"It is not enough to take from an enemy their life -- rather take from them also their places of safety, their allies, their homes and their loved ones. Crush all those in their care, lay their chattels to waste and then drive them alone and naked into the darkness. Take everything they have and burn it for the mere pleasure of seeing the ash crackle between your fingers, and call it nothing more than a beginning." — Attributed to Jaghatai Khan, Primarch of the White Scars Legion
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"Sanguinius, you have grown so much." Hearing the naturally noble female voice, Sanguinius's face became embarrassed. He looked to the side and saw a female figure arriving. She was incredibly tall and beautiful, wearing red armor with her black hair in an elegant bun.
"Queen Visenya." Sanguinius, Vulkan, and Horus bowed towards the queen. It wasn't just her status they respected, but the queen's strength was extraordinary. They couldn't believe that a true goddess had actually arrived on the battlefield of a mere mortal dynasty.
"No need to be so formal." Visenya sat in the main seat and said with a smile. Smelling war after decades was quite nostalgic for her.
"It's just a mortal empire, my queen." Horus spoke with a respectful tone. "There's no need for your noble presence on this battlefield. It's too much honor for a blasphemer."
"I know, but Aenar promised me that when the children were grown enough, I could go to the battlefield." Visenya certainly knew that her presence was unnecessary on the battlefield, but she still wanted to participate. She had always studied to command troops; she wouldn't abandon her dream just because she became a mother and queen.
Everyone understood and nodded. Sanguinius handed the battle report to the queen, showing his progress so far.
Visenya looked at the paper in her hand with interest. Reading the numbers in the report and difficult-to-pronounce foreign names, she raised an eyebrow, surprised by the deplorable situation of the Golden Empire of Yi Ti.
"This Empire is in a worse situation than the Targaryen dynasty without dragons." Visenya said with a truly surprised tone at the situation.
"Hundreds of princes in small city-states, the decrees of the so-called God-Emperor do not leave the walls of Yin, the imperial city."
"Currently, Yi Ti is ruled by Yin by the seventeenth blue emperor, Bu Gai. However, the power he possesses is weak compared to the ancient god-emperors, and local governors and tax collectors have conquered a hundred principalities among the provinces."
"In Carcosa, on the Hidden Sea, resides an exiled sorcerer lord, who claims to be the 69th yellow emperor. Furthermore, a general named Pol Qo has proclaimed himself the first of the orange emperors, using the City of Merchants as his capital."
Visenya's voice echoed throughout the tent; the situation of the Golden Empire was laughable; it could no longer even be considered an empire. It was as if within the Empire, hundreds of other countries had great autonomy and did not respect the Imperial Court.
If Aenar were present, he would have thought it looked like the same system as the Holy Roman Empire. But the situation of the Blue Emperor, Bu Gai, was even worse than that of the Holy Roman Emperors.
"It won't be so difficult to conquer such a ruined country." Visenya said, throwing the paper on the table. There was no longer any difficulty with the fifty thousand Astartes; coupled with the precarious situation of the Empire, things became even easier.
(Note: The dynasties of Yi Ti are not represented by clans, but by colors. Somewhat strange, but George Martin is a bit crazy, so it's fine.)
Visenya's thoughts were the thoughts of the Primarchs present. If it weren't for Asshai, Yi Ti should have already been conquered by Horus.
Suddenly, Konrad entered the tent, drawing Visenya's attention. She looked at the future Primarch with a curious gaze. The first impression she had of Konrad was that the man was quite dark. At the same time, he was also a man tormented by his own mind.
A look that reminded her of her husband, Konrad had the same look as Aenar, after her husband saw many timelines. But unlike Aenar, who could recover after a brief rest, Konrad did not have such an ability.
"You must be Konrad; my husband praised you greatly for preventing Horus's advance." Visenya said with a gentle smile. She was always very kind to the Primarchs, almost treating them as family, as close friends whom she could trust almost completely.
Hearing the queen's words, Konrad looked at Horus, who had a slightly somber expression. The future Primarch couldn't help but feel satisfied seeing the expression on Horus's face.
"It is an honor to be praised by the Emperor, my queen." Konrad had already guessed Visenya's identity. Although he didn't know which of the three queens she was, he knew she was one of the three, as the Emperor's daughters were too young.
"I am Visenya, my husband's first wife." She said with an amused tone, her eyes staring at Konrad with curiosity. It was the first time she was seeing a Shadowbinder, mages specialized in using will to tame shadows.
"Queen Visenya." Konrad reiterated, smiling with the almost innate nobility of a king.
"The men my husband chooses are always extraordinary." Visenya said with a tone of admiration for her husband's vision. "The Targaryen Dynasty will not forget your merits, and loyalty will always be rewarded."
Konrad smiled and nodded, but did not agree with the queen's words. Loyalty was not something he believed existed. Just as a wife could betray her husband for lust, a man could betray his wife for greed.
There was always a price for everything, including loyalty. The situation in Yi Ti only proved his point of view. The Blue Emperor was weak and had no control over the princes. Loyalty does not exist in the face of humanity's insatiable greed.
Instead of something so childish, he feared Aenar. This fear was how the Emperor would control him in the future, and he was not dissatisfied with it.
It was his worldview, so Konrad was not dissatisfied with Aenar using fear to control him.
"Where is our brother located?" Sanguinius asked, looking at the map of Yi Ti. He had to admit, this ancient country really had a large population. Of course, during the Five Years of the Long Night, this large population became its greatest weakness, as mass deaths occurred.
(Note: The Long Night lasted two more years after the death of the gods.)
If it weren't for the Emperor ending the Long Night earlier than expected, Yi Ti would be a dead and ruined empire. Even now, the population suffered great casualties. The deeper into the country, Sanguinius noticed large graves, containing the bones of tens of thousands of people.
There were hundreds of these large graves and probably thousands of these graves throughout the entire country.
Horus set aside his personal feelings and pointed to the city named Yin. "He is in that city."
"The capital of the Golden Empire; it's good that it saves us time." Vulkan said in a calm tone, looking at the map full of cities. There were indeed many cities, although these cities were dead at the moment.
"We will divide the army into four fronts; there will be no resistance anyway." Visenya said with a smile, looking at the vast territory to be conquered. She wanted to be considered a Conqueror Queen.
No one disagreed; with fifty thousand Astartes, there was no way Yi Ti could resist; this country was already dead, it was just a matter of when.
"I will go to Yin with Sanguinius." Visenya said with a smile; she wanted to see the so-called God-Emperor of Yi Ti. Although she doubted the man was like Aenar, there was certainly something extraordinary for the man to be considered a living god, right?
Sanguinius showed a bitter expression hearing that he would go with Visenya. He hated this feeling of being considered a child, especially because he couldn't retaliate since they were queens!
If Sanguinius retaliated, he could imagine Aenar choosing the best method to mentally torture him. If there was one thing Sanguinius never underestimated, it was the Emperor's creativity.
A man who could see billions of timelines would lack creativity?
Seeing Sanguinius's expression, Visenya smiled maliciously. She felt she was becoming more and more like Aenar; she also started to enjoy provoking people. Don't blame her for being childish, but entertainment at court was scarce.
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I apologize for the delay, but I spent the whole day solving some problems. They raided my bank account and took out a loan. Fortunately, as I've never taken out a loan before, the amount was tiny. But I still spent the day talking to my bank and changing all my passwords, including my emails.
Honestly, the most incredible thing was that no notification or email appeared warning me of something so important, not even a message on my phone. A
I'm still confused as to how my password got leaked, I don't download anything but games on Steam, I don't open suspicious emails, let alone spam.
I'm really confused, I even blocked the loan option on my account.
In short, it was a shitty day, luckily I only lost a tiny amount.
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Important note: My condolences to Charlie Kirk's family. To die because of different political opinions is madness. I'm still horrified to see people celebrating the death of a man and thinking it's a happy thing that a woman has been widowed and two children orphaned. What a shitty world in which you die because some idiot thinks that only his opinion matters.
Again, my condolences to the family and may his children grow up well and healthy. As strong in character as their father.
Read the advanced chapters on my Patreon!
/GOTSW
Read my other books:
Game Of Thrones: The God-Emperor of Planetos (500,000 words written).
Percy Jackson: Godwyn the Golden.