Mortarion declared Fenus Manus as his fourth most hated Primarch, the first being Konrad Curze and the second being Perturabo.
By the way, the current third is Magnus.
Mortarion hates all inexplicable people and things, but his brothers always do inexplicable things in inexplicable situations.
And his brothers would come up with strange reasons to justify their actions, reason, intuition, prophecy, psychic powers... or just plain madness.
For example, now Vulkan insisted that they enter that strange tunnel, even though the Foundry Department had guaranteed that there were no structural traps in the tunnel.
Bad news, hate comes from Mortarion.
Even worse news comes from Iron Hands.
After receiving the signal from the Finus armor, Vulkan immediately contacted the Iron Hands Legion. At first, these iron-hard Space Marines hesitated in the face of Vulkan's questions, but at Vulkan's insistence, the Iron Hands told Vulkan that they didn't know where the Primarch had gone.
In order to quickly defeat the Eldar in the desert, Fenus chose a surprise attack, but when the Iron Hands attacked a dry canyon in the desert, the Mist and the Eldar attacked them at the same time.
As for what happened in the canyon, the Iron Hands remained absolutely silent. Even when Vulkan asked them again and again what happened, the soldiers only told them that the legion had suffered a heavy blow. When the soldiers were fighting in a panic, the primarch of the legion disappeared in the layers of fog.
Mortarion's face was expressionless. For the first time, the Lord of Death realized that in addition to Konrad Curze, there would be other and various sufferings in working with his brothers.
He vaguely remembered that in Malcador before, the other Primarchs described Finus as being efficient and rational.
Mortarion thought that their definitions of "efficiency" and "rationality" seemed to be different.
… No… Mortarion realized that their reference for this comment might have been Konrad Curze.
He began to miss Hades, or Horus, or even Guilliman.
[Vulkan, you just chose to believe the Iron Hands' "uh", "sorry", and "we can't say"? ]
However, Vulkan looked at Mortarion with determination, and Mortarion saw the inexplicable flames in the eyes of the Fire Dragon Lord.
The flames seemed familiar, reminding Mortarion of the look in Guilliman's eyes when he talked of plans and policies.
Mortarion decided to take back his assessment of Vulkan's ease.
My brother,
The giant, taller and stronger than Mortarion, spoke slowly, in a gentle tone that gave Mortarion goosebumps.
[We should trust our brothers, Mortarion. I believe our brothers' descendants have unspeakable secrets about this matter. You see, apart from the course of the battle, they told us everything they knew. From their tone, I could hear their anxiety about the disappearance of the Primarch.]
Mortarion sneered, though he didn't know whether he was simply laughing at Vulkan's stupidity or at why he always had to endure unnecessary suffering.
The Lord of Death sneered,
[Then you choose to believe it.]
Vulkan keenly heard what Mortarion had not finished saying. He didn't understand why this brother who had just cooperated well suddenly expressed such a terrifying attitude.
What Mortarion left unsaid was... that he didn't believe it.
Why didn't he trust his brothers' legion? Although there was indeed unhappiness between Mortarion and Finus, they were both legions of the Empire and should not have such thoughts.
If Vulkan knew about the friction between Mortarion and Konrad Curze, he might understand Mortarion a little better.
But unfortunately the news was blocked.
As Vulkan continued his useless speech, Mortarion carefully examined the obelisk and the gate below it, the rune-carved stones.
Mortarion suddenly opened his eyes wide. Even though the Lord of Death could not understand the language of the Eldar, he could tell from the familiar arrangement of the runes that... This is... This is a...
Mortarion stared at the blasphemous runes, Vulkan's words had long been a blur in his ears. The Fire Dragon Lord seemed to be talking some nonsense about intuition, and after realizing that Mortarion was not right, Vulkan began to call for his brother.
[Mortarion? Mortarion!]
It's a teleportation device!
Under the gas mask, Mortarion took a deep breath. The Eldar's device had not been destroyed yet. This was just its shell and some crude defensive devices. Its real structure was underground.
Teleportation could occur at any time. Mortarion was not sure how far the device could teleport, nor how it teleported - but judging by the scale of the building, he was sure that the distance would not be small.
This means that those who are near the building are likely to be suddenly teleported away, and it seems a little too late to retreat now.
[I'll go underground with you. We need to act now, Vulkan.]
Mortarion's voice suddenly rang out, interrupting Vulkan. The Lord of Fire Dragons was stunned, but the Lord of Death only gave Vulkan a few words in a hasty manner, and did not thoroughly explain the reason for his sudden change of attitude.
Just as Vulkan chose to believe in the Iron Hands, Vulkan believed in Mortarion. Although he still had many doubts, he was very happy that Mortarion could go with him to find Finus.
Maybe the dream he had just told Mortarion had worked, Vulkan thought. Before this battle, he had a strange dream in which a stranger smiled and joked with him, prompting him to follow his intuition.
And the stranger called him "a kid who needs some pointers."
Or, Vulkan suddenly thought, perhaps Mortarion had had a similar dream
—————
The tunnel was long and deep. They resolutely entered the mouth of the poisonous snake. In the distance, something was making vague sounds.
An eerie sense of familiarity gradually crept over Mortarion, and he gripped the scythe in his hand, confirming that the damned Death Guard of the Forge Division were following behind him, and their anti-psychic weapons were kept ready to fire at any time.
There were distorted patterns carved on the walls, and some glittering fragments were inlaid on the walls. The place was becoming more and more weird and hazy, and they felt like they had stepped into a dream.
Mortarion felt his patience and sanity being worn away.
The concentration of psychic energy here seems a bit high.
Mortarion glanced at Vulkan. The Fire Dragon Lord seemed to have an expression that was not right. He looked at the pattern on the wall with an angry expression.
Mortarion called out Vulkan tentatively, and the Lord of Fire Dragon turned back blankly, as if asking the Lord of Death why he suddenly called him.
After confirming that there was nothing wrong with the health values displayed on Vulkan's armor, Mortarion changed the subject with an ambiguous statement.
But Mortarion quietly slowed his pace, walking behind Vulkan, always on the lookout for his brother.
When a flickering dot appeared in the distance, the first house appeared on the side of the tunnel. Shouts and screams came from inside. Vulkan, who was walking in front, only took a look outside, then let out a roar and led his firewood guards to rush in.
At the moment when the last of the Firewood Clan rushed in, a psychic barrier lit up at the door, separating the two Primarchs!
Mortarion acted decisively and threw a black bullet at the door, but it was useless because the concentration of psychic energy here was too high.
The Lord of Death strode forward angrily, and through the fluctuating psychic energy, he saw a group of ragged savages surrounding a dying Eldar witch, yelling and screaming, and a man dressed as a priest was torturing the Eldar.
Vulkan rushed over, and the Primarch angrily waved away those people and rushed straight towards the Eldar witch - the witch was not dressed like the Eldar on this planet that Mortarion had seen, and the only clothes she had on seemed even darker and more blasphemous.
[Vulkan!]
Mortarion called out the name of the Fire Dragon Lord loudly, but Vulkan seemed to have forgotten Mortarion, and he tried to approach the witch in a somewhat collapsed manner.
Did Vulkan know that Eldar? Mortarion recalled the casual conversation he had with Malcador. Vulkan was from Nocturne, a planet that was often plundered by the Dark Eldar. It was Vulkan who put an end to the history of Nocturne people being plundered as slaves by the Eldar.
Mortarion cursed in his heart with an expressionless face. He knew that this was an illusion supported by psychic energy - and Vulkan was trapped in it.
Those damned Eldar.
Because the tunnel was too narrow, the knights could not enter (and Mortarion could not release the Wandering Knights in front of Vulkan), so Mortarion only brought the Death Guard, some Soulless disguised as Cerberus, and missiles from the Forge.
He began to miss Hades.
After a brief prediction, Mortarion believed that Vulkan could hold on and would not die for at least an hour, so the Lord of Death wanted to save his limited ammunition to deal with the next situation.
Mortarion confirmed again that the guys from the Foundry were following him.
Still no Eldar came out to try and attack him.
He and the Death Guard continued to move forward, a thin mist emerged, and after a short distance, a second room appeared on the side of the tunnel, and the roar of Fenus came from it.
This time he had expected it. Looking inside through the psychic-distorted space, Mortarion saw Fenus Manus desperately struggling with a monster with a human-like upper body and a snake-like lower body.
Mortarion didn't know why Fenus looked so devastated, it might have something to do with some of his memories.
Compared to Volgan, Finus' situation seems to be much more dangerous.
But it looked like he was about to win, and Mortarion thought for a moment, and he believed that at least Fenus would not die - an illusion powerful enough to kill a Primarch was extremely rare, not to mention that it was now delaying two Primarchs.
If this was an illusion, Mortarion only needed to destroy the psychic energy supply of the device. There was no point in trying to get entangled with the illusion.
During the initial exploration, the Casting Department had confirmed that this tunnel had no large side structures, so the source of psychic energy could only be deeper in the tunnel. The Lord of Death imagined what he might see next, the witches being burned as batteries, and this made him feel a little better.
So he continued to go deeper, and the fog became thicker and thicker.
The third room appeared in the fog.
The Lord of Death walked calmly along the tunnel. He turned his head to look at the illusion in the room.
Mortarion was curious about what his vision was.
The dying Hades? The corrupted Death Guard? Or the dying Calastyphon
He had experienced all of this, and Mortarion wanted to see what else could scare him and make him lose his mind.
But after seeing what was in the room clearly, Mortarion staggered back a step, his face pale.
He saw himself.
No, not the corrupted self he once imagined.
The illusion couldn't even fully simulate him, the vague and strange form was fragmented.
He saw... He saw...
No, no no no no, this is fake, this is impossible... He doesn't accept it...
He won't accept it! Mortarion will never accept it!
Mortarion began to retreat, then he turned back sharply and realized that the tunnel had now reached its end. On the other side of the room was a hall with arcs of psychic energy jumping up and arches drooping.
Mortarion knew where the familiar feeling came from... He had seen something similar before, deep beneath the Imperial Palace on Terra, where Mortarion had uncovered the Emperor's secrets.
He did not know much at the time, and Malcador persuaded him to leave with vague words and news of his friends.
The Emperor... is studying alien technology
No, no, no, no, Mortarion could understand this, there were similar secrets within the Death Guard itself, but what was on this planet...
Mortarion subconsciously reached for the black bullet at his waist and called the foundry department—
Then realized he was now alone.
Mortarion felt his breathing steady. He remained alert and without hesitation, he crushed a black bullet, letting the powder sprinkle on his body, and then he began to retreat.
At least he saw the basic appearance of the teleportation device. Mortarion was now sure that they would not be teleported away suddenly, and this device obviously would not be destroyed by a few black bullets. Mortarion suspected that even if the Wandering Soul Knight came, it would be difficult to destroy it.
But it is also this device that provides energy for the illusion.
Just as Mortarion was pondering his next move, psychic waves rippled under the archway, and some reflections appeared at the Primarch's feet. Mortarion couldn't tell... whether those reflections were from the past, present, or future. He also didn't know where the real owners of these reflections were.
In a hall made of alien bones, two elves with pointed ears and slender fingers were talking.
Mortarion wondered why he could hear the voices of these two Eldar.
But now he really had no way to make these two elves shut up.
The pointier opening of the ear,
"Steel needs to make his own choice. It's hard for us to choose for him, but the blacksmith has already been chosen. He loves him more than we thought, which means it's even harder for us to interfere."
The steel... was that Fainus? And the blacksmith... Vulkan
Another Eldar with buck teeth interrupted him.
"Where are the guardians? The swift river has changed its course many times."
Mortarion's breathing began to grow heavy, and he felt offended.
“It’s hard to say.”
Pointed ears open,
"If he accepts, in the distant future, he will be deeply entangled with the fate of alien races - not just us."
Bucktooth asked,
“Is it not possible to tell whether this is good or bad?”
“It’s a mixed bag.”
The phantom disappeared.
In the original novel, the planet Ibsen is actually very strange, and it feels like a dream. The planet is attacked by three legions: the Death Guard, the Salamanders, and the Iron Hands. Both the Salamanders and the Iron Hands have short stories related to this battle.
As for the Feat of Iron Hands, I couldn't find a Chinese translation, so I just quickly ate a few bites of it. The prophecy of the Eldar, Vulkan's desire to enter the tunnel, what Mortarion saw in the tunnel, and the plot where the Emperor gave Vulkan advice were all scenes in the original book, but I completely changed them, so I can only say that they were just a shell.
No more today!
I am almost exhausted from the recent military training. I am coding this in a hurry after the training. I am not in a very good condition. Please forgive me.
(End of this chapter)