Ultima Segmentum, Sotha.
Great Sage Koriel Zeth gazed at the Quantum Engine, feeling the breeze brush past her as she frowned slightly.
The Pharos Tunnel defied thermodynamics. The airflow came from the warm lowlands and should have been warmer than the air atop the mountain, yet when the damp coastal wind rushed into the mountain, the surroundings immediately turned cold, while the humidity was far lower than expected.
Moreover, with every meter of ascent, the moisture content in the air dropped sharply. By the time the wind spiraled out of the cave network, it was as if it had been sucked dry.
Koriel looked ahead at the three thousand three black stone pillars surrounding the xenos device.
Each stood eleven meters tall, all of them marked by irregular white growth patterns resembling the numbers eleven and thirty-one.
Eleven and thirty-three. These two numbers seemed special.
Eleven—the eleventh gene-Primarch—but where did thirty-three come from?
The pillars and those specific numbers—were they merely meant to cultivate an air of mystery, or did they truly help Lord Nimrod wield his mysterious power?
Thud, thud—
She turned toward the sound and saw a towering figure approaching at a leisurely pace.
Golden wings folded behind his back, glittering beneath the hazy glow.
"Lord Nimrod, I have erected the Double-Number Black Gold pillars at the designated locations, as ordered."
"When will they be connected to the beacon control system?"
The thirty-three pillars were neither linked to one another nor connected to the machinery that the Adeptus Mechanicus had previously researched and built. They were even less connected to the beacon control center constructed by Barabas Dantioch.
"There is no need."
Nimrod shook his head. "They will handle what comes next."
Iron Father Fret Samatica and Sabik Wieland of the Iron Hands looked behind Lord Nimrod. Primarch's