Warhammer: In the Name of Ashes

"Absurd! Are you me? Then who am I?" Calvin's voice was filled with anger and fear.

"Anger can't solve the problem, and neither can fear. Since we all know each other so well, let's save the useless stuff and say something important." The old man looked at Calvin and said slowly.

"You speak and I listen."

Calvin's emotions were calmed down by these words. He really had too much to know, especially what caused this absurd situation.

"Have you ever had such an idea? What would have happened to you if the witch had never come?"

The first question the old man asked stumped Calvin. That witch, what if she never came? So what is waiting for Calvin or Jiang Wen?

Then Jiang Wen's soul will never have the chance to meet the minimum standard of regaining consciousness, and he can only let time pass while repeatedly igniting consciousness, and eventually die.

If he's lucky, there may be other opportunities to fill that last gap. Then, like the old man in front of him, he woke up and found that only his old body was waiting for him, so Jiang Wen, who could do nothing, could only wait for death quietly for a long time.

Like this old man! This thought struck Jiang Wen awake like lightning! His head, which had been lowered in thought, suddenly lifted up:

"You! You! You are..." He didn't know how to describe the person in front of him.

"Yes, that's it. A lucky but not lucky Calvin, right? There's nothing surprising. You will see more in the future. For example, Calvin who is the political commissar of the Astra Militarum, Calvin who is a Titan Knight, Planetary Governor Calvin, Inquisitor Calvin, Machine Priest Calvin, Ultramarine Calvin, Calvin with no secrets, Calvin of Alpharius... as long as you can win." The old man looked at the lucky man in front of him. He said with mixed feelings and a bit of gloating.

"Why? I mean why can I see you? No! I mean why can I come here? No! That's not right! Why are you waiting for me here?"

Once Jiang Wen's mind was opened, he found too many questions, and the ultimate direction of these questions needed to be answered by the person in front of him.

"You see, the old leader praised us in the previous life and said that Jiang Wen, your greatest advantage is that you are good at finding the essence of the problem."

The old man smiled, and the colors in his eyes illuminated by the candlelight seemed to be reminiscing about the good times in his previous life. Then he straightened his face and asked Calvin seriously and word by word:

"Do you really know what kind of enemy you will face?"

This sentence stunned Calvin for a moment. He recalled that in the initial communication or agreement with that figure, in exchange for his being able to have a "household registration" locally, his obligation was to fight for humanity.

So, who is the enemy in the fight for humanity? Alien? That was never Calvin's concern.

From the time of the Great Crusade to the subsequent Beast Wars, the War of Reconquest, the Belath Expedition, and many other wars against aliens and rebels, it has been proven that these external challenges cannot pose a structural threat to the Empire. As long as the empire is strong, the demise of the aliens is only a matter of sooner or later.

On the contrary, since the birth of mankind, and even further back in the Eldar Era, the subspace power represented by the Chaos Gods has been responsible for the subspace storms that spread across the galaxy in the Dark Ages, the Horus Heresy, and Abaddon's endless war. The Dark Crusade was the main culprit that severely damaged the overall strength of the Empire and seriously injured the Emperor himself, so that it changed the destiny of the Empire for thousands of years.

Given Calvin's current situation, the Gray Knights are the empire's strongest force against the subspace. There is no doubt that the only enemy Calvin faces is the subspace.

"Chaos demon? Evil god?" This was Calvin's answer.

"So, do you really know them? Do you really know what that means?" the old man asked seriously.

"I don't know, but I know I will die bravely. This is my mission." A standard military answer, but this did not satisfy the old man.

"Let's ask another question. Suppose you need to roll dice to get the result. What should you do if the result is not what you want?"

The old man asked seductively.

"...throw it again?" Calvin was a little unsure.

"Yes, that's it. When facing chaos, you only have one chance. And they..."

Perhaps in order to avoid disturbing these evil gods by pronouncing their names, the old man did not say the names of the evil gods, but pointed to it:

"They, in the endless timeline, if it doesn't work this time, they will wait for the next time. They have enough patience to wait for the results they want to appear. And this is them and us, and the emperor and us ,The biggest difference."

"Like this? How about playing with a hammer!" Calvin became a little desperate after understanding the meaning of this sentence.

Can you imagine? At the turning point of an event, they can test you countless times, but you must remain consistent. How is this possible in the eyes of mortals?

"Don't be discouraged. Now that you are here, we still have a way." The old man smiled.

"What can be done?" Calvin asked. He didn't believe that anyone could do such a thing. He would be confident in making the choice a hundred or a thousand times, but what about ten thousand times? What about one hundred thousand times?

"Kill me." The old man put away his smile and looked at Calvin. The words that came out of his mouth frightened Calvin. He couldn't be sure if this was a malicious joke.

"Kill me." The old man emphasized again.

"Right now, before you are really included in their perception range, kill me. Then go to the next timeline, find him, and kill him. In the end, you will get all of you. Do this as soon as possible before the current timeline is disturbed, and you will get the most basic essence that distinguishes gods from mortals - eternal unity." The old man finished this sentence in one breath, then picked up the cup and drank it, and then looked at Calvin.

"Come on, hurry up." The old man urged again. He stood up and handed a dagger on the table upside down to Calvin's hand.

"No, I can't do it... You..." Calvin said incoherently while trying to retreat, but there was a wall behind him. Just like Calvin's current situation, he had no way to retreat.

The old man looked at the young and promising body in front of him seriously, and he walked over. The hand, which was as large as Calvin's but slightly thinner, patted the panicked Calvin. He said to him:

"This is not your sin, but the common wish of all of us. So please forgive our selfishness for leaving the battlefield so easily. Put all the burden on your shoulders alone. Because among so many possibilities, only you are closest to the goal. You must have such awareness. If you can't abandon human nature, how can you protect him?"

Then, the old man grabbed Calvin's hand and pierced his heart with the dagger. His strength seemed to be drained by the dagger, and he fell limply on Calvin's shoulder.

He used up his last strength and said to Calvin, who was still in shock: "No matter how powerful the strength and body are, if there is no corresponding will like gold and stone, then it can only be a disaster."

Hehehe... I am a little happy with myself.