157: The script of the gods! The script of the emperors is beginning to crumble!

Machine, starting operation.

Automated deployment program initiated.

Belisarius Cawl's massive mechanical body turned around.

He no longer focused on the divine creation upon the throne, but instead faced the Hall of Truth, which had now become a battlefield. His task had completed its first phase; now, it was time to take out the trash.

A massive mechanical arm, resembling a scorpion's tail, rose high. At its tip, a complex, bud-like muzzle slowly opened, revealing a rotating core emitting terrifying heat.

"Purification protocol, initiated."

Cawl's synthesized electronic voice was devoid of any ripples.

A pure, golden-red beam erupted from the muzzle.

Solar Flare Gun!

Solar disintegration ray!

Where the beam passed, there was no explosion, no roar. A Chaos Space Marine charging at the front, along with his heavy terminator armor, simply disintegrated and evaporated within the beam, silently turning into the most basic atoms, leaving not even a speck of dust behind.

As the beam swept across, a firepoint composed of three Chaos Terminators vanished instantly.

The blood vessels in Zhang Yuan's eyes were about to burst.

His gaze burned as he stared at Cawl's massive mechanical arm, his brain racing frantically.

What is the principle behind this? Strong nuclear force destruction? Or some more profound form of energy?

If... if he could analyze the technology behind this and equip it to the Space Marines that cost fifty credits each...

The image was too beautiful; he dared not think about it.

Astartes? One shot, and even your gene-seed would be vaporized!

Just as Zhang Yuan was letting his imagination run wild, Cawl moved.

His seemingly cumbersome body joined the fray with a display of violent aesthetics.

He began to chant a series of high-pitched and complex binary codes. These were not mere prayers, but rather aggressive data instructions, and an invisible wide-area data link blanketed the weapon systems of all nearby Imperial creations.

At first, Zhang Yuan thought this was just a traditional pre-battle prayer of the Adeptus Mechanicus, or perhaps some trash talk directed at Chaos.

But soon, he noticed something was wrong.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Ilaria, beside Zhang Yuan, suddenly discovered that every time she fired her bolt pistol, the mechanism felt unprecedentedly smooth. The ballistic prediction path in the muzzle's auxiliary aiming system became exceptionally clear and precise! She subconsciously aimed at the helmet visor of a Chaos Space Marine and pulled the trigger. The bolt round, which usually could only spark off the armor, now precisely drilled into the gap of the visor, exploding into a cloud of blood mist from the back of the enemy's head!

Power... optimized?

No!

Zhang Yuan looked sharply at the weapon in Ilaria's hand.

This gun... wasn't it supposed to be out of ammo? She had fired at least a hundred rounds since just now!

Ilaria herself noticed the anomaly. With an Inquisitor's instinct, she had long since calculated the remaining ammunition in the magazine. That deadly "click" of an empty chamber should have sounded three shots ago, but now, the bolt pistol in her hand was still roaring tirelessly, each cycling of the action carrying a blessed, incredibly fluid rhythm. She glanced down and saw that the warning rune indicating low ammunition was not flashing; instead, it emitted a gentle, steady light. The machine spirit... was it singing?

She froze for a moment, then a flash of ruthlessness crossed her eyes. She stopped questioning the reason and simply pulled the trigger even more frantically.

Is this the way a Tech-Priest fights?

Words becoming law? Binary enchantment? Or the legendary machine spirit?

Zhang Yuan felt that the scientific worldview he had built over the past twenty-plus years was being dragged onto the ground and rubbed repeatedly by this damned world.

But Cawl's participation indeed had an immediate effect. His unstoppable solar disintegration ray and his incredible "battlefield buff" successfully slowed the advance of the Chaos army.

The previously unstoppable momentum of their advance was forcibly contained.

The front line was temporarily stabilized.

And the Chaos Space Marines finally advanced to a distance close enough for Zhang Yuan.

He did not hesitate.

He shielded Ilaria behind him, raised his hand, and aimed at a Chaos Space Marine wielding a chain-axe who was trying to break through the defensive line of Titus's squad.

Invisible psychic power instantly transformed into thousands of unseen chains, wrapping around the limbs and body of that warrior.

"Ugh, ah!"

The Chaos Space Marine's charge came to an abrupt halt, as if he had collided with an invisible wall. His massive body remained frozen in a bizarre posture in mid-air, unable to move.

Restraint!

Zhang Yuan felt the surging power within his body and began to attempt to push further.

He slowly clenched his five fingers.

A sound of teeth-grinding metal distortion came from the air.

Cracks began to appear on the power armor of the Chaos Space Marine, and electric sparks burst from the joints.

The psychic power within him was outputting crazily, and an indescribable pleasure arose with the venting of power. However, he soon felt that when the psychic output exceeded a certain threshold, the power became violent and difficult to control, as if it would break free at any moment and backfire on himself.

He dared not continue.

Just as he prepared to let go and switch to another target—

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Outside the massive hole in the dome of the great hall came an even more intense roar of engines.

Another large batch of "Dreadclaw" drop pods! They smashed into the hall like black meteors, trailing long tails of flame!

One of them happened to crash right into the center of the sparse defensive line of the Ultramarines Honor Guard.

The hatch exploded, and more Chaos Space Marines wielding Bolters and Chainswords swarmed out like locusts!

The Imperial defensive line, which had just stabilized, collapsed completely in this instant!

A cold rage surged from the bottom of Zhang Yuan's heart, burning away all his reason. Seeing the defensive line on the verge of collapse, he tried to draw more psychic power, but felt as if he had pierced a fragile membrane. The violent power that had always been lurking in the depths of his soul, like a flood having broken its shackles, instantly took control and surged out along his will! He was no longer the controller, but had become a conduit for this power! Intense pain and an indescribable pleasure that tore at his soul exploded simultaneously. His nasal cavity grew hot, and warm blood flowed down. His ears were filled with the crazy whispers of Warp abominations. But he couldn't care about that; he just aimed this out-of-control torrent squarely at the restrained Chaos Space Marine!

His five fingers clenched violently!

"Pfft—!!!"

A dull explosion sounded.

That Chaos Space Marine, a devotee of Khorne, along with his heavy power armor, was like a tomato can being squeezed from the inside.

Red, white, black... countless flesh, internal organs, and broken metal fragments exploded in all directions!

Several sharp fragments of ceramite armor, like shrapnel, embedded themselves deeply into the bodies of several unlucky ones rushing up behind, causing them to let out painful muffled groans.

But this loss was insignificant to the tide-like Chaos army.

More enemies stepped over the corpses of their companions and rushed toward the precarious defensive core.

"For Macragge!"

Calgar roared, electricity flickering on his two power fists. Every strike smashed an enemy into meat paste.

But he was not a god after all.

Under the impact of the new batch of Chaos Space Marines, Calgar's momentum was finally contained. A Chaos champion, almost equal in size to him, roared blasphemous prayers and rammed his shoulder directly into Calgar's power fist. The terrifying energy impact shattered the marble floor beneath their feet!

In this moment of stalemate, seven or eight Chainswords and power axes hacked frantically at his back and leg joints from all sides. Sparks exploded like a fountain! Calgar's terminator armor groaned under the unbearable strain, the servo system of one leg was jammed by a power axe, causing his massive body to stumble and drop to one knee!

"Trample him!"

"For the Great Reaver Titan!"

Countless boots covered in ceramic armor trampled heavily on him.

Chainswords and power axes hacked wildly at his blue terminator armor.

Sparks flew everywhere!

Calgar's roar was gradually drowned out by the blasphemous war cries and the sound of metal clashing.

Life or death unknown.

On the other side, Saint Celestine was also besieged by several Chaos Terminators.

On the other side, Saint Celestine traced an elegant arc in the air, dodging the flames of a heavy flamer. But the golden wings behind her were swept by the ammunition belts of several Reaper autocannons. The wings made of holy light were instantly riddled with holes, their radiance dimming. She lost her balance and fell from mid-air. A Chaos Terminator seized the opportunity, his power fist smashing down with the force of ten thousand tons. Celestine subconsciously blocked with her arm. With a crisp "crack," her arm, wrapped in golden bracers, was completely shattered along with the armor at a grotesque angle! She let out a muffled groan, rolling and crashing into a broken stone pillar, the holy light around her body almost extinguished.

Is it over?

Zhang Yuan's heart sank little by little.

The Chapter Master of the Ultramarines had fallen.

The Living Saint of the Empire was also severely injured.

Dygrys, Valdes, Amalrich—these legendary heroes were all tightly entangled by enemies several times their number, unable to protect themselves.

Everything... was different from the script.

In the story, Guilliman should have awakened smoothly under the protection of the crowd.

But now, the guardians were falling one by one.

What if?

What if... Guilliman didn't wake up?

What if this machine malfunctioned?

What if Yvraine's "kill first, save later" plan failed?

No... what was even more terrifying was, what if all of this was already in Chaos's script? What if the "story" he knew was a huge lie woven by Tzeentch from the very beginning?

Once this thought appeared, it occupied his entire brain like wild grass growing crazily.

He looked at the crumbling defensive line, looked at the heroes struggling in pools of blood, and then looked back at the cold machine operating behind him.

What should have been a beacon of hope now seemed so fragile and... precarious in his eyes.

His palms were full of cold sweat. He was no longer a spectator; he was on the stage, and the stage was burning.