The world around Pyro was rapidly shrinking, collapsing into a single, straight line pointing forward. At the end of that line stood the towering, death-shrouded silhouette of the Black Pyramid.
Heave— huff— heave—
His lungs felt as though they were being filled with molten iron. Every breath was like swallowing a mouthful of shattered glass, yet it did nothing to slow the frantic rhythm of his legs.
BOOM!
A 155mm high-explosive shell from his own lines veered off-course and detonated less than fifteen meters to his left. A massive shockwave, choked with dirt and shrapnel, slammed into his side like an invisible giant's hand trying to bowl him over.
Pyro stumbled, his body tilting at a sharp forty-five-degree angle to the ground, but he didn't fall. Instead, he used the moment of imbalance to kick off the earth and accelerate again.
Zzap—!
A ghost-blue Tesla arc danced like a frenzied viper, grazing his helmet. The intense heat instantly melted the upper layer of his headgear; his scalp felt scalded, and the air reeked of the pungent stench of scorched ozone. Still, he ran. Moments later, several emerald-green Gauss beams silently sliced through a boulder beside him. The multi-ton slab of granite was decomposed into fundamental atomic dust in the blink of an eye, scattering in the wind.
Death was dancing beside him—no, it was vibrating on his very eyelashes.
But the deafening roar of artillery, the eerie hum of Necron weaponry, and the dying roars of his comrades all felt infinitely distant, as if muffled by a thick membrane of water.
Only one sound remained as clear as thunder: the frantic pounding of his own heart against his ribs.
Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!
This violent heartbeat drowned out everything else. Every pulse sent a single command to his brain: Run! Get inside!
On his retina, a pale blue system panel shook violently with his vision. On it was a mission prompt so simple it was almost insulting: [Enter the Necron Pyramid Interior].
Penalty: None.
In any other game, Pyro might have breathed a sigh of relief at those words, perhaps even felt lucky that there was no risk of losing levels or gear.
But as the Executive Committee member had shouted during the company mobilization meeting: "The system will not punish us, because for us Helldivers, failing the mission is the ultimate punishment!"
How much effort had the Helldivers poured into this?
To prepare for this day, the players had dug deep into the earth day and night. To face the Necrons, they had spent countless hours and energy. All the sweat, all the patience, and all the preparation were for this final moment of reckoning.
If they couldn't even manage the first step of the mission—if they were swept out like trash just hours after the enemy arrived—what would that mean?
It would mean all their previous efforts were a joke!
That was an outcome the entire Helldiver Legion, from the top brass down to the newest recruit, could never accept!
Pyro's body slammed heavily onto the cold blackstone floor. Momentum sent him sliding over ten meters across the smooth surface until he collided with a pillar. He gasped for air, the searing pain in his lungs a vivid reminder of the insane gauntlet of fire he had just traversed.
"Damn... I'm in..."
Pyro struggled to push himself up. He moved to check his surroundings, but as his gaze swept the room, he froze.
All around him, shadowy figures stood dressed in grey greatcoats and gas masks. The iconic metal breathing valves and emotionless goggles looked particularly eerie under the dim green light.
They were all soldiers of the Death Korps of Krieg.
"Holy crap? Where are my teammates?" Pyro looked around blankly. "Wasn't there a whole company behind me just now?"
Right then, a ripple of blue data surged through the air. Over a hundred pillars of white light erupted around him—the signature respawn teleport effect of the Helldiver Legion.
As the light faded, the familiar voice of [Assimilation Complete] rang out, laced with the surprise of a survivor: "Awesome! Pyro! You're alive! I saw the brothers in front falling like wheat under a scythe; I thought our whole division's charge was going to be a total wipe!"
Other newly respawned Helldivers crowded around, chiming in: "Absolute legend, Pyro! You're the only survivor from our company!"
"It was brutal, seriously. Necron firepower is just broken."
"Actually, I feel like... our own artillery killed a lot of us too," one player whispered. "I distinctly saw a 155mm shell land right on my face."
"Couldn't be helped," another veteran sighed, brushing the dust off his coat. "Without that indiscriminate saturation fire, we'd be stuck in a war of attrition outside. Those guys can self-repair and we can respawn—if it turned into a stalemate, there'd be too many variables."
Before they could finish their greetings, a bright red mission update flashed in everyone's vision:
[Main Quest Updated: Destroy the Necron Pyramid]
[Objective: Completely blow up the enemy's engineering facilities from within.]
[Reward: To be calculated upon completion. The bounty depends on the scale of destruction caused by the bomb carriers.]
Almost simultaneously, countless pairs of green eyes lit up in the darkness deep within the pyramid. Large groups of Necron Warriors, clutching Gauss Flayers, marched out of the shadows with rhythmic, heavy steps. On the walls in every direction, swarms of Canoptek Scarabs flooded toward them like a metallic, shimmering carpet.
Bzzzt—!
Green Gauss beams instantly cut through the air. Over a hundred Krieg soldiers who hadn't reacted in time were vaporized into atoms on the spot.
Seeing the metallic insects about to lunge at them, Pyro scrambled up and screamed at the top of his lungs: "Crap! Stop chatting! Squads One and Two, cover your Company Commander! Second Platoon, go plant the explosives! The rest of you—charge! Dismantle these skeletons!"
The other Helldiver played along with the "roleplay" and shouted: "Protect the Commander! Fall back, sir!"
"Brothers, charge! Show them human courage!"
In the relatively cramped corridors of the pyramid, the Necrons' overwhelming long-range advantage was significantly dampened. The roars of the Helldivers and the shrill whistles of the Kriegers sounded in unison as the two sides collided in a bloody melee.
Once the distance was closed, the Necron Warriors' melee reactions were surprisingly sluggish. A Krieg soldier jammed his bayonet into a Warrior's gun barrel while a nearby Helldiver player swung a tactical knife, hacking viciously at the Necron's neck joint.
Though the human side still suffered heavy casualties, this suicidal, close-quarters brawl managed to keep the situation at a deadlock!
This bought precious time for the demolition teams in the rear.
"Quick, quick! Stuff the explosives in!"
The Helldivers tasked with planting bombs worked like industrious honeybees, frantically shoving melta charges and high explosives into every crack in the interior walls and every indentation that looked like a power node.
The Krieg engineers nearby didn't speak, but they silently sped up their movements, stuffing their own satchel charges into the same gaps.
The players watched this with aching hearts—that was pure mission contribution points being stolen!
"Hey, hey! Masked brother! I saw that crack first!" one player shouted while desperately elbowing his way in. "Don't steal my spot! You lot go over there!"
To prevent the NPCs from taking too much of the "credit," the Helldivers exploded with incredible hand speed, their planting motions becoming a blur of frantic activity.