With the orders synchronized, the Dark Angels' flagship, the Invincible Reason, was the first to open the engagement.
The nova cannon mounted in her prow fired first. A single shot was enough to cripple Chagualsa's orbital defense fleet. Immediately after came a simultaneous broadside from her macro-batteries and lance arrays.
She charged straight into the enemy fleet across the chaotic sea of stars. Her terrifying firepower and exceptional mobility made her the unquestioned queen of void warfare. Nothing and no one could truly face her edge—much less withstand it.
And the Invincible Reason was not fighting alone. The Nightfall, another Gloriana-class battleship, followed close behind, laying down its own blanket of fire. Before the enemy could even properly make contact, their formation was already collapsing.
Behind the two queens came a vast mass of warships, unleashing enough firepower to burn an entire star sector to ash.
At the same time, swarms of strike craft and boarding torpedoes launched in unison. They were tasked with forcing open the path ahead, feeding intelligence back to their parent ships, and, when necessary, marking targets for boarding craft and igniting a sacred boarding action.
To be honest, once two Gloriana-class battleships were leading the charge, there was never much suspense about the outcome of the void battle. Even if they had not been the attackers, the enemy still had no chance of bringing either flagship down in so short a time.
So when a few scattered warships tried to resist, they discovered in despair that their firepower could not scratch either titan—not even a little.
Instead, the moment they exposed their positions, they were annihilated under the next coordinated barrage.
That said, no matter how maneuverable a Gloriana-class was, its agility still could not compare to the smaller warships that had already accelerated into the assault. Those ships were the true main force.
Whether dividing the battlefield or launching boarding strikes, those vessels were responsible for sweeping the engagement zone clear and shielding the two Glorianas so their flagship firepower could be brought fully to bear.
Savrok had never imagined that in the very first void engagement, the forces he had assembled would be smashed apart in under three minutes—without even the strength to mount a real resistance.
And as for the rebels fighting on the front lines, they were breaking down completely. The lucky ones were vaporized on the spot. The unlucky ones found themselves hunted down by Night Lords raiding detachments.
The raiders toyed with them like prey, breaking their minds first and only killing them later. It was a long, drawn-out process—long enough that even death became a luxury.
"Tch. These rebels are barely better than pirates," muttered Stenius, captain of the Invincible Reason, unable to resist a jab as he watched the rebels' pathetic performance.
He had thought they might be dealing with hardened opposition. But with the battle unfolding like this, the Dark Angels could have crushed the enemy themselves without the Night Lords ever lifting a finger.
To have two full Legions' main forces brought down on a single rebel warlord… Savrok could at least take pride in that. This was probably the most glorious treatment any rebel had ever received—one for the ages.
Soon, the combined main forces of both Legions punched through line after line of defenses and blockades. At almost no cost, they finally reached the orbital lanes above the target world.
The planetary orbital defense installations on the surface still tried to resist, but before long their signals went dark. A few of the heavier orbital guns even exploded outright, the flashes of fire visible even from space.
That was proof that the Night Lords infiltration teams sent ahead of time had completed their mission.
With the last obstacle eliminated, drop pods, Thunderhawk formations, and landing craft rained down toward the planet's surface like they were free. All the rebels could do in return was fire anti-air shells weakly at the streaking meteors overhead.
It was useless, of course. Worse, every burst of defensive fire drew the attention of Night Lords Raptor teams already deep in infiltration operations. They dealt with these scattered pockets of resistance using methods that were both brutally efficient and deliberately cruel.
At that moment, countless streaks of fire were cutting through the sky over the planet. Among them was one especially fast-descending Kharybdis Assault Claw, its hull screaming as atmospheric friction tore across it.
Soon enough, though, that screaming would be coming from the rebels instead.
Inside sat Konrad Curze, ruler of the Night Lords. On a sudden whim, she listened with satisfaction to the thunderous roar outside the hull. It had been a long time since she had taken the field personally, and her blood was starting to surge.
Especially when she imagined personally tearing Savrok apart, she could not help clenching a fist and throwing a punch into the empty air.
The Black Guards silently watched their primarch indulge her little fit.
Honestly, their father was adorable right now—like a child eagerly waiting to arrive at a long-anticipated destination.
Wonderful.
This meant they absolutely had to kill a few more rebels to liven things up for Father.
Among all the black-armored figures in the compartment, the most anxious—and by far the most out of place—was Bruce. He sat there frowning at the combat knife and boltgun in his hands.
Although he had inherited the memories of the original Bruce Wayne of this world, the practical matter of actually fighting with them was another problem entirely.
He had no clue what he was doing.
Not one bit.
"New recruit."
At last, Curze couldn't hold back any longer as she looked at Bruce—helmet off, face full of sorrow.
"At your service!" Bruce snapped upright the instant he heard his primarch call him.
The central display now showed that they were only one minute from impact.
"Don't tell me you're still agonizing over what weapon to use," Curze said, shooting a disdainful glance at the combat knife.
To be honest, that thing counted as a toy even by Night Lords standards. Only you would bring something like that aboard a Kharybdis Assault Claw.
Just look at everyone else's equipment—Tartaros terminator armor, lightning claws, power swords, plasma weapons at the very least. Then look at you. What kind of garbage are you carrying?
The only reason no one had kicked him over onto another Thunderhawk transport like some lost child was because of his title as acting commander.
"Not exactly…"
"Heh. Then why are you staring at that dagger? Are you sure it can kill anything?" Curze pressed.
"Why not? Knives are pretty strong, aren't they?"
Bruce thought to himself that he had at least played Space Marine 2. So what if it was just a knife? You could still carve through a lot of enemies with one.
"Tch."
Seeing that there wasn't much time left, Curze impatiently beckoned with one hand. Blood magic stirred, and the pair of lightning claws mounted on the Nightmare Mantle floated over from a distance before being tossed to Bruce.
"Use these," Curze ordered.
Still hung up on your stupid knife and boltgun? Every single member of the Black Guards uses lightning claws. Once the assault begins and everyone jumps out fighting, you'll be the odd one out. I refuse to lose face like that.
"Yes, ma'am!"
Bruce hurriedly grabbed the lightning claws and strapped them on in just a few movements.
They were oversized for him, and the weight was tremendous, but he could bear it. He'd just treat them like a pair of powered gauntlets.
As the assault claw drew nearer to the surface, it opened the landing zone with storm launchers and melta-cutters. The resulting barrage blanketed the area, reducing nearby bunkers and defending troops to fragments in an instant.
Boom—
The assault craft slammed deep into the ground. Its external weapons kept firing, suppressing every detectable enemy target, and then the hatches blew open. The Black Guards stormed out first, fanning into defensive positions.
"My sons! Advance! Judge those traitors!"
Only then did Curze emerge at the rear, unhurried, seated atop Bruce's shoulders.
The city had already become a wasteland—ruins everywhere, corpses everywhere, with more artillery and drop craft still raining down from orbit.
As the Black Guards cleared out the nearby defenders while pushing toward the governor's palace—
Several drop pods bearing Dark Angels heraldry slammed down nearby.
One black-armored Terminator after another marched out. Both sides immediately tensed in mutual suspicion, but after only a moment, matching snorts of contempt sounded at the same time, and both formations spread out in wordless coordination.
On one side, power armor decorated with every variety of Curze insignia and chibi metal badges, even glittering holographic stickers that flashed under the light.
On the other, stylized Lion portraits spray-painted across armor plates, along with finely crafted ornaments themed after the Lion.
What a joke. The elite Astartes of the Eighth—and First—Legions were really all like this? A bunch of mother's boys and father's boys. Disgusting.
You hopeless creatures can spend the rest of your lives with your precious old man—or little-girl primarch.
Our primarch is obviously better.
"Target spotted! Fifteen o'clock!"
"Charge!"
"For the Lion!"
"For the Night Lord!"
A number of figures shot forward like a gale. In that moment, all of them shared a single goal:
To earn glory for their primarch through their kill count.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 175)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 126)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter105)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter100)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter82)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter134)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 70
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 87
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 79
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 64
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 73
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 45
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 49
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 45
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 45
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