Chapter 277: The Battle to Reclaim the Outer Wall

…

The Incinerator joined the battle.

Though this shard of the Star God could not single-handedly annihilate the entire swarm, its presence brought immense relief to the defenders. First, the Void Shield was restored, sparing the humans from aerial assaults. Then, the Incinerator itself entered the fray as a combatant, and its mere presence eased the strain on the defenders. Though none truly regarded it as a deity, its overwhelming power instilled confidence and boosted morale.

When the tide of insects once again surged toward the stronghold's core, the Incinerator roamed each section of the inner wall, eliminating any Tyranid warbeasts that overwhelmed the defenders. The lesser creatures, those the humans could handle, were left for them to engage, allowing the Incinerator to focus on the more formidable beasts.

It first arrived at the section of the wall where Fulros was stationed. Even in the heart of the fortress, the inner wall stretched for kilometers, with hundreds of defensive points along its length. The scale of the swarm's assault engulfed each defensive station in turn, such was its sheer magnitude. Against the immense insect tide and the towering wall, the Incinerator appeared small, but by no means powerless.

As Fulros fired his plasma pistol into the swarm, puncturing the ranks of warrior bugs, the Incinerator circled near a towering biotitan, flames leaping from its hands, hot enough to be felt hundreds of meters away. One massive biotitan screeched as it burned, reduced to a smoldering husk or mere ashes, depending on the Incinerator's whim. The warrior bugs, clad in evolved chitinous armor far stronger than when the war began, were fearsome to the humans, yet they were reduced to cinders merely by the Incinerator's passing flames.

Fulros had only ever seen flames of this intensity twice in his life—once now, and once in the past, during the battle of Cadia. There, the Mourner's legion had fought alongside them against the demonic horde, and as the Unreachables stormed the crystalline ground, Qin Mo suddenly appeared, incinerating all demons in his path. Without a doubt, this was power beyond human comprehension.

"That creature's been snared by a big one!"

As Fulros marveled at the Incinerator's strength, a Mourner's captain ran up, missile launcher in hand, pointing urgently at the Incinerator. With no one knowing the creature's name, it was simply referred to as "that creature" by all.

Fulros ceased firing, watching as the titanic struggle unfolded. The Incinerator was ensnared by the tendrils of a biotitan—a creature seemingly designed specifically to counter it. Its tendrils were sheathed in a black substance impervious to the flames enveloping the Incinerator's form. The titan began to drag the Incinerator back, and soon, the swarm closed in, concealing it beneath a seething mass of claws and fangs.

The captain attempted to launch a missile to aid it, but, as with all previous attempts, the missile was destroyed by a bioelectric field before it could reach the titan.

"Call for artillery to hit them!" Fulros ordered the captain. "Call for artillery!"

In the fortress, the Blood Serfs of the parent legion were manning the cannons, and anyone could request bombardment. The captain quickly contacted the Blood Serf commander on the artillery line, but before he could complete the call, a blinding red light erupted from the heart of the swarm, a crimson sphere rising from the ground.

This was an explosion spanning a kilometer, followed by a thunderous boom, then a powerful shockwave and gale. The Incinerator had carved a vast, cleared space in the swarm, standing resolute at its center.

"This surpasses anything we've seen before," remarked Karran over the comm channel.

Karran had seen it once before in the Styx system. Fulros, however, hadn't been there at that time, and if this creature had appeared there, why did it behave as though it recognized no one here? Could there be more than one of it? Was this just one among many?

As Fulros pondered this, the Incinerator crossed the distance of a kilometer in an instant, appearing before him. The temperature soared. The Incinerator locked its gaze upon Fulros. Fulros stared back, his eyes fixed on the creature's twin orbs, which appeared to serve as eyes.

"It seems you are no one's slave," the Incinerator observed. "Slaves do not look upon the kin of their masters in such a way."

"Are you hallucinating?" the captain murmured, bewildered. He doubted the creature could truly discern Fulros's expression beneath his masterfully forged power armor helmet. The notion was absurd.

But Fulros knew the Incinerator could see it.

"You know the one who gave you those missiles, don't you?" the Incinerator suddenly asked.

"No," Fulros replied, shaking his head.

The Incinerator received the denial, yet a brief contemplation followed before it nodded thoughtfully. Fulros then inquired, "Who is this Forger you speak of—a powerful being, or… one of your kin?"

The Incinerator did not answer immediately but pondered in silence. The fact that this mortal did not wish to reveal information about the Forger and had even questioned him about the term implied that he, too, knew nothing of the Forger's identity. If the missiles hadn't been dug up, then the Forger must have concealed their identity deliberately. Whatever the reason, it had purpose.

Given its own intentions, the Incinerator preferred not to divulge anything about the Forger to this mortal. 

"Your refusal to answer is a grievous offense," it said, towering over Fulros. "You remain alive only by my rare grace and tolerance for the unworthy. Kneel and give thanks."

Fulros stood in silence.

"I am neither your friend nor ally," the Incinerator continued. "The sole reason I stay to aid you is to ensure that you take me to this so-called Talon Sector after the battle. Otherwise, I would have already burned you and these insects alike on a whim."

Fulros sensed hostility in the creature's words. If it ventured into the Talon Sector, he feared it would wreak unimaginable havoc. The thought made him curse Bellona inwardly. What had she gained from offering up the Talon Sector in such a way? It must have served some twisted whim of hers.

"Rest assured, I bear no enmity toward the Talon Sector."

As Fulros's anxiety became apparent, the Incinerator glimpsed his expression through his helmet, easily discerning the mortal's concerns.

"I have business there that need not be resolved with bloodshed," it remarked, raising a hand to unleash flames upon the encroaching swarm.

Fulros continued to hold its gaze until Karran's voice broke the silence over the comms.

"A new combat directive."

"Can you try to communicate with that creature and get it to cooperate with us in reclaiming the fortress's outer perimeter?" Karran asked.

Hearing this, Fulros was prepared to refuse, doubting the Incinerator's regard for humanity would incline it toward cooperation. Yet to his surprise, the Incinerator agreed.

"Tell him I'll cooperate," it said, "on the condition that this war ends swiftly and I get to burn to my heart's content."