"But, my children, why do I need to be forgiven by that corpse?"
Although Qingchun's current situation was extremely bad, under the stimulation of weakness and competitiveness, the demon primarch still tilted his head maliciously and uttered what he wanted to say when he was beaten by these descendants on the world of Isstvan III not long ago. He was very satisfied to see that the "Resurrected Emperor's Children", including the ancient sage Rilanor, had fallen into a strange state of silence. This feeling of success made his soul jump wildly, and the Fallen Phoenix even wanted to sing a song. That's right! Isn't the place where he is a huge opera house? Although it has been abandoned, the abandoned building itself is also a special aesthetic. With the right time, place and people, shouldn't he...?
However, before Fugen could outline the repertoire he should perform and what song he should sing as the opening song of his performance to praise his glorious "victory" - the fallen phoenix felt a strong wind blowing in his face, and a kind of... pain blooming in his body for the third time.
5. The Ancient Sage's Candidate - Fierce Battle
The Eye of Fear.
This is the most lawless place in the galaxy, where reality and the highest heaven are most entangled. It is filled with distortions that violate the laws of physics, and everything here dances with the grand will in the vast ocean.
Furthermore, this is the final resting place for those traitors who have abandoned their own race and honor and whose souls and bodies have rotted away.
"Ah...Enkari, what brings you here? We...uh...didn't summon you to our party..."
On the planet Harmony, although it was built in the mortal world, it was filled with a twisted court of things called "art" and "pleasure" that were praised even by some demons in Paradise. The nominal leader of the corrupted Third Legion in the real world, Eidolon the Soul Breaker, was drunkenly lying on a chair that even Enkari thought was very creative, guzzling a potion that only one drop was enough to pollute the water supply system of a small hive city, while with trembling hands he and several other corrupted children of the Emperor who were drunk like him were carving a work of art - well, from the screams that had been echoing in this hall, it could be easily judged that the things they were torturing were probably alive.
"Your Primarch, my love, the Prince of Eternal Debauchery, the great Prince of Slaanesh..."
Enkari used the soft voice that was unique to the Immortals of the Slaanesh faction, and he read out a large number of corrupt titles belonging to Fulgrim as if he was reading out the names of dishes. After most of the Emperor's children who were drunk and dreaming in this hall were finally interested in listening to him, this Slaanesh Daemon finally said the key to the matter -
"Fell into the vile trap outlined by those of your brothers who were unwilling to tread the path of perfection."
"...Enkari, do you have any great food or drink? Can you give me some? I can exchange it with those great slaves I hunted recently. If it's not enough, I can raise the price. Oh, and if it's a new way to play, you can teach it to me, and I will pay you for it."
Understanding the meaning of Enkari's last words, Eidolon was stunned for a second, then stood up immediately, shouting at his servants to drag a pile of messy things into the hall, and at the same time, he widened his distorted eyes and cast his blasphemous desire towards the visiting Slaanesh Demon Prince - those brothers who were unwilling to embark on the path of perfection? Weren't they burned to ashes by orbital bombardment on Isstvan III? How could he set a trap for the Father of Genes and even force Enkari to leave the realm of Slaanesh for help? Therefore, there is only one conclusion! That is, Enkari was drunk, or he played too much with his own Father of Genes!
“…Is it true?”
Looking at Eidolon who was looking at him longingly, Enkari felt that thousands of screams were surging in his soul, but he didn't know how to vent these screams - fortunately, after a second of incredible silence for the messengers of Slaanesh, Eidolon realized the truth of the matter.
“Hahahahahahahahahaha!!!”
Ancient memories flooded into the mind of the Captain of the First Company of the Emperor's Children, whose soul and body had been shattered. Eidolon, who had already passively learned a lot of forbidden knowledge due to living in the Eye of Terror for a long time, realized the reason why his former comrade returned. Supported by some inexplicable emotions, the Soul Breaker laughed wildly, and the sharp sound waves tore through the air, destroyed the "artworks" hanging around, and deprived the weak of their lives. Even Enkari took a big step back because of this miserable laughter.
"Interesting! Interesting! Our Gene Father must have enjoyed all this! So, he sent you to find us! He hopes that this drama will be more beautiful, more grand, and more legendary!"
"No, this is the will of the Dark Prince."
“Ka???”
Eidolon's laughter seemed to have been paused, and the rest of it was
He swallowed all the sounds back into his stomach - the next moment, the face of this fallen Astartes was suddenly filled with ecstasy, fear, excitement, sadness and other chaotic emotions, while his hands and legs began to swing violently - if one observed him carefully enough at this moment, one could even see a suspicious shadow appearing on the hem of Eidolon's clothes.
"So...the Lord of Debauchery will guide our path?"
"Yes - your Primarch wishes you to demonstrate your perfection to those who have lost their way, and the Lord of Debauchery has graciously granted this request."
With a charming chuckle, Enkari's figure dissipated in a cloud of lavender smoke with a strong scent of incense, and Eidolon took a deep breath of the scent of his genetic father's favorite Slaanesh creation, and immediately frantically sucked all the liquids at hand - whether they were drinkable or not - into his mouth!
"Sons of the Phoenix! Gather! We are going to join our Primarch and present a perfect drama for the Dark Prince!!"
——————————————Fugen’s dividing line——————————————————————————
The gunshots were dense, like urgent drumbeats.
The sword flashed like the lights on the stage.
An aroma so rich that even ordinary Astartes would find it difficult to resist its temptation constantly rises from the gaps between the scales, the fallen phoenix dances freely in the dust, the sword flowers waving with four hands are artistic patterns far beyond the imagination of mortals, beautiful and melodious singing flows continuously from the throat of the Lord of Chemos, the snake tail swings, and it resists the swords and sabers of the Emperor's Children with the most elegant posture, psychic energy surges, and supernatural temptation flows continuously on the battlefield.
"Look at you! You have already stepped into the real world! Yet you still cling to the flawed appearance of mortals - abandon the corpses on the throne that have bound you! Follow the Lord of Pleasure! You will all get what you want!"
Although at the first moment of the renewed battle, he was caught in a monologue and got hit hard in the face by Rilano's fist again, and was hit all over his body by explosive bullets, but Fulgrim, whose mentality was no longer as chaotic as it was on the world of Isstvan III, could now control his sword moves without any pressure, slide his body, and stir his psychic energy, causing the Emperor's Children who continued to attack him to fall into his attack rhythm in reverse - occasionally, the Emperor's Children who were best at swordsmanship, such as Solomon, would disrupt his rhythm and leave a scar on his jewel-covered body - every time this happened, the Fallen Phoenix would excitedly pour all its offensive pressure on this offspring, forcing him to choose between two options - either give up the subsequent attacks and retreat outside the battle circle in shame, or follow the guidance of his sword moves and singing and let a more 'perfect' sword edge fall on his snake body!
"We've got what we wanted - now all we want to do is let his rage burn through you."
The edge of the power sword in Tarvitz's hand flashed continuously, colliding continuously with the lightning-fast silver blade of his fallen father, splashing large sparks - beside him, Solomon was struggling with Fulgrim's other hand - as the Fallen Phoenix became more and more powerful, the Emperor's Children found their battle more and more difficult.
"Is this what you want? You stand in front of me again, and boast that you will judge me in the name of the false emperor - and what is the result? You all know it now! His power cannot be compared with true perfection at all!"
Loudly mocking his own offspring, Fulgrim unleashed a series of impenetrable combos, embroiling the Emperor's Children who tried to attack him and disrupting their sword moves. Then, the Fallen Primarch concentrated his psychic energy and swung out a gorgeous storm of blades, forcibly sweeping away several swordsmen surrounding him, while beautifully deflecting all ranged weapons fired at him. When Lord Chemos completed his show, he was satisfied to see that those offspring who tried to engage in close combat with him were forced out of the threat circle.
"Istvan III, it was just a coincidence that I was suppressed by you. How could you, who refused the opportunity to truly sublimate, defeat me?"
Glancing around at his children who were cautiously surrounding him with the standard tactics of the Emperor's Children, Fulgrim suddenly felt a little uninterested. He raised his weapon and powerfully clashed his silver blade six times, causing six clear sounds to echo in the void - the singing lingered, ominous purple clouds began to spread above the sky, the curtain unfolded, and the power of Slaanesh began to pollute the world.
"Dear, is the prologue over?"
Behind the curtain, Enkari's soft and enchanting voice rolled slowly, and every word seemed to take out the soul of a mortal.
"Yes! The prologue is over - now it's time for the first act to begin, which is to let me tell these unrepentant descendants what opportunities they have rejected!"
A purple thunder flashed across the sky with Fulgrim's high-pitched roar, leaving a long crack. In the crack, the shapes of several fallen warships of the Emperor's Children Legion gradually became clear...
——————————————Subspace, Crystal Maze——————————————————————
"Strange - strange - strange - strange - strange - -"
Just like every moment in endless time, Tzeentch, the evil god of chaos who controls this bizarre and ever-changing realm, still sits on his throne, interpreting every leap of fate that occurs in reality and the warp with eternal patience and eccentric curiosity, extracting every trace of change from it - having just visited the territory of Paradise with his projection, watched a good show with the Dark Prince, and then arranged for Magnus to "cooperate" with their new brother to produce more changes, Tampertron could not wait to interpret the sequel of this drama - but what makes the Raven God "happy" is that no matter how hard it tries, the answers it interprets are specious, and the unknown fog entangles the direction of this battle and hides the fate of Fulgrim. Even if Tzeentch personally touched it many times, the fog still did not dissipate - it even has a tendency to expand!
“Cycle – change – glory – pursuit… Ehehehe – is it the Great Game? No! That place is not the Vast Ocean! It’s not a good place for games! But why does power operate without obstacles there? Wait, is the absence of obstacles itself a kind of obstacle? Or is He using His ‘asymmetry’ to lure people? I’m really curious! Ahahahahaha!”
The strange laughter of the Lord of Change shook the Crystal Labyrinth, madly destroying and reorganizing every blade of grass and tree in this changing world - the evil god's joy even briefly crossed the veil and was transmitted to the souls of certain beings in the real world - psychic sparks crackled, igniting a series of changes in the real universe, and the believers of Tzeentch who heard the laughter were ecstatic, thinking that they had received the will of the god.
"Hurry! Hurry! I can't wait!"
——————————————The dividing line between the Hammer guys——————————————————————
"...Okay, huh - thank you."
On top of the Queen of Glory, Lich Zhang wiped the sweat from his forehead while thanking the other hammer guys. Behind him were several military boxes. Before, after returning to reality and finding out what Big E was thinking, he felt that the number of HH Emperor's Son chess pieces he had on hand was a bit insufficient for Big E's plan, so he immediately started to build up his connections. It took him about a week to use the "borrowing" method to expand the number of chess pieces under his command to an astonishing number. For this, he had to drag Liang Feifan, who had been relatively idle recently, to help him be a military box carrier....
"You're welcome, you're welcome. It's only natural to help each other. However, Big E's move was really clever. He used the seemingly indistinguishable difference between our chess piece Advent Body and his True Curse Binding to set a trap for Fulgrim. Poor silly snake. From his tone, he really thought that Istvan Mikami was beaten like that because of his own mistakes!"
Liang Feifan waved his hand to indicate that it was nothing, and at the same time commented on Big E's actions in a subtle tone.
"So, I will immediately give this fallen creature who has already fallen into the pit without knowing it a huge extra surprise. By the way, according to Big E's chess piece descending rules, unless there are special circumstances, the special character that descends will not be the original body, but a 'reference' with the power and fighting style of the character he is targeting?"
"Yes, you wouldn't want to?"
"Yes."
Lich Zhang picked up two Dreadnoughts, both of which were painted with the image of the ancient sage Rilano. Looking at Fulgrim, who was fighting fiercely with the real Cursed Ancient Sage on the screen, a glimmer of "cruelness" flashed in his eyes.
6. The Ancient Sage’s Time – Reckoning
A grotesque face with a horror too great for mortals to imagine.
Completely alienated arms and surreal growths.
The ornaments on her body were nothing but luxurious.
Holding various weapons in their hands and slung over their shoulders, they all exuded an aura of decadence and madness. In particular, the large number of gadgets that looked more like speakers than weapons made these Sons of the Emperor look more like clowns from a circus than warriors - and of extremely inferior quality!
"My Primarch... what have you turned our former brothers into? Can they still be called the Emperor's Children?"
When the Emperor's Children, led by Eidolon, whose appearances had completely lost their human form and whose outlines could only emerge in the deepest nightmares of mortals, boarded various aircrafts and landed around the battlefield like meteors, and then gathered crookedly behind their Gene-Father, ignoring the battlefield and starting to perform various blasphemous and obscene behaviors on the spot, Vespasian, who had not witnessed how twisted, corrupt and degenerate the Emperor's Children Legion was after falling into the ways of Slaanesh, could not help but clench his weapon tightly, and his voice trembled slightly.
"Ah, it seems that in order to make you understand more clearly, it would be a good idea to introduce to you the benefits of the path you should have chosen during the intermission..."
Using his super-realistic senses, he easily analyzed the emotional changes in Vespasian's voice. Feeling that he might have another chance to convince his offspring, Fulgrim flicked his tail and pierced the chest of a Noise Marine who was happily making "pre-war preparations", pulling him to his left hand.
The venom was injected into the victim's body at lightning speed. After confirming that the guy he had chosen had fallen into a state of excitement, Fugen picked up his knife without hesitation and dissected the warrior bit by bit, while carefully explaining the function of each organ.
"How can you call them things? They are not things, but perfect creations! - Look! How shiny his eyes are! This allows them to better capture all kinds of colors! The reason why his ears are like this! Is to capture the vibration of every sound wave! His hands..."
However, before Fulgrim could proudly explain the functions of the 'perfect' organs of the Noise Warrior in his hand, a ball of blue-white energy surrounded by golden electric light came whizzing in and accurately burned the fallen Emperor's son who was enjoying the pleasure of being 'decomposed' by his own Primarch into ashes - if Fulgrim had not moved quickly enough, the hand he was holding with the warrior would probably have been burned to ashes by the ancient sage's lightning strike.
"Pity."
Knowing that this meant that his descendants who had chosen to betray him back then had once again chosen to stand beside the rotten corpse, Fulgrim shook his face, which had not yet fully recovered its appearance, raised the blade of his sword, and gently pointed it forward -
“Sigh—ha—yeah—!!!”
As Fulgrim's order was issued, the fallen Emperor's children screamed in joy. The demonic primarch of Slaanesh led the corrupted remnants of the Third Legion and charged at the heroic spirits of the Legion's past. Deep purple smoke spread with their footsteps, and distorted songs echoed in the sky - the Lord of Pleasure was watching this war eagerly, and the master of Elysium was eager to win this great game - although, the scale of this game was really, really small...
Then, the fallen creatures, including Fulgrim, saw a huge eagle flag with golden flames swirling around it, which made their pupils sting just by looking at it. It suddenly unfolded behind these heroic souls and burned away the smoke of Slaanesh that drifted past. The battle cry that had been buried in history for thousands of years and was filled with the glory of the Third Legion suppressed the decadent singing.
"Son of the Emperor! Kill your father's enemies!!!"
——————————————The dividing line of the Fallen Emperor’s Son————————————————————
Eidolon felt that he must have taken too much - although after becoming this honorable person, he took too much or played too much every moment.
As a Space Marine who held a considerable position in the III Legion during the Great Crusade, although none of Eidolon's ability indicators were top-notch, as the most experienced Lord Commander, he had already mastered the tricks of those capable people among the Emperor's Children. Although after so many years of living a life of drunkenness and debauchery, the Soul Breaker had already sunk those glorious figures of the past into the depths of his indulgent soul, he had not forgotten them.
"Who are you? What are you? Why do you know Solomon's sword moves?!"
Facing the fierce sword attack from the man in front of him, Eidolon, who had no power to fight back, tried hard to protect himself from the next move with his disorganized blocking and parrying that even sword beginners could not bear to watch, while using his already mutated voice to continuously integrate words into destructive sound waves to interfere with his opponent's actions. About a minute ago, the Soul Breaker was still using such sound waves to slaughter those 'fellow brothers' who were the sons of the Emperor in terms of momentum and tactics but strangely did not respond to any stimulation. He was tasting it with dissatisfaction, but now, he has been reduced to using this power to save his life!
"..."
His opponent did not answer, but slashed at Eidolon's left wrist with a sword. The sword was so fast, accurate and ruthless that even if Eidolon used all his strength, he could not stop the sword in his opponent's hand, which was surging with golden flames, from falling on his body. In an instant, pain that could not be described in words and without any pleasure broke out from Eidolon's wound and quickly swept through his entire soul.
“Quack——————!!!”
Although the wound did not look very serious from the outside, and even gave the impression that any mortal who had undergone a certain level of endurance training could easily endure it, Eidolon did not think so at all - he was completely wounded by the sword and the sounds in his throat became disordered. The Soul Breaker felt that his soul was being torn apart, and something unknown was constantly penetrating into it, taking root and burning in it. The pain was so extreme that Eidolon briefly lost all strength to resist and could only cry out in fear like a weak and powerless woman.
"Eidolon!!!"
However, Eidolon's death did not come immediately. Before the sword drew a beautiful arc and fell on his body again, one of his guards - a warrior who had fought alongside him since the Great Crusade - used his body to block the sword and bought Eidolon a glimmer of hope. While Eidolon was struggling to adapt to the burning feeling in his soul, the fallen Emperor's son who had blocked the sword for him was only a little bit of debris still burning in golden flames.
"......Hey, Solomon, I really enjoyed having my head taken off by you.
"
With shaking hands, he grasped his sword again. Knowing that he didn't have much time left, Eidolon could only try his best to maintain his fighting posture. On his scarred and mutated face, he forced a smile that was uglier than crying. He showed the Emperor's Son's iconic sword move to the unknown person in front of him as a courtesy, so that his mortal battle would be more ceremonial. However, to his surprise, his opponent did not return the greeting, but rekindled the flame of the sword in his hand and chopped him down!
"Alas--"
When the horrible burning sensation came over him, Eidolon almost thought his head had left his body. However, after the feeling of dying faded, Eidolon found that he had been kicked a long distance away. Solomon, with black hair, was holding a sword and returning the favor to him.
"Stand up, Eidolon."
"Ha...it's you, Solomon...you were pretending not to recognize me?"
Eidolon suppressed the emptiness in his heart and struggled to get up from the ground. He was surprised that he did not completely collapse to the ground because of the emptiness. After falling twice more, the Soul Breaker finally picked up his sword.
"You were looking for me, so I came."
Solomon changed his stance and took an offensive stance, with the tip of his sword pointed directly at Eidolon's neck. Eidolon also tried his best to mobilize every bit of strength he could now, and took the best defensive posture he could - after the near-death experience where he thought his head had just been chopped off, the burning sensation that he had suppressed had begun to gnaw at his soul again, weakening his body and stripping away his strength, but the Soul Breaker strangely felt a kind of peace that he had not felt for thousands of years.
"The Emperor's Son—"
Seeing that Eidolon had already prepared his sword moves, Solomon did not say anything more, and whispered the first half of the Emperor's Children's War Cry. When he heard this war cry that he had forgotten for thousands of years, for some reason, the Soulbreaker found a peaceful smile on his face.
"——Kill my father's enemy."
Swords flashed, people crossed, flames rose, and heads fell. Eidolon's headless body took two steps forward and fell quietly, allowing the Emperor's flames to devour his head and body.
Finally, everything disappeared with the wind.
——————————————————Fugen’s dividing line————————————————————
The situation may have gotten out of control, and I may have stepped into a trap set for me by two powerful warp masters. I should have realized this the moment Magnus took the initiative to reach out to me. Monthly fee (group 69493) 6135
Although he was still happily enjoying the joy of fighting, although he was still crazily talking about the philosophical thoughts he had comprehended after indulging in the Way of Slaanesh, although he could even feel the great Dark Prince staring at every inch of his skin, the areas in Fulgrim's soul that still barely maintained the ability to think had begun to act like a madman - now he was 100% sure that the rotting corpse on the throne had become, or at least part of it had become, an existence similar to the great Dark Prince. The significance of the battle he was experiencing now transcended the mortal world itself and was part of the great game!
The most likely evidence for this speculation is——
"Tavizz, don't you think about how suspicious the being who is fighting alongside you is? Don't you think that His actions are no different from the things He hated the most back then?"
Fulgrim wielded his sword vigorously, forcing back four Emperor's Children swordsmen, including Tarvitz, who were trying to tear open the threat circle of his blades. He exhaled elegantly clouds of Slaanesh fragrance to make the space around him more conducive to his battle, and shouted the name of his offspring in a rhythmic voice, trying to inject venomous thoughts into the heart of this loyalist. As the Primarch of the Third Legion, Fulgrim easily realized that the swordsmanship of the other three swordsmen who had just besieged him side by side with Tarvitz was exactly the same as Tarvitz's. Given the temper of the Emperor's Children, no matter who followed him or who betrayed him, it was impossible for them to turn themselves into the perfect clones of another person. Therefore, there was only one answer to this strange thing -
That is, Tarvitz was 'copied'!
"You are afraid."
After Tarvitz briefly answered his genetic father's question, he once again charged towards the Fallen Phoenix together with the three Emperor's Sons beside him, whose sword moves were for some reason exactly the same as his own and whom he felt extremely trusted. The coordination of the four swordsmen's sword moves was so seamless that Fulgrim had to spend a little effort to repel them.
"How could I be afraid of you? How could I be afraid of my offspring?"
Screaming for himself, Fulgrim coiled up his snake body, aimed slightly forward, and then flicked his tail towards Tarvitz like a spring, trying to get the unyielding scion out of the battle. However, before Fulgrim's tail tip flew halfway, several shells and two plasma bursts exploded on his body, forcing him to interrupt the attack - the attack forged by the power of the Emperor burned the body of the demon primarch
The Slaanesh ornament even left a few burnt spots on its scales.
"No, Primarch, you are afraid. You are afraid of him who stands behind us. You are afraid of the reckoning he will bring upon you—"
The ancient sage Rilano's Dreadnought walked out of the smoke and dust, and beside him, there were two Dreadnoughts that looked almost the same as him. The golden flame linked them, making them look like real angels of judgment from ancient mythology.
"Are you ready, traitor?"
7. The Ancient Sage’s Candidate: Exile
The Crystal Maze is shaking.
The library of Tzeentch trembles.
