Warhammer 40k: Shattered Steel Soul

Chapter 507 Phoenix in the Mirror (4)

"You were deceived by me?" Fulgrim said tremblingly.

Darkness, do you think that this can make me waver? Do you think that this will make my heart tremble with unrest? I am sure I was wrong about one thing. This last step was not taken by Ferrus for his offspring.

But can this make me feel guilty? Can this make me fail? No, not... never...

"You will never deceive me, I will never recognize you wrongly. You are the son of the Emperor, the noble eagle, the purple phoenix." Ferrus said, "I took the wrong step rashly and fell into the trap of anger."

"You remembered, my brother. Since when?" Fulgrim tried to calm his tone, but he could not cover up all the bitterness.

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"When its blood fell on you, I saw myself intermittently. You let me return to myself, and I can make the maze no longer change. This is my mistake, I will fill it."

The echo laughed faintly... Tieshi was deceived and Zifeng was sad. He came to save his heart like burning. He wished to return to the dark place for his brother, but heard the deep crying of the wind...

"Shut up!" Fulgrim shouted to stop the laughter of whichever dark god it was. Did it think that this could shake him, or did it just think that this scene made it enjoy it?

"Hmm?"

"Not you, Ferrus. Then you go, I will use my fire to stabilize your mind. I hope this can help us last longer! Yes, it's back again."

In just a few words, the mechanical monster emerged from the shadows again and gradually approached them. The entire maze space continued to oscillate and squeeze. Fulgrim reached out and grabbed a hanging chain to stabilize his center of gravity. He really didn't have much strength left.

"Your power is needed here, Fulgrim. You can't keep losing..."

"How can I not! I let you go completely, how can you promise that you can wake up again! If you say one more word to me, I will never miss you again when I meet Ferrus Ascension Festival!"

Ferrus's laughter was like iron and steel, "Do you really want to hold this festival for me?"

"Are you asking again?"

"Then you come to help me, but you have to make sure you stay alive, Fulgrim. I am not going to sacrifice, and I will not waste your efforts. But I know that as long as one of us survives, we can always save the other. My existence has rusted, and your wings can still grow."

"Enough, I understand, you should say less, you use my strength to speak." Fulgrim said, gritting his teeth, "What should I do?"

"Get close to it, fix the relative position-"

Fulgrim rushed forward, almost catching the machine off guard. The mirror-like metal spikes on the mechanical body instantly pierced his body, as if he had melted into the mirror.

At the same time, he felt the cold feeling on half of his cheek fade away like water, and his legs and one arm reconstructed in the spiritual world with living metal turned into smoke and flew away.

Ferrus took action.

He plunged his remaining hand with the sword into the mechanical body, and the mechanical structure immediately stretched out its appendages impatiently, locking Fulgrim in a cage of thorns pierced by steel. The blade began to retract, and Fulgrim still felt no pain, only a strange touch, that was the feeling of the medium of existence overflowing from his body.

He held the mechanical heart formed by the reorganization of gears, watching the fire on his fingers, casting blood-red shadows on every broken silver surface inside the machine.

Ferrus can do it.

"Is it done?" he asked loudly.

The sound echoed in the changing mechanical space, like a drop of red ink falling into a dull pool, without causing any echo.

Fulgrim had fixed himself to the mechanical body, and except for this way of moving, he could no longer move. The fire burned down fiercely, turning the last few corpses attached to the machine into ashes. Now, all that was still connected to him was the pure machine itself, threatening and locking each other.

When the change of space left a hole under their feet, the dark depths below opened up to them.

The fall began.

… Deep love and deep feelings became a joke, and a foolish act destroyed itself. The calls between them were shrill, but who knew that love would become a tragedy. Both fell and had no way out, and fate teased them to return in tears...

The Phoenix did not listen to a word, letting the inanimate things in the darkness laugh. Those beetle-like sounds and the collision of pincers hidden in the shadows were no more piercing to him than the whistling of the wind.

He grasped the machine and fell down, his mind searching for the existence of Ferrus, and somehow gathered a fuel-like will, which made the flames burn even more.

...He and the machine were like a ball of firewood wrapped in an iron net, and the flames rolled out from every joint gap of the machine's limbs, tumbling upward with the airflow, rising higher and higher, gradually leaving a tail-feather-like afterimage.

In the weightless environment, Fulgrim called out again: "Are you done, Ferrus!"

The thorns pierced through his inner self, his spiritual wisdom... The invisible force tightly grasped his soul, suspending him between life and death... There was still no pain, but the cold touch became more and more vivid. For a moment, he thought he had assimilated with this mechanical body and became a part of it - a part that could no longer be separated. The spikes continued to penetrate his body, approaching his heart...

"Ferus..." His voice was almost pleading.

The thorn barely stopped, hovering on the edge of his heart, as if the final blow was only a slight tremor of fate away. However, it froze there, no longer moving.

Time was forcibly pulled away, frozen in the moment when the Primarch's heartbeat was about to stop.

Fulgrim's hand still held the mechanical heart tightly, the flames dancing between his fingers, burning more and more fiercely as the speed of falling.

"Finished? No... not yet." Fulgrim whispered in a low voice, the dark abyss seemed to slowly open in his heart, his mind began to burn, the firelight reflected on the inner wall of the machine around him, countless silver surfaces reflected thousands of twisted and broken fires, each reflection was blood-red and weird.

Once again, the spike moved slightly forward, the cold touch was close at hand, and it would pierce his heart in the next moment.

A moment. It seemed an unexpected moment. A miraculous moment.

It stopped.

The mechanical structure lost all movement in an instant. All was silent, except for their fall.

The darkness was endless, as if it would never end.

Fulgrim's voice was like a trembling flame in the wind: "Ferus! I feel it! Where are you?"

His fall accelerated, and each of the steel tendrils of the mechanical shell entangled him more and more tightly, like invisible chains, trapping him. The flames that enveloped him did not die, but instead grew stronger... He waited for his response in the deep whistle of silence.

"Ferus!"

A low echo, indistinguishable, slow and vague, but in Fulgrim's ears it was extremely clear, as if it was meant for him alone.

When this voice sounded, his fall suddenly stopped. He was no longer swallowed by the darkness, but was supported by a soft but cold force.

He and the machine sank into a quiet silver lake, the lake surface as smooth as a mirror, reflecting the broken mechanical shell and Fulgrim's own faded afterimage.

Wait. The voice of Ferrus Manus echoed in his mind. This voice no longer entered through the ears of reality, but directly stirred in the depths of his consciousness. Their wills were directly connected in a way that transcended reality. It was as if after the mirror was broken, the two corresponding mirror images inside and outside the mirror finally completely touched each other, and even became one.

Their thoughts, their wills, their existences. Gradually blended.

At that moment, Fulgrim seemed to see Ferrus' eyes. No longer the cold and resolute ones he remembered, with some complex emotions that were almost apologetic.

...A sharp and angry shout sounded in the distance, and all kinds of trivial curses, such as failure, the cursed, the unreasonable fifth master, the traitor of the Supreme Heaven, and even some nonsensical sighs, such as pure happiness, wonderful emotions, and so on.

They didn't care about the noise. It was just something that the outside world couldn't disturb their hearts.

Wait. Ferrus said. I'm sorry for my impulsiveness.

Isn't this your old problem? Fulgrim said gently, Is this the first time you have been impulsive?

I don't know. Ferrus's answer was a little hesitant, and it was obvious that he had not yet fully recovered his memory.

It seems that you haven't remembered everything yet. Do you need me to introduce it to you one by one, Ferrus Manus, Gorgon of Medusa? Do you need me to tell you how your Medusa chased your steps and how you governed your planet?

Okay. Ferrus' voice calmed down.

So Fulgrim began to tell you. He described his Medusa to Ferrus: iron and rock, cold and storm, endless challenges and icy despair, every step he took was like a hammer hitting the rock.

Medusa was his mirror, he and the planet were essentially the same. Cold, cruel, and incomparably powerful. He conquered it - just as he conquered himself.

The entire mechanical maze fell silent, and Fulgrim's story gathered a stormy time. Every leader is shaped by their world, and everyone has been polished by their own destiny. Medusa shaped Ferrus, just as Fulgrim was shaped by Chemos.

Perhaps emotions have always been my flaw. Ferrus said suddenly, his tone full of thought.

Oh, is that your conclusion? Without emotions, what are we for? I love my planet, my people, and my legion, and my planet, my people, and my legion return the same emotions to me. The fire in my heart is ignited by emotions. So is my confidence and pride.

Even so, my emotions still make me make wrong judgments.

That's a problem with your reason! Fulgrim retorted mercilessly, with a firmness in his voice.

I understand what you mean, and I partially agree with your opinion. When I saw the imitator who blasphemed you, I thought it was the cause of Medusa's misfortune. Only I can deal with it, and my failure is because I am not strong enough to defeat it. In any case, my anger still affects my judgment.

Okay, I listen to you. Fulgrim chuckled. In this case, now that we have fallen into this abyss, you will not argue with me about these things again?

They chatted calmly, and Fulgrim did not discuss any complicated truths. Instead, he told with a nostalgic tone how Ferus led the legion to sweep across the galaxy. They recalled the scorching flames of war and the twinkling stars, the unswerving decisions, the cold and precise art of war, and the delicate balance between destruction and alliance. The cruelty and decisiveness of every battle, the glory and price of every conquest, were all beautifully reproduced in Fulgrim's mouth.

They chatted together, in the silver lake controlled by Ferus, in the pure land supported by Fulgrim's fire, isolated from outside interference, and said goodbye to the threats in the darkness.

Submerged in the depths of the small silver lake, they chatted about many trivial things, immersed in memories. Fulgrim's narrative sometimes jumped to how they competed to make swords and hammers when they first met, and sometimes returned to Now, they are talking about how the Star Torch has dimmed and how much they still have to do after the warp returns to normal. They laugh, sometimes sentimentally.

We are still trapped, Fulgrim sighed, but at least there are no pursuers. You are also awake. We have captured your existence... essence and body. What's this? Forget it, I tried my best, you have to thank me.

Thanks. Ferus responded calmly.

Fulgrim chuckled, recalling the past events: I told you, the Emperor once saved me. Ashamed as it is, maybe we need to wait for him again.

Yes, you said that. Will the Emperor come?

I believe Dorn will complete his mission. If he can't be trusted, who else in the galaxy can we rely on? Fulgrim thought for a moment and then added, what do you think of him?

Not as high as you think of him. Ferus admitted.

Each of us has something to learn from others. Fulgrim smiled slightly and said with emotion.

you're right. Ferus's voice was low and sure.

Until a certain moment...

A subtle change has descended on the world, so familiar, even nostalgic.

Golden Throne. Fulgrim whispered the name with a mixture of awe and hesitation.

The icy darkness poured into the Silver Lake, bringing with it a terrifying force of destruction, competing with the power of the subspace that deceived Ferus here. It was cruel and tyrannical, irresistible, and could only be accepted. Another warp force screamed with rage, cursing the "cursed" in words that did not form rhymes or even sentences.

The force that descended was undeniable in its majesty, but there were hidden subtleties that unsettled Fulgrim.

Golden Throne. Ferrus affirmed, the Lord of Mankind to whom we swore allegiance.

Fulgrim was silent for a moment. This was the Emperor, the unshakable leader, and his father. He had saved him once, and now he had arrived for the second time, pushing aside the obstacles of the subspace power and approaching them.

He should have looked forward to him with joy and thrown himself under his throne. But he hesitated.

What does he suspect? That great power? What was he rejecting? Was he going to question the cold force that was about to reach them?

Is it a throne? Ferus asked again. You doubt it, Fulgrim.

I don't know, it feels... it doesn't feel like the Emperor we remember, at least not entirely.

I was indeed waiting for him. But if this is really the Emperor, why does he make us feel... so uneasy? But that was the Emperor's call. Have we been deceived by the warp and misunderstood, so that we dare not hold the Golden Throne's helping hand in time?

The Emperor... Ferrus said slowly. We have always been loyal to the Emperor.