Hades is finally out of prison—no, he finally doesn't have to supervise Magnus anymore.
Who would be the next guardian of Magnus? Leman Russ or Malcador? Hades did not know, but he was sure that the Emperor would give Magnus a suitable guardian.
Hades walked with ease. Since the Council of Nikea, he was either supporting the Emperor or staring at Magnus in prison. Just because the Emperor was a workaholic didn't mean Hades was one too.
Hades was moving forward in the Fantasy according to the route told to him by the Emperor. His destination was most likely another secret room for private conversations.
He walked through the dim cell area, the candlelight reflected on Hades' armor, and then he smelled the smell of rain and gunpowder, which made Hades' steps pause, but he continued forward.
The pale starlight shone through the porthole onto the ground. He saw Malcador standing there hunched over, waiting for him. Behind the old man, in the darkness, was...
Mortarion and Leman Russ.
The Lord of Death's armor was splattered with blood and bullet holes, and the blood seemed to have just coagulated, while the Lord of Winter's fur was filled with the stench of psychic energy. Hades smelled the scent of Magnus from Leman Russ.
“Here I come.”
The old man calmly opened his eyes and prepared to take Hades to the secret room. Hades blinked and stared at the two Primarchs, but it seemed that Malcador did not intend to give him time to talk to them.
Mortarion's scythe slammed down, blocking Hades' path.
A hoarse voice sounded,
[You have been on this ship all this time, Hades?]
Hades nodded.
"I'm guarding psychic prisoners. Is the war over?"
Mortarion glanced at Malcador's back and stretched out his voice.
[Thanks to the psyker, the warriors don't have to fight the crazy subspace creatures in the rainy night—]
Psyker? Malcador is in action
Then Hades realized that Mortarion was referring to the Emperor.
The sound of Malcador's scepter hitting the ground was accompanied by the sound of Leman Russ snoring.
"Motarion, if no one expects you to open your mouth, then you don't have to speak."
The old man's tired voice sounded, and Hades could already imagine Malcador frowning.
Hades coughed a few times.
"Old Ma, I also want to ask about the progress of the Death Guard's construction plan."
Malcador turned his head, and under his hood, he wanted to hit Hades with two sticks immediately.
“First of all, my name is not Lao Ma;”
"Secondly—my Lord has something important to discuss with you."
Mortarion sneered, then he raised his scythe, and doom had not yet fallen. The Lord of Death whispered, as if answering Hades' question.
Hades sighed, "Grab the infrastructure, grab the infrastructure" - his voice dissipated in the darkness that Malcador led him into.
Leman Russ muttered, his hand unconsciously going to the fur around his waist where Magnus's single eye was hidden.
———
Hades stared at the tea in front of him. It was a familiar scene. It seemed that the last time he saw it was on the Ultramarines ship.
"Nothing serious has happened to Prospero?"
Hades asked tentatively.
"Nothing at the moment."
The Emperor spoke calmly, staring at the map of the Empire's territory in front of him, deep in thought.
"The One Who Changes has shown me some illusions that are not worth mentioning. He is still trying to play tricks on me."
"You confronted Him?!"
The Emperor raised his eyes and stared at Hades.
"No, He escaped."
"It is unwise to waste one's own strength in vain. Chaos has its own laws and wars. He will not be so generous when dealing with the Empire."
Hades sighed. It was just that Tzeentch didn't want to suffer a loss, so the other three gods had to join in dealing with the empire.
"What about Magnus? I still don't think this is safe at all."
"Nothing is certain to happen, Hades, and nothing is certain not to happen either."
The Emperor said this casually, and Hades realized that this man was determined to take the gamble. He remembered that the Emperor had turned his finger bones before... It turned out that everything had its signs, but Hades didn't understand it at the time.
If there was no one more conscientious than the emperor in this damn cesspool, Hades would have to pack up and run away sooner or later and not have anything to do with gamblers. This is Hades's awareness.
"There are currently 999 Thousand Sons imprisoned in the Empire. Those who are good at using psychic powers will be assigned to my ranks."
Makado on the side added in time.
"Grey Knight."
The old man said, taking a sip of tea, as if he was tired of the endless related work he would face in the future.
"The Thousand Sons' flesh and blood mutations have not been resolved. With Prospero burning and Magnus imprisoned, the Thousand Sons' flesh and blood mutations may recur at any time."
"I will try to get some gene seeds from other legions to neutralize it, but the Thousand Sons seeds will still be the main component."
Hades spoke sullenly.
"What about the flesh mutation?"
Malcador glanced at him.
"It's enough that they can fight before then. The Empire needs their fighting power. Unstable bombs are far more valuable than stable stones."
Hades sighed.
"Are you sure these Thousand Sons will fight for the Imperium, Malcador? Do you want me to—"
"Let's leave the affairs of psychics to psychics, Hades."
Malcador immediately interrupted Hades.
"A psychic who has been eroded by the Black Domain may never be able to emit the same brightness of soul fire in his lifetime - Hades, please stop leaving psychological trauma on innocent psychics!"
After Malcador finished speaking, he found that Hades was staring at him, with his mouth open as if he wanted to say something.
Malcador immediately interrupted Hades's unrealistic and foolish fantasy.
"Except for me, my psychic power was stronger than yours at that time."
"That's good."
Hades smiled and began to drink his tea from the extra-large cup he was given—
The Emperor's voice sounded hesitantly.
"Hades, would you like to..."
The rather rare interrogative sentence structure and hesitant tone almost made Hades spit out the tea in his mouth. He quickly put down the tea and stared at the Emperor seriously.
"Are you willing to follow the Sixteenth Legion, the Luna Wolves?"
"Something happened to Horus?"
Hades asked nervously,
So fast
Then he saw the Emperor shook his head. This reaction was obviously beyond Hades' expectations. Hades looked at Malcador, but the old man hid his face in his hood and the steam from the tea.
Malcador remembered what he had once asked the Emperor, the Lord of Mankind would eventually become.
"Hades,"
The Emperor said calmly, golden light surging in his eyes.
“It’s a request.”
"I hope you can stay by the side of the Warmaster and keep him from being disturbed by Chaos. When I return to Terra, as long as the Warmaster's command remains and Horus still has reason, then the war situation of the Empire will remain clear."
The emperor paused.
"I also know that you wish to return to Death Guard. This will be your choice."
Hades was silent, then he asked carefully,
"Can't you predict with psychic power, Neos, or use logic to figure out where I would be best deployed?"
The Emperor recalled seeing the hollow shell of Horus, and that Magnus, who was his greatest concern, had privately traded his soul with the Anomalous.
"You are unpredictable... Hades, the only way to predict your fate is through the fate you have influenced."
"But if according to the logic of the physical world, you are suitable to go to Horus' side, Lupercal needs someone who can prevent him from being disturbed by the warp."
Hades stared at the Emperor, and the Emperor... was silent.
Neos picked up the tea and sipped it calmly.
Hades mused that he could ensure that at least one of the Primarchs beside him would not be corrupted... which meant that the Emperor would definitely prioritize deploying him beside a high-ranking Primarch - then it would definitely be Horus, or Guilliman with a large army.
But it's a request... it's more like... a request mixed with personal emotions.
Hades smiled bitterly.
"I should be on Horus' side."
"And... I believe Mortarion and the Death Guard will be the Primarchs who stand their ground the most."
The Emperor seemed to be relieved—
"but!"
Hades yelled,
"I want new equipment for the Death Guard! You are not allowed to object!"
The emperor smiled.
“It’s your freedom.”
But his smile was soon drowned out by fatigue.
"Time is running out,"
The Emperor said,
"I need to return to Terra in time. The Webway experiment has reached a critical point, and it will soon close the subspace channel on Terra."
The Emperor stretched out his hand, and a galactic map appeared on the table. Hades could see countless symbols marking the legions flashing on it.
"Let me tell you about the situation, Hades."
Beep beep beep beep beep
(End of this chapter)