He held the Tears of the Old Ones in one hand and pressed the other against the sphere. With a push, his hand passed through its surface.
Inside the radiance, the intense heat seemed to set space itself alight. Before Yriel hung a massive ball of fire-a miniature sun.
The temperature of several million degrees had no effect whatsoever on Yriel's flesh and blood. He did not even shed a drop of sweat. The Tears of the Old Ones melted and seeped into his body, transforming him from an ordinary Aeldari into something extraordinary.
Facing the miniature sun's blinding light, Yriel opened his eyes even wider, their gleam growing brighter. He continued toward the little sun, but... the protection provided by the Tears of the Old Ones seemed to have its limits.
As he drew closer, his body began to burn. Flames spread from his hands to his chest, then engulfed his entire body, turning Yriel into a figure of living fire.
The burning figure kept walking until he stepped into the miniature sun.
The swarm consciousness was pleased. After so much preparation, it had finally trapped this Aeldari fleet. Lately, the fleet had been appearing and vanishing throughout the northern Octarius Sector, harassing the Tyranid Swarm. Though the damage they inflicted was limited, they had still disrupted the Great Devourer's deployments.
Once they were annihilated, the entire northern sector should become considerably quieter. Its calculations put the probability of these Aeldari ships escaping infinitely close to zero.
The Aeldari lacked the Orks' absurd waaagh energy. Surely nothing unexpected could happen.
Warning! Warning! High-energy reaction detected! Suddenly, every high-energy detection organ sounded an alarm to the swarm consciousness.
The swarm consciousness immediately mobilized all its reconnaissance organs, scrutinizing every detail of the Aeldari fleet so it could respond promptly to