Chapter 8: Methods of Spiritual Exercises
Before encountering the Imperium of Man, the evil and terror of the Rangdan had proven unstoppable to every xenos civilization in this sector.
"Spirit becomes stronger. Spirit controls the body. Spirit and body merge perfectly. Spirit and body continuously strengthen each other in a cycle."
Omega pondered the Rangdan philosophy, recognizing certain factors suitable for improving his fighting style. In a sense, martial arts was the conscious control of combat movements by the mind, ultimately reaching a state where techniques could be executed even unconsciously at will.
However, the Rangdan had extended this concept too broadly. It had used its advanced technological might, turning into a mutated, twisted, and evil race.
Omega decided to capture an Elite Warrior and interrogate him about the spiritual power methods used by their group. He closed his notebook, put it away, and picked up his Pale Spear, leaving the command post he'd just cleared.
More than ten minutes later, on a ruined street, thousands of dead xenos slaves lay scattered as tens of thousands more fired lasguns frantically.
Omega scanned the crowd and spotted a particular xenos.
He sneered and, in a few flashes, appeared before his target. A spear strike severed the opponent's hand holding an ion cannon. He twirled his spear, cutting the surrounding xenos in half.
Suddenly, a powerful psychic shock struck his body, but Omega remained unmoved. He grabbed the attacker's head with his left hand and charged into the slave army.
Hundreds of xenos went screaming through the air from the collision, and Omega vanished again, leaving the apalled xeno behind.
In a dark basement beneath a large building, Omega threw his captive forward, then swung his spear. The strike destroyed the power armor, and the humanoid creature, seemingly formed from slender tentacles, fell to the ground, with green blood flowing.
After removing the opponent's communicator, Omega leveled his spear at the severely injured, one-armed Elite Warrior, freezing him in place.
"Can you understand human speech?"
"The Alien Lord will not let you go. You will become our slave sooner or later, Ghost Warrior!" The xenos transmitted the message directly into Omega's mind through psychic waves, using human language. His words carried indignation.
Omega, covered in heavy armor, was silent for a moment, then he spoke calmly.
"You want to turn me into a Slave? As expected, you have been planning this for some time. Unfortunately for you, now you are my slave."
"I'm very interested in your civilization's technology and methods for controlling and enhancing psychic power. If you don't want to suffer, you'd better tell me everything about them."
"Impossible! I would rather die than tell a lowly human like you!" The severely injured xenos showed remarkable backbone in his refusal.
To become an Elite Warrior required an extraordinary spirit and will, as well as unyielding determination; he wouldn't fall in front of lowly humans.
Omega just gave a cold laugh. The Rangdan possessed great confidence and arrogance in their psychic control, but it was also a weakness.
Under the unyielding xenos warrior's gaze, he pulled out a long iron spike, and screams soon echoed from the basement. Afterward, the Elite Warrior, his spirit greatly weakened, could no longer endure the interrogation methods and revealed whatever he knew.
An hour later, having obtained what he needed, Omega dispatched his opponent with a spear thrust. A hint of disdain crossed his face as he looked at the dead body.
"I thought that after controlling countless slave armies with collars, your will would be incredibly powerful. Hmph, no matter who, they are all the same when facing death."
After retrieving the ion cannon and disposing of the corpse, he inspected the xenos power armor. Many biological nerve connections and tentacles were integrated throughout. This armor could only be worn by Rangdan, even requiring DNA matching.
This was why Omega hadn't collected their power armor despite killing so many xenos. The Rangdan's unique biological systems could control these suits.
Having obtained the desired psychic knowledge, Omega departed quickly. In the distance, the xenos army and human defense forces engaged in fierce combat; the situation looked unfavorable.
He moved swiftly to the front lines, supporting defenders on various streets and eliminating powerful xenos combatants.
Just as Omega was single-handedly wreaking havoc on the enemy, a flagship-class spacecraft within the atmosphere flew rapidly toward his position.
This time, it didn't fire its ion cannons. Instead, it slowly moved to hover over the street.
The surrounding slave army began exclaiming that a high-ranking Rangdan was about to arrive. After cutting down dozens of xenos with his spear, Omega glanced at the large spacecraft in the sky.
Then he charged directly into the slave army, amid a chorus of screams, he vanished without a trace.
In the command room of the hovering spacecraft, a three-meter-tall xenos lord led a team down the corridor, holding a fist-sized crystal skull in his right hand.
A signal entered the Alien Lord's communicator.
'Lord, the Ghost Warrior has disappeared from surveillance and cannot be tracked.'
"He's cautious, isn't he?" The Alien Lord paused, surprised by Omega's departure.
With a powerful psychic thought, he understood and sighed. After gripping and storing the sacred crystal skull, he chose to continue descending to the street.
As hundreds of Rangdan warriors in power armor landed from the spacecraft, and the three-meter-tall Alien Lord appeared, the surrounding slave army fell utterly silent.
From a corner, Omega observed the descending xenos. His gaze was drawn to the tallest figure. The powerful aura and bearing confirmed him as a strong opponent.
However, he still felt that even this xenos was much weaker than himself, even if he posed a slight threat.
Rangdan were proficient in psychic power. The stronger they were, the more powerful their perception. The fact that he hadn't detected nearby Omega proved his strength was inferior.
The Alien Lord rotated the crystal skull, scanning the area. He was surprised to find the skull showed no reaction.
Omega watched this team of over a hundred Elite Warriors as the Lord issued a simple command. The countless surrounding slave armies began attacking madly toward the front.
Looking at the stored crystal skull, he guessed it possessed psychic sensing abilities, but it had simply not detected him.
"This must be the Alien Lord they have been screaming about. He's very confident in the crystal skull or some other tool to defeat me physically."
"Seems like a strong psychic tool to target the psychic will of opponents," Omega stroked his chin.
Combining this with the Rangdan data he'd collected, he was certain of this deduction. However, he didn't retreat. Instead, his eyes sharpened, and he followed the xenos team quietly and slowly, looking for an opportunity to strike.
Soon, a team of Elite Warriors was ordered to leave. Omega followed quickly, appearing shortly after to eliminate them.
On the street, a heavy power armor warrior flickered, dodging streams of ion cannon fire. The Pale Spear in his hand cut through one Elite Warrior after another, eliminating four in a flash.
As soon as he landed, he swung again, cutting down another. The remaining five Elite Warriors urgently called for help and tried to resist, but they couldn't react in time.
When he'd killed seven, just as he charged the eighth, Omega saw the three-meter-tall xenos lord in the distance holding a crystal skull, rapidly approaching with dozens of warriors. The Lord's speed was extreme.
Each movement covered hundreds of meters, as if teleporting, rapidly closing the distance. A powerful psychic storm blasted toward him, accompanied by the xenos lord's advance.
The moment Omega observed the slight movement of the crystal skull, he instantly flickered and vanished.
The powerful psychic storm blasted forward, causing a large area of steel and buildings to shatter and fall like rain. Three Elite Warriors caught within it clutched their heads in pain, green blood flowing from their xeno orifices as they struggled to resist.
When the Alien Lord arrived, he saw the seven corpses of warriors who had just left. He roared furiously, shouting at his surroundings, but Omega was nowhere to be seen.
The Alien Lord felt no pain regardless of how many slave soldiers died, but each Elite Warrior was as precious as an Astartes to humanity. Not only were they powerful in combat, but their lifespans exceeded several centuries, making them true core combatants.
[End of Chapter]