Emperor's Bane

Chapter 883 Demon Prince Crash Course

"Do you think this blow can kill Omegan?"

"……what?"

Before the last burning tail of the Spirit of Vengeance disappeared from their sight, the Sigillite's mind had already jumped to other issues.

For him, this is both a habit and a necessity.

As the actual helmsman of the Terran government and the person who secretly looks after the entire galaxy for the Emperor, Malcador cannot always focus on just one thing: even if the difficulties are enormous, he can only get a few minutes of preferential treatment from the Sigillite.

But what is truly valuable is that Malcador can really solve the problem perfectly in just a few minutes: even among the Bloodline of the Emperor, this efficiency is high enough to rank among the best.

This is not an exaggeration: not all Primarchs are multi-threaded monsters like Morgan and Guilliman, nor are all Primarchs born masters of politics and management.

Some of the Emperor's descendants are indeed not good at dealing with problems.

For example, Leman Russ's management of the country under his rule is very pessimistic: not to mention how loyal the governors of various places will be to this raw meat and blood-drinking wolf king, at least in Alpharius's database, he is very sure that the wolf king's external confidentiality measures are a mess.

Not to mention Hydra: even Horus's spy agency can infiltrate the country ruled by Leman Russ like a sieve. Many governors and senior auxiliary army officials are actually the Wolf God's men in secret.

Once the war breaks out, these loopholes will undoubtedly cost the Space Wolves Legion a bloody price.

But for some reason, Alpharius had never been kind enough to point this out to Leman Russ.

He has his considerations.

One of the main reasons is: through long-term observation and conclusion, the Lord of Hydra is very sure that the best ending for a considerable number of Space Wolves is to die directly in the great rebellion in the near future, which is a good thing for them and others.

As for Leman Russ?

As long as his Spear of Dionysus could play a real role at least once before the Wolf King died, the Emperor's investment in this project called Leman Russ would never be considered a loss.

Look at it in a positive way: a worthy death is a good ending even for the Primarch.

Besides: these kinds of issues are originally within the responsibilities of the seal holder, aren't they?
Alpharius chuckled inwardly, not feeling the slightest bit of shame for being a burden to his teacher.

For he had long known that the caretaking of the Emperor's troublesome sons was not a great burden to Malcador: the Sigillite could handle these regularly updated daily tasks by simply taking a little time out of his daily work.

After all, there are a quarter of the Primarchs whom the Sigillite never needs to worry about, another quarter of the Primarchs it is useless even if they are worried about, and another quarter of the Primarchs who only the Emperor is qualified to give orders to: as for the remaining small group, it is the problem that Malcador has the courage to take care of.

And if nothing unexpected happens, they are also those with relatively mediocre abilities among the Primarchs.

Alpharius did not wish to be included in this category.

But the facts always ruthlessly refute his fantasies.

In other words: If he could be frightened by a random question that came out of Malcador's mouth, then he was definitely not the type that could be controlled.

Realizing this fact, the Lord of Hydra felt a little frustrated, which was quite rare.

But on the surface, Alpharius always maintained a nonchalant smile. Although his poor on-the-spot performance made the Primarch's smile seem a little stiff, Malcador obviously didn't care about these small problems.

The seal holder just looked forward, as if the person who asked the question just now was not him.

But his dry lips were colliding.

"I say: Do you think these are enough to kill your clone brother who wants to control everything behind the scenes?"

He did not say it specifically, but the Primarch knew what the Seal Bearer was referring to: just as the master and disciple were trying to figure out each other's thoughts, the last ray of fire before their eyes that could illuminate the boundless void was gradually dissipating at the end of their vision until it became invisible.

That was the last echo of the Vengeful Spirit left in this cruel world.

At this point, the ruthless execution by naval artillery was finally declared to have come to an end: even though all efforts had been made, the whole process still lasted for several hours.

After the explosion that was enough to kill it completely, the ancient Queen of Glory still struggled for a long time before finally crashing into the land of Luna.

The Lord of Hydra watched the last moments of the huge warship in fascination: for him, or any calm bystander, the death of the Vengeful Spirit had its indescribable value, and was precious information worthy of careful recollection in the future.

Well, although it sounds a bit disappointing to say this, it is the truth.

Each of the Primarchs present had their own Glorious Queen: some of them even owned more than one such powerful warship.

Horus is the best example. In addition to the most famous Vengeful Spirit, the Warmaster also owns at least two or three warships of the same size. Alpharius alone knows of the Tyrant and the Ruby King: the former is active as the flagship of First Captain Abaddon, and the latter was built to commemorate the friendship between the Warmaster and the archangel.

But despite this, these Emperor's bloodlines who own several Queen of Glory-class ships have never truly felt how much resistance their proud warships have in the face of death: for most people, this is the first time they have witnessed the death of the Queen of Glory, and they can really learn something from this process.

Even Alpharius is no exception.

There was no way. It was his fault that he didn't catch up with the first two Randan Wars. The Dark Angels lost one Queen of Glory in those two wars. By the time the Lord of Hydra participated in the third Randan War, even a powerful First Legion only had one ship, the Indomitable Truth. At least that was the case at the time.

Between trying his best to preserve the only remaining sapling and being shot out as a disposable shell by the iron-faced Lord of Avalon beside him, even the Lion of Caliban knew what choice to make.

Just kidding, if Zhuang Sen insisted on playing the Indomitable Truth, which carried the last bit of glory and thoughts of the former First Army, as a expendable card, then when Morgan planned to do something to him, the inner circle of the Dark Angels might really choose to stand idly by.

But for the Lord of Hydra, not being able to see what he wanted to see was undoubtedly a pity.

But luckily I made up for it today.

The development of the situation did surprise him.

"It's incredible..."

As if he had not heard the question asked by the Sigillite Master before, Alpharius just stared out of the porthole and sighed until the light behind the Spirit of Vengeance completely disappeared from his sight.

"I never expected that without void shields and any effective defensive measures, the Phalanx would launch a full-scale fire attack with almost 100% accuracy, hitting all the vital and vulnerable parts, and followed by every possible explosion and catastrophic collapse chain reaction we could think of."

"Under so many heavy blows, this Glorious Queen was still able to hold on for so long."

The Lord of Hydra was amazed.

"It lost all its combat capabilities in less than half a standard hour, but it was still alive for a longer period of time, able to exert its power and influence in another way: Imagine, if it was on a battlefield or in a place where the warp curtain was not so thick, what could a dying Glorious Queen do?"

"For those small warships that are too close and have insufficient protection, even a single explosion and shrapnel from it would be fatal. If the situation gets worse, the detonation of the subspace engine would be enough to tear the veil between reality and nothingness. By then, I'm afraid the goal of everyone present would change from pursuing victory to escaping this death trap at all costs."

"For the vast majority of people in this galaxy, this is an inevitable end."

Having said this, Alpharius suddenly paused, a strange smile appeared on his pale face, and then he slowly looked at the silent Malcador.

"But for Omegon, no."

With an arrogant attitude, the Lord of Hydra answered the Seal Master's previous question.

"That's all very impressive, but if that's all you need to kill Omegan: it's not enough."

"Because they cannot kill me, I have the means to escape before the execution begins: then he will certainly have the means too."

When he said this, Alpharius seemed a little smug, and he felt as if he had seen through the Sigillite's little thoughts. So, he withdrew his gaze from the afterimage of the Vengeance, paced in the darkness, with a light tone in his voice.

"So, is this your purpose?"

"Taking the opportunity to kill a fallen Primarch?"

The Lord of Hydra stroked his chin, as if weighing the pros and cons involved.

"Okay, I have to admit it."

"Although the success rate is very slim, if we can eliminate this guy who will explode in the shadows and pose a huge threat before it is too late, then it doesn't matter even if we take a Glorious Queen. Besides, this ship is not of much use to Terra."

"I don't think a ship that has always served Horus can be used by Terra immediately: God knows what the machine spirit on it thinks."

"and……"

The Primarch wanted to say something more, but found that Malcador had already taken action: the Sigillite turned around, took a last look at the few remaining clusters of burning air in Luna's sky, then moved his dry torso and began to take off the silver bracelet that was wrapped tightly around his wrist.

During this time, Malcador did not speak, but only glanced at Alpharius intentionally or unintentionally.

Just from this silent glance, the Lord of Hydra saw what he didn't want.

Is that... a denial?
"What? Did I guess wrong?"

The Primarch's brows immediately frowned.

For this Primarch who loves to hide himself and claims to be able to observe and control everything in the shadows, there is nothing more disgusting than finding out that his guess is wrong.

True, Alpharius enjoyed the occasional novelty of a setback or a challenge: but only when he expected it.

Only in front of strangers.

Malcador? That doesn't count!

It is a very frustrating thing to be denied by your former teacher in person!

"You guessed wrong."

But the fact cannot be changed: when the Seal Bearer frowned and tried his best to take off the silver bracelet that had penetrated deep into the flesh, his casual words made the Primarch's face show frustration.

But this frustration was fleeting, and was replaced by excitement of trying again.

"Well, what's the reason?"

Alpharius coughed and stopped bemoaning his mistake, instead taking a step and moving back in front of Malcador: he glanced at the small silver snake struggling with the Sigillite's wrist, on which the Primarch could sense a familiar aura.

Ah, it's her sister.

He should have thought of it earlier. There are not many people that Malcador can trust so much, especially the Primarch.

He even suspected, and still suspected, whether there was some kind of relationship between the Sigillite and the Lord of Avalon that ordinary people did not know about: perhaps the Emperor did not only use Eerda's genes when creating the Primarch?
"Do you want to know?"

The Sigillite naturally would not notice the undercurrents in Alpharius' heart, because he was now struggling with his weapon with all his strength, which not only required him to endure physical pain, but also involved the soul realm.

Therefore, when the Primarch came closer and stared at Malcador's face with an earnest look, demonstrating his inner thirst for knowledge with practical actions, the Sigillite only glanced at him lazily and sneered.

"This has something to do with the Fifth God."

"..."

Alpharius' smile froze on his face.

He was silent.

After a long while, the Primarch pretended to spread his shoulders nonchalantly.

"Um...okay..."

"It seems that this is all I know."

"But to be honest...I don't really care anymore."

Apparently, even the daring Lord of Hydra knew that there were certain boundaries that should not be crossed: unfortunately, such wisdom was not passed on to all his brothers.

Malcador was amused by what he was saying.

At the same time, he finally managed to pull the stubborn little snake off his wrist.

In an instant, a feeling of weakness, not only in the body but also in the soul, quickly attacked Malcador. The already tense-nervous Seal Master seemed to have all his strength drained out at this moment. His dry body swayed and he almost fell to the ground.

At the critical moment, Alpharius rushed forward and supported his teacher.

"I guess that's a disadvantage."

The Primarch steadily supported the Sigillite and escorted him to a chair nearby.

"Not really."

Malcador was breathing heavily, and his condition was far worse than he looked.

"I wore it too long, she warned me, but I wanted to confirm the status of the Vengeful Spirit myself."

"how?"

After knowing that this issue involved the fifth god, Alpharius was unwilling to go too deep into it.

"Not very good."

Malcador shook his head.

"The wreckage of ships that fell on Luna and the debris floating in space may evolve into unstable factors in the future. Once Chaos and the rebel forces invade the solar system, these seemingly harmless ruins may become fatal nodes at any time, causing countless Chaos Demons and corruption to be poured onto this land."

"But I guess you have a solution."

Malcador simply nodded.

"I have a group of people who specialize in this."

"They can accurately locate and remove the debris floating in the void, and make the entire wreckage of the ship that crashed on Luna disappear completely."

"The only problem is how to convince Dorn: he obviously doesn't want the Vengeful Spirit to disappear without a trace."

"I have a solution."

The seal holder closed his eyes, and a hoarse sound like a bellows came from his dry throat. The skin on the back of his hand was tightly wrapped around the dark black blood vessels, looking frighteningly white.

The Primarch saw all of this.

"really weird."

He said.

"If it was Morgan's creation, she wouldn't normally leave such a strong backlash."

"This is a special situation." Malcador covered his shaking hands with his robe. As the highest person in charge after the Emperor's disappearance, he could not show even the slightest bit of weakness.

"This bracelet is important, and in order to maximize its capabilities, Morgan and I had to take some pretty serious risks of backlash: but overall it was worth it."

The primarch nodded.

"Very serious risk of backlash? It's not easy for you to say that."

“How serious will it be?”

Alpharius was curious.

"Generate a subspace rift on the spot?"

"No, it's worse."

The seal bearer glanced at him.

"The ability of this bracelet is [Confusion]."

"Confused?"

"Yes."

The seal bearer sighed.

To be honest, although his heart was filled with praise and trust for the Lord of Avalon when he received this gift and used it well, when the situation cooled down and the excitement in his heart dissipated, the Seal Bearer felt a sense of fear.

After all, this power is indeed amazing.

"The ability of this bracelet is to allow you to confuse the essence of your soul, thereby misleading the Warp and making the Warp as a whole think that you are a demon, or some other Warp-native creature, rather than something from the real universe: in this way, you can be accommodated into the Warp system."

"..."

The Primarch raised a brow.

"and then?"

"Then?"

The seal bearer laughed.

"Then, you are accommodated in the system and rules of the Warp, and can perceive and act like the native creatures of the Warp. You know, because of their own lack of understanding and the veil between the two worlds, when the creatures of the real universe want to observe the Warp in detail, they are always easily misled."

"If they were not knowledgeable, they would not be able to distinguish the characteristics of the various Chaos Powers, nor would they be able to tell the difference between Undivided Chaos and some powerful individuals in the Warp who have not yet ascended to God. Similarly, those traps that are too obvious to native creatures in the Warp are difficult to see through from the perspective of the real universe."

"Even I have to worry about these issues."

“But it won’t.”

Malcador glanced down at his cuffs: he had hidden this deadly artifact in the safest place.

"It will give you the perspective of a Warp creature, allowing you to enjoy the convenience and rules of being a native. You can easily distinguish the subtlest differences between the gods, and know which areas are safe and which are forbidden areas for life. It is with this power that I can accurately distinguish the tiny differences between the Emperor and the Fifth God."

“It’s really impressive.”

Hydra nodded.

"But judging from your performance just now, its side effects are too great to be accepted, right?"

“Because it only confuses, not changes.”

The seal bearer sighed.

"But the problem is that I confused them so deeply and for so long that they could be mistaken for the real thing."

“Both of these sentences are the problem.”

"The former means that even if you are contained by the rules of the warp, your soul will still emit a strong aura belonging to the real universe, which will attract countless native creatures of the warp to stare at you covetously. The longer you wander, the higher the possibility of encountering danger."

“But the latter is the most serious.”

"Even if you can block the malice of the native creatures, if you wander around for too long, it will not be easy for you to escape. This is what happened to me just now. When I used the rules of the subspace too many times, this power began to bind me in turn."

"If I hadn't been able to get out in time, it would have been more than just a confusion: it would have been a mistake."

"Wait...you mean..."

"Yes."

Malcador's smile was a little bitter.

"I'll tell you this."

“There are only three outcomes for those who wear it.”

"First, his body cannot withstand the tearing of the two worlds and the siege of the Chaos Demons. He will be shattered to pieces or turned into a Chaos Egg on the spot."

“Second, his spirit cannot maintain its independence in the long-term confusion and assimilation, and will eventually go crazy.”

"And if one can withstand the dual test of body and soul, believe me, even an Alpha-level soul master can hardly do this. But if someone can really take a one in a trillion chance and succeed, it proves that his power is strong enough: so strong that even if he is completely confused and assimilated into the subspace, he can't be just a demon."

“That’s the third possibility.”

"A sufficiently powerful person, relying on the confusing nature of this bracelet, can successfully transform himself from a creature in the real universe to a creature in the subspace at no cost after a long enough period of time, and with the power he has accumulated in the process..."

The seal holder took a deep breath.

"Become a: Demon Prince."

"..."

"As for whether to be chaotic or focused, it depends on his own choice."

"Wait... wait?"

For the first time, Alpharius felt as if he was having a hard time keeping up with the conversation.

"Demon Prince? Is it that simple?"

"Just wear the bracelet for a while."

"No need for killing? No need for sacrifice? Or something else?"

"Need not."

Malcador nodded.

"This is where the problem lies."

"Using the power of confusion, you can even step over the shackles set by the four gods for their followers. Although you are still a creature in the real universe, it only takes a long time for the subspace to recognize you: because it has regarded you as part of the rules. You have been disguised and distorted for too long and it is impossible for you to take off that layer of skin."

No killing, no sacrifice."

"What kind of real universe creature would be recognized by the Warp as a whole?"

"Oh my god..."

The Primarch nodded, taking a moment to absorb the meaning of these words.

"So, so what do you want to say?"

"What do you think of this artifact?"

"That's not the case."

The seal bearer shook his head.

"I only have two purposes: one is to remind you not to have any bad ideas about this thing."

"I can tell you very clearly that if you wear it for too long, even I won't be able to control it."

"You also saw my predicament just now."

"Although I don't think this thing is useful to you Primarchs, and I don't think there are many people in the entire galaxy who can withstand the double test, we still have to avoid unexpected situations: there is no shortage of maniacs who only pursue power in this world."

"..."

"I'm just curious, Malcador."

The Primarch raised a brow.

"If I give this thing to the Astartes under my command or those powerful mortal psykers..."

"will die."

The Sigillite interrupted him.

"I can tell you responsibly: even at Ahriman's level, the success rate is very low."

"It's essentially a trick."

"If you want to gain the power of the subspace and don't want to be restricted too much by the Four Gods, you can give it a try."

"But that doesn't prevent the extremely low success rate: do you think Morgan won't take that into account?"

The seal holder chuckled.

"I can assure you that Morgan has a hand in such a low success rate."

"Of course, if you're lucky enough..."

"Maybe Morgan can't do anything to you."

"what……"

Hydra thought about it.

"That is to say, if Morgan wanted to, she could definitely create one with a higher success rate?"

"Mass production of Chaos-free demon princes?"

"..."

The Sigillite did not reply, he just stared at Alpharius quietly.

Alpharius smiled and passed over the subject.

"Okay: what about the second point?"

"There is no second point..."

The seal holder shook his head and sighed like a defeated former champion.

"I just feel sad that, without realizing it, her exploration of psychic energy has reached such a level."

"Morgan has surpassed me in psionic power and skill, Alpharius."

"Perhaps only the Emperor can compare to her."

"On certain issues, this Spider Queen may actually be able to do better than the Emperor."

"That sounds really good."

The primarch nodded.

"But I think, no matter how powerful she is, she can't help you at this stage."

"What do you want to say?"

"What I want to say is..."

Alpharius pointed out the window.

"Look there, Sigillite."

"That's where the vengeful spirits died."

The Primarch raised the corners of his mouth, his snake-like pupils reflecting light in the dark environment.

"It is also the wrath of Horus."

"Rather than being impressed by Morgan's power, shouldn't you be more concerned about the imminent danger?"

"This?"

The seal bearer looked in the direction he was directed, and saw no fluctuation in those old pupils, just like a still and calm well.

"Relax, Alpharius."

"Since I dare to go to war with Horus."

"That means I have my own trump card."

"I hope this sentence can help you convince Rogal Dorn."

(End of this chapter)