357: Chapter 359 The Son of Vengeance Steps into the Poisonous Fog! The Demon Lord Nagou Surrounds and Kills!

The fifth bell toll fell.

The Void Shields of the doomsday distorted once more.

Patches of frequency errors appeared on the blue energy membrane.

Tychus slammed a fist onto the edge of the console.

"If that damn bell rings a few more times, the shields are going to fall apart."

Fulgrim did not look up.

"The Void Shield generators are auto-calibrating."

"But the tolling will continue to interfere with the frequency."

"If KuGath gets within one kilometer, the interference will double."

Zhang Yuan stared at the main screen.

KuGath had stopped 1.5 kilometers away.

It did not charge.

It was waiting.

Waiting for the main force of the Death Guard to deploy.

Waiting for the blight towers to complete their next charge.

Waiting for the Imperial battle line to be crushed by the tolling and the rot-poison.

Zhang Yuan pressed the comms button.

"All Titans, do not let KuGath draw away your firepower."

"The blight towers remain the primary objective."

"Without those towers, they won't be able to hold their ground."

Marcus's voice came through.

"Six towers are still moving."

"Corrupted Titans are blocking their front."

"A frontal push will take time."

Zhang Yuan looked toward the back of the holographic table.

There was a new set of blue signals there.

Coming from the Imperial rear.

Roboute Guilliman's command sanctum tank.

Inside the Leviathan-class armored command vehicle.

Holographic projections filled half the cabin.

The Hekaton Plains were broken down into dozens of tactical layers.

Poison mist concentration.

Warp disturbances.

Imperial advance lines.

Death Guard deployment positions.

Retreat trajectories of the blight towers.

Roboute Guilliman stood in the center.

The power supply lines of the armor of fate let out a low hum.

An Ultramarines officer projected data onto the main screen.

"Regent."

"Frontline confirms the Great Unclean One, KuGath."

"The main force of the Death Guard has been committed."

"Enemy numbers are still rising."

Another officer picked up the report.

"The 19th Armored Group of the Astra Militarum requests to pull back three hundred meters."

"Poisonous mist is flowing back in front of them."

"Their filter depletion exceeds sixty percent."

Hector's communication cut into the channel.

"I'm not retreating."

"Give me fuel resupplies and purification canisters."

"My men can still stand."

Roboute Guilliman looked at the gray line on the projection.

That gray line was pressing against the Imperial defense line.

Behind the gray line was a tide of Nurgle daemons.

In the center of the gray line was KuGath.

On the flanks of the gray line were the Death Guard.

Roboute Guilliman raised his hand.

"The 19th Armored Group will not retreat."

"Have the 8th Purification Company link up with their flank."

"Move all flame tanks forward."

"Wherever the poisonous mist flows back, burn a path through."

"Yes, sir."

The tactical officer immediately turned around.

Mathieu stood at the rear side of the command deck.

His coarse cloth robes were stained with dust.

He held a field scripture in his hands.

He wasn't reciting.

He was just watching Roboute Guilliman.

Roboute Guilliman's gaze settled on a marker.

It was where the Psychic Disruption Giant Shell had landed earlier.

The white residue had already been swallowed by the poisonous mist.

But the edges of the residue were still affecting the Warp.

The energy chains of several Nurgle artifacts had broken.

Gaps appeared in the anchoring web around the blight towers.

"They are using the blight towers to stabilize the reality breach," Roboute Guilliman said.

"KuGath can stand here not just because of his own power."

"Those towers are the nails."

"The daemonic artifacts are the threads."

"Mortarion has sewn the Hekaton Plains onto the edge of the Garden."

The tactical officer looked at the projection.

"If the towers are destroyed, will the daemons be banished?"

"Not immediately."

Roboute Guilliman gripped the hand of dominion.

The metal joints closed.

"But they will lose their supplies."

"Every wound will no longer heal smoothly."

"Every step will come at a price."

He looked into the distance.

On the hologram, the arrival countdown for the Galatan Starfort was ticking.

There was still time.

But time was not plentiful.

"How long until Galatan enters the firing range of the main battery?"

"At current speed, twenty-seven minutes."

"The enemy plague fleet is still tying up the orbital battle groups."

"General Horner requests authorization to use the near-orbit interception arrays."

Roboute Guilliman did not hesitate.

"Approved."

"Tell Horner not to let a single plague ship enter low orbit."

"Zhang Yuan's battlecruiser must not descend."

"Yes, sir."

Roboute Guilliman turned.

"Issue orders."

"The 4th Purification Regiment and the 3rd Artillery Group will move forward with me."

The command deck went quiet for a moment.

Sicarius took a step forward.

"Father, Lord Zhang Yuan and the Titan Legions are already at the front."

"You do not need to face KuGath in person."

Roboute Guilliman looked at him.

"I must go."

"Mortarion is watching."

"He won't reveal himself for artillery fire."

"But he will respond to me."

Sicarius bowed his head.

"The Champion Guard will accompany you."

Tribune Maldovar Colquan stepped out from the shadows.

His golden armor reflected a dull glow under the cabin lights.

"The Custodian guard sequence is ready."

A dozen Sisters of Silence stood by the hatch.

Kallista Raine was not here.

She was still by Zhang Yuan's side.

But these Oblivion Knights had already formed an anti-psychic wedge formation.

A Sister raised her spear.

A silent salute.

Roboute Guilliman stepped down from the command platform.

Mathieu blocked his path slightly to the side.

"Son of the God-Emperor."

Roboute Guilliman stopped.

"Priest."

Mathieu held up the scripture.

"Please allow me to accompany you."

"You will die."

"That is the smallest thing a believer can offer."

Roboute Guilliman looked at him for a second.

"Stay at the second line of defense."

"Live to record this."

Mathieu did not argue.

He stepped aside.

The hatch opened.

Before the poisonous mist could rush in, it was held back by purification flames outside the door.

Roboute Guilliman stepped out of the Leviathan-class armored command vehicle.

In the distance of the Hekaton Plains, the bell tolled again.

"Dong—"

The sixth toll.

Dozens of Leman Russ Tanks turned on the flanks.

Firestorm Tanks spewed white flames.

A gap was cut into the gray-green wall of mist.

The Astra Militarum formed a firing line.

Cadian survivors stood at the very front.

Water droplets hung from their gas masks.

Hector's voice came over the public channel.

"All units, listen up."

"The Regent is going to walk through your midst."

"If anyone dares let a single rot-worm cross the line, I'll hang him from a tank barrel myself."

No one laughed.

But the sound of rifle butts striking breastplates rang out in unison.

Roboute Guilliman walked through their midst.

The armor of fate crushed the hard-shelled insect carcasses on the ground.

The emperors sword was not yet drawn.

The Bolter components of the hand of dominion completed their ammo feed.

Sicarius deployed the Champion Guard on the left.

The blue-armored Ultramarines formed a crescent formation.

Behind them were Space Marines from various Chapters.

Lamenters.

White Scars.

Black Templars.

Salamanders.

Iron Hands.

There were also several Deathwatch veterans.

Diverse colors.

Uniform steps.

Roboute Guilliman did not look back.

"All Astartes."

"The objective is not to slay every daemon."

"The objective is to destroy the anchors and protect the Titan advance."

"Understood."

Dozens of voices responded in the channel.

The poisonous mist ahead churned.

The first wave of Nurglings rushed out.

Short.

Fat.

Bellies dragging in the mud.

They let out shrill cackles, clutching broken bottles and rusted knives.

The flame tanks fired.

White streams of flame swept across the ground.

Nurglings burst in swathes.

Green liquid splashed onto the scorched earth.

The Sisters of Silence moved forward.

Anti-psychic fields spread out.

Nurglings that entered the field lost their forms.

They collapsed like lumps of mud.

The Oblivion Knights' spears thrust down.

Daemons were pinned and shattered one by one.

Roboute Guilliman continued forward.

His pace did not falter.

More daemons surged from the mist.

Plague swarms crawled along the ground.

Each was as long as an adult's arm.

They burrowed toward the tank tracks.

Astra Militarum heavy Bolters fired.

Ammo belts jumped.

The swarms were pounded into pulp.

A Leman Russ had its side skirt armor bitten by the swarm.

The tracks jammed.

The tank commander opened the top hatch and raised a plasma pistol.

"Burn our sides!"

The barrel of a nearby flame tank turned.

White flames grazed the side of the Leman Russ.

The swarm turned into black ash.

The commander ducked back into the turret.

"Keep pushing!"

The artillery group in the rear began firing.

Not at the daemon tide.

But at the stone pillars and bone piles within the poisonous mist.

Nurgle artifacts.

Seven rot-bone pillars were hit by shells.

The first one snapped.

The human-skin bags hanging from it burst.

The green light vanished.

The second was melted through by a melta cannon.

The third had explosives planted by an Ultramarines assault squad.

After the explosion, the outlines of the nearby daemons faded.

Roboute Guilliman saw this.

"Continue."

"For every artifact destroyed, they grow weaker."

Zhang Yuan saw it too.

On the holographic table, the stability of the frontline daemon signals dropped.

It wasn't a massive drop.

But it was enough to prove Roboute Guilliman's judgment was correct.

Fulgrim zoomed in on the data.

"There are anchoring chains between the blight towers and the daemon tide."

"The Psychic Disruption Giant Shell weakened four of them."

"Ground forces are cutting the remaining auxiliary nodes."

Zhang Yuan stared at those green lines.

"Mark them."

"Sync them to Hector and the Titan Legions."

"Tell them not to fire blindly."

"All heavy firepower, prioritize the nodes."

Fulgrim distributed the coordinates.

After receiving the coordinates, Hector immediately adjusted the artillery.

"6th, 9th, and 12th artillery batteries."

"Change coordinates to the green markers."

"Don't ask what they are."

"Just smash them."

The cannons roared in unison.

Dozens of shells crossed the battle line.

Landing on an altar made of bone.

The altar exploded.

A Rot Beast crawled out from within.

It hadn't even found its footing.

Three armor-piercing shells burrowed into its abdomen.

The explosion tore it open from the inside.

The Rot Beast fell.

The shrill cackling of the nearby Nurglings came to an abrupt halt.

KuGath raised his single eye.

He looked in the direction of Roboute Guilliman.

The bronze bell swung in his right hand.

"Dong—"

The seventh toll.

The sound of the bell spread.

Several mortal artillerymen collapsed on the spot.

Blood sprayed inside their gas masks.

A Sister of Silence took a step forward.

The anti-psychic field expanded.

A portion of the bell's toll was shaved away.

Roboute Guilliman drew the emperors sword.

Flames rose from the blade.

Golden fire illuminated the poisonous mist.

The surrounding Nurgle swarms recoiled.

The Champion Guard raised their weapons simultaneously.

Sicarius shouted.

"For Ultramar!"

The Astartes responded.

"For the Emperor!"

Roboute Guilliman walked to the very front of the battle line.

The poisonous mist dispersed before the sword's fire.

The vox-array of the armor of fate activated.

His voice carried deep into the Hekaton Plains.

"Mortarion!"

The sound of cannon fire could not drown out that name.

The footsteps of the Titans could not drown out that name.

Even KuGath's laughter missed a beat.

Roboute Guilliman continued forward.

"Come out."

"Face me."

"You send daemons, you send plagues, you send these legion slaves you once abandoned and then reclaimed."

"Yet you hide in the mist."

A commotion broke out in the Death Guard ranks.

Several Plague Marines turned to look behind the mist.

Roboute Guilliman raised the emperors sword.

"Son of Barbarus."

"gene-father of the XIV Legion."

"If you still remember your name, come out."

Zhang Yuan heard these words within the doomsday.

He looked deep into the holographic screen.

Mortarion did not appear.

The poisonous mist only churned once.

KuGath let out a hacking laugh.

That laughter echoed across the battlefield.

With the sound of bubbling.

"Little blue king."

"Your brother is in no hurry."

"The bells in the Garden have not finished tolling."

KuGath swayed his plague sword.

The tide of daemons pressed toward Roboute Guilliman.

The main force of the Death Guard also began to advance.

[part:gemini-3.1-flash-lite]

This time, it was not a scattered squad.

It was a neat spearhead formation.

The front row held corrupted shields.

The back row carried plague spitters.

Several rusted heavy cannons were pushed onto the slope by sub-humans.

The muzzles were aimed at Roboute Guilliman's defensive line.

Zhang Yuan immediately gave the order.

"Hellstorm Cannon, take out those heavy cannons."

Tychus adjusted the fire control.

"Received."

The left arm of the doomsday raised.

The six-barreled muzzle locked onto the slope.

An orange-red beam swept through the poison mist.

The sub-humans, their carts, and the heavy cannons were sliced into several pieces.

But a second group of heavy cannons was pushed out from the other side.

The Death Guard used corpses and armor plates to block the line of fire.

They were buying distance for KuGath.

Marcus sent a communication.

"blight tower is recharging again."

"Six shots."

"Estimated time: twenty seconds."

Zhang Yuan glanced in Roboute Guilliman's direction.

Green light lit up the tops of the six blight towers.

Two of them turned towards Roboute Guilliman.

Zhang Yuan's voice lowered.

"They are going to target the Regent."

Fulgrim's fingers swept across the console.

"Interception ineffective."

"The profane light orbs will penetrate the Void Shield."

"The probability of interception with physical ammunition is less than ten percent."

Tychus cursed.

"Then knock its firing port askew."

The dual Volcano Cannon on the back of the doomsday turned.

The target was not the main body of the tower.

But the edge of the copper bowl at the top of the tower.

Distance: four kilometers.

The poison mist interference was severe.

A Corrupted Reaver stood in the way.

The Ghost Operative's voice connected to the fire control.

"Left tower, adjust elevation angle up by 0.3."

"Right tower, ignore windage."

Tychus pressed fire.

Two Volcano Cannon beams streaked across the battlefield.

The first hit the shoulder armor of a Corrupted Reaver.

It failed to penetrate.

But it knocked it half a step off balance.

The second grazed the head of that Corrupted Reaver.

It struck the edge of the top of a blight tower behind it.

A piece of the copper bowl was burned away.

The green light orb that was condensing deflected.

When it fired, it deviated from its original direction.

It flew past the left flank of Roboute Guilliman's defensive line.

It landed in a tide of walking corpses.

Large patches of rotting flesh withered and peeled away.

The other light orb was still flying towards Roboute Guilliman.

Sicarius looked up.

"Shield wall!"

The Champion guards surrounded him.

The Custodian Madvakoken was faster.

The aegis shield was raised.

Several Custodians stood shoulder to shoulder.

The Sisters of Silence lined up in front.

The anti-psyker field pressed against the trajectory of the light orb.

The light orb passed through the first layer of the ion barrier.

It passed through the second layer.

The green light began to dim.

It entered the Sisters of Silence's field.

Its speed decreased.

Its volume shrank.

It still hadn't disappeared.

Madvakoken stepped forward.

The aegis shield slammed into the light orb.

The green light exploded on the surface of the shield.

A dent was corroded into the outer layer of the shield.

The Custodian stepped back half a step.

He did not fall.

Roboute Guilliman stepped out from his side.

The emperors sword slashed down.

Golden flames cut through the remaining green light.

The profane light orb was engulfed by the flames.

A trench was burned into the ground.

Roboute Guilliman did not look at the trench.

He kept staring at the poison mist.

"Mortarion!"

"Your weapons cannot kill me."

"Your demons cannot stop me either."

"Come out!"

The response to him was the sound of KuGath's bell.

"Dong—"

The eighth toll.

This time, KuGath began to advance.

Its fifteen-meter-tall, bloated body pressed towards the Imperial defensive line.

The Nurglings around it jumped onto its belly.

And burrowed into its wounds.

Beasts of Nurgle followed on both sides.

The plague swarm covered the ground.

The front row of the Death Guard advanced with shields raised.

The plague spitters opened fire.

A column of green mist sprayed towards the Astra Militarum positions.

Hector's orders were as sharp as a knife cut.

"Full mask seal!"

"Purification flames, front row!"

"Heavy Bolters, hit the spitters!"

Three Astra Militarum soldiers were caught in the poison mist.

Blisters grew on the surface of their protective suits.

They did not retreat.

One of them rushed out of the defensive line, clutching a melta bomb.

Before being hit by a Bolter round, he shoved the bomb into the nozzle of a plague spitter.

A white light exploded.

That weapon, along with four Death Guard, was knocked over.

Hector watched the life signal on the screen go out.

"Record the name."

The adjutant replied.

"Already recorded."

"Keep fighting."

On the other side.

Foros led the Lamenters to press up from the flank.

They had just withdrawn from melee combat with the Plague Marines less than three minutes ago.

Their armor was covered in corrosion marks.

Their chainswords were still spinning.

Foros saw that the direction where Roboute Guilliman was located was under pressure.

He did not request permission.

"Lamenters."

"Cut into the left flank of the Death Guard."

Cyrus followed behind him.

"Chapter Master, there are at least two companies there."

Foros raised the Gravis Enkamion Blade.

"Then cut right through the middle of the two companies."

The Lamenters charged again.

The yellow and black teardrop emblems passed through the poison rain.

Foros slashed through a corrupted shield with one strike.

His power fist smashed the helmet behind the shield.

Cyrus led the team to follow up.

Three Lamenters used melta guns to pick off the spitter operators.

Firelight exploded continuously.

A gap was torn in the left flank of the Death Guard.

Zhang Yuan saw the opportunity on the screen.

"Tychus."

"The left flank is open."

"Fire the Hellstorm Cannon through it."

Tychus bit down on his laho stick.

"Been waiting for this."

The left arm of the doomsday turned.

The plasma beam pressed into that gap.

A row of sub-humans vaporized.

Two Plague Marines were cut in half.

Half the body of a blight tower behind them was exposed.

Marcus saw it too.

"Oberon Legion."

"Concentrate fire on the third tower."

Three Reaver Titans opened fire simultaneously.

The Volcano Cannon beams hit the surface of the tower.

Nurgle inscriptions lit up.

A green film emerged.

But this time, the film was missing a corner.

The magic artifact destroyed earlier had severed its auxiliary anchor chain.

The Volcano Cannon was not completely absorbed.

The first beam burned through the outer copper shell.

The second widened the crack.

The third struck the poison cauldron at the top of the tower.

Green liquid sprayed into the air.

The blight tower tilted violently.

Hundreds of overlapping wails came from inside.

Zhang Yuan did not give it a chance to recover.

"Back missile pods."

"Full salvo."

The shoulder armor of the doomsday opened.

The multi-tube missile pods spewed fire snakes.

Dozens of heavy missiles slammed into the third tower.

The explosions merged into one.

The copper pillar snapped.

Six iron wheels rolled out of the flames.

The tower collapsed.

The poison cauldron at the top of the tower slammed into the ground.

Green liquid scattered everywhere.

The nearby swarm of demons shrieked.

Their forms began to become unstable.

The second blight tower was destroyed.

On the holographic table, another anchor chain had broken.

Zhang Yuan gripped the edge of the table.

"That's it."

"Hit the nodes, hit the towers."

"Don't waste time with the demons."

KuGath turned its head.

Its single eye stared at the doomsday.

Its laughter vanished.

The bronze bell was lifted to its chest.

The ninth toll did not ring immediately.

It was charging up.

Fulgrim's warning popped up.

"High-intensity Warp resonance."

"The target might be the doomsday."

Ty Adronetus walked to Zhang Yuan's side.

"Leave the main console."

Callista had already raised her spear.

An anti-psyker field expanded within the cathedral sanctuary.

Zhang Yuan did not leave.

"Tychus, step back half a step."

"Don't let it lock onto the frequency."

Tychus controlled the doomsday to shift.

The 113-meter giant crushed the scorched earth.

KuGath rang the bronze bell.

"Dong—"

The ninth toll.

This time, the bell toll turned into a visible green ring.

The green ring passed through the poison mist.

It slammed into the doomsday's Void Shield.

Twelve layers of shields vibrated simultaneously.

The first layer went out.

The second layer went out.

The third layer developed cracks.

The fourth layer's frequency went out of control.

Tychus roared.

"Four shield layers down!"

"Still dropping!"

Fulgrim reached out to take over the auxiliary array.

"Switch to backup frequency."

"Layers seven through twelve run independently."

Zhang Yuan raised his right hand.

Psionic power pressed against the interface of the archon power armor on his chest.

The holy blessing patterns lit up for a moment.

No one saw the source.

Only the poison mist inside the cathedral sanctuary was pushed away.

Callista tilted her head and glanced at him.

Her spear was still pointed forward.

The double-headed eagle indentation on the doomsday's breastplate emitted a dim light.

The machine spirit hummed.

The seventh layer of the shield stabilized.

The eighth layer stabilized.

Tychus gritted his teeth.

"It didn't shatter it."

Zhang Yuan looked at KuGath.

"Then it's our turn."

He switched to the full frequency.

"Roboute Guilliman."

"KuGath is charging for a second bell toll."

"I will hold it off."

"You continue to cut the anchor points."

Roboute Guilliman's response was quick.

"Do not engage it alone."

"It is waiting for you to make a mistake."

Zhang Yuan looked at the tower positions on the holographic table.

"I will not rush in."

"I will only make it look at me."

Roboute Guilliman did not try to persuade him further.

"Sicarius, altar to the front right."

"Madvakoken, lead the Custodians to break through the path."

"Annihilator Knights, follow me."

The emperors sword swept across.

A Beast of Nurgle was split into two.

Golden flames burned through its belly.

Roboute Guilliman stepped through the flames, rushing towards the rot-bone altar in the poison mist.

The Custodian squad followed.

The aegis shields blocked the Bolter rounds.

The sentinel blades sliced through the corrupted armor.

The Sisters of Silence entered the altar area.

The chanting Plague Sorcerer clutched its throat.

Its incantation was cut off.

Sicarius leaped onto the pile of rubble.

The power sword pierced the Sorcerer's skull.

Roboute Guilliman slashed through the main pillar of the altar with one strike.

The entire green light collapsed.

In the distance, the inscriptions on another blight tower dimmed by half.

Zhang Yuan immediately marked it.

"Fourth tower's protection has dropped."

"Marcus!"

"I see it."

The "fist of the anvil" raised its Volcano Cannon.

The Warlord-class Titan's main cannon finished charging.

A high-energy beam struck the fourth blight tower.

This time, the green film only lasted for two seconds.

The outer shell was melted through.

A large swarm of plague flies burst from inside the tower.

Two Warhounds of the Atarus Legion cut in at high speed.

Their dual melta cannons fired at point-blank range.

The lower half of the fourth tower was burned through.

It collapsed to the side.

The six iron wheels were still spinning in the air.

A Warhound rushed forward.

Its plasma blast gun aimed at the top of the tower.

Fire.

The poison cauldron exploded.

The fourth blight tower was totaled.

Six towers, four remaining.

KuGath let out a roar.

It rushed forward, wielding its plague sword.

The ground was stomped into wet pits by it.

The main force of the Death Guard pressed up behind it.

Mortarion had not yet appeared.

But from deep within the poison mist came the sound of chains dragging on the ground.

Roboute Guilliman heard it.

Zhang Yuan heard it too.

Deep within the holographic table, a new red signal began to emerge.

Taller than KuGath.

Colder.

Heavier.

Fulgrim's hand stopped on the keyboard.

"New Greater Daemon-class reading."

"No."

He corrected himself.

"Reading cannot be classified."

Zhang Yuan stared at that mass of mist.

Roboute Guilliman raised the emperors sword.

Flames illuminated his armor.

He shouted that name again.

"Mortarion!"

The poison mist split open a seam.

A giant wing covered in rust marks spread out from the seam.

Roboute Guilliman took a step forward.