The Grand Master braced himself with his power sword; multiple organs within his body were already suffering from severe failure.
However, just as he managed to stand, that strange daemon had already successfully defeated the former chief Greater Daemon, Skarbrand.
A giant axe emitting blue light smashed through the opponent's chest, even though the opponent had clearly just swung at the empty air.
"This is illogical!" roared Skarbrand.
Even though he was furious, because his physical form in the mortal realm had been shattered, Skarbrand had now entered a state of banishment.
Once a daemon receives excessive damage, it does not die, but is instead banished back to the Warp.
Only a few rare artifacts can truly kill a daemon, such as the Emperor's Sword, or certain sealing methods used by the Aeldari.
Otherwise, regardless of the damage—even if a planet were destroyed—the entity would not truly die. After eight days, every Greater Daemon gains the opportunity to be reborn.
Kooqi Jarvis walked up to Skarbrand, The bird head let out a cunning cackle, while the other bloody head roared in triumph.
"You are too weak!"
"You cannot comprehend the power of space!"
"Your strength is not even equal to your weapon!"
"I simply applied some power that you cannot comprehend!"
The fading Skarbrand roared, "You are betraying! You are betraying the Blood God!"
"No!" Jarvis replied haughtily. "The Blood God will not prevent me from using my own power. This has always been my power, and my power has already surpassed yours, Skarbrand!"
"I legitimately used the giant axe in my hand to hack you to death; it is just that you seemed to have no defense against my axe!"
Skarbrand was enraged. The opponent's blue axe possessed both the cunning of Tzeentch and the fury of Khorne.
When he swung to strike, you never knew where that axe would appear! Perhaps above your head, perhaps in your chest.
Jarvis manipulated this grotesque body and severed Skarbrand's head. This was his trophy of honor, and he had to pack it to take back.
[Tzeentch: Wasn't that the plan we agreed upon? Why resort to brute force after all that planning?]
[Khorne: Wasn't it agreed that there would be a bloody battle? Why are you resorting to underhanded tricks mid-fight!]
When the two gods saw this piece, they felt both pleased and disgusted for reasons they could not fathom.
If they were forced to find something to like about this piece, it wasn't impossible. After all, the recent battle had indeed been full of bloodshed, and the preceding plan had indeed been full of cunning.
Yet, both Chaos Gods felt a strange aftertaste, as if an unpleasant spice had been added to a delicious meal.
Tzeentch disliked the final method used, while Khorne disliked the preceding pile of meaningless schemes.
Khorne preferred direct confrontation, while Tzeentch preferred for one to use schemes to entrap others throughout the process.
However, because this daemon was a hybrid, it could utilize the skills and powers of both.
[Khorne: By the way, you previously said this was your Lord of Change.]
[Tzeentch: No, no, no, this should be your Bloodthirster!]
The two Chaos Gods, who had been fighting over the piece, suddenly engaged in a bizarre display of modesty.
Even though this piece was highly capable, to the two Chaos Gods, it was akin to a gold ring encrusted with filth.
How to put it? This Greater Daemon had both quality and mechanics, but its modus operandi disgusted both sides; it was truly bizarre.
It could only be said that this thing was a bug; while powerful, it simultaneously satisfied the authority of both sides.
Thus, the two gods had no choice but to establish a 72-cycle agreement.
This piece could be used by either Tzeentch or Khorne, but once it died, there would be a long 72-unit resurrection period.
This "72" could be 72 hours or 72 days; the exact duration of the resurrection depended on the cost the Chaos Gods were willing to pay.
To Khorne, this was a piece with brains. To Tzeentch, this was a piece with stats.
Thus, the two Chaos Gods reached a dirty backroom deal.
Such a deal left Slaanesh, who was watching from the sidelines, completely stunned.
[Slaanesh: What about me? What about me? I want to join the venture too!]
[Contribute a Greater Daemon for me to play with; I guarantee I can breed a very interesting hybrid!]
[Khorne, Tzeentch: Get lost freak!]
Once again sidelined, Slaanesh could only wander like a stray dog outside the entrance to Tzeentch's maze and Khorne's domain.
If those two reached some dirty deal, what would happen to him? He couldn't possibly make a deal with Nurgle, could he?
The Chaos Gods' deal did not directly affect the material universe. Or rather, the moment their deal was struck, it had already begun to influence the material universe in some way.
Kooqi Jarvis was successfully leading his Blood God army, intending to slash and slaughter through every hive city.
[Your piece: Kooqi Jarvis is activating "Hard Echoes."]
[This skill can randomly grant a blessing to either the enemy or our side, The strength of the blessing depends on the magnitude of the random value.]
Looking at this piece's skill, Caleb could only say that this guy's ability was truly heaven-defying.
To put it plainly, this was a skill that gave the disadvantaged side a chance to change their fate. The fact that the strength was also randomized was just outrageous.
"Do it!" Caleb did not refuse the activation of the skill. It was just auto-chess anyway; he was just playing around!
However, the next scene left Caleb at a loss. This guy's skill seemed a bit abnormal!
[Special psychic talent added to the Grey Knights. Adding traits. Skill set to "Destiny's Echo"!]
[This skill allows for the forced selection of a single thread of fate, Even the Lord of Change cannot shake the established fate.]
"What the hell!" Caleb had never expected that this damn thing was drawing cards for the enemy.
Well, strictly speaking, they counted as teammates, except the teammate didn't know that this piece was on their side!
Just as everything settled, the previously dying Grey Knights Grand Master, Morvans, stood up again.
The power armor on his upper body had completely fallen off, and even his power pack had crashed heavily to the ground.
Yet, even more miraculously, at this moment, the Grey Knights Grand Master possessed psychic strength far exceeding what he had before!
Bare-chested, he stood up like a gambler who had just hit the jackpot!
"I have seen it!"
"I have seen the established fate! You will eventually be banished, and the Imperium will ultimately win the final victory!"
"The light of the Emperor will descend upon this planet, and I have paid the price of my eyes to witness that scene!"
At this moment, the Grey Knights Grand Master before him erupted with immense psychic energy.
He even utilized the precarious hive city core behind him to unleash his True Name incantation!
The surging explosion and tide of energy, mixed with the True Name incantation, instantly vaporized all the surrounding daemons!
They were all banished upon having their true names spoken, even those standing within the Brass Citadel!
Morvans used the sound waves generated by the explosions to speak the true name of every daemon, After eight consecutive explosions, all the daemons were dispersed.
Meanwhile, in the central area, Kooqi Jarvis, who had been most severely affected by the explosion, was already in a dying state.
He also entered a state of banishment, about to be cast back to the Warp.
"Kooqi!"
"You stupid pig, what have you done?"
The bird head chirped in response, "How the hell was I supposed to know that grey tin can was our ally!"
"Damn it, could it be one of those Alpha Legionnaires in disguise?"
"Hmm..."
Watching his piece play itself to death, Caleb was stunned. Damn, it turned out the other head of this piece was a gambler!
He watched helplessly as it activated its skill, watched helplessly as it drew a good card, only for it to benefit his teammate.
And then the teammate used an ultimate ability to finish him off.
In the final moments of its existence, it could be said that it took the full force of its own ultimate ability.
How to put it? This was very Chaos!
It reminded him of playing Chaos Knight at the club, specifically the moments when he would accidentally drain his own health.
As everyone knows, the Warhammer tabletop game is inherently a game that requires luck, especially the dice-rolling phase—that is the very echo of fortune itself.
As long as your luck is good enough, even your ordinary Astartes squad can stand against a knight mech.
If your luck is bad, even the overpowered piece you spent all your effort raising could be wiped out by a single shot from the enemy.
It must be said, playing with the fates of others requires paying a price, and that price is often one's own self.
[Your special piece has been eliminated; the piece Kooqi Jarvis has been sucked into the Warp.]
[Reusing this piece requires 72 days, and the slot for this piece may be occupied by other players (Chaos Gods).]
[Please consider your course of action carefully.]
"Fine!"
Caleb had originally intended to use this piece as cannon fodder, he hadn't expected its strength and skills to be so heaven-defying.
However, this piece was one that could also be used by the Chaos side, which made things very difficult.
If the Chaos side were to use this piece to disgust him one day, he would truly be stuck in a prison.
[Deployment Points: 3000 / 12000!]
[Final defense, final wave of the offensive!]
[If the defense fails, the host's Warhammer will be penalized; if the defense succeeds, the system will declare the opposing player defeated.]
[The forces dispatched by Khorne have reached the deployment limit; please deploy your reinforcements.]
The system's echo sounded like Caleb's final alarm.
Caleb understood that he had reached the most dangerous moment.
If the final line of defense fell, he would truly be finished.
Surviving inside the Warhammer world would be measured in hours.
Looking at the few remaining pieces, Caleb thought about whether he should just throw the Ultramarines he had in hand down there.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
A series of azure drop pods fell from the sky, yet these drop pods had absolutely no chance of reaching the planet's surface.
Because most of them had already been destroyed by the defensive weapons of various war beasts!
A large number of pieces were returned to his hand; he had deployed at least a Chapter of Ultramarines.
Yet, the vast majority of them didn't even have a chance to engage the enemy.
The good news was that these pieces were now battle-hardened and carried the scent of the battlefield.
The original bright blue hue had become much duller, closely resembling the colors of the Ultramarines.
The bad news was that this was an Apocalypse-level battle; once the Ultramarines went down, they would be dead within five minutes!
An Astartes company finally managed to reach the ground, only to be sent away by a Titan's volcano cannon.
The entire Astartes company was completely wiped out; his speed of deploying troops couldn't even keep up with the enemy's speed of slaughter.
"This won't do!"
"As expected, pieces without strength have no qualifications to participate in this battle!"
"No, the enemy's anti-air fire is simply too fierce; the drop pods disappear the moment they are dropped. It's just too disgusting!"
Looking at one red circle after another, Caleb understood that these were the Titans' anti-air zones.
But the problem was that he had nowhere left to deploy, and above the hive city, there were void shields and orbital defense systems.
The Warhammer orbital defense system was indiscriminate, so if he dropped them now, they would likely all be wiped out.
Looking at the vast sea of Chaos armies, Caleb was currently in a state of helplessness.
He couldn't spare a hand to deal with the Gate of the Red Angel right now, and if he ran to the club to borrow a flag, it would likely be too late.
At this moment, the Chaos side also unleashed their trump card.
No one knew how that small Gate of the Red Angel had managed to teleport a daemon titan cannon over!
[Caleb: Damn it, what a nightmare!]
[Which idiot was it? Who let a daemon titan cannon fall into the hands of Chaos!]
Caleb was venting, but Lion El''Jonson, who was fighting bloody battles in the Volcano hive city, was already sweating profusely.
This cannon, why did it look so much like the batch he had sent out during the 30k era?
And it seemed to be coming straight for him!
No one knew how the Hellbrute had fused with the daemon titan cannon; all that could be certain now was that this self-crawling daemon titan cannon was crawling toward the Volcano hive city.
Such a terrifying behemoth required the sacrifice of 1,000 mortals for every kilometer it advanced.
The Bloodthirster machine spirit inside, had become deeply infatuated with this bloodthirsty emotion.
It walked upon a road of bones paved by tens of thousands of mortals.
When this daemon titan cannon aimed at the hive city's defensive perimeter, almost everyone held their breath.
A beam of blood-red light shot straight into the clouds, its dazzling radiance could be clearly seen even from orbit.
The sturdy fortress was blown to smithereens by the blood-red torrent, and all the garrison inside vanished in an instant!
[Your Terminator squad has been wiped out!]
[Deployment Points: 2025 / 12000!]
"My children, they're all gone!"
An enraged Lion used the Wanderer to arrive near the daemon titan cannon, when he saw this cannon, he began to regret why he had ever lent out such a weapon!
The daemon engines were still roaring incessantly, and scarlet blood continued to drench this evil war machine.
Every one of its roars brought permanent damage to this planet and this land.
Lion wanted to make this war machine shut up forever to make up for the erroneous decision he had made back then.
"Has it finally come to this!"
"It seems this is the only way!"
Large armies of demons began to pour into the hive city, and it seemed as if the last stronghold was about to be occupied by demons.
According to the gameboard rules, in just another half hour, he would likely have to transmigrate into the Warhammer world and struggle to survive.
Yet the batch of reinforcements he had ordered still hadn't arrived!
Units that were too weak wouldn't even have the chance to join the battlefield before dying in orbit!
"What should I do? What should I do?"
Looking at this battlefield that resembled hell, Caleb suddenly turned his gaze toward the Golden Throne at his side.
This was the largest figure among all his Warhammer pieces.
He sat enthroned upon the Golden Throne he had made, and the sword in his hand could completely annihilate any demon.
Clearly, he had reached a point where he had no other choice.
And right now, he was only 25 points away from deploying the Emperor piece!
The ruins of Titans from both sides had piled up into small hills, and the Chaos side had even dispatched a daemon titan cannon corrupted by Chaos power.
The originally sturdy ramparts couldn't even withstand a single shot from the daemon titan cannon.
A single bombardment had already wiped out the entire position, including the fortress.
"Go to hell!"
The enraged Lion was still panting, yet she alone had no way to dismantle this daemon engine.
Although she was already able to jump all over this large daemon titan cannon as if it were a cat tree, Lion simply couldn't destroy this war weapon.
Lion El''Jonson: Father, I can't hold them off!
My children are all dead, how infuriating, It's clearly just one last step, yet I just can't execute it!
At this moment, on the edge of the star system, The Rock of Caliban had arrived in the star system where Armageddon was located via its own Tuchulcha engine.
The massive fragment had even sent several dwarf planets within the system flying.
The Rock was slowly accelerating using its own engines; theoretically, if they could hold out for a few more days, a large number of Dark Angels would land directly on this planet.
However, given the current situation, it likely wouldn't be in time, unless Caleb's delivery arrived right now, otherwise, it would be impossible to defeat them with ordinary troops.
And at this very moment, Caleb, having no other choice, issued his final order to his Custodes piece.
And Caleb granted the other party an extremely glorious death.
Caleb: Use your blood to summon me!
Death is but a cycle, and your soul shall return to the Golden Throne!
"For the Emperor!"
At the front of the battle line, this Custodian stood alone, facing the sea of demons.
He had become a strategic fulcrum; neither the Black Templars nor the Chapter Master of the Wolves could deny his exquisite martial arts.
"My blood shall be offered to my Lord!"
"My soul shall be offered to the Throne!"
"We, the Custodes, exist only for the Emperor!"
When the guardian spear swung again, it was not swinging at the enemy, but at himself.
Just as the Astartes could not see the speed of the Custodes, when the Custodian intended to commit suicide, the two Chapter Masters nearby did not react in time.
"What's happening!"
"Could this Custodian have been corrupted by the power of Chaos?"
"How is that possible!"
The Black Templar rejected this claim from the Wolf Lord of the Space Wolves.
"They are the Custodes; even our wills have not wavered, so how could these agents of the God-Emperor possibly fall before us?"
All arguments were meaningless, because what was about to appear, was the real golden giant!