While the Hrud Fleet and the Kroot Starfleet were probing Kei under the command of Cegorach, they simultaneously launched a fierce assault on Terra.
The men of the Steel Legion quickly rushed to the areas under the heaviest attack, and with the support of the military, resisted the onslaught of the xenos civilization.
Under the signal of Lelith, the Drukhari Drazhar issued a weapon restriction order to the Hrud and Kroot fleets, commanding that no high-level weapons capable of destroying Terra may be used.
In short: You can fight. But you can't destroy this planet!
Fearing the reputation of the Drukhari Queen, even though the xenos commanders were cursing behind the scenes, in the absence of any contact with Cegorach, they had no choice but to agree.
At the same time, a Drukhari Incubus, driving a captured Imperial speeder, was racing down the transit ways.
"My Lord, the current situation on Terra is a bit confusing. Lelith has arrived, but only took over a small hive district. The Craftworld Eldar are here too, but haven't made any real moves. I heard they ran into an entity, she was apparently handled by him."
"..."
"You're coming to Terra? Okay, I'll work on improving my own skills in the meantime and await your arrival."
Once the communication ended, the Incubus looked through the window of his speeding vehicle at a Hrud escort ship flying toward the Grand Bastion.
After a moment of thought, He selected a gene research facility affiliated with the Mechanicus that had already been secretly locked down earlier.
---
In the presidential suite on the top floor of a high-end hotel in the Imperial sector, using psychic projection tech, Kei displayed 3D projections of battle scenes between the Hrud, Kroot, and various other factions on the walls of the room.
Even though the Drukhari had already forced the Hrud and Kroot to limit their planet-killing capabilities, it was clear: Aside from the Steel Legion barely managing to hold the line, The other forces would likely fall one after another in less than a month.
"Affirmative! Yvraine. Understood, Emissary."
After finishing a call with Yvraine, Jain Zar walked over to Kei and handed him a bottle of amasec.
"Yvraine asked me to inform you: The Webway nexus in the outer rim is now empty. Cegorach has disappeared along with the Dimensional Aperture. The Drukhari led by Vect are also heading toward Terra. And some unknown xenos seem to be making a comeback."
"Yvraine and Taldeer are both coming to Terra?"
"Cegorach is dead set on bringing the Age of Endings. Your appearance... guarding the Craftworld has no real meaning now."
"Fine by me, saves me from running around."
Kei opened the amasec, took a sip, and frowned deeply as he looked at the footage of the Steel Legion in battle.
Among the whole crew, only Commissar Yarrick had any worthwhile combat experience.
The rest, including Inquisitor Greyfax, who was just a few years into active service, their fighting style could only be described as 'ugly'!
Their technique was just... painful to watch.
Even though, once they grasp the powers of the Warp and Anti-Warp, flashy techniques become less necessary, at this stage... It's really unwatchable!
"Aren't you a Dimensional Demon God? Can't you do something useful for once?"
Lelith sat on the sofa with her arms crossed, gritting her teeth through the pain of gene modification, also watching the battle footage.
"Like what?" Kei turned to her with a confused look.
"Like finding Cegorach, that damn trickster! Kill him already! With your power, you should be able to find him!"
"I can. But he sent me a gift package. If he dies too early, that package loses value."
"Stop being all cryptic! Can you speak plainly for once?!"
Lelith winced through the pain, grabbed a bottle of wine, and downed half of it in one go.
"Hm?" Kei paused slightly but didn't answer her question.
He waved one hand, a massive golden-sparkling space portal appeared on the wall of the room.
Caught off guard by the pain and unable to react in time, Lelith saw through the portal, a luxury speeder traveling at maximum velocity, heading straight toward her.
Instinctively, she crossed her arms in front of herself. Getting hit by it probably wouldn't injure her... But with that kind of momentum, she was afraid she'd be blasted straight through the hotel's transparisteel windows, and that soon-to-be-dead xenos in the speeder? He'd probably splatter blood all over her!
Buzz.
The space portal vanished.
The speeding vehicle instantly shifted from motion to stillness, now hovering steadily in mid-air inside the room.
"My Lord, I think... I've run into a little trouble."
Inside the speeder, the Drukhari Incubus looked at Lelith, who had instinctively shielded her head with her arms, then at the Eldar Jain Zar and Kyganil, whose psychic auras had flared, and finally at the man calmly seated on the sofa. He gave a predatory smile.
His sharp features wore an expression of mild amusement. He opened the vehicle door and stepped out from one side.
"Incubus!" Jain Zar immediately recognized the warrior and her expression became alert.
Seeing Jain Zar's reaction, Kyganil promptly readied his Harlequin's kiss from the warp.
Through the space between her arms, Lelith saw the speeder had stopped. She glanced sideways at the Incubus, then irritably glared at Kei.
She knew she wasn't exactly known for a good temper, often commanding her subordinates harshly and sometimes even punishing them.
But compared to Kei's behavior?
She suddenly felt that, thanks to her Drukhari nature, she was downright merciful.
"Could you treat your subordinates a little more humanely?! I'm still weak right now! What's the point of scaring me like that?!"
Pfft.
---
[Significant villain supporting character killed.]
[The worldline has significantly deviated.]
[Obtained:
- 1 Demon God's Proxy slot
- 2 trait extraction
- 1 gifting opportunity
- 1 trait downgrading]
---
"Lelith, have a conscience when you speak. I've been nothing but gentle with you, haven't I? Which part of your treatment here is inhumane?"
Kei looked at the Incubus's body, now crushed under spatial compression into a puddle of unrecognizable flesh, and, hearing the system rewards in his mind, casually tossed the meat paste into the hotel's waste disposal to be incinerated.
The Demon God Proxy Slot, sure, it was rare. But the problem was... there wasn't a suitable candidate yet.
"That was indeed... gentle."
Lelith's eye twitched as she stared at the unrecognizable meat pile that was once an Incubus, now smaller than a combat helmet, flattened in an instant. She knew this warrior, one of Vect's most capable subordinates.
Back during the raids on Craftworld territories, armed with his soul-shard weapons, he had killed countless Eldar and was known as the Soulflayer.
She had just assumed that Kei summoned him to either recruit him or use him for some purpose.
But the guy had barely been on screen for five seconds, hadn't even spoken properly, and he was dead.
Dead in the most clean, decisive way.
Damn, she used to think this Dimensional Demon God might secretly be a reasonable entity at heart. But watching how he killed without even blinking, she could now understand why he said he was being "gentle" to her.
With a style this ruthless, and the fact that she'd survived so many run-ins with him... That was gentle.
"Vect will arrive on Terra in at most ten days, at minimum five."
Jain Zar furrowed her brows slightly. The moment the Incubus appeared, she had begun tapping into the Black Library to read his psychic imprint.
Not only did she see the Incubus's plan to seize Galactic Force genes, she also saw his previous communications with Vect.
With technical support from Cegorach, and equipped with a new Warp Aperture, the Supreme Overlord Vect, accompanied by the fallen Drazhar and a massive force of Drukhari, was heading this way.
Everything pointed to the Incubus being a core member of the inner circle.
"Gift package?"
Jain Zar recalled what Kei had said earlier about Cegorach...
And also remembered what he'd asked her and Lelith two days ago. She now had a vague guess as to what answer Kei had been trying to provoke.
To challenge destiny.
To see the future.
This Dimensional Demon God had already foreseen Vect and his crew arriving on Terra. And what he needed was likely a cold-blooded executioner, a merciless killer who would show no mercy to his enemies.