The air was thick with fog.
The thin helmet boots stepped into the mud, and the mist rose and fell with his breathing. The forest was quiet, and the insects that were originally buzzing and flying around fell to the ground with a clatter.
He walked in silence.
The garden is falling apart, the artificially created god of death has seized power, his wings drooped, and death is upon him.
He was... wrong.
He could not completely replace Nurgle, he could not completely kill Him, Stasis resided above the High Heavens, and he could not kill a garden.
But even so... Mortarion sighed deeply, and with his bony hands he grabbed the fungi that grew out of the gaps in his armor, which looked like green-skinned bush creatures, and threw them to the ground.
The emerald green fungi soon bent and died in the white mist. The roars of the greenskins in the distance also became smaller. They were about to leave.
He doesn't have much time left.
The Pale Lord walked alone in the silent woods.
He passed by the bodies of the dead Eldar and heard the faint sobbing, the crying was like a stream, rippling through the woods.
The forest was still shrouded in deadly fog.
Mortarion followed the stream upstream.
New buds were sprouting up on the dead grass, the green grass was not the color of Nurgle, the shadows of the trees were sparse, the sun shone on the open spaces among the bushes, and the white roses were blooming vigorously.
Aisha was there, the mother goddess of life of the Eldar, clad in a white veil, kneeling among Aisha's roses, with shackles still on her wrists and ankles. She was sobbing, and her last children were tightly clustered around her tall and plump body.
Mortarion walked over without hesitation, and wherever he stepped, the white roses withered and died immediately.
[So you didn't come out,] the god of death said calmly, he showed his sickle, the sickle was twisted and deformed, and the sting was sharp, [but continued to cry here.]
+I'm sorry.+
Aisha wiped her eyes, and crystal tears fell. Mortarion saw with amusement that the Eldar around Aisha nervously clenched their swords towards him.
+My feet were severely injured by Him, and I could not move forward. +
It doesn't matter.
Mortarion said that Aisha had entered the best attack range. The light of the Mother Goddess of Life resisted his Mist of Silence, which made the Eldar seem more motivated.
You won't need them soon.
The sickle swung! The black wind suddenly struck Aisha!
The elite Eldar gathered around Aisha had no time to react. In just a moment, the strong wind brought by the wings of the Lord of Death overturned them and flew out like grass stems!
clang!!!
A long sound of metal colliding was heard, and Aisha, who was still crying just now, suddenly stood there, holding the chain tightly with both hands. The rotten chain was tight, just enough to block the scythe of the god of death.
The poisonous stinger at the tip of the huge sickle blade was just one centimeter away from touching the tip of Aisha's nose.
[It seems you have other plans? ]
Mortarion said calmly, and the next moment he exerted force with his arms—the sickle was pulled back violently!
With tears on her face, Elsa immediately loosened the chain stuck on the sickle. The chain that bound her in the past now became her only weapon. Before she could stand firm, the attack of the Pale Lord rushed towards her from all directions!
The giant sickle formed a dazzling afterimage in the air, and each blow was accompanied by a sonic boom! In the rose field, the roses were lifted up by the remaining wind and fell into the air one after another, like a grand funeral.
Ding! Ding ding ding! Ding! Ding!
The sounds of metal hitting each other rang out one after another. Amidst the sickle flowers, streaks of blood appeared on Aisha's body, some shallow and some deep, so deep that one could see the white bones.
Elsa gritted her teeth. She felt that her legs, which were cut by the shackles and half rotten, could no longer support her weight. She tried to use the vines growing from the ground to disrupt the pace of the god of death, but it was completely useless.
No… No…
Tears fell from Aisha's sparkling eyes. The Eldar had not yet perished, and her lovely children could still live happily in the world. She remembered the words that the children of Xigouchito had brought her - the Eldar could return to their heyday.
This is why... This is why... She and her children broke their promise to the human race. She wants to go back, she wants to go back! The end result of helping the human race's death god is only destruction!
Aisha clenched her teeth and squeezed out the words.
+I'm sorry... +
She said as softly as possible, +But this world needs love and rebirth... God of Death of the human race, please stop destroying. If you let go of your desire to destroy, the spirit race is willing to join forces with the human race, and we can rebuild... Ah! +
The giant sickle just brushed past her cheek, and blood and flesh flew everywhere!
There was no trace of emotion in Mortarion's eyes. Perhaps his eyes, neither human nor insect, could no longer show any sadness or joy.
[You were the ones who "invited" me to slaughter Slaanesh first.]
The Pale Lord twisted his wrist and delivered another fierce blow! Aisha staggered.
The overturned Eldar only stood up and rushed into the battle, but the Pale Lord looked at them as if they were insects. His dim green and white eyes caught a glimpse of Evelyne's figure.
Mortarion sneered, and the Lord of Death suddenly raised his voice and imitated the words of the Eldar in a very vivid way.
[“Great human death god, we only ask for the death of the youngest queen—we can sacrifice everything for you. If you want our death, please take it.”]
Mortarion chuckled, but his voice sounded like the wheezing of a leper before his death.
The Grim Reaper swung his scythe as if taking a halftime break. With him as the center of the circle, the fragments of the Eldar that rushed up flew out, and the blood dyed the half-dead white roses on the ground bright red.
Mortarion raised his hand, and in his slender hand, as if holding a rag doll, a hideous Eldar head appeared in his hand.
[I guess these Dark Eldar said something to you?]
Mortarion said calmly as he looked at Elsa who had fallen to the ground. His poison combined with Nurgle's corruption had finally pierced the wound on Elsa's ankle, and she collapsed to the ground powerlessly.
I'm curious, what did they say to you
Mortarion threw away the Dark Eldar's head. He felt a familiar psychic energy on it... How interesting, why is He everywhere
The sickle dragged deep scratches on the ground. Mortarion strode to Aisha and stepped on the flesh and bones on Aisha's ankles, then kicked them aside. Now she no longer needed her feet—
He said that Nurgle was still merciful enough not to cut off the feet of the Eldar god.
He pulled out a syringe from his waist bag. Aisha's self-healing and self-purification abilities were extremely strong. She could even purify Nurgle's toxins. Mortarion didn't think he could surpass Nurgle in this regard, but it was enough to delay for a while.
He casually threw down the syringe and injected the poison, causing an abnormal green color to appear under the skin of the Eldar god.
Elsa gasped, and in her distorted vision she saw the Death Guards gathering in the woods, and she saw the children who were still alive - she had simply arrived from one prison to another.
Elsa shed tears, she thought of the old glory, she missed her husband Kurnos, the prosperous Eldar Pantheon... but now it was just her and Sigourchi left.
She recalled what these Eldar who were different from the ordinary Eldar had said, and the scene and splendor she had seen. No, she could not have been wrong. That was the power of Kunos, and the Eldar god Asuryan...
…
"Mother Goddess, with the help of the ancient technology Ouroboros, we can reverse time, from the death of the youngest queen, back to the time when the Eldar flourished, and rewrite everything - our Lord has seen through fate."
She lowered her eyes and saw the strange child took out a jester mask. There were huge crystal diamonds hanging like tears. The corners of the mask's grinning mouth flashed with a light that she was familiar with... Xi Gaoqi.
Aisha was in a trance for a moment. It had been a long time since she last saw her old companions. Even though Xi Gaoqi's psychic power was a little strange... But after being imprisoned day after day, Aisha was no longer young.
She won't admit her mistake.
She put on her mask and glimpsed what Sigouch wanted her to see—
She saw the final moments of prosperity before Slaanesh awakened.
Aisha subconsciously reached out her hand, as if she had touched the wind from ten thousand years ago. She had truly touched the spiritual energy of her former companion...
The jester's mask shattered, like a shattered gem, and when it became crystal clear, Elsa realized that she was in tears.
+What did Sigouch say? +she asked.
Aisha opened her mouth, her tears streaming down her cracked lips. She looked towards the distance where the Pale Lord was fighting the Nurgle army. Death Guard missiles exploded above their heads, and black sand fluttered in the air, covering the ends of her hair.
+Good.+
Aisha said so.
…
…but she didn’t manage to escape.
Tears filled her eyes as Aisha saw the Grim Reaper crouch down, the insect-like armor on his hands seeming to come alive, the segments clicking and soon a new gas mask formed on Mortarion's hands, resembling a giant arthropod insect.
Before she was deprived of the power to breathe and speak, Elsa spoke tremblingly,
+I'm sorry... +She said, +If you see Sigourney, please tell him I'm sorry, I failed him - but please don't take my foolish anger out on him, he still hopes to fulfill his dream of killing him... +
Elsa's tears accumulated on her long, thick eyelashes like morning dew, but Mortarion remained indifferent.
+I was so scared that I failed his dream... +
Lies, Mortarion thought. Never trust the Eldar. They are full of lies.
[Quiet.]
Mortarion said as he roughly pressed the gas mask on Aisha. The white mist symbolizing death quickly poured into the Mother Goddess' respiratory system, paralyzing her nerves.
The mist swirled around, forming a new chain that penetrated Aisha's body. Mortarion stood up and carefully broke each of Aisha's bones with his sickle. Then he grabbed one end of the mist chain and
Around the battlefield, the Death Guards also killed or tied up the living Eldar.
[Walk.]
Mortarion said, panting wearily,
[Leave here immediately... Let's go back.]
[go back…]
… … … …
Foolish Eldar...
Failed…
On the throne, the emperor in gorgeous clothes looked displeased. He placed one hand on the armrest and held an extremely luxurious emperor mask in the other hand, with diamonds inlaid with dazzling elven patterns.
The hand holding the mask, the robe drooped, the pattern from the Lord of Change lighted up slightly, mixed with the breath of the Eldar Xigaoqi,
+Failed,+
The emperor said coldly, "The Eldar are indeed unreliable."
Under the throne, in the desolate palace, screams of pain echoed faintly, but He was still worthy of being chosen. Compared to Slaanesh, He provided more "secure" pleasure for these thrill-seeking Eldar.
The brilliant blue lines on the emperor's hand lit up. The emperor tilted his head and looked at his hand. He seemed to have heard something and was silent for a while.
Then he sneered,
+If you want me to be the stepping stone before your victory,+
The emperor spoke sarcastically.
+Wanbiantian, you should show some sincerity. How is your fight with the Lord of Humanity going? You should worry about the canines. +
The emperor ignored the sound of birds and closed his eyes in deep thought.
He still needs to... spend energy thinking about how to counter the Lord of Mankind's... stupid policies.
… … … …
[Not found yet.]
Koz said with some pleasure, biting his fingertip and drawing a cross on the report form with blood.
On the other side of the room, Fugen, sitting at a double table, calmly took a sip of tea.
The sound of the pearl necklace tightening was heard, and the special fishy smell of fat being cut surrounded Fugen's nose. Fugen, whose face was as dry as grass, was not disturbed at all. He just sipped his rare afternoon tea instead of falling asleep in the sound of waagh.
[I almost caught the lion this time.]
Curze came over, adjusted his jewelry, and sat down opposite Fulgrim.
[You said this 4 times, and 19 times you said you were closer to him.]
Fugen took another sip of hot tea, "You should speed up. I feel like He is getting more and more irritable lately."
Hearing this, Koz just chuckled.
[It's more than just irritation,] he said wittily, [He is becoming more and more like a medieval tyrant who has been driven mad.]
Fugen just looked at Koz, as if he was used to it.
[Okay, okay,] Koz raised his hand and announced his major breakthrough, [This time I found the traces of where he hid the Tuchucha engine. This time I almost raided the lion's den.]
Fugen paused while holding the teacup.
Ouroboros, Tuchucha Engine and Plague Heart, the three artifacts together bring more than just digging the Webway. The artifacts of the Ancients have the ability to travel through time.
Now the Emperor has gathered the Ouroboros and the Plague Heart, with only the last Tuchucha Engine left. However, ten thousand years ago, at the last critical moment on Caliban, Lion Jonson took it away in the chaos and hid it in the Webway, completely delaying the Emperor's plan indefinitely.
[Does He really want to change time? ]
[Change?]Koz laughed, [It was a joke, it was a plunder—for His completely crazy dream.]
Fugen seemed to have thought of something. He nodded, shook his head, and sighed.
[He wants too much.]
[Birds of a feather,] Coates said.[All the same.]
… … … … …
The raven cried.
Inside the First Legion's Stone Fortress, in the deepest part of the secret room, a giant belonging to the shadow appeared dimly in the darkness.
On the other side of the shadow, Luther, with white hair and wrinkled face, took off his helmet. Time passed so quickly. He always dreamed about the past when he taught the lion knight spirit.
"Do you think it's time?"
The veteran of the First Legion asked respectfully,
[… Mortarion is coming back,]
[The recent situation of the lion is not optimistic.]
Corax said, "Having failed in the garden, He will intensify His pursuit of the lion."
[They are all under the close surveillance of the Emperor... Let me come and announce good news or bad news, I will ring for them.]
… … …
The undercurrent is surging, but the eye of the storm is always calm.
Hades was watching the Oil Guys forum and he thought that these Oil Guys were obviously very interesting. They were now arguing about whether binary suicide notes were more legally effective or natural language suicide notes were more worthy of legal protection.
"Come over to the meeting!!"
Malcador's hoarse and irritable voice sounded, and Hades hummed twice nonchalantly.
(End of this chapter)