The war council had ended.
The oppressive atmosphere was replaced by a scorching, near-fanatical efficiency.
The entire camp, this temporary shelter formed from the wreckage of the Tower of the Loremasters, had turned into a high-speed war machine.
Saul Taviz, that noble Captain of the Emperors Children Legion, had completely cast aside his artist-like elegance.
Like a tireless cheetah, he wove through the ruins, his voice calm and clear, transforming every command Leticia issued into precise tactical deployments.
"Brothers of the Death Guard, your resilience is our shield! Using that collapsed cathedral as the core, build the first line of defense. Set crossfire points here, and here!"
"World Eaters! Your fury needs an outlet! You will be the spearhead of the counterattack; lie in wait within the buildings on the flank, and await my signal!"
"All warriors of the Auxilia, your tasks are equally important! Lay booby traps, haul ammunition, and reinforce the cover! Your sweat will buy every precious second for our Space Marine brothers!"
Nathaniel Garro, that resolute Officer from the Death Guard, silently executed the orders, expressing his conviction through his actions.
He led his men to dig the sturdiest trenches using the most rudimentary tools.
The estrangement that had once existed due to differences in Legion culture vanished in the face of a shared deity and shared hatred.
This fragile alliance of battered remnants was coalescing into a single entity at an unprecedented speed.
Leticia did not remain at the rear.
Holding Terrania's hand, she walked out of the temple, which still held the fragrance of life, and arrived at the open ground in the center of the camp.
Here, all the warriors who could still fight were assembled.
Over three hundred Space Marines and nearly a thousand mortal Auxilia.
They stood there, their formations barely taking shape.
In their eyes, the despair and numbness from before were gone, replaced by a kindled flame called "Purpose."
Yet, beneath that flame, an inescapable shadow still lurked.
What they were about to face was a Primarch, a demigod walking among mortals.
Confidence was a resource scarcer than ammunition.
Leticia's gaze swept over them.
She saw the power armor on their bodies that had not yet been fully repaired, and the Bolters in their hands, covered in cracks and scorch marks.
She saw that although they stood straight, their knuckles, tightly gripping their weapons, were turning white from excessive force.
She saw them trying hard to appear fearless, but their occasional glances at the sky betrayed the fear deep within their hearts.
There were too many problems.
Equipment, ammunition, coordination...
And the most fatal one: confidence.
Leticia walked to the very front of the ranks and let go of Terrania's hand.
She did not deliver any pre-battle speech.
She simply and calmly released that power from the depths of her soul once more.
A crimson-gold halo silently expanded outward.
[Battle Intent].
But this time, there was not a trace of slaughter or violence in the halo.
It was gentle, yet filled with majesty.
Like the strictest drill instructor or the most benevolent father, it enveloped every warrior present.
"Begin drills."
Leticia's voice clearly reached everyone's ears.
"Death Guard and World Eaters, conduct coordinated assault drills. Emperor's Children, conduct precision fire suppression drills. Auxilia, conduct battlefield first aid and ammunition resupply drills."
The warriors were stunned.
Conducting drills at a time like this?
But the crimson-gold halo enveloping them did not give them any time to hesitate.
A strange sensation welled up in everyone's hearts.
Their minds became clearer than ever in an instant.
Their bodies' ability to comprehend tactical maneuvers was elevated to an inconceivable level.
The complex tactical orders Saul Taviz issued were fully understood and perfectly executed the moment they heard them.
A Death Guard warrior, while performing a standard defensive maneuver, subconsciously left the most perfect charging angle for his World Eaters comrade beside him.
That World Eater also understood intuitively; his charge route was exactly right to bring the "imaginary enemy" attempting to attack the Death Guard into the attack range of his Chainsword.
Fluid as flowing water.
Flawless.
They didn't even need verbal communication; merely by the rhythm of each other's breathing and the subtle movements of their muscles, they could predict the other's next move.
This was the kind of tacit understanding that should have taken the same Chapter or squad hundreds of bloody battles to cultivate.
Yet now, it had been achieved in just a few minutes.
A young soldier from the Imperial Auxilia, who previously couldn't even remember how to use a standard tourniquet.
Now, he could blindfold himself and complete the most complex battlefield bandaging on a simulated casualty within thirty seconds.
The warriors themselves were shocked.
They looked at their own precise and efficient movements, at the telepathic coordination of their comrades, and their faces were filled with disbelief.
"My god... I feel like a combat genius."
"Captain Garro's 'Aegis' tactic, I... I think I understand it completely."
"This feeling... The Emperor above, I feel like I can take on ten!"
The original fear and anxiety were rapidly replaced by a scorching emotion called "confidence," in the face of the visible, rapid improvement of their own strength.
Saul Taviz and Nathaniel Garro stood to the side, watching this scene that could only be called a miracle, their breathing becoming heavy.
They exchanged a glance, seeing the same, completely shattered shock in each other's eyes.
This was no longer just a blessing or encouragement.
This was a deity personally reshaping the combat instincts of her followers.
A few hours later.
When the drills ended, this force of remnants had been reborn.
Their formations were uniform, their aura as steady and heavy as a mountain.
In their eyes, only the thirst for victory and the purest fanaticism for that Goddess remained.
But Leticia knew this was not enough.
She turned and walked to the other side of the camp.
There, all the weapons and equipment damaged during the virus bombardment and the previous battles were piled up.
It was a sorrowful graveyard made of steel and ceramic.
Broken Bolters, their casings covered in hideous cracks.
Helmets melted through by energy weapons, with only a hollow void where the observation port used to be.
power armor with exhausted energy and damaged plating were piled together haphazardly, like cold corpses.
An Emperor's Children Officer in charge of logistics was clutching his hair in agony, facing this pile of scrap metal.
"My Lady, our weapon damage rate exceeds forty percent, and our ammunition reserves are only enough to sustain fifteen minutes of high-intensity combat. Most of the power armor energy cores are depleted..."
His voice was filled with the despair of being unable to turn the tide.
Leticia said nothing.
She simply walked quietly to the front of that steel graveyard.
She extended her flawless right hand, which looked like a work of art crafted by the gods.
This time, what surged from within her was that emerald-green light, filled with the aura of life and rebirth.
[Vitality].
A vast, condensed, and tangible green radiance gathered in her palm, transforming into a brilliant green sun.
She gently pressed this sun toward that pile of cold, dead scrap metal.
"Hum—"
A miracle descended once again.
The green tide of light, like warm spring water, gently yet forcefully submerged the entire steel graveyard.
Wherever the light passed.
A warrior watched with his own eyes as his Bolter, which had been broken nearly in two, had the metal at the fracture site begin to squirm and fuse as if it possessed life.
The hideous cracks were smoothed out at a speed visible to the naked eye, finally disappearing, and the gun body restored to its factory-new smoothness.
Another warrior stared blankly at his own damaged power armor.
The large hole in the chest that had been burned through by plasma was rapidly sealing.
The broken circuits and damaged conduits inside, nourished by the green light, automatically reconnected and repaired themselves.
Most incredibly, the indicator light on the back of the power armor that represented the energy core, which had long since gone out, flashed violently before lighting up again with a steady, powerful blue glow, indicating a full energy charge.
The dead steel had been resurrected.
Looking at the brand-new equipment, at the reborn comrades, and at the Goddess standing in the center of the light who could reverse life and death with a wave of her hand.
In the eyes of all the warriors, the last shred of doubt and fear was completely burned away.
Replaced by the most extreme fanaticism and worship, like a volcanic eruption.
They were no longer fighting for that distant Emperor, high upon the Golden Throne.
They were no longer fighting for those so-called Gene-Fathers who had betrayed them.
They fought only for her, who stood before them.
They fought only for this Goddess who had descended into hell to bestow upon them Hope, strength, and rebirth.
A Death Guard warrior silently drew his combat knife.
With a posture of pilgrimage and utmost piety, he carved a brand-new symbol onto his gray-white shoulder pauldron.
It was a simple spiral made of curves, symbolizing protection and embrace.
It was Leticia's symbol.
His action was like a signal.
Immediately following, there was a second, a third...
All the warriors, whether Space Marines or mortal Auxilia.
They all picked up the sharpest tools they could find and carved the same symbol onto their armor, their weapons, and their own skin.
They were branding themselves as belonging to the Goddess.
They were spontaneously becoming her first, and most loyal.
[Chosen Guard].
Saul Taviz watched this fanatical scene; he did not stop them.
He simply drew his power sword and carved that same spiral symbol onto his ornate, purple arm armor.
Then, he knelt on one knee, offering all his loyalty to Leticia.
"My Lady, your army has assembled!"
His voice rang out to the heavens.
"Your will shall be where our blades point!"
"Your will shall be where our blades point!!!"
A roar like a landslide and a tsunami erupted simultaneously from the throats of three hundred Space Marines and nearly a thousand Auxilia.
Morale reached an unprecedented peak at this moment.
They were ready.
Just then.
A sharp, panicked alarm suddenly exploded from the camp's communication channels.
It was a hoarse roar from a sentry responsible for keeping watch.
"The sky... the sky has been torn open!"
"It's the Emperor's Children drop pods! They are here!"
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