This time was different from the last. Last time, it was about killing demons; this time, it was about catching them.
At this point, the planet's situation had become almost identical to that of Vigilus. Of the Greater Demons of the Four Gods, only the Lord of Change had yet to descend, but the Overmind knew that Tzeentch's greater daemon was already peering at this world.
"Even the Tzaangors have arrived. Can the Lord of Change be far behind?"
Most importantly, since the Greater Demons of the other three gods had all arrived, the Lord of Change would definitely show up, if only to join in on the chaos.
Sure enough, nine hours later, the Lord of Change descended amidst a twisting Warp vortex. By now, due to the massive harvest of souls, the Warp density on this planet had reached staggering proportions.
With the Greater Demons of all Four Gods gathered, the Overmind couldn't have been more satisfied.
"If I weren't incapable of blowing up a Webway gate, I'd definitely cook up a mini Eye of Terror. But for now, my objective has already been achieved."
The Zerg Swarm fleet initiated its assault. This time, the Queen of Blades personally joined the fray. Meanwhile, the Leviathans were packed with unconventional combat units. The objective was crystal clear: capture the Greater Demons.
The Overmind was especially determined not to let that Lord of Change slip away.
"Begin!!!"
The Leviathan fleet commenced a collective warp-jump. Coordinates confirmed, mission confirmed. Hundreds of Leviathans materialized almost out of thin air along the perimeter of this Hive World, gradually tightening their battle lines.
The local planetary fleet was small to begin with, numbering fewer than ten vessels. Just as they began to react to the alien xenos invasion, they were blasted into scrap by swarms of Leviathans firing bio-plasmic cannons.
Even void shields couldn't save them. Every single ship faced an onslaught from over twenty Leviathans—a barrage that absolutely no one could withstand.
Having secured total air superiority, the Swarm forces began their planetary landing.
The Queen of Blades, however, did not land immediately. The Overmind had instructed her not to scare the demons away.
Her previous record of single-handedly slaughtering dozens of Bloodthirsters back-to-back was simply too terrifying. Anyone would be frightened by it, and it would be a major loss if the Greater Demons were spooked into fleeing.
It was practically a replication of the War for Vigilus. An endless tide of daemons clashed once more with a Swarm that blotted out the sky—only this time, it was the Zerg Swarm.
Droppods rained down one after another. The moment the Zerglings and Hydralisks inside emerged, they threw themselves into combat against the daemons filling the streets.
A Khornate daemon swung its great hellblade, cleaving a lunging Zergling in half, only to be sliced in two by a trailing Hydralisk's scythe-limb a split second later. Then, that Hydralisk was cut down by an oncoming Bloodletter.
From the very beginning, the combat was intensely fierce.
The daemons seemed to realize that once the Swarm claimed this planet, this hundred-billion-soul buffet would be gone. Consequently, they fought with exceptional ferocity, and the number of daemonic reinforcements arriving from the Warp far exceeded previous encounters.
But they had never considered one crucial detail...
Why do you think there's a hundred-billion-soul buffet here in the first place? The whole point is to make sure you don't run away.
They assumed the Swarm was here to fight them for the humans. But the Overmind had never cared about such a trivial amount of biomass. The daemons failed to notice that a peculiar new unit had been introduced into the ranks of the Swarm.
This unit was bloated and massive, resembling an Infestor in appearance, but the Terrans of the Koprulu Sector usually referred to them as [Stranglebeasts].
Their role was similar to that of Infestors, except that while Infestors used parasitic neural parasites to control biological organisms, Stranglebeasts used their tentacles to bind and restrain them.
This unit was highly situational. Because of their massive size and lack of offensive or defensive capabilities, they required protection from other Zerg units. Furthermore, a restrained target was far less docile than one under the direct mental domination of an Infestor, carrying a constant risk of breaking free from the bonds.
As a result, this unit was rarely included in the Swarm's standard combat roster. But things were different now—this creature was uniquely suited for capturing entities like daemons, which were completely immune to psychic mind control.
"Time to play the claw machine."
The daemons and Chaos Cultists had formed a defensive front to resist the Swarm, entirely unaware of what the Zerg were about to pull next.
Flocks of Tzaangors banded together to block the Swarm's charge. Armed with scimitars and Tzeentchian shields, they held the Zergling packs at bay in the streets. Many of these lowest-ranking Tzeentchian daemons were originally humans corrupted into daemonic forms, so their fighting styles remained remarkably similar to humans.
But in the next second, a tentacle suddenly whipped out from the depths of the Swarm, wrapping tightly around a Tzaangor's neck.
"Get over here!"
The Stranglebeast's tentacle easily yanked the Tzaangor into the ranks of the Swarm. The Zerg didn't even attack the captive; instead, they provided cover for the Stranglebeast, letting it drag the Tzaangor away into the distance.
"That's the first one."
If a daemon was killed, it would simply return to the Warp. But as long as they weren't killed, they could never return to the Immaterium.
This tactic of capturing rather than killing was, in reality, the exact strategy daemons feared most.
However, the Overmind knew he couldn't capture every single daemon. He began collecting a few samples of each type. After a dozen or so Tzaangors were secured, no more individuals of that type were targeted.
The same applied to the Bloodletters of Khorne and the Daemonettes of Slaanesh, though these daemons proved slightly more difficult to catch.
A Stranglebeast's tentacle shot out, just about to ensnare a Daemonette, but the creature actually reacted to the tentacle's speed, swinging its crab-like claw-limb to sever the appendage.
This highlighted the key difference between a neural parasite needle and a physical tentacle.
Oh? Pretty fast reflexes. Then try this!
A glob of Fungal Growth was launched by an Infestor embedded within the Swarm, splashing right into the daemonic horde. The lightning-fast Daemonettes suddenly found themselves glued to the spot, entirely unable to move for a short duration.
Next came the Stranglebeast's performance time. Within a dozen seconds, over ten Daemonettes were tightly bound by tentacles and dragged backward into the Swarm.
Say what you want, but you really can't deny that a scene like this fits right into the aesthetic of Slaanesh.
The same went for the Khornate Bloodletters. They were also capable of reacting to the speed of the tentacles, but once the Infestors' Fungal Growth washed over them, they were left powerless to resist, allowing themselves to be bound by the Stranglebeasts' tentacles.
With several dozen more daemons successfully captured, the Overmind had collected a sufficient number of daemon samples. These specimens would be kept under special guard by Primal Zerg, leaving absolutely zero possibility of escape.
"Next up are those four big ones."
The Overmind looked down at the four Greater Demons from high above. The Greater Demons instantly felt a sudden wave of revulsion and dread—some grand, colossal existence had locked its sights onto them.
The first to meet with misfortune was the Keeper of Secrets, the Greater Demon of Slaanesh. Having devoured the souls of over ten Eldar, this creature was currently riding an absolute high, lounging inside a luxurious palace on the upper spires of the Hive to savor the experience.
Up in the sky, numerous Overlords began dropping ground units with exceptionally high individual combat capabilities, such as Aberrations, Roaches, and Hydralisks. They even deployed several Ultralisks. A meteor, ablaze with friction fire, plummeted straight toward that palace.
BOOM!
The palace roof was shattered to pieces. The Queen of Blades stood up from amid the debris of the structure. Looking at the Slaaneshi Greater Demon still reminiscing over the Eldar souls, the corners of her mouth curved into a slight smirk.
Don't let it run away, my daughter.
"By your will, Overmind."