The Profane Sanctuary

"Damn it! Run!!"

Li Wei's provocation failed.

That Necron Lord did not kneel down like the previous servitor.

It was an advanced AI without a biological brain, possessing no fear.

Facing Li Wei's Void Field, only a line of cold data streams flashed across its electronic eyes burning with green fire:

[Anti-Warp anomaly detected.]

[Threat level: High. Vivisection recommended.]

Hum! That two-meter-long Phase Scythe swept horizontally with a hum that tore the air.

The speed of this strike was so fast that it even produced afterimages.

Li Wei only had time to make one movement—he lunged backward abruptly, instinctively wrapping his arms around Elena's waist before she could react, and the two of them rolled toward the side like rolling gourds.

Sizzle!

The scythe swept past the spot where they had just been standing, and the hard blackstone floor was cut open like tofu. The cut didn't even generate heat, because the molecular structure was directly severed.

"It's not affected! Let's go!" Li Wei scrambled up, not caring about propriety between men and women, hoisted the limp Elena onto his shoulder, and sprinted toward a row of huge stone pillars on the side of the hall.

The Necron Lord behind them paced forward heavily, following at a leisurely pace.

It didn't need to run; the scythe in its hand was charging, preparing for the next harvest.

"Let... let me down..." Elena draped over Li Wei's shoulder, her abdomen slamming against Li Wei's hard shoulder with every stride of his run.

Yet what made her miserable was not the bumping, but the contact.

Large-scale bodily contact. Li Wei's arm clamped tightly around her thighs and buttocks, and that "feeling of nothingness" from the Pariah drilled into her body like an electric current, making her dizzy and turning her stomach upside down.

"Shut up! Do you want to be sliced into pieces?" Li Wei rushed into the cluster of stone pillars.

Placed here were many huge, upright rectangular metal cabinets—those were stasis crypts for Necron Warriors. Most were empty, but some were already damaged.

The footsteps of the Necron Lord grew closer.

This was a dead end.

Li Wei's gaze locked onto a half-open stasis crypt.

It was a narrow vertical coffin used to store Flayers. The Necrons inside seemed to have left long ago, leaving only some withered human skins hanging on the inner walls.

"Get in!" Without any hesitation, Li Wei shoved Elena inside.

Then, he squeezed in too.

This space was far too tight.

Originally designed just for a single Necron to stand in, it was now forcibly crammed with two adult humans, a man and a woman.

In order to close the capsule door, Li Wei had to press face-to-face against Elena.

Their bodies were squeezed together seamlessly.

Li Wei's chest pressed hard against Elena's soft breasts, and his thighs had to wedge between Elena's legs just to barely stand steady.

Click. Li Wei pulled the metal capsule door shut from the inside.

Darkness descended instantly.

In the narrow, stuffy space filled with the smell of rust and withered human skin, only the sound of their rapid breathing remained.

"Don't... don't move..." Elena's voice carried a crying tone, her body trembling violently.

This posture was far too humiliating, and far too agonizing.

Because the space was so cramped, every time Li Wei breathed, his chest would brush against her sensitive areas.

Her pristine nun's robes had already been torn in the escape, revealing large patches of pale skin.

At this moment, this skin was pressed tightly against Li Wei's rough, filthy military overcoat, and she could even feel the man's scorching body heat.

For a nun who had taken vows of chastity and possessed a firm faith, this was simply the ultimate desecration.

Even more terrifying was that smell.

The stench from the depths of a Soulless's soul, one that only she could smell.

Being pressed down so closely by such a "monster" gave her the illusion that she was being violated by some unspeakable entity.

"Ugh..." Elena couldn't help it anymore, covering her mouth as she let out a retch.

Yet in this posture, she couldn't even lower her head.

She could only tilt her head back, resting her face—full of cold sweat and a blush—powerlessly against the bulkhead.

"Endure it," Li Wei warned in a low voice in the dark.

His lips were practically pressed against Elena's ear, the hot breath he exhaled spraying over her sensitive neck.

"It's right outside."

Thud... thud... thud... The heavy metallic footsteps stopped outside the capsule door.

The Necron Lord was scanning this row of stasis crypts.

Green scanning beams shone in through the cracks of the capsule door, striking directly upon their entangled bodies.

Li Wei didn't dare move.

One of his hands braced against the bulkhead beside Elena's head, and the other hand, to maintain balance, had to grip her slender waist tightly, his fingers sinking deep into the soft flesh of her waist out of sheer tension.

Elena's whole body went limp.

That intense sensation of nausea, mixed with the extreme terror of the moment and the suffocating feeling of her body being forcibly compressed, unexpectedly produced a bizarre physiological reaction.

Her legs began to turn to jelly, unable to support her weight, and her entire body slid downward like boneless water.

To keep her from falling and making a noise, Li Wei had to tighten his arm once more and thrust his thigh upward slightly.

This movement pressed their lower bodies even tighter together.

"Mh..." Elena let out a suppressed, stifled moan akin to a groan.

Tears welled up at the corners of her eyes. It was too close.

This man's presence was inescapable.

Her soul screamed to escape, but her body was pinned firmly inside this narrow coffin, forced to accept this all-encompassing "embrace."

Sweat soaked through her robes.

That body fragrance laced with incense fermented in the confined space, blending with the smell of blood on Li Wei, forming a scent that was both intoxicating and depraved.

Li Wei was no saint.

Although it was a matter of life and death right now, the warm, soft female body trembling in his arms from fear, along with the sensation transmitted through the thin fabric, still caused his body to react instinctively.

He lowered his head, using the green light filtering in from outside to look at Elena.

Her eyes were tightly shut, her eyelashes fluttering, and an unnatural flush—caused by oxygen deprivation and stress response—painted her pale face.

Her lips parted slightly, panting rapidly, every breath she inhaled belonging to Li Wei.

At that moment, she didn't look like a holy nun. She looked much more like a fallen sacrifice.

The footsteps outside lingered for a long time.

The Necron Lord's scanner swept back and forth across this row of cabinets.

Yet in its logic, these stasis crypts should only contain Necrons or be empty.

Although it detected a faint heat signature, that heat source (Li Wei) had no soul reading, while the aura of the other heat source (Elena) was completely masked by Li Wei's Void Field.

It was much like wrapping a piece of fragrant meat inside a layer of stinking skin.

The Necron Lord did not smell the scent of "life."

Thud... thud... The footsteps finally faded away.

It seemed to have gone to the other side of the hall to search for intruders.

Li Wei let out a long breath.

Yet he didn't let go immediately.

Because Elena had gone completely limp. If he let go, she would slide straight to the floor.

"It's gone," Li Wei said in a low voice.

Elena opened her eyes.

Those amber eyes were filled with a mist of tears, her gaze somewhat unfocused.

The "close-quarters penalty" of those past few minutes consumed more of her mental energy than a battle.

"Let... let go of me..." She struggled weakly, but the movement was soft and feeble, resembling a rub more than anything.

Watching her in this state, Li Wei's mischievous streak suddenly flared up.

Perhaps it was to punish her earlier "disgust."

Instead of stepping back right away, he intentionally pressed forward slightly, making the two of them press even closer together.

"Sister Nun," Li Wei's voice was somewhat hoarse, carrying a trace of banter.

"Your heartbeat was very fast just now."

"Was it because of fear... or something else?"

Elena's face turned beet red instantly, even the tips of her ears burning hot.

It was shame, anger, and also an indescribable, taboo thrill.

She was a nun who served the Emperor, yet here she was, sharing this posture in a dead man's coffin with a soulless man.

"You... desecration..." She bit her lip, and tears finally fell.

Li Wei looked at her tears, and the teasing in his eyes vanished, replaced by calmness.

He released his grip and pushed open the capsule door.

Fresh (though not particularly fresh) air poured in.

"Come out." Li Wei crawled out of the stasis crypt, straightened his clothes, and resumed his cold, rigid expression.

"Desecration is better than being dead."

Elena stumbled out, leaning against the wall and panting heavily.

She looked at Li Wei's back, her gaze complex to the extreme.

Just a moment ago, in that embrace that made her sick to her stomach, she had actually felt a trace of... safety.

The collapse of this perception terrified her more than any heretical thought.

"Fix your clothes." Li Wei didn't look back at her disheveled state, staring instead at the huge obelisk core in the center of the hall.

"That Lord left, but it opened the door to the core."

"We're heading into the true depths of the tomb."

Li Wei tightened his grip on the broken sword.

"If you don't want to experience that 'embrace' again, keep up."

Elena wiped away her tears, her trembling hands pulling her torn robe tightly together to cover her exposed skin.

She bit her lip and silently followed.

Only this time, the look she cast at Li Wei's back lacked a bit of pure disgust, replaced by a measure of unspeakable... entanglement.