Even though I started this book midweek, we still got very close to 100 Powerstones.
— The hololith in the control room flared to life, projecting the metallic visage of Anrakyr the Traveller.
“I must admit, your operational speed is highly efficient.
Even with the Burning One acting as our vanguard, we did not exceed your pace.” “However, the optimal firing window has not yet arrived.
We must await confirmation from Aeros before we initiate the sequence.” Aeros was a gas giant, officially classified as a Mining World by the Imperium.
It was also the primary target they intended to detonate.
Its orbit was heavily populated by massive promethium extraction platforms.
Colossal tether-pipes plunged straight through the turbulent atmospheric layers, drawing highly pressurized, ultra-pure promethium directly from the planet’s core and routing it to the orbital processing rigs.
Anrakyr’s tactical algorithms had calculated that the Magnifican Prism’s solar beam might fail to cleanly pierce Aeros’s hyper-dense atmosphere and ignite the core.
To guarantee the detonation, he proposed hijacking the promethium extraction rigs.
Once the Prism was fired and the stellar energy struck the extraction platforms, the platforms would reverse their intake flow, forcefully pumping the highly volatile promethium back down into the core while simultaneously channeling the Prism’s catastrophic energy into the tether-pipes.
This would bypass the atmospheric shielding and trigger an apocalyptic, system-wide detonation.
To execute this, Dante’s Second Company and the Mephrit Dynasty’s Necron Phalanxes had deployed to Aeros to manually seize the control platforms and the fuel pipelines.
As an ultimate fail-safe, Anrakyr had even dispatched his Crypteks to Aeros, bringing the captive C’tan Shard of the Burning One to guarantee the breach.
“Tell them to pick up the pace,” Vane said, staring flatly at Anrakyr.
“If they can’t get it done, I’ll deploy there and finish it myself.” “That will be unnecessary.
Operations are proceeding smoothly.
You may rest,” Anrakyr replied, a flicker of genuine apprehension crossing his optics.
This human who claimed to be a Forefather was very terrifying.
Not only did he possess impossible personal strength, but the reality-breaking mechanics he wielded were completely beyond logic.
Anrakyr concluded he urgently needed to update his databanks regarding humanity’s Golden Age of Technology.
If the Imperium had more ancestors like him waiting to wake up, the Necrons could forget about restoring their ancient empire—they’d be lucky just to survive.
“Alright then.” Hearing Anrakyr’s assurance, Vane didn’t push the issue.
He turned to Dante.
“When Aeros detonates, the shockwave is going to affect every planet in this system.
Contact all surviving enclaves immediately.
Order them into deep subterranean shelters.” “Move the fleet into the acoustic shadow of Phodia to shield them from the blast wave.” “Understood.” Dante nodded, immediately taking a squad and stepping through the Nether Portal to begin coordinating the systemic evacuation protocols.
A short while later, Anrakyr hailed Vane again.
“All prerequisites are met.
Initiate the sequence.” “Do it,” Vane ordered.
The accompanying Techmarine stepped up to the primary control console.
Bypassing the crude Mechanicus locks with an override cipher, he slammed his fist onto the activation rune and manually cranked the output manifold to absolute maximum.
The dormant Void Domes roared to life, every ancient component violently vibrating as they spooled up.
In the void above Tartaros, the Magnifican Prism erupted with blinding, incandescent brilliance, violently siphoning the raw, unbridled energy of the Cryptus system’s star.
On the control console, the energy output graphs spiked vertically, completely breaking past the projected safety limits.
A catastrophic torrent of stellar energy was captured by the Void Domes, routed through the system-wide relay network, and fired directly at the gas giant Aeros.
Any Tyranid bio-ships unfortunate enough to be caught in the beam’s path were instantly flash-fried, writhing in the void for a microsecond before completely vaporizing into ash.
On Aeros, the Blood Angels and Necrons stationed at the extraction platforms executed the final sequence, reversing the promethium flow and channeling the stellar beam directly into the planet’s core.
The resulting explosion was absolute, apocalyptic annihilation.
The gas giant detonated, unleashing a catastrophic shockwave that violently swept across the entire system.
Countless Tyranid bio-ships were instantly shredded, their pulverized remains scattered into the frozen void.
Millions of Tyranid ground forces swarming the surfaces of the remaining planets suffered the exact same fate—instantaneously incinerated and ripped apart by the atmospheric firestorms.
In a single, devastating stroke, the vast majority of the Tyranid forces actively infesting the Cryptus System were eradicated.
The primary strategic objective had been achieved.
The Magnifican Prism, utterly incapable of surviving the catastrophic backlash of the detonation, shattered, its colossal fragments burning violently as they drifted into the void.
The Imperial forces, utilizing Vane’s Nether Portals, had successfully retreated into subterranean bunkers, while the fleet safely weathered the shockwave behind Phodia’s mass.
The Necron forces on Aeros and Phodia successfully phased out, teleporting back to their tomb ships and crypts just before the blast hit.
When the systemic firestorm finally subsided, Hive Fleet Leviathan had been crippled.
Unfortunately, it had not been completely annihilated.
The surviving Tyranid swarm was still astronomically large.
If the Hive Mind managed to regroup its scattered tendrils and push towards the Baal system, it would still spell absolute doom for the sons of Sanguinius.
But before Vane could address the remnants of the fleet, a catastrophic variable entered the board.
Harnessing the immense cosmic energy released by the planetary detonation, the Shard of the Burning One violently broke free from its Necron containment tesseracts.
Exploiting the chaos, it hijacked one of Vane’s Nether Portals on Phodia, teleported straight to Tartaros, and instantly destroyed the portal behind it to prevent pursuit.
The C’tan Shard’s plan was simple: escape Tartaros, flee into the deep void, fully cast off Anrakyr’s shackles, gorge itself on stars until it regained its peak power, and then return to exact a terrifying vengeance upon the galaxy.
“Free…
I am finally free.” “Sixty million years.
Those treacherous, soulless slaves kept me chained in the dark for sixty million years!” “Who could possibly comprehend the sheer agony I endured for sixty million years?!” “I will make those traitors suffer!
Not even the resurrection of the Old Ones will save them!
I, Nyadra’zatha, the Burning One, swear it!” “BURN!
BURN!
BURN IT ALL!” The Burning One shrieked in hysterical, apocalyptic rage.
Its luminous, ethereal body radiated the catastrophic heat of a dying star.
Before it fled into the void, it intended to vent sixty million years of hatred by incinerating every miserable biological construct on this rock.
It swept across the desolate wasteland like a sentient firestorm.
The sheer intensity of its heat physically warped the light around it.
Every surviving Tyranid bio-form and Necron construct in its path was instantly reduced to molecular ash.
Nothing could halt its advance.
Everything was completely consumed by its terrifying, cosmic fire.
“Do not let it breach the Void Domes!” Seth roared over the vox-net as auspex scanners blared, detecting the Burning One rapidly approaching their position.
The baseline environment of Tartaros was already lethal.
If the Void Domes were destroyed, they would be instantly subjected to the full, unfiltered wrath of the star’s radiation and heat.
Even Astartes biology couldn’t survive that for long.
As the Burning One neared the perimeter, the Flesh Tearers aggressively opened fire.
A torrential barrage of mass-reactive bolters and plasma blasts struck the C’tan Shard, only to be effortlessly absorbed by a colossal wall of cosmic fire it casually summoned.
“Miserable insects.
You dare raise your weapons against a god?
Burn.” The Burning One unleashed a catastrophic wave of hyper-dense solar fire, intending to flash-fry every single Flesh Tearer into blackened husks.
Right at that exact microsecond, Vane dropped from the sky, slamming a heavily enchanted Fire Resistance Shield into the earth, perfectly blocking the apocalyptic firestorm.
“Oh?
An ant that is slightly more durable than the rest.
But still just an ant.” The Burning One sounded mildly surprised, but its tone remained dripping with absolute, cosmic contempt.
It completely dismissed Vane as a threat.
“So this is the C’tan Shard of the Burning One?
Perfect.
I was just looking for a new power core.” Vane analyzed the towering entity composed entirely of living fire and broke into a massive grin.
Hearing Vane’s words, the Burning One was instantly infuriated.
A pathetic, mortal biological construct actually dares to speak to me like that?!
Who do you think you are?!
Szarekh?!
And even Szarekh couldn’t fight us without relying on treacherous, cowardly ambushes!
Roaring in fury, the Burning One lunged at Vane.
The sheer cosmic heat it radiated violently distorted space-time, cracking the earth beneath them and causing magma to violently erupt from the crust.
It literally looked like the end of the world.
The apocalyptic display of power sent a cold chill down Seth’s spine.
So this is a C’tan?
A being that once ruled the physical universe?
Yet, what shocked the Flesh Tearers even more was the Forefather.
He was fundamentally just a mortal human, yet he was engaging in single combat with a literal God.
The shield and armor he wielded completely nullified the Burning One’s cosmic fire—fire capable of incinerating reality itself—without taking a single scratch.
His agile, physics-defying maneuvers effortlessly dodged every strike, leaving the C’tan Shard roaring in impotent, blinding rage.
After a heart-stopping, apocalyptic duel, something even more completely unbelievable happened.
Vane leaped high into the air, perfectly dodging a massive pillar of solar fire.
Seizing the microsecond opening, he violently thrust his weapon straight through the Burning One’s chest.
The C’tan Shard let out a horrifying, cosmic wail, its blazing form violently flickering as it collapsed to its knees.
“What kind of god are you?!” the Burning One gasped, its burning eyes filled with absolute shock and disbelief.
It had never, in its entire immortal existence, conceived of a scenario where it could be defeated by a human.
“I’m not a god.
But I’ve killed plenty of guys who claimed to be.” Vane casually pulled a specific staff from his inventory: the Staff of Containment.
It was an endgame modded tool capable of forcefully packaging any biological or supernatural entity into a singular block.
He pointed the staff at the Burning One and clicked.
A bizarre, fundamental suppression force instantly washed over the C’tan Shard.
The Star God was violently compressed, screaming as it was sealed entirely within a single, glowing red block that continuously radiated waves of intense heat.
Right at that moment, an emerald teleportation portal flared to life nearby.
Anrakyr the Traveller and his Lychguard escort marched out, hunting for their escaped C’tan.
Vane calmly picked up the Burning One block, stashed it in his inventory, and casually walked up to Anrakyr.
“Hey, you.
I’m going to need you to settle the repair bill for the Nether Portal your pet just broke.”