The raid plan failed.
Stonefang's heart trembled, blood rushed to his head, and he almost fainted. That was the Devourers's strongest fleet!
Even in the battle of Eridanus, they were never completely wiped out by the enemy, let alone being annihilated in space without any resistance!
What kind of species were those life forms that suddenly appeared, with mechanical bodies but capable of changing their forms?!
It didn't understand how such creatures could exist.
Those shapeshifting silicon-based life forms were practically like cheats in this era of interstellar warfare. They could accelerate anywhere in the universe, and their flexible flight speed and agile bodies allowed them to completely evade warship attacks!
And once they got close, the fate awaiting the warships was like that of lambs to the slaughter!
The steel shell of the warships was no longer their defense, but rather like suffocating coffins, waiting to be peeled open layer by layer by those creatures and exiled into space, desperately awaiting death.
The annihilation of the fleet meant that the Devourers had to fight the final war on the ground, here, against the Human invaders!
But the disparity in strength between the two sides made even Stonefang, who never admitted defeat, feel despair.
The Devourer's ground forces rarely had experience with such brutal tug-of-war battles; they were more adept at destroying enemies from space,
rather than this... ancient warfare!
To say one could take on a hundred was an understatement.
Every Space Marine was at least a veteran who had participated in battles for a hundred years. The wars they had experienced were unimaginably brutal for the Devourers, and their experience was even richer.
In such circumstances, the three battle groups coordinated seamlessly, maximizing the advantage of group combat!
A hundred Devourers couldn't even take out one opponent. How could such a vast gap be bridged?
The Devourer's AI calculated the real-time win rate—it was 10%!
Such a result plunged Stonefang into deep anguish. If the High Council had accepted his plan back then,
perhaps this scene wouldn't have happened!
But time could not be reversed!
"There's one last way—"
Stonefang's voice was hoarse, his head bowed, as if he was struggling intensely internally.
Although this was the move he was most reluctant to use, now, he had no other choice.
To fill that bottomless pit with countless lives!
Human wave tactics—this was a term he had learned from Human history. Originally, Stonefang scoffed at it, believing it was only for low-level insects to fill unequal wars with their lives.
But now, he seemed to understand.
Those who willingly went to their deaths did so for a belief, for their country; they were great Heroes—and now he also needed to make such a decision.
To use human wave tactics, to use a steel defense line built of flesh and blood, to bridge the huge gap between them and the Humans!
"If one hundred thousand isn't enough, then two hundred thousand!"
"If two hundred thousand isn't enough, then one million!"
At this moment, Stonefang seemed to have completely gone mad, his eyes bloodshot as he roared, "If even a million isn't enough, then ten million, a hundred million, a billion! No matter the cost, we must hold on! This is the Devourers's last hope! We are soldiers, we must never give up!"
"Marshal, according to your plan, over 90% of the Imperium's population might die. Are you sure?" the AI asked.
"" Stonefang was undergoing a soul-searching ordeal. He groaned in pain, biting his lip tightly.
"We have no other choice. If we don't want the Devourers to be destroyed, we must do this, even if it means sacrificing 90% of the population!"
However.
A message from the High Council left him stunned, even incredulous.
"Surrender?!"
Stonefang was furious.
He was the Devourers's supreme military Marshal. Although the surprise attack plan had failed, that didn't mean they had already lost!
The war was still ongoing. As long as they persevered, they still had hope. The invading Humans were ultimately limited in number. Even if it took hundreds of Devourer lives to take out one enemy, it would be worth it!
As long as the invaders could be eliminated, the remaining Humans would pose no threat to the Devourers!
But, at this critical juncture, he received the High Council's order—to surrender!
This was unacceptable to Stonefang. His angry eyes were bloodshot, and he glared ferociously at the projection, letting out a roar that was almost a scream.
"Why? Why surrender? We haven't lost yet!"
"I'm sorry, Marshal Stonefang." The elder of the High Council showed some shame.
"We cannot accept your plan.
Sacrificing over 90% of the population, even if we achieve victory, the Devourers would fall. Rather than that, it would be better to surrender to the Humans."
"Yes, yes—" another elder stammered, as if in fear.
"Besides, we are all a species nurtured by the same homeworld. Even if we surrender, Humans won't slaughter our civilization completely. At least they'll leave us a way out, right?"
"You, you"
Stonefang's liver and guts were torn, veins bulging in his eyes.
"Foolish! Idiots! You are simply idiots! We must never surrender, otherwise, Devourer civilization—will only become Human livestock!"
"Do you not understand at all?" He angrily smashed the Commander console, glaring at the projections of the several Elders.
"We treat Humans as poultry, as food. Do you really think that if we surrender, Humans will forgive us? No! They won't! They will only kill us all and treat us like beasts!"
However, no matter how he argued or roared, the Elders of the High Council on the other side remained unmoved, eventually even looking at him coldly.
"Stonefang, you have been relieved of your Marshal position. We will now inform the entire Devourers of our decision to surrender."
Again! Again!
He, as the supreme military Commander, was easily relieved of his duties, yet he was helpless!
In the Devourers, the Elders of the High Council held the highest authority over the warships. Even if he wanted to resist, he had no ability to do so!
"Ah ah ah ah!!!"
Stonefang was overcome with grief, spitting out a mouthful of blood.
He collapsed weakly in front of the Commander console, looking at the High Council with despair, and said with resentment and sorrow.
"You are the sinners—hahahaha, the ones who destroyed the Devourers, in the end, are our High Council. I—I refuse to accept it!"
With that, he spat out another mouthful of blood and completely fainted.
And at this moment, on the other side of the projection.
The ten Elders of the High Council looked in terror at the several figures standing like shadows beside them, trembling as they said.
"G-gentlemen, we have surrendered as you instructed. Is it alright now?"
Just ten minutes ago.
This was the most heavily guarded place in the Devourers, but who would have thought that these shadow-like figures could stealthily infiltrate their council without anyone noticing.
"Who are you? How did you get in?"
The leading elder looked in horror as the shadow-like warrior slowly walked towards him, screaming in fear as if death had clutched his throat.
"We are Death, we are the Night!"
"We are the Children of Midnight, emerging from the shadow, to declare your fate."
The Children of Midnight were Merlin's honor guard.
However, they never participated in frontal battles. This time, the Children of Midnight revealed their fangs, infiltrating the Devourers's High Council without anyone ever noticing!
"Surrender, or die."
The leader, shrouded in dense shadow, spoke with a cold voice, like a vengeful spirit from the netherworld, choking the throat of every elder present.
Even at the moment the High Council surrendered, the Devourer forces on the front lines were still fighting with their lives.
The great Devourers—surrendered?!
The declaration of surrender issued by the ten Elders of the High Council, broadcast and projected, was like a heavy hammer, shattering the proud ambition of the Devourers!
Whether it was the warriors on the front lines or their Commanders, they all showed incredulous expressions; they had spilled blood on the front lines,
Using their lives to stop the human advance, only for the power-holders in the rear to surrender!
"No, we haven't lost yet!"
"We won't surrender!"
"That's right, we absolutely won't surrender!"
"Where is Marshal Stonefang? Marshal, we would rather die in battle than surrender to these bugs!"
However, the communication channel was filled with a deathly silence; their Marshal Stonefang had already fainted from sheer rage.
Seeing that the remaining forces were still attempting to resist stubbornly, the Elders of the High Council, for the sake of their own lives, immediately ordered the main computer to lock down their weapons, including turrets, long-range support, and other systems.
But, even without their weapons, these blood-soaked Devourers still transformed their boundless resentment and unwillingness into a final burst of strength, roaring as they charged out of their cover, using the most primitive methods, even their claws and fangs, to tear at the Space Marines' armor!
Devourers without weapons were no different from lambs to the slaughter before the Space Marines!
Their resistance was also destined to be futile.
But even so, even knowing it was a dead end, they did not surrender, but instead, together with their Commander, sought to bring a tragic yet heroic end to this Impending destruction Imperium and civilization.
Looking at the Devourers determined to die, a flicker of respect rose in Merlin's eyes, but it was quickly covered by a chilling coldness.
"They have courage; they are a respectable army. If that's the case, then fulfill their wish—leave no one alive, kill them all!"
Respect is respect, but killing is still necessary!
Ultimately, this was the Devourers's own doing. If they had initially engaged in a more peaceful dialogue with humans, Merlin wouldn't have minded having an additional alien ally.
But unfortunately, from the moment the Devourers viewed humans as food and poultry, reconciliation between the two sides became impossible.
The slaughter continued.
One Devourer after another, at an extremely fast pace, like fields of wheat, fell in swathes into pools of blood under the Space Marines' frenzied slaughter!
Mercy?
It didn't exist. The genes etched into the bones of the Space Marines from their creation determined that they would not harbor any sympathy for non-human life!
Even the Sons of the fire Dragon, who had the most gentle attitude towards humans, would mercilessly slaughter these xenos here.
Soon, the last hundred thousand or so troops of the Devourers were completely slaughtered by the Space Marines and Transformers. As far as the eye could see, there were mountains of corpses and seas of blood, incomplete and mangled, with blood flowing into rivers!
The pungent stench filled every piece of wreckage and cover on the battlefield.
Merlin stepped over these remains, expressionless, and arrived at the Devourer's High Council hall. He looked up and saw the ten elderly lizards, dressed in luxurious robes, kneeling on the ground and trembling.
"Lord, mission accomplished."
The Chapter Sir of the Midnight Sons knelt on one knee.
"These individuals are the highest leaders of the alien race; they are all here."
"You did very well."
Merlin praised him, then stepped over the kneeling Devourer Elders and sat down on a chair.
"Who was the Commander of this war?" He toyed with a chess piece, which he had specifically brought from Earth, and his gaze casually fell.
"Bring him to me."
"Yes."
Before long, a lizard-man was dragged in.
"So it's you." From the scars on his face, Merlin easily recognized the individual's identity: it was 'Stonefang,' who had come to Earth for negotiations back then.
"Do you remember what I said?" He chuckled, flicking the chess piece over to land in front of Stonefang, his eyes deep.
"Check Mate."
"You won."
Stonefang was now a prisoner, forced to kneel on the ground, but his face still held an unyielding expression, glaring fiercely at Merlin.
"If it weren't for them, this war—you wouldn't have won so easily!"
"What's the point of saying that now?"
Merlin smiled and said.
"There are too many 'ifs'—if this, if that—but unfortunately, in this world, there has never been an 'if.' These are just words used by the defeated to comfort themselves."
"Heh, yes—" Hearing this, a flicker of pain and struggle appeared in Stonefang's eyes, finally turning into a long sigh.
"No 'ifs'—we lost. What do you plan to do with us?"
"Just as you treated us back then—"
Merlin's eyes were calm, yet they made Stonefang's heart ache.
"We will confine you based on the tenderness of your flesh, then process you into canned goods and other meat products. Are you satisfied with this outcome?"
"Is it just—just to satisfy your personal desires, your revenge against us, that you must destroy a civilization that has lasted tens of millions of years?!" Stonefang was in great pain. His claws were clenched tight, his fangs biting his lip, and his eyes were bloodshot.
He was trying to use the last vestiges of human morality to restrain this terrifying existence!
However, the human sitting on the chair that should have belonged to the highest authority of the Devourer civilization looked at him with a mocking and scornful gaze.
"Such a familiar conversation."
Merlin raised his head, looking at Stonefang, who was still much taller than him even while kneeling, and said dismissively.
"At that time, humans asked you the same thing. What was your answer?"
Stonefang's heart sank.
He felt as if he was enveloped by an endless winter, as if he had returned to the years before the dinosaur civilization developed intelligence, those years dominated by an invisible fear.
"In the universe, morality is the most useless thing, isn't it?" Merlin's contemptuous tone was the greatest mockery to the proud Devourers.
"Or rather, you, who have always regarded other civilizations as livestock and devoured them at will, weren't prepared to be slaughtered?"
Over tens of millions of years of evolution, the Devourer civilization had devoured countless civilizations and species.
However, they never imagined that one day—they themselves would become livestock in the mouths of other species!
Stonefang trembled all over. He didn't know what to do to save his race. The countless blood debts committed by the Devourers had finally come due.
"Is this what humans call karma?"
Stonefang cried out in pain. He had never regretted it so much. So this was how those races, once treated as livestock by the Devourers,
Felt!
"Alright, that's enough talk."
Merlin clapped his hands and rose from the chair.
"I just wanted to meet the Commander who fought against me. You are a respectable soldier, but that's all there is to it."
"Lord, what should we do with these people?"
The Chapter Sir of the Midnight Sons inquired.
"Hmm"
Under the nervous gazes of the Devourer Elders, Merlin pondered for a moment, then revealed a slight smile.
"They have lost their value. They're so old; their meat would be too tough for canning. Just kill them all to save food."
All, kill them all?!
The fear of the ten Elders reached its peak at this moment. They looked at Merlin in horror.
"No, you can't do this! We followed your demands and made the Devourers surrender. You can't do this to us! You should fulfill your promise!"
"Promise?"
Merlin couldn't help but laugh, turning to look at them, and sneered.
"I'm sorry, I lied to you—the Imperium never makes promises to xenos. Drag them out and dismember them all."
"No, no—!!!"
"You tricked us!"
"Liar! You're a liar!"
The terrified screams of the ten Elders contrasted sharply with the silent Stonefang.
No matter what they did, they could not change the outcome.
However, the word "dismember" made the Midnight Sons fall silent. They didn't have any carts here!
After a long thought, a clever person pointed to the Transformers nearby.
"How about we let it turn into a tank? A tank—that counts as a vehicle, right?"
And so, the ten Elders and Stonefang were dragged to the center of the plaza, and in front of a giant broadcast, they were repeatedly run over by a Transformer-turned-tank until they were reduced to a puddle of flesh and mud.