The Magus did not reply with an equally witty retort. Not that it knew it was witty. But it didn't even flinch. The shots were blocked with seeming ease.
Instead, the moment Gerhard's voice cut through the localised silence of the command platform, the Magus turned. Its eyes, devoid of any semblance of human empathy, glowed with a sickly pallor. It was no longer a human psyker, but a Genestealer one. The connection to the Broodmind was palpable, feeling heavy, and suffocating, dropping the platform's temperature by several degrees. Whether this was truly the case, because of psyker nonsense, or not, Gerhard couldn't say.
Around the Magus, several Nexos dropped their auspexes and dataslates, drew curved blades and autopistols, and called for the hybrids and Aberrant bodyguards. But they were no longer the main threat.
From the shadows behind the rusted command console, a new figure stepped forward, their presence radiating lethal intent, while several others already stood around the Magus without moving.
Primus – Lv.55
|HP: 11,000/11,000
|MP: 800
|The tactical mastermind of the Cult. Enhances coordination and lethality of all nearby units. The Primus exists solely to lead his Cult into war. He is a war leader whose natural ferocity is paired with the best stolen weapons and wargear the Cult has to offer.
-
Locus – Lv.44
|HP: 5200/5200
|MP: 300
|A austere and mysterious 4th-generation Genestealer Hybrid that serves as a hyper-focused duelist and bodyguard to their Cult's Magus or other senior leaders.
-
Nexos – Lv.38
|HP: 2600/2600
|MP: 1600
|A type of 3rd-generation Genestealer Hybrid that is a consummate strategist, typically appearing at the same time as a Primus to act as its aid. By analysing and interpreting every subtle ebb and flow of battle, they can identify vulnerable positions for their kin to exploit, pinpointing potential flanking routes and subterranean passages ideal for arranging sudden ambushes.
-
"Right. No small talk. And you brought the whole management team," Gerhard muttered, raising his Custom Autogun and pulling the trigger. It may look like this took a while, but from the time Gerhard landed on the platform to the time he took the first shot, a few seconds passed.
BRRT—BRRT—BRRT—BRRT—BRRT—BRRT—!
The burst of high-calibre rounds sped toward the Magus's chest, but they never made impact. A shimmering, domed barrier of raw Warp energy flared into existence around the psyker, nullifying the attacks.
[Psionic Shield]
The bullets flattened against the purplish visible wall. At the exact same moment, the Primus raised a slender, wickedly sharp sidearm.
Thwip-thwip!
Two crystalline darts shot from the Primus's Needle Pistol. Gerhard thankfully already had four [Mana Shield] summoned. The darts, very toxic, distilled from the Primus' virulent bloodstream, struck the translucent barrier and instantly dissolved into a highly corrosive, contagious poison that hissed and ate away at Gerhard's mana reserves.
The Magus raised its Force Staff, and the crystal at its apex pulsed; a wave of oppressive energy washed over the hybrids, the Locuses, and the Primus.
[Psychic Stimulus]
Instantly, the cultists blurred into motion. They didn't just charge forward logically; they moved with a religious, fanatical frenzy driven by the psychic stimulus. But with the Primus present, their frenzy was terrifyingly coordinated.
The tactical mastermind barked a harsh, alien series of clicks and hisses, seamlessly guiding the Neophyte and Acolyte hybrids to flank Gerhard while the Locuses, who had been stationary the entire time, suddenly shot forward, turning into a shrieking, limb-lashing monstrosity.
"Oh, come on!" Gerhard shouted, his [Danger Sense] screaming at him.
He dropped the autogun into his inventory, instantly equipping the Refined Tyranid Power Sword in his right hand and pulling his Lasgun with his left. Dual-wielding anything with a lasgun was not preferable, but he had no choice.
The first Locus was on him in a fraction of a second. Its twin swords were a silver blur aimed at Gerhard's neck. With a DEX stat of 65 in base that was now enhanced even further, it was needless to say that Gerhard couldn't keep up. Thankfully, the danger sense had warned Gerhard just enough to make him duck, hearing the blades whistle and hit the mana shield over his head. Gerhard completed his movement and thrust his Power Sword upward.
CLANG!
The Locus hadn't missed Gerhard at all, as it turned out. It had merely feinted, proving its intelligence. It brought its second blade down, intercepting Gerhard's Power Sword with impressive, hyper-focused precision. The kinetic force of the parry sent a shockwave up Gerhard's arm.
Before he could recover, two hybrids were on his flanks, firing their weapons point-blank under the Primus's quiet coordination. The rounds slammed into Gerhard's top [Mana Shield], fracturing it until it shattered like glass.
Gerhard rolled backwards, firing the Lasgun blindly with one hand.
PEW—PEW—
A red beam caught a hybrid in the knee, making it screech. As it stumbled, Gerhard lashed out with [Mana Rope], wrapping the cord made of Mana around the falling hybrid's neck and violently yanking it into the path of the second speeding Locus.
The Locus, existing only to intercept threats towards their Magus, fluidly and mercilessly sliced the wounded hybrid in half just to keep its momentum toward Gerhard.
Suddenly, the world went terrifyingly quiet. The deafening roar of the war below faded into a muffled, distant hum. The world froze for Gerhard. His limbs felt incredibly heavy. He looked up and saw the Magus staring directly into his eyes, the psyker's mind reaching out to attempt to crush his will.
[Mass Hypnosis]
'Drop the weapon,' a voice whispered in his mind. 'There is only the Brood. Surrender your flesh.'
[External Mental Interference Detected!]
Seeing his prey paralysed, the two Locuses moved forward. He pointed his Neurotraumal Rod at Gerhard and sent out waves of mental disruption that usually induced brain spasms, migraines, and harrowing visions in its victims.
When a Magus went to "negotiate" with a particular powerful enemy, such as a Cardinal or an Inquisitor, the Locus accompanying it would send out these waves.
Shing--!
The Refined Tyranid Power Sword pierced the Locus in a moment of distraction.
"Surprise motherfucker!"
[Mental assault resisted through Gamer's Mind]
[Warp energy purged]
[A new skill has been created through a special action.]
[Locus defeated]
[+ 122,840 EXP]
PEW—PEW—
Two hybrids fell to the ground, dead, as las beams pierced through them.
[Acolyte Hybrid defeated]
[+60,000 EXP]
[Metamorph defeated]
[+60,000 EXP]
The Primus, seeing this, grew erratic, raised its needle pistol in one hand, the lethal claws in the second, and a jagged, bone-white Bonesword in the... third, leaping forward to deliver an executioner's strike.
[Mass Hypnosis]
The Magnus increased its use of the Warp, thinking that it would do anything. But little did he know, it was all useless.
Gamer's Mind (Passive) Lv. Max
Effect
Allows the user to think things through calmly and logically.
Allows a peaceful state of mind.
Immunity to mental disorder.
-
Gerhard threw himself to the right. The Primus's Bonesword cut into the steel decking where Gerhard had just been standing, carving through the heavy metal like butter. Realising its failed attempt, it pointed the needle pistol at Gerhard and fired.
The shots hit the Mana shield, but only cracked it, which was quickly replaced a moment later. The second Locus was already in its totally mental, shrieking, slashing state, desperately trying to kill Gerhard.
But the Magus was already moving to the next phase of its assault. The Xenos psyker swept its staff forward, gathering a blazing mass of sickeningly bright energy.
[Danger Sense]
[Danger Sense]
[Psionic Blast]
The beam of raw Warp fire erupted toward him.
The attack was immensely powerful, burning through all four of Gerhard's Mana shields. The energy lessened considerably, but was still powerful enough to hurl Gerhard through the air.
HP: -380
The impact was like getting hit by a charging rhino, and if he hadn't upgraded his Flak Armour this much, he would have suffered a lot more damage. He skidded across the metal platform, his armour scraping up sparks as he did. But he was ready to lessen the blow and performed an impressive backflip and pushed himself up again.
The Primus was already barking orders, calling dozens of Aberrants and even the Abominant. The Locus blurred forward again, his twin blades raised to sever Gerhard's limbs. The Magus had noticed the sheer value Gerhard presented and commanded him to be incapacitated and not killed.
Big mistake.
"Fuckin cunt!"
As the Locus arrived and slashed, Gerhard cast [Spiral Energy Bolt], but he didn't shoot it. He kept the rotating Mana in front of him. The Locus, surprised about the sudden appearance of something it had never seen, still tried to swing its swords to deflect the glowing ball and move out of the way.
Gerhard released the bolt, letting it shoot forward, and in the same moment brought his Lasgun up. He had anticipated the direction the Locus was going to move, and so he was there when it arrived there, all of its attention on the Spiral Energy Bold. He pressed the barrel directly against the Locus's chest piece... and pulled the trigger.
PEW—PEW—PEW!
Three point-blank las-blasts punched clean through the bodyguard's sternum and killed the Xenos scum.
[Locus defeated]
[+ 122,840 EXP]
The other cultists felt the death of the second Locus, but were occupied. The Magus had used its psyker powers to block the energy while boosting its forces further to deal with Gerhard. The time for capture was over; now he had to die.
Seeing the Locus fall, the Primus let out an unworldly roar, leaping over the Locus's corpse. It swung its Bonesword in a wide, decapitating arc, following up with a brutal thrust of its power claws.
Gerhard parried the Bonesword with his Power Sword, the two powerful weapons clashing in a shower of energy sparks.
A Bonesword is a Tyranid close combat Biomorph which can drain the life-force out of its victims. A bonesword is a living organism with a small brain situated deep within its hilt, and a rudimentary sentience that allows it to gradually grow in length, repair any battle damage, and maintain a deadly monomolecular edge. However, it is completely slaved to the will of its wielder and is incapable of any independent thought. The weapon is made of chitin and constantly crackles with powerful psychic energy that flows along embedded nerve tendrils to create a psychic field around the blade, effectively creating a biological version of a force weapon.
The Primus's 85 STR pushed Gerhard back rather easily, its Bonesword pushing the power sword aside and slicing toward his ribs. It hit the Mana Shields on the way and cut through three cleanly, but was finally slowed down on the last one.
Gerhard shifted his weight, letting the Primus overextend due to the shields, and activated [Mana Rope]. He didn't bind the creature; he used it like a whip, wrapping the rope around Primus's ankle and yanking with all his might, while recasting [Mana Shield] and using [Deep Breathing Energy Control]
In that moment, the Magus had finally managed to cancel out the Spiral Energy Bolt, resulting in a small explosion and blowing everyone back.
The tactical mastermind in front of Gerhard stumbled, but only slightly, as it was physically too strong for him. It was only a fraction of a second, but in a fight as fast as this, it was all Gerhard needed. He spun, driving his Tyranid Power Sword forward in a brutal straight...
[Power Strike]
... right through the Primus's ribs, bypassing its thick carapace and completely severing its spine.
HP: 1492/11,000
BRRT--BRRT--BRRT--!
[Primus defeated]
[+ 220,000 EXP]
[Level up]
"Just you and me now," Gerhard panted, ripping the blade free and locking eyes with the Magus.
The Magus did not show fear, but anger. It simply gripped its Force Staff with both hands and tapped into the deepest, most terrifying aspect of the Broodmind.
[Mental Onslaught]
Gerhard felt a sudden, tickling sensation at the far edge of his mind, of an alien consciousness slamming into his skull. It was supposed to be like a tidal wave of static, thousands of voices screaming in a language of hunger and shadows, crushing his mind and turning him into a bumbling bafoon.
A lesser man would have had their brain reduced to liquid in seconds. Gerhard, however, was no man.
[Extreme Mental Intrusion Detected]
[Passive Skill: Gamer's Mind (Lv. MAX) is responding...]
[Mental assault resisted]
The Magus leaned in, its three-ridged brow furrowing as it poured more psychic energy into the attack. It was expected to see Gerhard's eyes roll back, expected to hear the wet pop of capillaries and mush of his brain. Instead, it met an immovable wall.
Gerhard's mind, protected by the max-levelled skill [Gamer's Mind], didn't shatter. It didn't even move. It felt like the molten iron spikes were hitting an auramite anvil.
[A special action has triggered a skill evolution]
[New Skill Created: Mental Mirror has been created]
Mental Mirror (Active/Passive) Lv. 1
|Your mind is an impenetrable fortress. When subjected to mental attacks, the force is reflected back at the caster. The force increases as the level increases.
-
[A new skill has been created through a special action]
The Magus's eyes suddenly swelled. The purple glow in its eyes turned into a chaotic flickering mess, and a trickle of dark, ichor-thick blood leaked from its nose and mouth. The psychic pressure it was exerting had nowhere to go, so it had rushed backwards, flooding the Magus's own mind and nervous system with the feedback of its own hate. This was so powerful that the entire Broodmind felt it.
Gerhard stood his ground. In the eyes of the Magus, his face was a mask of terrifying, unnatural calm. He didn't drop to the ground; he simply stared through the Magus and looked at it in disgust.
"Is that all?" Gerhard asked, his voice echoing with the hollow connection the Magus itself had established and feeling like molten lava.
*SCREEEE...*
Panicked, the Magus realised its mental dominance had failed spectacularly. In a final, desperate gambit to save itself and destroy this anomaly, it channelled its remaining psyker power from the Broodmind into a surge of bio-energy.
[Might From Beyond]
[Danger Sense]
The Magus's body began to swell unnaturally, its muscles rippling and tearing through its ornate robes as Warp energy bloated its frame to twice its size. It raised its Force Staff, now glowing with a bright, sickly light, to deliver a blow backed by the strength of the Broodmind itself.
Gerhard didn't wait for the transformation to finish, like some idiot protagonist. He lunged forward while using his Mana without holding back.
[Spinning Mana Arrow]
[Spinning Mana Arrow]
[Spinning Mana Arrow]
9 spinning Mana arrows materialised and shot through the air, hitting the Magus just as he attacked.
HP: 12,329
Gerhard still took a glancing blow from the staff as he closed the distance—the kinetic force shattered his left pauldron and sent a jolt of pain through his collarbone, but he didn't halt his charge.
The spinning mana arrows had hit, but the Magus' health had risen disgustingly through the spell. He stepped inside the bloated Magus's guard, the Tyranid Power Sword humming with that same blue frequency.
"My turn," Gerhard muttered.
[Power Strike]
He lunged, but empowered by [Might From Beyond], the Magus' reaction speed was supernatural now. The creature slammed the base of its Force Staff into the floor, and a dome of translucent, amethyst psychic energy erupted between them.
Gerhard's power sword struck the barrier. The disruption field of the blade sparked violently against the psionic wall, throwing off arcs of white-hot lightning that even scorched the metal floor.
The Magus snarled, leaning its weight into the staff. The shield didn't just resist Gerhard's attack, but actually began to push back and sent out psychic lightning strikes, which in turn hit Gerhard's Mana Shields and carved through them, hitting his armour and body.
Gerhard dug his boots into the deck plating, his body whining in protest as he leaned his entire body weight into the charge. Thanks to [Gamer's Body], instead of his bones breaking and his skin being scorched and melting, only his health dropped. He clenched his jaw as hard as he could.
MP: 102
The Magus's eyes flashed with a sickening, triumphant light. It began to raise its free hand, fingers curling into a claw as it telekinetically reached outward and attempted to crush Gerhard's ribs.
"UFF!"
The force smashed into him and hurled him through the air. He hit the ground hard, but had no time to catch his bearings, as the Magus attacked again.
[Danger sense]
[Danger Sense]
A blast of psionic energy rushed towards him and would have most likely killed him right there if he hadn't been warned. But to his surprise and horror, his Mana was too low for him to cast [Mana Shield]. The Warp blast reached him, and in that moment, whatever it was, Gerhard raised his hands protectively.
*BOOOM*
Gerhard looked forward in surprise, seeing a bluish transparent barrier having materialised around him, and blocking the psionic blast from the Magus.
[A new skill has been created through a special action]
[A skill to create a 'Force Barrier' has been created.]
Force Barrier (Active) Lv. 1
| EXP: 0.00%
| MP: 60
| A psychic barrier formed through concentrated willpower and energy, creating a shimmering shield that repels incoming attacks.
| Unlike basic mana constructs, this barrier is reinforced by mental force. The higher the INT stat, the stronger the barrier.
Effects:
| Blocks a large portion of incoming damage
| +20% resistance to physical attacks
| +20% resistance to energy attacks
| +10% resistance to psychic / warp-based attacks
| Duration: 10 seconds
| Additional MP cost: 20 per second
-
How could this skill be cast, if Gerhard had too little Mana to cast Mana Shield? Because this skill wasn't solely using Mana as fuel. The MP cost wasn't always clear, but generalised.
Gerhard rushed forward again, but once again, he was met with that cursed Force barrier, similar but more powerful than the one he had created. He followed that same feeling as he had before, now that his Mana was slowly rising again and dug deep.
He pressed his hand directly against the humming surface of the barrier.
[Spinning Energy Bolt]
Rather than trying to break the shield from the outside, Gerhard created a [Spiral Energy Bolt] inside the shield, bypassing the Magus' defence.
"Yippee Ki Yay... motherfucker."
The bolt detonated at point-blank range. The Magus's chest cavity collapsed inward, going so far that the attack carved right through his body. The "Might From Beyond" backfired, releasing alien energy and detonating into a gore-filled explosion that painted the gantry purple.
*BOOOOOM*
[Magus defeated]
[+380,282 EXP]
[Level up]
[Level up]
As the Magus died, the psychic backlash of its severed connection hit the Genestealer Cult like a physical shockwave. The Genestealer Cultists' formation below, who had already been in a rather chaotic state from the two Primus's deaths, collapsed.
Gerhard lay on the ground, his chest heaving in pain and exhaustion. His HP was very low, his armour was ruined, but the silence on the bridge was the most beautiful thing he'd heard all day.
"Suboptimal," he coughed, a pained, exhausted grin spreading across his face. "But definitely effective."