Warhammer: Black Emperor

Chapter 753 Abaddon, you gained it and then lost it, you might as well not have gained it at all.

Ninglu stared at Ramsay, the newly appointed "shepherd," and gave his instructions.

"After leaving Purgatory Star, you will travel to Sonem 8 to select vengeful spirits and evil spirits to 'graze'."

Upon hearing this, Ramsey immediately recalled the information that flooded his mind when his soul was torn apart.

His core ability after becoming a "shepherd" is "herding," which means herding lambs for the gods.

The souls that are "herded" include vengeful spirits and evil spirits.

“I will obey Your will.” Ramsey bowed and accepted the order.

"This is just a temporary transition." Ninglu pondered for a moment before continuing to give instructions.

"You communicate with the royal court members within the chapter, select those who still wish to fight alongside you after death, and choose them to join the Honor Guard."

"After they die, they 'herd' their souls."

“Every hundred years, the soul of the ‘herdsman’ is replaced.”

The "Shepherd" can only "herd" a maximum of seven souls, and the number of vengeful spirits and evil spirits it can command is far less than that of the "Death" pathway. Similarly, for the "Gatekeeper" of Sequence 5, the souls of extraordinary beings are the ones that can truly exert combat power.

The "shepherd" can select three extraordinary abilities to solidify when "herding" each soul, and these abilities cannot be changed afterward.

By effectively combining twenty-one extraordinary abilities, the Shepherd is arguably the most well-rounded Sequence 5, and when perfectly combined, it can be considered the most powerful Sequence.

The extraordinary abilities "recorded" by "recorders" such as San Diego Bergkamp ultimately fell short of the original.

Even with continuous observation and research, "polymaths" like Alsena Dunn have found it difficult to fully comprehend extraordinary abilities, making perfect replication virtually impossible.

Tierney and other "fire-stealers" were forbidden by Nimrod from "stealing" extraordinary abilities.

Only the "shepherd" can perfectly utilize the extraordinary abilities of other means.

Even without the pre-evolution "Black Emperor" pathway Sequence 5 "Chaos Mentor," its combat power is still difficult to match that of the "Shepherd" who effectively combines extraordinary abilities. After all, although the "Shepherd" can only command one soul at a time and use its extraordinary abilities, it can switch souls instantly.

Even among powerful "shepherds" in the same sequence, two problems still need to be addressed:

One is to acquire a soul. No one wants their soul to be devoured, so they will inevitably resist with all their might.

As the lord of the Tenth Chapter, Ramsay can acquire souls relatively easily.

The original order was in shadow, affecting approximately 23,000 people.

Among them, there are more than 5,000 royal cultivators, and more than 1,000 of them, who are not "Hanged Man" cultivators, are able to acquire the power without any extraordinary abilities.

The Faceless Ones now number approximately 38,000, and there are also over 500 Royal Court monks who are not part of the "Hanged Man" pathway.

It would not be difficult for Ramsay to persuade seven or even seventy people out of a thousand five hundred.

Another problem to face is the suffering of the soul after "herding".

Living in someone else's body is never a good experience, but living in the body of the commander who led them and fought alongside them in life is different.

But Nimrod will not allow them to be "herded" for long; he will require the "shepherds" to replace their souls with new ones every hundred years, thus liberating their original souls.

The "majestic" voice echoed in Ramsey's mind like thunder, and he shivered, bowing his head in obedience.

"Follow Your will."

“You’ve just suffered soul torment; go meditate and rest,” Ninglu said with concern.

Besides the torment Ramsay suffered during his ascension to "Shepherd," he also considered that the Dark Hand had a certain influence on Ramsay during the ascension, and that if he went with Ramsay, something unexpected might happen.

As the chill subsided, Ramsey looked up at the Black Emperor's perfectly sculpted face.

That was the transcendent aura that even a senior "Rose Bishop" bio-psychic could never truly possess, no matter how much he adjusted.

The Black Emperor's awe-inspiring nobility and majesty faded, replaced by the concern of the Father of Genetics, which permeated his body and soul.

Ramsey's mind flashed back to his father rescuing him from the tragic fate of being used as a test subject by the Andresians.

“My Lord, Your voice is a strong armor for the soul in the cold darkness.” “Your voice resonates deep within my soul, helping me overcome pain.”

“I will remember Your voice and care, and meditate on them deep in my heart.”

After Ramsey stepped down, Ninglu immediately walked out of the operations base.

By combining the report from the Auger Matrix chief and the briefings from the First and Tenth Battle Groups, he was able to confirm the location of the Dark Hand.

Blood-red earth, with towering black peaks.

Ninglu spread his golden wings and took flight.

The howling wind lashed against his black armor, carrying with it a stench that only a Primarch could detect.

On the ground, the "Judges" of the First Warband imprisoned the blood-red scarecrow inside an amber-like object, while the "Hermits" of the Tenth Warband silently approached the herd guardians and captured the monkey-like creatures with anesthetic injections.

Suddenly, a black mountain peak came into Ning Lu's view.

His obsidian eyes narrowed as he looked at the massive statue atop the mountain.

The statue is about 10.38 meters tall and is made of stone that resembles black basalt.

Looking down at the statue, Ninglu compared it with the memories of Eldar Warlord Slaw Da and immediately recognized that the statue depicted the goddess Morahai.

After Slau Da entered the shrine of the Howling Banshee Cult, in addition to the statues of the Mola Skeletons on both sides, he also saw the statue of the Old Goddess standing in the center.

Nimrod's gaze immediately fell on one of the statue's peculiar hands, which should have been a broken hand, symbolizing that He sent His two daughters to howl in the ear of their husband, Kane, forcing the God of War to cut off His five fingers.

What should have been an empty space contained a pitch-black hand. The moment his gaze fell upon it, a series of thoughts spontaneously arose in his mind:

Destroy the worlds you encounter, turning them into purgatory.

Kill the emperor, destroy the empire.

……

Trying to corrupt me?
Ninglu curled his lip and instantly ascended to the third level of Thales's mental state.

The jumbled thoughts in my mind shattered with a series of thuds.

His chaotic thoughts vanished, and he flapped his wings and swooped down.

Ninglu raised his right hand and reached for the claw.

call!
His hands suddenly went empty.

The progenitor of the genome missed its target.

Ning Lu rolled over, twisting his falling body. As he raised his hand again, black mist rose from his palm and grabbed at the hand.

This time, he grabbed a dark claw.

As the claws touched him, he felt a sticky, nauseating sensation, as if he had grasped a lump of flesh and blood.

Ning Lu's mind stirred.

Whoosh!
The pitch-black claw vanished into thin air.

Ninglu spread his wings and stood in mid-air.

Guilliman, I've impressed you so many times, this time I'm helping you out.

Without the Hand of Darkness, Mortarion's plague war would have been less devastating for your five hundred... well, your Alteramar would have suffered less.
He recalled that Guilliman, in order to resolve this threat, provided intelligence to Eldar prophet Eldrad Uslan and Evelynn, the leader of the Death Legion, and Evelynn ultimately stole the Dark Hand and retrieved the Eldar artifact.

[Abaddon, you gained it and then lost it; you might as well not have gained it at all.]
Beyond the curtain, a pair of eyes were fixed on Purgatory Star.

　PS: In the official novel "Dark Empire", it describes the replication device created by Mortarion.

　　The design of the Dark Hand is derived from Evelynn's words in the official radio drama "The Dark Hand": "Neither the clowns nor the prophets could retract this ominous claw."

　　
　
(End of this chapter)