The melta beam struck the Void Shield and was shunted into the Warp, vanishing without a trace.
"Cawl." Zufal's voice was grave. "It really is you."
There were only a handful of beings in the entire galaxy who could be considered a thorn in the side of Warmaster Abaddon, capable of hindering his Black Crusades.
The figure before him was undoubtedly one of them.
"It seems I'm quite famous." Cawl stood within the Void Shield, facing Zufal head-on.
His mechanical sub-arm produced a Solar Atomizer, a highly advanced alien thermal weapon.
At the center of the ring-shaped emitter, a miniature sun the size of a fist formed, and a beam of solar fire shot toward Zufal.
Zeke couldn't be bothered to guess the capacity of this Archmagos's four-dimensional pocket anymore.
He raised his Adamantine Shield, deflecting a cleaver strike from an Ogryn attacking from the side.
Stepping onto the Ogryn's body, he climbed to its head and drove his weapon into its eye socket, twisting it a few times to kill the beast.
A fist-sized eyeball dropped out—the Cyclops Eye recorded in the Bestiary.
Zeke preferred to call it the "Kidney Deficiency Eye," because whoever he pointed it at would suffer from kidney deficiency.
It could unconditionally apply a Weakness II debuff to anyone who looked at it, reducing their damage by 8.
It was much easier to use than Splash Potions of Weakness, which required a direct hit.
Zeke held up the Giant's Eye and aimed it at another Ogryn lunging toward him.
"Oh, that thing looks creepy."
The simple-minded Ogryn locked eyes with the giant eyeball and shuddered. His body felt drained, and the arm holding the cleaver went limp.
The Ogryn could only deal 6 damage to Zeke to begin with; this reduction dropped it into the negatives.
Holding the Giant's Eye aloft, Zeke applied the debuff to every enemy present. While Zufal's two Chaos Space Marine companions had already been turned to ash by Cawl.
He backed away. Afflicted by Weakness II, his desire to retreat grew stronger.
He certainly couldn't defeat Archmagos Cawl, especially with that strange human assisting him.
The Blackstone was what mattered. No matter what, he had to get this piece of Blackstone out.
Cawl caught onto Zufal's intent. His Solar Atomizer immediately swiveled toward the excavated Blackstone spire.
He incinerated several Ogryns who were attempting to drag the spire away.
Seeing the situation was hopeless, Zufal raised his meltagun and fired several shots into the ceiling before fleeing into the deep darkness.
Though the Blackstone spire absorbed light strongly, the meltagun blasts still briefly illuminated the area.
A commotion arose from the quiet forest of Blackstone spires around them. With the help of the Night Vision Potion, Cawl and Zeke could see numerous Black Legion reinforcements emerging in the distance.
Zufal hadn't come alone. He had brought a significant force. Abaddon had committed considerable troops for the Cadian Blackstone.
Archmagos Cawl was not alarmed but delighted. "This proves the importance of the Blackstone. It must have an impact on Abaddon's plans."
Zeke looked around at the Blackstone structures. They absorbed light and blocked most sensors.
Abaddon's Black Legion didn't have Night Vision Potions, so they couldn't seize the initiative like Zeke could.
Archmagos Cawl deactivated his Void Shield, and the group gradually faded into the darkness, disappearing into the complex maze of Blackstone spires.
The Black Legion reinforcements arrived too late.
"Send a message. Request more troops. The priority is to transport the Blackstone out. Capturing Cawl is secondary," Zufal ordered his men with a dark expression.
The Black Legion stepped into the darkness, beginning their search for Zeke and his companions.
After traveling deeper for some time, the Night Vision Potion's effect wore off, and Zeke's vision narrowed.
It felt just like being hit with the Blindness status effect.
Zeke didn't dare delay. He downed another potion and handed a few more to Cawl.
"The Blackstone density is increasing continuously," Cawl said. "Our direction is correct."
Zeke nodded. As they went deeper, the surrounding environment changed. The Blackstone spires became sparser.
Zeke noticed that between the spires... were those buildings?
At first, there were just square foundation stones scattered on the ground, engraved with strange symbols.
Soon, these foundations formed broken walls and crumbling arches.
They had walked into the ruins of an ancient city in the dark.
Archmagos Cawl leaned in to examine the symbols on the stones. "It's the work of the Abominable Intelligence, the Necrons."
Zeke knew that this used to be a city of the Necrontyr.
During the War in Heaven, the Necrontyr had built magnificent dwellings here, serving as military bases to fight the Old Ones.
With the passage of time, everything had faded, and this place had become their tomb, leaving only architectural remnants behind.
The buildings here were exceptionally tall. Even the remaining walls were easily over ten meters high.
The material was some kind of brick mixed with Blackstone and metal.
Combined with the surrounding darkness and silence, Zeke wouldn't have been surprised if a Warden suddenly appeared in front of him.
This biome felt too much like an Ancient City.
They walked into a structure. Behind a half-collapsed wall lay a strangely shaped metal sarcophagus.
On top of the sarcophagus were several pyramid-shaped containers.
"The Necrons excel at building various tombs and burial vessels. We believe this is an act of remembrance," Archmagos Cawl noted as he observed.
Zeke's attention was drawn to the pyramid bottles.
They looked breakable.
Zeke approached, aimed at a pyramid container, and tapped it with his pickaxe.
Crash!
The shattering sound was particularly loud as a Warden Armor Trim dropped out.
This item could be used on a Smithing Table to apply patterns to armor.
It actually drops loot! Zeke's eyes lit up. His scavenging addiction kicked in. No longer polite, he began swinging his pickaxe.
One by one, the ornate bottles shattered under his pick.
Three Glow Berries and two Soul Torches dropped out.
These bottles contain items? Qvo imitated Zeke and smashed a bottle, but nothing dropped.
Thinking it was his mistake, Qvo smashed another, but it was still empty.
Archmagos Cawl saw it clearly. He observed that before Zeke performed the breaking action, there was nothing inside the jar.
When Zeke swung his pickaxe to smash it, a mass of matter was generated out of thin air, as if in response to Zeke's action.
After smashing all the pots and pans, Zeke finally sidled sneakily toward the metal sarcophagus in the center.
Trazyn surely won't mind if I dig up his kin's grave.
Just joking. This tomb was obviously empty, more like a decoration.
He nudged the coffin lid aside, revealing the items within.
It was a loot chest containing a Diamond Horse Armor and an Enchanted Golden Apple.