Emperor's Bane

Chapter 280 Both of them are founders!
"You seem to have changed a lot from when we first met, Ahriman."

"Is there? Why don't I think so?"

While responding to the visitor's words, the son of Magnus was constantly busy in front of his collection cabinet. His staff was leaned against the corner of the wall, and the priceless Chanabar Blade was hung on his waist. .

At this time, Ahriman was happily humming and singing a Prospero-style ballad. He held up the still intact alien-shaped skull with one hand, thinking about where to place it most suitable. .

"Of course you won't notice, Ahriman."

Not far behind the son of Magnus, Hector was already sitting in the seat he liked with ease, tasting Ahriman's fine wine as a guest, and couldn't help but nod in praise.

It has to be said that the Prospero people do have some knowledge in brewing, and Ahriman's brewing technology has indeed improved rapidly in these years, and even has a good reputation among the entire Dawnbreaker Legion.

Hector drank it all in one gulp, and then continued to talk.

"This is normal, because when everyone looks at himself, he is full of blind and dull elements. After all, the eyes are a pair of one-way windows that only open to the outside world. They cannot see the star behind them. spiritual."

"You have indeed changed a lot, reliable Ahriman. It's just that you can't see these changes yourself, but I have seen them: but I'm a little curious. What in our legion changed you?"

"..."

"Your words have changed a lot too, my friend Hector. After all, when we first met, you couldn't say: What changed you?"

The Son of Magnus's words seemed at once an indifferent inquiry and a mere soliloquy, and the Prosperian ditty in his mouth was replaced by a muffled murmur until his eyes finally found A perfect place to display his new loot.

"How do you like it here?"

Ahriman pointed to the place he had chosen to place it, and looked at Hector, and then he was satisfied with a grunt of affirmation, and he quickly placed the few remaining Osiris psionic skulls in the galaxy. It was placed there, between the skulls of several other alien races.

The son of Magnus took a few steps back slowly, checked it again, and sat opposite Hector until he felt that nothing was wrong with it, and watched it while chatting with his friends Your very own loot display case.

Seeing his concentration, Morgan's favored son couldn't help raising his eyebrows.

"When did you start to have this hobby, Ahriman?"

"I forgot too."

The son of Magnus took a sip of wine and answered the question casually. Most of his energy was focused on the display cabinet that occupied at least one third of one wall: the three floors were identical with the latest counters. It is carved from fine natural oak and even exudes a certain kind of grassy smell that makes people feel relaxed and happy when they smell it.

Compared with these counters, which can be called works of art, the exhibits on them are somewhat intrusive: the exhibits that have been collected through exquisite layout and hard work are carefully washed away one by one. Flesh, bleached and polished terrifying skulls, the total number seems to have exceeded thirty, and each one is different. They all come from the various activities that the Dawnbreaker Legion has wiped out in these years. Alien civilization in the field of spiritual energy.

As the most ranked psyker in the entire human empire, Ahriman will naturally not miss these harsh battles that require long spiritual confrontations. He made great contributions in these tragic extermination battles, and even saved many sons of Morgan. His life: so many of the Dawnbreakers already regarded him as half Son of Morgan, and he became a celebrity throughout the Second Legion.

It was during this time that the Son of Magnus developed his strange obsession: as he followed in the footsteps of the Second Legion, ruthlessly destroying a new race of psionic xenomorphs and their homeworld, In the last few seconds when this civilization was declared dead, he killed those opponents who were able to resist until the end, and took away the skull of one of them as a memorial.

Unknowingly, Magnus' son has collected more than 30 skulls. Although most of them did not impress him very much, this does not affect the veteran of the Thousand Sons to continue to enjoy it. , and even specifically collected various opinions, giving his collection a moving name.

The death of civilization.

Hector was very satisfied with the name, and felt that it was full of hypocritical cruelty, but when he looked at the skulls that could even shine in the dark, he looked at the picture under the display shelf that Ahriman used to rest. When he was making the bed, he still had a question.

Did Ahriman fall asleep looking at these skulls every night?

……

He really changed a lot.

Hector secretly sighed in his heart, and when his vision swept over the various weapons displayed in the corner of the room, as well as the [Arena Grand Slam] trophy that had been wiped repeatedly, this emotion couldn't help but become even stronger. deep.

"You think I've changed a lot too, Hector?"

On the side, Ahriman's soft inquiry came to his ears unconsciously, which made Morgan's big guy think for a while, and then gave a vague answer on the sidelines.

"At the very least, when you first came here, none of us would have imagined that you would become a senior member of the arena, and you would also become the champion of the last sword fight."

"It's nothing, Hector. After all, the title of the champion is not true. Many real elites of Dawnbreaker did not participate. Masters of swordsmanship like Terra veterans are basically spectators and referees of the competition: I remember Baya Do you never take part in this kind of competition?"

"The original purpose of this competition is to determine the second swordsman under Bayar."

"……Reasonable."

Ahriman was silent for a while, and then nodded solemnly: Even he had to admit the strength of the second company commander of the Second Army. In front of Bayar, he was still just a rather sloppy [enemy of one combination], and he couldn't even make the serious and kind knight make a second move.

Thinking of this, and thinking of existences such as Akudona, even Ahriman couldn't help but start to doubt: Is it easier to spawn some monsters in terms of combat power in the position of the second company commander of the legion?
Thinking about it carefully, there seems to be some scientific explanation for this conclusion: Generally speaking, the captains of each legion are mostly in the role of commanding, because their real duty is to manage or assist the Primarch in managing the legion, so those Concentrate on martial arts and treat people who are not enthusiastic about other aspects, and you will naturally become the commander of the second company.

Thinking about it this way, it seems reasonable?
In this way, Ahriman was thinking about it in his heart, while chatting with Hector in different directions. They kept jumping up topics and arguments. The friendship of several years has given them a deep understanding of their respective interests and fields. The little boat deftly avoided those unpleasant corners, and stayed long where they could continue their conversation.

Just like...

"Hector."

"I heard: You passed the primary assessment of the Sculpture Artists Association, and now you are an intermediate member of that hobby association? I don't think I have time to congratulate you yet."

"It's just a small thing."

Although Morgan's favored son keeps giving way, his smile has already betrayed his joy: after all, he has worked hard for this assessment for several years, and through these years of hard work, he has successfully let everyone The judges accepted his aesthetics and art and pulled them on the same track.

So, he passed: although his style never seemed to change.

"In the words of the judges, my sculptures are very...fantastical."

"They can always see endless possibilities in those works, just like a climber standing on the cliff, enjoying what kind of scenery there will be under the light of the blue sky above."

Listening to Hector's efforts to suppress his proud boasting, Ahriman's brows furrowed a little: he always felt that there seemed to be something in these comments, but he wisely did not point it out.

"I heard that every work that passes the assessment will be kept and used to decorate the hall of the Sculptors Association: that is to say, when I visit there next time, will I be able to see your work in the hall? "

"It's kind of hard in the short term, Ahriman, because they got into... some kind of dispute."

"How to say?"

Hector was silent for a moment, as if he was thinking about how to explain this matter.

"To put it simply, the work I used to pass the assessment was a large relief, large enough to divide different areas, and tell an event from beginning to end: and the judges were arguing about which area to put it .”

"...you carved many events?"

"Actually, there is only one."

"But the four judges each believed that what I carved was a victory parade of the Legion, a big lecture given by my mother, a meeting of brothers within the company, or a collective investiture ceremony hosted by the Primarch: the four judges each insisted My own point of view was at a stalemate for a while.”

"..."

"So, Hector, what scene did you sculpt?"

"Uh……"

Rarely, on the resolute face of the No. 20 third company commander of the Dawnbreaker Legion, a few traces of rather obvious embarrassment appeared. He scratched his face and hesitated to speak.

"I……"

"What I'm carving is actually the day our Gene Mother reunites with the Legion."

"..."

"..."

"Do you have any photos, can you show me your work?"

"of course."

Ahriman took the photo. Although it was a bit blurry, he could still clearly see the relief carved by Hector. The son of Magnus carefully browsed it several times, his face was filled with strangeness and nostalgia. Circling, and Hector became more and more uneasy.

"What do you see, Ahriman?"

"Uh... no, nothing."

"Perhaps the picture is a bit too blurry, Hecht. I can't see more specific details, so I can't explain my point of view and harvest to you."

"That's it, all right."

While the son of Morgan lowered his head and sighed with regret, Ahriman turned his gaze elsewhere with a guilty conscience because of the lie he had told his friend.

He didn't want Hector to know that on the relief, he saw his appearance when he won the sword fight. The carved appearance was so lifelike, as if he had recorded that moment with a shutter. And then moved it delicately to these reliefs.

……

Ahriman couldn't help sighing.

Hector's artistic level is really getting more and more evil, and with the growth of age, this level of evil seems to have a strange upward trend.

For example, his first work, the statue of Morgan in his mouth, has received no less than [-] answers from [-] visitors so far, and these answers have no regularity with each other.

Why are there more answers than answerers?
Because the same person sees the statue at different times, and the answer he gets will change: for example, Ahriman, when he saw the statue for the first time, he thought that Hector carved the statue. Barton, but in the next few viewings, he saw the faces of several Dawnbreaker warriors.

These fighters are all different, and have nothing in common with each other: if there is any relationship, it is that they all participated in the enthusiastic exchanges with Ahriman at the beginning, and among the many opponents, Ahriman feels the most vividly. The new ones.

He even felt that, deep down, he hated those guys a little bit: maybe that was why the statues changed in his eyes?
……

It's really confusing.

The son of Magnus took another sip of his wine, sighing silently, but just when he was about to continue to slander his friend in his heart, an unintentional glance made him realize something was wrong.

At some point, Hector's gaze left the conversation and drifted to Ahriman's display stand: specifically, he was carefully observing one of the strange exhibits with a suspicious attitude.

"Ariman."

"You told me that these aliens are all races that we wiped out separately in the past few years, and you kept their skulls: but why do I have no impression of this skull at all?"

"Have we ever fought a psionic alien like this?"

"Or, have we fought separately for some time in the past few years?"

"I don't remember: you have been fighting with my No.20 three companies."

"Then, have we ever wiped out the aliens that grew up like this: Then again, this alien skull is really unique. Even with the eyes of a layman like me, I think this skull is very valuable for collection."

"Then, I should have an impression of them..."

Hector looked at the display cabinet and talked to himself blankly. Although his topic was not a serious interrogation, but a rather simple confusion, it was still enough to make Ahriman look horrified. up.

That skull is indeed quite conspicuous: among the savages of the same kind, it actually reveals some dignity and elegance, especially the traces of light green on it, and the patina that can only be formed by repeated playing. It has become the finishing touch, making it more like a work of art than a souvenir.

As such, it stands out: even a little too much.

"..."

"cough!"

Ahriman coughed heavily. Before he could attract Hector's attention, the son of Magnus had put on a trustworthy face, and he answered Hector seemingly casually. Te's words, the tone is flat, as if answering the decision for dinner.

"Ah, you said that, it was the booty I got in an encounter with alien pirates. Its former owner was just a mercenary, and there were no more of the same kind accompanying it, so you have no impression .”

"But like you said: it's really collectible, so I broke my routine and put it on top of this display case. It's beautiful, isn't it?"

"That's it."

Hector nodded. He didn't doubt Ahriman's words too much, but when they clinked glasses again and started looking for new topics, a question that had long since disappeared flashed in his heart, but And quickly disappeared again.

……

Speaking of...

Did Sergeant Traasin say he seemed to have dropped something?

I don't know if I found it.

(End of this chapter)