909.M30.
Aboard the Shadow's Sovereignty, Primarch's Office.
Arsena, holding a data slate, reported.
"My Lord, I have compiled the exploration results from the twenty-five fleets dispatched by the six Chapters. We have discovered thirty-five systems in Sak'trada Deeps, and ninety-nine worlds once inhabited by the Hrud."
Nareth knew the Hrud had fifteen major worlds and eighty-four minor worlds in Sak'trada Deeps. All had now been discovered.
"We have found one hundred five worlds rich in various minerals. However, none are Terra-like worlds."
During the Great Crusade, millions of mineral-rich worlds were discovered. Terra-like worlds, habitable, were the most precious.
The Imperium's mining worlds were, to varying degrees, similar to Terra, and more habitable than the worlds of Sak'trada Deeps.
In fact, he knew Sak'trada Deeps had never been developed by the Imperium. This was why most Iron Warriors considered the missions assigned to them by the War Council meaningless.
It was far from Imperial borders, plagued by time-distorting xenos, and lacked rare Terra-like worlds. The bleak Gorgiis was the closest thing to paradise in the Deep.
Perturabo agreed with them. It might be millennia before the region held any importance for the Imperium.
But what they saw as flaws, he saw as advantages.
He had eliminated the Hrud. Sak'trada Deeps, far from Imperial borders, was his.
"Settle immigrants from populous worlds like Vostroya, Necromunda, and Vigilus to develop the new Sak'trada Sector."
"Viziole will belong to the Fourth Chapter. The other worlds will be administered by the 5th Chapter."
"By Your will." The silver-haired Aide acknowledged, then continued.
"My Lord, I and my 'Detectives' have carefully reviewed all reports. We found no trace of Be'lakor."
"But we did find relevant records in sixty-one mycelium books."
"They depict an evil presence in the shadows, commanding daemon armies, destroying many races, burning many worlds."
As he spoke, he placed a gleaming data crystal on the table.
"I understand." Nareth nodded. He was now certain Be'lakor's shadow was concealing something.
After his Aide withdrew, he quickly reviewed the data-crystal's contents, then went to the third layer of the Kingdom of Disorder.
He picked up the Dice of Prophecy. After the information flashed through his mind, he silently intoned.
'Star chart from Viziole to the world in Sak'trada Deeps shrouded by Be'lakor's shadow.'
'...'
The triangular prism ascent slowed. A hazy shadow formed on its surface.
It rose to its apex slowly, hovered for a moment, then fell slowly.
He memorized the star chart and looked at the now-dim crystal in his palm.
'Divining the world shrouded by Be'lakor has come at a cost. Not surprising for the Shadow Lord, close to godhood.'
'Hmm... from the dice's slower ascent and dimmed light, the cost is less than when I divined the uniqueness.'
'Probably just a few more days of recovery time.'
As he thought, layered prayers echoed in his ears. He stepped out onto the throne in the fourth layer, extending his spiritual energy to touch the orb.
He saw William Wood kneeling at an altar, hands clasped.
"My Lord, I have reached Naktis's orbit."
He thought of how the exploration fleets had found nothing. The dice's anomaly during the divination. The Aeldari warning.
'This relic fragment will not be easy to obtain.'
'I should divine it in advance. William will soon advance to Sequence 5.'
William had possessed divination abilities as a Sequence 9 "Seer." Each advancement had enhanced them. His advancement to Sequence 6 "Faceless" had noticeably increased them.
Soon, advancing to "Marionettist" would enhance his previous abilities by at least fifty percent, including divination.
With this thought, he extended his spiritual energy, transmitting the order.
"Land immediately. Go to the island where the mermaids live."
After instructing William, he thought of other Extraordinaries skilled in divination.
With a thought, three data-crystals appeared in his hand. He encoded the world revealed by the Dice of Prophecy and related information onto them.
He then bestowed two of them on Santiago Borgkamp, Chapter Master of the Fifth Chapter, Sequence 6 "Scribe," and Flamini, Chapter Master of the 6th Chapter, Sequence 5 "Winner."
As they prepared to divine, he returned to reality and shared the information with the "Winner," the gyrinx John, via the link.
John scribbled on parchment. After reading it eleven times, he leaned against his pine bed and fell into a dream.
Through the link, Nareth saw four figures emerge from four misty tunnels, deep underground.
They wielded a jagged blade, a force staff, a corroded greatsword, and a living whip.
The image blurred and shattered.
As John's spiritual energy depleted and he fell asleep, Nareth returned to the Kingdom of Disorder.
He extended his spiritual energy, touching the orbs.
Santiago was using an astrolabe. His hands moved rapidly across the table, arranging crystal stars.
As the constellations, planets, and houses took shape, his brow furrowed deeper.
He clasped his hands, fingers pointing downwards. "My Lord, forgive my inadequacy. I see only a shadow shrouding that world."
"Not only in reality. The other side of the mirror is the same."
Nareth was not surprised that shadow shrouded both reality and the Warp. He turned to Flamini's description.
"I saw a figure with a force staff unleashing psychic flames, incinerating a pus-covered figure to ash. He then walked towards something."
Thoughts raced through his mind. Combining this with John's dream divination, he pieced together the sequence:
Followers of the Four fought. The one with Tzeentch's power won, approaching the relic fragment.
'They may not be followers of the Four.'
He knew Be'lakor had been granted power by the Four. He was an Undivided Daemon Prince.
As the first Daemon Prince, the Four had fought over him like a coveted toy, granting him all their gifts.
Though later, the Four realized it was foolish to favor one who exploited their rivalry. They began granting gifts to others, and Be'lakor lost most of his power. But he still retained a significant portion of each of their gifts.
Thus, he could determine that the four had, willingly or not, acquired a portion of the Four's power from Be'lakor.
With this thought, he extended his spiritual energy, touching William's orb.
He saw the black Stormbird beginning its descent. With a thought, he had the space simian begin concocting the "Marionettist" potion using the Gorgon serpents from Calth.
On Naktis, black mist churned. A pitch-black potion appeared in William's hands. The Stormbird shook.
The mermaids' songs suddenly grew louder, reaching the pilot and William's ears.
As he rose, he felt a moment of disorientation. He suppressed the urge to jump into the sea and swim towards the singing.
The Stormbird shook for a few seconds, then steadied under Jorginho's control.
He looked out the narrow viewport at the creatures on the rocks.
They had human heads, graceful curves covered in dark red scales, and large fish-like lower bodies.
Sensing the engine's roar, they looked up. Their faces were vaguely human, with an indescribable allure in their eyes.
Their melodious songs grew sweeter.
As their crimson lips parted, sharp fangs were revealed. Viscous liquid dripped from their white teeth.
He looked at the potion. Countless tiny, swift-moving worms seemed to swim within.
He did not divine. Following the Black Emperor's order, he drank.
Immediately, his body grew rigid, as if he had slept for millennia.
His joints were heavy, like lead.
He felt tiny worms burrow into each cell. His thoughts slowed.
His lustrous skin, inherited from the gene-father, quickly turned yellow-brown, like an old, bandaged doll.
Granules writhed under his skin, sometimes separating, sometimes merging.
Then, the mermaids' songs entered his ears, stirring his desires, slowly releasing him from his stiffness.
"Meditate!"
He obeyed the commanding voice, reining in the overflowing spiritual energy. The stiffness in his joints and muscles faded.
The newly promoted "Marionettist" organized the information flooding his mind. He saw countless ethereal black threads extending from the island below, from the "Lucky One" pilot.
He knew they were spirit threads. He could manipulate them to directly affect a target's spirit body, astral body, mind, and ætheric body, thus controlling their physical form.
Of course, this had range limitations, took time, and could be detected by those with prophetic abilities.
As he examined his new abilities, black mist churned. A gleaming crystal fell into his hand.
Moments later, Nareth, enthroned in the black mist, received the "Marionettist's" dream divination:
The figure with the force staff picked up a greatsword, formless as shadow.
His eyes lit up. He whispered the blade's name: Blade of Shadows.
He knew the Blade of Shadows was a true relic. It could flicker between solid and ethereal, easily piercing armor, scales, flesh, steel, concrete, or any defense.
'So Be'lakor lost the Blade of Shadows. This is his most important possession.'
'No wonder the Aeldar warned. They do not want the Blade of Shadows returned to Be'lakor.'
He knew the Blade of Shadows might be part of Be'lakor himself, or perhaps an ancient gift of the Four, retained after he fell from favor.
Or both. He had merged the Four's gifts with his shadow power to keep them permanently.
'Be'lakor's Blade of Shadows. The finest relic fragment.'
'If I can obtain the Blade of Shadows, my advancement to "Earl of the Fallen" will far surpass using any other fragment.'
.....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
[email protected]/DaoistJinzu