Choosing to face the dread, Russ gripped the Spear of Dionysus and launched another assault against the Rangdan Overlords. The spear swirled with golden brilliance, the Wolf King's golden hair whipping wildly as he marched to the drums of war. His body coiled like a drawn bowstring, transforming into an peerless, razor-sharp edge.
The Rangdan Overlords' psychic barrier descended, their sheer will forcing reality to warp, causing the surrounding space to instantly stagnate like thick slurry.
Sensing a force that directly threatened their survival, Despair-Sky and Wander-Sky pooled the entirety of their mental reserves, working in tandem once more to manifest a psychic mire.
Compared to their previous playfulness, this assault was far more potent and direct. They focused every shred of their attention, pouring it entirely upon the human Primarch, weaving their absolute killing intent into blades that slashed outward. This time, their murderous will was completely unreserved, freezing and venomous.
Despair-Sky cast aside its arrogance; its prior negligence had borne bitter fruit, and danger was now encroaching upon it inch by inch. It needed to terminate this error, utilizing the most direct means possible to slaughter the enemy without leaving a single hidden vulnerability.
The invisible force grew steadily viscous, coating Russ's surroundings in a coarse, frosted layer as the air formed a cage, once more closing in around him.
Yet this time, the situation was fundamentally different.
His resolute stride never faltered. Every muscle drove his wild frame forward at absolute velocity, without a single moment of hesitation.
"Xenos, your petty tricks are useless now!"
Russ let loose a savage howl. The radiance of the Spear of Dionysus carried a shimmering mist, instantly dispelling the foul power of the xenos. Though he did not comprehend the underlying mechanics, the effect was immediate and undeniable. Lacking the time to delve deeper or investigate, he drove the Spear of Dionysus forward, riding the golden light as it shot straight for the Rangdan Overlord's face.
This was vengeance at its most lethal!
The fury in Russ's chest incinerated all else. He unleashed a bestial roar, determined to claim the Rangdan Overlord's life to avenge his sons who had been tortured to death.
The golden spear cleaved through the obstruction, its sharp edge manifesting within the psychic curtain, bearing an infinite murderous intent. Its target was clear and absolute, aimed directly at Despair-Sky—the arch-villain who had inflicted the crime of slaughter upon the Pack.
Despair-Sky turned pale with horror at the sight, stripped of the time required to comprehend why its psychic power had lost its efficacy. It scrambled to float aside, barely evading the fatal strike. Yet before it could mount a counter-attack, the golden spear coiled back up like a venomous serpent, depriving it of any opportunity to escape. The folds of its cerebral cortex undulated frantically, all composure completely shattered from its eyes as it rolled and dodged in sheer humiliation.
With its psychic force failing to constrain the enemy, its sharpest spear and sturdiest shield rendered useless, it could do nothing but float and evade, utterly incapable of launching a counter-offensive.
"I cannot contain him."
A humiliated communication rippled through the psychic wavelengths, its hurried tone laced with a hint of accusation. Wander-Sky used the butt of her weapon to deflect an incoming strike, yet she remained powerless against the current reality, retreating rapidly to put distance between herself and the human Primarch.
Faced with the accusation, Despair-Sky fell silent, unable to deny that the unfolding nightmare was directly tied to the devastation it had inflicted upon the Space Wolves. Boundless regret welled up within its heart as it dodged the thrusts in sheer panic. Had it simply finished off Leman Russ moments ago, they would be celebrating their victory now instead of fleeing like vermin.
When the edge of that bizarre golden spear swept past, its inner consciousness could not summon even a shred of the will to resist. It felt precisely as though————it had encountered its natural, genetic nemesis!
The Rangdan Overlords did not know, and neither did Russ, why the Spear of Dionysus possessed such absolute suppression over the Rangdan.
The underlying reason lay within the Emperor's power infused inside it, which naturally countered the entities and creations of the Warp. The Rangdan Overlords were foul fabrications, created by the Grand Overlord who had gathered the essence of the Warp and injected it into mortal vessels to elevate them.
The source of their power was inherently unholy, and the essence of their invisible force was merely an alternate manifestation of Warp energy. The Emperor's sacred golden brilliance completely neutralized the abominations of the Warp.
The two Rangdan Overlords, who had once carried themselves with haughty arrogance, were stripped of their talons, pursued as helplessly as sheep before a wolf. They could not escape the Wolf King's hunt, nor could they execute any form of counter-attack. Their composure steadily collapsed, their psychic force wavering under their panicked resolve, broadcasting waves of negative emotions to one another.
Even as they evaded the strikes, they glanced frequently toward the bridge hatches, praying for their guards to reinforce them. Unfortunately, the wolf-warriors moved faster, entirely blocking the threshold of the chamber.
They would not permit the xenos masterminds to escape—the Great Wolf would see his vengeance through, avenging his Legion battle-brothers. The intermittent roar of gunfire shattered their final illusion.
Before it could even utter a sigh, the golden spear sliced through the thin atmosphere, piercing straight into Despair-Sky's dark green brain-mass. The blade tore through the dark green flesh. With eyes full of ferocity and savagery, Russ continuously thrust the spear forward.
"AAAHHH!!!"
A piercing shriek rang out, carrying a pitch far beyond normal tolerance, woven from absolute agony and sheer disbelief. Despair-Sky possessed an immense tolerance for pain; its agonizing wails were not due to its physical form being transfixed by the spear.
The moment the spear pierced its flesh, Despair-Sky could vividly feel the freezing blade carving through its skin, slicing into the soft, gelatinous tissue of its body. The physical body sustained only a faint prickle of pain, barely perceptible. What caused it such unbearable agony was that upon the spear's entry into its body, an irrepressible tide of enlightenment and truth erupted within its soul.
Its bloodline surged in tandem with the enlightenment, laying bare ancient secrets. Traversing time and space, fragments of memory flooded its consciousness, piecing together an unacceptable truth.
"It is all a lie!"
Despair-Sky could not suppress the agony tearing its inner mind apart. Its howling sounded like weeping, and tears spilled from its crimson eyes.
Wander-Sky, who was equally fleeing for her life, could not comprehend her peer's sudden psychological collapse. The psychic fluctuations transmitted to her caused her own resolve to waver. She felt a boundless wrath, the agony born of a lie, the hatred of being deceived. And further————the sheer terror of the truth.
"Why?" Despair-Sky ceased its flight. Its crimson eyes stared fixedly at Russ, allowing the spear to drive deeper into its body. Tentacles wrapped around the haft, the flesh peeling away as it was seared by the golden radiance, yet it refused to let go.
"Why?" it issued a tortured interrogation to Russ: "Why show me those truths?!"
Russ stared directly into its eyes with a look of strange detachment, oblivious to what was occurring, his hands continuing to drive the Spear of Dionysus forward to slaughter the grotesque abomination before him. Dark green, turbid blood flowed down the haft. Feeling the slick fluid sliding over his hands, Russ continuously poured strength into his arms.
"Hah!"
With a thunderous shout, he wrenched the spear upward with immense force, hoisting the Rangdan Overlord high into the air. The blade tore through the flesh, slicing through the boneless brain-mass. Bathing beneath the downpour of falling gore, the fires of vengeance flickered within his eyes. Russ had no desire to investigate what was happening; his sole focus at this moment was to slay his foe!
"Why? Why?" The murmur-like inquiries rang out continuously. Within Despair-Sky's eyes, there remained not a single shred of desire for survival; it merely questioned without direction.
The Spear of Dionysus had transfixed it, and the concepts of "enlightenment" and "revelation" infused by the Emperor laid bare the complete truth. Despair-Sky had broken, unable to accept what it had witnessed. From its bloodline memories, it saw how the Rangdan species had risen thousands of years ago.
The Rangdan had received intellect and talent on a certain day, utilizing psychic force and their gift of pollution to rise from the depths of the oceans, gradually conquering their entire world. At the precise moment, an exploratory vessel landed on their homeworld, serving as the stepping stone for the Rangdan to enter the stars. All these ancient legends were displayed before Despair-Sky's eyes, and the truth surfaced alongside them.
However, all the legends and history were mere illusions; dark tentacles remained hidden beneath the facade. Whence did that intellect and talent originate? It was a beam of radiance descending from the Warp, entering the body of a single Rangdan ancestor. Its utterly mundane physical form altered rapidly, becoming that supreme Rangdan entity—the Grand Overlord.
Through malevolent sorcery, the Grand Overlord propagated its own bloodline across the entire world. It was not merely the most ancient Rangdan; it was the creator of the entire Rangdan species.
As for that exploratory vessel, the Grand Overlord had utilized psychic suggestion to guide the alien explorers to the Rangdan homeworld. Piece by piece, event by event, the racial struggle and rise that every Rangdan took pride in was nothing but a manipulation saturated with lies!
Despair-Sky's wide-staring eyes held nothing but pure hatred, allowing the spear to hollow out its body, cleaving it into two. It possessed the opportunity to evade the spear's pursuit, but at this moment, it was no longer necessary.
Upon learning the truth, Despair-Sky also recognized its true self—a grotesque organism spawned by the powers of the Warp. What elevation? What brilliance? What destiny? It was nothing but a fraction of an endless lie, woven by a Warp demigod, deceiving the Rangdan species for thousands of years.
"Kill———— it————"
Despair-Sky's frame slid down from the haft. Before its demise, its tentacles tightly clamped around Russ's throat, its eyes staring perfectly round: "Must———— kill it."
Russ paid no heed to the final words. With a flick of the Spear of Dionysus, he hurled the corpse away. Executing a flourish to shake the blood from the blade, he wiped the dark green gore from his face, turning once more to charge the remaining Rangdan Overlord.
With its psychic force neutralized, its physical capabilities were utterly crushed. The moment the Spear of Dionysus ran through its body, Wander-Sky was plunged into an identical state of bewilderment, before unleashing a roar of absolute hatred.
Looking at the two dead Rangdan Overlords and then at the spear in his hands, a sense of dread washed over Russ once more. He did not know what had transpired within the minds of the Rangdan Overlords, but he was certain it was tied to this weapon.
"Contact the Hrafnkell. Get us out of here."
He glanced beyond the viewport. Following the demise of the Rangdan Overlords, the morale of the Rangdan fleet plummeted, steadily descending into a state of absolute rout. Before the teleportation beam flared to life, Russ casually cast the Spear of Dionysus into the void, abandoning it once more.