Magnus woke up in a dry and powerless state. When he woke up, he felt an inexplicable throbbing - it was the connection with the Thousand Sons. He seemed to hear the wails of the sons when they were possessed by the guardian elves before they died.
The Primarch struggled to sit up, and then he became aware of the anxious footsteps that had always been there. Magnus coughed and wanted to say something, but he was stopped.
"Quiet, Magnus."
Hearing a voice in his ear, Magnus realized that the guards were close to him and Hades was in the cell.
The lighthearted, nonchalant manner of his everyday speech was gone, replaced by emotionless words that reminded Magnus of the unadorned words of the Mechanical Magus.
"I was wrong before, Magnus. You are a mark of Him. Unless I destroy your soul, I cannot eliminate His surveillance of this place."
Magnus heard the hissing of the blade across the ground, his muscles tensed, he wanted to do something, but felt that there was nothing he could do, he was being toyed with by Chaos, his Thousand Sons and Prospero had disappeared.
"So, He heard my conversation with you earlier—and He wants to put an end to it, and He is using your words. Is this a warning, or a joke?"
This sentence was spoken very lightly, more like Hades's soliloquy.
"What's worse is that I think the Emperor agrees with the other side. What he saw in Prospero may have changed his mind. I should go to more important occasions instead of guarding a discarded pawn."
The anxious footsteps sounded again. You could never tell when Tzeentch stopped you whether he wanted you to stop doing this or to continue doing it.
After a long time, the footsteps stopped, and Hades seemed to be squatting beside Magnus, who was half-sitting against the wall.
"Let me tell you a story, Magnus, as my last attempt."
He said the sickle made a hissing sound when it rubbed against the ground.
"There was an unlucky guy like you in the past. He was favored from the beginning, but the favor was different from the favor you. He was always unlucky. On the predetermined line of fate, all the great things he wanted to accomplish failed."
Hades' voice paused.
"You see, it's just the opposite of you. You should have had a smooth journey - but unfortunately you met me."
"But then he changed his fate. On the one hand, he did change a lot of his bad temper. On the other hand... I'm not bragging, the waves of the subspace also need someone to intercept them before major changes can occur—"
[…You changed his fate line? ]
Magnus' voice was trembling as he listened to Hades' silence for a moment.
"Yes, the soulless are the best for this kind of thing, aren't they? Rather than using psychic energy to carefully tangle with the various waves of fate, it is better to cut them off directly. But unfortunately, this requires the soulless to have sufficient ability."
Are you the only one who can do this
"yes."
Magnus was silent.
[You were talking about Mortarion? He was also... was also... ]
"Hush, be quiet, Magnus."
Hades said,
"So you are the luckiest of the unfortunate, Magnus."
Magnus thought of the unique smell of death and morbid behavior of Mortarion. It was hard to imagine what Mortarion had experienced in the past.
"Not just you, not just him."
Hades murmured,
"I have also witnessed entire legions on the brink of extinction, children trapped in pools of blood, and people who themselves could not escape their own fate. He is currently... far away from his predetermined fate."
[…Angron?]
Hades was silent.
"You should have seen the device on his head, so I say you are lucky."
Magnus was silent as if dead. After a long while, he asked softly,
[You originally... came here to help me get rid of... those things? ]
"perhaps."
Hades said,
"But you are different from them. Even in the most dangerous moment, their souls did not surrender for a moment. Magnus, you know what I mean."
Magnus had already given part of his soul to Tzeentch from the very beginning. What he faced was not a cruel curse, but lies wrapped in honey.
[Then... what else can I do... ?]
He opened his mouth in vain, it was just an inertia,
"Don't think about that, Magnus."
The cold words rang in his ears. Hades' previous methods were to isolate the gaze of the subspace and then try to do something consistent with physics and psychology, but Magnus' situation destined him to never be able to completely isolate the subspace.
"Accept the harsh reality and atone for your sins, Magnus. This is my most sincere advice to you. Just do what the Emperor orders you to do, and don't think about anything else."
Magnus tried to force a dry smile at the corners of his mouth to prove that he was indeed numb, numb enough to accept it all, but he could only feel blood oozing from the corners of his mouth.
[…My story ends where it begins, right?]
Hades stood up and paced in the small cell again in annoyance. This was what he hated about Tzeentch. When killing him was not a solution, you had to think of other ways, but no matter what the plan was, it would fall into the calculations of the Lord of Change.
Judging from the Emperor's posture, Hades guessed that he wanted to use Magnus as a disposable bomb and throw it out to explode the pony at the critical moment, but the question is, is this reliable
Hades originally thought that this was fine, but he realized that Magnus himself already had a bit of Tzeentch in him, and this was a gamble.
Moreover, he could not confirm whether Magnus was a decoy or the real key point, because Prospero, the anchor point, had been removed, and Magnus's biggest turning point in fate had passed.
The Emperor obviously had this in mind. In fact, he had already summoned Hades to leave. This was the last day that Hades would guard Magnus.
"Okay, let me try one last time... Magnus, are you willing to give it a try?"
Hades saw Magnus raising his hands in vain,
[Is this an order from the Emperor? ]
"Emperor, I want Magnus beaten."
"Please."
The other end of the channel disconnected indifferently, and Magnus looked like he was about to scream silently again.
"It is now."
Hades said calmly,
"You have to cooperate with me from now on."
[Cooperate with you to beat me?! ]
"Yes and no."
Hades said,
"Now... you have to hand over the authority of your soul to a soulless person."
Before Magnus could open his mouth to respond, the Black Domain surged forward.
———
Magnus screamed and rolled in the sea of spiritual consciousness. He ran away desperately. He didn’t want that kind of thing to touch him!!!
But he was too weak. The Emperor's psychic suppression and the fall of the Thousand Sons greatly weakened the light of Magnus' soul. In the past, he could have just left and left the cursed thing far behind.
He watched helplessly as the monster devoured him, as if a swarm of insects were crawling up his skin, or as if he were falling into a bottomless pool of stench. His soul was worse than death, and flames far hotter than the fire of hell burned his soul.
He resisted subconsciously, but heard roars from afar.
"Magnus—just hold on for a second! Malcador is stronger than you!"
Magnus suddenly remembered why he was here, and what that stinking cursed thing was, he might as well just die!
[Knock me out, stay away from me!]
"I want to knock you out right away!"
Then Magnus saw the blue before his eyes—there—he remembered it! The gorgeous waves of the Vast Ocean seemed to be just yesterday, at the top of the Great Pyramid of Prospero, the mighty of the Warp stepped down from the altar and signed a contract with him.
The darkness twisted and tried to penetrate deep into his soul.
A scream sounded from the depths of his soul, and he saw Prospero burning. People's souls were burning, providing him with strength.
The darkness and the sickle stabbed at him together, and the strange light suddenly exploded! After a moment of dazzling light, everything returned to its original position, as if nothing had changed.
Then Magnus heard the sound of someone falling to the ground, and then the sound of dry retching. The wave of powerlessness began to recede, and he slowly grasped the boundaries of the physical world again.
He smelled blood, but it wasn't his.
[… Success? ]
He asked tremblingly,
“Failed.”
Hades silently wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. He was indeed Tzeentch, and indeed the Primarch of the psychic system. Hades felt that the mark Tzeentch had planted in Magnus' body was stronger than the psychic energy of an entire planet. Coupled with the resistance of Magnus' soul itself against him... He was still too hasty, and he was impatient.
In the distance, the Emperor's hand, which was pondering the map, paused slightly.
“So the fireworks are here.”
He said softly, no wonder, at the same time the Emperor opened the channel,
"Don't waste your energy, Hades."
Hades took a deep breath.
"It's still somewhat useful..."
He whispered, looking towards Magnus.
"I made one last tear in your soul, Magnus... Do not try to heal it, it marks where He is, do you understand me?"
[… I will stay away from there. ]
Magnus spoke weakly, as if he was still immersed in the dizziness that the black domain had just brought him. Although Hades tried his best not to hurt him... The damage was not great, but the nausea was extremely strong.
Hades frowned.
"I mean that if you sense something is wrong with it, go to the Emperor, or Malcador, immediately."
This can be regarded as giving Magnus an early warning ability, but in a sense it also makes it easier for Magnus to communicate with Tzeentch.
However, as long as Magnus wants, Tzeentch can communicate with Magnus without any obstacles, so it can be regarded as giving Magnus a self-alert function.
The channel made a hissing sound of electricity. Hardy paused, and then a light voice sounded.
"Well, I have to go eventually."
As if nothing had just happened,
"Have a good time in prison, Magnus, and don't let your imagination run wild and come up with heresy."
"Reform yourself to a new level as soon as possible, listen to the emperor, and don't mess around. Ten thousand years from now, maybe you'll be able to start a new life."
There was the sound of iron bars opening, followed by footsteps, doors closing, and the clatter of armor joints.
Magnus sniffed the blood in the cell, and in the remaining full years he would realize that this was the last word he heard, the last words of blessing him, and even a little trust.
He examined that soul, he gazed at Him, just as He had been silently gazing at him before.
Magnus finally fell into the quiet years he had always dreamed of.
Beep beep beep beep
(End of this chapter)