Chapter 236: The World-Maker
Whoosh—
The environment on Pioneer III was becoming increasingly hostile.
After the complete evacuation of the surface population, the Preservers, no longer needing to maintain the planet's delicate balance, released that portion of their processing power. The entire star system's planets entered a state of strange hyperactivity. Even Imperial aircraft had difficulty taking off. Although the Orks on the surface had quickly developed space-faring technology, they had lost their leader, and their scattered assaults posed no threat to the Dawnlight Fleet. The remaining dregs on the surface were turned to dust along with the churning earth. Orks could adapt to countless horrific wars, but they could not adapt to the pressure of nature itself. They were, after all, weapons of war. Just like on the death world of Catachan, in tens of thousands of years, not a single Ork had become a part of the ecosystem.
"Test complete. Maximum pressure..."
In the ruins, which had remained unscathed by the violent tectonic activity, Ramesses released Arthur from the labyrinth. The test results made him nod in satisfaction. "Good. With this as a backup, I have more than enough time to throw it into the warp. Now it's up to Karna to see if he can hold out."
With that, Ramesses began to adjust the polarity of the Blackstone, gradually shifting it towards the warp. A similar operation had occurred in the lore of Space Marine 2. An unnamed Greater Daemon of Tzeentch had, by reversing the polarity of a Blackstone, completed its manifestation on an Imperial shrine world in a very short time, because the warp power was strong enough.
So the Dawnbreakers had never really counted on the strategy of using Blackstone to cut off the warp. After all, the powers of the warp could also use Blackstone to enhance themselves. But Ramesses was only opening a small outlet for output, for the purpose of covering Karna. The Dawnbreakers themselves would supply the soul-power.
"In a moment, I'll perform a ritual for you," he explained. "Similar to Angron in the Arks of Omen. You'll be able to tank a series of naval bombardments. Non-ritualized attacks won't be able to kill you. Just be careful not to get stabbed up close. In the early stages, you need to hold the World-Maker shard and keep it from leaving the strike zone."
"That'll cost a lot of souls, won't it?" Karna asked, looking at the projected cost. It was pretty much everything he had earned as an idol this whole time.
"Money is only money when you spend it," Ramesses shook his head. Even if this series of preparations might prove useless or wasteful because the C'tan shard was too strong or too weak, it didn't mean they should skimp on it. They were shouldering the rise and fall of a civilization. If they were to bicker over such small gains and losses at every turn, what was the difference between them and a street thug?
Ramesses sipped his tea, adjusting the reverse polarity of the Blackstone, and at the same time, kicked back any daemons that tried to sneak through the opening in the warp. No Tzeentchian daemons.
Noticing that no god was willing to snatch the new soul he had just created, he asked Arthur, "How long can you last in the infinite labyrinth?"
"I can't get out," Arthur replied honestly. Until the last bit of the Tesseract Labyrinth's self-circulating energy ran out, he would be trapped inside for a solid three hours.
"..."
Beside them, Trazyn was completely stunned. Everything he had seen today was a major challenge to his worldview. Necron technology could undoubtedly capture the existence of a soul. Their stasis-crypts were not lacking in ancient Aeldari heroes or daemons of the warp. And the reason they had always believed they were dead was because they could truly perceive what a soul was. So, when he saw Ramesses fishing in the warp with a freshly-made soul and beginning to use a warp ritual to cover Karna's individual form, he felt his worldview being challenged as never before.
And you. He looked at Arthur with a newfound respect. How did you dare to go in? Aren't you afraid of being tricked? If the C'tan had been like you back in the day, the Necrons would have had no chance.
Ramesses turned his head and looked at the confused Trazyn. "Do you need to take cover?"
"Can I choose not to?" Trazyn replied cautiously. He really wanted to see what would happen next. Today's gains had already exceeded his expectations.
"..." Aglaia also wanted to stay, but she knew she did not have the ability to protect herself. She couldn't stay here and be a burden.
"Alright then. I'm pulling the boss," Ramesses said with a casual nod. He looked at his rapidly dwindling soul-reserves, decisively adjusted the Blackstone, and then called Romulus. "Are you ready?"
"Fully prepared. This is the pre-fire zone," Romulus replied, marking the strike zones on Pioneer III and its moons to deal with the different situations after the C'tan's release.
"Karna."
"Ready." Clad in golden-red armour, an ever-burning flame ignited at the tip of his spear. When the time came to advance, Karna would not hesitate.
And in the warp, a supreme presence had also completed its descent. It did not bother with Ramesses, who was blocking the door, nor did it expend its power to try and force the rift open. Instead, it focused its attention on the tiny fissure in the warp. It was like a person pressing against a crack in a door, using all their focus to try and observe the scene outside with one eye.
?
What the feth, what a creep.
"Alright!" Ramesses nodded to the Preservers. After they had agreed, he directly teleported the entire mainframe of the Preservers and the remaining humans in the ruins to the Dawnlight. He then directly unlocked the seal of the Tesseract Labyrinth. Because the Tesseract Labyrinth was a direct copy, its cycle was fixed. He could not let the World-Maker adapt to this cycle beforehand.
BOOM—
In that instant, the barrier of space was shattered. An infinite energy erupted in a blinding white light. Ramesses looked up, and in a fleeting glance, the ruins had vanished. The entire tomb was gone without a trace. There was no dome, no trace of civilization, only a brilliant river of stars in the sky. The lights were not dim, but they were like a hazy black veil, making it impossible to see the truth.
"Pathetic, weak race. How long did you think you could stop me?"
"Hahaha, we are the C'tan! Only we can resist the erosion of time!"
"Where are the souls? I want to taste those souls!"
The World-Maker muttered to itself in a mad, ancient tongue. Everything around it began to change. Its mere existence began to tear apart the land beneath its feet. The land for thousands of kilometers around was twisted into a chaotic form by its confused thoughts.
It was a dramatic scene.
"Go!"
"I hear them calling me! They long to shatter this sorrowful everything!"
Karna strode forward, the flames spiraling and converging at the tip of his spear. All the sorrow, indignation, and resentment he had received along the way were now converged into a single emotion.
"Rage is the answer!"
"Hmm?" Sensing a strange aura, an aura from the empyrean that made it feel an instinctive disgust, the World-Maker's chaotic thoughts were tinged with a flicker of confusion. What is this thing? What do they want to do? What can they do?
This question had just surfaced in its chaotic mind when the World-Maker felt a strong light.
BOOM!!!
Karna had surpassed the speed of sound. No, under the great power of the warp, he had even surpassed the constraints of space. He did not stop for a moment, did not even turn his head back. His eyes were fixed on the being that had not yet fully revealed its form.
CLANG!
The Crimson Spear seemed to touch something invisible, bringing him to a sudden halt from a full sprint. His legs sank into the ground, and veins bulged on his forehead. You will not stop me!
Pushing beyond the limit, the ground beneath his feet was pulverized. The flames spiraled and gathered at the tip of his spear, and finally erupted in an infinite blaze. The Angel adjusted his posture, burning with rage, and wrestled with the laws of the material universe.
BOOM!
The barrier of space was shattered. A high-temperature white smoke ignited the air. The Angel leaped forward, and this small step was like crossing an entire dimension. And in fact, it was. He raised the tip of his spear, lifting the creature that was wrapped in flames, and the two of them became a burning meteor, crashing directly into the moon.
Because of the large amount of Blackstone present, if necessary, it was better to preserve Pioneer III if they could.
CRASH!!!
The crimson meteor crossed time and space and crashed onto the moon's surface. Karna half-knelt on the ground, his body steaming with the after-effects of the high temperature. He lowered his head and saw the uneven, grey-white land, the strange, echoing stones, like the moon of his memory.
As he slowly raised his head, the desolate landscape gradually came into view in his vision, and a huge crater. He could hear no sound, feel no air. It was as desolate as a land of the dead. By the light of the stars and the sun, he saw a huge shadow in the ever-changing crater in front of him, and a heavy aura washed over him.
"Ugh, a disgusting power. What kind of creature is this?"
"Is this our newborn kin? But it doesn't seem like it. They wield the power of the Sea of Souls, and I smell the rich aroma of souls on them."
"How blasphemous. They have forgotten their own power and have chosen to embrace something inferior."
"No, this must be a provocation!"
"Defeat them! Devour them!"
Words of different tones echoed in the space around the shadow. After a chaotic conversation, they finally reached a consensus: to devour these beings of unknown origin.
The World-Maker raised a hand and made a grasping motion. More than half of the moon's surface began to move rhythmically with its action.
"What a coincidence. We have the same idea," the steaming Karna slowly stood up. A faint, winged shadow lit up, pulling him to his feet.
"So—" His lips curled up, revealing his sharp white teeth.
CLANG—
The Crimson Spear in his hand vibrated slightly. Although there was no atmosphere, the sound was still clear.
"Are you ready to die?!"
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