From Titan Corporation to the Empire of Man

Chapter 669 "In their eyes, they are nothing more than dazzling flames in the darkness."

Zeratul's Dark Templar slashed into the battlefield like phantoms, their eerie green psionic blades drawing deadly arcs through the blood mist.

Their arrival was like a shot in the arm, reigniting the fighting spirit of the Kares warriors who were on the verge of collapse.

Despite their past opposition due to ideological differences, the two factions of Protoss have now formed a united front, back to back.

Kares's azure psionic energy intertwined with the Dark Sanctuary's eerie green blades, forming a bizarre two-tone barrier that shredded the onrushing Taldarim mutants into mincemeat.

Corey Tower's silver armor was stained with black blood. He swung his scepter, blasting a Mutant Ascended into a charred corpse, and then flashed to Zeratul's side.

The archon's nerve cords trembled violently, his psychic message carrying suppressed rage:
"Zeratul! You only brought these people? Are you here to be buried with us? Take my people and leave immediately! I will buy you time!"

Zeratul swung his sword backhand, piercing the attacker's throat, his eerie green eyes gleaming in the shadows: "Don't worry, old friend."

His voice was like sandpaper rubbing, yet it carried a rare certainty: "I brought more than just this."

As if to confirm his words, the sky above Kares was suddenly torn apart.

In near-Earth orbit, the Taldarim fleet is launching a frenzied attack on the last Kales defense platform, its crimson fire staining the starry sky blood red.

However, the next second, the spatial structure of the entire universe seemed to be torn apart by an invisible hand, and a dark blue vortex with a diameter of 100 kilometers unfolded directly. The massive bow of the Emperor-class battleship Nerva was the first to pierce through the dimensional barrier.

This ten-kilometer-long behemoth is like a mobile Greek temple, with ancient Greek and Chinese prayers engraved on its gilded armor, and its cannon arrays on both sides spread out like the wings of a god.

Following closely behind were a large number of destroyers and frigates, whose plasma thrusters spewed out flames like the core of the sun, directly "vaporizing" the debris near the tail flames.

"Pure fire descends upon this place."

Athena's voice resounded across the battlefield via full-band broadcast.

As the goddess of war, seated on the command throne of the Nerva, raised her right hand, the colossal statue of the goddess of victory on the bow simultaneously raised its spear. All three hundred light spear turrets charged at the same time, and the accumulated energy distorted the surrounding space.

When the main gun array opened fire, the entire night in Cares was illuminated as bright as day.

Hundreds of golden beams of light swept across the Tal'darim fleet like divine swords of punishment, instantly disintegrating the three carriers that were hit first, their armor plates "sublimating" into plasma under the energy surge.

The chain reaction of the explosion swept across an area of ​​thousands of kilometers, and at least one-fifth of the Tadarin ships were wiped out in the first salvo.

Those ships that managed to evade direct hits were not spared either; the spreading storm of high-energy particles paralyzed their propulsion systems, leaving these twisted metal monsters helplessly tumbling in the vacuum.

"Turn around! Turn around quickly!"

Inside the bridge of a Taldarim mothership, the captain, whose body was covered in mutated bone spurs, was roaring madly.

But when it saw the missile pods deployed on the side of the Nerva through the observation window, its voice immediately turned into a desperate wail.

Swish—swish—!!
Thousands of golden-red tail flames illuminated the void.

The missile swarm unleashed a destructive force within the Taldarim fleet. Moreover, these missiles were all "antimatter" missiles, and the pure energy storm generated by the annihilation of antimatter turned this space into a furnace.

A Taldarim battleship attempting to initiate an emergency jump was immediately overtaken by the annihilation reaction of the explosion. Its hull twisted and folded like a child squashing a tinfoil toy, and finally disappeared without a trace in the flash of dimensional tearing.

Alarak's flagship barely survived the first wave of attacks.

Inside the bridge, the Supreme Lord watched as his own units dwindled wildly on the holographic star map, his muscles beneath his bone armor convulsing abnormally.

It originally planned to use the Kales crystal and the slaughter of all its Protoss brethren to complete the final metamorphosis ritual, but now—

"retreat."

The word seemed to be squeezed out of its decaying vocal cords.

The surviving Tadalin ships began to move closer to each other.

They used tractor beams to drag the heavily damaged friendly ships to the center of the formation, and then activated some kind of blasphemous mechanical device.

The selected ship's hull suddenly cracked open, revealing writhing flesh and organs inside, before exploding in a burst of black and red lightning.

The strange energy generated by these self-destructions actually tore open a temporary wormhole in space.

"Want to escape?"

Athena sneered.

The Nerva's pursuit fire reduced dozens of ships that couldn't jump in time to metal scrap, but a few Taldarin ships managed to escape into those unstable, blood-red wormholes.

Before the "smoke" in orbit had even cleared, the Nerva and the fleet of the Human Empire launched a large number of airdrop pods onto the ground.

As these metal capsules broke through the atmosphere, their surfaces glowed with an incandescent light due to friction, resembling a meteor shower of "sacred fire".

On the surface battlefield, Corey Tower and Zeratul both looked up.

"It seems your reinforcements are more numerous than I expected."

The consul's words came to an abrupt end.

He saw an airdrop pod crash directly into the center of the Tadarin army formation a kilometer away. The shockwave that erupted from the pod instantly overturned more than twenty mutants.

The figure emerging from the smoke and dust shocked even this man who had lived for two hundred years.

It was a Flame Lizard warrior clad in dark green titanium power armor, the purity mark inlaid on his shoulder armor radiating a soft light that dispelled filth.

Hundreds of Astartes landed shortly after them, some of which even had shark-like serrated armor.

The moment these "super soldiers" landed, they unleashed the hum of chainsaw swords and the roar of explosive guns, instantly altering the rhythm of the battlefield.

Zeratul's nerve cords trembled slightly; he noticed golden psionic energy flickering on the weapons of some warriors—

That is a power that originates from the same source as Athena, or rather, from a more powerful being.

As a Taldarim Slayer covered in bone spurs lunged at the wounded Kares warrior, a Wailer wielding a power hammer suddenly appeared and smashed the mutant into a bloody pulp with a single blow.

"Now."

Zeratul crossed his emerald psionic blades across his chest and gave Corey Tower his first genuine laugh in two hundred years. "Let us drive these blasphemers from your homeland."

The consul nodded silently, and the top of the scepter once again shone with a pure blue light.

Behind him, the surviving Kares warriors raised their psionic blades, forming a battle line of death and hope alongside the void energy of the Dark Templars and the explosive gun muzzles of the Astartes. The flames of war raged among the ruins of the floating city, metal platforms twisted and deformed by psionic corrosion, and crystal shards rained down from the shattered dome.

The mutated warriors of Taldarim roared inhumanly as their twisted bodies rampaged across the battlefield, their dark red psionic energy spreading like a plague through the air.

However, what awaited them at this moment was an unprecedented allied force—

The Protoss's powerful psionic energy and the iron will of the human empire converge here.

The warriors of the Flame Lizards advanced in tight formation.

Their dark green power armor was engraved with purification runes, and the purity marks on their shoulder armor emitted a pale golden halo, dispelling any corrupting psionic energy that tried to approach.

Amidst the roar of the bomb guns, each bullet precisely pierced the mutants' skulls, while the power swords in their hands traced blazing white trajectories as they swung, severing the Taldarim's bone blades along with their bodies.

One veteran Flame Lizard even crushed the skull of an Ascended with his bare hands, then threw the splattered blood at his feet as if it were the filthiest filth.

The warriors of the man-eating sharks are like bloodthirsty predators, their power armor adorned with serrated trophies, and the hum of their chainsaw swords like the roar of wild beasts.

They disregarded formations, charging into the enemy ranks with near-savage efficiency, their serrated power claws tearing flesh and blood, and their blast guns blasting the upper bodies of enemies into pieces when fired at close range.

A shark warrior hoisted a mutated Taldarim high into the air, then sawed it in half with the blade of his chainsword. Black blood splattered onto the armor, but all he got in return was a maniacal laugh.

The Holy Blood Angels of the Lamenters, on the other hand, exhibit a completely different fighting style.

Their red and yellow armor was etched with the emblem of mourning tears, but the weapons in their hands blazed with the fury of an emperor.

A wailing man wielding a power hammer strode forward, each strike accompanied by the dull thud of bones shattering and the tremor of the ground.

A golden plasma field pulsed across his warhammer. When a Tal'darim berserker covered in bone spurs charged at him, he swung his hammer, instantly shattering the enemy's body, and rotting flesh rained down on the battlefield.

The Protoss warriors of Kales were initially unfamiliar with, and even wary of, the Astartes of the human Empire.

But they soon discovered that these giants were not emotionless killing machines.

When a Kales warrior was burned by the Tal'darim's corrosive psionic energy, a Flame Lizard apothecary immediately stepped forward and stabilized the injury with nanomedicine gel.

When the Dark Templar's psionic blades clashed with the Tal'darim's corrupted psionic energy, the Weeping Ones even proactively adjusted their tactics, using explosive bombs to suppress the enemy's flanks and create opportunities for their Protoss allies.

The Dark Templars moved through the shadows, their eerie green psionic blades like the scythe of death, each flash accompanied by the fall of a mutant.

Zeratul himself moved across the battlefield like a ghost, his twin blades drawing perfect arcs as he simultaneously beheaded three Taldarim Ascended.

Kares' warriors gradually realized that these Shadow Walkers, whom they had once regarded as heretics, were now their most reliable comrades.

The battle lasted for half an hour, and every inch of the floating city's metal floor seemed to be soaked in blood.

Finally, as the last Taldarim mutant was smashed into a pulp by the Weeping Ones' power hammer, the sounds of battle in the central square finally ceased.

The surviving Kares warriors gasped for breath, their psionic blades dulled from overuse, but a new light gleamed in their eyes—

That was an affirmation of the allies and a hope for victory.

Corey Tower looked around. Although the floating city was in ruins and many areas of Kales were still ravaged by war, it had at least temporarily escaped the corruption of the Taldarim.

He turned to Zeratul, his nerve cords twitching slightly, preparing to ask the other about the true purpose of his trip with the Imperium of Man—

Suddenly, the air in the center of the square rippled like the surface of water.

A dazzling golden light descended from the sky, and Athena's figure slowly appeared in the light.

The goddess of war, clad in golden armor, pointed her spear of victory diagonally at the ground, the radiance dripping from its tip evaporating the remaining corrupted psionic energy.

Her gaze swept over every soldier present, finally settling on Corey Tower.

“Consul of Kares.” Her voice, like the distant tolling of a bell, echoed clearly in everyone’s mind, “This battle is only the beginning.”

The arrival of Athena made the air freeze.

Corey's nerve cords trembled uncontrollably, and his knees seemed to be driven by some ancient instinct to bend.

The Kares warriors behind him were even paler, their psionic blades drooping slightly, rippling with tiny psionic energy like ice crystals under the blazing sun.

The Protoss, sensitive to psionic energy, felt a chill run down their spines—

That's not fear, but a kind of awe deeply ingrained in the genes of a lower life form when facing a higher being.

After all, Athena has now received a comprehensive upgrade from the Emperor of Man, and it can be said that in terms of individual combat power, she has surpassed many Primarchs who are not good at psionic abilities, and is almost second only to the Emperor of Man.

She herself was like a walking psionic lighthouse. Even though she deliberately restrained her aura, she was still surrounded by a faint golden halo, which dispelled the gloom in the floating city ruins.

Her eyes were like two cold stars; wherever her gaze fell, even the dust floating in the air seemed to stand still.

Corres Tower resisted the urge to kneel, slamming his consul's scepter heavily on the ground, sending up a ring of psionic sparks.

"The Goddess of War of the Human Empire," his voice was more steady than expected, "you saved Kares, a debt we will never forget, but if your purpose in coming here is to bring the Protoss under the Empire's rule..."

He didn't finish his sentence.

Athena slightly raised her hand, a simple gesture that caused the entire floating city's ruins to tremble.

“Domination?” Her voice echoed like a thousand times, resonating directly in the nerve cords of every Protoss. “Do you think the Emperor cares about the submission of a remote planet?”

The tip of the Spear of Victory lightly touched the ground, and a golden ripple instantly spread throughout the entire square.

Where the ripples passed, the blackish-red traces of decay left on the ground curled up and disappeared like scorched mold, replaced by pure Kedarin crystals growing out of the cracks, radiating a soft blue light.

“Amon is dead.” Athena’s words struck like a hammer blow. “I personally nailed its remains to the edge of the void, but a greater threat has arrived—the filth lurking in the shadows of another dimension, which has set its sights on this universe, and you.”

Her gaze swept over each Protoss warrior. "Those with an overly sensitive constitution to psionic energy are nothing more than dazzling flames in the darkness in their eyes."

Zeratul stepped forward slowly, his eerie green eyes flashing with a complex light.

“Lady Athena is right.” The Dark Templar’s ​​voice was hoarse and heavy. “We have detected that the corruption of Taldarim does not stem from internal depravity, but from some external contamination, something more hidden and more malevolent than Amon.”

As if to confirm his words, a violent explosion suddenly came from the edge of the floating city.

The group turned to look and saw a forgotten Taldarim mutant corpse convulsing violently, with black and red energy surging out and condensing into a twisted eight-pointed star symbol in the air.
(End of this chapter)