Emperor's Bane

Chapter 1035 Reaching New Heights
I...saw Conrad.

He is proceeding according to plan, Father: fulfilling his share of responsibility.

Is that so? That's truly rare.
I've even got a well-behaved son: I'm thinking of passing my position to him now.
You'd better not do that: I don't want to be bowing to my son later in life.

+……+
The Lord of Humanity was stunned for a moment before he understood what his daughter meant.

He laughed: it was unclear whether he was laughing at the Spider Queen's acceptance of her gamble on her future, or at the strange ethical relationship between his eldest daughter and youngest son.

I don't think Conrad would disagree with that.
The emperor put down the plan he was working on.

To him, you were like Guilliman and his foster mother: by the way, what was that respectable mortal lady's name again?
[Yorton.]

Ah, Mrs. Euton.
No, it's Ms. Euton: she's not married.

This is not important.
The Lord of Humanity gazed into the distance.

He gazed upon it, his gaze seemingly able to penetrate the great mountain range that stretched across several kingdoms, and on the other side of the golden gate forged in blood and fire, the most important war in the galaxy in ten thousand years was dancing on piles of corpses, singing the praises of two dying races tearing each other apart.

It was a war that seemed to have no end.

Ever since the first Astartes warrior set foot on the filthy land of Comoros, this war of plunder driven by pure greed has never truly ceased: even when the steel torrents under the double-headed eagle banner temporarily slowed their advance, the front lines were still shrouded in the sounds of gunfire and battle cries.

Thousands of Astartes elites clashed with the Trueborn of the Dark Eldar in towers and labyrinths inaccessible by armored vehicles, reaping souls with boning blades and plasma. Every barricade and plaza was soaked in blood before it finally fell to the enemy.
The strategic map in front of the Spider Queen faithfully records these insignificant micro-conflicts, labeled as armed reconnaissance, small-scale, and feints: even if the forces involved in these conflicts could easily sweep through a sector in the real universe, here they don't even qualify as real battles.

Their sole purpose is to depict, at the edge of the Emperor and the Spider Queen's vision, a skyline that forever reeks of burning and sulfur.

It reminds the ruler of mankind just how close he is to the grand vision he has planned for a thousand years.

One more step, just one more small step, and another million lives lost: perhaps success awaits him.

Whenever the Emperor gazed at that line of blood and fire, Morgan could read almost the exact same words in his pupils.

She couldn't tell whether her father had been blinded by this imminent victory, disregarding the perilous situation of the Imperial army in the Comoros, and the alarming disintegration of the legacy of the Great Expedition: nothing could compare to the grand vision born of the Emperor, the last glimmer of hope lingering on the other side of the golden mist.

But the Spider Queen knew very well that whenever the Emperor's gaze lingered on the distance, he would issue an even more resolute order to advance than before.

He tirelessly demanded that the already exhausted army return to the battlefield. Countless warriors who had survived the fierce battles against the Dark Eldar were thrown into an even more cruel hell in the blink of an eye. The losses that were worth considering even in the most prosperous era of the Great Crusade were not even worth a blink of an eye here.

Forward, forward, keep moving forward.

Under the cold sun, there was only one order.

Even though the Astartes' tide has destroyed city after city larger than the world itself, even though the number of Dark Eldar who have died at their hands may exceed the total number since the Great Fall, even though the flames of war continue to burn in this capital of the Web, and more and more pressure is coming from all directions, with countless enraged ancient forces joining the conquest of the Empire.

But the emperor's will never wavered.

He became increasingly resolute and ruthless.

Now that things have come to this, even Morgan dares not rashly contradict his father's orders.

During an argument, she looked directly into the eyes of the creator of the Empire: no one knows what the Primarch of Avalon saw in that brief eye contact, but after a moment of stunned silence, the Primarch instinctively took a step back, lowered her head with utmost humility, and spoke with utmost respect, never daring to contradict any command from the Lord of Mankind again.

She found her place again, like an irreplaceable, high-quality hand-crafted part, quietly witnessing the bloodshed on the Comoros.

She has a clear record of what has happened on this land since the last time the real universe made full contact with Comoros.
Tens of thousands of Astartes have vanished, their lives forever etched on that thin red line. Due to physical exhaustion and psychological escapism, Morgan didn't even bother to carefully count how many Dawnbreakers were among these tens of thousands of losses, but she knew the exact number was certainly far less than that of the other two legions.

Even without paying special attention, the Spider Queen was certain that the losses on the Comoros far exceeded any battle in the Great Crusade, and were now approaching the unrepeatable Randan frenzy. Considering that the war with Randan had lasted for almost two generations, this massacre in the Web was undoubtedly more efficient.

Just over ten hours earlier, Morgan had made his last contact with two other blood relatives: in that conversation, they discussed their respective losses.

Angron and Vulcan were equally unsure of how many offspring they had lost here: but the Lord of Red Sand was certain that he had lost at least six hundred centurions.

The commanders of these hundred-man squads mostly perished alongside their troops, thus providing a glimpse into the approximate losses of the Twelfth Army Corps.

On the other side, the salamanders were also suffering: Vulcan had lost nearly 330 company commanders. Their companies averaged 120 men, and they were all soldiers who would not abandon their company commanders and retreat alone.

In addition, of the seven lords who were appointed to guard the seven great cities on Nocturne in the past, three have been confirmed dead in battle, and two others have been declared missing in the fierce battles on the front lines. Even the usually taciturn Vulcan showed his dejection when talking about these losses.

Even so, the two Primarchs had no effect on the Emperor's order to continue advancing.

This may be a concession to the overall situation.

Or perhaps, having already shed so much blood, they should at least have an ending that has some meaning.

Even the Spider Queen herself wasn't sure what her reason was for continuing to stand there.

She has learned not to care about these things.

She simply gazed at the Emperor, who was also gazing into the distance: the Lord of Humanity had his right hand behind his back, his five fingers slowly clenching as if tearing at each other.

After a long while, the emperor finally looked away.

He looked at his daughter.

Let the fire salamander replace the World Eater.
+Within a maximum of ten Terra standard hours: I hope they can sweep through the streets beneath their feet.
Morgan nodded and passed it on.

The Emperor then looked behind him, where the core of the entire war was emitting a slow, mechanical hum. Priests and engineers were busily working in the distance, like ants on a whirl. They too were contributing their blood and sweat to the war in their own way, and their casualty rate was no less than that of the Astartes.

On the land of Comoros, the imperial army's sole objective was efficiency: not only in the conquest of cities and territories on the front lines, but also in the rear, where necessary security measures were often neglected in order to lay roads and build fortifications as quickly as possible, at the cost of the lives of priests who were unfortunately caught up in the chaos.

The accidental deaths of thousands of engineering elites during several experiments with the tunnel boring machine alone have killed them, but the Emperor did not even frown at this, because behind each bloody experimental accident, he was able to obtain what he wanted in a new round of sampling.

In fact, the network tunnel boring machine has adopted almost all the samples from the Comoros, and its throughput and internal operation have pointed out a clear path for humankind.

The emperor already knew which direction his desired object was buried.

The only question now is, how much blood will they have to shed to get there?

Tens of millions, or more?
After casually tossing a company of World Eaters who had unfortunately fallen into a mysterious path to the front lines, the Spider Queen's gaze lingered briefly on the control panel in front of her.

She didn't look at the priceless treasures designed over centuries and crafted over decades, but instead turned her gaze to a living, breathing person: the only one with the courage to stand beside her and the Emperor in this increasingly tense and oppressive environment.

The Silent Nun, a gift from the emperor, was greeting herself.

What's your name again?

"The Primarch couldn't help but ask."

However, the other party did not answer the original body, but instead held up the record board in his hand so that Morgan could see what was recorded on it.

The Spider Queen's brow twitched.

【Thanks. 】

She spoke to the young nun, then turned to look in the direction of the Emperor.

Father, it's time.

The Primarch shouted at the Emperor.

Let's refocus our attention on the realities of life.

+...Hmm. +
The emperor continued to gaze into the distance, merely nodding.

+It's up to you now. +
In recent days, the Lord of Mankind's favorite thing to do is to keep a close eye on the distant horizon: to stare intently at that front line that is always moving forward, yet seems to remain stationary.

Morgan knew the reason, of course.

Long ago, about two weeks to a month in the real universe, the Imperial army had actually reached the core city of Comoros, which was equivalent to touching the outer walls of the Dark Eldar royal palace: and the treasure that the Emperor longed for was in that throne room.

A single step can lead to a hundred-foot pole: this is true of all.

But then things took an unexpected turn: this seemingly easy final step actually withstood the relentless onslaught of three Astartes legions for almost a month.

Even with the Imperial Guard's 10,000-man regiment, the Silent Sisters, and the Titan Legion all deployed to the battlefield, they still failed to make any breakthroughs on the front lines: a month ago, the Imperial army had roughly advanced to a certain point, and a month later, they were essentially still standing still in the same place.

The reasons for this are varied. Some are due to the fact that the Imperial army's entry into the core city of Comoro has touched the interests of those ancient families, thus presenting them with greater challenges. However, the main reason is not something that can be determined by human factors.

That is: Comoros is just too big.

In those outer urban areas, a seemingly ordinary street might be the size of a continent, or even a world. But even so, when the Astartes entered the core urban area of ​​Comoros, they were still amazed by the ancient Elven people's astonishing spatial technology.

One of these city blocks is perhaps wider than a galaxy in the real universe.

And to measure a galaxy with the footsteps of Astars?
The difficulty can be imagined.

Even though the Imperial army maintained a relentless offensive for a month, never stopping and encountering almost no invincible enemies, their speed of conquest, which was enough to sweep through star sectors in the real universe, was only a few squares forward on the map in this city that could not be explained by common sense.

However, the imperial army still had at least several dozen steps to go before reaching the goal set by the emperor.

Who knows what might happen during this time?

It's no wonder that the Lord of Humanity would lose his composure like this.

In fact, if it weren't for the Emperor's very existence maintaining the safety of the entire war, he would have already launched an attack himself.

But the Emperor cannot do that: he must maintain his power and the system he has built at all times to ensure that the Imperial Army, as a whole, can stand firm on the ancient and dangerous land of Comoros, rather than be devoured by the primal and dangerous energy of this space.

Prior to this, the Lord of Mankind had also attempted to leave behind some power to maintain the system, and with Morgan's help, he personally went to the front lines to participate in the war.

The results were encouraging; the Imperial army had made its largest progress since entering the Comoros: if it weren't for the fact that the rear corps of mechanical priests had been swallowed up by the collapse of the Comoros after the Emperor left, which even interfered with the progress of the project itself.

Since then, the Lord of Humanity has had no choice but to obediently remain behind the front lines.

He dared not gamble that after he left, the next place to collapse might be the location of the tunnel boring machine.

After all, as the homeland of the Dark Eldar, Comoros was certainly unwelcome to the human Empire, an invading force.

With the Emperor's support, this land may not be able to do anything to the Empire's army, but if the Emperor shifts his attention elsewhere, then the Astartes and the Imperial Guard fighting on this land may have to endure more unseen malice during the war.

The Emperor did try to bestow some of his power upon his daughter, the Spider Queen, so that she could shoulder more responsibility; but as it turned out, even the Lord of Avalon had his limits.

Morgan already has enough to do.

She needs to maintain the sector-level front, keep a close eye on the threat posed by the Dark Eldar on the front lines, coordinate the energy resonance with the Emperor, and assist the Lords of Man in meeting the needs of the Web Shield: these are just the main tasks that she must always reserve some of her energy for.

In addition, all sorts of miscellaneous items will occasionally attract the attention of the original entity.

For example, right now...

[Unbeknownst to me, so much time has passed.]

Muttering to herself, Morgan picked up her scepter.

A pale blue psionic light immediately enveloped the Primarch's vision, projecting the Lord of Avalon's soul and senses to a dimension far beyond the reach of sight.

It's time to temporarily turn our attention away from the Comoros and back to the real universe.

After severing their connection, Morgan and the Emperor must know what is happening in the real universe while they are gone.

They may not be able to stop what is happening.

But at least they can take precautions in advance.

Let's start with... Roguedorn.

------

I'm not feeling well today, probably because of the changing seasons. I'll stop here for today. I'll keep the update at 10,000 words tomorrow and try to finish the main storyline of Comoros in the next few days.

(End of this chapter)