Chapter 1005 - 1004: Why Did Lord Nareth Send the White Scars to Save Us

South of Tizca City, beneath Outpost No. 39.

Sul Kontep spoke to the Shadows of Order Lieutenant and Katon Afiel, commander of the Palatine Guard.

"The Corvidae Cult Thousand Sons foresaw a large-scale attack. The Athanaeans Cult subsequently confirmed it. Over a thousand Psychneueins are heading in this direction."

The two men's expressions changed.

Though psychneuein were fearsome in life, Thousand Sons Librarians and Shadow of Order Court knights could each kill several; the stronger ones could even take down dozens, or even hundreds.

The real threat lay in the psychneuein's acute sensitivity to psychic energy, once they caught the scent of food, an endless tide would overwhelm the Thousand Sons.

The psychneuein ghosts were even harder to deal with, psychic power could harm them, but it consumed several times the aetheric force.

More terrifying still was that the ground was no longer an obstacle to them.

"We have no choice but to abandon this settlement," the Lieutenant said.

"No." Katon shook his head.

"The Wolves' orbital bombardment has destroyed Prospero's wilderness. The nearest settlement is west of the city, most of the populace would die from radiation exposure in the wasteland before reaching it."

This outpost was one of the Shadow of Order's footholds in the wilderness, and the largest outpost nearest to Tizca City.

After the Thousand Sons took it over, they had developed it into a forward base.

Before Prospero met its doom, this and many other outposts had been planned as small settlements, with construction already underway.

Because of the psychneuein infesting the wilderness, all outposts and small settlements outside Tizca City had underground facilities to shelter from large-scale attacks.

The people of Tizca had survived until now on stored food, but many had grown weak from shortages of food and water, and from being confined to cramped, hopeless spaces, they could not possibly make the trek across the irradiated wasteland.

Sul's brow furrowed deeply. He gazed at the Shadows of Order and sighed inwardly.

'At the time, I shouldn't have listened to him and stayed on Prospero waiting for rescue.'

'If we had seized aircraft and then taken ships, at least some of us could have escaped.'

'Now we can only wait to die.'

Sul suppressed the restless flame in his heart. He knew that at this urgent moment, he should not dwell on the past.

'The Shadows of Order trusted their Father too much. No one will come to save us.'

'We can only rely on ourselves.'

He gathered his thoughts and spoke. "We leave."

"Lord Sul, please reconsider. Tens of thousands will die because of your decision," Katon said.

"We have no choice. Even if we fight to the death and hold off the attack, the battle will attract tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of Psychneueins," Sul said coldly.

"Has the House Afiel forgotten the calamity of Tizca?"

"Act immediately."

Afiel's expression darkened. He did not argue further and strode away.

Sul was about to issue orders when the communicator in his helmet sounded.

"Lord Sul, someone is approaching rapidly."

Sul was startled. He looked at the Shadows of Order.

'Could it be?'

After pondering for several seconds, he issued orders.

"Gather."

Sul said to the Shadows of Order, "Someone has come. Let us go out and see."

As cold mist drifted, the two walked side by side out of the outpost's gate.

Sul impatiently looked toward the eleven o'clock direction marked by the Thousand Sons.

Two blazing flames howled across the sky, rapidly approaching.

The one in front stood atop a blazing white spear. He wore white armor.

Not Shadows of Order, but White Scars.

Behind him was another figure draped in a red robe. It was actually Menes Kalliston, Captain of the 4th Fellowship.

Behind them, another White Scar stood on another spear.

'White Scars mastering such refined flame sorcery?'

'Even Lord Kalophis could not do that.'

As Sul pondered, accompanied by two short, sharp booms, the three slammed onto the ground.

Menes's body staggered. His eyebrows were stained with green black frost.

"Lord Menes." Sul stepped forward, fire phoenix arts flowing in his palm.

"It is useless." Menes's gaze swept over the bronze mask at Hasik's waist. A scene flashed through his mind: After Torgun donned the mask, an ethereal gate had materialized from nowhere, from which psychneuein ghosts flew and black-green vines reached out, dragging his father into the gate.

Sul did not stop. His skill in the Pyrae Cult was second only to 6th Fellowship Captain Khalophis, 8th Fellowship Captain Auramagma, and Sobek.

A wisp of flame rose from his palm. Under his precise control, it drew close to his eyebrows but did not truly touch them.

Heat radiated out, covering his brow.

Drip-drip...

Drop after drop of water fell, but the green black color did not diminish in the slightest.

"Lord Sul, the Psychneueins' vanguard is only three kilometers from us."

Sul withdrew his hand unwillingly and quickly informed the three of the current situation.

"...The Psychneueins are attacking..."

He looked at Hasik. "I request that you send warriors to help us evacuate."

"That is precisely the purpose of our journey," Hasik said.

"We have come on Lord Nareth's orders to help you."

Sul glanced at the Shadows of Order who had come to his side.

"Lord Nareth?"

"Correct." Hasik nodded.

"You immediately prepare to tear open the psychic barrier."

"We will hold off those ghosts for you."

"There are over a thousand attacking. You cannot hold them off," Sul said.

"Forgive my bluntness, but even Lord Jaghatai could not."

"They can." Menes glanced at the bronze mask.

His frozen body trembled. "If you don't want to end up like me, don't follow them."

Sul gazed deeply at the two White Scars and nodded slightly.

"Understood, my lords."

He watched the blazing white spear materialize. The two howled into the air.

The Thousand Sons' Librarians rapidly assembled. Aetheric light rose around a thousand Librarians, swirling like spinning stars.

Shimmering silver fire lit up on their gauntlets, growing brighter and brighter, in an instant bursting with light so intense that other Thousand Sons could scarcely look directly at it.

They raised their arms high, all pointing at the sky.

Pillar after pillar of brilliant, dazzling light converged, rushing straight into the heavens.

Rumble!

Thunder roared. Shining silver light swept across a thousand kilometers.

The sky-covering dark curtain was torn down with a thunderous crash, revealing iridescent colors.

Sul withdrew his arms and looked toward the Psychneueins.

An eerie green light suddenly surged, dyeing the sky eerie green.

Whoosh!

An eerie wind suddenly rose. He and the Thousand Sons around him all trembled.

Sul suddenly recalled Lord Menes's warning and thought deeply.

'Could the White Scars possess some special aetheric power?'

'Specifically to deal with the dead Psychneuein?'

As he pondered, the sky above his head suddenly darkened.

A slender white Battleship slowly descended. Dense transports and gunboats howled down.

Sul boarded the Stormbird. Through the narrow viewport, he gazed at the ash wasteland, somewhat dazed.

'I never expected we would truly escape Prospero's doomsday wasteland. But why did Lord Nareth send the White Scars to save us?'

In the fourth layer of the Kingdom of Disorder, Hasik knelt on one knee amid the black mist, holding up the bronze mask with both hands.

"My lord, in accordance with You command, I have bound Magnus's soul fragment within it."

Nareth raised a hand and beckoned. The bronze mask fell into his palm.

He extended his spirituality, probing the Death Consul mask "linked" to himself.

Magnus was placed within the green green mist. His drifting figure looked more solid than the palace soul fragment, and colder.

'I have already obtained the second of Magnus's soul fragments. The Prospero one is one of his five main fragments.'

'Hmm, next is how to use them.'

Nareth pondered briefly, then decided to follow his earlier plan: wait until after advancing to "Earl of the Fallen" before making a decision.

"You have done well."

Both Torgun and Hasik had their fates changed by his corrosion. They would originally have taken advantage of Jaghatai going to the surface to launch a rebellion and seize power.

But just as they were about to succeed in seizing power, Arvida tore open the aetheric veil, allowing Jaghatai to return to the flagship via teleportation.

Torgun Khan, who worshipped Horus, was captured alive, and afterward redeemed himself through meritorious service.

Now he not only did not bear the crime of a traitor, but had also advanced to Sequence 5 "Reaper."

Hasik, as the Noyan-Khan commanding the most White Scars warriors, was slain by Jaghatai when the Legion fell into internecine slaughter.

Now, he had not died in a failed rebellion and power seizure.

Nareth thought of Torgun's reverence for him and spoke. "You will inform Torgun of my honored name and the manner of prayer."

"Afterward, order him to go with Menes, Sul, and the other Thousand Sons to the Eastern Galaxy."

In the Imperium's administrative divisions, Prospero belonged to the Forzare System of the Prospero Sector in the Ultima Segmentum, relatively close to the Ghoul Stars on the eastern edge of the galaxy.

This was convenient for "corroding" them. After gaining this force, their advantage in the war against the Alpha and Night Lords would also be greater.

Hasik asked, "My lord, how may I serve Thee?"

Nareth recalled the Battle of the Kalium, and thought that Jaghatai would most likely return to defend Terra, the usual choice for most loyal Primarchs upon learning of Horus's rebellion.

"You will stay by Jaghatai's side for now, awaiting my commands."

'Hmm, I have horned in on quite a few of Jaghatai's sons, and also saved him a lot of trouble. He not only arrived at Prospero a year early, but also did not encounter Mortarion here.'

'Without Hasik, the warrior lodges within the White Scars were too weak to stir up trouble, and he was not betrayed.'

Although Hasik felt regret, he restrained his urgent desire to serve the Black Emperor.

"By Your Will."

The black mist surged, swallowing Hasik.

When he raised his head again, he was back at the altar aboard the Qingzha.

Hasik came to the door and found Torgun.

"Torgun, I think you have had doubts about many things before."

Torgun nodded. He thought of Hasik's real-time contact with Lord Nareth across countless light-years, and the bronze mask that had suddenly appeared and now vanished.

Flames rose in Hasik's eyes, illuminating his face.

"Now is the moment for you to learn the truth, to understand the truth."

"Come with me."

He turned and walked into the chamber. For the first time, Torgun stepped into a cabin Hasik forbade anyone to enter.

Torgun paused. He gazed at the obsidian altar before him, the thirty-three steps, the eleven burning candles, the black iron scales on the left, and the cast-iron book in the tray on the right.

While he examined them, Hasik quickly re-laid the "Euclidean Rune" and came before Torgun.

"Today I will tell you a truth: the Imperial Truth is an utter lie."

"There are gods in this world. The Black Emperor is the one true god."

"The Black Emperor?" Torgun asked.

"Correct." Hasik's eyes blazed.

"Lord Nareth is the identity the Black Emperor has taken to walk in the world."

"The Black Emperor, Lord Nareth." Torgun's eyes shone as if stars flickered before them.

Three hours later, Torgun, having heard the true word, strode out of the cabin with his head held high.

He had finally proven through action his loyalty to Lord Nareth, no, his faith in the Black Emperor.

He could follow in the footsteps of the one true god of the world.

Torgun accompanied Hasik to the reception room. Menes Kalliston, Captain of the Thousand Sons' Fourth Fellowship, and Sul Kontep, master of the Pyrae Cult, were already waiting inside.

"Lord Hasik, Torgun." Sul spoke gratefully.

"Afiel asked me to convey his thanks on his behalf. You saved thousands of Tizca's people."

Torgun suppressed the truth that wanted to burst from his lips. "The one you should thank is Lord Nareth."

"Of course." Sul said quickly.

"Without him, we could not have escaped the wasteland purgatory."

Menes had changed into new armor. The Apothecary's treatment had faded the green black on his face somewhat.

His gaze swept over the two men's waists. He did not see the mysterious mask.

He restrained the urge to use the Tianxiao arts to probe and spoke.

"Now is the time to choose the path for the future."

"What is Lord Jaghatai's decision?"

"The Father ordered the Navigators to find a way to Terra. He has decided to return to defend the Throneworld," Hasik answered.

"But the Warp turbulence is growing worse, especially the routes to Terra. Until a route is found, the White Scars will disperse into smaller units and harass the traitors."

"I will meet with Lord Nareth. You will come with me," Torgun said.

Menes nodded, but Sul frowned.

"Forgive my bluntness, but Terra is the center of the storm."

"We should return to humanity's homeworld and await the Emperor's and the Sigillite's commands."

Menes knew Sul's reasoning was not wrong, but he had not seen the full picture.

Lord Nareth, Hasik, and Torgun, how had they captured a Primarch's soul fragment, and for what purpose?

Lord Nareth might be the hope of the future.

As he pondered, Hasik spoke.

"Terra will regard you as traitors."

"Neither the Sigillite nor the Terra Guard will trust you."

"We will not stop atoning because of difficulties," Sul said resolutely.

Menes sensed Sul's resolute attitude. He ascended to Magnus's sixth-layer mind state.

Everything around him became clear. He used the Tianxiao arts to perceive his surface thoughts.

"We will not be trusted, which means they will expend strength guarding against us."

"We will also not be deployed to key battlefields. We cannot fulfill our value, much less atone."

As Sul's eyes dimmed, Torgun spoke.

"Lord Nareth will trust you. You will fully unleash your power, striking the traitors' forces on other battlefields, thereby also weakening the strength they can throw at Terra."

Torgun's words struck Sul's heart like a blade.

"In that case, I am willing to go with you to meet Lord Nareth."

....

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