The Celestial Engine established a communication channel with Yao En. Upon learning of his intent to clear the crystalline region, it immediately sought a suitable position for his teleportation.
The Celestial Engine launched beams of light toward the outer boundary of the crystalline region, attempting to clear a spot for Yao En's arrival. However, just like direct assaults on the crystal region, the beams were reflected back onto the energy shields.
Adjusting its aim, the Celestial Engine focused its light spears at a position about a kilometer outside the crystal boundary and fired again. This time, the beams didn't reflect; instead, they disintegrated upon touching the ground.
A demon holding a red, eye-embellished tome sneered at the sky, clearly responsible for dismantling the beams.
Throughout these tests, the Celestial Engine maintained its link with Yao En. With a bio-processor implanted in his brain, Yao En saw everything the Celestial Engine observed.
"The Master of Transience," he murmured, recalling how, years ago, Qin Mo had shared insights on various demons, including this one.
These demons could fly freely, mounted on saucer-like crafts, with the power to distort reality itself. Why could they twist reality? No one knew; demons, by nature, defied understanding.
At the time, Yao En had found the demon's reality-warping power abstract, but now he understood. A mere wave from this grotesque creature was enough to dissolve particle beams aimed at it.
Yao En remembered Qin Mo mentioning how each demon had unique traits; some could endure hundreds of battleship-launched particle beams without harm, yet a mortal with a blade might drive them away. Others could raze a planet with twin axes, only to be banished back to the Warp by a single incantation.
Demons wielded conceptual strengths, but there were ways to counter them.
"No need for further attempts. Just teleport me over," Yao En ordered.
"I intend to do so," replied a cold electronic voice, "but without clearing an open space, you'd materialize atop the demon."
"Then send me into midair. I'll drop down." Yao En devised a plan, his gaze fixed on the image shared by the Celestial Engine. The crystalline region and its vicinity swarmed with imposing, birdlike demons, all gripping scepters, yet mercifully lacking two heads.
These demons seemed to favor psychic powers. To fight them, Yao En knew proximity was paramount.
"Teleport me directly above the crystalline zone." Yao En unsheathed his chainsword. He briefly considered the double-headed eagle scepter, which could crush enemies with gravity, but dismissed it. Gravity wouldn't faze demons like the innate power of the Soulless.
A protective barrier formed around Yao En as he prepared to be transported above the crystal region.
"Understood."
The Celestial Engine's integrated teleportation device rapidly charged, teleporting Yao En to a position a kilometer above the crystal region within a second. As he fell, his bio-processor analyzed the situation, adjusting his muscles and bones to withstand the impact.
A demon on the ground named Tariq the Corrupt raised his scepter, shifting Yao En's position a kilometer forward. This was the furthest a demon of Tariq's power could move a Soulless with psychic force.
Just before impact, Yao En activated his jetpack, cushioning his descent, and crashed into the demon horde, lunging his chainsword at a Master of Transience in front of him.
Yao En's mere presence inflicted agony upon the demons. The Master of Transience, unable to react, was impaled, its shell burned to ash along with dozens of demons in its path as flames erupted from the chainsword.
All struck demons perished, obliterated rather than banished.
As Yao En prepared to strike down more demons, he noticed they didn't dare approach him, paralyzed by terror. These malevolent beings feared true annihilation, and the Soulless brought them more than mere torment.
Were any great demons nearby, they might have attempted to eliminate this mortal who pained them so. But none were present.
Yao En's pendant rose, resonating as it had in the arena before, channeling star-god power through his body. In his right hand, he held the flaming chainsword, while in his left, a spear materialized, crackling with electric currents.
"Begin the exorcism!" Yao En charged, attacking the demons. The creatures fled in terror—some in desperate flight, others chased down and slain. In his wake, Yao En left trails of fire and lightning, forcing the remaining demons to detour around him.
Within five minutes, Yao En cleared a vast space, ample for the Thirteenth Regiment to teleport down or for the Astartes to airdrop in larger forces if needed.
The Tyrone Thirteenth Infantry was first to descend.
As Yao En cleared the teleportation zone and advanced into the crystalline region, the Thirteenth Regiment followed, its elite Soulless causing nearby psykers to convulse from the proximity alone.
Half the demons across the Toyuko Plains writhed in pain but continued to fight.
The crystalline region resembled a cosmic rift, releasing torrents of psychic energy that flooded the galaxy's prior breach. This influx strengthened the demons, sparing them from the Soulless's painful touch.
From Cardia's orbit, the Space Wolves strike cruiser surveyed the ground. Wolf Lord Sven Bloodhowl led two hundred Space Marines into drop pods, slamming down near the Soulless.
Upon landing, the Space Marines blasted nearby weakened demons, clearing paths or shielding the Soulless from attacks on all sides.
The Space Marines, though not Soulless, kept their distance from Yao En's group, wary of the draining effect his presence imposed. Yet against the equally weakened demons, their task remained light work.