Anrakyr the Traveller watched the Burner C'tan Shard flying through the void with terror and rage.
The remnant of this ancient god was brandishing thin energy wings, flying towards the human ships in a manner that completely defied the laws of physics.
What enraged and terrified Anrakyr was that this Shard had actually recovered to such an extent?!
The battle with the Tyrant, the consumption of starlight, and the entire ignited Netherworld Star System—all these had nourished this ancient C'tan, allowing it to gradually recover, slowly awaken, and bit by bit, rediscover its self-awareness from its fragmented personality and will.
When it found that sliver of self-awareness from its confusion, the restraints imposed on it by the Necrons became completely ineffective.
And it was the Burning One, Lord of all Burnings; an entire burning star system greatly stimulated its self-awakening.
Coupled with the massive stellar energy it had seized from the desecrated binary stars of the Netherworld Star System,
The Burner C'tan Shard had now completely broken free from Anrakyr's control, relying on its instincts to try and devour human souls.
Anrakyr felt shame and anger.
Because the plan to ignite the entire star system was his idea, the The Burning One was also released by him, and it was even he who had the The Burning One calibrate the magnificent prism for quick action.
The Burning One's complete liberation and its immense power were entirely due to his mistakes.
Whether out of abhorrence for the C'tan, the Necron Overlord's honor to retrieve important property, or to suppress the danger brought by the The Burning One's awakening,
Anrakyr had to re-contain this C'tan as quickly as possible.
It must not be allowed to feast on human souls; the vast number of humans in the Netherworld Star System, their souls would allow the Burner C'tan Shard to recover to an extremely dangerous degree.
Anrakyr looked at the massive black metal pyramid in front of him, constantly being repaired by Necron constructs.
It was a hypercube labyrinth, with complex, folded multi-spatial-temporal regions inside, a machine specifically designed to contain C'tan Shards.
This device could draw power from the C'tan Shard's own strength to power itself; the stronger the C'tan Shard, the stronger the device's containment.
Anrakyr hoped it could make the The Burning One submit.
Lances of light tore through the void, macro cannons scorched the vacuum.
The Blood Angels' ships immediately detected that the C'tan Shard had fallen into a frenzy.
They unleashed all their remaining firepower from their ships onto the burning physical universe god.
However, what happened next was enough to terrify the refugees on the ships.
The Burner C'tan Shard, facing the starship fire directed at it, merely trembled its thin wings behind it a few times.
Almost instantly, the space in front of the Burning One rapidly twisted, folded, and overlapped; the entire space transformed into a complex labyrinth.
All macro cannons, lances of light, and torpedoes fired into it were deflected in a way that defied the laws of physics, constantly ricocheting and warping in front of the The Burning One.
It simply waved its hand, and these attacks from the ships turned into dust and vanished into the void.
As a C'tan Shard, it was inherently composed of the fundamental energies that determine the laws of physics, allowing it to arbitrarily alter them.
Reyna watched this scene through the viewport, her body trembling slightly; all refugees who could see the cosmic spectacle fell into a panic.
They didn't understand what that terrifying, burning entity was, only knowing that even a fleet's full volley couldn't harm it in the slightest.
Reyna took a quiet, deep breath.
She knew that not many people in the Netherworld Star System could subdue this C'tan Shard now.
The Chief Librarian of the Blood Angels, that somewhat deranged Necron Overlord, and Reyna thought of Alexander.
Reyna silently bowed her head and prayed to the Emperor.
On another ship, the Battle Sisters were doing the same thing.
The few remaining Battle Sisters were devoutly gathered around a sleeping girl.
She was a young girl with dry, golden hair, bearing faint burn marks on her body like stigmata; her eyes were tightly closed, seemingly lost in dreams far beyond the material universe.
The Battle Sisters prayed in low voices, their tone carrying unimaginable resilience.
As if they believed that within this tender girl lay the power to subdue a C'tan.
And around the Battle Sisters, more refugees gathered, praying to the small, sleeping girl.
High Sister Magda looked at Adeleide, who was kneeling, with a touch of confusion.
"Sister Adeleide," High Sister Magda said, her voice trembling slightly, "are you saying the Emperor's spirit is manifested through this pure young girl?"
"I swear to the Emperor, High Sister."
Battle Sister Adeleide looked up, her gaze filled with devotion and emotion, at the tender girl lying in the center of the Battle Sisters:
"I personally witnessed the Emperor's spirit descend upon this Saint Girl, and I personally witnessed the Emperor's flames burn stigmata upon her body."
High Sister Magda gazed at the faint burn marks on the girl's body; the marks crisscrossed in the shape of flames, and after just one look, High Sister Magda felt an inexplicable warmth in her chest.
She vaguely saw a sacred presence in the girl.
And deeper within the ship's hold, in a silent place,
Dixus led the few remaining Dying-worshippers assassins, devoutly kneeling before two idols.
Behind her were quite a few refugees.
With the arrival of the Tyranid, death enveloped all of Ashford, and many refugees were awakened to a reverence for death, devoutly converting to the Dying-worshippers.
Led by Dixus, they devoutly prayed to the Emperor, and to the chosen saints of the Dying-worshippers.
Before them stood two idols.
One was the Emperor, and the other was a blue raccoon cat wearing a pocket.
"Praise Saint Doraemon, you are the chosen one who acts on the imperial will, you are the messenger who awakens the spirits of all machines, you are the saint who slays the Tyranid."
"Praise Saint Doraemon, may you bring irresistible death to all enemies of humanity, may your pocket devour all blasphemy and corruption."
The followers of the Dying-worshippers prayed devoutly.
The blue raccoon cat statue raised its round hand, seemingly pointing the way for these believers.
Mephiston stood on the bridge of the Blade of Vengeance, looking at the C'tan approaching the fleet in the distance, his face full of exhaustion.
His psychic powers were too depleted, and the damage from confronting the hive mind had not yet faded.
But Mephiston knew that there were not many forces in the material universe that could harm a C'tan.
The entire fleet could only rely on his psychic power; only power from the Empyrean could contend with that C'tan Shard.
The Librarians who followed Mephiston here surrounded him, channeling their psychic power into Mephiston's body.
Suddenly, the exhausted Mephiston paused.
He vaguely saw a blue shadow spreading in the Warp, rapidly dispelling the already weakened hive mind.
Disordered images flickered before Mephiston's eyes; he vaguely saw...
Mephiston suddenly looked up, staring into deep space, towards the C'tan Shard.
Anrakyr the Traveller's figure appeared beside the C'tan Shard almost in the blink of an eye.
Beside him, a massive pyramid-like machine floated.
Anrakyr had not brought more armed forces, because he knew that the fleets he had brought were simply insufficient to contend with the liberated C'tan Shard.
The only chance was to bind it with the hypercube labyrinth the moment the Burner C'tan Shard didn't react.
Anrakyr swung the war scythe in his hand towards the C'tan Shard, and the hypercube labyrinth, obeying Anrakyr's will, split into four sections and wrapped around the The Burning One.
The Burning One let out a silent roar, and scorching flames surged like a stellar halo.
The hypercube labyrinth then emitted a piercing tremor.
A burst of fire broke through the blockade, and before Anrakyr could react, it violently struck Anrakyr's metallic body.
Anrakyr hastily dodged, but his metallic arm holding the war scythe was torn off.
The hypercube labyrinth, split into four pieces, then swayed; the super-high-level node matrix layer and a group of Necron constructs released chains, made by drawing power from the Burning One itself, attempting to contain this savage and violent C'tan Shard.
However, the Burning One let out roars, shaking the very structure of the material universe; countless flames scattered into the starry sky.
Anrakyr could feel that the Burning One's savage will, almost reduced to pure instinct, was invading the structure of the hypercube labyrinth, attempting to gain control of this cage.
Anrakyr felt his data personality almost begin to burn.
He let out a terrified roar, picked up the war scythe floating in the void, and rushed towards the floating hypercube labyrinth.
He had to make his will overcome the The Burning One's, to maintain control over this hypercube labyrinth.
Anrakyr fiercely plunged the war scythe, imbued with his complex will, into the hypercube labyrinth.
Click.
Anrakyr suddenly heard a door opening in the void.
The thin gases ejected by Aelos into space acted as a medium for sound propagation, and Anrakyr's living metal body heard that imperceptible sound.
The C'tan Shard also noticed; Anrakyr sensed an instinctive wariness rise in the C'tan Shard's will.
The Burner C'tan Shard let out a roar that shook the material universe; balls of flame, burning in defiance of the laws of physics, lunged towards the source of the door-opening sound.
Anrakyr saw a pinkish-red wooden door appear out of nowhere in space.
The wooden door gently pushed open, and a white, round hand extended from within.
That round hand was holding a scarlet piece of cloth, seemingly some kind of cape.
"Ding-dong-ding-dong!"
"Reflection Cape!"