Warhammer: Black Emperor

Chapter 602 (3800+ words, please vote!) Eldrad Uslan's Power of Fear

The technical sergeants evacuated everyone before the final step before the stasis device built by Peturabo was activated.

Ninglu pressed the activation rune, then returned to the thirty-three even-numbered black-gold pillars, pulled out the flagpole with his right hand and gripped it tightly, loudly reciting the sacrificial incantation in Dunn.

“In the name of the ‘Red Priest,’ I pray that the ‘Land of Chaos’ grant me power so that the static field may be imperceptible to Hruds outside of Craven.”

The "Corrupted Baron" was instantly drained of his spirit, and the flagpole became scorching hot.

The Primogen's eyes flickered with light and shadow, and its thoughts unfolded.

[Hmm... the quantity is a bit off, much less than I expected.]
Despite the endless stream of Hruds, their numbers were significantly fewer than those of Gorgis in the Primarch's mind perception.

Even though Craven is in the ancient Gan system, it has the fewest Hruds among the three major worlds.

Furthermore, the number of casualties in the Void War, though in the millions, was far lower than expected.
Ninglu was deep in thought, deep underground in Gorgis.

Millions of Hruds frantically dug into the collapsed tunnel.

The blinding light illuminated the underground, causing a sense of disgust and fear, and tens of millions of Hruds fled in panic.

Their distorting force fields converged, and the time ripples caused hundreds of caves to disappear and thousands of tunnels to collapse.

Their limbs, wrapped around the spine, twisted wildly, rapidly opening the path to a disgusting place.

The Hruds, with their hunched bodies and short stature, could bend their limbs in any direction, allowing them to dig faster than termite excavators when they gathered together.

Hundreds of tunnels were being rebuilt at a visible speed, rapidly spreading toward Ninglu's location.

In the Gugan system, a Gothic-style ship with no legion markings and painted green suddenly appeared.

On the bridge, six Eldar stood behind the prophet Eldrad Uslan.

Tall and slender, dressed in a magnificent purple robe and wielding a staff, Uslan issued commands to the human crew in Low Gothic:

"Send a broadcast to all channels with the following content:"

"Humans, this space contains terrifying secrets. If you touch it, you will surely be destroyed."

"Leave immediately and do not come near again!"

Immediately, Uslan entered a state of mind unique to the Eldar, his soul venturing into the vast and boundless sea of ​​souls.

He used the eyes of his soul to capture those tiny threads.

On the surface of Craven, Nimrod's brows suddenly furrowed.

Tens of millions of Hrud surged in frantically, their entropy energy field and distorting power overwhelming the periphery of the static force field.

Tens of thousands of Hruds were torn apart by the two mutually repulsive forces of static field and time ripple, exhibiting all sorts of bizarre changes.

Thousands of Hruds aged rapidly and turned into dust.

Hundreds of Hrud bodies swelled like balloons, then burst open, releasing toxins that turned the earth black.

Dozens of Herudes emerged from their stagnant state and were once again veiled in a hazy mist.

……

We can't wait any longer.

The black and gold pillars, the silence spells, and even the stasis field devices will be destroyed.
Thinking of this, Ninglu loudly recited the incantation in Dunn's language:
"In the name of the 'Red Priest,' I pray that the 'Land of Chaos' will grant me strength!"

"I command Hrud, silence!"

Black mist surged in the eyes of the "Corrupted Baron," and a trace of the power of the source essence was stirred by the priest.

The black mist enveloped the green teardrop-shaped runes, drawing upon the power of the Star God's Silent Tears.

The power of silence, a green force intertwined with black mist, spread rapidly, even exceeding the range of consciousness extended by the Primarch.

Tens of millions of aliens fell silent and froze in place.

Beyond Nimrod's consciousness reach, in the Craven underground, millions of Hruds surged forth, their bodies stiffening.

bang bang bang...

A series of thuds echoed as the earth trembled and resonated.

The crimson chain on Ninglu's right little finger glowed, and his spirituality rapidly recovered.

The Primarch of Genes spread its wings and took to the air, its telekinetic powers sweeping up vast swathes of Hrud and sending them into the "Land of Chaos".

After repeating this five times, his expression suddenly changed.

At the edge of the Primarch's consciousness, thousands of Hruds appeared.

Immediately, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions.

[Indeed, Craven is one of the fifteen major worlds of the Hruds, and its population cannot be less than one hundred million.]

Why were they late?
As Ninglu pondered, countless Hruds gathered together, their entropy energy fields superimposed.

As time rippled and spread, the silent Hrud people rapidly liquefied and died, turning into a pool of slime.

To the Hruds, there was only the repulsive stasis device.

They surged forward in a frenzy, and wherever they went, the distorting force field mercilessly tore apart entire groups of their kind.

After the "Randan War," Ninglu had used up all the talismans he made with the Tears of Silence in Gorgis and in this sacrifice, and he would not be able to perform such a sacrifice again for a short time.

Ninglu absorbed the madness of the Hruds into his mind, and suddenly a flash of inspiration struck him. He opened the sound array channel and issued an order.

"The Hruds attacked the stasis device, and the Second and Fourth Battle Groups immediately launched an attack from behind."

Immediately, Nimrod spread his wings and flew towards the direction where the Hruds were most concentrated.

Along the way, he continuously sent the Hruds into the "Land of Disorder".

In the blink of an eye, Ninglu arrived at the battlefield.

The "Corrupted Baron" infused most of his spirituality into the iron-black banner, whispering "Flame" in his heart, and waved it forward.

The moment the uniqueness of the "Red Priest" was revealed, an invisible and colorless wave of fire was generated.

The surging Hrud was engulfed by the sea of ​​fire, and their combined entropy energy field could distort the macro cannon bombs into dust.

However, when faced with the power of fire, it is like a thin sheet of paper, easily shattered.

Wherever the flames passed, they burned and scorched everything.

The Primarch stared at the sea of ​​fire, and hundreds of thousands of Hruds vanished instantly, without even a burning process.

He turned the unique item in his hand and thought to himself.

Even Magnus and Makado's psionic flames couldn't instantly incinerate 100,000 Hruds.

This is still the result of me only being able to exert a portion of my unique power.

If I could unleash the full power of the "Red Priest," within the realm of flames, only a fully-fledged Burner could rival me.
While Ning Lu pondered, he looked out into the void of the Ancient Gan Star System.

Uslan staggered and fell backward, and two Eldar reached out to support him.

"Prophet, what has happened?" The Eldar language emanated from behind the elegant mask.

"Distorted spacetime...black hole...singularity...destruction..." "Silence...flame..."

"Uslan said weakly, and the Eldar were all stunned. The prophet's words were contradictory and incomprehensible."

"We'll leave immediately."

Uslan gripped his staff and stood up straight.

"Humanity has not yet responded."

“They don’t need a reminder.” Uslan waved his staff, and in the shimmering light, a large gate slowly took shape.

Uslan's eyes stung; the glimpse of fate he had glimpsed caused his soul to ache with excruciating pain.

"Bilak encountered..."

Uslan didn't know how to describe the terrifying flames, which transcended the realm of mortal and warp flames.

“Flames,” he mumbled, “will only bring destruction.”

Uslan raised his staff, and his spiritual power spread out.

bang bang bang...

All the humans on the ship collapsed instantly, their memories erased by psionic energy.

As Uslan led the Eldar through the portal and left the Ancient Gan system, the Fearless Monks were awakened by a song.

Some of the "Singers" from the Fourth Warband and the "Lightbringers" from the Second Warband offered hymns to the esteemed monks.

After dying during the "Unification War" and his remains were wrapped in a semi-mechanical net, the ancient fearless monk of the Fourth War Group was given a new name: Sesegnion.

After being sealed in an armored coffin, Sessegnon was overwhelmed by emotions he had never felt before. He loathed his own death and longed for his intact body, which fueled his anger and rage.

He hated the cold and empty second life.

But when Sessegnon awoke this time, he felt warm and powerful.

"Father, is this the new change you've brought us?" Sessegnon's loudspeaker rang out; each time he awoke, he sensed the changes taking place within the warband.

From a reaper obsessed with killing to a calm and self-controlled shadow of order seeking out the enemy's weaknesses.

The legion had gained many royal monks who had been bestowed upon them by their father, and their powerful abilities amazed him.

A built-in timer reminds him that four years and seven standard months have passed since his last routine wake-up, and a warm song has been added to his wake-up calls.

“Yes, esteemed monk,” the “Singer” replied. The royal monks of the Fourth Warband abhorred sunlight, and those who received it from their fathers were a minority.

For this reason, their duty, assigned by the chapter leader, was to sing for the fearless monks.

“My duty,” Sessegnon checked the screen, “is to kill aliens, Hruds.”

"Let's go, young singer."

“Yes, esteemed monk.” The “Singer” sang again, following the fearless monk.

Loaded with the fearless iron box, the delivery point was only one kilometer from the battlefield. Following orders, Sessegnon activated the thermal imaging system and quickly captured a pulsating mass of hot yellow and red.

He learned from the log that it was the thermal radiation effect of the overclocked atomic activity of the Hrud people's entropy energy field.

Sessegnon quickly switched to the oracles and found that, just as the log had said, he could only see a blurry shadow there.

Sessegnon switched back to the thermal imaging system, raising both arms to aim at the clusters of yellow and red centers.

The technical sergeant modified the weapon system for this mission, mounting twin laser cannons on both arms.

The laser beam struck the entropy field of the Hrud, and then the speed of light broke through all physical limits, exploding outwards.

Four holes burned through the Hruds's protective layer, and four Hruds were cut into pieces.

Sessegnon turned and saw the shadow of order being struck by an alien wielding a two-handed lightsaber.

The Mark III power armor aged and shattered instantly, and as it collapsed, its skeletons scattered.

The shadow of order seemed to have been asleep for even longer than him, as if it had been asleep for millions of years.

Sessegnon's arms swung faster than ever before, beams of light sizzling.

The warmth and courage that filled the air, praising his voice, replaced anger and coldness.

The Singer followed the fearless monk forward, and as he walked through the dust, he picked up a piece of pale leather covered in rotten black spots.

Those were the crystallized power bestowed upon the royal court monks by their father; they were the only things that could remain in the time turbulence of the Hruds.

Reclaiming the power crystals is the responsibility of every royal court cultivator.

After placing the leather away, the "Singer" followed the Fearless Monk.

……

As a faint light appeared on the horizon of Craven, the Hruds, unusually, did not retreat.

They rushed frantically toward the stasis device until the starlight was fully illuminated, at which point they retreated underground.

Ning Lu, who was busy supporting various fronts, glanced at the shut-down stasis device.

The amount of potion materials harvested this time was far less than that of Gorgis.

However, Hrud is still countless; he is my most abundant potion ingredient, surpassing even the burgeoning giant rats of the city.

Hmm... speaking of which, Hrud also has a tail.
Ninglu then looked at the even number of black and gold pillars.

Overall, the ceremony was a success; seventy to eighty percent of the Hruds died on this crazy night.

They tore apart their own kind with their distorting force fields, more than I collected and more killed by the Shadows of Order.

However, from the perspective of the ritual, just like last time, problems arose.
Ninglu frowned slightly. "[The power level of this unique entity exceeds my rank, making it difficult to control.]"

If we were to deal with the hundreds of millions of Hruds in the largest Hrud world—Gugan—in the same way we did the last two times, unpredictable changes might occur.

It might trigger an even more terrible disaster than what Peturabo faced.
Ninglu considered the potential losses of tens of thousands if he didn't use the power of uniqueness, yet he was unwilling to give up the sacrifice.

[Hmm, perhaps I can design a more complete ritual, and even if I can't complete it, I can still use the prophecy dice for divination.]

Once the Silence Charms are used up, while making and accumulating more, a ritual is designed, and divination is performed a year later.
As Ning Lu pondered, the communication bead in his ear rang. He pressed it, and then the voice of Alsena Dunn came through.

“My lord, I went to investigate that imperial ship, but the memories of the people on board have been erased, and the think tanks have not obtained any information.”

Ning Lu's brows, which had just relaxed, furrowed slightly again.

[Who was it? Just came to issue a warning, and disappeared when there was no response.]
After pondering silently for three seconds, he suddenly remembered that the Empire would have received a warning from the Eldar after arriving here.

[Yes, it should be the Elven race, but I don't know who it is.]
Ning Lu collected his thoughts and gave the instructions.

"The people on that ship were settled in Gorgis as the first immigrants."

Nimrod could not allow them to leave, and Sak Trada could not be known to the Empire.

After the war, he needed immigrants anyway, and settling them in place was the best solution.

"Order four warbands to wipe out the remaining Hruds of Craven."

(End of this chapter)