The bright lights in the reception room looked down at Hades, making his white hair almost emit a hazy halo.
Hades swallowed.
Finally, as if accepting his fate or compromising, Hades stretched out his hand.
The emperor opposite him smiled with satisfaction, stretched out his hand and released the small piece of bone between his fingertips.
"clatter"
The sound of bones colliding with armor was clearly audible, and Hades' expression changed. A faint golden flame seemed to burn along his arm, burning everything with tiny crackling sounds.
Hades blinked, and the next moment, the illusory flames disappeared.
Apart from the flames that lingered on his retina for a moment, Hades himself felt no other sensations.
The Emperor stretched out his hand, crossed his hands, supported his chin, and looked at Hades with interest. For some reason, Hades felt that the Emperor became more energetic.
“Is that all…?”
The emperor nodded.
"You can eat it, or just keep it."
The hand holding the finger bone trembled slightly, and he silently retracted his hand.
"I'd better keep it."
He felt the bone in his hand; it was very light, and its texture was like slightly rough jade. Apart from that, it was just an ordinary knuckle bone with a texture like porcelain.
It turns out that the emperor's little finger bone is similar to that of everyone else.
Hades thought about it as he pulled out a piece of wire of suitable length and thickness from the wires he carried with him, tied it to the slightly concave part in the middle of the finger bone, and then put it around his neck.
It took Hades some effort to tie the necklace on himself. The Emperor waited for him silently. Finally, Hades finished the task. He stuffed the simple necklace back under his clothes - so that others could only see that Hades was wearing a B7-type wire.
When Hades turned his gaze back to the Emperor, the Emperor spoke,
"I have a rope."
If it were an ordinary person, Hades would ask him why he didn't say it earlier, but since the person in front of him was the Emperor, Hades decided to be polite.
He gave a forced smile, a sign of submission to the Emperor's emotional intelligence.
"Thank you, but that's not necessary now."
"I have roughly understood your plan, Neos, at least for now."
"So what do we do next? We go to the Perfect City and witness its burning? But I want to remind you that within Lorgar's legion, there exists—"
"I know."
The Emperor interrupted Hades, the golden fire in his eyes burning,
"There are hidden sons of danger lurking in every legion. I know they exist, but I can't accurately sense who they are."
"You know who they are, don't you, Hades?"
Hades paused for a moment, then he nodded firmly.
"At least I know some of them, like the two bastards hiding in the Word Bearers Legion."
Two shots, both, Erebus!
The emperor smiled faintly.
"They are related to the faith of the Four Gods, aren't they?"
Hades looked at the Emperor.
"You know..."
"I know some fragments of the story. Because of your hint, I can guess the rest of the story. Before I found No. 17, there were indeed traces of Chaos in Colchis, where No. 17 landed. And Lorgar started the war. He claimed to have wiped out those blasphemous existences and established faith in me on the entire planet..."
The Emperor stated calmly,
"But if he has fallen, it proves that those traces have not been completely erased. They have just been hidden in a more covert way, waiting for me to make a mistake."
"That's why you're here, Hades."
Hades calmly gave himself an injection of immunity, which sounded like a precursor to a pie in the sky.
The Emperor certainly didn't know what Hades was thinking, he continued,
"Do you think there are traces of that on Monazia? Or on other planets conquered by the Word Bearers, such as Davin, Krosa, Uvand..."
Hades remained silent. In fact, in the original novel, when Lorgar's adoptive father, Kor Phaeron, a top scum in the Warhammer world, was trying to persuade the wavering Lorgar, he personally admitted that he and Erebus left behind... the ashes of culture on the planets conquered by the Word Bearers.
Of course, the ashes here refer to the former Chaos Defense beliefs of Colchis, the home planet of Lorgar.
Hades nodded, thinking,
"From what I know, the probability of existence is very high - you want me to find out the possible traces of corruption in the Perfect City, Neos?"
The Emperor smiled and confirmed Hades's guess. He paused for a moment, then spoke again.
"Before this, I had asked my descendants about their ideas on destroying the Perfect City."
Hades meal,
“What do they think?”
The Emperor shook his head gently.
"It was nothing new, but in their eyes I saw the fear buried deep beneath the hard shell - they thought I was cruel."
Russ even went so far as to excuse Lorgar, and to the Emperor's amusement, during their conversation he revealed that he had read the Divine Word.
Hades' words interrupted his recollection.
"Are you feeling guilty?"
The Emperor smiled.
"No, the Perfect City is destined to be burned. Number 17 needs to realize his mistake, and burning the Perfect City is also a warning and protection for him and the Legion—"
"At the same time, untempered faith cannot withstand the test of time, Hades."
The Emperor naturally spoke horrible words,
"If No. 17 can truly live up to my trust in him, then he must accept my punishment—he needs to prove whether he is truly devout."
"He must prove he can survive the coming storm, or I will reduce the size of his regiment."
"I will personally point out the errors in his beliefs, his impurities - and you will help me find the evidence... and in the meantime, cull the rot in the Legion."
Hades hesitated for a moment.
"Looks like we need to check the schedule."
“It’s natural.”
———————
If Hades were asked to comment on the Emperor's plan, he would only say that it was too arrogant, really too arrogant.
But the Emperor has the capital to be proud, so Hades makes no comment.
"I suggest that you at least have a serious conversation with Guilliman, Neos."
The Emperor looked towards Hades.
"Malcador told you the same words, Hades."
Hades nodded undeniably.
"You do need to speak to Guilliman. I do not wish to see the Ultramarines..."
"I will."
The Emperor interrupted Hades in time and decisively changed the subject.
"Hades, in the stories you know, how many betrayers were there among the Word Bearers?"
"At least two people."
Hades immediately said,
"Okay, I understand."
The Emperor said calmly, but Hades looked hesitant.
"Nyos, if we punish the sinners we know now, will they choose new messengers?"
“It’s inevitable.”
"That-"
"Let them choose,"
The Emperor said casually,
"Don't be afraid of a stone on the roadside, Hades. We are about to step into a more magnificent battlefield. If we cannot save humanity from it, then let the galaxy be destroyed."
… Another madman, Hades thought desperately. The Mortarion in his memory seemed not so extreme.
No more! We are finally done! Yay!
I talked to the Emperor for two whole fucking days! 10,000 words!
(End of this chapter)