Chapter 127 The Triarch (Bonus)

Once the banquet wrapped up, the Primarchs scattered to execute their missions.

It didn’t take long for a chaotic, multi-front war to erupt, with both sides throwing down in absolute bloodbaths.

Vane and Big E kept their personal fleet on standby until intel rolled in confirming the Silent King had been spotted in the Paradyce System. The fleet immediately initiated a warp jump. Boosted by Big E’s psychic muscle, they tore through the Immaterium at breakneck speed, dropping out right into the Paradyce System.

The veil of reality ripped open, spilling paradoxical sorcerous light that illuminated the freezing void. Warships bearing the twin-headed eagle crest translated into realspace one after another, shifting into combat formations instantly.

By this point, the Necrons had completely locked down the Paradyce System.

The Imperial garrison fleet had been wiped off the map. Burning debris and frozen corpses littered the vacuum of space.

An armada of crescent, pyramid, and aggressively jagged Necron warships hovered ominously in the void, with swarms of fighter craft darting between them. At the heart of the Necron fleet sat a colossal tomb ship, practically a mobile battlestation. It was as pitch-black as the void around it, visible only thanks to the eerie green glowing circuits running across its hull.

“The Song of Oblivion,” the Void Dragon muttered, recognizing the tomb ship. “Never thought we’d meet again like this, Szarekh.”

Szarekh was the one who originally forged an alliance with the C’tan, only to stab them in the back the second the War in Heaven ended. The flames of pure hatred burned so hot in the Void Dragon’s mind that it practically consumed him. (TL/N: This is from the ctan’s POV)

Suddenly, the hololith flickered. A thin beam of emerald light pierced the projection, glowing like a polished gemstone.

“Forefather, The Omnissiah, the enemy is attempting to hijack our hololith systems,” a Tech-Priest said, rushing over to Vane and Big E in a panic.

“Looks like they want to chat. Let’s hear what they have to say,” Vane grinned. “Drop the firewalls. Let them in.”

“Isn’t that a little too risky?” Trajann stepped forward, looking noticeably worried.

“It’s fine,” Vane said, calming the Captain-General of the Custodes. “With me here, there’s zero chance those xenos are taking over the ship’s systems. Drop the shields and put their call through.”

A massive projection materialized on the bridge. A Necron Overlord with piercing green eyes towered over them. He wore a crown of sharp blades and sat on a massive throne of carved Blackstone. It was none other than the Silent King, Szarekh.

Flanking him on slightly lower thrones sat two other Necron Overlords: the other two Phaerons of the Triarch—Hapthatra the Radiant, and the Phaeron of the Blades, Mesophet the Shadow’s Hand.

“Listen well, you ignorant, lesser creatures,” Hapthatra the Radiant boomed. “Be grateful for my lord’s mercy. I am Hapthatra the Radiant, member of the Triarch, and loyal servant to the Silent King, Szarekh.”

“Szarekh is almighty and eternal. He is the shatterer of gods and the reshaper of worlds! The immortal King of Ages, the master of—”

“Hold up…” Vane shouted, completely cutting Hapthatra off. “This place is a bit cramped. We don’t have enough room for all those titles.”

The second he said that, someone on the ultra-serious bridge completely lost their composure. The moment the first guy cracked up, it became contagious. Within seconds, the entire bridge was roaring with laughter.

For the Necron Triarch, this was an absolutely unforgivable humiliation.

“You will pay dearly for your foolishness,” Hapthatra snapped, clearly pissed.

“Worry about yourself first, buddy. I’m here to put you guys in the dirt today,” Vane fired back.

A hint of sheer contempt dripped from Hapthatra’s synthetic voice. “Our astromancers have already reconstructed the quantum trajectories of your existence. We know your history inside and out. Your species passed its prime a long time ago. You’ve spent ten thousand years squabbling and you still haven’t managed to end your pathetic little civil wars.”

“Compared to the Necrons, you are nothing but a tragic horde of primitive apes. Even at your absolute peak, you were completely insignificant to us. Now listen, my lord is mercifully giving you one chance. If the Imperium of Man surrenders to the Triarch, we will—”

“Are you sleepwalking or something?” Vane scoffed, interrupting Hapthatra yet again. “You guys sure weren’t talking this tough when you were acting as lapdogs for the C’tan.”

“Insolence! Do you have any idea what it costs to insult the Triarch?!” Hapthatra roared.

“Why don’t you ask them?” Vane snapped his fingers, and instantly, the Void Dragon and the Outsider materialized right beside him.

“Szarekh, you absolute motherf—@###!” The Void Dragon completely dropped its divine C’tan persona and just started hurling censored profanities at the Triarch.

Szarekh was the one who backstabbed him, shattered him into pieces, and sealed him in vaults all across the galaxy. If it wasn’t for humanity, he probably would’ve stayed locked up forever. His hatred for the Necrons was off the charts. Unfortunately, since this human Forefather was so hellbent on peace, the Void Dragon had no choice but to hyper-focus all of its raging animosity directly onto Szarekh. Cursing him out was just collecting a little interest. Later, he was going to beat the Silent King so hard he’d forget his own source code.

The Outsider didn’t say a word, but the fury boiling inside it was just as intense. It stared at the Silent King’s throne, where a bound shard of Nyadra’zatha, the Burning One, was being used as a literal battery. Szarekh had even flayed the Burning One’s skin to wear as a cape.

Szarekh froze for a few seconds when he saw the Void Dragon and the Outsider, but he quickly regained his composure. Beside him, Hapthatra spoke up again.

“Foolish Old Gods. Your era is over. You get lucky enough to break out of your prisons, and instead of finding a hole to hide in, you actually dare to show your faces in front of the Triarch?”

“Funny talk coming from the guys who had a total mental breakdown when the Old Ones were kicking their asses and begged us to team up,” the Void Dragon mocked. “A pathetic coward who waits for people to get weak before pulling a sneak attack now has the guts to call himself the supreme overlord of the galaxy. Today is the day you die, Szarekh. We are settling all the grudges right here.”

“Then you choose your own destruction,” Hapthatra’s voice turned ice-cold. “The Triarch was the victor then, and we will be the victor now. You—”

“Hahaha!” Vane burst out laughing, cutting off the Necron Lord for a third time. “The Triarch is hilarious. I’ve made up my mind. I’m bagging all three of you and throwing you in a museum for tourists to gawk at.”

Back when he first crossed over and had zero resources, he might have had to sweat the Triarch a little bit.

Right now, all he wanted to do was beat the machine oil out of the Silent King and make him drop to his knees and sing I Surrender.

“How about we just put them on display in Solemnace?” Trazyn suggested. There was zero loyalty to the Silent King in his mechanical eyes, only a burning desire to bag some ultra-rare collectibles.

His voice immediately caught the attention of the Triarch.

“Trazyn, do you seriously intend to betray the Triarch and turn your back on your own race?” Hapthatra spoke on behalf of the council.

Trazyn turned his gaze toward the Silent King and slowly shook his head.

“Betrayal? Szarekh, do you really have the right to lecture us about betrayal?”

With the human Forefather backing him up, Trazyn wasn’t the least bit intimidated by the former supreme overlord.

“You’re the one who started the War in Heaven. You forced the biotransference on us and caused the complete extinction of the flesh-and-blood Necrontyr race. You promised we would become the undisputed masters of the galaxy. And what do we have now? Not a single living kinsman left. Just a horde of mindless, metallic ghosts echoing a dead past.”

“Now, a new generation of our people has finally been born. All you have to do is step down, ally with humanity, and our race can finally continue. But all you care about is your own power and your pathetic empire. You’re actually trying to drag us into another pointless war. You destroyed the entire race for your own selfish ambitions. You are completely unworthy of leading the Triarch.”

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