Emperor's Bane

Chapter 187 A Mission from the Emperor

[Vulcan, my child. 】

【come over. 】

【I have a task for you. 】

[It's about your sister, your blood relative, that is, my daughter. 】

[My lynx. 】

[My Eros. 】

[My Queen of Dawn. 】

[My greedy vanguard officer. 】

[The master of my second legion. 】

------

For a long time, the Lord of the Fire Dragon has had an uneasy mood: a kind of anxiety, a kind of impatience, a kind of chagrin and hatred for his own incompetence.

The Primarch of Legion No. 18 felt a sense of loss, of dereliction of duty, of flattered panic, whenever he brooded beside the cooling drill, away from the days of war and forging.

He was always reminded of something, always of memories that could not be forgotten: Lankana, Vinicoff, his blood brother Ferrus, and... the Emperor.

His Emperor, his Sovereign, his Gene-Father.

Lord of mankind.

The leader of the empire and all mankind once gave Vulkan: this onyx-skinned giant from Nocturne, a simple task, a task that Vulkan has not yet completed.

In fact, whenever the fire dragon master thought of that mission, he would only feel helpless and inexplicably powerless.

It all began on that day: a day Vulkan will never forget. In the world called Lankana, in the stubborn Vinikov fortress, Vulcan made a very ordinary thing. The choice: He saved a child, a quiet, breathing and smiling baby, in an explosion that would have killed the Primarch.

That child belonged to Lankana, to the enemy who was still fighting with them at that time: but in the thinking of the Lord of Fire Dragons, this was not the reason why he could not save him.

In fact, until the day when Morgan returned, the Fire Dragon Lord didn't know that he was actually a person who could not die: he went to save the baby with the mentality of going to death.

He was willing to shed his blood for them, about life and innocence, about the end of the war: on that day, when everything turned out well, the Lancanas who had witnessed what he had done finally laid down their arms and the blood stopped flowing.

They saw the compassion of the dragon and chose to believe in the compassionate dragon.

On that day, the Primarchs of the Lord of Men and the Iron Hands waited on the hillside at the edge of the battle, and they witnessed Vulkan's deliverance and mercy.

Ferrus was somewhat angry. He rushed to the battlefield regardless of the danger of his life, looking for his brother who was temporarily missing in the explosion, and questioned why the Fire Dragon Lord took his life so lightly.

But the Lord of Humanity has a different attitude: Although the emperor's tone was only a cold one that revealed the truth, he did not mean to condemn Vulkan at all. On the contrary, the emperor looked at his dragon lord and gave gave him a neat task.

------

[Teach your brother. 】

[Teach them...humanity. 】

------

That's all there is to this mission.

This was all that had kept Vulcan anxious throughout the decades: he had dreamed of completing this task, of repaying the Emperor for his kindness in a small way.

The Fire Dragon Lord is ashamed: Whether it was on Nocturne, his genetic father risked his life to save him, or after that, the emperor took Vulkan by his side and taught him carefully for ten years For a long time, this made the Lord of Fire Dragon feel grateful to his father, and also made him feel guilty towards his brother.

The Dragonlord had always felt that his long time at the Emperor's side had crowded out the kinship enjoyed by other brothers: for a full decade no one but Horus had enjoyed it.

But when he was ready to complete the emperor's task with guilt, Vulkan found out sadly that communicating with his brothers was not his forte.

Many years passed, and he did have a friendly impression with all the brothers, and he did have a few words with Horus and Ferus, and he could be called friends: but nothing more.

The so-called teaching is out of the question, and even the Fire Dragon Lord himself has always had a looming sense of loneliness.

Until this day, when the scars of the Battle of Turks gradually cooled on the hard skin of the Salamander, a psionic communication from the Lord of Humans knocked on the thought door of the Lord of Fire Dragons.

The emperor's mission seems to have a turning point.

------

[Vulkan. 】

【my child. 】

[My Fire Dragon Lord. 】

[My forging hand. 】

【I need your help. 】

Before the emperor went to the world where the rotting body of Eleven was stored, a will of his had already come to the mind of the Fire Dragon Lord without anyone noticing.

At that time, Vulcan was lying in a special medical room. Among the three Primarchs, he was the most seriously injured, so he was unconscious all the time. Both Morgan and Johnson had visited their brothers. By this time, only a few of the best Salamanders were by their genetic father's side.

Naturally, they failed to see the golden light that belonged to the Lord of Humanity.

The Lord of Humanity first silently looked at his heir who fell into a deep sleep due to serious injuries, and then, with a sigh, unimaginable power flowed out from the emperor's fingertips, and almost in the blink of an eye, everything on the Lord of Fire Dragons The scars disappeared without a sound.

When Vulkan's mind opened his eyes in the next second, his genetic father had already stood in his mind. Under the emperor's feet were exposed mineral deposits and flowing magma: that was a scene belonging to Nocturne , that is the hometown that Vulcan misses in the galaxy.

The Lord of Men looked exactly as he had seen Vulkan when he first saw him: tall and slender, wearing a long tan cloak fastened to his chest with a round bronze stud, He wore a gold breastplate and instead of a helm, he had a silver turban holding his long jet-black hair in place.

The Emperor looked at his child: in his eyes was the most essential love and pity of a father, something that some poor Primarch would never be blessed to see in his life.

Vulkan stood up and tried to salute his father, but before he could move, the Emperor held his most merciful son, and they walked side by side in the vision of Nocturne, talking What the fire dragon master has seen, heard, and thought over the years is like a pair of ordinary father and son reunited after a long absence.

And soon, the Emperor mentioned the purpose of his trip.

[I have a mission and need your help, Vulcan. 】

The tone of the Lord of Humanity is gentle and unquestionable. When he was thinking about how to tell the mission, the sensitive Vulkan found that there seemed to be a flash of light in the golden pupil of his genetic father. The most instinctive guilt.

[I will soon go to an unknown planet, where I will welcome back one of your blood relatives, that is, my daughter: Morgan. 】

[I will recognize her, give her responsibility and strength, give her a legion, give her my gift and will, so that she can fight against mankind for the Great Crusade. 】

[In that world, in that nameless pile of ashes, I will welcome back my only daughter, your blood relative, we will have a meeting, and a gift from a father to his daughter, maybe not Very happy. 】

[Vulcan, I don't want to deceive you. 】

[I will give your sister a not-so-good gift, a gift that will make people dissatisfied or even repelled. 】

[Hmm... maybe more than one. 】

[They will be semi-finished products, confusing, embellished or congenitally insufficient gifts, but they all have their own functions, and they all contain my deep meaning and some plans. 】

A gleam of light flashed in the eyes of the Lord of Humanity, which made him look a little too cold and heartless.

【Therefore, I need your help, Vulcan, I need your help to complete one of the gifts. 】

"What would that be, father?"

[A weapon, Vulcan, an unfinished weapon, it is still a few steps away from completion. 】

"Could that be a sword?"

[No, that would be a spear, one of my countless unfinished works, and the deadliest one, whose birth required not only fire and a forge, but also countless wars and plunders. 】

[Of course, you don't need to be responsible for that part, that's your sister's business. 】

Vulcan nodded.

a spear...

He imagined Morgan holding a spear, but he always thought it was a little funny.

"What do I need to do, Father?"

"Sculpting? Quenching? Or grinding?"

The forging of cold weapons is a large project that requires more than a dozen or even dozens of steps. Looking at the emperor's face, Vulkan felt that he might be responsible for about one-third of it.

The Emperor didn't answer, he just remained silent for a rare moment, and then slowly took out the gift he wanted to give Morgan.

[The Spear of Eros, you can also call it the Spear of Eros. 】

[In my expectation, it will be a more terrifying weapon than Dionysus and Apollo. Its upper limit is a power that I cannot accurately predict myself, but I am sure that when it is truly forged , it is enough to threaten everything in the real universe. 】

【including me. 】

The Emperor's words were cold and rational, and Vulkan frowned slightly.

Although I thought it might be an unfinished blank, but...

Isn't this unfinished place a bit too much?

Such doubts were fleeting in Vulcan's heart, because his heart was soon occupied by another emotion.

It is an emotion that belongs to blacksmiths and blacksmiths. It is the admiration and passion from the bottom of the heart when a skilled person sees a unique treasure in the world.

The Fire Dragon Lord stretched out his hand involuntarily: even though it was just a flashy projection in the palm of the emperor, it was enough to make Vulkan certain: this piece of metal that has hardly been carved, this piece of metal that Vulkan has never seen before. The precious jade I have seen is a priceless treasure, and it is a legend enough to make any forger spare no effort.

"What is it? Father?"

"How did you get it?"

Vulcan caressed this metallic projection, as if he was stroking his most trusted and valued heir. The Fire Dragon Lord raised his head, looking at his father with the purest desire for knowledge.

Under their feet, the magma on the Nocturne stars was constantly flowing, eroding the already dark surface, leaving behind hideous traces of flowing water.

[It has no name, Vulkan, because it is unique. 】

[I didn't name it, because in my initial expectation, I didn't even plan to use it for anything. To a certain extent, I was afraid of its power. 】

[It is not mined, my child, it is a spoil of war, a treasure that I obtained in ancient times, full of memories of blood and tears. 】

[It was a battle worth remembering and forgetting, Vulkan. I almost died in that battle, but I survived in the end, and gained this battle from the opponent I defeated. piece of treasure. 】

[In the era when human beings did not even leave the holy Terra, I owned it. Although after that, I lost it several times for a short time, but in the end, it returned to my hands. 】

[And every time it is lost, it becomes stronger, and it has some unique powers and properties. The most recent loss is because of one of my companions, who has been with me for a long time, but in the Great Expedition Eve chose the companions who parted ways. 】

[She took it and returned it some time later, and since then, this piece of metal has possessed some very strange powers: powers that are similar to warp space, but distinct from them . 】

[Until I intend to bring you into reality, I decided to prepare a weapon for each of my children. I started an ambitious plan, but this plan is like many of my previous dreams. Died halfway. 】

【Sun God and Dionysus are just the only remaining shadows of this plan. 】

[And now. 】

The hand of the Lord of Humanity slowly placed on that piece of cold metal. He looked at this unique piece of blood treasure, and memories of thousands of years flashed in his eyes.

[I plan to restart it. 】

[Restart part of it. 】

[Through...another way. 】

With the touch of the Lord of Humanity, this piece of metal came alive in an instant.

Under the incomparably astonished gaze of the Fire Dragon Lord, the Emperor whispered a few words and phrases, and with his voice, this indestructible piece of metal unexpectedly changed its shape like flowing water.

Swords, scepters, crowns, magic tools, shields, glasses, hairpins, daggers...

Vulkan even saw it, and at a certain moment it became a book, densely recorded with certain things, in a language unknown to the Primarch.

At another moment, it became a ring, enough to be worn on the slenderest finger, and where the gemstone should have been placed, there was a mass of liquid metal: it was like a white eyeball .

In the next few moments, it also turned into many incomprehensible things: an open door, but you can't see the opposite door; a gorgeous, high throne; There was a short scream.

But such a strange scene came and went quickly, but within a few breaths, this piece of metal changed back to its original appearance, ignoring the emperor's remaining words.

【Look, like this, my Vulcan, it doesn't recognize me, it's waiting for someone who can control it. 】

"So...you chose Morgan?"

【Yes. 】

【She knows how to use it. Although I don't know it now, I have carved the relevant power and thinking into her blood. Those are things that I can do but don't have the time and energy to do. 】

[Soon, my daughter will realize all of this, and she will start looking for a way to forge it. At that time, she may find you, and she may find her other brothers. 】

"Have you told them all?"

【Yes. 】

[Every Primarch who will be involved in the forging of this weapon, I have greeted them, they know what they should do, and now, it is your turn, my Lord of Fire Dragons. 】

[At some point in the future, Morgan may come to you, and she will ask you to teach her the knowledge she forged and tempered, don't doubt, my child, teach as much as you can. 】

【and……】

The Master of Men even smiled and winked at his brood.

[At that time, don't forget my mission. 】

[Do what you can to teach her the true meaning of humanity: she needs this more than anyone else. 】

Vulkan nodded: Even if the Emperor didn't tell in advance, as long as any of his brothers make a request, the Lord of Fire Dragon will give it all without hesitation.

"When will that be, Father?"

【Frankly, I don't know either. 】

The emperor sighed softly. He waved his hand casually, and the wanton flowing magma disappeared in an instant. The sand dunes blown by the wind reflected blood-like scarlet.

【I'm not even sure if she will come to you, Vulkan, I just want to tell you in advance: the truth is, Morgan may never find the correct method and direction to forge this weapon, and it may, She does it all on her own. 】

[Every small change will bring different possibilities, and all I can do is to make every plan and preparation on the premise of guessing all the possibilities. 】

The lord of humanity watched the fake sunset quietly, his face was hidden in a somewhat blurred light and shadow, making it difficult to see clearly.

"future……"

Vulkan murmured the word.

"In the future, will I help you and humans? Father?"

[Of course, my child. 】

The Emperor smiled, but he didn't look back.

【You, Leman Russ, and the brother you haven't met yet. 】

[No matter what kind of future I calculate, you are indispensable. 】

The Fire Dragon Lord didn't speak, he just looked down at the supreme treasure and thought of the protagonist of this conversation.

"What about...Morgan?"

【…】

The Emperor was silent for a long time, then, smiled.

[I don't know, kid. 】

【I have no idea. 】

[The only thing I can be sure of is that Morgan's future will not be the worst, she has survived that stage: I have planned a future for my daughter, but it is destined not to be the one she wants. 】

【She might resist, and might make things worse. After all, I didn't tell her more. 】

【She will hate me. 】

【Of course. 】

[And when she starts to hate me, she will think of this weapon and the power she has to fight back. 】

The words made Vulcan frown, and he fell into deep uneasiness.

"Father, maybe..."

[Okay, don't worry, my Fire Dragon Lord, that's just a bad possibility about the future, maybe the situation won't be so serious. 】

The Emperor turned around, and he patted the Dragon Lord on the shoulder.

【The gift I gave Morgan was the most ruthless one. 】

[But it is also the most precious one. 】

【In any case, when she starts using this weapon, she will do things that are beneficial to me. 】

【She is my child, this is within my expectation. 】

The Fire Dragon Lord's frown didn't dissipate because of this, and he was even planning to take the initiative to find his blood relatives to resolve the misunderstanding between Morgan and the Emperor: it might take a long time.

"Will that be a long time away?"

【……certainly. 】

The Emperor smiled.

【That would be...】

[Things after the Great Crusade, but it's not too late. 】

[After all, at that time, the real thing was just beginning. 】

(End of this chapter)