Chapter 296 – Perish, Tskamelo!
The command of the Titans was filled with an unquestionable authority.
These god-machines, with an unstoppable presence, declared the dominion of the battlefield.
Fortress-like behemoths, over a hundred meters tall, cast their shadows across the land. Each step they took resounded with a deafening rumble—
Shaking the earth itself!
The anthem of the god-machines, deployed by the Saviors, resonated across the entire atmosphere. It was as though the whole world had become a sacred cathedral.
And with them came a sense of solemn slaughter, the aura of crushing every enemy.
The Knights of the Freeblade Order looked up at these colossal entities in disbelief.
"These are all Emperor-class Titans? There are five of them!"
Such unmatched force could easily turn the tide of any major assault campaign.
They could not imagine—
What Titan Legion had the resources to send such force to support a feudal world?
No—
The Knights of the Freeblade soon realized these were Titans from the Holy World.
Their long-awaited reinforcements!
That Holy World… was far mightier than they had imagined. And they placed such importance on this battlefield that they had deployed some of their most precious core forces.
To save Tskamelo.
To save the defenders.
The Holy World had spared no cost and sent their mighty god-machines!
The Freeblade Knights straightened their posture, gazing upon the god-machines with awe and a growing sense of pride—
They were honored.
The Charalton region had stood isolated for too long, fighting alone.
But now, with the arrival of the god-machines, hope had returned.
They would fight side by side!
Behind the Titans' front line—
The defenders looked up at the mountainous machines, their bodies trembling from the shock.
"Salv… salvation has come…"
A military chaplain fell to his knees, almost wailing,
"Praise the god-machines! Praise the great Savior!"
Worship began to spread. The defenders saluted the Savior Titans, expressing their utmost reverence.
The arrival of the Savior Titans—
Brought an incomparable sense of security and hope.
"He really came…"
The young queen looked at the terrifying yet dreamlike god-machines, her body trembling, tears falling uncontrollably.
At that moment, as she escaped from the abyss of despair, she felt nothing but immense gratitude and bliss.
It was as if the Savior's radiance had enveloped her.
"These big guys aren't bad at all…"
Shaheem narrowed his eyes at the Titans, deep in thought.
His domain had grown rapidly.
After wandering for so many years, the armed force of the Imperial Rogue Merchants had fallen behind the average security standards of the domain.
Once he returned, he'd request a batch of Titans from Uncle Eden to garrison and serve as the escort force for the merchant company.
The appearance of the Savior Titans stirred different reactions across all sides—
But one thing was certain:
The Chaos Knights of the Corvus family were utterly stunned.
The Emperor-class Titans advanced swiftly. These hundred-meter beasts could cover more than twenty meters in a single stride.
The combination of speed and power created a suffocating sense of pressure.
That was the scariest part.
Even if you wanted to flee—
You couldn't!
Before the Chaos Knights could react, the looming shadow of the god-machines had completely engulfed them.
Their proud mechs couldn't even reach the opponent's ankles.
Huh???
Fight Titans? Us?
Weren't we here to annihilate and massacre this primitive planet?
The Dark Lord never said anything about fighting Emperor-class Titans!
This isn't our job!
Honestly, just one of these five Emperor-class Titans could storm a key Imperial stronghold—maybe even challenge Holy Terra!
How the hell are we supposed to fight them?
In that moment, time seemed to freeze.
The Savior Titans had already taken control of the battlefield.
The storm they brought would obliterate all.
"No—!"
A Chaos Knight who had been charging at the front screamed in terror.
He regretted everything and turned to flee, wishing he had more legs to run faster.
But it was too late.
BOOM—
A mechanical leg came down.
In an instant, the immense pressure crushed the Chaos Knight into a mangled mass of flesh and metal.
"RUN!"
That moment shattered the morale of the Chaos Knights.
Overwhelmed with fear, they scattered, fleeing in all directions.
Escape, escape, escape!
In their hearts, a final flicker of hope remained.
The Titans couldn't possibly deal with them all at once. If they ran fast enough, maybe—just maybe—they could survive!
They shed all weight and overloaded their engines to boost speed.
Soon, they had created some distance from the Titans.
The Titans, however, remained calm, steadily advancing. Their turrets fired relentlessly, targeting the nearest Chaos Knights with pinpoint accuracy.
"Hahahaha! We can escape!"
The leading group of fleeing Chaos Knights saw the distant mountains and were filled with wild hope.
If they could just reach the mountains, they could shake the Titans' pursuit.
BOOM BOOM BOOM—
Streams of fire rained down ahead of them.
The sounds were like the toll of death itself, sending chills through their souls.
More?
Zzzt~
Space rippled. More warp portals opened.
Five Warlord-class Titans emerged, blocking their escape. Missiles and plasma beams rained down, striking down several Chaos Knights.
"Damn it…"
The Chaos Knights split again, fleeing left and right. They didn't need to outrun the Titans—
They just needed to be faster than their allies.
But they didn't get far—
Streams of fire fell on both sides, and ten more Warlord-class Titans sealed off the flanks.
Holy Emperor…
T-Twenty Titans?
The Chaos Knights were in disbelief. They couldn't comprehend this nightmare.
Why was the Devourer going this far?
Had he gone insane?
Deploying so many precious war assets to this primitive world, just to crush some Chaos Knights?
No way!
Even if you sold this planet and the Chaos Knights, it wouldn't come close to the value of a single Emperor-class Titan!
As two retreating Chaos Knights collided, they realized something devastating—
They had no way out.
The fearsome god-machines stood like mountains, blocking every path, their encirclement slowly tightening.
THUMP—
The Titans came to a stop.
Twenty Titans formed a circle, staring down at the trembling Chaos Knights in the center.
The hunters had become the hunted.
The ones who once butchered humans mercilessly—
Now looked like rabbits, surrounded by a pack of bloodthirsty wolves.
Silence fell over the battlefield.
The Chaos Knights looked up at the towering war machines, their rotten, withered hearts almost beating again in fear.
Only one thought remained in their minds—
Can we negotiate peace?
"Great Devourer, we're willing to—"
The Chaos Knight leader stepped forward, arms raised, hoping surrender might save them.
Click—
The turrets adjusted with mechanical precision.
Before him were countless dark barrels—
Like the gaping maws of a thousand abysses.
Hundreds of heavy cannons aimed at them.
It's over…
The Chaos Knight leader was consumed by fear and hatred.
But his hatred wasn't directed at the Titans—
It was for that damned Dark Lord who sent the Corvus Chaos Knights here to die.
"Dark Lord, f*ck you!"
The Chaos Knight leader's hoarse scream echoed across the battlefield—
His final words.
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!
In a single instant—
Destructive artillery howled, the earth quaked, and it was as if the world had ended.
Missiles, melta blasts, plasma, macro-cannons, flamers—
Saturated the entire battlefield.
Twenty Titan behemoths rained hellfire in a full-saturation bombardment—
Answering the betrayal of mankind!
Clang!
A Freeblade Knight collapsed to the ground.
Terrifying.
But he also felt a strange comfort.
Thank the Emperor these weren't our enemies.
Instead—
They were allies.
And their presence filled him with a profound sense of security.
When the smoke cleared—
The ground had been scoured clean, a massive crater gouged into the earth.
At the bottom—
Melted remnants of Chaos Knights, twisted into shimmering slag.
The Chaos Knights sent by the Dark Lord to invade Tskamelo—
Utterly annihilated.
Deep within Charalton—
In the broken underworld, dark machines churned and pulsed.
The blackstone structures thudded against the veil between the Warp and reality.
...
Atop the central castle's throne—
A voice bellowed in fury.
"Dark Lord, f*ck you!"
"Worthless—utterly worthless trash!"
Be'lakor's face was cold with rage as he waved a hand and dismissed the warp projection.
He immediately sealed and erased the news.
Such a disgraceful report would tarnish the Dark Lord's image—and sow discord among the ranks.
He hadn't expected the Devourer to care so much for that merchant…
To deploy twenty Titans to Tskamelo?
Still, Be'lakor did not feel truly threatened by the display of force.
Perhaps the galaxy had forgotten how terrifying the Dark Lord truly was—
The Daemon Prince chosen by all Four Gods.
He had existed for countless ages, with forces far beyond what people imagined.
Twenty Titans?
He had recruited multiple Chaos Titan Legions—his numbers and strength were several times greater.
And Chaos Titans were stronger.
This loss meant nothing.
The Corvus Chaos Knight Legion still had over a thousand Knights—more than enough to crush multiple sectors.
What mattered most—
Was the Devourer's critical mistake.
He had deployed such precious assets to a world without orbital defenses.
Now, a fleet three times larger than the enemy's was en route to Tskamelo.
As long as the Devourer's fleet was destroyed—
The Dark Lord's forces could bombard the surface at will—
Eradicating both the Titans and the planet.
Be'lakor issued the command—
His fleet was to reach Tskamelo at full speed and commence extermination.
At the same time, he ordered all other armies—
To accelerate their offensives.
To crush and torment the Imperial defenders with ruthless brutality—
To make humanity feel the fury of the Dark Lord.
Across the Charalton system—
Dozens of human worlds fell under assault from Chaos armies, pirate raiders, and daemons.
People screamed in the fires of war.
In the void—
A Chaos fleet assembled.
A mixture of Chaos warships and pirate vessels—
This was one of the Dark Lord's primary forces.
Nine battleships and numerous escort warships.
On the bridge—
"Oh Great Dark Lord, I shall carry out your will and annihilate the Devourer's fleet…"
A man with a demon's horn and refined demeanor answered the Dark Lord's order.
He was the fleet commander.
Once a top graduate of the Imperial Naval Academy—
His brutal nature revealed itself once he held command, committing countless war crimes—
Pillaging, murder, destruction of cities.
The Imperium tolerated it for a while—
Until he accidentally damaged a famous Emperor statue during a bombardment…
Which drew the Inquisition's attention.
He killed the Inquisitor sent to investigate and defected to Chaos.
After ending communications, the fleet commander sipped blood-wine from a crystal glass—
Grinning madly.
He loved Chaos—where he could kill without consequence.
Now, his fleet would destroy an enemy fleet and raze a planet—
Adding another triumph to his name.
Just as he issued the warp-jump command—
The alarms on the radar blared.
Beyond the dim stars—
Space rippled.
A massive Warp portal opened—large enough to swallow an entire fleet.
The Savior's Third Fleet, a mighty battle group, followed their flagship into the portal.
On the flagship's bridge—
Fleet Commander Volradi furrowed his brow in unease.
He was nervous.
Volradi came from a worker's family. His mother, Arila, was a factory representative.
That connection allowed him to study at the Navy Academy of Loyal Sons, where he befriended Shaheem and his sister.
Volradi worked hard, graduating with honors—
And rose quickly through the ranks.
Now, as fleet commander, he had never faced such a large-scale battle.
He had trained with simulations—but never real war.
This was his first time commanding a fleet in a war of this scale.
And he was terrified of failing—
Of disappointing the Savior.
Of losing his chance to win the Medal of Honor—
And fulfill his mother's only wish—
To dine with the Savior.
His mission:
Reach Tskamelo as fast as possible and support the vanguard fleet.
They were to face the main fleet of the Dark Lord.
Tskamelo was in crisis.
The prophecy of death had emerged from the shadows—
A countdown to her destruction, heralded by the enemy's fleet bombardment.
The threat felt all too real.
The Dark Lord would not have issued such a warning unless he was supremely confident.
This was a direct challenge to the Savior—
And time was short.
There was no chance to evacuate.
No one would abandon Tskamelo and let her fall to Chaos—
It would stain the Savior's light.
His armies must fight—
And destroy the Dark Lord's fleet!
Thus, Fleet Commanders Volradi and Rano, leading the Third and Fourth Fleets, were ordered by Admiral Kaes to reinforce Tskamelo.
Volradi pushed his fleet to the limit—
Warp-jumping without pause to reach their destination.
But in the latest jump—
They unluckily collided with a powerful Chaos pirate fleet—
And came under heavy fire.
Thankfully, Volradi and his captains, hardened by extreme training, quickly countered.
They organized defenses and launched a powerful counterattack—
Wiping out the Chaos pirates.
Though victorious—
Volradi wasn't happy.
He was more nervous than ever.
Because of the delay—
He would not reach Tskamelo before the countdown ended.
And his fleet—
Was the largest of the reinforcements.
It could change the outcome of the war.
Volradi clenched his fists in regret.
He should have chosen a different route.
He took a deep breath—
"Let's hope the vanguard and Fourth Fleet can hold out until we arrive…"
WHOOSH—
The Savior's Third Fleet disappeared into the Warp.
Not far away—
A field of shipwrecks drifted in space, still burning.
Bodies and debris floated silently.
Some were consumed by fire—
Others were frozen forever in the void.
A charred crystal glass shattered against the wreckage—
Blood-wine spilling in the dark.
(End of Chapter)
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