Warhammer: In the Name of Nirvana

"Let me introduce you."

"This is Dantioch, the new company commander of the 165th company. He inherited the position of the previous company commander who was killed in the last battle. He performed very well, so I allowed him to stay in office."

"He is very talented in conducting, but he also possesses the tough soul that is immersed in steel, cement, rock and concrete that is unique to Olympia."

"I am considering whether to let him go further: the 165th Company is a subordinate unit of the 16th Battalion, and the current war blacksmith of the 16th Battalion has proven to be a weakling unworthy of his current status and epaulettes. Egg."

"But now, it's still early. He has not experienced more war tests and years of training, and cannot prove whether he is worthy of the responsibility and burden of a war blacksmith."

"Originally, I planned to use his company as the first batch of attacking troops in the next few battles to test whether he has the talent and ruthlessness to become a war blacksmith, but now, I have a better idea. Method."

"Morgan, my blood relative."

"Perhaps you can test his ability for me?"

"You can accept him, accept him and his 165th Company, and serve as my envoys to fight alongside your legion until he proves his strength, or he can be turned into waste water in the furnace of war."

"Accept him and drive him without mercy, without pity, without any special favor for him and his company because of your friendship with me."

"After all, only the fiercest flames can forge the toughest heart of steel."

"If he doesn't hold on, it just means he and his warriors, nothing more."

——————

For the time being, Morgan's invitation did not completely impress Perturabo: after all, she did not expect to succeed in one go.

But apparently, in Perturabo's iron heart, which had been slowly corroded by the Spider Queen's poisonous threads, cracks that could be exploited and spied on were gradually appearing.

Witnessing Perturabo staring closely at her outstretched hand, falling into a long period of astonishment, silence and escape, his eyes slightly averted, his breathing a little quickened, changing from a ruthless cold machine to a burning red briquette, in the thick Under the lips, the thick teeth squeezed each other, and the deep breaths they gave out were like a low roar like an old bellows. The corners of the mouth on both sides didn't know whether to curl up or down for a moment, and they could only pull their lips together awkwardly. The large areas of rough skin from the corners of the eyebrows to the chin were involved together, revealing various round, spiral, or irregular folds, making the already gray face become a little too pale.

The Lord of Steel maintained such a twisted expression, as if his strange heart was vividly displayed in the air, and for a moment, the world seemed to stand still between the two Primarchs: Perturabo was like this Standing frozen for one moment, two moments, three moments...

It wasn't until he saw Morgan blinking with his remaining rationality and the remaining light in his eyes that the Lord of Steel seemed to peel away the thick clouds, and then saw the sun as if he had just woken up from a dream. He quickly turned his face to On one side, someone in the shadows stammered and expressed his refusal incoherently, and then listed some reasons intermittently.

Even for the Primarch, his words and reasons are nothing new now: The Emperor's mission has not yet been completed, and the conquest of several star regions has not yet been completed. This is not in line with the regulations of the Primarch and the Legiones Astartes. So much.

Morgan did not respond to these fragile words. She smiled silently, a smile that was enough to reassure the most suspicious victimists: the moment he saw her expression, the Lord of Steel's expression was like The face that looked like a frightened beast finally had a trace of reason again.

He hurriedly lowered his head and coughed several times before swallowing this straightforward and undisguised kindness. When he raised his head again, the former Perturabo had returned. .

From shock, to panic, to rediscovering one's own "steel inside and outside", this is actually a very short process, it only takes a few seconds, mortals and even those who are not very sharp Asta Special soldiers cannot see all this clearly.

But Morgan is the Primarch, so of course she can see it clearly, and she can enjoy it peacefully in her heart that is protected and shielded.

Seriously, seeing the Lord of Steel showing such panic: even for just a moment.

It might be an interesting thing.

The familiar joy that was born due to other people's misfortune was roaring in Morgan's heart at this moment, emitting a vicious echo from the depths of her soul, making the Spider Queen involuntarily indulge in it for a short time.

But she couldn't wallow in it for too long: because right in front of her, the dictatorial king of Olympia had returned, and because of his gaffe just now, the storm of his return became more violent and harsh.

In the blink of an eye, Perturabo had already regained his solemn expression. He deliberately raised his head a little higher, keeping Morgan's head at the edge of his field of vision, and then made his throat feel much more ruthless than before. times, in order to refuse invitations from blood relatives in order to deal with the most serious issues.

But when the leader of the second legion nodded obediently, expressing his knowledge and understanding, and then turned his head, seemingly not caring about the topic at all.

That unusually solemn steel face cracked again at an excessive speed.

The corners of Perturabo's tight eyes and lips began to tremble unnoticeably. His brows began to twist slowly and extremely stiffly like a snake waking up from hibernation. His dry and thick lips opened from time to time, He seemed to want to say something, but in the end, when Morgan turned around again and received a confused look, all he could do was a heavy, silent sigh.

As if he was deliberately retaliating, Perturabo took a few steps quickly and pushed open the steel door, leaving a convex mark symbolizing violence and resentment: He walked quickly to the corridor and thought for a moment, He opened the special communication channel in his armor and started contact.

In the room, Morgan turned her head slightly, looked at the back of the Lord of Steel who was furious and could not say anything, and showed a fleeting sly smile. Then, she hummed briskly a song called "The Legend of the Second Legion". The popular Terra ditty began to carry out the final aftermath of her [maid].

After spending some time adjusting the psychic messages and suggestions, Morgan closed the last lid, then lightly snapped her fingers, and her little maid climbed up in the next second and jumped off the workbench, He trotted up to her side, grabbing Morgan's robe, appearing more obedient and dependent.

She was in good spirits and seemed to be well rested. Morgan stroked her melancholic little head and high-erected twin tails with satisfaction. Her mind began to think about hundreds of things related to the little guy in front of her at the same time. future.

【is there a problem? 】

"Need, order."

"Need, eat."

"Need, follow."

[The Maid]'s voice sounded like an adult's sadness and indifference, which was in obvious contrast to her fifteen-year-old age and height of less than 150 centimeters. She reported in a serious manner, as if she were on a computer. It's like a wind-up alarm clock.

But Morgan knew very well that this indifferent speaking habit was not the result of experiments and mechanical transformation, but the original habit of the [Maidmaid], or the soul named Aniya: the Spider Queen could clearly feel , as she used her own soul fragments as the core to reunite the soul of this unfortunate little girl, her resurrected soul seemed to have some kind of connection with the main body of Morgan's soul.

This seems to be a fusion, an annexation in a certain sense: but it is different from the souls she gained from eating so much before, more like... a vassal to some extent?

[The Maid]'s soul is still flickering faintly, giving her a unique personality and behavior, but she is also under the absolute control of Morgan, thus forming a soul that even the Spider Queen herself cannot fully understand. state of dependence.

If the previous souls were entangled in Morgan's spider web and then entered her belly, then the little guy in front of her was like being hung aside by Morgan using the spider web as a life-extending bandage. Some kind of wonderful accessory.

The Lord of the Second Legion silently observed the scene in front of him: her little maid first looked up and looked around, seeming to be slightly resistant to the unfamiliar environment, but soon, she was overwhelmed by a greater uneasiness. .

The little maid grabbed her hands, but she could only catch air, without the electronic board and recording pen she had always relied on. This made her obviously fall into some kind of restlessness: in the end, she showed the equivalent of a single-molecule bayonet. Made of nails, he cut a piece from Perturabo's work table to use as a recording board. After finding a usable pen, he narrowed his eyes and his tall twin tails trembled with comfort.

From beginning to end, Morgan stood quietly and watched: her soul told her that as long as she wanted, she could control every move of the person in front of her at any time, but when she had no time to care or didn't want to, her The little maid can make her own decisions, her own emotions and preferences.

She seems to still be called a soul? A soul controlled by her? A separate fragment of her own?

If one day, if she masters certain methods, can she cross space and time, use her little maid as a character that can be controlled by herself at any time, and let her act alone on the other side of the galaxy to help her? Do something?

An individual who moves freely and has her own thoughts and will, but in essence will still be taken away by Morgan, and can be promoted and demoted at will: even she herself is simply a fragment of Morgan's soul, but has been given The body and parts of the self.

This seems to be the future path for Morgan's little maid.

【……hiss……】

I don’t know why, when the leader of the Second Legion thought about this, she suddenly felt an extremely uneasy feeling: it was like she was experimenting with something extremely dangerous, like she was following Magnus’s footsteps. road.

Morgan touched her face and felt a slight numbness: she did not have an illusion, this was indeed a kind of uneasiness deep in her heart.

…

never mind.

It's better to be careful.

In just a moment, the heart-centered leader of the Second Legion made up his mind to stuff the plan he had just thought of into the treasure house in his heart, and put it together with those souls who were reluctant to swallow it.

This idea does have its most alluring aspects, but compared with its risk, these alluring aspects are just that: it is not worth taking the risk at all for Morgan now.

She doesn't want to become a second King Prospero.

As for her little maid, let her do some of her job first.

Morgan blinked and lowered his head to look at Aniya.

【Ania. 】

"I'm here, my lord."

[I remember that my brother didn't seem to have placed any melee weapons suitable for mid-range for you: individual light spears or the like, which are really unreliable. 】

[Have you ever learned fighting or other weapons? 】

"Learned a little bit."

[Very good, what are you used to? 】

"A double-sided axe, my lord."

【……】

【very good. 】

"I want the pink one, my lord."

[Okay, okay. 】

——————

Perturabo returned later than Morgan expected.

When the Lord of the Second Legion unscrupulously ordered his maid to pack all the drawings and instruments separately, the Lord of Steel opened the door of his workshop with one of his heirs.

"Dantioch."

He pointed to the soldier behind him, introduced them briefly and concisely, and hoped that his blood relatives would accept this soldier and his Dalian as a proof of friendship between the two parties.

Morgan naturally had no objections, but when she saw the unfazed warrior saluting her, she felt an inexplicable sense of disobedience.

Thinking about it carefully, her legion seems to already have many elite backbones from other legions.

Abaddon, Ahriman, Luther.

They are all very nice.

But add Dantioch...

I always feel that there is a temperament mismatch between him and the three people above.

But this didn't stop her from arranging Dantioch's future destination in her mind in the blink of an eye: Luther's place really needed a young, calm and extremely capable companion, didn't it?

In this way, between a few words from one Primarch and a moment of thinking from another, the Iron Warrior named Dantioch ushered in a turning point in his life: the familiar past was revealed in a few minutes. It left him within a short period of time, throwing him into a completely unfamiliar unknown and future.

This might change his life: but the two primarchs felt nothing about it. After explaining all this, Perturabo waved to his heir and sent him to gather his company, and Morgan also He just glanced at the soldier casually and stopped paying attention.

She patted the maid's little head and motioned her to wait outside the door: Next, the less people know about the thing that the two Primarchs want to study, the safer it will be.

After the door closed, Morgan slowly turned around, casually opened a space crack bound to himself, and began to rummage inside.

At the same time, she did not forget to chat with her blood relatives.

[I find that you always seem to like to send envoys to my legions: Magnus does this, Jonson does this, and Horus does this. 】

"Because it's a normal thing."

Perturabo leaned on the workbench, touching the gap strangely.

"It is a very common thing for legions to send envoys to each other, or to send people to learn from each other. Especially when two legions fight side by side, the friendship between the legion soldiers will promote a wave of mutual exchanges. .”

"The really strange thing is that like the Iron Hands and the Emperor's Children, Fulgrim's Second Company is basically Ferrus' warriors. The only difference between them and the Medusa people is their appearance and food taste. .”

Speaking of Ferrus, a sympathetic smile appeared on Perturabo's lips, and when he talked about Fulgrim, the Lord of Steel snorted, not much malice, but nothing more. respect.

[So, is this a kind of mutual communication and learning? Do I also need to send a company to the Fourth Army? 】

Morgan caught a glimpse of the golden apple that remained permanently half-burnt from a distance, and moved his gaze to the other side.

"Your legion is still in its infancy, so it's better not to carry out any long-term division of troops for the time being. After all, since ancient times, the only core of war is [to strike with more and less], and different tactics are only for [more] and [less]. Just answers to different concepts.”

"What's more, I also have another purpose in sending these soldiers."

【Tell me. 】

The Spider Queen picked up the crown given to her by Magnus, hesitated for a moment, made two gestures to her forehead, and put it down reluctantly.

"I hope you can take them to the Five Hundred Worlds: Guilliman will definitely invite you to his Ultramar. If that guy comes with bad intentions, he can use this to know what he has to face. It’s not a legion.”

"And I'm also worried about what he is planning to do."

[Everyone of you says this, as if Guilliman is some kind of demon king, and I’m a little afraid to go. 】

Morgan chuckled, and along with her witticisms, she finally took out the extremely luxurious metal mechanism box. When she turned her head, she saw that Perturabo had stood up straight.

"Not really the Demon King, but Guilliman is indeed an unsociable guy. He doesn't have any close friends among the original bodies, and he never takes the initiative to contact us. It's as if he is not our brother, but an indifferent colleague. generally."

The Lord of Steel panted heavily to demonstrate the trustworthiness of his words.

After Morgan put the box on the workbench, he seemed to touch his chin in hindsight.

[It sounds like it will be a very serious and formal meeting, completely different from meeting you, Perturabo. 】

"After all, Guilliman, he has always been like this, all eyes are politics."

【Since it’s so formal...】

Morgan whispered quietly, but still enough for Perturabo to hear.

[Then should I bring any gifts as a greeting gift and an expression of attitude? 】

"..."

Perturabo snorted: this one was especially obvious.

"When you came here, you didn't bring anything with you."

He uttered these words, but then he regretted it, and involuntarily turned his gaze to one side, but in the edge of his field of vision, Perturabo could still see clearly: Morgan seemed to be stunned by these words. For a moment, it lost its vitality. Instead, it smiled a meaningless smile and opened its arms.

[How about a late hug? 】

"...Ahem."

"Forget it, this is too childish."

The Lord of Steel grinned, and his thick lips turned down, exposing his gums, as if there were a few teeth that were in pain: against this somewhat distorted face, Perturabo's rejection squeezed a little bit. After coming out, he rushed towards the luxurious cabinet and began to look at the exquisite patterns and combination locks on it.

Morgan stood next to him, curling his lips, seeming a little unwilling and a little guilty.

【There is nothing I can do...】

[You know, Perturabo, I am not very sociable. I am not very good at saying nice things, and my hands-on ability is not as good as that of you and the other brothers. Gifts and other things are indeed beyond my expectations. . 】

This is not surprising.

The Lord of Steel answered in his heart while studying the combination lock.

After all, your learning process is following Zhuang Sen, how could he teach this.

Thinking of this, Perturabo's mood even brightened for a moment: the shortcomings of other primarchs made him feel briefly happy and joyful.

In this way, the Lord of Steel casually unlocked the extremely complicated password lock, while turning his back to Morgan, suppressing the arrogant smile on his face.

He deliberately waited for a while before speaking slowly with the attitude of a condescending savior.

"I did build a bell tower, but it was a random work before. It is far from exquisite and perfect, but it is worthy of the big conference halls in Ultramar."

"If you really can't help it, then I'll give it to you. It's not an important thing anyway."

Without turning around at all, Perturabo could feel joy and surprise flash through the cyan eyes behind him, which made the corners of his mouth curl up again. Then, he slowly opened the box.

then……

"..."

【……】

"..."

"I remember you told me that this was a spear?"

[The Emperor told me the same thing. He said it was a spear. 】

Perturabo was silent. He looked at the perfect, shiny, flawless metal cube in the box. He was quiet for a few seconds, and then patted his blood relative on the shoulder.

"Father must have his... deep meaning."

"It's okay, I'll explore this gift with you."

——————

The first time Perturabo looked at this so-called [Spear of Eros], he was truly shocked and curious, but at the second time, he couldn't leave it anymore.

"Perfect……"

After formally looking at this completely unworked weapon, the Lord of Steel's lips trembled unconsciously. He leaned forward, his solemn face illuminated by the light reflected by the metal in the box, like Like an extremely weak sick man: but he didn't care at all.

Perturabo's eyes were fixed on the metal in the box, and he stared at it for several minutes. Then he slightly recovered his standing posture, but he was still amazed.

"Perfect metal."

"It's absolutely perfect and unique."

"My God, where did my father get this metal? It is enough to put any alloy or steel to shame. Blacksmiths and forgers who have seen it will never have any desire, because nothing can beat it."

"It's like...like the God of Metal in those ridiculous myths, just like our father became a legendary hero, walked into those crude paintings, and defeated those symbols of metal, weapons and The wretched god forged, then cut off its most sacred heart and right hand, and smelted it into this metal."

"Yes, it has not been forged yet: it does not need to be forged at all. When it is placed here, it is more sacred and noble than most weapons. After all, weapons are only consumables in war, and it... It could totally be the cause of a war.”

Perturabo's eyes were straight, with no greed or jealousy, only a pure feeling, only a kind of praise that was almost a sigh, only the excitement of being a forger, and the immersion of being a scientist.

He gently stroked the piece of metal, his gentle attitude even surpassing that of the most loving mother nurturing her child. In that gentle gaze that would make any steel warrior jealous to the point of committing suicide, he watched from beginning to end. He looked at the piece of metal once, and then looked at it again from end to end with relish.

Finally, he shook his head.

"I can only be sure that it is not any metal we know: just like those species, civilizations and empires that have long disappeared in the long river of time, it belongs to history, to the mysterious glorious era, and to the will of time. I'm waiting for the projection in front of me."

"However, I can guarantee that what is forged from this piece of metal will be one of the most terrifying deaths in the galaxy. I have seen the Spear of Dionysus in the hands of Leman Russ, and I have also seen the sun in the custody of the Chief Imperial Guard. Spears of God, they are definitely not as perfect and powerful."

"But one thing is that the things in front of us are the same as those two spears: they are definitely not creations of the pure physical universe, but existences mixed with the power of subspace, and they are killers of will and soul."

"I think that's why Father gave it to you."

Finally, Perturabo's eyes reluctantly left the perfect piece of metal that fascinated him and came to Morgan. The Primarch saw that his blood relative lowered his head slightly and put one hand on his chin, as if Thinking about what to do in general.

Morgan looked at the piece of metal with a dull gaze, so dull that Perturabo even felt a certain blasphemy.

Then, he heard Morgan's question.

[Then...can you forge it? 】

"forging?!"

"You are joking!"

The Lord of Steel was stunned for a moment, and then let out a hoarse laugh. He shook his head helplessly, and then focused his eyes on the piece of metal again, looking at it greedily, as if Evaluating all his skills.

But in the end, he shook his head.

"I'm not absolutely sure. If I were asked to do it, there is a possibility of failure."

"For such a creation to have even the slightest possibility of failure is an intolerable blasphemy: maybe you could go to Vulkan to do it and let him see if he can forge the metal, but don't Find Ferus, he’s about the same as me in this regard.”

"However, no matter who you are looking for, I have to remind you."

The Primarch turned, his gaze more serious than anything Morgan had ever seen.

"The gift your father gave you, this piece of perfect metal: as I said before, it is definitely not a piece of ordinary iron, and is mixed with the product of subspace power, because nothing similar to [perfection] will be born in the real universe. It couldn’t be more obvious about creation.”

"So, whether you can find the master who forged it, you have to remember, Morgan, that the main forging of this weapon still depends on you: the furnace and flames in the real universe can only forge its shape, but it The true connotation and power require the soul to forge.”

【soul? 】

"Yes, soul."

"Forged with soul."

"Use your soul to build an invisible forge, raise a silent flame, throw its soul into the forge and flame, temper and forge ahead until you conquer it, tame it, discover its power, and let It willingly recognizes you as its master and is used by you.”

"With your skills and given time, you can do all this, but the only problem is that these spiritual flames require a large amount of souls as fuel, and they cannot be extinguished even for a moment."

【……How much do you need? 】

"Have you thought of a way to obtain a soul?"

[Relax, Perturabo, I am the Primarch of the Human Empire and the Lord of the Legiones Astartes. I know as well as you what we cannot do. 】

[But I think that there are alien civilizations and worlds everywhere in this galaxy, and they will definitely donate generously to this great cause. 】

The Lord of Steel laughed. He stroked the piece of steel, and there was a trace of extremely rare unconfidence in his words.

"I have read a few words about it in an ancient book... Based on my own calculations, Morgan, if you want to forge this weapon."

"...Let's put it this way."

"In front of you, there is a bucket. Its diameter is the length of a mortal's arm and its height is as high as a mortal's waist. And there is a bowl in your hand, which a mortal can fully grasp with one hand. .”

"All you have to do is use this bowl to scoop water until the bucket is full."

"Every bowl of water is a world of aliens, all their souls."

"Every time you destroy an alien world, you are equivalent to scooping out a bowl of water: over time, until you fill the entire bucket completely, this is probably the number of souls required to forge this weapon."

[Then... I can get this weapon? 】

"That should be the case. After all, I am not a researcher in this field. What I said just now can only be used as a reference. You still need to consider the specific figures and actual actions yourself."

【I see. 】

[Anyway, thank you for your sincerity and help, Perturabo. 】

"a piece of cake."

The Lord of Steel smiled, the smile he would only show to his friends.

"Like I said before, Morgan."

"You can always count on the power of Olympia."

Perturabo's words were the most sincere and ambitious words. Morgan responded with a smile, but kept calculating in his heart.

This is really a number...that would make anyone feel desperate.

…

etc.

In an instant, the leader of the second legion seemed to have thought of something.

She thought of the idea she had just sealed, the idea that was born because of her maid.

An individual who can act in her interests across thousands of stars...

She had an idea and even a prototype.

But what if...it's the Legion?

A legion that respects her will, is bound to her soul, and can appear in various places in the galaxy through the passage and convenience of the subspace?

It doesn't matter even if it's a little weaker, after all, not all aliens are as scary as Randan or Green Skin.

With such a power, the souls she needed to forge no longer seemed to be an impossible number.

…

…

Worth considering...

Still, it's better to be careful.