The Triarch Praetorians moved in a blurring interlocking pattern, methodically reaping any foe that dared obstruct Szarekh's advance. Whether they were manifested Daemonic entities, Chaos warbands, or frenzied cultists, they proved utterly fragile before the might of the Silent King's chosen guardians.
As for the gargantuan Daemon Engines that occasionally lumbered into their path, Szarekh merely raised his sceptre. Beams of lethal light erupted from its tip, detonating those blasphemous constructs into scrap with ease. The sheer destructive potency of these salvos was such that even an Emperor-class Titan would have struggled to withstand them.
Yet, when Szarekh reached the base of the Blackstone Obelisk, he finally beheld the profanity that Szeras had detected: Vashtorr the Arkifane.
Vashtorr stood with one hand pressed against the obelisk, his form surging with roiling Warp energy. A grotesque transformation had already taken root at the base of the structure; the once-steady pulse of emerald Necron light was now tainted by a flickering, violet-red luminescence. As the Arkifane's power poured into the stone, the corruption spread, devouring the Necrodermis-sheathed surface. The very Warp forces the Blackstone was meant to suppress were instead being amplified by its corruption, surging with newfound violence.
Boom!
A beam of light lanced from Szarekh's sceptre, streaking toward Vashtorr. The Forge of Souls King had long since sensed the Necrons' approach; harboring no delusions about the potency of their weaponry, he twisted his torso with fluid grace. The beam, saturated with physical laws, roared past him. Though it was a mere graze, the passing heat ignited a portion of his metallic frame.
"Hmph."
Vashtorr let out a low grunt. A surge of Warp energy soon extinguished the flames licking at his chassis. While the Necrons had enslaved the C'tan, they were not C'tan themselves. Channeling such power required temporal cycles. Even a being as ancient as Szarekh could not drown Vashtorr in raw power with the effortless ease of a true Star God.
The Triarch Praetorians did not hesitate, launching a simultaneous assault upon the Arkifane. A massive Hyperphase Glaive swept in a lethal arc toward the metal arm Vashtorr still held against the Blackstone. The Daemon-smith was forced to withdraw his limb, swinging his massive hammer in a wide counter-stroke against the First Praetorian.
The Second Praetorian kicked a stray Daemon aside and leveled his chassis-mounted Gauss Destructor Cannon. As Vashtorr attempted to trade blows with the First Praetorian, the Second Praetorian released a beam of sickly green light. Necron Gauss weaponry functions by flaying matter at the molecular level; even a Daemon Demigod, though devoid of flesh and composed of brass and living alloys, would find such a strike agonizing.
A massive metallic wing, shimmering with the Warp, swept forward to shield Vashtorr's body, absorbing the Gauss beam in a flare of energy. Seizing the opening, the Third Praetorian engaged his anti-gravitic thrusters, vaulting behind Vashtorr to plunge a Hyperphase Sword toward the Arkifane's waist. Vashtorr's whip-like metal tail lashed out, striking at the Third Praetorian with vengeful speed.
The Third Praetorian, an expert in the use of energy whips himself, anticipated the strike. He brought his sword up in a reverse grip, parrying the metallic tail with a sharp chime of clashing alloys.
Szarekh, seemingly oblivious to the combat raging beside him, leaned upon his sceptre and walked toward the Blackstone Obelisk. His oculars glowed with a look of deep disbelief.
"Hehehe... foolish metallic vermin."
Seeing Szarekh's focus entirely consumed by the twisted obelisk, Vashtorr let out a mocking, mechanical laugh. Even as the Triarch Praetorians' assault continued unabated, the Arkifane remained unfazed.
But Szarekh had no interest in the taunts of a Daemon; he sought only to comprehend how such a feat had been accomplished.
"By my mandate, seize this Daemon!"
At that moment, drawn by the Warp anomalies, an Adeptus Mechanicus fleet led by Archmagos Cawl arrived in the upper atmosphere of the nodal planet. The Imperial forces and Szarekh's Necron fleet engaged one another almost instantly. Violent explosions illuminated both the void of space and the planetary surface. Cawl's fleet struck with an unstoppable momentum, hammering into the Necron lines.
In a brief lull between parries, Vashtorr looked up toward the stars, watching the Mechanicus fleet trade fire with the Necrons. A massive surge of Warp energy erupted from his frame. The Blackstone Obelisk, which had previously appeared only superficially corrupted, suddenly emitted a piercing, discordant shriek.
The pillar of emerald light reaching into the sky turned a visceral scarlet. Above the planet, a gargantuan Warp-rift tore open. Emerging from the rift was the planet Wyrmwood, now transformed into the Dissonance Engine, accompanied by a massive Chaos fleet. This sudden arrival of overwhelming Warp power brought the battle between the Necrons and the Mechanicus to a brief, stunned standstill.
Then, a massive three-way melee erupted.
In shadows unnoticed, a coven of Word Bearers watched with malevolent intent. These Dark Apostles, masters of religious demagoguery, were capable of inciting their followers to heights of fanatic devotion. Even unaugmented mortal cultists proved their utility within the desolate Pariah Nexus, many viewing the soul-stifling stasis effects as an ultimate test of their dark faith. These mortals displayed a mental fortitude that rivaled even the Sisters of Battle, a phenomenon that baffled the Necron Crypteks assisting Szeras the Illuminator.
The Word Bearers were not alone; the Thousand Sons also lurked nearby. Since Vashtorr had completed the Dissonance Engine, the sorcerers of Tzeentch had seen multiple futures in the shifting strands of fate where Vashtorr ascended as a new god. This did not align with the Weaver of Fate's designs; the Arkifane had to be stopped. Suleyman Khefre of the Cult of Knowledge had been dispatched to the Pariah Nexus, escorted by a force of Prosperine robots and Rubric Marines. They were also busy siphoning ancient technologies recklessly unleashed by the Mechanicus, as the knowledge contained within held incalculable value to the Sorcerer-Techs.
Even Fabius Bile had been lured by his own insatiable curiosity. Accompanied by his "New Men" bodyguards and Chaos Astartes of the Flawless Host, Bile had raided the homeworld of the Gilded Sons Chapter. His mutant servants, their resistance to the Nexus's stasis effects bolstered by their master's loathsome experiments, slaughtered the remaining defenders. However, the Gilded Sons' Apothecaries managed to escape with a vast cache of gene-seed. Since then, Bile had been prowling the fringes of the Pariah Nexus, ambushing both Necron and Imperial forces to harvest further specimens.
The escaped Gilded Sons Apothecaries were eventually rescued by a Mechanicus fleet, where they reported the atrocity. Cawl, already pushing into the heart of the Pariah Nexus, requested aid from Roboute Guilliman, who informed him that reinforcements were already en route.
…
Vashtorr blurred, evading a coordinated strike from the Triarch Praetorians. He turned and vanished into the Warp, leaving a trail of mocking laughter hanging in the air.
The Triarch Praetorians did not pursue, instead returning to Szarekh's side, occasionally striking down Daemons that dared approach. For the first time, Szarekh gained a new understanding of these Warp-spawn.
Never had he imagined such a fundamental failure of Necron technology. Szeras's execution had been flawless; the obelisk had been operating correctly. Yet the fact that Blackstone, the ultimate counter to the Immaterium, could be corrupted and turned into a conduit for the Warp was a technical deficiency Szarekh had to acknowledge. It was a failure of the Necron scientific mandate.
It meant the Pariah Nexus project had been compromised. If these Chaos dregs could corrupt one obelisk, they could corrupt them all. In a cold fury, Szarekh watched the fleets burning in the void above. He turned and opened a phase-gate, stepping through the dimensional conduits to return to his flagship, the Song of Oblivion.