Chapter 71 The Sword of the Cosmos

Vane hovered in the air, Bloodletter [Carnage] glowing a deep, visceral crimson in his hand.

“There is absolutely no need for this to escalate into a conflict unto death. My true enemies are the Necrontyr. It was they who betrayed me.”

Zarhulash’s unexpectedly calm, reasonable demeanor genuinely caught Eldrad and the Aeldari Farseers off guard. According to every single historical archive maintained by the Craftworlds, the C’tan were described as utterly erratic, tyrannical, and sadistically bloodthirsty star gods. Yet here was Zarhulash, the Potentate, acting completely rational. Had their ancestors just been talking to them wrong all those millennia ago?

“I mean, we don’t have to fight. Just cough up the reward first,” Vane said, pointing his blade squarely at Cawl. “You promised him that if he let you out, you’d give him all the knowledge in the universe.”

“The accumulated knowledge of the entire universe is unfathomably vast. No organic mind—not even a highly advanced silicon-based core—could possibly process or withstand it.”

A glowing crystal materialized in Zarhulash’s hand. “This contains a portion of my knowledge concerning spatio-temporal technology. Will this suffice to settle the debt?”

Vane immediately leveled his sword at the C’tan.

“Who the hell do you think you’re talking to? You said ‘all the knowledge in the universe’, so you’re giving him all the knowledge in the universe. If he can’t digest it in a day, he’ll take ten years. If not ten, then a hundred. Hell, take ten thousand years. Here’s the deal: you’re going to act as Cawl’s personal tutor and servant until he’s fully digested the entire universe’s knowledge.”

“You must be out of your mind! I am a god! I will never serve a mortal as a common servant!” Zarhulash exploded, completely enraged by the sheer disrespect.

“Guess negotiations are off, then.” Vane didn’t yield an inch. “You’ve got exactly two options: you either become Cawl’s personal servant, or I beat the living daylights out of you.”

“Do you truly believe I fear you?!” Zarhulash decided to fight.

With a sudden blur, Vane vanished.

A split-second later, he reappeared directly behind Zarhulash, bringing Bloodletter [Carnage] down in a devastating, spinning slash. Zarhulash tracked Vane’s movement and attempted to dodge, only to realize in absolute horror that the surrounding spacetime had been completely locked down by some bizarre, external force. The C’tan felt like it was wading through thick mud, completely unable to evade the strike.

The hyper-sharp blade easily cleaved through Zarhulash’s necrodermis shell, causing blinding cosmic energy to violently bleed from the wound.

Desperate to counterattack, Zarhulash fired a massive, apocalyptic beam of cosmic destruction at point-blank range. But Vane just spammed the Void Ring’s zero-cooldown teleport, effortlessly blinking out of the way and capitalizing on the opening to carve another massive gash into the C’tan.

Zarhulash was completely losing its mind in frustration, unable to land a single hit on Vane.

After landing a few more solid slashes, Vane decided it wasn’t satisfying enough. He opened his inventory and swapped to a new piece of gear: the Enderman’s Hand.

Vane had acquired the Enderman’s Hand after clearing the Mutant Creatures dimension in the Minecraft universe. The item generated a highly specialized telekinetic field capable of perfectly grabbing and manipulating any block in existence—even liquids and gases. It was the absolute perfect tool for grabbing an energy-based entity encased in necrodermis like Zarhulash.

Equipping the Enderman’s Hand, Vane reached out and firmly gripped the empty air. An invisible force instantly clamped down like a vise around Zarhulash’s ankle.

Vane violently swung his arm left and right, brutally slamming the Potentate face-first into the blackstone floor over and over again. Within seconds, massive craters and horrifying fissures fractured the ground beneath them.

“Enough!” Zarhulash roared.

Vane paused, looking down at the C’tan in genuine confusion.

“I am a god! You are nothing but a hairless ape! How dare you treat me in such a manner?!”

Vane was actually stunned. Even while getting absolutely ragdolled, this guy still had the audacity to talk trash? Bro, do you think you’re the edgy male lead in a romance novel?!

In the very next second, Vane started swinging the C’tan back and forth even faster, slamming it down with exponentially more force.

SLAM! SLAM! SLAM!

The deafening impacts echoed like the rapid beating of a war drum. In less than a minute, the cavern floor was completely demolished, riddled with massive craters and an endless web of deep fractures.

Watching from a distance, the Imperial and Aeldari delegations were completely paralyzed with shock. A literal Star God was being used as a chew toy by their Forefather, getting slammed against the floor so fast it was just a silver blur. The C’tan couldn’t even put up a token resistance. Honestly, they were starting to wonder if they had come here for a military operation or just to watch a live execution.

“Stop! I yield! I yield!”

Hearing Zarhulash finally beg for mercy, Vane stopped swinging. Using the invisible Enderman’s Hand, he casually hoisted the C’tan up by its ankle so it dangled right in front of his face. At this point, the Star God’s necrodermis body was covered in massive, jagged fractures, and it looked absolutely pathetic.

“Oh ho? The grand, majestic Star God is actually begging a hairless ape for mercy? Now that’s a rare sight.” Vane’s voice was dripping with pure mockery. “Is this really how weak the legendary gods are? I haven’t even used my full strength yet, and you’re already screaming for a time-out.”

“I was wrong. Humanity is undeniably the most majestic race in the galaxy,” Zarhulash conceded, thoroughly defeated. The power gap between them was just too astronomically wide.

“What a cheapskate. I try to be nice, but you just wouldn’t listen until I beat it into you,” Vane shook his head, looking completely disgusted. “So, about that promise you made to Cawl. You said if he let you out, you’d give him all the knowledge in the universe, right?”

“Yes,” Zarhulash nodded weakly.

“Great. Pay up,” Vane said, snapping his blade up and pointing it straight at the C’tan’s face. “If you even dare say the word ‘no,’ I will personally chop you into eighteen separate pieces right now.”

Zarhulash nodded frantically, bobbing its head like a chicken pecking at grain. “I will! I absolutely will!”

“And remember, I said all the knowledge in the universe. If you try to shortchange him even a little bit, you’re getting diced into eighteen pieces.”

Zarhulash remained silent.

I was just bluffing to get out of the box! How the hell am I supposed to give him the knowledge of the entire universe?! I don’t even know everything in the universe!

“Do we have a problem?” Vane asked, his tone dropping dangerously low.

Zarhulash immediately shook its head. It didn’t dare voice a single complaint, absolutely terrified that if it spoke out of turn, Vane would start swinging it around by the ankles again.

“Cawl, get over here.”

Archmagos Cawl eagerly trotted over, practically vibrating with excitement as his numerous mechanical components whirred and hummed. “Yes, Forefather?”

“This guy is all yours. If you don’t understand something, just ask him,” Vane said, pointing at the subdued Zarhulash. “If he gives you any lip, just tell me. I’ll scatter his ashes across the galaxy.”

Zarhulash didn’t dare say a word.

Just wait three thousand years! Thirty thousand years! Do not underestimate a Star God who has fallen on hard times! I will repay this humiliation!

Smack! Smack!

Vane casually slapped the flat of his blade against Zarhulash’s metallic cheek. “You’re giving me a look like you’re still not convinced.”

“Not at all! Not at all! I was merely contemplating how I could better serve you!” Zarhulash immediately forced an incredibly sycophantic smile.

A true Star God knows when to bend the knee. I will remember this humiliation for eternity.

“That’s… it? It’s over?”

Eldrad and the Aeldari Farseers looked like they were actively questioning their own reality. But staring at the once-fearsome Potentate now obediently following Archmagos Cawl around like a docile puppy, they had no choice but to accept it.

“Your species is incredibly lucky to have a Forefather like him,” Yvraine muttered to Greyfax.

Why is there such a massive difference between our ancestors? The ancient Aeldari completely destroyed their own empire and accidentally birthed Slaanesh…

Greyfax didn’t reply, but the slight, smug smirk tugging at the corners of her mouth made it abundantly clear that the Inquisitor was in an incredibly good mood. Ever since she had met Vane, she felt a genuine, burning hope for the future.

As Vane was stowing his weapons and gear, he glanced at his inventory and was genuinely thrilled to see three Neutronium Ingots sitting in one of his slots. To ensure he didn’t accidentally lose any hyper-valuable resources, he had configured his system to automatically deposit ultra-rare items directly into his personal inventory space. Whenever the mobile fortress produced high-tier materials, the Copper Golems automatically routed them straight into his Infinite Backpack.

A single Neutronium Ingot had a mass equivalent to a supermassive star. It was an incredibly unique, endgame material from the Avaritia mod. To craft just one ingot, he had to use Neutronium Collectors to slowly harvest Piles of Neutrons, combine those into Neutronium Nuggets, and finally compress those into an ingot.

And if he managed to combine Neutronium Ingots, Crystal Matrix Ingots, Infinity Catalysts, and Infinity Ingots… he could forge the ultimate weapon: the Sword of the Cosmos.

The Sword of the Cosmos only had a base damage stat of 1, but it possessed one absolutely broken, game-ending mechanic: instant death. If he landed a hit, the instant death effect would trigger. Even if his target was a literal god or a universe-creator, they would die instantly.

From the very beginning, Vane had decided that the Sword of the Cosmos would be his ultimate trump card against the four Chaos Gods. He had built massive arrays of Neutronium Collectors inside his mobile fortress’s pocket dimension, pairing them with the Watch of Flowing Time to massively accelerate their production. Now, he was finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Once he gathered enough materials to craft the Sword of the Cosmos, he would be completely ready to arm-wrestle the Chaos Gods and the Tyranid Hive Mind into submission.

“I’m going to terraform all of Sotha, but I’ll leave the actual biosphere reconstruction and ecological balancing up to you, Cawl,” Vane said.

“Forefather, you’re going to terraform Sotha?!” Cawl, who had been completely lost in the sheer ecstasy of having a Star God as a personal tutor, snapped back to reality.

“Obviously. A barren planet is just depressing to look at. Plus, this is the homeworld of the Scythes of the Emperor. It deserves a little TLC.” (TL/N: Tender Loving Care)

“Forefather…”

The moment Vane said that, Thracian and his battle-brothers immediately teared up again. He had cured their Genestealer corruption, fully re-equipped them with pristine wargear, and now he was going to restore their dead homeworld? If this wasn’t pure, unadulterated love, then love didn’t exist in the universe.

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