Chapter 168 Black and Red, Plot in the Shadows (Seventeen) The Monarch in the Shadows
In the void far away from the gravitational field of celestial bodies in the northern part of the Jan Moro sector, a huge crack torn by subspace energy is slowly healing.
There is a trident floating in front of the rift. It is a space battleship over 20 kilometers long.
Three huge space buildings are standing on it; painted in bronze and blood rust colors, hundreds of weapon arrays are patrolling around in vigilance.
The Prayer of the Three Saints, the masterpiece of the fallen Martian Forge General Kybor Harr during the Great Heresy - the third sister ship of the Abyss-class battleship.
It is also the last remaining ship after the lead ship Fury of the Abyss and the second ship Lady Blessed were sunk.
It is the fourth flagship of the Word Bearers Legion, and the flagship of their legion's master, the now-ascended fallen Primarch, Lorgar Aurelion.
In order to summon it from the Supreme Heaven, the Dark Apostle spent unimaginable manpower and material resources. Even the sacrifice ceremony that had been prepared for decades and swept the entire star region, most of the power it accumulated in the end was used here.
.
And it is indeed worth the effort, because the force and symbolic meaning it represents are a huge encouragement to the forces of chaos.
The battleship had already started its work as soon as it returned to reality.
Hundreds of Word Bearers, led by demons ten times their size, left the deck of the Prayer of the Three Saints in large and small vehicles, flying like a school of fish towards the polluted and corrupted planet around them.
go.
The Imperial Navy warships captured by the rebellion in these galaxies also began to gather here after receiving its call.
Battleship-level flagships are the support these traitors need most at the moment. The fleets they use for home defense in the galaxy do not have such behemoths.
The defense and attack of the Three Saints' Prayer are even better than those of the Queen of Glory, which is undoubtedly a huge encouragement to these stragglers.
Boom...boom...boom...boom...
In the Temple of Despair at the top of the central building complex of the battleship, heavy footsteps sounded from far to near in the darkness.
The two heavily armored Word Bearers knelt down upon hearing the sound, and deep in the dark palace, a shadow slowly approached.
"Where is my chief priest?" The shadow did not continue to approach, but stopped just right at the boundary between light and darkness.
His voice remained unchanged and still felt familiar to the two veterans stationed there, but the tone and wording of his words felt unfamiliar.
The two thousand-year-old veterans raised their heads and looked at each other after hearing this, and then lowered their heads the next second.
This purely professional title is rare among the original body. In the past, he preferred to use "my best friend" as the title of chief priest.
Do you want to answer? How to answer?
What does he want to know? Or how come he doesn't know where Erebus is?
And if he knows, then what does the question want at this moment?
Sudden questions flew through the minds of the two Word Bearers, causing the two Word Bearers to finally choose silence after careful consideration.
This is not to say that they are too smart, but that in the past ten thousand years of intrigues and internal struggles, the Word Bearers without such brains have been eliminated long ago, and there is no way they can survive to this day.
In fact, there is no need for the guard to answer, because the answer will never surprise him.
"Are you still diligently holding meetings of the Dark Apostles and tirelessly assigning tasks to the shepherds? It's so touching..."
The monarch's voice continued to sound, but the meaning behind his words made the guards hang their heads lower. His voice was still as infectious as it was ten thousand years ago, but the attitude he expressed silenced the Word Bearers.
.
Everything seems to be different from before. The leader of the legion who once regarded the chief priest as a close friend and obeyed his words has died.
What appears before them now is the Dark Lord, who has reshaped himself in the darkness after experiencing setbacks and failures, and after thousands of years of meditation and reflection.
After the original body reappeared, he had already adjusted the personnel of the Legion. He did not touch the original forces of the Dark Council, but gathered some fringe forces in the Legion under his command.
These legion veterans who were expelled from the core of power may not be smart enough, but they have the bravery and desire for status and power that those dark apostles who are obsessed with power struggle do not possess.
At this time, what the original body needs most is precisely this desire, and the false loyalty layered on top of this desire.
More than three chapters of the Word Bearers were gathered under the command of the Primarch, and this power became increasingly apparent in the increasingly obvious power struggle between the two factions of the Dark Council, Erebus and Kor Fallon.
Transcendent yet indispensable.
They may not be enough to replace the existence of the Dark Council, but neither the Chief Priest nor the Dark Bishop can accept that this power is leaning towards the other side with the endorsement of the original body.
"My lord!" The chief priest arrived after learning that the primarch had awakened.
Even though he was in a hurry, even though he held great power, he still expressed his respect and admiration to the original body with the most sincere etiquette as before.
But unlike before, this time after kneeling down, he did not immediately hear the other party's reproach and the kindness behind the reproach;
What this false respect received this time was only a long and suffocating scrutiny, and an equally false response under this scrutiny:
"Arise, my dear friend."
The same words were spoken by the same person, but the different tone made the leader of the Word Bearers, known as the "Son of Chaos", feel tremendous pressure at this moment.
It's really unfair, what an enviable talent...
This is how many times Erebus has lamented the power of the original body, and how many times he has expressed his jealousy and contempt for the original body in his heart.
This thought flashed through his mind, and was immediately concealed in countless jumping messages. This was the fear of the power mastered by the original body, because now the original body no longer resists the use of psychic powers.
And if there is no protection from the thought protection spell, then this kind of thought will definitely be captured by the original body instantly.
"Do you want me to beg you?" Luojia's voice sounded again, awakening Erebas from his thoughts.
He used all his strength to control his body, restraining the instinctive movement of raising his head while standing up. The muscles in his neck made a creaking sound in the confrontation with his spine, and his gaze locked at the feet of the original body did not move.
move.
He couldn't raise his head, because if he saw the sarcastic expression on that face, there would no longer be any room for warmth between the two of them.
Where did the change occur? And when did it start?
Was it when you returned to the world of Sicarus after the great heresy that ended in an anticlimax and ended hastily after the death of Horus?
Still after he became the undivided demon prince who was different from Perturabo and truly inherited the power of Chaos, he was hit hard by the man who understood the nature of subspace solely based on his own talent, and had to be trapped in the world of Sicarius for ten thousand years.
While meditating?
Or perhaps earlier, it was the first time he noticed Horus's true attitude towards Chaos, and felt that the rebellion was doomed to fail, so he decided to take over Horus' mission, but was killed by the sick Horus.
When defeated?
Regardless, changes have occurred.
What he has to do now is to re-read the thoughts of this "lucky man" who is ambitious but not talented, and then comfort him again, that's all.
This son of Chaos, who once single-handedly led and could be said to have personally subverted the greatest era of the human empire, was only then shocked to realize the huge changes that had occurred around him.
But before he could filter his thoughts, the footsteps behind him made him lower his head again.
Kor Farron, another leader of the Dark Council, was the guide of the previous monarch in the mortal era before taking over the Legion, his adoptive father and his legal master.
This ally who had dedicated the Primarch to the Chaos Gods with him, and who was also his political opponent in the Dark Council fighting for power, had also received news of the Primarch's awakening and arrived at his palace as soon as possible.
"My Lord!" The Dark Bishop's footsteps stopped beside Erebas, and after a slight delay, the greeting to Luojia also sounded.
Erebus took advantage of the situation and raised his head, but the figure of the Primarch was still unable to be seen clearly in the darkness.
Of course it was impossible to see clearly, it was the spiritual energy resisting his sight.
"Have the arrangements been completed?" Luo Jia asked the two of them.
The leaders of the two Dark Councils had cryptic glances at each other. Neither of them wanted to establish a real connection between the original body and the Legion. At this point, they were allies.
"Arrangements have been made. The deployment of troops in the three star systems has been completed, and the sacrifice rituals at the rear are also being prepared."
The two of them answered in unison, but little did they know that Luo Jia was different from the past at this moment, and all the details of their movements were in his eyes.
"Ha..." The monarch in the darkness smiled with unknown meaning, but before the two of them could react, he changed the subject to the war in front of him.
"This opportunity is rare, as you all know very well if you think about it."
"Yes." The two of them responded. Erebus even looked at Ko Farron and then took a step forward to explain his plan to their Primarch:
"our plan……"
"I don't want to know. I just want to ask, are you sure?" The monarch in the darkness interrupted Erebus and asked the former directly.
"I will personally lead his fall!" Erebus lowered his head and assured Luojia, who only chuckled and then asked:
"How much power do you want?"
"Five complete warbands, and their affiliated demon legions."
"I'll give you ten." Luojia said and raised his hand to stop Ke Falon's protest. He looked at Erebas who was kneeling on the ground and said with interest:
"I'm waiting for news from you."
Then he turned around and left, disappearing into the darkness of the Temple of Despair again.
"Yes!" Erebus maintained his posture and waited until Luojia left for a long time before getting up from the ground.
Next to him, Ko Falron finally noticed something strange in the conversation between the two. He no longer struggled with the original body's statement that led to the weakening of his power, but looked at the man who was still kneeling on the ground with a rare look of sympathy.
Erebus.
"Definitely? How arrogant... An existence that is very likely to be the Primarch, and you can make a guarantee so easily?"
"Otherwise? Are you a failure like you? You know I have done this once, and you are just a loser."
Erebus, who was sure that Luojia had left, slowly raised his head. The undisguised contempt in his eyes caused the dark bishop's mood to change from gloating to extremely angry.
However, what he said made Kor Farron unable to refute, because in corrupting another Primarch, Roboute Guilliman, Kor Farron failed and had no room for excuse.
"Then you can take care of yourself..." The dark bishop's tone became calm after reaching the peak of his anger. He looked at the chief priest again, then threw off the cloak behind him and walked out of the palace.
The apostles who were attached to the Dark Bishop filed in and followed in the footsteps of Ko Falron. The two guards also closed the palace door after the monarch disappeared.
The chief priest was still kneeling in front of the door, maintaining his posture of talking to Luojia. The dark apostles who belonged to him came forward, but no one dared to open their mouths to persuade him to get up.
Can it succeed this time? Erebus still has enough confidence in himself.
But what he was worried about was not this matter, but the leader of the legion whom he had been with for ten thousand years.
Co. Fallon's words were still in his ears, and the conditions Luojia gave him were right in front of him. The extra generosity was definitely not out of good intentions, and the coldness hidden behind the generosity had already cut off his retreat.
Do you want five warbands? I’ll give you double support.
Not enough? There is more.
But if all this fails, what will be the result waiting for him?
I am afraid that no one needs to question it. Failure itself is enough to threaten his status. The Dark Council has never lacked careerists, and all these seemingly submissive people around him are waiting for is an opportunity.
Erebus felt that he needed to re-examine his monarch. This idealist who once obeyed his advice had obviously developed his own way of controlling power after thousands of years of reflection.
But this is all a matter for the future, and the most urgent task is now. He needs to use a hearty victory to consolidate his position, and he also needs to use the fall of a high lord to please the Chaos Gods.
And if all this can be achieved, then he will naturally have a position corresponding to his rights in the new royal court established by the King of the Word Bearers.
You can only win, not fail.
Erebus penetrated Jan Moro's territory and looked at the forge world in the center of the galaxy. Then he crossed the place where he planned the decisive battle and looked behind the forge world, which was once prosperous but has fallen silent.
Planet - Moro.
This planet, which had been visited by two people who influenced the fate of the empire, was also the most ideal altar prepared by him and the gods.