Butterflies, moths, and most Lepidoptera go through a long and painful pupation period.
This process is not as peaceful as it seems on the surface. The caterpillars that are filled with memories will melt in the pupae, their bodies turning into thick pulp, leaving only a few organs, and everything else will become nutrients for the new insects.
Those organs will develop again, absorb the nutrient pulp transformed from the caterpillar's body, and grow a new body, new eyes, and new wings...
In the end, what emerges from the cocoon will be a life that is completely different from the past.
Someone once asked, is the newly born butterfly still the same caterpillar, or is it a parasite on the caterpillar, another unique life
Others have hypothesized that caterpillars themselves are not life forms at all, but are instead some kind of "self-contained" egg before metamorphosis into a butterfly.
Just like a fish that steps onto land can no longer be called a "fish",
The caterpillar that escapes gravity may no longer be itself.
But it must learn to fly.
—————
Long ago, when Mortarion was still unable to get used to the poison gas, when he was still imprisoned by his adoptive father,
Mortarion would smell that distinctive stench, which was particularly strong every time the alien foster father emerged from its laboratory.
It was not a pleasant smell. Even the poison gas of Barbarus was more irritating to Mortarion.
Mortarion had peered carefully through the crack in the door and saw the golems, haphazardly sewn together from human corpses.
That is the stench of decaying human corpses.
Mortarion thought, and long afterward, he still thought so.
But as he knelt on the ground of Barbarus, digging out the bodies of the Revolutionaries with trembling hands, Mortarion did not smell the scent.
Yellow-black pus dripped from between his fingers, carrying with it pale bone residue. He smelled the odor of Hades' vomit behind him, and the fishy and salty smell of the tears of the family members of the corpse, but there was no such smell—
That smell, which was deeply engraved into his bones along with the atrocities of his alien adoptive father, made him disgusted and terrified.
The stench of corpses caused by high corruption was also more acceptable to Mortarion.
Later, when Mortarion struck a xenos lord with his sickle, he smelled the familiar smell again as the creature wailed sharply.
That's... the smell of psychic energy.
Mortarion took a deep breath.
The scent had been with him ever since, wafting from the Librarians of the Death Guard, from Malcador, from the Emperor...
No matter how many gas masks he changed, no matter how strong the poison gas was stimulated in his nostrils, Mortarion could always smell it - it was a sense of the soul that he could not get rid of.
In addition to the long torture, it also indeed provided convenience for Mortarion, and no matter how small the spark of psychic energy was, it would not be ignored by Mortarion.
Mortarion raised his hand and ichor slid down. Beneath the scythe, the ridiculous, parody corpses of the Death Guard were emitting an unbearable stench.
They thought these crude imitations would sway him, but they were wrong.
Even though this would cause him pain, it would not shake him.
Mortarion was prepared for this.
He was now standing in the dense forest. The roughly cut down branches and the purple-red organs hanging on the branches all showed the brutality of the battle that had just taken place.
Mortarion stared at his shattered armor, hesitating, slowly raising his arm to his nose—
He smelled that scent.
From himself.
Mortarion was silent, and for Hades, he prayed to himself, trying to slow down the process.
A faint feeling of powerlessness responded to him, but in this ocean of green pus, this pitiful, almost dried darkness could not save him.
He remembered that once he fell into a dream called Death Guard, and it was the water of the Styx that saved him.
But now... Mortarion clenched his fist, then unclenched it, and the brittle armor fell off his hands.
Everything here is attacking him, those big enough to be seen and those small enough to be imperceptible. The real battlefield is in the dimension of microorganisms, where billions of lives are dying.
He could no longer rely on his old friend.
Even though Mortarion was pleased with the sight of Hades taking down Magnus.
He could no longer rely on the Death Guard.
Because he is alone at the moment.
This was his fate, this was Mortarion's fate, and the day had finally come, and he faced it alone.
… He needs to get stronger, much stronger.
Strong enough to survive.
Mortarion took a deep breath, raised his feet unsteadily, and began to trek through the dense forest.
With no visible enemy to stop them, they leave the outcome to bacteria, fungi and viruses.
Time is on their side.
For Mortarion, this was a dead end.
But he needs to live.
Only by living can there be other possibilities.
Survival, this is the law of Barbarus, the supreme law that can never be shaken.
Only the strong can survive.
And if life dies, it proves that they are not strong enough.
As Mortarion trudged along, weeds with lush tumors on their branches struck his legs, and the tumors clung to his leg armor and gave off a foul smell.
Even heavy rain cannot wash them away.
Mortarion had no intention of picking them off.
He felt tired, but for him who was good at long-term combat, tiredness was just the simplest feeling.
Buzzing, black-headed flies covered in flesh gathered around him, chirping merrily around Mortarion, perching on his shoulder armor, tilting their heads and rubbing their heads.
Mortarion ignored them. The rain was pouring down. The turbid raindrops slid down his neck and poured into the gaps between his body and armor. The armor's circulatory system and power system had long been destroyed.
He was like a drowned rat, walking in the dense forest.
This planet is alive.
It was a vast, living incubator, Mortarion thought, catalyzing him, catalyzing the Primarch into another being.
Everything here, every blade of grass, every tree, every living being, is prepared for him and is cheered for him.
This is a dead end.
Mortarion thought again, and that feeling of despair came over him again, like a bone-eating maggot.
"Bang!"
There was a loud sound of falling, and the original body hit the ground heavily, splashing the smelly liquid in the rain puddle.
Mortarion vomited, spitting out dirty water mixed with organs and blood. He struggled to raise his upper body so that his exposed face would not touch the ground.
In a trance, Mortarion returned to the rainy night of his childhood when his alien adoptive father threw him off a cliff and ordered him to climb back to the top of the mountain before dawn.
He fell downwards—
Mortarion took a sharp breath, coughed violently, and began to climb forward again.
He needs to live...
He needs to live...
He can't die yet...
Those unfulfilled wishes, those previous vows, those beautiful memories - he couldn't lose them, he couldn't just give up like that.
Mortarion... Come to think of it...
He remembered the prophecy he had seen, when Mortarion saw himself on that strange Eldar planet.
That's not him, but that's also him.
That was... the original him, and also... some kind of monster that had burst forth from Mortarion's past—
It stinks extremely.
Everything here is against Mortarion, it's a dead end - but for another him, it's not.
But how should he reach that other shore, how much should he sacrifice, and what should he do
Mortarion climbed,
Seeing the giant fall, those green tumor-like creatures chirped and ran out from the grass. They were like bloated potatoes, small, huddled together, and screaming in a thin voice.
They pushed and shoved their way to the prostrate Mortarion, following him as if in wonder at his tenacity and his plight.
Mortarion stared at those beings in his deep eyes, but they did not try to attack him, but followed him closely.
... Mortarion, what else have you forgotten
Mortarion took a deep breath. He needed to live... He needed to remember it all...
The truth before life was born—
He needs to... accept himself.
Mortarion gasped in agony. The stench grew stronger, tearing at his soul and making him dizzy. He could not help but scream,
As Mortarion struggled, a thin layer of smoke rose around him.
Macragge Day of Disaster Eliminated Barbarus The Burning of Prospero The Judgment of Nikaea The Warmaster's Celebration The Battle of Uranus Ibsen's Great Crusade Konrad Curze's Cruelty Horus Kiliman's Feast Randan The Purge of Barbarus The Betrayal of Karas Typhon Mars Terra Malcador Vision Space Marines The Emperor's Last Alien Lords Death Guard Hades Karas Typhon Mortarion Alien Foster Father Nakre Barbarus Drop Pod Warp Lab -
It floats in the vast ocean.
Always silent, always existing.
Always hating, always devouring, always withering.
It is the cloud—
He is a wizard!!!
Mortarion fell back to reality with a jerk, screaming as he struggled in the mud.
The Primarch's deafening scream scared away the Nurglings that were hanging around him, and they rolled back and covered themselves under the leaves.
The desperate screams tore through the sky and almost tore apart the rain curtain, and it took a long time to stop.
After an unknown amount of time, the screaming giants fell into sleep again. They poked their heads out and looked curiously at their upcoming new master.
After seven raindrops fell, the Nurglings tried to gather around Mortarion again.
They poked the giant's pale and thin face curiously, tried to lift his weak hands, and wrote and drew on his armor with pus.
You need to... accept yourself again.
All of this... armor, weapons, body, language, customs, likes and dislikes... all of this is binding you and imprisoning your existence.
[Motarion], this is the name given to him by his alien adoptive father. In the Barbarian language, it means [Son of Death].
The Emperor once told him that he would have had a better name.
He refused.
Mortarion refused.
Collapsing in the rain, Mortarion's hands twitched twice.
The Nurgling beside him screamed, but when he saw that the giant had no other reaction, he bravely moved closer.
… This is the planet He has prepared for you, Mortarion.
… He…
…Who is He
Mortarion breathed softly, this was the last difference between him and a corpse, Mortarion... Remember quickly...
In the coma, he began to run - no, spread, he ran towards that place, and he saw a corner of the garden.
Mortarion staggered to his feet, but there was no light in his eyes and his soul seemed to be in another world.
Ominous gray smoke rose from the gaps in his armor. Mortarion lowered his head and panted, with smoke and dust puffing out of his mouth.
There was a scream from his hand as a Nurgling that had been playing with his palm was caught, its short arms flailing, trying to pry Mortarion's hand open.
Mortarion saw the garden, which was not as luxuriant as it had been before.
Only a few new sprouts grew on the barren land. The soil that had just been plowed was soft, and breathing seeds were sleeping in it.
At the edge of the garden, there was a darkness sleeping.
This is the garden of Nurgle,
Parts of it were withered, lost—and the being was trying to gather them again, and this left Him vulnerable.
And that is what Mortarion wanted.
In his last moments of clarity, Mortarion could even tell who had done it.
He chuckled at last, tears streaming from the corners of his eyes.
This is the god they have to face and fight against.
Humans cannot defeat God... unless...
Come to think of it... Mortarion...
Mortarion unconsciously raised his hand, the Nurgling in his grasp struggling, and the Lord of Clouds opened his mouth—
Around the giant, all the Nurglings stopped in shock, staring at the monster in disbelief, pus oozing from its mouth and juices exploding.
… He remembered.
Nurgle
+Nurgle!!!+
Mortarion roared, and his body, which was propped up in the dense forest, began to collapse layer by layer like a skeleton.
If you want to regain what you had in the past, you must leave what you have now—
Even as it anchors you in this beautiful world, in this physical world where your comrades, your legion, your laboratory exist.
Layers of gray mist rose up, instantly engulfing everything, spreading in all directions, devouring everything.
Mortarion roared, his mouth split open, revealing his white bones.
+—You are not the only one!!! +
It was the planet Nurgle had given him - it was his planet, even if it was tainted with Nurgle's psychic energy, even if they wanted to pull him into their garden - but he owned it.
Dark clouds rose from a corner of the garden, and he heard angry roars coming from there - now Mortarion knew why He chose him, their compatibility was indeed excellent.
The mist greedily devoured the corner of the garden that had just been plundered, and He came - Mortarion felt himself rotting, but then -
He shouted towards the existence that made him tremble. The clouds and mist rolled, calling out to the existence that made him feel deeply terrified just by looking at it.
It was a ravenous black monster, tumbling and writhing, and it followed Mortarion's gray cloud closely like a beast driven by hunger.
ha…
He needed to sacrifice a part of himself, but he still needed strength, and Mortarion threw out the part he had accumulated in the world - he kept the only part that needed to be kept.
Throw it out into the garden.
Darkness and life were entangled, but the tide of darkness was receding quickly. Mortarion had obtained what he wanted, and the fog began to dissipate.
Finally the tiny corner of the garden disappeared, and the soil where the seeds were buried receded with the mist, as if it were itself shrouded in mist.
Under the dark clouds, the barren land was silent.
Mortarion suddenly loosened his grip.
The remnant of Nurgling in his hand made a snap and exploded on the ground like a ripe fruit.
He began to collapse, this body could no longer anchor him, dark clouds surged out, his armor creaked, and he fell downwards.
Father Rain screamed, but the gray clouds were already rising, greedily devouring its mist.
This planet belongs to Mortarion.
Dark clouds covered everything.
Everything that was originally full of vitality was silent, and billions of lives were silent in the fog. They still existed, but... but...
No one knew what was happening.
Except for the steady breathing.
No more, yay!
(End of this chapter)