Warhammer 40: Shattered Steel Soul

Chapter 242 The Beginning of the Royal Court

They entered one after another and arrived at the oldest deep pit underground in Comoros.

The Haemonculi people, living in the darkness for millennium after millennium, are becoming more and more addicted to paranoid blood fantasies, regarding the beauty of flesh and blood as the only and highest art, and even the bottomless pit of false salvation in their withered spirits and souls. .

This even sometimes made him wonder, what is the essential difference between such an extremely biased and arrogant attitude and those weak relatives of the Eldar race who have embarked on another path of survival?

After capturing the last Haemonculi he invited tonight walking into the maze-like spiral lair, Konrad Curze fell lightly back to the ground, silently tracking the luminous spine transformed into bright metal, Stepping on the mixture of solidified flesh and bones on the ground, and following a series of special statue marks in countless spirals, we headed to the final gathering place.

His cleanliness habits masked any suspicious smells, making his pursuit smoother, as it had done with every previous assassination.

The Eldar - or the branch of the Eldar that Viktor decided to rename as the Dark Eldar, in order to continue their fragile lives in this dangerous world, they have an almost innate ability to sense doubts and omens of danger. of extraordinary sensitivity. Therefore, Konrad Coates does not mind increasing his strength in any way.

Does he really care about his own cleanliness? Curze was glad no one had asked him that.

Silk threads that are thin but strong enough to separate steel are hidden in the corridor, and more venom launching devices and various capture devices are hidden behind the walls covered with black and brown viscous fluid. Some Haemonculi will use memory-assisted potions to successfully overcome the hidden crises in their lairs, allowing the memory potions to drive their flesh and blood bodies.

The Haemonculi he was following did just that.

But Coates doesn't need to.

He peered in the shadows outside the door, happily confirming that more Haemonculi were present than he had expected.

One, two... eight Haemonculi were already harmoniously discussing their scientific research experiences at the long metal-edged table. The appendages with dangerous items such as syringes or neurotoxin guns either put down their weapons or hid their weapons. It's even harder to detect.

Kurtz decided to be late for a while and listen to this valuable academic seminar in the shadows. He closed his dark eyes and let the sound flow into his ears through the air, discerning the connotation behind every subtle difference in tone.

Five minutes later, one of the Haemonculi mentioned Curze.

"Isn't our famous Bloody Marquis here yet?"

"Don't worry, Elliot. Even though he has only been a Haemon for a few years, the Bloody Marquis will not die in the gravity trap just like this."

The other voice was low and cold, it was hard to tell whether it was sarcastic or not.

"Have you made any breakthroughs in your recent research?" A tired voice joined the conversation, ending the discussion about Coz. "Vakira Yuris?"

"My theater needs sponsors." A cold female voice replied, and some metal limbs hit the ground disorderly.

Curze stopped breathing for the moment and concentrated completely on listening and remembering, judging the identity of each Haemonculus, the value they could create for him, and the stability of their respective mental states.

He did not care whether these people loved or loathed him; that was the least of all factors.

"If you need a sponsor, Ms. Uris," said the Haemonculi who was the first to speak, "I can recommend a family to you that does not conflict with the association Conrad wants to establish here... an ancient family. , there is enough gold and turquoise stored in the sub-plane to feed them from the madness day and night."

"Name." Vakira Yuris spit out one word.

"Conrad Curze," Curze answered.

The Haemonculi turned their heads from the long table. Dozens of prosthetic limbs spread out like spider legs. Faces wearing hoods or bone masks looked chaotically at the shadow that penetrated deep into the room.

Deep in the ambiguous shadows, the hidden side door suddenly creaked softly.

Amidst the harsh noises made by the infinitely elongated door shaft, Konrad Coze's huge body, wearing only a loose leather coat, bowed and slid out of the narrow door lightly.

With a slow turn of his head, his pale face, obscured by long black hair, gradually appeared in the sight of the eight Haemonculi.

"Any questions?" Coates asked with a soft smile, "My name is Conrad Coates, everyone."

"You are late." Vakira Yuris said, "Give us a reason, you are the host of our banquet."

"Reason." Coze walked without making a sound. He came to the short side of the long table, held the edge of the table with both hands, and bent down his too tall body. "No reason, unless either of you...are willing to guess."

The Haemonculi were silent behind their masks.

"Okay, I'll do it." A Haemon, hidden in a disturbing position, stood up straight with the two appendages behind his back. The position he set up was enough to make most Eldar lose their correct senses of him, "You Hiding in the shadows, listening to our conversations without regard for our dignity. Now you have heard enough, Blood Marquis, what do you think?"

"Whatever you want," Coates said.

"what?"

Curze laughed softly, as if his laughter was stuck on a part of the melody that only echoed in Curze's own mind.

"You guessed it right, Gabbiad, so what reward do you want? A seat with a higher starting point? A tilt in scientific research resources? More financial sponsorship? Give me an answer for your correct guess. "

There was a small commotion among the Haemonculi, manifested by the rubbing of non-corporeal body appendages and the collision of clothing.

Gabbiad turned off the generator that interfered with his position in displeasure, and old wrinkles filled his deformed body.

"You must learn to respect, Konrad Coze." Gabbiad's voice was weak but high-pitched. "Don't play with power with us, play tricks, and despise dignity. Focus on the path of flesh and blood art, which is the path of darkness. The path of truth. Young people.”

"Focus on the way of art until there is no place for you in Comorragh in the future?" Coze looked at the old Haemonculus with interest and said slowly, "Until all nobles are surrounded by private The Haemonculi as unimportant jesters, we must serve the nobles in exchange for a pitiful amount of research funds? Don't pretend you don't care..."

His tone suddenly dropped: "I appreciate your insistence on the doctrine in your heart, Gabbiad. Unfortunately, that is not my doctrine. Sit down, sit down."

Vakira Yuris was the first to turn his head and look at Gabbiad. The actions of the hostess of the Theater of Pain took the lead. After a few seconds, Gabbiad sat down again. Konrad Curze glanced around, making sure everyone was looking into his dark eyes.

He calmly pulled out a chair stuck under the long table with two fingers, sat down, and moved his shoulders and neck.

"Let us recall, everyone," he said, "recall our status in the past. Nobles and churches, no one dares to offend our dignity, just like I offended you today..."

He laughed suddenly, his face twitching and contorting. Curze covered his face with his hands and slowly rubbed his cheeks until the painful muscles relaxed again. He let out a breath.

"But, what now? Do they still respect us, think highly of us, and provide us with all the precious resources we desire for free, just so that we can give them a chance to be resurrected when necessary?"

"No, my friends. Come out of the blood nest, smell the air of Commorragh, listen to the omens of division and the restlessness of rifles. With your keenness, do you really know nothing about the world?"

"No, you have known for a long time. You have long been aware of this... subtle tremor in the air of Comoros. Otherwise, how could you seniors walking on the noble road be willing to stoop to this level and listen to me? The deviant and strange freaks are making wild claims here, claiming to establish a new association that will include all Haemonculi sooner or later!"

"What kind of people are we? We have skills, but no power! We work independently and have no support. Our skills can be passed down, and even a fledgling fool like me can learn the trick of resurrection! The Blood Lingren Do we as a group deserve respect? Yes! But do we as individuals deserve respect? No!”

Conrad Coates's high tone suddenly dropped, and his body, curled up in pain, stretched again.

"We seem to be inviolable, but any one of us... can be replaced." He whispered softly, "A Bloodling who is not... selfless enough can certainly be replaced by the future ruling group. The other one is asking for a smaller replacement of the same kind; after all, the number of Haemonculi is compared to the number of noble families... After the situation is calmed down in the future, maybe we will become a little... too many."

"I understand what you're thinking, Konrad." Valkyra Uris folded his three free hands on the table. There is also no trace of dust on the surface of this long table. "What's your idea?"

"It's simple, we, um..." Conrad said, "rule Commorragh."

His words elicited a roar of laughter, not from derision but from a general pursuit of the dramatic - for Coates himself led the chorus of laughter.

He laughed openly at himself, forcing others to follow his lead in laughter, igniting the cold air in the room to a nerve-wracking temperature.

"Okay, okay, my dear friends." Conrad Coates pressed down with one hand, like a conductor of an orchestra, to stop the laughter. "I think you want to ask me why I am so wishful thinking, or, let me ask for you, 'It sounds so easy, so what should I do?' Is this a question? Okay, okay..."

"Strife has come," said Vakira.

"I commend you for your outspokenness, Ms. Uris," Coates said.

"I'm honored, Conrad." There was no emotion in Juris's smile.

"Yes, just like Vakira said, the dispute has arrived, the game is being reshuffled, the old rules are falling apart, and the glory of the past will soon serve as the bloody foundation of the new eternal city... While you are busy working for yourselves In looking for new sponsors, or, let's put this more bluntly, 'owners', I am... becoming my own master."

"Comorragh is a port city, friends. Even though she is prosperous, rich and great, there are countless levels between the spiers above and the mills below, and these are just the tip of her iceberg. She is still a network. The port city in the middle of the road..."

"And my partner, Asdubar Victor, is taking over the third port of the Cabal he founded. Amber and gold flow into our pockets, my friends, and our empty hoards are filling up day by day, and The nobility and the church are too busy competing with each other to see this insignificant little society..."

Konrad Coates spread his right hand: "On the other side, friends. I've also gained some brand-new sponsorship. Is anyone, anyone, willing to talk about it?"

"The disastrous dinner of the Church of the Sun." Another Haemonculi said. "How dare you work with a lunatic follower of the Laughing God, Conrad."

"Very good, Zeke." Conrad nodded, "The occurrence of the Great Fall has proved the doomsday prophecy of the Pied Clowns, and they are very powerful. This is not a joke, friends. Those who provoke the clowns will face the real laugh at."

Gabbiad reopened his jamming stance, as if it would give him more security: "What you want to do is fight against the entire Comorian noble system, Konrad Curze, is that enough? The nobility and the church are competitors on the same level. If it were me, I would think that working with some powerful people to fight against others would have more room for success..."

"No, no, no." Coates denied him contemptuously. "We must deny all the depravity, blasphemy, absurdity, disconnection, division, pain and chaos in the past in order to repay all the ridiculous mistakes and bitterness we have committed. of frustration, and of reaching for a higher power that will fully support us... You know who I am referring to, my beloved friends."

Gabbiad shook his head uneasily: "The Pantheon is a joke, Conrad! You can't be like those clowns in colorful clothes and keep replaying those ancient myths. That is irrelevant today!"

"Yes, the past is over, only the future remains. That's why we still have the possibility of winning his favor, Gabbiad." Coz said, "He is full of disgust for Comoros, but he doesn't want to See our eternal city completely lost to the disaster of chaos."

"Val Avatar," Gabbiad muttered.

Coze smiled, and this smile was more sincere than any before. It was like the several Haemonculi people here were old friends who had known each other for hundreds of years, and what was unfolding today was just a harmonious after-dinner dinner. tea party.

His unreserved smile even inspired a giddy feeling in others, though it quickly returned as a warning of greater danger.

Konrad Koz did not deny Gabbiad’s words, nor did he affirm them.

Xuehou's eyes flashed with malicious pleasure: "Then, welcome to the Night Ghost King's Court, my dear friends."

-

"If I remember correctly," said Morse, "we have not seen your brother for two days, Perturabo."

"He has his own business to do, I suppose, although he won't say anything to us." Perturabo continued trying to repair a small piece of machinery from the church. "And I have nothing to do. Commorragh is not a stage for humans."

"At least you have completely conquered a small church, so it doesn't mean you have accomplished nothing."

"Oh." Perturabo broke one of the vertical bars of the machine.

Morse flexed his fingers: "Seeing that you are so bored, go and open a gift. Within ten minutes, someone will come to visit in the front hall, and I am looking forward to it."

(End of this chapter)