Chapter 910 - 909

The Szarekhan Dynasty.

Its crownworld.

The deathly silence of the void was torn apart by the hum of living metal. A vast, dark mass of tomb ships hovered in orbit above the world.

No running lights flashed. No engines thundered.

Only faint streams of ghostly green light flowed across the vessels’ living-metal hulls.

It was the prelude to an attack.

“Rebels, this is the ancestral domain of the Szarekhan Dynasty, the crownworld ruled by the great Szarekh! Cease your treasonous actions immediately!”

The Triarch commander and Phaeron responsible for the world’s defense immediately denounced the enormous fleet that had appeared without warning. At the same time, they ordered the surrounding dynasties to send reinforcements.

“My apologies, but the Silent King’s crownworld is precisely what we came to attack,” Eden replied with impeccable courtesy.

Then he ordered the entire fleet to open fire.

That was his answer.

Countless death rays, concentrated to their absolute limits, sliced through the void and struck one target after another with flawless precision.

The defending tomb ships and orbital defense platforms alike disintegrated soundlessly beneath the beams. Metal and energy were stripped apart into clouds of atomic dust, leaving not even the smallest fragment of wreckage behind.

Such was the power of ancient weapons of annihilation.

They could reduce all matter to nothingness.

Then vast numbers of crescent-shaped Scythe-class Harvest Ships surged forward. Their terrifying inertialess drives allowed them to disregard the laws of gravity and mass, weaving effortlessly through the void as they attacked one defensive installation after another.

Once they had opened a deployment corridor, swarms of light raiders dove toward the surface. They bombarded the pyramid complexes and near-orbit defense network without pause.

A second wave of small assault barges activated their dimensional gateway generators. They passed directly through the atmosphere and even the planet’s crust, arriving with perfect accuracy at the entrances to individual tomb chambers.

The moment their hatches opened, orderly phalanxes of living-metal warriors marched out in unison.

Ghostly green fire burned in their eyes, and their anger was plain to see.

The warriors raised their Gauss weapons and opened fire upon the Canoptek constructs, Scarabs, and newly awakened soldiers of the Szarekhan Dynasty.

One enemy after another was eliminated, collapsing onto the tomb’s freezing floors.

A far larger offensive had already begun on the surface.

Orbital strikes from pulse cannons slammed into the gigantic pyramids with perfect accuracy, stripping away their outer layers and exposing the far older living-metal structures beneath.

The entire continent thundered.

Nor was that the end of it.

Several Abattoirs, each approaching the size of a small continent, were deployed to the surface. Countless mechanical legs crushed the land beneath them as they steadily flattened every threat in their path.

Their immense arrays of Gauss weapons unleashed attacks like driving rain, sweeping away the formations of Lokhust Destroyers hovering above the ground.

Even more Canoptek Scarabs flowed across the surface in metallic tides, excavating and eliminating every concealed threat.

The Szarekhan Dynasty was under simultaneous attack from the forces of more than ten dynasties.

It was driven back on every front and had no possibility of mounting an effective defense.

This was a precise harvesting operation directed against the entire crownworld.

Nothing was being held back.

“It seems there aren’t that many Necron dynasties willing to die for the Silent King after all…”

Eden closely monitored the battlefield.

This was his first battle as the Lord of Hope. He wanted a swift, decisive victory that would inspire fear throughout the Infinite Empire.

That was precisely what he achieved.

Almost none of the surrounding Necron dynasties dared come to the crownworld’s aid.

Aside from those that had already established secret ties with the Holy Soul Cult, most abandoned their own tomb worlds and fled in haste or sent Eden friendly greetings.

Those Phaerons had realized something important.

Szarekh the Silent King now faced a new challenger, one even more troublesome than Imotekh the Stormlord.

The being calling himself the Lord of Hope had quietly assembled a formidable force and unleashed a storm of blood throughout the Silent King’s territory.

Now he was attacking the ancient crownworld that symbolized the very origin of the Silent King’s authority.

Countless high-ranking Necrons watched helplessly as the Szarekhan crownworld fell.

It felt as if something were collapsing within them.

It was their belief in the Silent King’s authority.

As the Lord of Hope’s armies drew nearer, those rulers had only one concern left.

How could they preserve their dynasties?

Hum.

Within the domed command chamber of Eden’s tomb flagship, he was studying the strategic display projected by the sensor array when a new communication protocol suddenly arrived.

The protocol bypassed every interception system and directly infiltrated the flagship’s communication network.

A blue holographic projection appeared.

Within it, Eden could make out an immense throne of living metal surrounded by three floating blackstone obelisks.

A towering and unmistakable figure sat at its center.

The Silent King?

Eden recognized him immediately.

No other being in the entire Infinite Empire could possibly stage an entrance with that much pomp.

Of course, the more Eden learned about the Necrons, the less mystical and intimidating their former godslayer seemed.

Szarekh had not defeated the C’tan at the height of their strength.

He had simply taken advantage of the moment when the C’tan and the Old Ones had weakened each other, then stepped in to claim the victory.

According to the data Eden had discovered, the C’tan had been terrifyingly weak by then.

After examining those ancient records, he had reached a simple conclusion.

I could’ve done that too.

In short, Eden was no longer nearly as wary of the Silent King. Nor did he believe Szarekh could effortlessly crush him.

When the time came, it remained to be seen who would be crushing whom.

That said, the Silent King remained an enormous threat while surrounded by the Final Triarch and his personal guard.

They were likely one of the most powerful military forces currently active in the galaxy.

“What manner of lowborn wretch are you? You are nothing more than an exile stripped of every noble title. Why have you not bowed before the great Szarekh?”

“Your pathetic ancestors fled in fear of punishment during the Wars of Secession and were exiled to the galaxy’s barren frontier.

“Now you dare rebuild your dynasty and incite rebellion? You are a disgrace to the Necrontyr!”

“That fraudulent title is nothing more than something you granted yourself. Cease your unforgivable actions, and perhaps you may retain the slightest hope of survival.

“Otherwise, once the armies of the Triarch arrive, it will be too late for regret…”

The Silent King watched the many Necrons within the command dome without speaking.

Hapthatra the Radiant, however, regarded Eden with open contempt.

He poured out a relentless stream of insults, savaging the Phaeron of the Ramesses Dynasty without restraint.

According to the dynasty’s records, the Ramesses Dynasty did indeed possess a shameful past. Its members had once been exiled to a barren region on the edge of the galaxy.

In Hapthatra’s view, that meant Eden had no right to claim honor of any kind.

He attacked without pause, insulting everything from Eden’s ancestors to his present actions.

“Holy shit, where did this champion trash-talker come from?”

Eden had not even spoken before Hapthatra began barking at him and burying him beneath an avalanche of insults.

Worse still, Eden noticed that his Phaerons and Overlords had fallen silent the moment the Silent King’s image appeared.

Some even showed traces of fear.

That was not good.

The prestige Szarekh had cultivated over tens of millions of years could not be completely destroyed so easily.

Furthermore, the Silent King currently had two powerful champions at his side, while Eden stood alone.

Under the Necrontyr’s traditional rules of verbal combat, there was no way he could out-insult all three of them by himself.

Eden ignored every word Hapthatra said, treating him like nothing more than an enormous fly buzzing in the background.

He stared directly at the Silent King.

“Szarekh, I know you’re panicking, but try not to panic just yet.

“Wait for me. The armies under my command will soon reach the depths of the Pariah Nexus and destroy everything you rule!”

With that, Eden unilaterally terminated the pulse communication.

The ghostly blue projection vanished before his opponents had any opportunity to answer.

Of course, the Silent King controlled the highest-level communication protocols. Eden’s own authorization was nowhere near sufficient to sever the connection.

So he had cut the power cables to the communication system and physically terminated the link.

In simpler terms, he had pulled the network cable.

He could not allow Szarekh to undermine the morale of his forces.

Naturally, Eden knew he could not prevent the Silent King from using other pulse channels to broadcast threats and propaganda throughout the region.

The only thing he could do was continue winning.

Only a constant succession of victories would allow him to maintain and increase his authority until he could confront the Silent King in a final battle and win.

As for the Stormlord, that fool no longer had any hope of victory.

Without humanity’s assistance, the Silent King would have already beaten Imotekh within an inch of his life.

The greatest risk Eden currently faced was the possibility that Szarekh might bring the Godslayer Spear to the crownworld in person, triggering the decisive battle ahead of schedule.

In his present condition, Eden’s living-metal clone body probably could not defeat him.

But Eden was wagering that the Silent King would not dare come.

Most of Szarekh’s main forces were committed to the front lines. If he brought the rest of his core army to the crownworld, it would be excellent news.

Eden trusted the Stormlord to seize the opportunity, raid the Silent King’s central territories, and destroy his blackstone network.

That would also be excellent for humanity.

Without the blackstone network suppressing their strength, the human armies would be able to unleash far more of their power within the Pariah Nexus.

“All in all, the situation is excellent. I should be safe for the time being…”

Eden looked down upon the crownworld.

His preparations were already in motion, and the war had escalated on every front. The Silent King would soon be overwhelmed by crises.

Eden was already wondering what treasures might be hidden inside Szarekh’s ancestral vaults.

The Silent King possessed the Dais of Dominion and countless ancient weapons.

As the Lord of Hope, Eden needed to acquire a set of suitably prestigious equipment for himself.

Otherwise, how embarrassing would it be when the final battle arrived?

More importantly, how much of a disadvantage would he suffer?

Deep within the Pariah Nexus.

The Tombstone Council Chamber.

Upon the Dais of Dominion, the Silent King and his two favored Phaerons stared at the empty space where the pulse communication had vanished.

For a moment, all three were numb.

“Outrageous!”

“What unforgivable insolence! He dared reject the great Szarekh!”

The Lord of Hope had refused to follow the usual rules and had simply pulled the network cable.

They were furious, yet had nowhere to direct their anger. They had not even been given time to finish making their threats.

More importantly, the being calling himself the Lord of Hope had assembled an immense military force and was openly destroying the Szarekhan Dynasty’s crownworld.

That world was an ancestral inheritance of Szarekh the Silent King.

It was the birthplace of countless generations of Silent Kings and an important symbol of their authority.

If it were destroyed, the Silent King would suffer an enormous blow, and his prestige would be severely damaged.

“Damn him…”

The Silent King could no longer maintain his composure.

He slammed a fist into the armrest of the Dais, releasing a violent shock wave and an eruption of flames hot enough to melt anything in their path.

It was the power of an enslaved shard of Nyadra’zatha, the Burning One.

The Silent King’s entire living-metal body trembled.

The Szarekhan crownworld still contained many ancestral relics and ancient weapons. Several C’tan Shards had even been sealed within it.

The thought of those priceless treasures being stolen by the Lord of Hope filled Szarekh with agony.

“Rebellion. Rebellion everywhere!”

The Silent King ground out the words through clenched teeth.

The emergence of the Stormlord after his return had already been infuriating enough.

Now another Lord of Hope had inexplicably appeared within his own territory and incited a second rebellion.

Szarekh wanted nothing more than to use the Dais of Dominion’s phase-teleportation system to return to the crownworld immediately and impale the Lord of Hope with his Godslayer Spear.

But he could not.

If he and the Final Triarch’s personal guard abandoned the nexus at the heart of the Blackstone Veil Network, the position might come under attack.

His great plan could collapse before it was completed.

That was something he could never accept.

“Hmph. I will allow you to hold those possessions for a little longer. Soon, you will return every last one of them…”

The Silent King forced himself to calm down.

His data-logic swept through vast quantities of intelligence as he analyzed the current situation.

He found a possible solution.

With the proper deployments, he could construct a specialized defensive line along the front.

That would allow him and the forces of the Final Triarch to leave the central nexus briefly, destroy the Lord of Hope, and annihilate his dynasty.

That being might pose an even greater threat than the Stormlord.

The Silent King soon issued new commands, repositioning more than ten thousand tomb fleets across hundreds of sectors to create his new defensive arrangement.

It was not long, however, before Szarekh was left completely numb.

Everything spiraled out of control.

The fighting throughout the war zones intensified. With an endless stream of support from the human Imperium, the Stormlord launched an even fiercer offensive.

“Traitor! Your collaboration with the enemy is a disgrace!”

The Silent King grew increasingly furious.

Through his spokesmen, he publicly condemned the Stormlord for collaborating with humanity and attempted to drive a wedge between Imotekh and his Phaerons.

Not every high-ranking Necrontyr was willing to associate with flesh-vermin like humanity.

Many regarded accepting human assistance as a humiliation.

The Silent King’s attempt to sow discord quickly produced results. Around a dozen Phaerons broke with the Stormlord and defected to Szarekh.

Unfortunately, that was followed by accusations from the Stormlord and his remaining Phaerons.

They declared that the Silent King was utterly shameless because he, too, had secretly accepted humanity’s help when the war turned against him.

They claimed that the supreme ruler had reached a secret and unspeakable agreement with humanity, betraying the interests of the entire Necrontyr race.

The accusation caused an uproar.

Who could have imagined that even the seemingly upright and dignified Silent King had been cooperating with humanity?

Yet the evidence was there for everyone to see.

Several dynasties under his command were indeed fighting alongside human forces.

The Lord of Hope quickly joined the war of words.

He attacked both of his rivals, declaring that the Silent King and Stormlord were collaborators who had betrayed the interests of the Necrontyr.

Only the Lord of Hope was a pure Necrontyr loyalist. He had never associated with those humans and was the sole legitimate ruler of the Necrontyr.

He called upon even more Phaerons to support his rightful claim, restore the glory of the past, and make the Infinite Empire great again.

The incident further damaged the Silent King’s prestige.

Several Phaerons under his command even accelerated their plans to defect to the Lord of Hope.

“I… I’m collaborating with the enemy too?!”

The accusation completely bewildered the Silent King.

He could scarcely believe it.

Throughout this entire period, he had never contacted any human.

He had promised them nothing.

He had even commanded the dynasties under his authority to destroy every human fleet they encountered.

Unfortunately, that did not prevent several human fleets from unilaterally declaring themselves his allies.

The dynasties under the Silent King’s command were suffering tremendous pressure and catastrophic losses.

Eventually, some began looking the other way and accepting the human fleets’ assistance.

After all, the human fleets demanded no spoils.

They were providing military assistance entirely free of charge, purely as a public service.

As a result, the human fleets had now divided themselves into two groups.

One supported the Silent King, while the other supported the Stormlord.

Not every dynasty was suffering terrible losses in the war.

Some used humanity’s strength to expand at astonishing speed.

They greedily fed upon the opportunities created by the conflict, and none of them had any desire to stop.

By the time the Silent King recognized humanity’s conspiracy and attempted to reverse the situation, it was already too late.

Vast human armies poured into hundreds, perhaps thousands, of sectors.

They were followed by fleets belonging to the Aeldari, Drukhari, T’au, Orks, Tyranids, and countless other flesh-and-blood species.

Even Chaos fleets and Daemonic entities appeared among them.

The war zones were divided into countless pockets of chaos.

An unprecedented free-for-all had begun.

The entire battlefield became a boiling, incomprehensible mess. No one could even determine who their true enemies were anymore.

Tomb fleets were destroyed every moment.

Without question, however, the Silent King was suffering the greatest losses.

Before long, the supreme ruler realized that he was being deliberately targeted.

Without even noticing when it had happened, Szarekh had come under ferocious attack from almost every faction involved in the war.

(End of Chapter)

“Zaelum”]