Chapter 142: The Burner Adra-Zathas and Sanguinor

Burning sky-fire fell from among the stars, igniting the firmament above the entire Mechanical Spire, much like a wildfire igniting an endless grassland.

Fragments of the Tesseract Labyrinth rained down as metallic debris, exposing the raging flames within.

For an instant, Dante even thought the profane twin stars of the Underworld System had erupted with scorching flares once more.

But soon, the knowledge and wisdom accumulated over long ages allowed Dante to recognize what those scorching fireballs falling from the firmament were.

The searing fireballs were cast out like the hydrogen layers of an aging star, the orange-yellow light swallowing the surrounding ruins.

Whether it was damaged buildings, machinery, or the swarm entrenched within, everything vanished in the blink of an eye, leaving only ashes across the ground to prove they had ever existed.

And rising slowly amidst the fireballs was a sublime figure, burning with the heat of a scorching solar wheel, surrounded by the radiance of a corona.

"A C'tan Shard!" Even Dante could not help but exclaim aloud.

The lingering shadow of an ancient god of the material universe, a pure energy lifeform—a C'tan Shard, shattered and bound by the Necrons after the C'tan were defeated.

The Necrons had once been deceived by the C'tan and reduced to their slaves, but the Necrons took advantage of the C'tan's weakened state following the C'tan War to launch their revenge, ultimately shattering the vast majority of the C'tan.

Those C'tan Shards were bound by the Necrons using Tesseract Labyrinths, used mostly as energy sources, but capable of being deployed as weapons in times of crisis.

Trazyn the Infinite seemed quite satisfied with Dante's astonishment, unable to help but let out a cackle.

C'tan Shards were extremely precious items even among the Necrons, and this one released by Trazyn...

"This is a shard of the 'Burner', Adra-Zathas. He is fire, he is combustion, he is the Lord of All Flames and the raging fire that incinerated the pride of the Old Ones!"

Trazyn the Infinite raised his voice to declare:

"He burned through the gates of the Webway, allowing the Necrons to step into the realms of the Old Ones and the Aeldari."

"He is fire, the fire that ignites all and incinerates all; both the Warp and the material universe are viewed by him as kindling."

"However, the Silent King himself drove a spear into the chest of the 'Burner', Adra-Zathas. The fire-disaster of all things, the endless flames, were finally extinguished."

"Be awed, mortal," Trazyn the Infinite declared. "This is but a flicker of light, barely noticeable among our great power."

Although he said this, Trazyn's long-absent heart was bleeding, and a fear that had existed since time immemorial welled up.

This was a shard of Adra-Zathas, one of the cruelest and most violent C'tan, who loved nothing more than to gloat when all things were burned to nothing.

In the ages before time, he had wrought countless disasters, devoured countless Necrontyr, and was the eternal nightmare of countless races.

This fear had even been passed down through the genes, becoming the source of the instinctual fear of fire in the vast majority of races.

Even if a C'tan Shard was merely a lingering shadow of the C'tan's past, and even if they possessed only fragmented minds, they remained extremely dangerous.

For now, Trazyn could barely control him.

But if this C'tan Shard were to recall even a fraction of their past glory and authority, Trazyn and the entirety of Solemnace would be burned to ashes.

Moreover, although Trazyn could release him, he had no confidence in being able to recapture him.

If it were not for the Hive Mind inexplicably losing its temper and hatching two Norn Emissaries, Trazyn would truly not have been willing to release this shard.

He secretly resolved that once the Burner's task was complete, he would immediately recapture him with the Tesseract Labyrinth to prevent him from losing control.

"Finally here," Zhou Yun whispered, standing outside the Anywhere Door, gazing at the raging flames on the distant Mechanical Spire.

The shadow of an ancient C'tan had descended upon Solemnace.

Two Norn Emissaries roared, raising their talons and bio-cannons toward the burning C'tan Shard.

The highest-level units evolved by the Tyranid Hive Mind faced the remnants of an ancient god of the material universe.

All the living projectiles on the Norn Emissaries were unleashed toward the Burner Shard, transforming into a dense rain of biological bullets in the air.

The Burner Shard let out a silent roar, and the structure of the material world trembled in its wake.

A vortex of flame, reaching straight toward the stars and nearly as towering as a Tyranid Capillary Tower, manifested in a way that defied the laws of physics.

The searing flames instantly engulfed all the biological projectiles, burning them to ash.

The Burner Shard hunched its body, surrounded by ribbon-like coronas; the vortex of flame rapidly compressed, shrank, and in a completely irrational manner, condensed into the Burner's hand, transforming into a constantly swirling spear of flame.

The flame spear thrust out violently; the two Norn Emissaries scrambled to dodge. The flame spear grazed the Norn Emissaries' bodies, instantly burning through a layer of their psychic shields and incinerating everything in its path.

Finally, it struck straight into a thick Capillary Tower nearby that pierced the clouds.

That Capillary Tower was ignited in the blink of an eye, burning from the point where the flame spear struck, and dissipated into ash under the raging flames.

Along with it, the biomass within was evaporated and incinerated.

This made Zhou Yun's heart ache.

"My biomass," he couldn't help but mutter.

"... Why does your heart ache? How did it become your biomass?" The winged figure in the white light twitched the corner of his mouth.

"The Hive Mind and I are as close as brothers; one family doesn't eat two types of biomass," Zhou Yun said righteously.

As he spoke, Zhou Yun glanced at the winged figure in the white light; his body had become extremely thin, as if he were about to dissipate on the spot.

Zhou Yun knew that on Tartarus, he had already joined the battle of the Underworld System.

Captain Kaelen and the First Company warriors beside him stood firm before the magnificent Prism console of Tartarus.

His helmetless face was filled with exhaustion and pain.

Since leaving Solemnace, Dante had given the First Company warriors a new mission.

To follow the Death Company warriors led by Chaplain Astorath to Tartarus to guard the ancient creation known as the Great Prism.

Originally, this mission belonged to the Necrons.

But the Cryptek under Trazyn's command had failed; upon arriving at Tartarus, he discovered that the entire planet had been occupied by the Tyranid swarm, and even with hundreds of Necron Warriors, he could not cope.

However, this arrogant Cryptek was too proud to retreat and seek reinforcements... as a result, they were torn to pieces by the Tyranid beasts.

Fortunately, Dante did not fully trust Trazyn; he knew that such a dangerous creation as the Great Prism must be kept in his own hands.

Chaplain Astorath and Captain Kaelen were thus ordered to board a Strike Cruiser and head to Tartarus to guard the Great Prism.

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However, the number of beasts was simply too great.

Tyranid Warriors roared, tearing at the bodies of the Death Company warriors and the First Company Terminators with their talons.

The death of every beast often came at the cost of the lives of several Death Company warriors.

The corpses of warriors clad in black power armor lay strewn across the ruins.

At least they died with honor in their final moments, Captain Kaelen thought.

He watched with his own eyes as a Death Company warrior emptied his magazine, finally roaring as he swung his bolter like a club, smashing the low-level Tyranid creatures that dared to approach him.

But in the end, this heroic warrior also fell... falling before a Tyranid Warrior.

That Tyranid Warrior was truly terrifying, the largest Tyranid Warrior Kaelen had ever seen in his life.

It had a massive body, covered in hideous scars, with only one eye, and part of its skull exposed, looking as if it had suffered many wounds.

But Captain Kaelen felt terror in its presence; in that beast's single eye flickered a cold light, as if the Hive Mind itself were staring at him.

Chaplain Astorath, standing beside Captain Kaelen, roared, running toward the beast from the side while holding his weapon high, unleashing a hail of bullets; a spray of chitinous debris splashed into the air.

Captain Kaelen followed immediately, wielding the Hammer of Baal, charging toward the Tyranid Warrior from the other side.

With a low roar, the Tyranid Warrior nearly collided with Captain Kaelen; it raised its scythe-like talons, clashing with the Hammer of Baal in Captain Kaelen's hand.

A field of energy splashed where the two clashed; Chaplain Astorath charged toward the Tyranid Warrior from the side, holding his Crozius Arcanum high.

However, at this moment, the Tyranid Warrior moved at a speed neither could keep up with, and the bio-cannon in its hand unleashed a dense barrage of fire.

How is this possible?! It suffered such severe wounds, yet its movements are still so agile?!

Captain Kaelen was stunned for a moment, then realized that the scars on this Tyranid Warrior did not seem to have been caused just now.

Rather, they were present from birth; it was this way when it was corrupted by the Hive Mind. Those scars did not affect the Tyranid Warrior's actions at all.

This bizarre situation made his expression twist uncontrollably.

Could the Hive Mind be so cunning as to deliberately create scars with deceptive and camouflage properties on the carapaces of Tyranid creatures?

Then Captain Kaelen only saw Chaplain Astorath fall away, and a sharp pain erupted in his own chest.

A bio-bullet struck his chest, making him unable to open his eyes from the pain.

Then this bio-bullet exploded on Captain Kaelen's chest, and countless tentacles, like flames, extended and stabbed toward his face.

The one-eyed Tyranid beast arrived before Captain Kaelen in the blink of an eye, its bio-bone blade raised high.

Kaelen was almost prepared to welcome death...

Light—a bright blue-white light suddenly shot out from mid-air, illuminating the entire ruin.

Captain Kaelen almost forgot the pain, staring blankly as that brilliant light projected onto the earth.

"By the blood of Sanguinius." Captain Kaelen heard Chaplain Astorath's exclamation.

A winged warrior descended from the light, his silver-white blade shimmering like snow in the sun.

Sanguinor had descended upon Tartarus.

(End of Chapter)