Jormungandr Star Monolith

The fourth month of 844, the Ultima Segmentum, the Attila Galaxy.

After emerging from Warp, the Shadow of the Throne headed straight for the massive, satellite-like Jormungandr Star Monolith.

"Open the protective shield."

As Nimrod the order, the motor hummed and the blinds on both sides of the window rose.

Under the silent command of the Servitor, the Machine Spirit exerted its influence on the glass, causing it to darken.

The Primarch's gaze pierced through the window, crossed the void, and looked at the ancient the Rock.

No Warp Storm occurred in the neighboring galaxy, Jormungandr Star Monolith remained unaffected and unactivated, standing quietly in the void like other celestial bodies.

The Primarch's superhuman vision allowed him to see the spiderweb-like runes covering the surface.

He could recognize a small portion of it as being identical to the runes on Medusa that bound the Shard of the Burning One.

More runes than he had ever seen before.

Two sidereal hours later, Nimrod, Arsena Dunn, Gabriel, Thomas, and Gell Cuesta boarded the Stormbird and flew toward the base of the Rock.

On the stone steps, he met Sanchez, who had rushed over after hearing the news.

Nimrod led the group forward. The portico of the Rock was about 100 meters high, with a smooth and flat surface, as if it were carved from a single piece of agate.

It is outlined with intricate circles and lines, which together form a bizarre composition.

"Deduction Cadets" Arsena looked at the composition and spoke:

It appears to be a emblem.

"That's right," Nimrod affirmed his judgment.

The emblem features a central, interconnected circular ring, surrounded by a crescent-shaped arc that tapers inwards. These rings are joined together, with a horizontal straight line bulging outwards from the center on each side.

"It's time to tell you about the existence of an ancient race."

Nimrod then transmitted his knowledge of the Necrons and the Sautekh Dynasty to everyone via Telepathy.

The emblem on the gate is the symbol of the Sautekh Dynasty.

Arsena and the others rapidly processed the flood of information entering their minds.

An ancient race possessing advanced technology beyond our comprehension: the Necrons.

The powerful Sautekh Dynasty.

Gabriel, who possesses Superhuman Brain and has undergone three Mental Body enhancements, was the first to receive the flood of information entering his mind, and he exclaimed in amazement.

"Those Necrontyr are somewhat similar to Tech-Priest, but there are differences."

"The higher-ups of the Necrontyr were Fooling by the Deceiver and forced the entire race to transform into machines in order to prolong their lifespan."

"Tech-Priest view machines as the sacred form of the God of All Machines, believing that flesh and blood are weak and that mechanization is a step closer to the Omnissiah."

The dual-elemental Psyker, Arsena, underwent two significant Mental Body enhancements. While receiving the information, he also fully understood its meaning. He gazed upon the emblem of the Sautekh Dynasty.

"The Sautekh Dynasty was already one of the most powerful dynasties during the time of the Necrontyr."

"As a powerful Necron Dynasty, it possesses over eighty Tomb World."

"The Jormungandr Star Monolith is located on the edge of the Sautekh Dynasty's territory and is a sacred artifact of that dynasty."

Thomas, a psychic Psyker who had received three minor Mental Body enhancements, was the third to finish receiving the information stream and spoke.

"The Necrons possess anti- Psionic Energy technology; I can sense it, and my consciousness cannot penetrate the door."

Nimrod had a similar feeling. Although the anti- Psionic Energy field was not activated, the Jormungandr Star Monolith used some Blackstone technology, which suppressed his Psionic Energy to a certain extent.

The difference is that, as the Primarch, his Psionic Energy was not completely suppressed, and his consciousness was barely able to penetrate the layers of obstacles at the gate.

Gell, a tech-based Psyker who had received a Mental Body enhancement, finished processing the information in his mind slightly faster than Sanchez. He then stared in amazement at the Rock creation before him.

"The greatest function of the Jormungandr Star Monolith is to achieve complete physical replication; it can even completely replicate the warships of the Necrons."

"What I mean is, Father emphasized that it's a true replication, thousands of replicated warships, each one existing in the real world, just like the originals, and engaging in combat."

"This... is simply a technological marvel. I completely cannot comprehend how the Sautekh Dynasty's Crypt Technomancer managed to do this."

"They used the C'tan Power," Nimrod said with certainty. Even Necrons could not achieve complete physical replication simply through technology.

Replicating thousands of warships would require an astronomical amount of technology and resources.

"The Necrons's Tesseract Labyrinth can bind the C'tan, using their energy to generate an energy field through the tentacles that surround the C'tan Shard."

"Szarekhan is among the best; their legendary artifact Energy Shackles, can bind the Transcendent C'tan."

Among the many Necron Dynasty, the Sautekh Dynasty ranked among the top in both military strength and technology.

The Imotekh the Stormlord, who will awaken in the future, will unify the Sautekh Dynasty and dare to challenge the Silent King Szarekh.

"Each fragment of Transcendent C'tan is an aggregation of dozens or even hundreds of fragments, and their power far surpasses that of the individual fragments."

Fortunately, the fragments of the Exalted C'tan Shard here are bound by Szarekhan and cannot escape.

Nimrod recalled that the Great Rift unfolded ten thousand years later, Jormungandr Star Monolith was activated.

He also knew that Hannibal had escaped unscathed and even gained considerable spoils; otherwise, he wouldn't have risked coming here to explore.

Sanchez gripped the sword forged by the Fenrisian Kraken —a reward from the wolf king for winning the fight against Space Wolves Wolf King —and surveyed the building before him with predatory eyes.

"I'm more interested in the Necrons Warrior, especially those scorpion-shaped constructs."

Nimrod shook his head slightly and said with a smile.

"This is not a tomb; there won't be large numbers of Necrons. You can only hunt some Guardian."

"What's even more dangerous are the numerous traps and the protective defense system."

"You now understand the objectives of this mission; it's time to begin your exploration."

After Nimrod finished speaking, he led the five men and the members of the Honor Guard forward.

Upon reaching the gate, the group began to inspect the closed entrance.

A moment later, Sanchez spoke first, having inspected the door in a "hunter's" manner.

"The traces of the entrance have been washed away by tens of millions of years, leaving not a single trace."

"I can't find the key points of the door, so I can't open it by making minor damage."

"We must not resort to violence," Gabriel continued, "Although I still cannot comprehend the technology used to build the gate."

"But according to my Lord, it contains enormous energy, and violent destruction could lead to Catastrophe consequences."

Arsena used his Psionic Energy senses to probe the runes on the gate, attempting to deduce a pattern from them.

"My understanding of the runes of the Necrons is still limited, and I am unable to deduce the patterns to open the gate."

"I probed the gate and grasped some of its technology, but there's a force within it that's repelling my Psionic Energy," Gell continued after a few seconds of silent calculation.

"It is estimated that it will take at least ten years to open the door."

"My 'Eyes of Mystery Prying' can see some things, but its Spirituality energy is consumed extremely quickly, and the time required..." Thomas pondered for a moment before continuing.

"It will take about ten years."

"It won't take that long," Nimrod said.

In the eyes of the "Baron of Corruption," the gate was disassembled into Geometry: rectangles, circles...

He could also see Rule Line, red, black...

"The Baron of Corruption" noticed that all the patterns and all the different colored threads had the same point of intersection.

That intersection point is at the center of the circle below the Szarekhan emblem; it's a mandala-like rune.

Nimrod knew that the capital of the Sautekh Dynasty was on Mandragora, and that rune should be the control rune for the entire gate.

He spread his golden wings and instantly flew to the rune, raising his right hand and patting it.

The ground beneath everyone's feet trembled as the hundred-meter-high gate slowly opened.