"The demise of enemies is often accompanied by the heavy footsteps of the 'God-Machine' Titan."
Titans and warships both symbolize the highest manufacturing standards of the Adeptus Mechanicus of Mars.
Regardless of the machinery, the incense ritual to awaken the machine spirit has always been extremely solemn within the Adeptus Mechanicus of Mars, with no errors allowed, let alone awakening the machine spirit of a 'God-Machine' Titan.
Kenmyo held the Book of Omnissiah in one hand and a staff symbolizing the authority of the Adeptus Mechanicus of Mars in the other, moving among the Titans, each dozens of meters tall.
Since he had countless opportunities to conduct such large-scale rituals in his memory, he performed it without any unfamiliarity.
The massive, ancient Titans bowed their heads, giving off an immense sense of oppression like an impenetrable wall.
[You have gained the aura, Titan Soul]
A system prompt suddenly sounded in Kenmei's ear, but he continued to walk unhurriedly until he stood on the high platform and began to chant with pleasure.
Behind Kenmei were several large Servitors specially designed for such rituals, carrying heavy censers weighing hundreds of pounds, and countless Tech-Priests also held various incenses.
These incenses were extremely expensive and their smell was incredibly foul; the Word Bearers observing had long since been unable to tolerate it.
Even tears were streaming from their eyes; even with the superhuman physique of an astartes, they could barely withstand this unknown stench.
The machine spirit is not an ethereal thing; it sounds like metaphysics but is actually science, because it is a mechanical soul forged by the Adeptus Mechanicus of Mars using special techniques. Without a machine spirit, these weapons would not even function properly.
The Word Bearers' entire arsenal, including all different models of Titans, amounted to approximately 65 units.
Large war machines like Titans are many times rarer than Space Marines; some planets don't even have Space Marines stationed.
Therefore, a small squad of Titans on a planet already represents formidable firepower, and these 65 units truly represent their entire hidden reserve.
"Praise the Omnissiah, praise the Omnissiah, praise the machine spirit!"
Kenmei raised his staff, and the Tech-Priests behind him also chanted along.
"For the Emperor!"
However, after Kenmei uttered this phrase, the other Tech-Priests all paused, seemingly hesitant to follow.
"Have you forgotten that this is a necessary part of the machine spirit ritual?"
Kenmei turned his head and said in a chilling tone.
After being admonished by their superior, the previously timid Tech-Priests began to respond, bringing the machine spirit ritual to a close.
"For the Emperor!!!"
Bathed in the resounding shouts of "For the Emperor," the previously dim eyes of the twenty silent Titans nearby all lit up, shimmering with golden light, and the Titans' cores began to rotate, hissing with steam as their throttles fully opened.
This was the visible sign of the machine spirits' great joy; the ritual was a resounding success.
However, apart from the roaring of the excited machine spirits, the scene was eerily quiet, especially as the Tech-Priests didn't know what to say.
This Archmagos seemed to have forgotten they were rebels now. How could rebels shout the slogan "For the Emperor"?
Was their bottom line truly that flexible?
"Clap, clap, clap."
The sudden sound of applause broke the silence. The person applauding from above the arena was none other than the bald man.
Khor-Pharon, the First Company Captain of the Word Bearers, smiled broadly, seemingly very satisfied with the Archmagos of the Adeptus Mechanicus.
Under his lead, everyone present began to applaud.
"As expected of Archmagos-sama."
"Even these Titans, which Warp energy couldn't corrupt, have been awakened by you."
Accompanying Khor-Pharon was a Tech-Priest of the Adeptus Mechanicus who looked and behaved similarly to Kenmei, but even without getting close, Kenmei could clearly smell the foul stench emanating from him.
The smell of a damned demon.
Highly mechanized, probably over 70% machine, he was a high-ranking Tech-Priest who had already pledged allegiance to a certain master of the Warp.
However, his rank was not as high as Kenmei's, nor was his experience as extensive.
He was probably a Fabricator-Vice-General of some Forge World, meaning the person beneath the Fabricator-General, typically a secretarial or deputy type.
Along with their appearance, a large group of strangely dressed cultists also emerged. The composition of these bastards was quite complex.
Kenmei had already seen the banners of the Four Chaos Gods, indicating cultists from different planets who worshipped Chaos had also come to get involved.
If the information he had just received was correct, from the fragments of speech Khor-Pharon had let slip, Kenmei also knew the whereabouts of the remaining 40-plus Titans.
They had been corrupted by dark powers, transforming into Daemon Engines.
It could be said that the Daemon Engines appearing on battlefields for a millennium after the Imperial Civil War were all plundered during the Great Rebellion and transformed into something akin to living organisms.
Even their noble machine spirits were directly modified, replaced with demon souls, becoming utterly defiled.
If the Word Bearers destroying the Emperor's statues was an act of sacrilege, then sending the Titans, revered as divine incarnations, to be corrupted by dark powers was undoubtedly sacrilege against the Omnissiah.
The ultimate insult to the Omnissiah.
Giving their Adeptus Mechanicus's greatest masterpiece, the Titans, to Chaos—one had to wonder what kind of pig-brained decision-making led to this.
Kenmei was at a loss for words regarding such idiotic allies.
A complete waste of heavenly resources, absolutely.
"Archmagos Belisarius, this is Heti Yason."
Khor-Pharon introduced the Tech-Priest beside him to Kenmei.
"He is the Fabricator-Vice-General of SRT-234 Forge World in the XX galaxy, and he has been favored by one of the Four Chaos Gods."
"He is also the highest-ranking Tech-Priest among our Word Bearers, besides you, Archmagos Belisarius."
It was indeed as Kenmei had imagined: this fellow was a mid-to-upper-tier Adeptus Mechanicus of Mars, but still far from the inner circle.
"The other 40 Titans have all had their machine spirits 'debugged' by him."
"Ah, the pig-brain has arrived."
Kenmei was just wondering who the hell did that, and now he appeared.
Khor-Pharon said nothing, but the corrupted Tech-Priest eagerly stepped forward to attack, a slight smirk on his lips.
"Archmagos-sama truly lives up to his title; the ritual was extremely professional."
"These Titans all fought alongside the False Emperor during the Great Crusade."
Heti Yason looked at the pile of Titans whose debugging was complete in the distance. They had indeed all awakened without exception, even showing signs of great machine spirit joy.
Envy flashed in his eyes.
"The corruption of those great lords had no effect at all."
"And then you arrived, and they were all activated at once."
But before the Tech-Priest could finish speaking, a huge mechanical staff struck him directly in the face. It was a sudden attack with no warning, forcing him to swallow his words.
He was completely stunned and fell to the ground.
"I am speaking with Khor-Pharon, the First Company Captain of the Word Bearers. Who allowed you to interrupt?"
Kenmei's thrust of the staff was not crude, but rather incredibly fluid, with his hand barely moving more than 30 degrees, making it appear very elegant.
But while it looked elegant, its destructive power was not low. The force was so great that it shattered the metal pipes on the corrupted Tech-Priest's body, including some on his head used to transport oil.
And that wasn't all; destructive electrical energy, in the form of powerful lightning dragons, shot out from the mechanical staff at an incredibly fast speed, continuously striking the corrupted Tech-Priest's body.
"And who permitted you to look directly at me?"
The dazzling lightning illuminated the faces of everyone around. The terrifying high temperature and sparks were like a divine punishment. The corrupted Tech-Priest, who had been so arrogant just moments ago, was now charred black, his body smoking and twitching, completely motionless.
"An unruly thing."
Kenmei snorted coldly, then casually tossed the staff he had used in the machine spirit incense ritual, its tip still dripping with what could have been oil or blood, to a Servitor behind him as if it were trash.
"Khor, I'm disciplining an insubordinate subordinate."
Kenmei looked at Khor-Pharon, whose face had stiffened since just now, and spoke in a slightly gentler tone than his previous harsh one.
"You don't mind, do you?"
Kenmei had already figured out what the bald man's intention was: he wanted to dampen Kenmei's spirit and annoy him a bit.
But Kenmei was even more ruthless than expected, directly knocking him to the ground without any of the composure expected of a high-ranking Adeptus Mechanicus official.
"No, I don't mind."
Khor-Pharon recovered from his shock. This guy's temper was far more volatile than he had imagined.
Since Kenmei had defined his act of beating the Tech-Priest as disciplining a subordinate, it was nothing within the strictly hierarchical Adeptus Mechanicus of Mars.
The highest-ranking Archmagos could even execute several Fabricator-Generals of Forge Worlds without any problem.
Because they maintained a high degree of autonomy and were not bound by Imperial law.
Getting beaten to death for being disrespectful was simply asking for it, and there was nowhere to complain. Where was the problem? There was no problem at all.
"It was this blind dog who offended you."
"Archmagos-sama, you truly were a Skitarii Electro-Priest back in the day. Your power to control electricity is still so formidable."
Khor-Pharon even praised him for doing a good job. He couldn't help it; Kenmei had a higher status, and his brother was currently at the height of his power, a dominant figure in the Adeptus Mechanicus of Mars.
Skitarii Electro-Priests were unique combat units within the Adeptus Mechanicus of Mars, specialized in close-quarters combat. They could even be called the wrath of the Omnissiah, sweeping all before them on the battlefield, with a large group of powerful electro-wielding men charging at the forefront.
Kenmei's current body was inherently special; at its peak, its electrical power was no less potent than psychic energy.
"Thank you for your understanding."
No sooner had Kenmei finished speaking than Khor-Pharon heard a crisp, decisive crack. The unfortunate Heti Yason, a high-ranking Tech-Priest of the Word Bearers, was directly crushed under Kenmei's foot.
"Cleansing the sect."
"You don't need to thank me."
Kenmei sneered, a hint of disdain in his voice.
"They're just Titans of the Legio Ignatum. If they can't handle such a small problem, what right do they have to be Tech-Priests?"
Kenmei knew from the Titans' exterior paint that they belonged to the Legio Ignatum, and like him, were part of the Collegia Titanica.
The Legio Ignatum had fought alongside the Emperor several times during the Great Crusade, so they had genuinely been touched by the Emperor's aura, making them immune to contamination by demons and monsters.
Although the Legio Ignatum was the second generation of Titans created by the Adeptus Mechanicus of Mars, it was indeed a traitor legion.
Because they had committed various crimes during the Great Crusade and were generally disliked, when they learned that Horus had completely ignited the rebellion, they immediately clung to Horus's leg.
"What 'high-ranking technician of the Word Bearers'"
"Now he's gone."
[Congratulations! You have killed Heti Yason of the Dark Mechanicum.]
[This unit is a C-class unit.]
[You have gained 3000 War Merit.]
Kenmei's eyes lit up slightly.
[You have gained one C-class treasure chest.]