The Chapter's Chief Librarian was in dire straits. After fusing with the cosmic phantom beast, Elena's psychic senses were extremely sharp.
She could sense the Blood Angels Librarian's soul was far stronger than a regular Space Marine—even stronger than the Custodes.
He could wield immense psychic power, but his body couldn't always withstand it. Now, his physical form was nearly spent.
There was only one way to save him: the Primaris Space Marine augmentation.
"Primaris surgery? Lady Elena, can that save Mephiston?" Dante asked, grasping at this last hope.
"Yes! Let's put him in a stasis field for now, keep him safe. When the war ends, we'll return to Lord Rhodes' battleship and begin the procedure," Elena replied.
"Lady Elena, what's the success rate?" Dante asked.
"Don't worry, Chapter Master Dante. The success rate is 100%. No cadian or original Space Marine has ever died from this procedure since it was invented," Elena said with a smile.
This was a procedure developed by the top scientists of the Golden Age alongside Belisarius Cawl.
"I understand! Don't worry, Mephiston. Rest up—you'll recover soon," Dante reassured his Librarian.
"Chapter Master! When the war ends, notify the Grey Knights. They must know about this daemon," Mephiston said.
"I understand, Mephiston. For now, your only task is to rest. We don't need you for the next battles."
They placed Mephiston in a life-support pod and set up a stasis field to keep him safe.
Once Mephiston was secure, they revived the unconscious Custodes Ultraman. Though hit by an Emerium Beam, Ultraman's wounds were not fatal—he was just knocked out.
Ultra Beasts do heal quickly. In two days, the Custodes Ultraman would be back on his feet.
Meanwhile, the Emperor's Avatar had vanished from the battlefield.
"Where is the Avatar? Was he destroyed?" Dante asked.
How strong was that daemon, to defeat all three of them? Thankfully it left—otherwise, even the Primarch might not have been able to win.
"No, the Avatar just returned to the Emperor's side. Like living saints, they cannot truly die," Elena said.
The Avatar was created by the Emperor and Rhodes as a bioweapon and could be recalled at any time.
"That's a relief. If anything happened to the Avatar, even my life couldn't atone," Dante said.
The appearance of such a terrifying daemon boded ill for the Imperium's future, the Ultramarines Captain remarked.
They thought they were only facing Tyranids, but now Chaos had appeared on Baal—an utterly terrifying daemon, possibly a child of Slaanesh? Could Chaos spawn such offspring?
The war on Baal continued, but the Custodes Ultraman and Avatar were out of commission. No matter—the balance had already shifted.
…
In space, the battle was a tug-of-war. Rhodes' system credits soared to over a million in just a few hours.
Rhodes spent half a million credits to summon five Ultramen: Zoffy, Ultraman, Jack, Ace, and Taro; plus the previously acquired Ultra Seven—now, the Ultra Brothers were complete.
These new mechanical Ultras were the version invented by Salome, with superior all-around performance.
Though their defense was slightly lower than Yapool's Ace Robot, they compensated with a full Ultraman beam arsenal and could power up a dozen times each.
With the five new Ultras joining, they became a super artillery battery, combining with the earlier Ace Robot.
They fired Super Metallium Rays, Super Specium Rays, and Super Strium Rays, obliterating Tyranid bio-ships. The Tyranid advance was stopped cold.
Even kilometer-long bio-ships couldn't get near Rhodes' flagship, unable to breach the defense of a hundred King Joe robots.
Taking the chance, Rhodes upgraded his King Joes to their ultimate 100m forms and began upgrading another Pedan mothership.
The Tyranid fleet was enormous—even after losing over a thousand bio-ships, it was just a drop in the bucket. This was a war of attrition.
The Tyranids pulled their motherships out of Rhodes' range but kept sending waves of bio-ships, even circling behind him.
The Tyranids also projected a psychic field, sealing the Baal system to prevent Rhodes from escaping into the Warp.
The battle was fierce: a hundred King Joe robots, the Iron, and two max-upgraded King Joes fought the bio-ships.
After a few more hours, the five new Ultras were also maxed out.
With their energy spent, they had destroyed 3,500 more bio-ships, earning Rhodes 1.5 million credits.
But Rhodes' flagship shields were down, the void shield maxed out, and all robots recalled. The hundred King Joes were all destroyed.
No time to mourn, Rhodes upgraded another Pedan mothership, then deployed it.
Ultras were powerful at range, but at close quarters, the Pedan main cannon was also strong.
A new giant mothership appeared, launching a hundred new King Joes to resume the fight.
On Baal's surface, every Tyranid ground force was wiped out—another massive credit gain for Rhodes.
In one day, Rhodes' side had destroyed over 5,000 bio-ships. The new mothership and King Joes put huge pressure on the Tyranids.
They hadn't expected Rhodes to recover so fast and summon another army.
But the new Pedan mothership lacked a void shield and could only rely on its energy shields against the Tyranids.
When the shields maxed out and half the King Joe army was again destroyed, Rhodes gained another 500,000 credits, pushing his total to 1.5 million.
The Tyranids finally halted their attack, pulling their motherships back to the edge of the system.
"Come on! I've still got over a million credits! I'll summon ten more Ultra Brothers if I have to!"
Another mothership was recharging in his system inventory. When its shields maxed, he'd just swap ships. And every battle brought more credits—let's see how the Tyranids could outlast him.
The Tyranids hesitated, unsure of Rhodes' limits, and paused their attack.
Rhodes stood ready, his mothership menacingly barring the way, daring the Tyranids to make a move.
"Master! I've arrived at the Palace of Slaanesh," the Slaanesh Assassin reported, contacting Rhodes remotely.
"Don't be nervous. Stay calm and act proud! Do as I say. If you're ever in danger, I'll recall you instantly," Rhodes said.
…
"I understand, Master!" The Slaanesh Assassin took a deep breath.
What's to fear? If anything goes wrong, the Master can recall me instantly.
With this thought, he followed the Daemonette into the Palace of Pleasure.
This was the Dark Prince's palace, with six circles of decadence. Every earthly temptation was present here—supreme power, endless delicacies, countless beauties, utmost luxury.
But to the Slaanesh Assassin, it was a land of rot. With the godpower of Slaanesh, he saw through every illusion.
The beautiful women were hideous daemons, the delicacies just slop.
Even if they were truly beautiful, would an Ace Killer be tempted? As for power or food, they held no appeal at all.