What the hell was going on?!
The moment the Hand of Destiny, carrying Erebus aboard, came under attack, the ship was thrown into chaos. The Chaos sorcerers aboard had sensed that something was wrong before the strike landed—
—but the Invincible Reason's opening salvo had simply been too terrifying.
Its void shields overloaded, a large number of daemons and sorcerers were wiped out, and only then did the battle barge barely manage to survive. Of course, that was also because the Chaos Gods had given it a little helping hand.
Otherwise, there was no way it would have lived so easily.
"Enemy attack? From which direction? What happened?!" Erebus, knocked senseless by the impact, scrambled to his feet and immediately tried to understand what was happening.
But the moment he saw that all the allied ships outside the observation port had been reduced to wreckage, his heart sank.
To make matters worse, the daemon-engine machinery aboard the battle barge had also been destroyed in the strike, so for the moment he had lost all access to external battlefield data.
It was not long before a Chaos sorcerer, who had just dragged himself up with blood all over his face, answered him.
"M-my lord… Imperial warships!"
"That volley just now—if nothing else—it was a Gloriana-class!"
"What?!" The moment Erebus heard that, his heart skipped.
A flood of possibilities rushed into his mind. Had the Vengeful Spirit opened fire on him? Why? How?!
Fortunately, most of the crew aboard the Hand of Destiny were daemons and Chaos cultists. After a brief period of confusion, and with the help of Chaos power, the battle barge quickly stabilized.
At last, after a window of utter disorder, Erebus managed to receive information from outside. And the moment he saw the sea of torpedoes bearing down on him, his scalp went numb.
Even worse were the Imperial warships in the distance.
Judging by their paint schemes, both the Dark Angels and the Night Lords were present.
That completely broke Erebus's brain.
Since when had those two Legions started working together?!
"R-raise defenses!"
Erebus shouted in panic and urgency, "Start the engines! We're diving back into the Warp!"
"We're trying, my lord!"
Ordinarily, forcing a ship into the Warp by tearing open an entry point was a last-resort gamble, and a terrible one at that—especially when the ship had already suffered damage.
Entering the Warp in that condition was basically suicide.
But Erebus could not care less. He firmly believed the gods of the Warp would not ignore him.
I am their most important follower!
Thankfully, the Chaos sorcerers aboard the Hand of Destiny were up to the task. By sacrificing the reserve souls kept aboard the ship, they forcibly drew on the power of Chaos from the Warp itself.
That power formed a defensive field around the ship. Whenever those lethal torpedoes were about to strike, they were either instantly displaced or simply twisted away and sent into the Warp.
Using that method, keeping a single battle barge alive for the moment posed no problem.
And the work of tearing open a Warp breach was almost complete.
But then, at that very moment, a torpedo that looked utterly unremarkable—one that by all rights should have been diverted—smashed through layer after layer of obstruction. Roaring with machine-spirit fury, it slammed directly into the battle barge's engines.
A brilliant fireball erupted.
The entire Hand of Destiny was thrown into chaos once again.
This time, huge numbers of Chaos-cultist crew and daemons died in the explosion.
Even those in the command deck were nearly knocked senseless by the shockwave.
"Damage assessment!" Erebus barked, his face covered in blood as he shoved aside the corpse of a mortal crewman that had been crushed on top of him.
He knew very well that the situation was dire, but if he wanted to survive, then the Hand of Destiny had to escape. Otherwise, even if he fled into the Warp in person, he would still die.
After all, the Warp was not entirely the domain of the Four Powers. There were still things in there that could not be described in mortal language.
And if those things noticed him, Erebus would die just the same.
"Engines disabled! Repairs required! Unable to enter the Warp until then!" the barely functioning daemon-machine reported.
"How long?!"
"Unknown!"
"Damn it! How did this happen?!" Erebus wanted to curse and scream, but there was nothing he could do.
In the end, he could only place his last hope in the Chaos sorcerers. These were mortals blessed by the gods themselves.
Perhaps they could not destroy the Imperial fleet that had ambushed him—but using their power to stall for time should still be possible.
"I need your power!"
"I cannot die here!"
Erebus roared in a commanding tone, "Unleash your sorcery! For Chaos! For the gods!"
The sorcerers froze for a heartbeat, but then obediently carried out the order.
And at that point, there was only one way left to break free.
"But if we do this, my lord, the battle barge will temporarily lose its current functionality. Are you certain?" one of the Chaos sorcerers asked.
"I am certain!" Erebus no longer had the luxury of hesitation.
"Then I understand…"
Once he knew what had to be done, the sorcerer pulled back the hood he had always worn.
A crimson eye was revealed on his forehead, ringed by the pattern of the Chaos eight-pointed star.
The moment that eye opened, the sorcerer rose into the air and let out a horrific scream. His limbs twisted. His entire body convulsed violently.
From his gaping mouth and eyes, ghostly blue souls began to drift out.
The same happened to the other Chaos sorcerers present. One after another, they cast their spells and sacrificed their own souls.
All of those spirits converged into the Chaos eye on the first sorcerer's forehead.
Soon, the Chaos sigils engraved throughout the ship began to shine. They lit up like veins and capillaries, flooding the Hand of Destiny with renewed life.
The dead daemon-engines and electro-daemons roared back to activity.
Damaged sections began repairing themselves at a speed visible to the naked eye, though what now bridged the broken connections was grotesque, twisted flesh.
Inside the battle barge, transformation spread everywhere.
It was growing.
Layer upon layer of new space extended outward and expanded.
In less than a few minutes, the Hand of Destiny had become something else entirely—a monstrosity made of stacked and overlapping dimensions. More and more daemons crawled out from its depths, taking over the stations once manned by the dead crew.
When the sacrifice was complete, every Chaos sorcerer present had burned away into ash.
And as Erebus watched it all, he smiled in satisfaction.
Because he knew this was his chance to live.
And it was those sorcerers' duty to provide it.
How could he die here?
He had to live.
He had to survive.
These sorcerers had originally been prepared for Horus—but Erebus no longer cared. His own life came first.
At the same time, the outside of the Hand of Destiny changed as well. The Word Bearers emblem painted along both flanks warped into the Chaos eight-pointed star, and the entire ship began radiating an indescribably evil aura.
Even the surrounding space started to distort.
When the next full salvo came in, the battle barge—now unnaturally maneuverable—actually dodged the Invincible Reason's fire.
As for the rest of the incoming attacks, they were intercepted by some unknown Chaos force.
That transformation, combined with the battle barge's bizarre performance, only deepened the joint fleet's killing intent.
Now you really had to die.
Filthy heretic.
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 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter116)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter82)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter144)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 118
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 111
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 80
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 112
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 80
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 74
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 48
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 50
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 47
Uma Musume: From Beginner 42
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