Chapter 70 Not Even a God Can Default on My Debt

The Heart of the Machine hovered in Vane’s hand, resembling a perfectly intricate sphere of metallic architecture. Dense clusters of gears and pistons constantly churned and cycled in an endless loop, radiating a bizarre, rhythmic pulse of mechanical energy.

“I speak in the name of the Machine. Obey me.”

As Vane spoke, a bizarre wave of energy pulsed outward from the Heart of the Machine, rippling across the chamber like a stone dropped in a pond.

The tidal wave of Necron constructs instantly froze in their tracks. Their glowing green optics flickered frantically. A moment later, the light in their eyes stabilized, completely devoid of hostility. As seamlessly as they had appeared, the entire mechanical horde turned and retreated back into the darkness.

“Done. Let’s keep moving,” Vane said, pocketing the Heart of the Machine and waving the group forward.

“They’re… not attacking us anymore?” Eldrad watched the retreating Necron constructs, his voice tinged with sheer astonishment.

“What exactly did the human Forefather just do to bend the creations of the dead to his will?” Yvraine murmured, having seen the entire exchange clearly.

“Even our ancient enemy’s constructs cannot resist his command?” Eldrad felt a sudden, profound wave of relief. Allying with humanity truly was the single smartest decision the Aeldari had made since the Fall of their empire. As the sworn enemies of the Necrons since the War in Heaven, Eldrad knew exactly how terrifying their technology was. It was power capable of shattering gods. Yet, the human Forefather had casually bypassed it and hijacked it for himself. At this point, Eldrad honestly couldn’t think of a single entity in the galaxy capable of stopping Vane.

As the group ventured deeper, they passed legions of Canoptek constructs fully engrossed in repairing the lighthouse, completely ignoring the fleshy intruders walking past them. The constructs used Gauss beams to deconstruct the surrounding stone on a molecular level, transmuting it into perfectly formed noctilith—blackstone—to rebuild the shattered runic circuitry in a desperate attempt to bring the lighthouse back online.

Eventually, the tunnel ended before a colossal, towering wall inscribed with dense, glowing Necrontyr glyphs. In the center of the wall sat a massive, brilliant triangular gateway forged from what looked like polished bronze.

Flanking the gateway were sixteen massive alcoves—eight on each side. Each alcove housed a towering, humanoid statue. Oddly, however, every single statue was tightly bound in thick, silver chains.

Cawl immediately ran a scan on the statues, his optics widening. The craftsmanship was molecularly perfect, an absolute, seamless fusion of hyper-advanced technology and breathtaking artistry.

“What are these?” Greyfax asked, scrutinizing the chained figures.

“They are the gods the Necrontyr once worshipped,” Eldrad explained, stepping forward. “During the ancient times, the Necrons struck a pact with these beings to overthrow the dominion of the Old Ones. But later, the Necrons betrayed their own gods, shattering them into fragments and sealing them away.”

“I never knew the Necrons had such a history,” Greyfax said, a look of dawning comprehension on her face.

“It was an unimaginably long time ago,” Eldrad sighed heavily. “After that apocalyptic war, the Aeldari rose from the ashes to become the new masters of the galaxy. And now… it is humanity’s turn. The universe is a cycle. Different races take turns standing upon the stage.”

“We don’t possess the xenos decryption keys to open this gate, Forefather,” Thracian said as he approached the massive triangular gateway, turning back to Vane.

Vane didn’t say anything and just strolled up to the massive bronze doors.

He pulled an enchanted Netherite Pickaxe out of his inventory and started furiously hacking at the impenetrable gateway.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The deafening impacts echoed through the sealed cavern. Dense, spider-web cracks began spreading rapidly across the bronze surface. A few seconds later, with a massive POP, the colossal gateway shattered into a miniaturized block and hovered above the ground before Vane casually scooped it up.

Beyond the ruined gateway lay a staggeringly massive subterranean cavern. The floor and ceiling were entirely paved with blackstone, intricately carved with endless streams of Necron glyphs.

Suspended hundreds of meters in the air were eight massive, floating sarcophagi. Seven of them were completely dark, the entities imprisoned within clearly having perished or degraded to nothingness long ago. Only one sarcophagus still glowed, its Necron runes pulsing with a sinister, malevolent energy. Trapped inside was Vane’s target: Zarhulash, the Potentate.

“A C’tan.” Eldrad pointed at the glowing sarcophagus. “I can feel its abhorrent, soul-sickening presence from here.”

“Are we really going to release it?” Greyfax asked, looking nervously at Vane. “Isn’t that incredibly dangerous?”

“Have faith in the Forefather’s power,” Celestine said, her tone absolutely resolute.

“I… I am hearing a voice,” Cawl suddenly spoke up, his mechanical tone laced with apprehension. “An entity is speaking into my mind, urging me to release it. It promises to grant me all the knowledge in the universe if I comply.”

“It’s the whisper of the Star God. It’s trying to tempt you into setting it free,” Yvraine said, drawing her elegant blade. “Respected Forefather, give the order, and we shall destroy it permanently.”

Vane rubbed his chin, looking back at Cawl. “So, it promised you endless knowledge if you let it out?”

“That is the exact interpretation of the data packets it is transmitting to my cognitive core,” Cawl confirmed.

Vane just shrugged. “Well then, go ahead. Release it.”

“Uh…” Everyone froze, staring at Vane in complete shock.

“Forefather, that xenos god is clearly lying to him!” Greyfax frantically warned. “We should focus fire and destroy the containment vessel immediately!”

“What are you worrying about?” Vane chuckled, cracking his knuckles. “Let Cawl release it. If it refuses to pay up, we just beat the living crap out of it until it does.”

“Nobody defaults on a debt to me,” Vane declared proudly. “The last guy who tried to scam me claimed to be ‘God’. I beat him so badly his avatar exploded, and then I sealed his essence at the bottom of a literal cesspit.”

Hearing Vane’s casual flex, everyone exchanged helpless looks and decided to keep their mouths shut.

Cawl stepped up to a blackstone pillar jutting from the floor, extended a data-spike from his gauntlet, and jacked it directly into a Necron interface port to initiate a mental uplink. Bypassing the security protocols, he deactivated the sarcophagus’s dimensional containment field, releasing the imprisoned C’tan.

The sarcophagus instantly erupted with blinding, incandescent light, as if a star had suddenly detonated within the cavern. The light rapidly condensed, taking the form of a towering, humanoid entity forged from liquid silver. The being levitated high above the ground, gazing down at the mortals with absolute, suffocating arrogance. Its facial features were razor-sharp, far more angular and exaggerated than any human, possessing an aesthetic that bridged the gap between human and Aeldari.

“Grovel, you pathetic, lesser lifeforms, and offer me your absolute fealty.”

The C’tan’s voice echoed directly inside their minds, carrying the weight of a physical blow. Tangible waves of cosmic energy swirled around its silver form, and a terrifying, searing heat radiated from the core in its chest, burning like a hyper-compressed sun.

“Hey!” Vane shouted, forcing the arrogant Zarhulash to look down. “Are you gonna hand over that reward you promised or what?”

“A pathetic mortal gazes upon my true form and still possesses the audacity to speak to me in such a tone. Amusing. Kneel before me, and I shall spare your miserable life and allow you to serve in my vanguard.” The Potentate stared at Vane, genuinely intrigued.

“Are you trying to default on your debt?!” Vane raised an eyebrow. “No wonder they locked your ass up in here. You have zero credit score.”

“Let me make this perfectly clear: hand over the knowledge you promised right now, or I’m going to beat your shiny silver skull in.”

“Insolent speck. You have absolutely no concept of the entity you have just provoked.”

Zarhulash’s eyes blazed with blinding cosmic fire, and a tidal wave of apocalyptic energy erupted from its body, threatening to vaporize everything in the cavern.

“If you were at full power, maybe I’d give you a second look. But right now, you’re just a measly little shard running your mouth!”

Vane launched himself into the air. Spamming the Void Ring’s zero-cooldown teleport, he essentially turned into a blur of motion, raining a frantic, high-speed barrage of strikes down on the C’tan with Bloodletter [Carnage].

“Die!” Zarhulash roared in absolute fury, lashing out with cosmic force to obliterate Vane.

But as the battle raged, the C’tan quickly realized it wasn’t landing a single hit. Instead, Vane was carving horrific, agonizing gashes into its necrodermis body. One particularly vicious slash tore across its chest, nearly shattering its core outright.

How is this mortal so powerful?!

The more Zarhulash fought, the more panicked it became. If this kept up, it was going to be completely destroyed. In a desperate bid for survival, the Potentate detonated a massive shockwave of cosmic energy, violently blasting Vane back.

Once it had bought itself some distance, the C’tan’s voice echoed in Vane’s mind again—this time, completely stripped of its previous arrogance.

“Uh… my human friend, I believe there has been a terrible misunderstanding. Perhaps we should sit down and discuss this rationally.”