Chapter 115 Pariah Nexus

“G-God Emperor! To think you have awakened and graced the battlefield in person! The humble Sollex greets you!”

Trazyn snapped a perfect Sign of the Cog at Big E, dramatically weeping to the point where black machine oil was literally spurting out of his optics. He acted incredibly moved, clearly thinking he could just bluff his way out of this with a stellar performance.

If Vane hadn’t already known the guy’s true identity, he probably would have bought the act himself.

Big E stared down at the wildly dramatic Trazyn, his brow furrowing slightly.

“Demons disguising themselves as Imperial bureaucrats is one thing… but why on earth is a Necron cosplaying as a Tech-Priest Archmagos?”

“Just how deeply has my Imperium been infiltrated?!”

Hearing Big E’s exasperated voice, Trazyn knew the jig was up. He dropped his disguise, revealing his original silver-white metallic chassis. His ocular sensors burned with green fire as he gripped his mechanical staff.

“I didn’t expect my flawless disguise to be seen through by you lesser beings. I must say, you’ve actually made a bit of progress.”

“Your crappy disguise could only fool the clueless,” Vane scoffed, not bothering to entertain the Necron’s arrogance. “Stop embarrassing yourself in front of us.”

Trazyn tightened his grip on his staff, forcing down his rising anger. He kept reminding himself that he couldn’t beat the human standing in front of him. Besides, he couldn’t even try to fight; the Necrontyr child in this guy’s hands was the future hope of the entire Necron race.

“Honored Human Forefather, my meager tricks are indeed nothing worth mentioning to you.”

“Cut the brown-nosing. Spit it out. Why did you disguise yourself as an Archmagos and sneak into the Imperium?”

“If I told you I was simply passing by, would you believe me?”

Hearing that, Vane laughed. Big E, Eldrad, and the Custodians all chuckled too.

“Before we decide to annex the Solemnace Galleries and make them Imperial property, you’d better answer the question honestly.” Vane smiled. “Otherwise, as soon as I’m done here, I’m bringing an army to requisition your little museum.”

If anyone else had said that, Trazyn would have brushed it off. But coming from this Human Forefather? He didn’t dare test him.

The guy’s exploits in the Cryptus and Baal systems had already spread across the various Necron Dynasties. With his absurd power, he could absolutely pull it off.

“Actually, I came to help the Imperium fight, just like I did on Cadia. No need to thank me, I just genuinely enjoy helping others.”

“Still lying. Do you really think I don’t have a way to deal with you?”

Vane snapped his fingers, and the miniature Void Dragon materialized out of thin air. Trazyn’s ocular lenses shrank in absolute terror.

A C’tan—the Void Dragon, Mag’ladroth! Why is it here?! Don’t tell me it’s already allied with humanity?!

“Read this guy’s memories,” Vane said, pointing right at Trazyn. “I want Solemnace’s coordinates and exactly why he came here.”

Seeing the giddy Void Dragon looking like it couldn’t wait to rip him into scrap metal, Trazyn hastily screamed, “I’ll talk! I’ll tell you everything! I just wanted to grab a few exhibits for the museum to commemorate this war!”

“Some habits die hard.” Vane shook his head in sheer disdain.

He was about to order the Custodians to lock the Necron up until the current mission was over. But right as he was about to give the command, Vane suddenly realized something.

His own personal museum was currently missing a curator. Making Trazyn manage it would be way too perfect.

Vane had practically speedrun the last few universes and hadn’t bothered taking the time to collect all the cool, notable stuff. If he brought Trazyn on board, he could even have the guy moonlight as a grave-robbing archaeologist for him.

Hehe, another corporate wage slave to exploit. Snag him. I absolutely must snag him.

“Trazyn, I see that destiny has brought us together. As it happens, my museum is short a curator. From this day forward, you work for me. You’re the new curator.”

“If I say no, will you let me go?” Trazyn asked tentatively.

Honestly, he was living his best life right now. He had zero desire to clock in and work for somebody else.

“Of course. I’m not the kind of guy to force people into things,” Vane said, casually pulling the Bloodletter [Carnage] out of his inventory. “Evil xenos should not coexist with humanity, after all.”

Bro, you literally just pulled out a flaming sword! How is that not forcing me?! The second I say no, you’re going to scream for xenos blood!

“Honored Human Forefather, I would be absolutely thrilled to serve you.”

Trazyn knew this body was just a surrogate, but to the human standing in front of him, surrogate or true body probably made no difference. The guy could literally turn into a giant monster; could he really not track down Trazyn’s main body?

Whatever. A wise man submits to circumstances. I’ll just swallow my pride, work a 9-to-5 for a few years, and figure out an escape plan later.

“I really don’t like forcing people,” Vane said, locking eyes with Trazyn. “If you don’t want to do this, just say so out loud.”

Trazyn looked at the deadly blade in Vane’s hand, then glanced at the miniature Void Dragon, who was practically vibrating with anticipation.

“No, no, I am completely willing! I feel that serving you is the highest possible honor!”

Vane nodded in satisfaction. “Glad we’re on the same page.”

“By the way, what’s been going on with the Necron Dynasties lately?”

Vane remembered the setup he’d left back in the Cryptus system. He’d sent the Necron Overlord Anrakyr to spread the word about the Necrontyr child and lobby the major Dynasties to submit to humanity and hand over all their C’tan shards. He wondered how that was panning out.

Properly threatened, Trazyn had become a model employee. He answered every question without hesitation.

“The news Anrakyr brought back shocked the major Dynasties. The Overlords held a massive summit, but they couldn’t reach a consensus.”

“Some Overlords believe we should ally with humanity. But others feel that bowing to humans just for the sake of some ‘future’ is completely beneath us.”

“Even the returned Silent King, Szarekh, couldn’t suppress all the rebellious Overlords. Stormlord Imotekh publicly challenged him, declaring that Szarekh has lost his right to rule us.”

“Eventually, Szarekh proposed accelerating the Pariah Nexus project to build up a trump card to negotiate with you.”

“Negotiate?” Vane narrowed his eyes. “What exactly do they plan on negotiating with me?”

Trazyn hesitated for a few seconds before spilling the Silent King’s master plan.

“Once the Pariah Nexus is complete, they will issue an ultimatum to the Imperium.”

“They’ll demand you hand over the Necrontyr child. If you refuse, they’ll activate the Pariah Nexus and wipe out both humanity and Chaos together.”

Vane frowned. One of his main progression quests was to eliminate the Necron and C’tan threats.

Looks like his original plan failed. To clear the quest and defeat the Necrons and C’tan, he’d need a new strategy.

If push comes to shove, maybe I’ll just off the Silent King and the Stormlord, put the Necrontyr kid on the throne, and have the kid officially surrender to me. That should count as ‘defeating the Necron race.’ Then I just mop up the C’tan shards scattered across the galaxy, and boom—quest complete.

Better just focus on the quest right in front of me for now.

Vane reined in his thoughts, turning to look at Big E and Eldrad.

“I’m heading underground. I’m going through the breach the Old Ones left behind to enter the WAAAGH! space. You guys tagging along?”

“Naturally,” Big E said. “I am incredibly curious about this WAAAGH! space the Old Ones left behind.”

“I shall join you as well.”

When Eldrad was born, the ancient Aeldari Empire was already nearing its end, tens of millions of years after the War in Heaven. He harbored an intense curiosity about the Old Ones who once ruled the galaxy, eager to see exactly what they had built.

“Considering I am now officially in your service, please bring me along as well, Honored Human Forefather!”

Trazyn quickly chimed in, trying to snag a spot on the roster. He knew the Greenskins were bio-weapons created by the Old Ones specifically to fight the Necrons. Because of that, he was dying to know how the Old Ones had actually created and controlled them. How could he miss out on something this huge?

“Alright, let’s all go.”

—

Vane led the crew onto the gunship, and they flew straight down the planetary tunnel his atomic breath had melted.

Soon enough, they reached the core.

Surprisingly, the core of Armageddon wasn’t made of magma. Instead, it was a pitch-black sphere pulsing with an eerie green glow around its edges.

“It seems this planet didn’t form naturally. It’s the handiwork of the Old Ones,” Trazyn commented.

As he spoke, his eyes emitted sweeping green beams, scanning their surroundings and bringing up a holographic projection of the massive cavern.

“Is this the WAAAGH! space?” Eldrad pointed at the massive black sphere dominating the subterranean void.

“Nope. That’s just the gateway the Old Ones left behind. You need a key to open it.” Vane used his Void Ring to teleport right next to the sphere.

“Honored Human Forefather, I’m quite curious… how exactly did you acquire the key?” Eldrad asked.

“I don’t have a key.” Vane shrugged, throwing his hands up. “I’m not an Old One, why would I have something like that?”

The moment he said that, everyone froze in disbelief.

“Wait, if you don’t have the key, how are we supposed to get in?!”

Vane casually pulled a prismatic hammer out of his inventory and started banging it directly against the black sphere.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

With every strike from Vane, cracks began webbing across the surface of the black sphere. They multiplied rapidly until the entire thing was completely fractured.

Shatter!

The black sphere broke apart and was automatically looted straight into Vane’s inventory.

The rest of the crew just watched the scene in utter silence. They really needed to stop trying to apply basic logic to this guy. He was always going to pull some absolute bullshit they couldn’t possibly predict.