The Emperor’s Angel of Death

In the sky, the raging sun emitted light far more intense than a normal water surface. Had it not been for the covering clouds, it would have been enough to scorch anything it touched. Even so, the sunlight struggled to pierce the corrosive veil of burning smoke that engulfed the sky.

The ruins of the collapsed hive city lay like a dismembered corpse on the wasteland, countless heaps of twisted spire wreckage piled high, resembling a gray, bleeding ocean. Fragments of broken pipelines shimmered on the ground like shards of shells covering a beach, this horrific scene of destruction stretching to the horizon.

“Shadow Wolf Three, approaching target.”

The squad leader's voice sent a low ripple through Oliva's mind, jolting Asand from his reverie.

“Affirmative!”

As he moved, he felt the collapsed structures crack and shatter beneath his treads, as if with his own boots. Then, his auditory sensors picked up the piercing blast of a war horn as another Warhound-class Titan from the same squad appeared seven hundred meters to his right.

Oliva's heart beat in sync with Shadow Wolf Three's plasma reactor. As he traversed the scorched surface of New Vargrad's outskirts, his slowly rising void shields flickered, shimmering through dozens of impacts. The barrage, as perceived by the Princeps, was no more than the minute buzzing of insects.

As the vanguard squad of the Phantom Legion, they had been stationed in mountain bunkers until five hours after the enemy launched their offensive. Then, they left their shelters to intercept the Necron forces in the swamps outside Tritus. They destroyed many enemy vehicles, pyramids, and infantry, saving the hive city at only minor cost to themselves—the Necrons had not committed much heavy firepower here, nor super-heavy constructs like the Monolith. Although their light vehicles still possessed formidable firepower, it was difficult to penetrate the Titan's void shields unless they concentrated their fire.

The Phantom Legion's tactics were precisely to disperse and cut off, ambushing from all sides, making it difficult for the enemy to focus their fire.

After the battle of Tritus essentially concluded, the Legion was transferred to New Vargrad, beginning the focus of conflict around the hive city's capital.

According to the deployment requested by the higher-ups, the Legion deployed its main force of Reavers and War Lords in key positions, while the Warhound packs advanced using the flanks. Because the Phantom Legion's Warhound-class Titans possessed strong independent combat capabilities, they were able to undertake more important tasks, namely, to pressure the enemy's lines—their enemies were the Mephrit Dynasty, composed of large numbers of infantry and various constructs, and to prevent the enemy from flanking the main lines. The Necrons had an absolute advantage in mobility. During the last offensive, the lack of flank protection resulted in damage to two Reaver-class Titans, fortunately not severe.

Given the situation, the tactics were immediately adjusted.

“This time, we’ll tear those metal skeletons apart!”

The Princeps of Shadow Wolf Two roared in the squad channel, its war horn emitting a thunderous blast, kicking up dust across the ground.

Against ordinary enemies, the roar of a God-Machine would be enough to scatter them into rout, but this time it was a group of opponents that would not wither from sound.

To deal with them, it would require the fangs and claws of the God-Machines.

Boom!

Continuous explosions erupted in the ruins of the hive city ahead. Oliva glanced at the tactical display, which showed the range and timing of the bombardment.

Looking at the mountain-like, undulating ruins, Oliva could even smell the red-hot metal and the thick, corrupting odor flowing from the remains of those metallic aliens. It was corrupted alloy, coating his tongue like poison.

A moment later, Oliva leaned forward in his command seat, instinctively shifting from side to side, synchronized with the Warhound's swaying gait.

Ahead of him, his officers remained silent, their hands dancing over the pulsating lights of the control panels.

“Void shields holding.”

The number one operator announced, a brand-new pair of goggles on his face.

“Volcano cannon is ready.”

The explosions drew Oliva's lips into a straight line. He then pushed his right hand forward, clenching it into a fist. Shadow Wolf Three simultaneously raised its arm, the weapon's twin barrels emitting a ticking sound as they began to rotate.

The bombardment soon ceased, and the squad began to move forward. Their targets quickly appeared in the smoke.

Those floating triangular silhouettes were familiar to the Titan Princeps: enemy obelisks, immensely powerful and possessing self-repairing energy, requiring concentrated fire to destroy. At the same time, their firepower posed a threat to the Titans, and there would certainly be large enemy forces in their vicinity.

Besides the obelisks, the more significant threats to the Titans were the super-heavy, hovering vehicles carrying heavy weapons, designated "Doomsday Arks," and the enormous Monoliths, as well as the enemy's large bombers, designated Night Scythes by the Mechanicum. Among these, the Doomsday Arks posed the greatest threat to the Warhound-class Titans. The terrifying power of their main cannons could directly penetrate the Warhound-class's void shields and the chassis behind them. If a Warhound-class was hit, it would be crippled if not outright destroyed.

Monoliths, on the other hand, were not as much of a threat, not because they were not powerful, but because their observed numbers were not high, and they were generally deployed to counter the more powerful Reaver-class and War Lord-class Titans. In other words, it was not their concern.

As for the obelisks, they were relatively less threatening. On one hand, their large size made them easier to spot and destroy first. On the other hand, the only weapon on a normal obelisk that could threaten a Titan was the particle whip on top, but it was not easy for this weapon to break through a void shield. A Warhound-class Titan could withstand several hits, and the small Gauss flayer arrays were of no threat whatsoever.

In addition to these, there were the enemy's turrets. According to intelligence, these vile aliens had actually deployed their defensive weapons on human territory. They had a simple geometric configuration, completely devoid of operators, seemingly fully automated weapons, but capable of firing immensely powerful rays. Many tanks and vehicles had mysteriously been vaporized by shots from great distances.

Worse, these turrets seemed to move and could become invisible, making them extremely difficult for detectors to find—until they opened fire.

Therefore, Titan squads had to proceed cautiously, lest they fall into the enemy's deployed fire traps. This war was by no means a walk in the park. The enemy's firepower was extremely lethal, especially to the God-Machines.