Lorgar Aurelian, the Primarch of the Word Bearers, was originally giving an impassioned speech mocking Roboute Guilliman as a failure; in his eyes, this act of vengeance was at least 50% successful.
Next, they only needed to destroy almost all the primary planets in the 500 Worlds that the Ultramarines used as bases, and this operation would essentially be an uprooting.
How naive his brother was, to actually believe that Warmaster Horus's arrangement was an opportunity for their two Chapters to reconcile.
Utterly foolish. With a commander like that, the Ultramarines only had one path: complete destruction by the Word Bearers.
In Lorgar Aurelian's view, the remaining Ultramarines warships were essentially within his grasp, especially the famous battleship Macragges Honour, which was about to fall into the hands of the Word Bearers.
As for his good brother, Roboute Guilliman, it wasn't that Lorgar looked down on him, but that fellow was only good at handling trivial matters like official and political affairs; he might not even be able to defeat his foster father, Khor-Pharon, in combat.
As long as Father was present, his good brother wouldn't be able to turn the tables.
But the slap in the face came too quickly!
Lorgar watched as, right under his nose, the Word Bearers fleet flagship, the "False Emperor," directly crushed another warship in the fleet.
This immediately froze the smile on his face; the expected outcome seemed to have suffered a serious deviation.
As warships were successively crushed by the main ship's massive hull, colliding with the void, the Void Shields, one side always failed to maintain its original structure and was utterly shattered.
One ship being destroyed might have been acceptable, but this was a continuous series of collisions, one after another. When the False Emperor destroyed the fourth ship, if the remaining warships didn't move, had the Space Marines in their operations rooms all died?
Therefore, the surviving Word Bearers warships began to rapidly ascend and escape the area.
"They ran away? Doesn't matter."
Kenmyo looked at the fleeing Word Bearers warships and knew there was no need to pursue them.
If he chased them, it might put him at a significant disadvantage. He had finally managed to achieve a favorable situation involving timing, location, and personnel.
All the high-ranking Word Bearers were aboard the Macragges Honour. Kenmyo only needed to ensure they couldn't return to their own warships.
This was truly trapping the dog by closing the door.
In fact, under normal circumstances, Kenmyo would not have been able to destroy so many warships so easily.
The fundamental reason was that they had previously tied their own hands. The high temperatures generated by the cyclone torpedo explosions engulfed all the warships. To prevent the heat from incinerating the ships, they activated their Void Shields for protection, which rendered the conventional shipboard cannons and missiles carried by the battleships ineffective underneath the Void Shields.
To fire these missiles, they would have to turn off the Void Shields. Without the protection of the Void Shields, the unimaginable high external temperatures would corrode the warships, leading to even more unpredictable and disastrous consequences.
This provided Kenmyo with the perfect prerequisite to utilize the False Emperor to its full advantage.
Witnessing this scene nearly caused Lorgar to choke on his breath and spit out a mouthful of blood. He wanted to contact his foster father, Khor-Pharon, immediately to find out what exactly happened to the "False Emperor."
Kenmyo had long ago activated all the ship's built-in communication jamming devices. The massive hull acted like a gigantic shield, cutting off all communications.
The projection of Lorgar was maintained by Psychic Spells, not purely mechanical means, so it was unaffected by the jamming signal.
"Damn it."
The Primarch now resented the excessive explosive power generated by the cyclone torpedoes, which prevented many countermeasures from being deployed.
For instance, Lorgar wanted to use a Psychic Spell of Psychic Teleportation to send several Word Bearers Chapter Champions onto the "False Emperor," but the strong magnetic field interference caused by the cyclone torpedo explosions completely foiled this plan.
The development of events exceeded Lorgar's anxiety, giving him a vague, ominous premonition.
The violent external explosions caused the Macragges Honour to tremble violently, making both groups aboard instantly curious about what was happening.
"What is it?"
Roboute Guilliman was furious with his good brother. With a grim, dark expression, he asked his subordinates what was happening outside.
"A Word Bearers warship has been destroyed."
"Our reinforcements?"
Roboute Guilliman was momentarily stunned. He hadn't expected it to be good news.
The Ultramarines soldier questioned was also quite surprised but relayed all the information he had received from his colleagues on the bridge to Roboute Guilliman.
"No, it's the enemy's main ship!"
"Huh?"
For the first time, Roboute Guilliman doubted the body bestowed upon him by the Emperor, wondering if his ears were malfunctioning. They were clearly at a disadvantage, yet somehow, the situation was turning favorable again.
This was the benefit of having a good teammate: someone who works quietly where you can't see them, solving all your difficulties for you.
However, the prerequisite was that the teammate wasn't too weak. Kenmyo drove all the warships away from the vicinity of the Ultramarines, while simultaneously using the high temperatures generated by the cyclone torpedoes as a shield to build up an advantage.
Essentially, he was in an invincible position.
The False Emperor was the flagship of Khor-Pharon, the Captain of the Word Bearers First Company. Did the other Word Bearers have the authority to destroy this warship?
Even their Legion's Primarch had to listen to this Captain to some extent. How could anyone dare to overstep their bounds and order the destruction of that warship?
Although the False Emperor possessed Void Shield strength comparable to a battleship of the Gloriana-class, that was only when the shields were not actively engaged.
Once subjected to too much concentrated fire, even the strongest Void Shield cannot withstand all the attacks.
They didn't dare to attack, which gave Kenmyo the opportunity to act arrogantly and oppressively.
And once the Word Bearers' warships approached, they were bound to take a beating, a beating that was essentially guaranteed to lose.
Because there were no ships in their Legion more finely equipped than the "False Emperor," and it was naturally the largest one.
Meanwhile, the Red Cans who had boarded the Macragges Honour also received the same information.
"Huh?"
Khor-Pharon also felt something was wrong, so he contacted his subordinates and ordered them to investigate the situation.
He received the report that the False Emperor had completely lost contact and was suspected to be controlled by the enemy, having destroyed a significant number of their warships.
Upon hearing this news, Khor-Pharon's mind went blank, and the only thought he had was this phrase.
"Our home was stolen?"
Kenmyo took advantage of the main force being deployed elsewhere and completely stole the Word Bearers' "home" in one fell swoop. The Word Bearers, who originally had a fallback route, suddenly found themselves with no retreat thanks to Kenmyo.
"What is going on?"
Beside Khor-Pharon stood another bald man, a large bald man whose head was covered in numerous tattooed writings.
He wore Power Armor that was similar to the Captain of the First Company's, also being highly valuable and specially customized.
These two bald giants stood there, like two walls of bronze and iron, giving off an intense sense of oppression.
Erebus, the Word Bearers' third most important figure, was the powerful Space Marine Khor-Pharon had previously wanted to send to protect Kenmyo.
But he was the one Kenmyo had rejected.
Khor-Pharon and Erebus were the joint commanders of this battlefield; the Word Bearers' decisions were essentially finalized by the two of them.
"What do you mean, lost contact with the main ship?"
"And it destroyed our other warships."
Erebus was also utterly incredulous, his eyes wide with shock.
Was this a haunting or something?
Although most of the Space Marines from the False Emperor were present here, a considerable number of Word Bearers had also remained aboard.
If there were enemies, it should have been impossible for someone to gain control of the entire warship so easily.
Khor-Pharon and Erebus were about to discuss their next countermeasures, but suddenly a strong sense of danger flared in their hearts, signaling that something bad was about to happen.
Khor-Pharon immediately drew his sidearm and brought it down heavily in a powerful chop.
The sharp Power Sword instantly shattered the incoming surprise attack.
However, the feel of the casual chop suddenly felt wrong. When he saw the internal structure of the thing he had cleaved, he immediately realized he had struck the wrong target.
"Shit, it's a missile."
Sure enough, the next second, a missile that seemed to originate from their own side directly hit the ground beneath them, causing a violent explosion.
Amidst the explosion, over a dozen neat and loud roars could be clearly heard, filled with intense emotion and unspeakable rage.
"For the Emperor!!!"
But this scene was playing out on almost every warship. The Word Bearers were caught off guard by the sudden attacks, only then realizing that their own side's massive engines of war had rebelled.
The situation on the battlefield grew even more chaotic.
The Word Bearers were routed by the sudden assault. Their opponents, the Ultramarines, also witnessed this bizarre scene, especially watching the Iron Cans belonging to the Word Bearers attacking each other.
It looked like dog-eat-dog fighting.
But for the Ultramarines, this situation was extremely advantageous.
Roboute Guilliman heard that unfamiliar voice again, the one whose source he did not know.
"Don't panic, those are allies."
Kenmyo's Mechanical Hand was connected to the "False Emperor's" machine spirit, and a look of mockery appeared on his face.
"I saw that you didn't have enough men, so I added some helpers for you."
The Ultramarines had the largest numbers among all Imperial Legions. Even Roboute Guilliman might be hearing someone say their U-Legion was short-handed for the first time.
Of course. Fighting was currently raging inside the "False Emperor," and the intensity of the battle there was no less fierce than the main battle aboard the Macragges Honour.
Kenmyo had only dealt with the Word Bearers inside the cockpit, but the Word Bearers guarding the warship were still alive.
So, who were these fellows engaging in combat with?
It was simple; there was only one answer.
It was the Dreadnoughts!
Kenmyo had previously used his positional advantage to transmit certain messages into the minds of these newly awakened Iron Cans.
Not only when the first trigger was pulled, but also when the first allied warship sank, a message would automatically play in their minds.
"The Word Bearers have betrayed the Emperor and become shameless traitors."
"Not only the Word Bearers, but several other Legions have also rebelled. The Imperium is in grave danger amidst an unimaginable rebellion."
"Dreadnoughts have always been the heroes among the Space Marines. Therefore, I ask all seniors to demonstrate the Emperor's wrath against the traitors."
The Dreadnought is a symbol of supreme honor, the final resting place for a select few of the bravest Space Marines before death.
The most loyal Space Marines in every Legion yearned to die gloriously on the battlefield, yet the entire Word Bearers Legion had completely abandoned their ideals and faith.
How could this not provoke soul-deep anger from these veteran Chapter soldiers!
And the weapons carried by the fully loaded Dreadnoughts were the means to prove that they were the Emperor's most loyal followers.
The Imperium had reached a critical moment. The Dreadnoughts had to shine their final light before death and slaughter all these treacherous villains before them.
The continuous firing from their hands, and the constant clatter of spent magazines dropping to the ground, were the Dreadnoughts' prayers to the most loyal Emperor.
And the explosions and the shrill wails of the traitors were the hymns they dedicated to the Emperor.
Dreadnoughts spent their entire existence writing the story of their loyalty to the Emperor, right up until the moment their lives came to an end.
Kenmyo respected them, so he wasn't exploiting them but rather hoping they could kill off all these Word Bearers traitors.
He figured that with the firepower support from the Word Bearers' Dreadnoughts, the Ultramarines should be able to capture all the Word Bearers who had boarded the Macragges Honour. After all, the firepower of every single Dreadnought was truly fierce, making them the most brutal war killers.
The super-heavy, gigantic Gatling Vulcan Cannons were directly mounted onto both mechanical arms, firing thousands of rounds per second, enough to destroy any enemy blocking their path.
Although the Power Armor worn by the Word Bearers Space Marines was very tough, under the Dreadnoughts' barrage of fire, the men were like armor made of paper. Without Psychic Power, it was essentially a dead end.
The tide of battle was instantly reversed. The Ultramarines not only gained a chance to catch their breath but also received the signal for a counterattack.
The enemy Dreadnoughts proved by their actions that they were still loyal to the Emperor, maintaining an unwavering faith and loyalty until death.
Loyalty to the Emperor superseded loyalty to the Parent Legion; the greater family came before the smaller one.
The Dreadnoughts had tears welling up in their eyes as they slaughtered their own brethren, but those brethren had betrayed the Emperor and become blasphemous entities, so they could not afford to show any mercy. They had to be completely eradicated, leaving nothing behind.
"Enough!"
A figure walked out of the roaring flames. It was Khor-Pharon. Holding a Power Sword, he shakily stood up.
A second before the explosion, the fellow deployed a Psychic Shield, rendering the surging explosive power completely ineffective against him.
His eyes filled with cold murderous intent, he stared openly at the Primarch Roboute Guilliman in the distance.
Khor-Pharon raised his hand and then violently yanked towards the Dreadnoughts.
Several Dreadnoughts that had just been venting the Emperor's wrath suddenly seemed to suffer heavy damage. Continuous streams of blood flowed from their abdomens, and they finally collapsed onto the ground, falling silent.