The Emperor saw it clearly. As he stood there, patiently waiting for Cyrene's prayer, Hades curiously poked his head out of the building, and in an instant he showed an expression of obvious disgust.
Although that expression lasted for a very short time, it did appear on Hades' face.
The Emperor had no expression on his face. He stood calmly in the streets at night, listening to the crying and prayers of millions of people in the Perfect City, and the voice of Cyrene's epiphany. Then he raised his hand—
A dim golden light lit up, and the next moment, Cyrene, who was sobbing softly, lowered her head. A guard walked out from behind the emperor and carried the unconscious lady away.
The Emperor raised his eyes lightly, and now the expression of disgust on Hades' face was more obvious and undisguised, but when he noticed that the Emperor was looking at him, the expression disappeared.
The Emperor spoke in a calm voice.
"What did you find, Hades?"
"A suspicious middle-aged man standing in an alley, and a young woman kneeling at his feet crying."
The Emperor looked at Hades, and Hades looked back at him. There was a sound of wind in the alley at night.
The Emperor spoke.
"I already know that you have discovered the Blade of the Nemesis, which is why I am standing here."
Hades sighed loudly, but after the Emperor walked up to Hades, he helped the Emperor open the door to the hall.
They walked past the nine-eyed Buddha statue, the eight-sword sword rack, the seven handfuls of wheat seedlings, and the hexagonal incense tent.
With each exhibit passed, golden flames would blaze, lighting up the dark wasteland and crackling with flames.
Hades frowned and looked back at the burning exhibits. This was unnecessary... His black domain was already...
But this was the Emperor, and the Emperor could do what he wanted. Hades was only responsible for bringing him to the broken statue.
The Enemy Sword was still there, and Hades didn't dare touch it. Even though the Black Domain had suppressed it and swallowed up the psychic light, the pus was still gushing out, the kind of gushing that conforms to the laws of physics.
Just as Hades had done before, the Emperor circled the broken sword that lay embedded in the stone.
Hades stood aside, patiently waiting for the Emperor.
Finally, the Emperor returned to his original position, staring at the sword expressionlessly.
"Do you know what this is about, Neos?"
The Emperor paused for a moment, then he shook his head slowly and silently.
Hades raised his eyebrows. The Emperor didn't know either? This is not good...
"You don't know either? Or do you know the origin of this sword, its use or something?"
The Emperor's dark brown eyes looked calmly at Hades.
"I am not a god, I am not omnipotent, I am not omniscient. You may know more about the fate of this sword than I do, Hades."
Hades took a deep breath and scratched his head.
"Well, I thought you knew something - I didn't expect a simple check would yield something big. I thought it was just some cultists or some toys or something."
Hades walked forward silently a few steps. He stared at the sword. Damn, the obsidian pattern on it looked like a variant of the Barbarus language - or was the Barbarus language itself evolved from it
The Sword of the Nemesis, in the original timeline, was a sword that came from a civilization that negotiated cooperation with the Moon Wolves - Inters. Inters was a highly developed human civilization with a brilliant culture, and most importantly - the humans of this civilization knew about Chaos and had been fighting against it.
But just when Moon Wolf was about to reach a cooperation with this civilization, Erebus stole the sword of this civilization's arch-enemy and caused a series of chaos, which eventually led to the breakdown of talks between Moon Wolf and Inters, and the Empire had to wipe out this civilization.
Through the manipulation of the Four Gods and Erebus, the sword came into the hands of Governor Davin. The Governor, who had long been blessed by Nurgle, took the sword and personally betrayed and stabbed Horus. The powerful power of corruption left Horus dying, and eventually he was sent into the corrupted temple of the Four Gods by the bewildered Moon Wolves while he was unconscious.
It can be said that in Horus' story line, this sword represents the beginning of corruption.
Although Horus gradually became irritable and suspicious after becoming the Warmaster, he was at least... loyal.
So what is going on? The Sword of the Enemy is now in the hands of the Empire. What are the Four Gods thinking? Or did Hades really stumble upon it and succeed
Hades stared at the sword and spoke slowly.
"I have two theories... The first is that we really caught a big fish this time."
"And the second one..."
Hades raised his eyes and looked back at the Emperor, whose eyes were now burning with calm golden rage.
"They are challenging us, mocking and responding to our change of plans - they have received our resistance."
"Hades, you are still unfamiliar with this scum."
"Don't be scared by these meaningless tricks. They have enough time and energy to choose and deploy. They have enough chess pieces - now they just throw one at random."
"It is, it isn't, it's intentional, it's unintentional... none of this matters."
"All that matters is that I will burn the perfect city, I will claim my godhood, I will build the webway - focusing on the other side's tricks will only make you fall into the swamp of their schemes, which they are good at and love."
Hades hissed. Could he say that this was why the original Emperor failed? The Emperor was too... careless about details.
But on the other hand, what the Emperor said seemed to be correct. If the Four Gods kept throwing out the chess pieces from Hades' memory to distract his attention... then they might really be able to trap Hades.
Hades sighed. It seemed that he would need to be more flexible in the future.
"Okay, I understand, Neos."
Hades waved his hand.
"So what do we do with the sword? Do you burn it?"
The Emperor shook his head.
"I can't burn it. There is no spiritual resonance on it anymore."
Hades blinked.
"Then you let the Imperial Guards take it away?"
"I refuse."
The emperor answered decisively,
"Then... we can't just leave this broken sword where it is?! We have to find a way to take it away and destroy it, right?"
The Emperor looked at Hades in silence, then he spoke slowly,
"Master of the Order of Silence, I think you can take it."
Hades looked at the Emperor in despair and disbelief, as if he had been betrayed.
"What do I need this for?"
"As the leader of the Order of Silence, it is your duty to retrieve and keep these items, Hades. This sword will not cause any harm to you now."
Obviously, Hades would not let his men draw the sword. He was not confident in doing so, and no one had the courage to do so.
Finally, Hades walked to the broken sword with a fearless attitude. Fragments of the statue of the God-Emperor were scattered around. It was now so dark here that not even a ray of light could penetrate.
Hades calmed himself down.
He reached out, grasped the hilt of the broken sword tightly, and pulled hard—
The sound of chains rustling was heard, and as the sword rose, the stone base completely broke and disintegrated, and pus overflowed.
Hades turned around holding the sword, the expression on his face so calm that he looked like he was about to die.
"So you came here just to have a few words with me, Neos?"
The emperor calmly took a few steps back, raised his hand, and the golden flame instantly burned away all the pus.
"I also enlightened my followers - it was necessary."
"What about the ordained lady? Are you going to just make her a bishop or something?"
“She will wake up in her own home and think it was all just a dream.”
I broke my promise, for the last time.
Next time I say I'm taking a leave, I won't update.
(End of this chapter)