praise be to the Lord of Change!
"The power of our Lord is all-powerful!"
The surrounding Chaos Cultist, Thousand Sons warriors, and wizards all knelt on the ground, their foreheads pressed tightly against the cold earth, their faces filled with extreme fanatical worship.
They kowtowed repeatedly, their throats emitting hoarse roars, their souls trembling with ecstasy under this blasphemous power.
Bathed in blue light, Atia slowly opened his arms, chanting obscure and ancient Tzeentch incantations.
The suspended STC sphere slowly rose, passing over the kneeling crowd, over the layers of corridors of the spire, and finally landed steadily at the very top of the spire.
boom!!!
An indescribably massive beam of light shot into the sky from the sphere, piercing straight through the clouds in the Warp Domain and heading straight for Brevis's atmosphere.
The beam of light suddenly spread out in the sky, like a giant oil-paper umbrella that had been opened, spreading out in all directions from the Midtown.
A translucent, iridescent, Profane Barrier formed in Brevis's atmosphere.
It firmly protected the entire Brevis below, its surface constantly flowing with Tzeentch runes, radiating an eerie energy that sent chills down one's spine.
The Warp Domain, which was originally expanding slowly, was instantly stabilized under the cover of the barrier, and the Warp concentration within the domain increased exponentially.
Above the Brevis orbit, inside the bridge of the Gemstone.
Dominic was watching the live feed of the battlefield below, his brow furrowed slightly.
The ground forces' advance was progressing smoothly, which was a good thing, but that Warp Domain was too quiet, unusually quiet.
He was just about to order the Vanguard to halt their advance and conduct reconnaissance before moving again when he saw a blinding blue light suddenly appear in the direction of the Midtown.
Immediately afterwards, a huge film of light spread out on the planet's surface.
"What is that?" the captain of the guard shouted.
Dominic's face instantly darkened.
"Attention all ships! Main gun calibration in the Midtown area! Blast that energy barrier open!"
The orders were transmitted extremely quickly.
Seconds later, the Macro-cannon array on the broadside of the Gemstone roared first.
The explosive shell, weighing hundreds of tons and trailing a plume of flame, slammed into the rainbow-colored barrier with enough kinetic energy to penetrate the cruiser's armor.
Following closely behind were three giant, Skyfire- shaped light spears, their azure beams like divine swords, slashing straight down.
But what happened next plunged the entire bridge into dead silence.
The Macro-cannon, powerful enough to tear apart a giant ship, struck the barrier, creating only ripples without leaving even a crack.
The terrifyingly powerful spear of light pierced the barrier, but it vanished without a trace, like a pebble falling into the deep sea. The runes on the barrier, however, shone even brighter.
It wasn't destroyed; instead, it seemed to be... absorbing the energy of the attack?
"Impossible!" the radar officer exclaimed.
"The energy reading is still rising! It seems to be absorbing the energy from the light spear!"
Before the words were even finished, a huge energy vortex suddenly bulged up on the surface of the barrier.
A flash of blue light appeared at the center of the vortex, and a Psychic Power beam, condensed to its maximum, shot out in reverse, accurately hitting the frontal shield of a Lunar-class Cruiser in the fleet formation.
"Boom!!!"
A blinding white light exploded.
The Void Shield energy bar of that Lunar-class Cruiser plummeted at an alarming rate, being completely emptied with a single attack.
The ship shuddered violently, and a large section of its surface armor was torn off by the shockwave. Alarms blared frantically inside the bridge.
"Report! The ' Indomitable Warrior ' has lost all its Void Shield! Its armor is damaged by seven percent!"
"Energy reading abnormal! The enemy's shield is rapidly regenerating!"
The bridge was completely silent.
Everyone stared at the Profane Barrier on the screen, its runes flowing across it, their faces filled with disbelief.
It can withstand a volley of light spears fired by a battleship, and can even absorb energy to counterattack... What on earth is this thing?
Dominic stared at the shield without saying a word.
He had fought for many years and had seen the Psychic Power shields of Chaos and the quantum shields of the Necrons, but he had never seen such a bizarre and outrageous defense system.
"STC..." he uttered in a low voice, his pupils contracting slightly.
"Could it be that fragment?"
Only fragments of magic that Great Conspirator could possess such abilities that defy conventional battlefield logic.
Dominic took a deep breath, suppressing the turmoil in his heart.
"Order all warships to cease fire and not to recharge it."
"Contact Brevis immediately and have them do everything they can to find out everything about this thing."
"I need to know its energy limit, how it works, and... its weaknesses."
His voice remained steady, but his tense body betrayed his seriousness.
The situation has reversed once again.