Warhammer 40k: Shattered Steel Soul

Chapter 442 Trends

Time is inert here, Magnus thought. The thick fog of the Webway obscured his vision in this viscous ocean, making him feel like he was in an invisible web of restraints. It was difficult to find the way. It is not easy to move.

He found the traces left by the silversmith through the gaps in the mist. He used his flowing psychic energy to track the mysterious psychic master who dared to stir up trouble in the Webway.

The white bird whose trajectory weaves itself into wool spreads its wings and flies, its wings cut through the sticky mist that fills the crossroads of the Webway, leading the Crimson King to avoid the ghosts and phantoms lingering on the crossroads - all of this is countless stories from the past to the future. The afterimage created by the soul echoes, looking for the crystal light brought by the silversmith's movement.

This is Uigebealach, an inert crossroad deep in the Webway. Even though the flow of time in the Webway is different from the real universe, the flow of time here is even more special: it slows down, even completely Stop, or it does not move forward in a regular course, but moves back and forth on a transverse axis.

The soul of the sacrifice can also live here forever, and even continue to strengthen eternally as time goes by...

Normally, this would have been a valuable research object, but Magnus already regretted coming here.

When the silversmith Elihos appeared in the depths of the Webway, he immediately said goodbye to Morse and Perturabo, returned to his real body on Terra, and then almost ejected from the meditation chamber at the bottom of the Corona Tower. He got up, followed the entrance behind the Golden Throne, and went deep into the path that had taken him more than a hundred years of hard work, looking for the suspicious manifested person.

The auxiliary personnel of the Mechanicum paid attention to him, and set up a complete path and track to fly behind him. Countless overlapping and complex spells were all arranged and designed by him. The empire's secret transport ship anchored in the port, and every ship The time to travel between Terra and Necromunda is faster than the shortest subspace route, and the safety is extremely high.

In the future, the entire Imperium will depend on this irreplaceable and vital waterway, and even the Emperor's legendary plans will depend on it.

This may be the masterpiece that Magnus is most proud of in his life, even more than Prospero.

Therefore, there must be no problems here.

Magnus stopped in the middle of the road. The white bird flew back to his shoulder. The whereabouts of the silversmith were elusive, and Magnus couldn't help but start to calculate how long he had been stranded in Vigberach.

How long had he been away from Terra? This question gradually deepened and struck his soul fiercely. Maybe he shouldn't have left - maybe he should have done the duty he wasn't given but was born with.

Malcador went to Ullanor, and Waldo received the Emperor's secret order and headed towards the junction of the Ultramarine Star Territory and the Obscure Star Territory. He should return to unguarded Terra - even if there was nothing strange there, the omen of danger was raking its claws gently over his heart.

How long had he been away from Terra? Magnus couldn't get the answer. At the crossroads, even his soul could be turned into eternally frozen ice crystals along with time.

He raised his hand, and the white bird turned into a frozen dagger, and then turned into a transparent blade.

Magnus took off the monocle that Perturabo had given him, stabbed him with his backhand, and stabbed the tip of the knife into his left eye.

His eyeballs exploded, and the liquid dripped onto the ground, turning into red gold runes, shining with clearly visible light.

"Capture," Magnus whispered.

The rune instantly transformed into a winged eagle and pounced forward. Magnus tore off a section of his robe and tied it around his eyes, blood soaking it quickly.

He frowned, waiting for the spell rune to find its target. The silversmith Elijos seemed to be familiar with the curse. The flying eagle chased after the intruder, and after turning several twists and turns in the maze, it stabbed the silversmith's back with its claws.

"Convert." Magnus said through gritted teeth.

Just as the fleeing silversmith was about to turn into crystal and leave an afterimage, Magnus appeared behind him, grabbed the mysterious wizard's arm, and threw it to the ground of the Webway. The rune light oscillated violently, and when Magnus slammed him against the wall with all his strength for the second time, the entire road in the division seemed to be shaking violently.

"I know you," the Crimson King's voice was low, like the red tide crashing against the rocks on the beach, "the silversmith, the forger of stars, the sage of Prospero, Elijos Paridius. Now, Tell me why you are here!"

The echoes violently expanded in all directions, and Elijos's faceless mask fell down, revealing a face with bleeding from the mouth. The primarch's blow destroyed several thick bones in his body, and his lungs were undoubtedly punctured. But far from death.

Magnus learned from Morse the identity of Paridius, the Eternal One. This was also the first time he recognized the existence of this unique group - the Emperor, Malcador and Morse seemed to be another A life that Magnus subconsciously classified as an integral part of the Imperial polity.

"Tell me!" he shouted, "what are you going to do to the Webway!"

"Nothing," Paridius replied, spitting out a stream of bloody foam. "For the Path of Light, Primarch, for—"

Magnus crushed his jaw, picked up the silversmith, and quickly returned along the road. At any time, he could continue to interrogate the Silversmith to find out which one or more of the starry portals of the Webway he controlled.

But an increasingly ominous omen tormented Magnus, and the pain even outweighed the physical discomfort he felt when he removed his eyeball and sacrificed it to the curse.

Terra's condition confirmed his suspicions, and he confirmed that he had only been away from Terra for nine hours.

Magnus, nervous, told the Custodes to get out of the way as they looked at him suspiciously. He didn't want to know why, and he didn't have the time to worry about which Primarch had offended these golden-armored Watchers.

He sat cross-legged, the silversmith pinned in place by several long poles used to dry parchments.

"Keep watch for me," Magnus told the Custodes, closing his eyes and ascending to the higher states of spiritual vision.

Thanks to the psychic barrier set up by the Emperor, the warp of Terra is still generally in a stable state, but the deep crust has become a chaos of constantly turbulent elemental storms. A leaking breach appears in the surface of the solid veil, the wind of ether. Swirling in thick smoke and evil fire, dangerous creatures invaded from the colorful and changeable storm to the bottom of the shadow prison, causing the outside of Magnus's spirit body to burn with flames of hatred and anger.

Only he can solve the destruction happening here, or even he can't guarantee that he can definitely solve it. He can serve as a stitch to bridge the damaged psychic shield again. This requires starting from the edge of the hole, which will take a long time...

Dark light suddenly surged up at the edge of spiritual vision, carrying a strong smell of metal and burning oil, and began to burn along the glass-like outer layer of the shield.

Magnus's heartbeat almost stopped for a moment. If this was the power of the Tyrant Star mentioned in the Emperor's secret message, then he must be powerless against its coming - the fifth god that can be used to resist the four gods of Chaos. It was not something that a Primarch could easily stop, not to mention the fact that he had just consumed an eyeball in Vigberach.

No, he quickly denied himself and rushed to the target the next moment.

"What are you doing, Lorgar!" he said angrily. "What are you summoning?"

Lorgar Aurelion has been overwhelmed by regret and guilt, "I brought the wrong people into the Shadow Prison. I should pray to Him, tell my fault, and beg Him to no longer be angry at the folly of His sinful people... "

"Stop praying!" Magnus said anxiously, observing the retreating black light fire for a few seconds after Lorgar stopped reciting the prayer. Although he didn't know why, he could deduce a simple Causal relationship.

"Even if you can't do anything here, you can, uh, stop praying just yet." Magnus dissuaded, "Let me fix those shields before mentioning anything else."

"Why?" Lorgar said in confusion, noticing that Magnus appeared as a spirit, and a hint of suspicion quietly appeared, "So you are in Terra. Didn't you notice the commotion in the Shadow Prison just now, Magnus?" "

"Because there's a guy causing trouble," Magnus kept saying, swallowing the word Webway. "You know him, the silversmith! Now, don't ask, don't pray, I'll go and take a look first. It depends on the situation..."

Magnus left in a hurry. Not long after, the golden-red spiritual energy ignited in the depths of the palace. Lorgar suddenly saw the phantom of the spiritual energy: a huge Titan, with a crimson body, and golden light on his bleeding body. His eyes were dancing, and his braided red hair was on fire behind him.

He grabbed the giant crystal door that opened inward with both hands and slowly pushed it outward. The deadly black light lingered eerily around his hands...

Lorgar Aurelion stood up from his kneeling position, a series of confusions flashing through his mind.

His only memory of the Silversmith was that he saved his beloved Perturabo from the Black King once, and now he came all the way to Terra - to do what? Is the turmoil in Shadow Prison related to him? Where did Magnus chase the Silversmith to the point where he had to leave Terra?

No one could answer it for him.

——

Constantin Waldo stepped over the cold metal remains on the ground, some bullet casings rolled under his golden boots, and a large number of war machines were reduced to black scrap metal.

Even after a long time, the shadow of the war that once destroyed this place still exists here. Together with all the broken rocks, the rusted shell and muzzle of the huge mecha, and the abandoned mining tools, the whole world is in the cold ashes. in silence.

He looked around, then headed in the direction the Emperor had pointed him to. A cave, this is where he was ordered to go, and he will stay here for the next few years until someone who needs to wait arrives. He never asked why the Emperor asked him to guard a planet that had been destroyed for countless years.

He thought that searching for an inconspicuous cave on the surface of the planet would take him days or even months, but within a week, Waldo lowered his head and stared at the wide cave entrance filled with bones, knowing that he had reached this fateful end. .

Here he recognized the fragments of knights and titans. Everything was prematurely shattered. Humanity is always keen on destruction, and whether it can be rebuilt is unknown.

Valdor knew that the war that had taken place here had been led by the Emperor long before the Unification War.

He lit a fluorescent lamp and stepped into the entrance of the cave. The passage inside the cave was very long, and his footsteps echoed on the walls, which made him stop. The composition of these echoes does not completely match the physical environment of the real universe. In other words, there are more than just his footsteps here.

Waldo raised his head and felt the strange things around him, the rotten bones that were still damp in the semi-enclosed environment inside, the discolored plant debris and the hanging stalactites.

He seemed to hear the distant whispers, the rubbing of the travelers' robes and the small complaints, and the imaginary phantoms that quietly passed through him. Echoes of the past replayed the memories of what happened here, but he could not see clearly.

Except the Emperor.

Constantine Valdor always recognized the Emperor. He had been here before, in the old days before the endless time began. At that time, the Emperor was as tall as an ordinary man. He must have had several companions, because more than one soul shadow walked through the passage.

It must have been the dusk of the old night, when mankind fell into the last period of the long catastrophe. The Emperor came here to do two things: explore this cave and destroy the entire world outside.

Valdor would not and had no time to explore the Emperor's past. He would complete his watch here until that unknown turning point came.

But before that, perhaps he had to deal with a closest threat.

Constantine Valdor turned around and faced the visitor who appeared behind him. The person showed a little surprise at his appearance, but that surprise was fleeting and soon turned into expected disgust.

"He sent you to Morro?" the person asked. By human standards, she was a tall woman, wrapped in dark blue gauze, revealing only a pair of light blue eyes.

Her figure confirmed that Valdor was one of those vague traveler phantoms.

"What kind of creation are you?" the woman continued to ask.

Tall woman, blue eyes, psychic, eager to ask questions related to the Emperor: this person is the one described by the Emperor to him.

Valdor felt that he could confirm that he would complete a task next, that is, to convey the Emperor's will.

"I am here to convey the Emperor's words to you," Valdor stared at her and said, "What did you do to No. 11, Erda?"

These words were like a pair of flints, instantly polishing Erda's eyes filled with anger.

The three incarnations split from Erda and rushed towards the commander of the imperial guards.

——

He remembered that little game. At that time, he still squatted on the porch of his home, waiting for those little creatures to jump out of the sun-baked sand and jump to his side. So he caught them, caught those stupid creatures called scorpions, and then pulled off their clawed but fragile limbs one by one, leaving them to be dried by the sun into shrunken shells.

Occasionally he would be injured because of this dangerous entertainment. The scorpion venom of Colchis could make him foam at the mouth on his bed for two to four Colchis days, but every time he regained consciousness, he would return to his dangerous game. For an ordinary Colchis child, this was the easiest way to prove that he was above danger.

He did not have silk and satin and jingling gold and silver jewelry, even if he had such a deep desire for them, but he lacked an opportunity to climb up, a good background. But it was difficult for him to get interested in studying scriptures in the church, even though that seemed to be the best way out for the common people of Colchis.

Soon, he felt fortunate for this, if this was the favor of fate.

Lorgar Aurelion, the man of gold, the rainmaker, swept across Colchis with his holy war army. Almost all the believers of the old church were burned to death along with the scriptures, and the former wealthy were hanged one after another, and their ill-gotten gains were given to the new church - just another excuse to make money.

And he took the initiative to collect those who were above him in the past and handed them over to Aurelion one by one, in exchange for everything he wanted, such as assets, fame, and even the names he envied - it was a pity that the owners of the names he wanted to kill disappeared before dying on Aurelion's stake.

He also took the time to memorize new scriptures in order to gain more favor when communicating with Lorgar's subordinates, and the rewards that followed. The more seriously he recited the scriptures to emphasize that he had nothing to ask for, the more generous the rewards he received.

He sensed a rare opportunity in the turbulent times and quickly seized it. Those scriptures were almost imprinted in his brain after just one reading, and completing those catechisms was so easy for him, as if there was another voice giving prompts in his mind.

When a priest of Aurelion asked him if he was interested in joining them, he did not refuse at all, pretending to be grateful and crying, and immediately knelt down to praise the god in the scriptures. And he was indeed helped by God, rising up in the team until Aurelion himself saw him.

At that time, the Word Bearers did not have two sects, and many different small factions were debating doctrines with each other, and they were unwilling to accept each other. After the service, Lorgar would always pick out a few company commanders at random to communicate with them about their views on the core of the future of the Word Bearers.

"Am I cruel to the pagans?" Lorgar asked, it seemed that the Primarch was not unaware of the rumors around him, "Love should be in Him, but should love be given to those who are not in Him?"

As if he had a spiritual heart, he knew that this was the biggest opportunity of his life: because suddenly he knew so clearly what the Primarch wanted to hear.

"I do not think so, Primarch," he said. "We must wait for the heretics to emerge from their shadows, and catch them, those foolish creatures who have ignored the true God, and then cut off their blasphemous limbs that are weak enough to be cleaved and burned in the only sun." Like a scorpion.

Lorgar Aurelion smiled, and he knew he had made the right bet.

It was the only word that the Primarch heard from any of his Captains that suited him, for all others had a true faith in the Emperor's benevolence.

"Well said, Erebus." Lorgar smiled and patted his head gently, "Well said."

But he still had one almost eternal enemy left: another leader of the cult, the still unforsaken Daniel.

They had always been hostile to each other, and Erebus always wondered if the other knew something...

Erebus opened his eyes suddenly, and the greenskin's roar shook the earth around him. He fired calmly and asked the voice in his heart: Why do you let me look back at all this?

You know how to seize opportunities. The voice said, this will be your only chance.

oh?

Erebus is coming back. the voice said. He sailed to Ullanor to deliver Lorgar Aurelion's words. What do you think he's going to say? Do you think you know who you are?

who is he? Erebus asked eagerly.

Huh...you already have the answer.