The Emperor’s Angel of Death

The leader of the Light Troupe described the content of "Night of Grief" in a rare, straightforward manner: a massive curtain would be drawn across the stars, isolating all starlight and the light of souls. The deceased would revive in this lightless night, attempting to breathe again and regain their lost lives, at the cost of more, and more, countless lives.

While very direct, it still sounded a bit too abstract to Szarekh, but he could roughly infer that it was related to the Silent King's attempted reverse resurrection. However, he didn't know what the "massive curtain" would be, or what action it represented. The troupe leader couldn't explain either, as it couldn't be foreseen. The Necrons had means of interfering with prophecy, and they even sought the aid of the Laughing God for this, but the Laughing God did not respond to them.

The Frost Stars bringing news of "Night of Grief" wasn't particularly important intelligence, as Szarekh could already make similar deductions based on existing information and intelligence. However, it still had its uses, especially regarding the hidden past of Ahriman, who gave them the prophecy, and who gave them the order. This was a line of inquiry worth pursuing, and Szarekh vaguely guessed it might be related to one of the Eldar gods.

The third piece of information came from the Starbane Seer that Szarekh was looking for. The Harlequin Troupe didn't know Szarekh was looking for him beforehand, but the troupe leader believed this individual might be helpful to Szarekh in his fight against the Necrons. However, the news he brought was quite comical. This Eldrad Starbane Seer once again launched a vendetta against the Necrons, discovering a dormant Necron tomb on a savage Eldar colony world called Karnak (which was odd), and decided to destroy it. He summoned his friend, the legendary Ahriman Pathfinder Illic Nightspear, who led a force composed of a large number of Rangers, fighters, and constructs to support the Seer, forming an alliance with the savage Eldar king, Mhor, to completely eliminate this Necron threat to the world. But coincidentally, this was encountered by a famous figure among the Necrons, Anrakyr the Traveller, who directly summoned reinforcements from three dynasties, including forces from the Sautekh Dynasty, as well as assistance from Trazyn the Infinite and Orikan the Diviner.

This immediately stunned Starbane and Nightspear, turning them from attackers into defenders. In the end, Starbane decided to make a desperate gamble, forming an assassination squad led by Nightspear, intending to directly eliminate Anrakyr. However, the latter had the help of the Diviner, who knew about the assassination plan from the start. Thus, their attempt to outsmart the enemy backfired, and not only was the entire assassination squad almost completely wiped out, with only Nightspear and King Mhor of the Karnak kingdom escaping, but the savage kingdom on the planet was also completely destroyed by the Necrons, and even the world-soul was suspected to have been taken away by the Infinite.

Thus, the Starbane Seer, whose lifelong mission was to eliminate the Necrons, suffered the second major defeat of his life.

After listening, Szarekh was somewhat speechless. As a Seer, Starbane, regardless of his command abilities, clearly lacked composure and calmness in his actions and planning. When the enemy already had significant reinforcements, the most rational choice would have been to evacuate with the surviving savage residents, rather than recklessly betting all his chips like a gambler, using the lives of his people to gamble on an almost impossible victory. After all, even if the assassination succeeded, what then? The battle had already attracted the attention of the great Necron dynasties. The high-ranking Necron nobles could be resurrected. Even if Anrakyr was temporarily killed, the next one to come might be someone from the Sautekh Dynasty. Regardless of the motivation or the outcome, this was a very irrational choice.

At this point, Szarekh was considering whether he really wanted to recruit this individual. The troupe leader of the Frost Stars told Szarekh that he hoped the Court could accept Starbane, because due to this major defeat, the Seer's reputation and situation were somewhat dire, making it even more difficult for him to face his Ahriman kin, as well as the survivors of Karnak. After all, he initiated and decided on the war. The troupe leader persuaded Szarekh that Starbane was one of the few Seers who had fought against many famous Necron overlords and figures. Failure didn't mean he lacked experience. Recruiting him could also be done in the name of revenge, recruiting the survivors of Karnak at the same time, and also gaining the goodwill of Nightspear. This legendary Pathfinder had connections in various maiden worlds and Craftworlds, and his favor was very valuable.

As soon as the other party said this, Szarekh immediately guessed that he knew Starbane's location.

Sure enough, after he asked, the troupe leader frankly replied that he did know where Starbane was. After the failure on Karnak, Starbane entered the Webway alone, frantically trying to find any information related to the Necrons. He seemed to have learned through some channel that an old crone world had ancient Imperial secret archives about the Necrons, "Necronomics", and went alone to find it. As a result, he encountered a demon attack in the city ruins, but was fortunately rescued by passing members of the Frost Stars. Then, with the help of the Harlequin Troupe, this Seer found the ancient library and had been staying there, searching for his beloved fragments of "Necronomics".

Before the troupe leader came to find Szarekh, he seemed to have found what he was looking for and was preparing to leave.

Seeing the troupe leader say this, Szarekh thought for a moment, then entrusted the other party to tell Starbane that if he wanted true revenge, he should come to the Eternal Court.

After ending the conversation with the troupe leader of the Frost Stars, Szarekh declined the other party's suggestion to join the operation. After all, no matter how well the Harlequins were hidden, this place was still crowded and complicated. The sudden appearance of a group of Eldar would have a bad impact. Szarekh couldn't pretend he didn't see them.

"The ground forces should not be eager to unleash firepower as soon as the enemy appears. The Necrons will also scout. The heavy weapons should remain concealed according to the original plan, and only open fire after enemy obelisks or similar targets appear."

Just as Szarekh continued to issue instructions, a series of defense platforms surrounding the forge world were also activating. A dome emerged from the thick alloy shell, and a series of high-powered laser cannons extended from the dome, engraved with precise and perfect prayers. However, the direction they were aiming was not towards the planet's exterior, but towards the planet itself.

This was the reason why Szarekh had been staying in orbit. To win this war beautifully, he first had to control the orbital rights. The Necron ships were definitely hidden underground.

And when a ship takes off from a planet, it is at its most vulnerable, because mass forces it to resist the planet's immense gravity. Even if the Necrons possess miraculous engine technology, they cannot be completely unaffected by the laws of physics.

At this time, the fleet located in high orbit can play whack-a-mole, pressing the Necron ships to death in the planet's atmosphere!