"I'm sorry."
Hades opened his hands, and rough scarlet cracks climbed up his breastplate, emitting an uneasy red light from the inside out, like the last cracks when ceramic is broken.
"Failed,"
Hades said that the sound was like the whisper of a ghost in the middle of the night, or like the cry of a person shouting at him at the top of his lungs from the other side of the distant coastline.
Mortarion felt only the cold, and then the suffocating feeling that strangled him, the nightmare that forever hung over his soul, the pain of being unable to breathe.
Hades stared at him, expressionless.
He was no longer the commander that Mortarion was familiar with. He looked more like he did at the beginning, his eyes staring at Mortarion. In a trance, Mortarion remembered that he had seen these eyes in the fog of Barbarus, through the greasy isolation goggles.
But he is no longer the same person he used to be. He has walked countless roads and crossed countless rivers. Only he knows the dangers of those bumpy roads, and only he knows the depth of those turbulent rivers.
"I failed in my duty,"
Hades' voice seemed to come from the deepest sea.
"Billions of lives will be destroyed, and demigods will fall into darkness. I was unable to stop this. I calculated everything, but I didn't expect them to change their goals."
"Death, I have not yet completed the journey that I am about to take."
Mortarion's lungs emitted a deathly howl, and he began to cough. He wanted to speak, but the lack of air in his lungs and throat prevented him from speaking.
He wanted to say, Hades, fuck you, that damn emperor didn't fight as hard as you.
He wanted to say that if anyone had ever successfully slapped the subspace, that person could only be you, Hades, only you!
He wanted to say that you have already completed the journey that you were about to take, and as for the rest, he, Mortarion, will complete this journey even if it means death!
Hades, tell him who did it, tell him what your wish is, tell him what you didn't get to do, tell him! Tell him!
Let him slap the fucking Warp!
Mortarion struggled frantically. The most familiar feeling of suffocation was stuck in his throat. He fought desperately against the pain, but the invisible enemy did not give him a chance to resist.
Hades!
Mortarion yelled, scratching at any opportunity, Hades, Hades! Answer him, answer him! !
The cold and silent water of the Styx slowly rose, the flowing water brushing against the armor of the Lord of Death, pouring into the gaps in the armor, and the air gurgled up in large bubbles, passing by Mortarion's eyes and floating freely towards the distant water surface.
He sank into the Styx...
—Hades, answer him! Answer Mortarion!
In the silent darkness, scarlet flickered.
"Mortarion,"
"Be careful, fate is starting to reverse."
Mortarion opened his eyes suddenly, the Lord of Death gasping for breath, he pulled off the gas mask directly, the fresh air from Macragge stung his respiratory tract, he almost fell down, the last words in the dream buzzed in his ears.
He looked up, the blinding light almost brought him to tears, he turned his head and saw Angron leaning over from the desk, pressing down on one of his shoulders.
Angron was looking at him with a frown on his face, extremely worried.
Mortarion gave the gasp of a consumptive dying man.
[fine,]
Mortarion said, he took a deep breath, his breathing became smooth again, the morning light shone on him, the dust was flying,
[It's just a nightmare.]
"Nightmare," Angron said, slowly releasing his hand from around Mortarion.
[Are you sure that was really a dream? ]
[Yes.]
[When will Makhado arrive? ]
Mortarion asked abruptly. Guilliman shook his head slowly.
[It may take some time.]
... Mortarion remembered those words. Mortarion knew his own fate. So... what would be the fate of Guilliman, or rather, Macragge
The already disturbed fate began to mix together, configuring into an even more violent poisonous juice.
———
"Finally here..."
Apothecary Raton breathed heavily, spores gushing from his respirator, and Nurglings frolicked at his feet. He bent down and touched the heads of their fellow Nurglings.
"Dear Father, may I succeed in guiding my lost son back to the right path."
He panted as he spoke, and the Space Marines beside him moved away from him in disgust, even though the distance between them was far enough that the spores flying in the air formed a beautiful little spray.
"All right,"
Laton said,
"The seven Blessed Ones are in place. Ultramar is now easily accessible, thanks to Guilliman's mercy."
The Space Marine in blue armor chuckled. Rodan couldn't tell them apart, but he just needed to know that they had reached an agreement with him.
How strange... Laton thought, they seemed to think they were doing the right thing, but did they know what was truly right
"Lord Macragge was too arrogant. His empire is in tatters in our eyes. The infiltration is complete. He has already lost."
Laton nodded, and suddenly a question occurred to him.
"Are you a group?"
His voice disappeared in the wind and no one answered.
Laton sighed, feeling the scars growing on his sick body, and knew that the people he worked with were not competent.
At least, he still hasn't figured out how many of them there are. How many are there exactly
————
Seven curled himself up in the crowded crowd. Helian's poor cabin was crowded and dim. The only lamp was hanging on the ceiling, emitting a swaying white light.
He came from an agricultural world and was supposed to take a ship to join his cousins on a hive world, but during the ship's voyage, the Astronomican went out.
It was difficult for Seven to describe what happened at that moment. The entire spaceship was shaking violently and then fell into an endless night. For the first time, he realized that the Geller force field outside the ship would also make a sound similar to that of broken glass.
Then there was chaos. The people in the lower cabin cried loudly, crowded together and pushed each other. Someone was shouting something, but it was not Low Gothic, so Seven could not understand it very well.
It seemed like a long time had passed, but it also seemed like only a moment had passed. After all, the time anchoring in the subspace was also achieved by the Astronomican.
Seven was finally awakened by the loud shouting of a crew member. He woke up in a daze among the sweaty crowd and was told that the ship had found its direction again and the great Lord Macragge had saved them!
Then there was a long bumpy ride, and with a feeling of hunger and poverty, he pushed and shoved his way into the Hellion orbital plate above Macragge with the crowd. He crowded into the immigration hall of Hellion with hundreds of thousands of refugees, waiting for the moment to be released.
Seven felt an itch under the curly hair on the back of his head. He scratched it impatiently with his hand. He raised his hand and saw traces of blood embedded in the gaps between his dirty nails.
Seven cursed under his breath. He came from an agricultural world, so of course he knew what was happening. This body lacked necessary vitamins, and it had already warned him.
He reached his hand behind his head again, and vaguely felt three lumps growing together under his messy hair.
They are like living creatures.
Beep beep beep beep
(End of this chapter)