Jain Zar and Kyganil were watching Lelith. In an instant, Jain Zar instinctively started to rise from the food stall, ready to manifest her war mask and draw her Zhai-pattern monofilant discs. This kind of reaction had beco almost second nature to Eldar upon encountering Drukhari.
"Don't rush. Wait until her Kabal shows up."
Kei gently pressed his fingertips, using magical energy that couldn't be detected by warp signatures to forcibly keep Jain Zar seated.
"Kei... hasn't the Kabal already arrived on this Imperial world?"
Kyganil's austere face tensed, eyes showing a hint of confusion.
Earlier, Kei had anticipated the Kabal's warp scan before it happened and had taken precautions in advance. This proved that he could fully perceive and even lock onto the Kabal's forces.
So why wait?
"The Webway portal is still open."
Jain Zar suppressed the intense killing intent that surged when she saw Lelith. Her gaze locked onto the shimring tear in reality, still open hundreds of ters above.
The Drukhari had been able to battle Craftworld Eldar for millennia not just because of their ability to replenish their forces through raids, but also because Lelith was exceptionally skilled at escaping and retreating through hidden Webway gates.
She had just suffered a defeat at the hands of Yvraine's forces not long ago. Her soul-hunger was severe, and she lacked her full retinue, making this her most vigilant state.
Plus, the recent warp scan from the Kabal had likely revealed the presence of other Eldar, even if Jain Zar and Kyganil weren't directly discovered. These cunning Drukhari were surely prepared to flee at a mont's notice.
Kei wasn't in a hurry to expose the Eldar. He was likely trying to block Lelith's escape routes and force the Kabal to co for extraction. That way, they could avoid a troubleso pursuit through the Webway and have a better chance at capturing her in one decisive strike.
"Good assessnt." He chuckled softly and gave Jain Zar an approving look.
No wonder Jain Zar was entrusted with great responsibility and chosen as one of Yvraine's primary champions. Even without relying on the wraithbone's computational power, her judgnt and reactions were clearly superior to those of most other Eldar warriors.
Labyrinthian, isolate all of Lelith's potential escape vectors, Kei silently issued a command to the Labyrinthian Circuit.
---
(Activating Labyrinthian Battle Mode. Analyzing target. Target is Eldar, possesses Craftworld Gene-coding and Drukhari Soul-adaptations, capable of advanced warp manipulation... Scanning all of Lelith's escape options.)
(Scan complete. Initiating high-level matter definition and concept rewriting. Locking space around Lelith within a several-kiloter radius. Webway abilities prohibited, lock complete. Establishing underground defense barrier, subterranean escape prohibited, barrier complete. Anti-warp barrier established...)
---
Oh, and neutralize her combat drug capabilities too.
Sensing slight fluctuations in spatial concepts, he leisurely picked up a skewer of grilled at and took a bite.
--- Original content can be found at novel_fіre
(Combat drug activation involves hemostatic manipulation, neuro-acceleration, and synaptic enhancent. Optimal algorithm: anchor to a fixed point in ti using chronotric concept locking. Anchor point set. Any physiological enhancent will revert target to anchored ti-state.)
---
"Even the Lord of Change wouldn't get this kind of treatnt." Feeling his internal energy drain rapidly, Kei muttered to himself, then downed another cup of fernted beverage.
In the eyes of Jain Zar and Kyganil... The world around them didn't appear to change. Only the Webway portal high in the sky quickly collapsed as Kei casually ate and drank.
And Lelith, standing at the center of the settlent's main thoroughfare, remained completely unaware.
Still continuing her self-indulgent Drukhari monologue, "...To the dood prey—I shall grant you exquisite pain beyond mortal comprehension, perfect suffering, and sensations to transcend your dull existence. Let lead you into the arena of Commorragh! Embrace the beauty of true agony!"
Her predatory gaze swept across the surrounding humans. Imperial citizens who sensed sothing was wrong began fleeing.
A few grizzled n rushed into the nearby Administratum outpost and dragged the arbiter on duty out. So bold youths watched from a distance, pointing at Lelith's exotic and deadly appearance.
With the Tyranid hive fleets not yet reaching this sector, most residents of Solenfar Outpost clearly didn't realize how dangerous this mysterious xenos truly was.
"Oh? An unexpected prize, Commander Orthan." Lelith looked toward a young man holding an agricultural implent nearby.
She moved with liquid grace and approached him, lightly touching his shoulder with the tip of her blade.
"I-I'm not Orthan... I'm Baelin of the Third Shift..." The young man stamred in reply.
Lelith's face curved into a wicked smile. She activated her combat reflexes and gently traced her blade across his skin.
But... Though the blade moved, its effect dissipated imdiately after touching his flesh. The minor wound that should have appeared on Baelin hadn't even ford before a strange aura erged from his body, like a temporal reversion, it instantly restored him to the untouched state from just monts before.
"What sorcery is this?!" Lelith shivered in shock and stepped back with preternatural swiftness.
Only now did she realize, her control over warp energies was being heavily disrupted. The mont it left her body, it would vanish instantly!
The Webway portal in the sky, her planned escape route, had also collapsed! Even her psychic connection to her Kabal had been abruptly severed!
Without hesitation, she launched herself into the air, her body moving with predatory grace, attempting to scale the nearest structure to escape this settlent that suddenly felt like a trap. But after rising barely half a ter, she fell straight back to the ground.
Looking at the perfectly intact ground beneath her, her eyes narrowed in genuine alarm.
It was obvious, under the influence of so mysterious power, the ground wasn't just reinforced, it was a null-motion zone. Otherwise, with her superhuman agility, leaping several dozen ters would've been effortless!
"Curse this! I've been betrayed! Cegorach, you trickster! Didn't your seers claim this was a primitive Imperial outpost with minimal defenses?! That duplicitous Laughing God, was this another of your jests?!"
Lelith's razor-sharp gaze swept across the crowd, trying to identify who was responsible for this ambush. The young n who had been watching with morbid curiosity earlier now saw this alien woman cursing at unseen entities and quickly retreated even farther.
In the Imperium, encounters with the xenos rarely ended well for witnesses.
"Halt! You are disturbing the Emperor's peace! Submit to Imperial authority and face judgnt!"
A worn-looking arbiter walked out from the nearby outpost, clearly irritated at having to confront what appeared to be a dangerous xenos. It was acceptable for citizens to observe from a distance, but he couldn't allow this alien to cause disorder in his jurisdiction, otherwise he'd face censure from his superiors!
But Lelith, sensing the danger surrounding her, no longer had any patience for engaging with "lesser beings."
She raised her blade and struck toward the arbiter's torso, intending to dispatch this inconvenience.
Yet, just as the arbiter's body was about to be sliced open by her strike, it was as if ti rewound, and in a fraction of a second, he stood back in front of her untouched. He looked down at her blade still pressed against his chest plate.
The arbiter's face darkened.
"Assaulting an Imperial official?! That's execution for you, xenos!"
"Wretched powers... What sorcery binds ..."
She didn't hesitate, she turned and bolted toward the edge of the settlent! Even an ordinary human was protected by so unknown force... Just how powerful was the entity working against her in the shadows?
If she didn't escape now, she would face true peril!
"Halt! Flee and your death will be slower!"
The arbiter saw the alien creature making an escape attempt and imdiately gave pursuit. He had been augnted with minor Imperial stimms! Did she think she could outpace the Emperor's justice?
Wait... How was this xenos moving in such a strange pattern?!
Labyrinthian, create a looping spatial anomaly and adjust gravitational constants along the path. Let her exhaust herself. Kei, watching the increasingly frustrated and alard Lelith, grinned and once again gave instructions to the Labyrinthian Circuit.
Tap-tap-tap-tap!
Jain Zar, resting her chin on her hand with legs crossed, watched as Lelith's limbs were moving so quickly they appeared as blurs. It was the third ti she had sprinted past the front of the Administratum outpost.
"Kyganil, are you recording this spectacle?"
"Indeed, Phoenix Lord. I shall ensure Yvraine receives this vision, though she may find it most amusing."
Behind Lelith, the dutiful arbiter was wheezing heavily, resting his hands on his knees in front of the outpost.
"Emperor's rcy, I can fight no more! wheeze... gasp... Vile xenos! If you must flee, can you not choose a single direction?! Why do you circle my post repeatedly?! Throne take !"
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