Chapter 237: Not Human at All!
Pioneer III Surface.
Ramesses stood, focused, manipulating the Blackstone frequency. Trazyn and Arthur stood by his side.
"It seems that one alone cannot weaken the C'tan shard," Trazyn remarked, observing the scene on the moon. The two individuals were in a stalemate, but their destructive power was on completely different levels. If not for the assistance of the warp-ritual, the Angel would have long been crushed by the shifting tectonic plates. Having dealt with the various factions of the galaxy for so long, Trazyn had a decent understanding of warp-rituals. Although he didn't know where these individuals got the sacrifices for their rituals, or how they had miraculously not tipped the balance between the warp and the material universe, this stalemate would last until the end of time. This was, after all, the materium.
"Yes, it's quite strong," Ramesses nodded in agreement. Good thing they weren't alone. "Old Rom, open fire."
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The planet's crust pulsed with continuous impacts, but they only served to embed the tip of a spear into the ground. Karna had been dispersed several times. The flame ignited, and he reappeared in the distance, his face grim. The World-Maker didn't have the flashy conceptual abilities of other C'tan. It just had an extreme mastery of the C'tan's own power. Its control over physical phenomena like time and space was too precise.
The moment of each impact, time would flow normally, but the gap was so short that to describe it in seconds would be an extravagance. Karna didn't dare to stop for a moment. He knew that to be trapped in time would mean a continuous, unending assault. He moved constantly, the impacts chasing behind him, each one missing by a hair's breadth.
"Unknown kinsman, the flames of the Sea of Souls are no match for the Burning One, Nyadra'zatha. You are better off surrendering."
"What kinsman? This is a new life form."
"We must devour him, study him."
The World-Maker chattered on with a chaotic internal monologue, like a hunter who was sure of his victory, his attention not focused in the slightest.
CLANG! The burning spear-tip pierced its outer shell. The World-Maker had paid the price for its overconfidence.
"Heh," a low chuckle came half a second later. Metal fragments scattered. His fingers touched the energy construct within. It was like a drop of water splashing. The surrounding living metal was being slowly dissolved.
This was the C'tan's true form. They were a mass of free-form energy, able only to reside in stars. It was their fusion with living metal that had given them the ability to move freely in the material universe. And the feedback from the 'wound' made the World-Maker close its eyes and let out a moan of pleasure.
What anger... what power...
It felt a flame, a flame that surpassed all rare treasures. Even after devouring the souls of countless races, it had rarely encountered such a wonderful meal. It had a premonition that devouring this being would not only increase its power, but also further restore its consciousness.
The malicious thoughts hidden in its heart began to rise. And the power the C'tan possessed just happened to be able to realize its malicious thoughts.
"Useless! Your struggle."
"I am an eternal being! My power is endless! You are not enough! The power you unleash is not enough!"
It began to fight the Angel with a mad frenzy, its instincts driving it to constantly use its authority, attempting to crush its opponent with the entire world. "I will eat you!"
The endless stars represented endless possibilities, and also endless dangers. Only by devouring each other, by fighting each other, by turning the weak into food, could one forever maintain the status of a hunter.
"Ramesses, can you take it?" Romulus asked, his gaze fixed on the surface of the grey moon. He now had a measure of the C'tan's power. It was hard to imagine that a single individual could be so strong.
"The attrition rate is terrible, but it doesn't matter. It's just an investment in the preliminary validation," Ramesses replied. "Karna has drawn its aggro. The fleet can begin to move."
"Good." Romulus's gaze returned from the surface. He then ordered Drakus, "Begin the bombardment."
At that moment, all the battleships in outer space equipped with Nova Cannons had reserved their power and were on standby. Upon receiving the order, they immediately channeled all of it into their launch bays.
"You... are not enou—"
The words were cut short. A solid object, moving at near light-speed, slammed directly into the World-Maker.
BOOM—
In an instant, a blinding wave of energy erupted at the point of contact. The towering figure was slammed into the planet's crust like a meteor. The entire moon shook violently. The constantly reshaping surface suddenly froze. Countless red fissures, like blood vessels, spread madly from the center of the impact, and in the blink of an eye, had stained half the moon's surface a scorching, fiery red.
"Continue," Romulus's voice was frighteningly calm. He looked down at the blinking coordinates on the tactical screen, his knuckles tapping a cold rhythm on the console.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
A deafening series of explosions bloomed silently in the void. With Karna constantly sticking to the enemy, Romulus continuously expended souls, each targeting unit sticking to the World-Maker's body like a leech. A barrage of shells with devastating kinetic energy continued to bombard it. The once-indestructible body of the Star God began to show fine cracks.
The moon's surface disintegrated under the continuous shockwaves. Huge chunks of rock slowly broke away from the celestial body, forming a slowly rotating ring of debris in the void.
Half an hour later, the once-complete moon was in pieces, only its core still maintaining a distorted silhouette under the force of inertia.
"Cool~" Trazyn put down his telescope. Although it was a Star God, a shard was a shard. Faced with a star-shattering attack, it would eventually be defeated. There was no doubt about that. In the end, a C'tan was just a manifestation of physical laws. You could think of it as the faucet of a reservoir. Although its power was infinite, you could actually break the faucet, or drill a few more holes. Or, like the Necrons' World Engine, you could shape the faucet into your own.
To achieve all this, the simplest way was a direct hit from a materium weapon. And although humanity's fleets were backward, they had never lacked for destructive power. Before a big gun, all are equal. Especially a C'tan that was so stupid it could only use its power on instinct.
It had to be said, Trazyn felt that unless he went to the dynasty and got a World Engine from the Phaeron, he really couldn't take on a combat force of the Dawnlight Fleet's level.
After a moment of感慨, Trazyn thought for a bit. "By the way, how do your Nova Cannons fire continuously? I've studied your weapons. The internal components of this cannon are very precise. Even with a stellar fragment for power, continuous firing would quickly burn it out."
"That's a secret," Arthur replied.
"We can ensure that the Nova Cannon is always brand new," Ramesses said nonchalantly. If it broke, they'd just replace it. A cannon was much cheaper than a battleship.
"Er," Trazyn seemed to understand Ramesses's words. He looked at the thing before him, and the more he looked, the more it didn't seem right. "By the way, what are you going to do with the C'tan shard? Even if it's weakened, if you put it in a labyrinth, won't it recover in no time?"
"Do you want to make a deal?" Ramesses asked.
"Of course. You have many things I'm interested in. I think some of them, I can't even afford. But I—" he then touched his hyperspace dimension, and as if remembering something, quickly stopped. He couldn't let the other party see. "In short, I can provide many things. A Tesseract Labyrinth, or other creations. On the condition that there is a reward."
Faced with Ramesses's disappointed expression, Trazyn added, "What do you want?"
"Er, would a blank soul, without consciousness, be acceptable?" Trazyn asked, probing.
"Let's not rush," Ramesses said, his gaze fixed on the continuous flashes in the sky. This had been a major expenditure, but if they could get the C'tan shard, it would be worth it. "Do you think we can gain its authority by devouring it?" Ramesses suddenly asked.
"Er, I still think you're much easier to deal with as you are now," Trazyn said, cautiously advising him. He had no prejudice against these four. And with their current "normal" way of thinking and their esoteric abilities... for the safety of all life in the galaxy, Trazyn felt it was his duty to make sure these guys didn't go mad.
"Then let us wait and see," Ramesses said, rising to his feet. He used his psychic power to lift the giant polarity-Blackstone and tore open a warp portal. "Let's go, Master Arthur. It's your time to shine."
The knight nodded and stepped directly through the gate.
Trazyn looked at Ramesses, then at the portal. He quickly found his own vehicle and flew towards the satellite fragment.
The C'tan shard fell, its body wreathed in a raging fire. It was more tired than before. It had actually failed to defend against the artillery attack, allowing its body to be severely weakened. The living metal that made up its body was cracking. Another instinct, the will to survive, began to emerge, desperately trying to offset the impact.
But the attacks were getting more and more fierce, and it was getting weaker and weaker, able to mobilize less and less power. It was now in a fragment of a planet. The slightly warm liquid could not harm it, but the continuous sub-light speed bombardment was melting its outer shell and destroying its body.
But it was not enough. The C'tan were immortal. Nothing could kill them. But the shame of defeat stung its ferocity, and this chaotic hunter couldn't help but roar at the re-forming Angel. It didn't want to run. The moment its countless thoughts had reached a consensus, it had wanted to first deal with those damned fleets, but it had been blocked by this Angel of unknown origin.
"You've won! Come and devour me! Come and reclaim your power! And let this madness embrace you!"
At the end of the War in Heaven, the C'tan, in their craving for delicious souls, and at the instigation of various factions, had committed the crime of devouring each other. This had turned most of them into a "you in me, me in you" existence. They had devoured each other, and gradually mixed into a chaotic palette of colors. Especially this shard, which symbolized greed, naturally had the consciousnesses of other C'tan within it.
This was a poison to the C'tan. Even the other shards of the World-Maker, before finding a way to separate the other consciousnesses within the shard, would not choose to devour it. The shard it was in was still changing at an exaggerated speed, like its chaotic thoughts. It could not control this power.
The Angel's fire burned in the void, slowly fading, and under the resentful gaze of the blood god, slowly dissipated. He shook his shoulders, dispelling the slight discomfort, and then gave the stage to his companion.
Scrape~
The sound of metal scraping on stone interrupted the roar. The knight appeared not far from the World-Maker, the indifference in his eyes still clear.
You will die.
Arthur strode forward. The movement conveyed this emotion with perfect clarity to the World-Maker's perception. What? I will die?
This question had just surfaced when the World-Maker felt a sense of absurdity and comicality. "Heh heh, the C'tan are immortal. The C'tan cannot die."
"Arrogant! Even if we fall into the warp, all we will face is fragmentation."
"Let it taste the curse of fragmentation."
The knight strode forward, walking along the gradually cooling lava. The process was very long, a full half-minute, much weaker than the Angel's esoteric speed. But the World-Maker was surprised to find it had no time to counter-attack. Because everything around it was becoming calm. The twisted physical laws were becoming 'reasonable'. The planet fragment was stably radiating its heat, then cooling. Without any external force, it would 'become' calm, no longer driven by any power outside the 'normal' world.
The dagger was revealed. Everything was for this moment. The chaotic brain could not calculate any solution, nor could it understand what was happening. It just watched, astonished and bewildered, as the knight silently approached.
This...
Arthur finally crossed the last step. He came up to the shard, close to it. Their worlds overlapped. This was a step the World-Maker had longed for. The war between the C'tan was like this. The victor would unhesitatingly rush forward, tear, and devour.
But at this moment—
"You really want to kill me!?"
An absurd joke was gradually becoming a possibility. A joke was about to become true. This was impossible!
Faced with the question, Arthur wasted no words. With a cold, indifferent action, he declared for the second time to this starry sky: You will die.
He raised his sword, and then brought it down. No flames, no twisted rules, no grand and magnificent spectacle like the Angel. It was simple. Raise the sword, and then insert it into the shard's head. As simple as one person killing another.
The World-Maker spread its hands. Beams of weak energy began to dissipate from the living metal. It felt its consciousness disappearing, the power it possessed no longer having a master.
"I... will I really die?"
The World-Maker died. The C'tan energy, mixed with the living metal body, turned into a mindless, free-form state.
Ting~
It was the sound of the telescope's lens being shattered by a stray piece of satellite debris. The sound was transmitted through Trazyn's living metal arm to his sensory system. But at this moment, Trazyn had no time to mourn the damage to his collection. He had followed them, braving the pressure, to prevent the C'tan from devouring each other and creating an even more insane creature. If Arthur had tried to devour this shard, he would have had to risk offending the Dawnbreakers to pry the shard away.
But as it turned out, this master Arthur was not mad. Trazyn felt he was the one going mad. "It's really dead."
Is this reasonable?
Trazyn stared at the knight before him, and the 'C'tan shard' beside him. The free-form living metal was glowing faintly in the starlight. Calm, beautiful. Perhaps this was what the laws of physics themselves should be, without any emotion. He couldn't help but reach out to touch it, but was blocked by the knight's blade.
Trazyn quickly took a few steps back. The telescope that was floating behind him due to the weak gravity was knocked away, and it floated off into the distance, spinning.
Arthur used a gravity-restraint device to secure the free-form C'tan shard. He was very calm. He first contacted his companions, then turned his gaze to Trazyn's face. "Trazyn, can you give me a ride?"
This is a threat. This must be a threat, right? For the first time, Trazyn had the premonition that he might truly die. He really wanted to run, but after thinking for a while, he slowly nodded. "Alright."
The Star God, the normal way of fighting, the warp powers, though esoteric, their use was logical. Although the beings who used these powers were not right, Trazyn could force himself to understand. Humans were just humans. The human gods were all like this. The biggest one was still sitting on the Golden Throne.
But this one in front of him, who had just suppressed the C'tan's domain and had also directly killed it... was definitely not human
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