The first Pariah Nexus to pop its head out of the Pocket Dimension felt a subtle, almost imperceptible gust of wind and saw a sharp energy needle heading straight for its brain.
Before the Pariah Nexus's logic brain could comprehend this, the slender crystal energy needle pierced its brain, killing it instantly.
The Pariah Nexus's headless body slumped, falling from the Pocket Dimension and crashing heavily onto the sandy ground.
This sudden scene left the other Pariah Nexus entering reality from the Pocket Dimension stunned for an imperceptible moment.
Their logic brains could not understand the logic of what they were seeing.
They, the mighty Pariah Nexus, had been sniped???
Then, in the next moment, the Pariah Nexus reacted with the fastest speed. Based on how the previous Pariah Nexus died, they quickly determined this was an attack from some Aeldari weapon.
"Confirmation: Aeldari Ranger-style sniper rifle!"
"Confirmation of attacker: Aeldari!"
"Anti-sniping protocol loading!"
The weapon used for the sniping came from the Aeldari, capable of sniping a Pariah Nexus, and the Pariah Nexus's perception program could not directly observe the opponent.
Based on the current situation, the Pariah Nexus's logic program quickly made a judgment: this was clearly an attack from an Aeldari sniper.
The Pariah Nexus's kill program was extremely efficient, reacting almost instantly.
Although the Aeldari's position was not observed, the Aeldari did not have time to complete a transfer in that brief moment.
Based on quantum trajectories, they instantly found the direction from which the energy needle was fired.
The logic engine instantly calculated the unknown Aeldari sniper's position. The Pariah Nexus directly aimed at the unknown Aeldari sniper's brain, neck, and heart.
The gauss flayer's trigger was pulled, and subatomic particles condensed into a lepton beam, firing in the direction from which the crystal energy needle had come.
Hobien White Deer stared in shock at the series of emerald beams that had just whizzed over his head.
If only he were a little taller, if only he weren't a Lyttin ratman...
Being a rat has its advantages!
Hobien White Deer did not hesitate and quickly began to shift his position.
He guessed that the unknown opponents had misidentified him as an Aeldari due to the weapon he used, which was why the first round of attacks was aimed at the Aeldari's vital points.
But those pointy-eared ones were all too tall; Hobien's height barely reached their thighs, so that round of volleys all missed.
However, such good luck would at most be a one-time thing. The opponent had clearly made a judgment at extreme speed to prevent Hobien from relocating, leading to the misjudgment.
But before relocating, Hobien still relied on his perception of death and his body's instinct to fire another shot into the distance.
He wasn't worried about missing this shot. He once heard Sister Reina say that everything is the will of the Emperor and Saint Doraemon, and all coincidences are their arrangements.
Hobien originally didn't believe it, but at this moment, he truly felt the will of the Emperor and the Champion.
He believed that his shot would surely hit.
He just had to pull the trigger; the Champion's will would arrange the aiming—
Another Pariah Nexus's head exploded, falling from the Pocket Dimension.
"...Pariah Nexus???" Szarekh stumbled back a few steps, severing his arm, which Joan had just struck, with a scythe.
His arm quickly incinerated in a burst of golden, scorching flames.
Then, he noticed the Pariah Nexus not far away and quickly understood why Joan's previous attack had not taken his life.
It was clear that she was wary of the Pariah Nexus nearby.
A strong sense of shame surged from Szarekh's consciousness; he felt his honor had been defiled.
He and Joan were engaged in a one-on-one duel of glory, but Pariah Nexus had intervened.
Without thinking, Szarekh knew who was responsible.
"Zellars, you bastard."
Evidently, it was that shameless scoundrel, Enlightener Xerath.
Szarekh cursed loudly, a string of foul Necron expletives spewing from his mouth.
At the same time, his will, following the Necron control protocols, forcefully pressed down on those Pariah Nexus.
As Phaeron, his will was almost irresistible in the Necron Dynasty. Even the Pariah Nexus belonging to Zellars were forcibly controlled by Szarekh's will for a few seconds, making it difficult for them to raise their weapons.
Joan's figure flickered, appearing before the Pariah Nexus in an instant. Her battle standard waved gently, and the Pariah Nexus turned to ashes in a burst of golden fire.
In the deepest laboratory hidden within multiple Pocket Dimensions, Zellars slightly raised his head, looking at several light screens extinguishing before him.
The Pariah Nexus had failed.
That inexplicably accurate shot had foiled the Pariah Nexus's ambush; having lost the element of surprise, the Pariah Nexus could no longer capture that human.
But Zellars was unwilling to let go of that valuable experimental subject.
Since humans entered the Pariah Nexus, Zellars had made some unexpected discoveries: certain humans possessed the ability to resist the anti-Immaterium matrix.
This was very interesting, very illogical, like a cloud shrouding the Necron Warp knowledge.
But a cloud is both a shadow over science and an opportunity for scientific progress.
Zellars knew that as long as he unraveled the mysteries surrounding those humans, he would understand more about the nature of the Warp and souls.
This was, of course, not just to achieve the Silent King's desired reversal of biotransference.
What Zellars truly wanted was ascension, further evolution.
In Zellars's view, neither a flesh body nor a metal shell was perfect enough; he wanted to transform himself into pure energy, into the form of the ancient Star Gods—this was what he pursued.
And he had a strong feeling.
As long as he captured this human woman, he would be one step closer to ascension.
He didn't know where this thought came from, as if a voice was whispering it to him in his mind, yet he inexplicably and unhesitatingly believed it.
Since the Pariah Nexus were useless—
Zellars's sharp finger moved slightly, and a hyper-dimensional cubic labyrinth appeared in his hand, constantly spinning and twisting.
He gently tossed it, passing through layers of Pocket Dimensions, throwing it towards the planet where Joan was located.
Hobien moved his short legs, rapidly shifting position on the battlefield.
As a Lyttin, his stealth skills were maxed out; even moving through the middle of the battlefield, no one detected his presence.
But suddenly, Hobien felt the surrounding air begin to grow hot. The battlefield, originally shrouded in dim clouds, suddenly became much brighter.
Hobien White Deer stopped in his tracks, his body trembling slightly.
Deep in his memory, there seemed to be the same feeling as this moment, also on Asford.
An orange-red fire meteor streaked across the sky, scorching the firmament, and the superheated atmosphere pressed down on the ground, making everything anxious, as if the whole world was about to spontaneously combust in the next second.
Gazing at the fire meteor, Hobien White Deer felt his mouth dry, his eyeballs shriveled, and the blood flowing in his body seemed to be boiling.
The figure, like a god in his memory, tearing apart the Insect Saint, emerged in Hobien's mind.
"Son of a bitch, is this your Necron honor, your Necron one-on-one duel?" Hobien cursed, trembling with anger.
Heavenly fire fell before the Blackstone Pylon, flames spontaneously erupting without need for combustibles, swirling into a tornado that rose, piercing heaven and earth, larger than the Blackstone Pylon itself.
And within that orange-red fire tornado, a gaze filled with cruelty and madness, seemingly intent on burning everything it saw to ashes, was cast forth.
Crackling sounds of burning echoed in the void, as if space-time itself was being incinerated by the endless flames. As the sound intensified, a humanoid figure emerged from the fire tornado.
The figure was composed entirely of flames, plasma, swirling currents, and superheated energy, like a blazing sun suspended in the air.
That was the most cruel Star God, that was the flame that burned through the Webway, that was the Burner of Worlds, that was a fragment of the Star God Nyadra'zatha, the The Burning One.
This god of madness raised his hands, summoning the superheated flames from the universe's beginning, condensing them in his palms.
The Necron warships closer to the The Burning One actually began to melt and disintegrate under the extreme heat, plummeting to the ground. Even the Blackstone Pylon behind him began to show slight signs of dissolution.
Overlord Szarekh looked at the The Burning One suspended in mid-air. He was truly a bit dumbfounded.
The power of this fragment was clearly extraordinary. Although it was currently in a state without will, if left to act freely, it might soon break free from Necron control, regain its will, and escape.
Was Zellars insane? To throw out such a terrifying Star God fragment for a human woman.
What made Szarekh even more upset was that his honor had been insulted.
He had just boastfully lectured Joan that the gods could not be trusted, but now the Necrons were using the highly risky power of a god.
"...You can retreat now."
Szarekh's figure flickered, arriving beside Joan with his phase cloak, staring at her as he said:
"My forces will not pursue you. I will intercept the The Burning One here."
"Although saying this might seem strange to you humans, the current situation is not what I desired."
Though he said that, Szarekh was actually a bit panicked.
He came here for a one-on-one duel with Joan, so he hadn't brought many of his personal collections.
With just this body and what he had on him, stopping the The Burning One would be quite difficult.
Joan gently turned her head and glanced at Szarekh.
Szarekh instinctively took a step back.
Her gaze was completely different from before; her previous gaze was so calm, so empty, like purity untouched by any defilement.
But her current gaze was like a molten planet, a black sun.
Beneath that gaze, life lost its luster, existence became indistinct, all things returned to silence, with only nothingness, death, and coldness enduring forever.
Looking at the scene reflected in that gaze, Szarekh actually felt that, in comparison, the current state of the Necrons was good.
Joan said nothing, simply taking a gentle step forward, passing through the exemplary battle armor as if by magic, dressed in a simple linen robe, her bare feet touching the ground.
Then, in an instant, all things lost their brilliance, leaving only gray and silence.