Chapter 358 347. The Embers of Ullanor
The Lord of Death is standing quietly on the wasteland. Behind his pale and tired figure, his silent descendants also stand.
The wind blew, and the tattered gray cloak rolled up.
【This is intentional. ]
Mortarion's hoarse voice was broken by the wind, but Gallo and Vox behind him heard it clearly.
The voice paused in his throat,
[That liar is leaving. 】
Under the shadow of the hood, in the deep eye sockets, Mortarion looked further into the distance with difficulty, and the Pale King could already imagine the ridiculous and funny scene.
That was... the center of the war, the place where the stars held the moon, where the Lord of Mankind and his most "favored" son were performing a boring drama, even if one of them didn't notice anything strange at all.
Will other brothers, other brothers who are either jealous or defeated, be like the Lord of Death? They stood on the edge of the battlefield, and the green-skin fragments under their feet gave off an unpleasant smell, but their hearts tightly revolved around the position that was destined to miss them.
There was a sneer under the gas mask. Mortarion never believed in his biological father's tricks. A man who could descend on the highest peak of Barbarus without any burden - he would not be defeated by the greenskins, at least... not either. It would be so embarrassing.
When the Emperor looked expectantly at Horus many times during the Joint Council, Mortarion already knew how it would end.
The only thing that confused him was that Mortarion knew that Horus would not be such a shallow person, but when it came to the Emperor... the Wolf God was horribly stupid.
He was too eager to gain the emperor's approval, and they all knew that the liar's words were just a joke.
But that was Horus's business, and Mortarion cared nothing for it.
The Emperor himself staged a grand drama to elevate his first recovered son to the altar of the Empire - Mortarion could only believe that this was some kind of signal, some kind of representation of [the Emperor's] ] A signal that this symbol is about to dissolve.
After all, no country has two kings, and the heir's accession to the throne is destined to mean the disappearance of the old emperor.
Mortarion shook the scythe. He didn't care about the Warmaster, and he didn't care about the Emperor at all, but the question was...where was Hades?
Mortarion angrily went to question Malcador where he had sent his commanders, but Mortarion received nothing but nonsense.
So Mortarion picked a good day and broke into the Emperor's Dream on a day when several legions were preparing for war. That day, the golden Imperial Guards lay on the floor in the corridor, and Mortarion also successfully obtained the Emperor's Dream. The emperor's own reply - see you soon.
The message is that Hades is at least intact enough to be discerned by Mortarion.
The Lord of Death took a few deep breaths...Okay, he accepted the reply.
It was definitely not because the psychic brilliance that the Emperor himself burst out at that time was too coercive. The date chosen by Mortarion was exactly the date when the Emperor slowly comforted Horus, and Mortarion obviously did it on purpose.
War, war is like this. Mortarion does not accept stupid ways to die, but he accepts death in battle. This will be the final destination of every life - although he is
trying hard to live, crawling out of the ruins, dying, in Surviving the enemy's orbital bombardment and struggling to stumble out of the sorcery circle...
Mortarion just knew that this was not the end for him, so he wanted to live.
He also hoped that... at least Hades still hadn't met his end, but if Hades did, all the Lord of Death could do was congratulate him.
Congratulations with a touch of sadness.
Mortarion let out a cough that sounded like he was dying. He pushed this thought out of his mind. At least the emperor, a liar, gave him a promise that was not a promise.
He looked into the distance calmly, the smoke was still there, but Mortarion knew that the comedy of this scene was over.
Golden light and cheers burst out from the distance, and the Lord of Death turned around indifferently. He lowered his hand and signaled his battle-torn Death Guards, who looked as tired as himself, to retreat.
——————————
This is a grand military parade.
Takes place after the drama of the appointment of the Warmaster.
On the high observation platform, Mortarion shook the wine glass in front of him indifferently, watching with boredom as the endless warriors twisted into a ridiculous picture at one end of the glass.
There were also figures of his proud Death Guards among them, but compared to meaningless privates, Mortarion still wanted to see his sons staying in the training ground. Even if it was worse, staying in the mess hall would be better than staying in a place like this. powerful.
The military parade was like showing off one's guns one by one. Mortarion did not understand this stupid behavior.
Even though his pistol and lantern was lying heavily beside him, this gave the Lord of Death a sense of security because he was not the only one on the entire observation deck.
Mortarion slumped motionless on a couch in a shadowed corner, his brothers silently ignoring him because he had already been branded a "bad-tempered weirdo."
This saved Mortarion a lot of unnecessary trouble, thanks to himself.
He listened to Sanguinius and Fulgrim chatting loudly. Birdman sounded relatively restrained, but not so exaggerated. Fulgrim was analyzing the rationality of Horus as Warmaster in a high-profile manner—— A covert excuse.
Khan was on the other side, interrupting the conversation between the two from time to time.
Mortarion was interested in none of them except for their blood and genes, thanking the angels for automatically ignoring him, and while Fulgrim clearly looked curious about Mortarion, Mortarion exuded a sense of alienation. The nearby aura successfully blocked him.
The Khan was as indifferent as Mortarion.
But there are still more than just these Primarchs on the planet. Magnus, whose head Mortarion wants to cut off, is talking to Horus.
Magnus originally chatted with the Khan and the Angel here, but after realizing that the Lord of Death was heading to this terrace, Magnus decisively went to chat with Horus - and Horus was there In his own small room, he was digesting the news that he had become the war commander.
Hearing that Luojia was also coming here, Mortarion listened to Fulgrim's loud noise in his ears, and it seemed that Luojia had started chatting with Magnus on the way.
not interested.
Mortarion only knew two primarchs, one was Horus and the other was Sanguinius. His good impression of Horus was exhausted when he saw Horus' stupidity in front of the Emperor. As for the Birdman... Mortarion only knew that Sanguinius could subdue him.
So Mortarion carefully kept his distance from Sanguinius, although Sanguinius seemed to play a big role in containing Fulgrim from shifting his interest to Mortarion's side.
But finally Fulgrim raised his silver eyebrows and cast his violet eyes on Mortarion with interest.
Not good.
Mortarion thought this, and at the same time hoped that the wind on the balcony would blow the poisonous gas around him to the high-profile Phoenix, so as to stop this shiny guy from making things difficult for him.
However, Mortarion was not a wizard. He could not change the direction of the wind. He slowly and desperately realized that Fulgrim looked at him and spoke. Fulgrim seemed to be keen on the lively atmosphere. Different from his tone just now, Fulgrim was
obviously Let his accent become a little more normal and no longer have a damn sense of nobility,
[Mortarion, I heard that you have a good relationship with Horus. What gift are you going to give Horus? 】
Phoenix winked at Mortarion slyly, seeming to be looking forward to Mortarion's answer in a friendly manner.
Mortarion remained motionless, and a voice that seemed to have been dead for seven hundred years came from the armor,
"I am not on good terms with Horus." ]
There was silence for a while, Fulgrim waited for Mortarion's next words, but it was obvious that Mortarion did not intend to say the next words, so Fulgrim had to speak again,
[But I think you are also worried about Horus——]
Fulgrim Gen laughed,
[It’s time to call the War Commander now, have you prepared a gift? ]
He watched the corpse move slowly. Mortarion picked up the bottles and jars tied to his armor and said hoarsely,
[I have been prepared for a long time... when I first met He. It was ready when Ruth came. 】
And everyone has it.
Mortarion added the second half silently in his mind.
Perhaps because he really did not expect the Lord of Death's answer, Fulgrim briefly interrupted, and then naturally and smoothly led to the gift he had prepared for the Warmaster. In addition, Phoenix also prepared some comfort for the defeated Fainus. present.
He began to chirp again to describe and praise the gifts prepared by other brothers for the Warmaster, which triggered a new round of discussion. Even the Khan, who Mortarion had just thought didn't care about anything, also carefully prepared a gift for Horus. What a surprise.
Well, the attention was once again turned away from Mortarion, who chose to remain a silent corpse.
He heard footsteps going upstairs. Someone was coming.
Mortarion moved his hand to his waist without leaving a trace. If it was Magnus who came up, he would give him two shots as a greeting.
A corner of the figure was revealed, not the flamboyant red hair. Mortarion sighed and expressed regret at the same time.
He hid behind his hood and poison gas and looked at the newcomer with impunity. The newcomer wore a dull hood. His armor reminded Mortarion of some kind of mad dervish. Golden runes were carved on it. The face is sacred and pious.
Two lines of blood and tears solidified on both sides of the cheeks, which looked like a special decoration.
Mortarion had seen enough and looked away silently.
【Luojia? ! I didn't expect you to come too. Fulgrim relied on his enthusiastic inertia to take the lead in welcoming the newcomers, but it was obvious that he
did not have a very good relationship with the newcomers. After that, Phoenix shut up - but Khan started talking to Luojia.
Angels and Fulgrim had been conversing before. Khan rarely spoke like Mortarion, and his speeches were mostly transparent, which kept Mortarion interested in Khan's words, so after death, The Lord began to listen to the conversation between them.
Khan raised his hand and signaled the servitor to pour wine for Luojia. Luojia waved his hand with a wry smile, and then ordered the servitor to bring a glass of water.
Then Luo Jia raised his glass and said hoarsely,
"Forgive me for being disrespectful, I probably shouldn't be so abstinent in the ceremony of our good brothers, but I have already made an oath." ]
Then Luojia raised his glass and drank the water as if drinking wine.
He stood up in sweat and looked at Luojia,
[How are you lately? The wind on you is a little stagnant. ]
[Thank you for your concern, brother. ]
Luojia said hoarsely, his voice seemed to be damaged,
[...I just saw some truth. ] Mortarion raised his ears.
【He is God. ]
Mortarion instantly let out a dissatisfied snort. Stupid, the Lord of Death felt that he was starting to despise himself for just showing interest.
But except for Mortarion, the other primarchs were aware of Lorgar's situation. Lorgar believed in their father, which was nothing new.
Khan frowned, as if a fly on the horse had hit his face,
[A horse that only cares about running will be broken by rat holes. You should probably look at other scenery, Luojia. ]
Luojia smiled, with understanding on his face,
[I know what you mean, brother, but I can't...tell what I have experienced. I saw the back of the paper, the shadow behind the light, the shadow of the gods. It does exist, but not in the way I first thought. ]
At this time, the Khan frowned completely. The Khan leaned forward, lowered his voice, and made a tiger-like voice,
[Tell me, Luojia... Does this have something to do with the Supreme Heaven? ]
[You mean subspace? No, that's okay, there's no psychic powers involved, it's just pure faith. 】
Luojia answered Khan's question blankly, and after seeing Luojia's reaction, Khan lazily leaned back on his chair again,
"I'm worrying too much." ]
[Psionics...you might want to talk to Magnus. He was just trying to tell me about his recent new discoveries about subspace.]
Luojia smiled bitterly, seeming to recall the conversation with Magnus just now. Si's conversation,
[He also tried to use spiritual power to analyze everything I experienced - no, what I experienced was completely a training, a test of gods to believers, it was not a simple subspace. 】
Khan took a big sip of wine, and he thoughtfully played with the wolf fang attached to his helmet,
【What I just said made you uncomfortable, my brother? ]
[No, that's not the case. ]
Luojia immediately apologized humbly. Among the many primarchs, he who believed in the Emperor as a god was actually the gentlest one.
This is why he has a good relationship with the most arrogant Magnus.
[But spirituality is not the answer to all problems, my brother, faith is. 】
Dahan gave a vague hum, which was regarded as an agreement.
As if to refute Magnus, who had just been telling him about psychic powers, Luojia continued to speak,
[Faith is what enables humans to rely on their own existence in this vast universe. Faith tells humans what they are, What should we do? ]
However, just now Magnus personally said "faith is an ugly word" in front of Luojia.
Luojia didn't agree with this. Didn't Magnus himself hold an almost pious belief in psychic powers? He just hasn't realized it yet.
And belief in the God-Emperor is obviously better than belief in the subspace.
[People should have faith and believe in the right things. The Word Bearers will help the truth spread in the universe. 】
However...most of the Primarchs present knew that the planets conquered by the Word Bearers would allow faith in the God-Emperor, but after the Word Bearers left the land long enough, the Empire would send personnel to attack them. The enlightenment of imperial truth.
Of course, what they know now is also a backward version.
[Faith,] Khan said succinctly, [The only thing humans need to believe in is the knife they hold in their hands, the horses under their crotches, and the wilderness wide enough to gallop. ]
Khan raised his glass, Luojia clinked his glass with him, drank profusely, and continued,
[You need to build yourself on yourself, not other existences. ]
Luojia shook his head firmly but gently,
[No, not everyone is as smart and sharp as us. People need a sustenance, a presence that points them in the direction - otherwise they will only fall apart in self-consumption. ]
[Then let the idiots die. 】
All the original bodies turned their heads suddenly, the voice came from Mortarion, and the Lord of Death interrupted suddenly, with shocking words.
[You have to be patient with humans, Mortarion. ]
Fulgrim sighed exaggeratedly, and the angel gave a rare nod, expressing his agreement with Fulgrim's view,
[You are too pessimistic. ]
[I think I am optimistic enough. ]
Mortarion said dullly, he raised his hand,
[You continue, I don't want to argue. 】
The Lord of Death continued to spread out, and there was no sound. Luojia glanced at Mortarion hesitantly, and finally chose to continue the topic,
【We are to save human existence - not destroy it, or Simply become a general. ]
Luojia exhaled softly,
[Our mission is to save it, and the God Emperor has given us a mission. 】
He heard the harsh breathing coming from Mortarion's side. Luojia ignored him. Compared with Magnus's straightforward words, Mortarion just had difficulty breathing. 【
I don't ask for your understanding. , Brother, the holder of the truth is always lonely, you do not know the suffering I have experienced. 】
Khan took a sip of wine carelessly,
"I also hope he cares about his heirs instead of causing disasters." ]
[No,]
Luojia turned his head and stared at Khan firmly,
[Suffering also means redemption. ]
[ Chogoris is only an eagle flying high, and there is no existence struggling in suffering. I can't understand this. ]
Khan just looked away lightly and gently pushed away the topic.
Luojia paused. His brothers couldn't believe him. They agreed with his character as a brother, but they never agreed with his views.
For the sake of To convince them, Luojia thought that he needed to come up with some...other evidence,
[I saw more,]
Luojia said slowly,
[He is not the only one. ]
[I don't understand what you mean, brother. ]
[I'm just stating a fact. ]
Luojia said,
[Our father, the God-Emperor, has his right-hand man as an extension of his faith. ]
Archangel Sanguinius suddenly spoke,
[I think you are referring to existences like Waldo, the leader of the Imperial Army? ]
Luojia nodded, then shook his head,
[I didn't see his true body, so it's difficult for me to make a direct conclusion. ]
He paused for a moment,
[I felt the other side of the paper, dark and depressing. ]
Mortarion pricked up his ears.
"That's definitely not psionic," Luojia said with certainty, "no psyker would give people that feeling." ]
[That's death - death hits the soul like a tide. ]
Mortarion sat up, which caused the Primarchs to turn their attention to him, but the Lord of Death said nothing, so Lorgar continued,
[I am convinced that he will be an extension of the God-Emperor's will, Using a black spear engraved with hellhounds, he judges the guilty - a religious symbol, and it's become clear that truth is on my side. ]
Mortarion stood up straight, strode directly towards Luojia, and spoke in a blank voice, emphasizing at the end of the sentence,
[Tell me everything you know, my brother. ]
[My——]
Mortarion gritted his teeth,
[When did the Commander become the Emperor's will? 】
Compared to Angel, Fulgrim was the first to stand up.
The elegant Phoenix stood between the two people in a panic, holding out his hands to stop them, mainly Mortarion,
[I don't think Horus wants this to happen today? ]
5.3k! Great! None today.
There are so many people who have sent postfix codes.
(End of chapter)