Warhammer 40k: Shattered Steel Soul

"I think, from what I know of him, Horus will be pleased with the implications of this duty," Magnus stood leaning against the wall of the infirmary, extending a hand as he spoke. Famously gesticulating with one hand, "He also deserves to be chosen as Warmaster. You know, he is a very nice person, besides always being very tolerant; this makes everyone have a good relationship with him."

+Except? +Perturabo said.

His voice floated on the edge of the real universe and the sea of ​​souls. Even though he was still slightly in a trance, his consciousness had returned to clarity and he was able to talk to the two psychic masters present and even conduct full logical thinking.

+Sounds like this resulted in him being on good terms with Sanguinius, Mortarion, and Konrad Curze. +

"Oh, don't mention it!" Magnus shook his head in annoyance.

"It sounds like you are feeling better now and are interested in joking with Magnus." Morse said coldly, "My suggestion is still that you talk less and rest more."

"For example, meditate with me." Magnus said, "This is good for the recovery of the soul, believe me. You will be better soon. I think you can catch up with Rogal Dorn to practice meditation." The Coronation Hall of Ullanor, even Horus would be sorry without your participation."

"Magnus," Mors warned gently.

"Okay." The Crimson King stopped talking and smiled reassuringly at Perturabo.

Even if the Lord of Iron can't see his face now, he believes that the emotions reflected by his etheric aura can still express his emotions, even more clearly than simply through limited expressions.

After the Iron Warriors' pharmacist confirmed that the situation was stable, he left on his own in an understanding manner. At the same time, he helped Perturabo write a reply to Rogal Dorn, saying that he would go to Ullanor when he was free.

This caused Magnus to let go of his rare reserve. He knew that he had acted a little too anxious just now.

+ Horus is indeed worthy of the Emperor's trust, and only he is suitable for the position of Warmaster, + Perturabo said slowly, leaving time for reflection and memory between breaths. +And he also understood that even if he no longer wished to be superior to other Primarchs, what he could not accept even more was that the honor of Warmaster was taken away by other brothers. +

"No, Perturabo, if you or Sanguinius were crowned by the Emperor, I can guarantee that Horus would not say a word. Even if Robert came, Horus would reluctantly do it. It's easy to follow your orders," Magnus said seriously, nodding to emphasize his tone.

"I have asked him before, and he has always admired you. He is not that -" he drew a circle in the air with his hand, "cares about the honor given to him by his father, so he becomes more and more generous. Mention these things. Your Majesty, if he knew that you were injured now, he might not even be interested in fighting the orcs in Ullanor..."

+You have a good relationship with him, let alone anyone else, Magnus. +Perturabo smiled back.

"Oh, yes, maybe..." Magnus pulled back and scratched his lush red hair, "He is very tolerant."

"Most of the Iron Warriors on Devon have been treated," Morse said suddenly, "but they are still blocked from the real universe by the black light of the Nightmare Sun. As time goes by, they can return to normal. ”

This topic immediately attracted Perturabo's full attention, and the fatigue in his soul was instantly lifted. + Let them rest first, + Perturabo said, + and try to hand over the unfinished tasks to others as much as possible. +

"If Malcador doesn't do this, the first thing I will do when I return to Terra will be to duel with him on the top floor of the Corona Spire." Morse showed a cold smile, "The Cliff has arrived near Betangamon …”

"How did you take a shortcut?"

"...We will arrive at Terra in the near future. After the enemy blade is taken away by Constantine Valdo, you can see me within a day." Morse ignored Magnus's question, "You "My father is busy performing his tricks in Ullanor. As for how much he knows about the Nightmare Sun, I will go find him when you fully recover."

In addition, Morse learned from Malcador that the Emperor's secret order to confirm the Warmaster came very suddenly, almost at the same time that Morse found Perturabo in Sivers. Assuming this was not a coincidence, the Emperor must have been informed of what was happening on the other side of the galaxy.

+By the way, the vision I saw in Devon is as follows...+

"Don't rush to recall. For Chaos, recall itself has possible potential harm. You first-" Morse scanned the surroundings, "Meditate with Magnus."

"Huh? Oh, then... uh, let's start breathing slowly..."

——

The wind carried raindrops across the surface of Sivers, bringing a murky chill. The outer shells of some dangerous substances were corroded again by acid rain and finally cracked with steaming holes. The unstable substances were ignited in the rain, flashed briefly, and exploded into an astonishing wave of air, and then quickly Eliminate, transform from a dead thing into an even more lifeless residue.

John Grammaticus looked worriedly up into the sky above Sivers.

The clouds there were beginning to gather strangely, and the dim blue sunlight sparsely fell to the ground from the gaps in the clouds. Together with the torn plastic sheets rolled up in the wind, they were floating on the moldy ground. Shadows gather invisibly, and the phenolic smell of some dangerous and addictive drugs evaporates again from the ancient garbage heap.

He touched his pocket, and the three blank tarot cards left by the clown were slightly hot. He quietly took out one and looked at it. It was still empty, with no pattern visible.

"Let's go, Aurelion," he said uneasily. "The Silversmith may have found his way out of the warp, and I feel like I have a - not-so-good premonition here. I think he has taken him with him The three-headed snake ran away together."

"Three-headed snake?" Lorgar murmured, stroking the cross hanging on his chest with his right hand, lowering his gaze, as if he was feeling the changes in Sievers' environment, or was immersed in his unique theological thinking.

"Only equal strength can fight against the Nightmare Sun," John Grammaticus quietly made a simple decision.

The longer he mingled with the fleets of the Human Empire, the easier it became to recognize this huge and unrivaled force. And... after all, the mentor did not stipulate that the Illuminati must be separate from the human empire.

He licked his lips, "The three-headed snake is the symbol of our association, and it is also the power we use to fight against the Nightmare Sun. It is said that it is a controlled crystallization of witchcraft, wandering in the subspace, and can dispel the effects of the Nightmare Sun. The shadow. It was born before I joined the Illuminati, and I believe it was shaped by someone—perhaps by a mentor I never met—because if you had seen it in its entirety, you would be amazed at its sophistication. Beauty.”

John reached out and stroked his arm, grabbing the slightly trembling arm through his sleeve. The surrounding temperature was still dropping, and the icy raindrops formed into ice crystals the moment they hit the ground on Sivers. As he breathed, a needle-like sweetness filled his throat.

"Now that we've scared Elihoth away, I feel... to be honest, I feel like the Nightmare Sun has been staring here for a long time, and that it will come sooner or later. I suggest we leave, Aurelion."

He stepped back, bumping into the stiff armor of a Word Bearer. "Sorry," he muttered, giving up the temptation.

"No..." Lorgar whispered, as softly as the waning notes of a song. "Did it hurt Perturabo?"

"Yeah, so—what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to wait for it." Lorgar calmly took his clean hands away from the cross hanging on his chest and stretched out into the drizzle curtain ahead. "I want to witness it, know it, understand what this nightmare fears, destroy what this sun shines on, and then, I will destroy it."

"No, original body... you'd better not do this, I sincerely advise you." John said, "Didn't the Human Empire receive reports about the Nightmare Sun? You were exploring the Holy Grail Expansion fifty years ago. , This is not a force that any individual can resist.”

"It makes my closest relatives bleed!" Lorgar scolded, and the faintly radiating power fluctuations shocked John's mind and made him unable to utter a word.

Lorgar raised his head and closed his eyes. Ice rain blew across his cheeks, dripping down on his noble face filled with scriptures.

He had heard its voice, its vicious tongue of icy fire quietly licking the atmosphere of Sivers, swallowing up the planet's already depleted heat. A thin and distant eagle whistle passed through the edge of his mind. It was harsh and sharp, and the cold sting made people so awake...

"Aurelion..." John shouted lowly, looking desperately at the surrounding group of Word Bearer priests who began to meditate with the original body without fear of life or death. The things in his pocket seemed to be warmed by induction, and then boiling hot, forcing him to take them out of the pocket.

"Is anyone going to listen to the decks of these cards?" He said quickly, staring at the changing Tarot, "The first card is revealed, the Major Arcana card, the High Priest... Is anyone listening? ?”

"I'm here." Luojia replied with his eyes closed, his voice sounding like a dream, which only showed the existence of his consciousness. "Then what?"

"It's not here yet..." John said, secretly cursing the mysterious clown in his mind. He was going to kill him.

The rain fell even harder, covering the surface of Sievers' world with a thick, misty gauze that seemed to have solidified.

In Lorgar's perception, in the quiet corner where he often received the emperor's holy light in his heart, he gradually felt the holiness of another sin, a hungry and passionate harsh will, like footsteps, like heartbeats, oscillating Trampling, trampling, crushing the darkness and light wherever they land into despairing coke dust, eager to be born, eager to destroy...

Is that the Nightmare Sun?

He was thinking, and a vague doubt quietly appeared in his heart.

Somehow, it was difficult for him to develop a deeper hatred for paganism in his mind. On the contrary, a kind of dark holiness touched him along with the cold rain all over the sky, making him almost want to cry.

Without reason, he recalled the origin of his name, Raincaller, which was the original Colchian meaning of "Lorgar."

This abnormal state almost simultaneously suppressed his stinging anger, and Aurelion's accumulated emotions flowed away like a tide.

As if facing it, everything is possible, everything is just the side below it that is reflected through dimensions, and his oath stands facing it...

"Second one!" John blew into his trembling hands. His blood vessels were about to freeze, but his hands were extremely hot. "Second one...Major Arcana, Emperor. I I don’t quite understand, Aurelion, what do you think?”

Luojia shook his head slightly, without saying a word. His will rose upwards, cautiously exploring the edge of the shadow of the shadow behind the curtain, and was constantly attracted by it, eager to get closer and even merge into it like a moth throwing fire. .

This absolute contradiction between emotion and reason made him frown, and a sense of confusion arose spontaneously.

Then, another opposing force emerged from the sea of ​​souls.

It was larger and more specific than Lorgar Aurelion expected. On the parts of the body that occasionally emerged from the darkness, pieces of faintly reflective snake lins were inlaid on the surface of a starry sky-like transparent form. Each piece of snake Linshang are all carved with concrete and gorgeous decorations, either with specific human shapes, or decorated with ancient pictographic runes.

These floral decorations are all hidden in the hazy colored light, like glass vessels, like lattice flower windows, ever-changing, and can only reflect an insignificant part of the whole picture at every moment... After wandering a few feet, this section is crystal clear The transparent body dived into the endless darkness again, and the next section of glowing form quickly emerged, replacing the disappeared part.

Like a huge garland of crystal, it winds lazily and softly around the outside of Sievers' world, emitting the brilliance of glass——

The feelings it brought to Lorgar were paradoxically close to yet different from those of the Nightmare Sun, but its inherent power disgusted Lorgar Aurelion.

With just one glance, the truth-bearer's chest surged with disgust and rage, and he couldn't help but want to cut this disgusting giant snake into thousands of pieces and throw each piece into the fire to roast, even if it was John Guerra According to Matikus, the only creation that can fight against the Nightmare Sun.

"The third one has color," John said, staring closely at the last LCD Tarot that was developing color. The arrival of the three-headed snake made the surrounding temperature rise, even though the power of chaos it controlled made the surrounding smell unpleasant. So wonderful.

"Say," Lorgar whispered, his voice slightly hoarse.

The next moment, the three-headed snake suddenly attacked. The central snake head bit behind the curtain toward the solar wind that the Nightmare Sun was gradually protruding from. The spiraling body suddenly shortened and coiled on one side of Sievers, twisting the body. The planet was isolated from the light of the black sun. The sudden twisting vortex of subspace knocked the Word Bearers to the ground and blew away the cards in John's hand.

John's head hit a metal pole stuck in the garbage. He hugged the pole and fixed himself behind the pillar. At the last worrying moment when the metal pole was about to be lifted off, the hurricane stopped rolling. John took one last look at Lorgar Aurelion, who was still standing there, and turned to look for the floating card. Card.

Outside the curtain, the fight between the three-headed snake and the Nightmare Sun continued. The snake's body was coiled up, revealing a colorful black light against the black sun. The illusory black sun gradually recedes into the depths of the vast ocean, becoming increasingly distant from reality. Fanaticism quietly broke his sanity. Lorgar gritted his teeth and used the simple method of genius to let his etheric brilliance move closer to the direction of the battle between the giant snake and the sun.

"Aurelion-" He heard John calling his name behind him, and he had no time to care about what the mortal was shouting, "The Lost Son," his voice came from the distant distance, "The last picture. ——Major Arcana, Lost Son..."

The black light of the sun and the colorful colors of the giant snake were weakened at the same time. The incomplete black sun and the artificial snake with its upper limit of power did not give in to each other, and the barrier between reality and subspace brought them together. Return to the depths of the soul sea...

Luojia suddenly opened his eyes, fell to his knees, clutched his cross with one hand, and gasped violently. At the last moment when he was far away, he seemed to suddenly see the reflection of a completely different world from the core of the black sun.

There are flowing water, green trees and steel, undulating sand plains and silver angels, the end of the world, and the world at the end nested within it.

This dreamlike reflection is more intangible than the nightmare sun, and it appears so suddenly: it seems to be within the circle formed by the snake's shadow, suddenly appearing in the shadow of a bird's claws passing by, and then suddenly being submerged by the shadow of a bird. The shadow of space obscures.

But the more he thought about it, the more he felt that that glorious world should have been there, and that it was even the true face of the Nightmare Sun. It was too kind and too familiar, and it quietly enveloped Lorgar Aurelion's panicked heart. In this moment, he felt like he had everything he needed.

"Aurelion?" His leader trotted up to him, calling him with concern. Then came John Grammaticus, stumbling over with his cards, "Did you hear me talking about these cards? Can you interpret them?"

Lorgar had no intention of responding, he was still immersed in hot and intense joy. Any doubts disappeared in this burning emotion, and the names Nightmare Sun, Komos, Tyrant Star... were no longer important.

If his heart is filled with joy, it must be given by Him, a selfless reward and gift that he will receive.

But what is the connection between this dark magic sun and the God Emperor far away in Ullanor? Could it be that the Nightmare Sun is also a creation of the Emperor, just as he is the father of all things and the master of the universe? And is the inference he is making now a misunderstanding of the God-Emperor and a wrong interpretation of His Holy Word?

Besides, how could it hurt Perturabo? After all, his brother was hurt by it!

Thinking of this, Lorgar Aurelion felt as if a bucket of cold water was poured on his head, and his enthusiasm died down, flowing away with the falling rain.

"Aurelian..." John patted his back carefully, "Someone is coming, just to the north."