As the Helldivers twisted with all their might, the green light in the center of the array grew stronger. A cool, damp feeling inexplicably arose in the air that should have been dry and scorching.
Thick, dark clouds began to gather in the deep green sky, with faint rumbling thunder rolling deep within the clouds.
When the green light reached its peak, torrential rain poured down.
The icy rain drenched the players who were vigorously shaking their butts, causing them to shiver in unison and their movements to involuntarily slow down considerably.
"Holy crap!" one player was the first to notice something was wrong, exclaiming, "Quick, look at your status bars!"
Hearing this, everyone opened their personal interfaces. The next second, everyone was dumbfounded. Their status bars were densely packed with various abnormal statuses: Slight cervical discomfort, Muscle pain, Joint swelling and pain, Low fever, Skin scabs, Internal bleeding, External bleeding, Gum bleeding, Diarrhea, Nausea... There were at least a hundred of them, so many that the status bar slots couldn't hold them all, and a small scrollbar even appeared on the right, allowing them to scroll down to see more "surprises."
And at this moment, a colossal figure slowly rose from the magic array. He held a thick stem in one hand and a boxwood branch in the other. His bloated body was covered in pustules and sores, yet his eyes revealed a strange, grandfatherly benevolence.
"Insulting the Benevolent Father's..."
This massive Nurgle Beast paused mid-sentence as he saw the bizarre scene before him: a group of mortals, butts sticking out, vigorously twisting their bodies in the deep green toxic mist. The sight made him a bit awkward, and for a moment, he didn't know whether he should continue with his threats.
The player captain was overjoyed to see the demon successfully appear, and quickly shouted to the others, "Alright, alright! Stop shaking! We've summoned Rainfather!"
Then, he dashed to the demon, his acting skills instantly online. He fell to his knees with a "thud," and began to wail tearfully: "Lord Tygros! You must uphold justice for us poor people! We humble ones originally lived a leisurely life on this planet, working from sunrise to sunset, harvesting and sowing each year, watching the crops gradually grow—what happiness that was!
Who would have thought that disaster would strike from the heavens, a group of damned tyranid suddenly descending from the sky, wanting to eat us all, not even sparing the little earthworms in the soil! This scorched earth you see now is the tragic result of their actions! Lord Tygros, you must uphold justice for us!..."
The other Helldivers immediately understood and followed suit, wailing loudly, creating a truly sorrowful scene.
This made the newly arrived demon even more awkward: "Firstly, I am not Tygros, you can just call me Rainfather, and don't even try to think of my true name; secondly, I can't help but feel... that this soil looks like it was burned like this by fire?"
These words made the Helldivers present feel a sudden tightening in their hearts, wondering if the plan was about to fail.
However, Rainfather's next words took an unexpected turn: "However... I have already sensed that all-consuming, cold will. Such lifeless, purely predatory behavior does not conform to the Benevolent Father's teachings. I will destroy them."
Rainfather waved his hand, and a Nurgle Beast leaped out of the void. It was like a lively, overly excited puppy, wagging its long tongue, dripping copious amounts of viscous drool, and happily ran in front of several Helldivers. A lot of its drool splattered onto the captain, immediately corroding several small pits in his chitin armor.
"Get on," Rainfather pointed to the Nurgle Beast's broad back, "and witness how I destroy those defilers of life."
A small squad of Helldivers thus rode the Nurgle Beast, following Rainfather's colossal body as he advanced.
Along the way, the torrential rain never stopped. And in the areas irrigated by the rainwater, even though the Helldivers there were certain that just a few hours ago it had been burned into a vitrified wasteland, now, these lands miraculously glowed with renewed vitality.
The black scorched earth rapidly transformed into fertile soil, and at a visible speed, various vibrant, twisted green plants grew, looking full of life. Even in some places where rainwater had accumulated, various strangely shaped insects were already flying.
"Captain, isn't this area of effect a bit too large?" a player on the Nurgle Beast whispered to the captain, "After the battle, can the tyranids' black screen really eliminate all of this stuff?"
"Just trust the tyranid's professional capabilities," the captain could only say, "We'll burn it all again with prometheum later."
As they spoke, they could already see the tyranid's vast swarms covering the mountains and plains. The tyranid naturally also noticed this suddenly appearing team, emanating a strong life essence. After a sharp shriek, a large number of tyranid units charged towards them like a tide.
However, the Tyranid Swarm tactic had no effect whatsoever in front of Rainfather.
Those Termagants and gun bugs at the forefront, after just a few drizzles of rain, their limbs began to tremble uncontrollably, and their running speed became slower and slower. Before long, they all collapsed in the rain, their carapaces rapidly softening, their flesh dissolving, and in a blink of an eye, they turned into puddles of foul-smelling pus and stark white bones.
Some higher-tier units, like tyranid Warriors, while not directly killed by the rain, also became extremely weak and slow-moving. Rainfather didn't even need to act; the excited Nurgle Beast actively charged into the Tyranid Swarm and collided a couple of times, causing a large number of casualties.
The players riding the Nurgle Beast instantly cast aside their previous worries, cheering excitedly:
"Charge! Charge! Sprint! Sprint! Woohoo!"
"Yes! Just like that, ram them! Ram them to death!"
"Rainfather show them tyranids! The Rainfather is invincible!"
Hearing the heartfelt cheers from his "family," Rainfather's pustule-covered face uncontrollably revealed a happy expression, even tinged with a hint of shyness: "Oh, it's nothing, I merely exerted a few insignificant powers. The Benevolent Father is truly invincible."
The Nurgle demon army led by Rainfather thus advanced with overwhelming momentum deeper into the tyranids' defensive line. From an aerial view, the endless Tyranid Swarm had been forcefully torn open, creating a large empty area due to Rainfather's appearance.
If Rainfather were allowed to continue his rampage like this, a complete collapse of the ground-based tyranid would not be impossible.
Thus, the Hive Mind, far away in orbit, began to mobilize massive amounts of biomass to shape a brand new unit to counter Rainfather's threat.