The Tyrant, hunched on its four massive, slender legs, was perched atop the Mechanical Spire, an industrial zone.
This entire spire, constructed of machinery and steel, was now covered in capillary towers that pierced the sky. Beneath these towers, at the very center of the hive city, was a bubbling, gigantic biomass pool. The bodies of once-brave Astra Militarum soldiers and hive city thugs were thrown into it, slowly being digested into pure biomass.
A Blood Angels storm raven gunship hovered in the air, dodging the Tyranid aerial units that constantly attacked it.
The Immortals, guarding Anrakyr the Traveller, used their unique Necron gauss blasters to clear a path alongside the Blood Angels gunship.
Even Dante had to marvel at the cold efficiency of these Necron warriors.
Without souls, they were in some ways similar to Tyranid creatures, both being weapons of war integrated with the firearms in their hands; one was made of iron, the other of flesh.
But when that Tyranid creature, the Tyranid "Tyrant," crawled out of the biomass pool, and when viscous biomass flowed like a waterfall from the mountain-like body of the Tyrant, even the iron-cold Necron Immortals paused for a moment.
Dante seemed to detect a hint of surprise on their metallic faces.
This puzzled Dante, as Immortals were relatively low-ranking Necron units, yet they displayed emotion.
Only higher-ranking Necrons had preserved relatively intact consciousness and memories over the long ages, not becoming mechanical automatons.
Anrakyr the Traveller also seemed to glance at his subordinates, apparently surprised by such obvious emotional fluctuations from them.
But neither Dante nor Anrakyr the Traveller was in the mood to study the Immortals' emotional issues at this moment.
"Tyrant."
Anrakyr the Traveller looked at the monstrous, hill-like beast before him.
Even he had to take seriously this most terrifying and massive unit within the Tyranid swarm.
It was a bio-Titan spawned by the hive Fleet, a colossal war-machine of the Tyranid swarm, an avatar of war made of flesh and blood.
It was an Tyrant-class Tyranid bio-Titan.
Such units would hatch in different sizes and be equipped with different weapons according to the Tyranid swarm's needs, and their combat power would vary accordingly.
The giant beast standing before Anrakyr the Traveller was at least thirty meters tall.
Among the Tyranid bio-Titans Anrakyr the Traveller had seen, it was one of the largest.
Anrakyr was not surprised the Tyrant appeared on the battlefield, but rather that it appeared so early.
This was truly too strange; the battle had clearly not yet progressed to a point where the Tyrant was needed. Was the Tyranid swarm so extravagant?
This made Anrakyr hesitate, wondering whether to unleash that dangerous power now and let flames incinerate the Tyrant.
The Tyrant turned its mountain-like body, its claws sweeping across the industrial zone covered by a chitinous ocean.
For a moment, shattered rocks and iron fragments flew, and a gray-brown smoke wave rose from the ground.
The Tyrant glanced at the storm raven gunship in the sky.
Commander Dante immediately ordered a barrage of fire upon this giant beast.
Turrets operated by servitors and twin-linked heavy bolters fired at the mountain-like Tyrant, like a raven trying to destroy a mountain in a storm.
However, the bullets and cannon fire it strenuously unleashed had no effect on the Tyrant.
The shells seemed to hit an invisible, thick wall, causing nothing but a slight pale blue ripple.
"Heh, even pests are starting to dabble in the Empyrean' sorcery now?" Anrakyr the Traveller said disdainfully.
Commander Dante was not as relaxed as he was.
This giant beast was actually covered by a thick psychic shield. He was on high alert, staring intently at the giant beast's movements.
The giant beast raised the two biological cannons in its hands high. Just the pulsating, sphincter-like flesh muzzles were wider than the storm raven they were riding.
"Prepare for a drop," Dante said to the Blood Angels beside him.
They had long anticipated possible aerial interception and were all equipped with jump packs.
Even without the wings of a Primarch, the Blood Angels were still adept at aerial combat, and with jump packs, they could directly air-drop into the Mechanical Spire.
The Tyrant twisted its massive body, adjusting the muzzles of the biological cannons in its hands, then ignored Dante and his storm raven.
"Hmm?" Dante let out a strange hum.
The anticipated attack did not come. Instead, the Tyrant aimed elsewhere.
Dante turned his head in confusion, only to see the Tyrant, perched on the mechanical high tower, aiming towards the distant governor's Palace.
"How could this be..." Dante couldn't help but ask, "Calian... it couldn't be to deal with Calian..."
"Could it be for..." Dante couldn't help but look at Reyna, who was sitting in the back of the storm raven.
Reyna was now in charge of Astra Militarum affairs, replacing General Drost, and also oversaw the local resistance forces in Ashford.
This time, she was also responsible for leading the Astra Militarum and Lower Nest gang members to guide the Blood Angels.
Dante suspected the current situation was because of the man she knew, the man named Alexander.
"It must be Alexander's doing!" Reyna's eye twitched slightly, judging almost without hesitation.
The moment her voice fell, scorching flashes of fire whistled out from the biological cannons in the Tyrant's hands.
These flashes streaked across the sky, shooting directly towards the spire where the governor's Palace was located.
However, to Dante's surprise, the Tyrant's cannon fire did not directly hit the governor's Palace, but rather the central part of the spire on which the palace sat.
The entire governor's Spire began to shake, and the Tyrant's next shot also fired, still aimed at the middle and lower part of the spire.
It was as if there was something in the palace above the spire that it feared, so much so that it dared not shoot directly at it.
"Alexander has a strange red cloak... uh, I don't know the principle, but it seems to reflect various ranged attacks."
"Huh?" Anrakyr the Traveller couldn't help but laugh, "You mean, a piece of red cloth can reflect the Tyrant's biological cannons?"
"Human, did the Empyrean' torrent damage your brain while you were dabbling in sorcery?"
Several veins popped out on Reyna's forehead.
"Ha, if you humans were still in your so-called Golden Age, I might believe it, but..."
Before Reyna could retort, Anrakyr the Traveller stopped his mockery.
He suddenly remembered that he had once found traces left by a time traveler in the Bottom Nest.
"You have a point; such a possibility does exist."
Anrakyr the Traveller looked at Reyna earnestly:
"My judgment was flawed. I apologize to you."
Reyna's mouth twitched involuntarily.
Although Anrakyr the Traveller's voice carried the inherent coldness of a Necron, Reyna actually heard sincerity in it.
She had originally started to ponder how Alexander would retort with his foul mouth when faced with such mockery.
Unexpectedly, Anrakyr the Traveller, for some unknown reason, directly admitted his mistake and apologized to Reyna.
Dante, beside him, also shivered slightly, as if amused by this Necron Overlord.
This Necron Overlord was proud, arrogant, conceited, and had a foul mouth.
But he was not as capricious as other Necron Overlords; instead, he possessed a kind of obsessive-compulsive fairness.
He was even willing to frankly admit his mistakes and had a rather unique moral code.
According to Dante's understanding, this Necron Overlord loved to aid other Necron tomb worlds.
However, this aid was not gratuitous; he would, based on the principle of fair trade, take one-tenth of the soldiers from the aided dynasty, regardless of whether the aided party was willing.
However, what truly piqued Dante's curiosity was what kind of event caused Anrakyr's perception to change in an instant.
Suddenly, a rumbling sound echoed in the distance. The distant spire supporting the governor's Palace let out a tragic wail.
With the Tyrant's long-range bombardment, the entire spire began to shake uncontrollably, eventually unable to support its own weight, and started to collapse inwards.
The storm raven gunship carrying Captain Calian and his Terminators rose against the wind, soaring into the sky.
Alexander stood atop the swaying, soon-to-collapse governor's Palace, watching them depart.
Captain Calian had originally invited Alexander to evacuate on the storm raven with them.
But Alexander knew that the Tyrant's target in bombarding the governor's Palace was himself.
If he boarded the storm raven, he wouldn't be able to use the reflecting cloak inside the cabin. The Tyrant would surely concentrate its firepower and a large number of flying units to intercept the storm raven.
It would be troublesome to escape then.
Alexander composed himself and looked into his four-dimensional pocket.
[Item Name: anywhere door]
[Origin: 22nd Century Earth — Future Department Store]
[Description: The first and most famous secret gadget. Please do not use it when girls are bathing.]
[Production Time: 231.M3]
[Function: While holding the doorknob, the user thinks of the desired destination, and the door connects the two locations. Once opened, one can cross between the two places to reach the destination.]
[Value: 11,650,000 credits]
The Tyrant had already appeared, and the Necrons had also begun to intervene in the battle.
This indicated that the Netherworld Star System was about to face destruction, and it was time to exchange for the anywhere door.
Alexander watched his savings vanish in an instant, leaving only a small remainder, and his cheeks twitched slightly.
Although he knew that according to his upcoming plan, Alexander could earn this money back ten or even a hundredfold, the heartache was still real.
Every single credit in there was painstakingly gnawed off the Tyranid swarm by him.
If he didn't feel the heartache, the Tyranid swarm probably would.
Alexander reached into his four-dimensional pocket, and the red-and-pink wooden door was pulled out by Alexander from the four-dimensional pocket like soft silk.
The most famous and most frequently used gadget by Doraemon: the anywhere door.
Alexander couldn't help but feel a little excited. He slowly reached for the anywhere door's doorknob and gently turned it.
The anywhere door slowly opened, but the scene behind the door made Alexander pause.
It was a linen-colored land made of some unknown material, extending continuously into the distance, but it did not disappear on the horizon. Instead, it curved upwards, as if extending all the way into the sky.
Alexander's head poked out from the anywhere door.
With curiosity, he looked up, but saw that there was no sky, clouds, or sun in the world behind the door; instead, it was enveloped in a kind of hazy heavenly light.
Suddenly, Alexander heard a whistling sound in the distance, seemingly the sound of a motorcycle cutting through the air.