[Terra]
Snow-white marble was spread on the ground, and dazzling white light poured down from the only light source in the room, splashing a dazzling wave of light.
The only desk in the room cast a dim and ominous shadow on the ground, and the golden armor dimmed for a moment in the shadow.
The emperor was silent, staring at the map on the table in front of him.
… They… They don’t want to play anymore.
The Emperor slowly tapped the tabletop with his hands, making crisp sounds. Each sound wave flashed dazzling waves in the white light. The curtain swayed, and he was able to glimpse the water flow.
His previous actions had angered Them, and now Chaos was about to show Him the full force of Their wrath.
… Hades.
The Emperor's lips uttered the word silently.
No… The Emperor thought, desperate situation.
He could feel their high yet weak state. Chaos was angry enough, and they had invested enough. This was not - this was not something Hades could solve on his own.
Hades cannot sense things in the subspace, which means he cannot predict the actions of the other side.
The emperor thought calmly, he lowered his eyes, stared at the map, and counted the forces that would appear on the battlefield this time.
His hand tapping the table paused slightly, the emperor breathed steadily, and a golden light flashed for a moment and then disappeared again.
Behind him, the hunchbacked old man moved slightly.
"My Lord,"
Malcador's old voice sounded, with a deep sense of fatigue.
"I can go."
"No,"
The Emperor said,
"Stay on Terra, Malcador. The Webway needs you."
Malcador coughed twice.
"My Lord, I still do not believe Magnus can be released."
"I gave Leman Russ his control. When necessary, the Wolf King will make his decision."
"The real battlefield is not here."
The Emperor said calmly. Malcador frowned deeply behind him. He wanted to say something else, but the Emperor raised his hand to stop Malcador from saying the next sentence.
"Be prepared for your realm to be shattered... Malcador."
Like a sigh, the emperor said those words softly,
"We need to keep our tiebreaker, order Mars to prepare support ships, and have them ready for a long voyage."
————
The emperor's sacred middle finger is not lit!!!
Hades screamed in his heart, and after the last warp jump, the Emperor's middle finger lit up and then went out again.
Don't mess with his mentality at this time!
Hades quickly listed the possible situations in his mind. The first was that something went wrong on his side. The Four Gods used the Eye of Terror to weaken the Emperor's finger bones, but Hades did not find any possible traces of blasphemy, nor did he detect psychic energy with the Black Domain.
…The second possibility is that something went wrong on the Emperor’s side.
Hades hoped that the webway might not have exploded, or even that the Emperor was playing a little joke on Hades
But unfortunately, this finger bone really looks like an ordinary human finger bone, and is no longer covered with the faint golden light.
This also means that Hades himself can no longer perform subspace jumps, and at the same time, he can no longer use his unique skill [Primarch Evolution].
He glanced casually at the mouth of Fenus beside him.
Hades remained silent, so what he had to do next was very simple, to stop the Four Gods from opening the Eye of Terror. If the Eye of Terror was really opened successfully, then the Order of Silence and the Hands of Iron alone would not be able to stop the demon army marching in the turbulence of the Warp.
They still have a chance before the Eye of Terror opens.
Although he was screaming silently in his heart, Hades showed no reaction on the surface. He continued to intertwine his middle finger with an expressionless face and talked to Finus in front of him. The fleet was about to reach the territory of the Eye of Terror.
"Creatures with [autonomous consciousness] or machine souls will resist my electric arc. The stronger their autonomous consciousness, the more difficult it will be for me to control them."
Finus pondered, this is why the intelligent control robot still maintains a high efficiency.
[Then the next autonomous machines encountered will be eliminated by the Iron Hands. ]
Finus said rationally, but Hades smiled.
"No need, I still have the Black Domain - it can eliminate autonomous consciousness."
Finus was silent, and the Lord of Medusa took a deep breath.
[I think if we really want to fight Perturabo... Perturabo will not be willing to be your enemy.]
Hades smiled brightly.
"This is also the reason why I am willing to lead the Order of Silence to the Eye of Terror."
Because both legions here are mechanical fighters, Hades can at least ensure that the short-term combat will not collapse.
As if he had heard the deep meaning in Hades' words, Fenu paused, but then he stared at the command board and spoke,
[I heard that your wise deputy is spreading other teachings within the legion.]
The smile on Hades' face froze, but before he could speak, Finus interrupted him. The Primarch looked at Hades meaningfully.
[Will this increase your strength, Hades? ]
Hades was silent. Under Hades's popularization, Finus understood chaos and the concept of "God"... Bad ideas popped up in Hades' mind.
Hades nodded slowly but firmly.
[Then let your sage assistant communicate more with the warriors. ]
Finus said casually,
[They also think you are different, and you really scare them.]
Finus' tone became more relaxed, and the Lord of Medusa crossed his arms.
[I think you were going to teach them some skills, but unfortunately the knowledge you showed, coupled with the kindness you expressed... the two produced a discordant reaction.]
Hades smiled awkwardly.
"That might be my question."
Hades changed his tone, but before he finished speaking, several red dots representing other fleets lit up on the bird servant.
That is…
Hades frowned.
…The Word Bearers
Hades stopped spinning the emperor's finger bones.
This was not the scene he had expected... According to the normal warp navigation time, the Word Bearers could not appear here.
Then... there is only one possibility.
Hades stared at the bird servant... The Word Bearers did not have many ships, but the possibility of concealment was not ruled out.
Finus was about to accept the communication permission from the Word Bearers when Hades' voice rang softly beside him.
"Highest level of alert."
Finus stopped just as he was about to agree to accept the Word Bearers' application and looked at Hades in disbelief.
The one who responded to him was Hades, who had already connected to the listening channel.
————
[Cardia]
In the underground trench beneath the largest black stone obelisk, Perturabo stood silently in front of the command board, even though he knew everything and didn't really need the command board.
Hot steam gushed out from his side. The Lord of Hateful Steam and Fire bent his huge and rugged body, and his words seemed to carry a hint of charm on the eve of victory.
+Look—here they come. +
The monster said happily,
+They came just in time, I think, so they can celebrate when we open the Eye of Terror. +
Perturabo remained silent and ignored Vashtor's mumbling. The Lord of Steel concentrated on manipulating and reversing the black stone obelisks on other planets. With Cadia as the central anchor point, this line of defense gradually extended to Cadia.
And at this moment, this long river is about to close, and Cadia will be the last piece of the puzzle.
[Are you interested in him? ]
Perturabo asked lazily, and Vashtor blew out a puff of steam as if dissatisfied.
+Only when you see it with your own eyes, you will understand why he is despised by the gods. +
As if remembering something, Perturabo sneered.
[I have seen that my "good brother" really values his soldiers.]
[It's just anti-psychic power. He is not immune to artillery fire or bullets. He will still die easily.]
Vashtor was silent for a long time, and crackling arcs of electricity lit up between the tightly wound cables.
+Don’t take it lightly,+
Vashtor hissed,
+In addition to anti-psychic powers, he has other abilities. +
What will it be
+Control the machinery. +
It was funny, Perturabo thought, that he could hear a slight tremor in the monster's voice.
[It looks like he has a very rare skill. ]
Perturabo sneered, but Vashtor said softly,
+No... You don't understand... Perturabo, you need help. You should be thankful that the concentration of psychic energy here is extremely high, which gives us the capital to suppress him. +
Vashtor spoke, the gears roared, and the hateful monster raised its head, its sight seemed to penetrate layers of defense, staring at the black stone obelisk thoughtfully.
+Luckily we don't have to face him... Once the cracks in our inverted reality open up, he will be annihilated. +
Vashtor chuckled.
Perturabo ignored it expertly. News had arrived from the Word Bearers.
Lorgar... Perturabo thought, the Primarch of the Word Bearers has changed, he is completely changed, or rather... his soul is dead.
This blasphemous thought gave Perturabo a strange sense of satisfaction, and a faint sense of fear crept up on him like a bone-chilling dread.
————
Angortai stood there uneasily. He was exiled. When the Primarch planned to kill the Custodes, Angortai dissuaded him from doing so. Then he was sent by Lorgar to the most remote place on the ship.
Angertai silently clenched the black spear in his hand. The heavy texture gave him a moment of peace of mind. At least the Primarch did not confiscate the punitive weapon he obtained in the City of Perfection.
Lorgar... had changed.
Angertai took a deep breath. Ever since talking with Perturabo, the primarch of the Fourth Legion, Lorgar seemed to have become a different person. He ordered the burning of all the books he wrote after the Perfect City, and ordered the Word Bearers to spread out around the Eye of Terror to collect the indigenous beliefs here.
At the same time, the Primarch was stepping up the compilation of new scriptures, disbanding the original priest team, and training priests according to the new beliefs.
That was not the Lorga he knew.
Angertai firmly believed this. Something must have happened. He wanted to confirm the Primarch's condition once more. So far, except Angertai, other warriors who suspected the Primarch had been sent by Lorgar to the edge of the star field to search for faith - they were exiled even farther away.
Angortai was not sure whether it was the Spear of Punishment in his hand that saved him from death, or whether the Primarch still felt that Angortai was still useful to him.
But this is not the point. Anglete only needs to do one thing now, which is to confirm what happened to the Primarch.
Although he had long been away from the Primarch and could not know his every move, the blessed lady Cyrene could. Cyrene was very smart and not as impulsive as Angertai. After realizing that something was wrong with the Primarch, this wise blind woman decisively and politely accepted the new beliefs, but in private, Cyrene still secretly prayed to the Emperor and the Silent One every day.
It was also the Primarch's schedule that Cyrene brought to Angortai. The little girl came out of the exhaust duct and brought the Primarch's latest movements to Angortai who was on duty.
According to Cyrene, the Primarch would go to the confessional on his own at noon every day and would not be seen by anyone. Priests who had previously gone to see the Primarch were severely reprimanded, and some of them were even thrown against the wall by the impatient Gene-Father.
The Primarch's period of solitude... This is Angertai's last chance.
Relying on the map provided by Ms. Zhu, he easily avoided the patrolling soldiers. Angertai walked silently on the corridor. He unconsciously gripped the spear tightly, and his palms were pressed tightly by the cold black stone.
The confessional was right in front of him, and Anglete felt his breathing begin to become heavy.
Is he doing the right thing
Angelte asked himself, he could totally not do this, the Primarch exiled him to the ship, which proved that he still had hope. Angelte could totally work obediently in a remote position on the mothership for a few years, then return to the Primarch and become his most trusted warrior.
But... that's not the case.
There is something wrong with Lorgar, Angertai thought painfully. Even though he is still as glorious as a demigod, things have gone off track since Lorgar teamed up with Perturabo to plot the killing of the Custodes. There will always be wise ones among the Word Bearers who can see the abnormality of the Primarch, but they are either exiled first or keep silent - now is a big period of military rank changes.
When Angertai's mind regained its footing in reality, he found himself standing at the door of the Primarch's private confessional.
The door was closed.
Angleta swallowed, put the spear on his back, and reached out to knock on the door.
His eyes paused on his hand suspended in the air, and finally - Anglete decided to follow his heart. He turned his hand over and tried to gently push open the door.
Anglete's eyes widened. The door was not locked.
Flames danced through the cracks in the door, and the flames crackled quietly, accompanied by heavy breathing sounds like drowning.
Lorgar, Lorgar was standing there, his back to Angortai, facing the black stone scepter displayed in the corner. The fire was burning around the primarch. Angortai saw the corpse of the book, and the primarch set his books on fire.
Angertai recognized the text. Among the fragments of the book were the Legion's tomes before the Perfect City, the new editions after that, and the version that the Primarch was currently compiling.
As if unaware of Angertai's arrival, the Primarch stood silently, nailed there, breathing disordered, as if he was fighting a fierce battle.
Angertai pursed his lips and took a cautious step into the room.
[roll.]
Lorgar's voice rang out, but the Primarch remained motionless.
Angertai felt as if his throat had been strangled by the Primarch, but he chose to take his second step firmly.
The Lorgar he knew would not tell his offspring to get lost.
Luo Jia's breathing became more disordered, and he took short breaths, but remained motionless.
As Angletai took his third step, the pressure suddenly came over him. He saw blood flowing out from between his helmet and boots, and his throat became fishy and sweet.
Luo Jia let out a gasp as if he was dying.
"… Father?"
Ingerte opened his mouth, and a red line slid down from the corner of his mouth.
[… Don't]
A fragmented sound was heard.
[look…]
Tick-tock, in the dim light of the fire, Angertai saw a drop of blood under the Primarch's feet.
But the original body's back was still as silent as an old house that had been abandoned for tens of millions of years.
The sound of metal colliding and armor colliding was heard, and Lorgar slowly raised one hand, pointing at the dull golden scepter.
[Walk…]
Tears of blood flowed from Angertai's eyes. He knew, he knew. He began to walk towards the scepter. When he passed by the side of the Primarch, with a huge cry, the Primarch turned around and continued to face Angertai with his back.
Anglete successfully grasped the scepter.
[Walk…]
The Primarch gasped.
[Go...go...find God.]
Angertai felt that blood and tears had covered his entire face.
"How can I help you, father?"
He asked sadly, broken,
[Go... Faster...]
Angertai gritted his teeth, no... he thought, no... he couldn't help the Primarch. The first time he saw Lorgar's back, Angertai realized that the Primarch was far worse than he had imagined.
But the only thing he could do now was to obey Luojia's orders.
Angertai felt as if he had a mountain on his shoulders, but the Primarch's voice telling him to go was getting fainter and fainter, and he was running out of time...
Luojia listened to the messy footsteps of Angertai fading away. After an unknown amount of time, the fire around him gradually went out.
Now, what Luo Jia faced was complete darkness.
Wuuuuuuu no more!
(End of this chapter)