[Nikaia Theater, Death Guard Legion Lounge]
This is wrong, one-sided, should not have happened, biased, personal, deliberate, and unfortunate.
Now it is the Conference of Nikea, Hades thought, and he emphasized in his heart that at the Conference of Nikea, Tzeentch will appear at the meeting, and this conference is also an important meeting that determines the direction of the empire.
He should be at Magnus's side now, guarding against any possible abnormalities and avoiding Magnus' amazing wisdom as much as possible.
But he might not be able to leave for the time being. Angron's kindness trapped Hades temporarily. Hades should have left some time to introduce the two parties to each other, but unfortunately the timing of the two Primarchs' meeting was too coincidental.
So Hades can only hope that the Emperor and Malcador, or the Imperial Guards can be more powerful. He has already contacted Malcador through the channel to keep an eye on Magnus. The Imperial Chancellor will not let him down.
At the same time, Hades was also keeping an eye on the channel for possible sudden calls from Malcador, as well as the movements of the surrounding psychic field. The Sisters of Silence and the Imperial Guards were already heading towards the Thousand Sons' lounge.
Hades sat silently, his eyes slowly sliding towards the pastry tray held by the servitor beside him. Perhaps he could...
In front of Hades, whose eyes were wandering, the two Primarchs were facing each other. They didn't even introduce themselves to each other. Angron stood in front of Hades, frowning deeply, and he seemed very puzzled.
Opposite Angron, Mortarion had one hand on his waist and the other holding a scythe. No, the hand on his waist was just for the convenience of drawing his gun at any time.
Mortarion remained motionless, staring at Angron expressionlessly, bewildered and puzzled.
The two Primarchs had been in a stalemate for three minutes. Hades had no idea what kind of pantomime they were playing, or whether the Primarchs had awakened some kind of telepathic communication method.
But the low pressure between the two Primarchs was so obvious that Hades did not dare to speak easily - at least, he had to wait until Mortarion and Angron introduced themselves to each other before speaking.
At first, Hades felt something was wrong, as he realized that this was very similar to when he went to see Mortarion in a Macragge blue armor; later, he felt a little bored, as neither of the two Primarchs reacted, and there should be no serious bloodshed, and besides, the Emperor and the Angels were here; finally, Hades looked at the plate of snacks, and he decided to eat something first, as the meeting would probably last a long time anyway, and he would be better off beating the Pony or Tzeentch after eating.
Mortarion watched expressionlessly as Hades silently reached out his hand toward the plate of snacks.
Yes, this is Hades.
This is the commander of the Death Guard.
Mortarion should have dumped all the food in the lounge into the waste gas treatment drum, then shot it, cursed those innocent cereal baked goods with the most vicious words, poured seventh-level industrial sewage into it, and finally smashed Hades headfirst into the pile of vomit.
If it were the old Mortarion, the Lord of Death would not hesitate to use his scythe to chop down anyone in front of him, no matter who it was. But after he led the Death Guard to fight everywhere alone, those years also left an indelible mark on Mortarion.
A deep hissing sound came from under the poison mask of the Lord of Death, and the clanging sound of metal collision was heard. Mortarion let go directly, and the giant scythe of Silence slammed into the wall behind him and leaned against it.
Slowly, like a zombie rising from his grave, Mortarion reached out a hand toward Angron.
His hoarse voice was like sandpaper, making it difficult to hear.
[Mortarion, commander of the Death Guard, lord of Barbarus.]
Angron smiled, even though it was a grin that showed his teeth, and he strode forward, clapping Mortarion's hand and shaking it.
[Angron, commander of the 12th Legion of the World Eaters, nice to meet you.]
Just as the two Primarchs were shaking hands, the great Hades reached his loyal dessert plate. Hades pulled the plate in skillfully and naturally, and by the way looked up to see the two Primarchs who had finally made a move.
His hand holding the snack paused, and both Mortarion and Angron stared at him.
"Uh... How about we all sit down and talk while we eat?"
Hades said hesitantly, was there a brief fluctuation in the psychic field just now? The gazes of the two primarchs made him distracted for a moment.
———
Mortarion should have imagined all this.
It started with Guilliman... No, perhaps the beginning of the incident was even earlier than this. He remembered that it was Hades who could communicate calmly with Perturabo, it was Hades who was praised by Horus, it was Hades who was admired by Guilliman, and even Lorgar...
The Death Guard commander was far more popular than he had imagined.
Well, you should have expected this scene to happen sooner or later.
Mortarion thought expressionlessly that Hades was brilliant enough, and that he was able to unite the Death Guard, which proved that he was capable of uniting the other legions.
Just... Just...
He stared at Hades, whose size had rivaled that of the Primarch and who was on good terms with another legion. Mortarion remembered the ridicule that Calastyphon had shown him, and how he was the one who was left behind in the end, just like Calastyphon who had been left on the mountainside.
If you don't have the ability, then you can only watch your former comrades move forward, go away, and head to a bigger battlefield...
No…
Mortarion thought painfully, has he really stagnated? The Lord of Death led the Death Guard to fight everywhere. He successfully conquered countless worlds with minimal damage. He established diplomatic relations with the Iron Hands and remotely managed the Barbarus system. He has done enough. Compared with his past, the Lord of Death has already stood on a new ladder.
But why did Karas's ridicule keep echoing in his ears? Did Typhon also drink the poisonous wine of incompetence and self-blame
Jealousy, irritation, anger, resentment, panic, self-blame, helplessness—
[Are you okay, brother?]
Angron's voice rang out, and it was unbelievable that he had called him brother, and this guy's voice was filled with worry.
Mortarion's eyes suddenly opened, and the Lord of Death stood up instantly. He looked at Angron vigilantly, drew the dagger from his waist, and pointed it at Angron.
[wizard.]
Mortarion said.
"Mortarion, where are the psionic seeds?"
Hades spoke,
Mortarion blew out a breath of poisonous gas from under his mask, and he spoke unhappily,
[Right before your eyes.]
Mortarion then saw Hades staring at him in confusion.
Although this was inappropriate, Mortarion thought he could die of anger here.
[This is… This is numerology.]
Mortarion said with great regret,
In order to be alert to Magnus's conspiracy, Mortarion did use numerology to help him better capture the flow of psychic energy, which was what allowed Mortarion to detect Angron's little move just now.
As Mortarion and Hades exchanged glances, Angron suddenly clapped his hands and laughed.
[Relax, my brother, you all look nervous?]
Angron said, opening his hand easily.
[You are hostile to me. Why, Mortarion? I had hoped to fight with you. I heard that you and the Death Guard are quite tough.]
[…Who told you about me and my legion—]
Mortarion said angrily, but before he finished his words, Mortarion knew he had asked a stupid question. Could there be anyone else
The tide of the black domain receded, and Hades said "I" very proudly, but he was still absent-minded.
Mortarion thrust the dagger back cleanly and neatly, then stood there in silence, not knowing what to do after being interrupted by the farce.
First, he was angry, or perhaps sad, because he felt that Karas had once tasted poison, and the poison he had brewed had finally flowed into his veins.
But secondly, he looked at Hades, and Hades was still the same Hades. Mortarion could realize that Hades' attention was not here, he was wary of some kind of existence, even though Hades was trying hard to divert a little attention here.
Hades' real attention was not on his old friends whom he hadn't seen for a long time, nor on his new friends.
Mortarion sighed in defeat.
He seemed to have just remembered that this was Nikea, the trial of Magnus was still going on, the Emperor was about to return to Terra, and this was a discussion about psykers, and the Lord of Death had been preparing for this meeting for too long.
Mortarion slumped back in his chair. He watched Hades sit back nonchalantly and continue to eat his snacks naturally. Hades was good at saying nonsense while eating, but he said nothing now. Only when Hades was busy judging urgent documents and stuffing a mouthful of rice could Mortarion see the silent Hades.
Hades' channel is definitely open, and he might even be communicating with people outside using radio waves.
After realizing this, Mortarion gave up and buried his head in his hands.
He thought about how he had collected evidence day and night, suppressed his temper in negotiations with Leman Russ, prepared poisons, and rehearsed actions against the Thousand Sons countless times.
Mortarion finally thought of Magnus's call for a recess. If Mortarion had insisted on not adjourning the meeting, would Magnus have been punished now
He gave up his own victory with his own hands.
Because of what? Because of Hades? What did Hades do
Mortarion painfully realized that Hades didn't care about this. Was it because Hades trusted him? Or was it because Hades had no time to care about other things? The Council of Nikea was supposed to be the execution ground for the soulless to punish the psykers, so what did he do
Mortarion looked towards Angron. Angron sat there, looking at Mortarion with confusion and some worry. Did he know what he had done
Was it Angron's fault? But wouldn't it be a good thing for his brothers to see another legion supporting Hades
Mortarion reflected that he had been left behind for a reason.
After a brief internal struggle, Mortarion spoke directly.
[Hades, the Order of Silence is calling you, right?]
He saw Hades nodded,
[Let’s go.]
Mortarion said that he saw Hades stand up and prepare to leave without hesitation, and smiled apologetically at him. Hades trusted him as always, and the look he gave him was still the same as when he stepped into the first wave of Death Guard drop pod.
Hades is saying, brother, I believe in you.
He believed that Mortarion would be able to realize on his own that now was not the time for personal issues, just as he had handed over air superiority directly to Mortarion on the battlefield.
The door closed and Mortarion bent down, staring at the plate with only leftovers left.
[Okay, I still don’t understand what happened.]
Angron's voice sounded before Mortarion.
But you suddenly became depressed, my brother.
Mortarion stared at Angron without blinking.
[Don't you care about my hostility towards you?]
The Lord of Death said calmly, and Angron grinned.
[I believe that a friend of a friend is still a friend. You don't know how many stories Hades has told me about you before. It's like he has no other stories besides Barbarus and the Death Guard. I'm tired of hearing them.]
Mortarion smiled weakly under the poison mask. He now only hoped that his impulsiveness had not slowed down Hades's punishment of the psychic.
He couldn't be more wrong.
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(End of this chapter)