On the Emperor's Dream, in a hidden corner that no one could find...
A burst of explosive-
The sound of opening the lunch box was heard, and Hades, with a bored look on his face, silently picked up the spoon and prepared to eat.
In order to support the emperor, he had not eaten or drunk anything for nine days and nine nights. Although this was not a problem at all, Hades still deeply regretted in his heart that he had wasted the opportunity to get free food for nine days.
He has to eat it back.
Malcador had been hungry for nine days and nine nights. Given the old man's physique, Hades thought about it and was afraid that Malcador would blackmail him in the end.
Hades quickly finished today's meal. He held the spoon in his mouth, chin in his hand and stared at the opposite side - this was why he was here.
The iron bars were engraved with layers of runes, and black stone chains were wrapped around them, resonating slightly with Hades' black domain. Outside the room, countless soulless people were lined up in alert.
His hair was flying in disarray, and the tall decorative horns on his armor were roughly broken off, revealing a damaged cross-section. Magnus was the strongest and tallest of the top three Primarchs, and only Vulkan could compete with him.
But now, in just nine days and nine nights, plus three days of imprisonment on the Emperor's Dream, Magnus was already emaciated. He was dying like a dried fish and looked as thin as Mortarion.
Well, maybe Magnus was just skin and bones, but he wouldn't be as thin as Mortarion.
Hades stared at Magnus with boredom. He was now some kind of jailer, and he was not afraid that Magnus would see his casual posture—a piece of white cloth was simply tied over Magnus' eyes, and dried blood was dripping from the place where the single eye originally was.
It is obvious that Magnus never touched psychic power again after being taught a lesson by the Emperor, so Hades is not afraid of Magnus using psychic power to detect him.
Next, the Emperor will travel to Prospero with the Death Guard and Space Wolves to determine the extent of Tzeentch's corruption, while Hades and Magnus will also travel with them aboard the Emperor's Dream -
But Hades will be Magnus's caretaker, not Prospero's burner, and he needs to make sure Magnus doesn't suddenly pull some tricks.
Although the Emperor verbally promised Hades that Malcador would take shifts with him, it was obvious that Malcador intended to make Hades work the entire shift. The old man looked at Hades vaguely and spoke,
“… You can try to communicate with him.”
Hades blinked innocently and spread his hands.
"I don't usually talk to the dead."
Malcador slammed his scepter on the ground, but the scepter landed on Hades's helmet boots. Hades dodged hastily, not knowing what he had said wrong.
Malcador gritted his teeth and spoke.
"Magnus is still useful, that's why our Lord kept him."
Hades swallowed his saliva.
"You're going to stuff him onto the horse - I mean the golden throne, as a giant power bank?"
Malcador frowned. Why did Hades always feel that the old man was favoring Magnus? Was it because they both had the last name Ma and were both psychics
Malcador seemed to know that once Hades was silent, he was definitely thinking bad things. The old man spoke directly, interrupting Hades's free and divergent thinking.
"You think too simply, Hades."
Malcador whispered,
"We are not like you - I mean psykers are not like you, Hades. You only analyze things based on logic and reality."
Hades blinked.
"Uh... so psykers don't use their brains to analyze problems?"
Malcador went up and hit Hades with a stick, and Hades was completely silent. So the Regent could finally continue his topic and explain psychic powers to this top psychic Muggle in the galaxy.
"My Lord, like me and other excellent psykers, we do not only look at the logic of reality. There is a subspace in this world, and psykers can judge the future by observing its ripples - and this is usually far more accurate than the reasoning of reality."
Hades looked at Malcador indifferently. In his eyes, this was just like reading the palm of your hand to guess your fortune. But since it really worked, Hades decided not to provoke Malcador.
"So what is the result of your reasoning?"
Hades said,
"As I recall... Magnus left his soul with..."
Hades' voice trailed off, his words becoming unclear.
"Yes,"
Malcador said calmly,
"He made a deal with the evil behind the veil—and paid with a portion of his soul."
Hades was silent. He looked at Malcador and said,
"Then this shouldn't be—"
Malcador frowned.
"But this also means that he still has a large part of his soul that he can control."
"Can't we separate?"
Hades asked a stupid question, and Malcador suddenly raised his voice, like a parrot that could not help but burst out.
"Do you think psychic energy is such a simple existence?! The one he made a contract with is the One of Change. My Lord can only guarantee that he will not explode suddenly."
Then the incident returned to its origin. Hades blinked and spoke.
"Then can't we kill him?"
Hades felt that the old man was about to twitch with anger, so he quickly added,
"I just want to know why you took such a big risk to keep him. What made you insist on keeping a bomb that you don't know when it will explode?"
Malcador opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but he grew tired again.
He said weakly,
"My Lord is gambling."
"What?"
Hades said Malcador had to explain this frustrating reality to him.
"Magnus' fate is not fixed. Even though he has been tied to a boat, the river still has many branches, and he still has other possibilities. Among the branches where humans win, Magnus is indispensable. At least in my Lord's prophecy, the Red Sinner has never been absent."
Hades took a deep breath.
"I understand,"
He said,
"That is to say, that guy didn't completely determine Magnus' fate. He did it on purpose. He wanted the Emperor to... uh, gamble with him? Or he made a revolver with Magnus and stuffed a few bullets into it, so that the Emperor and he would take turns shooting, right?"
Makado nodded.
"It's a crude metaphor, but at least you understand it a little bit."
Hades suddenly spoke,
"I mean, can I use the Black Domain to divert this section of the river?"
Malcador shook his head.
"This is the main road to the destiny of the entire human race. Maybe you can do it in the future... But now..."
Malcador looked at Hades.
"You might as well catch a few more unlucky Forge Worlds and pray for you."
Hades opened his hands. He thought that King and Kirkland were scary enough.
"Aren't you afraid that it will trip you up? It controls a part of Magnus' soul, and it was it that set up this trap."
Malcador was silent for a long time, then the old man spoke slowly and wearily,
"It also means that Magnus still controls most of his soul, and he can still struggle."
"Moreover... its power still cannot change the trend that has already begun to flow. My Lord is also observing the direction of the river. If he is not sure of victory, he will not do this."
Malcador sighed.
"Hades, you can rest assured... My Lord will never believe him. Even if it is in accordance with the prophecy, he will use coercive means to imprison Magnus. He will not be free. You don't have to worry so much."
Malcador paused.
"The Lord of Mankind has made his decision. He will proceed with this gamble."
The old man looked at Hades sadly.
"If you are really worried about this, Hades, then watch over Magnus for me and warn him more. You may be able to make him struggle less when we take coercive measures."
"Time is running out... You are only allowed to guard Magnus while he kills Prospero."
Hades opened his mouth and said, "See? This is the top PUA. In the end, he took over Macado's job, and Macado asked him to seize the opportunity to do the job."
Seeing that Malcador was about to leave, Hades quickly spoke up.
"… One last question. How is the Emperor?"
Malcador's departing figure paused for a moment.
"It sucks, but he's used to it."
No more, yay!
(End of this chapter)