Warhammer: Black Emperor

Chapter 598 (4800-word long chapter, please vote!) A communication method unique to the shadow of order
Oliver, the company commander of the Fourth Regiment, had lost count of how many times he had swung his concussion weapon to strike during the long night.

His physical abilities improved slightly when he was a "corpse collector," and he became much stronger when he was a "grave digger," significantly more robust than a regular Astartes.

But he still felt strangely tired after less than a day of fighting.

Oliver glanced at his guards, noticing the widespread rust on their armor, as if they hadn't maintained it for decades.

Crack!

The guards, dressed in the prototype of the Saturn-shaped Terminator, suddenly disintegrated their heavy exoskeleton armor, as if it were a relic from millions of years ago.

Oliver strode forward and swung his concussion weapon.

The shockwave roared as it pierced through the distorted force field of a group of Hruds, tearing their spines into fragments of bone.

"Back off!" he shouted to the guards.

Oliver extended his defensive line, constantly wielding his weapon as he faced the onslaught of more Hruds.

He didn't even have time to look up at the stars.

He had never looked forward to such a thing: the faint light of a star illuminating the earth's surface.

Oliver quickly reached the limit of his ability, taking over the defense of four people all by himself.

The concussion weapon danced like the wind, slamming into the ground with resounding thuds.

Oliver repeated the mechanical motion until a rune mark flashed on the tactical layer of his helmet.

He turned his head and looked at the bare ceramic steel, which was pitted and uneven, as if it had been placed in the natural environment for tens of thousands of years.

The guard's skin thinned, became covered with age spots, his veins bulged and turned blue, and his pulse weakened every moment.

He fell, and dust poured down from the gaps in his armor.

His death took less than a second.

Oliver lost three more members of the Honor Guard in quick succession, each of them dying in a different way.

The only thing they have in common is aging.

The armor of the fifth honor guard member came into his view; the black paint began to bubble and peel off.

Oxidation spots made the black armor dull and lifeless, and the brilliance of his various systems in his spiritual vision dimmed rapidly, turning into a black mass.

As wisps of dust fell, countless Hruds receded like a tide.

Oliver took a deep breath, the sour stench of the Hrud people filling his breathing grille.

He coughed, his voice revealing weariness and old age.

Oliver felt that he had aged forty years overnight.

It's not serious, but it's clearly visible.

Oliver looked up and saw a faint light, knowing that dawn was approaching.

The "psychic" was suddenly struck by the sound of the Hruds' screams echoing in his ears.

He immediately activated "Death Eye".

As if freed from his weary, aging body, his gaze detached from the constraints of the flesh, looking down from a higher dimension.

The "psychic" saw a huge Hrud ghost hovering over the battlefield, twice the size it had been in life.

Within the "Eyes of Death," his head has twelve deep eyes, which are actually the combined souls of thousands upon thousands of Hrud.

Oliver was delighted, as he hadn't encountered many spirits since becoming a "psychic."

The Black Emperor told them that when most creatures die, their spirits enter the warp and become part of the sea of ​​souls.

The spirit only lingers in the real world in special circumstances or when disturbed.

Previously, this situation occurred most frequently in Talos.

The evil will of Shloth exists, capable of overwhelming psionicists and influencing the Sea of ​​Souls.

The Fourth Regiment often encountered the undead in battle, and it was during that war that the Fifth Company Commander, Keon, became a true "spirit medium".

Unfortunately, he missed that battle.

Chapter Master Adams, on the homeworld of the Steel Hands, in the unique environment of Medusa, communicated with many wandering ancient spirits and became a true "psychic".

Is it the Hruds' entropy field that distorts spacetime?
The spirits of Hrud, who died in different times and spaces, are intertwined.
While Oliver was pondering, he sent a message to Adams: "My lord, I have the spirit of Hrud here."

Then, looking down at his own body, he hoisted the shock weapon onto his back and strode toward the writhing undead of Hrud.

The spiritual influence of the "psychic" reached Hrud's spirit, who kindly asked in Dunn, "Can you tell me what's going on inside the tunnel?"

The royal monks activated their spiritual vision, gazing upon the spirits of the dead.

The non-royal monks looked ahead in confusion, wondering who their company commander was talking to.

Hrud abruptly stopped swaying; the "psychic" understanding made him comprehend the meaning of the warrior in the rusty black armor.

His spine was straight and upright, his scaly skin spread out like a cobra threatening its enemies.

Oliver shook his head. He knew these spirits were entangled together, with pieced-together, incomplete memories, and couldn't sense his friendliness.

Oliver thought of the five guards who had died, all of whom were trustworthy brothers in arms.

The "psychic's" gaze turned cold, even colder than his icy body.

He drew his concussion weapon and pointed it at the weak point he saw through the "Death Eye," the upper quarter of the spine.

"If I attack here, you will die."

"Tell me, or die."

Hrud hissed, his body jerking back like a cobra provoked, as if about to launch an attack.

He saw the soldier flick his wrist, and the hammer-shaped weapon was aimed directly at his body.

He felt a chill inexplicably envelop him, and his attack abruptly stopped as he obediently lowered his head.

[This is the Astartes' friendly way.]
Hrud spoke, its voice sometimes sounding like a bat's scream, and sometimes like a mouse's squeak.

The "spirit medium" understood the ancient language of the Hruds through the "spiritual" connection.

"Our archives are located inside the tunnel, housing books from various ethnic groups that we have collected..."

Oliver nodded slightly, recalling the Black Emperor's mention of the Hruds' extensive collection of historical, cultural, and technological information.

They value these materials, and if they are destroyed, Hrud will launch an attack with a storm of fury.

The "psychic" felt the iceberg within his body melting little by little.

From his vantage point above, the figure of the Death Lord appeared at the same time the iceberg completely melted.

[I have become a true "psychic".]
The "psychic" felt his own spirituality become more vibrant, his physical fatigue disappeared, as if he had regained the life he had lost.

Adams walked up to Hrud and spread his spirituality to his deepest regions.

The "Necromancer" spoke in Dunn's tongue, his tone chilling.

"Dead, I want you to be my messenger..."

Hrud raised his arm, wanting to pounce on the black-armored warrior who enslaved him, but as soon as the thought crossed his mind, he trembled and stopped under the cold gaze.

The necromancer uttered the "Words of the Dead," while simultaneously pulling a copper tube from his waist and taking out parchment.

Upon unfolding, the "Necromancer" examined the "Necromantic Contract" that had already been written in Dunn's language.

The content includes provisions that messengers must not snoop on letters, discard letters, or endanger the lives of their contractors.

The obligation of the contracting party is that if the content of the letter involves the messenger, they must inform the other party in advance.

To ensure the validity of the contract, the final part is the revered name of the deity.

After verifying that the contract was not affected by the entropy field, the necromancer took the quill from the approaching honor guard member and wrote in Dunn's language on the parchment:

"The two-headed wolf of Fenris, the guardian of the land of the dead, the death archon subordinate to the Black Emperor."

As the words fell, one after another, dark green flames ignited.

The necromancer took out a pair of black gold whistles, pressed them onto the parchment, and then wrote his name: Adams. After the necromancer finished writing, the parchment floated up, carrying the pair of black gold whistles and a quill pen, and flew to Hrud.

After Hrud's spirit wrote down a long list of names, the dark green flames quickly merged and enveloped the even number of black gold whistles and parchment.

A few seconds later, the parchment turned to ashes, and the black whistle fell unchanged into the palm of the "Necromancer's" outstretched hand.

As Hrud's ghostly figure rapidly faded and disappeared, "the psychic" Oliver watched this scene with envy.

My "psychic abilities" can only communicate with undead creatures, and the threat I just mentioned has no effect if I encounter a powerful undead creature or an undead that is not temporarily bound to the real world.

The lord can not only communicate with them, but also force their cooperation, and even use them as his messengers.
As the "psychic" pondered, he closed the "Eye of Death," and his gaze returned to his body.

"Follow me to the command center and report to our Lord."

“Yes, my lord,” Oliver then pointed to the new tunnel that Hrud had dug during his retreat.

Even as an enemy, Oliver had to admit that the Hruds were natural digging experts, better at digging than the Pluton tunneling machine or even the termite tunneling machine.

Oliver gave the order: "Establish a defensive line."

He then followed Adams toward the tarmac.

Under the pale light, the gray rocks of Gorgis appeared blurred, with shadows and rocks indistinguishable.

Like the entire planet, it is disguised, just like the Hruds.

The technical sergeant commanded workers from Necromonda to crush and sinter stones to build the fortress.

After the two boarded the black Stormbird branded with a green skull on one side, the engine started.

A moment later, Oliver saw a gray armored vehicle through the narrow viewing window. He knew it was a gift that Lord Peturabo had made for the Black Emperor.

After the Stormbird landed, the two walked onto the deck and entered the Black Emperor's command center.

“My lord,” Oliver bowed respectfully, “last night…”

Arsène Dunn, Malena Scala, and Diana Pauline examined the black whistle that Adams held out in his hand, branded with the markings of "XI" and "XXXIII".

"How do I summon your messenger?" Diana asked curiously.

“Blow the whistle and recite in Dunn language, ‘I call in my name the spirit that wanders in the void, the benevolent creature that is at my disposal, the messenger of Adams alone.’”

Diana looked at the Black Emperor, who nodded slightly. She took the whistle and blew it, then opened her mouth and recited the summoning incantation that Oliver had spoken of in Dunn.

After the recitation, nothing changed, but the "hypnotist" felt a chill and coldness.

The "hypnotist" thoughtfully activated his spiritual vision and saw pieces of white bone thrown out from the ground, forming a strange fountain.

A few seconds later, a phantom monster appeared in the room.

The monster stretched out an arm to her, and Diana, who hadn't written a letter, stood there stunned.

Ninglu scrutinized the messenger, thinking to himself.

Is the messenger of the contract in the Sea of ​​Souls, or in a special pocket dimension?
The myth of Fenris mentions the existence of the underworld, which is said to be guarded by the two-headed wolf of death, Mokai. Before assassinating Horus, Rus went there to seek revelation for his success.

But does only Fenrisian creatures travel there after they die, or do creatures like the messenger also go there?
Nimrod decides to travel to the Underworld with Sanchez and Adams, who have obtained the cloak made from the pelt of the Great Wolf of Ruth's Death.

[Yes, but that will have to wait until the "Disordered Kingdom" unlocks the "Black Emperor's" resurrection ability.]
While Nimrod was pondering, Adams told Diana the incantation to end the summoning.

Diana blew the whistle again and recited to the messenger who kept reaching out his hands but received nothing.

"I end the summoning in my own name."

The messenger, having received nothing, disappeared in anger.

Ning Lu thought of interstellar communication, a communication method also based on subspace, and made a silent comparison in his mind.

[Star communication is fragmented, requiring guesswork to reconstruct complete information, while messengers deliver complete information, which is an advantage.]

The downside is that Star Language Communication can be sent arbitrarily.

Messengers can only deliver messages to their masters and receive replies; a large number of messengers are needed for large-scale application.

Overall, it's not as effective as me dragging people into the "Land of Chaos," but among the Legion's high command, it's a completely new method, a communication method unique to the "Shadow of Order."
Nimrod stared at the vanished messenger. He knew that to ensure the validity of the contract, the honorific name inscribed at the end of the letter should ideally be that of the deity of the domain to which it belonged.

This is a necromancer's contract, which normally requires the name of the Grim Reaper, but such a deity does not exist at present.

The second option is to use descriptions of high-ranking figures in the necromantic realm or the underworld itself, but the binding force will not be as strong.

Nimrod was unsure whether Fenris's underworld met the requirements, and he did not trust him enough to entrust his messenger to his jurisdiction.

Before he could cultivate a high-sequence "Death God" pathway extraordinary being, he could only use the magical item corresponding to the Sequence 2 "Death God Archon" associated with him, namely the bronze mask he obtained in the Temple of Mokai in Fenris.

Fortunately, it corresponds to the 2nd position of the sequence, and its binding force on undead creatures, while not as strong as that of a true "Death Archon," is still stronger than that of a 3rd position.

[Using the Death Archon will have negative consequences, so I rarely use it.]

Now, it can finally be used.

Hmm, perhaps if I advance to a higher rank and leverage the power of the "Disordered Nation," I can eliminate the negative impact?
As the "Corrupted Baron" pondered, he looked at Oliver and, seeing the uniform dark green color within him, asked a question.

"You have mastered the power I have given you."

"My lord, today is the day when the lord contracts the messenger."

Ning Lu nodded slightly. "You all go out. Oliver will come in alone in ten minutes."

After the three bowed and left, he had a sudden thought and arrived in the disordered country.

Nimrod brought Shloth's Necrotic Scepter and Cloak of Corpse to the Space Ape and instructed him to prepare the Sequence 6 "Necromancer".

After digesting the "Corrupted Baron" potion, when he opened the other half of the potion recipe on the Profaned Slab, he learned that they were the main and auxiliary ingredients for the "Necromancer".

Nimrod had previously promoted Adams and Keon to "Necromancer".

He watched the space monkeys concoct potions and thought of playing the role of a "necromancer".

[Without undead creatures, the "Necromancer" role is difficult to fulfill; Adams needs more undead creatures to digest.]
His mind raced, and he thought to himself.

[Hmm... In the Colonus expansion zone, there is a world where a large number of undead from two alien races are stranded.]

There's no rush. It's still more than five thousand years before the traveling merchant Solomon Harlock discovers that star system in the thirty-sixth millennium.

My original plan was to conquer the Calithis sector after the grand birthday celebration. Hmm... if I could subdue Peturabo, I would entrust him with the more remote Colonus expansion sector.
As Ninglu pondered, he arrived at the third level of space and gazed at the flag that was linked to him through strands of black silk.

He picked it up, slipped it under his left shoulder and around his neck, and pinned it to the gold halo.

That was an upgraded version of the iron halo that Old Man Huang, the craftsman, made for him after the Battle of the "Wheel of Flames".

When Oliver met the Black Emperor, he noticed that a new flag was fluttering on his left side, and the Dionysian Spear that usually stood on his right shoulder was gone.

[Still, it's my master's asymmetrical style.]

After our Lord borne it, he appeared... to be the most perfect deity.
Oliver felt guilty the moment the thought crossed his mind.

[My Lord, you have always been perfect.]
"Drink him."

Oliver happily took the potion from the Black Emperor's outstretched hand.

It is generally yellow, with some green spots mixed in.

Even before it was opened, there was a strong smell of corpses.

As a seasoned "corpse collector" and "grave digger," Oliver had no aversion to the taste; he took it and immediately tilted his head back to drink it.

Countless illusory figures lingered and moved before me, and a flood of knowledge poured into my mind.

Oliver felt as if he had entered the Land of the Dead.

A moment later, Oliver withdrew the power emanating from the potion.

"My Lord, thank you for your blessings."

He clenched his fist. "Tonight, I can shoulder more responsibility."
Ninglu nodded slightly and stepped outside. He was about to begin preparations to capture the entire Horud of Gorgis.

　PS: The theoretical lifespan of Astartes is not infinite. In the official novel "The Hammer of Olympia", a sufficient number of Hruds will cause the Iron Warriors, along with their armor, to age and turn to dust.

　　After Danteok aged terribly, even the apothecary was unable to cure him and restore him.

　　The game's information has been expanded to include Nimrod's abilities, equipment, and magical items. You can check it out as needed. It will be continuously updated.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)