A large stream of blood spurted out of Malcador's mouth.
"cough!!"
The light of the entire altar disappeared in an instant. In the center of the altar, the old man fell down suddenly. The scepter in his hand, which was wrapped with chains of pearls and gems, smashed to the ground. The treasures rolled all over the ground, like splashing blood.
Mortarion, who was watching the ceremony from afar, rushed forward as soon as the waves in the Warp receded. He tried to help Malcador who had fallen to the ground, but the old man waved his hand, indicating that he did not need Mortarion's help.
The old man was breathing heavily. Next to them was an altar that was almost empty - logically, it should be filled with treasures.
But alas, there really is nothing like that on the Endurance and the Death Guard.
Before the ceremony began, Malcador looked at what the Death Guard had piled up here with a gloomy face: sickles that seemed to be mixed with Necron technology, a full set of glassware from Mortarion's laboratory, pure silver wine jugs - but without any patterns, in addition to these, there were countless precious metals that seemed to have been temporarily removed from various firearms and machines.
The old man's wrinkled mouth moved a few times, and he knocked heavily on his staff.
"Get out! Get out!"
The fog suddenly rose, and the little guards emerged from the ground, screaming and raising their "junk" and fleeing in all directions.
After much hesitation, Malcador decided to perform the sacrifice on the Endurance. He took out some of the treasures he had with him and made a simple arrangement - something was better than nothing.
In order to summon the power of the subspace, symbols and tokens are needed. The more obvious the token is, the easier it will be to draw in the power.
Even if a mortal is in an environment of wine and women, as long as he has a little greed, he will easily attract the attention of Slaanesh.
On the contrary, if there are no corresponding summons around, then it is necessary to rely on the ability of the caster. The psyker uses himself as an anchor to tear open the curtain, while more powerful psykers can attract targeted forces.
Malcador is now facing the latter situation. On the impoverished Endurance, which has nothing to do with Slaanesh, the old man has to rely entirely on his own strength to guide the six desires psychic energy from the warp.
Mortarion frowned, eyes unreadable beneath his hood, as he stared at Malcador, who knelt on the ground - something in the old man had changed.
Malcador's heavy breathing finally calmed down. He leaned on his cane and slowly stood up. Mortarion tilted his head and saw that Malcador's face looked even older.
[Which part did you take? ]
Mortarion spoke, but Malcador did not answer him. The old man took a deep breath and slowly took off the hood he had been reluctant to take off.
His deep eyes became darker.
"right,"
Machado said,
"And... some other, unformed concepts."
But... a part of the chaos mixed with greed.
"The Emperor..." Malcador paused, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth with his hand. "He changed his mind."
What was the original plan
Mortarion asked, Malcador glanced sideways, and the Primarch was shocked. Malcador had never had such a sharp look before. He was more like a damp and slimy traitor with a perpetually cloudy look.
"He wouldn't be so greedy,"
Malcador took a deep breath, as if talking about the Emperor was irritating to him.
The old man raised his eyes and looked into the void in the distance.
"The remaining power - those that became pure under his might, along with his power - went to Cadia."
[Imperial Regent, did you originally plan to sacrifice Fulgrim? ]
Malcador glanced at Mortarion. There was a long silence, Malcador clutched the scepter tightly, and finally said,
"Be prepared to sacrifice everything..."
Malcador raised his eyes and stared at Mortarion with a strange look.
"Mortarion, if the Imperium were to sacrifice you - would you accept it?"
[…]
[I accept worthy sacrifices.]
[You are going to kill the commander of the Death Guard? ]
Malcador began to cough violently, and waved his hands, saying,
"No—you'll see when you get there."
Malcador paused for a moment, as if talking to himself.
"… but I know you're not going to like it."
Mortarion was about to say something with a frown on his face, but the old man just coughed and waved his hand, leaving. Malcador reached out, and the jewels scattered on the ground flew back onto his scepter, inlaying it with layers of patterns.
Mortarion stared at the old man's retreating figure... There was one crucial point he didn't understand... If they wanted to emulate him, they only needed Fulgrim, so why did they need to let Malcador gain the power of Slaanesh
And there are things he won't be happy about...
The mist dispersed, and the place where the tall original body had existed was suddenly empty.
Whatever it was, Mortarion thought, as long as it did not corrupt him - corruption was unacceptable.
But if he really killed the Dead... Mortarion's thoughts paused for a moment.
…
If that is what the Dead One wishes... then the scythe will remain raised as usual... perhaps this assumption should not be made.
Mortarion stopped thinking.
At this moment, a voice from the subspace sounded in his mind. It was Malcador.
+Come here,+
+… And, Cadia is coming. +
———————
Coraxben decided to stop thinking.
He could no longer comprehend or reason about what had happened, and on the Emperor's Pride, the Raven Lord hurriedly tried to leave, but then, as the Emperor's Pride sank into the Six Desires, Corax soon found himself sinking into an unknown realm.
It looked like a corner of Slaanesh's palace.
There, unsurprisingly, he encountered the Slaanesh army, but there were others as well.
He saw the Emperor's Children or Eldar who were forcibly detained on torture devices. Corax ignored the Eldar, but he released some of the Emperor's Children.
During the conversation, Corax learned that these Emperor's Children, who had been tortured to the point of being almost unrecognizable, were the only loyalists in the Third Legion.
After being taken down from the torture device by Corax, some of them chose to commit suicide on the spot, while others vowed to follow Corax and take revenge on the rebels.
While trying to rescue as many of the Emperor's Children as possible, the entire Slaanesh Palace where they were located began to tremble, the temperature dropped sharply, and cold black tears began to seep out of the walls.
A familiar feeling told Corax that it was Pluto.
The Primarch calmly led the remnants of his army in the chaotic escape and mutual slaughter of the demon army, trying to find a way out of the realm of Slaanesh.
but…
As the golden flames burn on the throne—
"You are glowing, my Lord."
The lightning whip in Corax's hand twitched, and the Primarch looked down in confusion and saw himself shining.
He, a Primarch who was skilled in stealth, was now glowing with golden light.
+My child, go find the Second Kingdom of God. +
＋Reinforcements. ＋
The next moment, Corax and the remaining Emperor's Children woke up on a tattered ship that seemed about to fall apart at any moment.
The Primarch opened his eyes in despair and saw the smiling portrait of the Emperor on the ceiling.
The ship he was on now was heading towards the dark side of the empire.
Next time, Corax thought, the next time he saw the Eldar, he would just kill them.
Yay!
(End of this chapter)