Warhammer: Start with a dog.

Chapter 569: Belia IV (Part )
*Warning: Since this article involves the Eldar later, it is considered a popular science section with a lot of simple explanations of related terms (otherwise many readers may not understand it at all later). Those who don’t like to read a lot of explanations or who know what the Eldar are can skip it.

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Belia IV is an extremely large planet located somewhere deep within the Eye of Terror. It was once the core planet of the ancient Eldar Empire and is now a Crone World.

Crone Worlds were the name given to the first colony homeworlds created by the Eldar when they first flourished, grew and became powerful, after they were devoured by the Eye of Terror during the Fall.

Their "Crone" meaning is derived from the Crone Goddess Morai-Heg of the Eldar, the ruler of the souls and destiny of mortals in Eldar mythology and legends. Relatively speaking, the Maiden of the Maiden World also refers to an Eldar goddess, Lilith, the girl who represents wealth and dreams. The Maiden World refers to those planets that were transformed from uninhabitable worlds into paradise worlds during the ancient Eldar Empire and escaped the great fall because they were far away from the core home world.

The reason why the concepts of how to describe the history of the Eldar are rarely mentioned in the tone of history books is that the sudden disaster that destroyed the Eldar Empire caused most of the historical records and memories of the Eldar to be lost or lost in the "Great Fall". Therefore, the descriptions of the history of the Eldar known to mankind so far are all colored by myths and legends - but this does not include the oldest Haemonculi among the Dark Eldar. What most living people no longer know is that those most ancient and powerful Haemonculi were one of the initiators of the activities that caused the collapse of the Eldar Empire.

By the way, Murray Haig is the wife of the famous Eldar god of war, Bloody Hand Kane, and the mother of Bloody Hand Kane's two daughters. Because Murray Haig wanted to obtain the wisdom and power contained in her blood, but knew that only Kane could hurt her, she let her two daughters torture Kane with endless sharp howls until Kane finally agreed to cut off the five fingers of the old goddess so that she could obtain the power in her blood. The two daughters were given to Kane by Haig in return, and the path of the howling banshee warrior was named after this.

The Crone Sword that Ivrenee told Malcador and Eldrad to go to Belia IV to seek was forged from one of the fingers of the goddess of fate, Mori Haig, that was chopped off by the god of war, Cain. The Crone Swords correspond to the goddess's chopped-off fingers, and there are five of them. The revelation that Ivrenee got from the god of death who had not yet awakened was that collecting all five Crone Swords would awaken the last god of the Eldar, the god of death, Inned, who would save them from the eternal thirst of the Lady of Thirst. Her Death Army was named after this, and was inspired by the blood of the Crone Priest. She who was resurrected from the dead was also called the Daughter of Shadows and the Daughter of Inned.

Belia IV was once so prosperous, luxurious, beautiful and rich beyond imagination that its rulers, the Eldar, could arbitrarily realize every one of their most secret and twisted desires, from trivial things such as decadent enjoyment that cannot be described in words to great feats such as moving stars at will and forging the sun.

It was so glorious and powerful, the revelry and pursuit of ultimate experience lasted for dozens of centuries. In this paradise where it seemed as if the night would never come, their decadent enjoyment finally made Slaanesh make its first cry. After that, all the life, soul and vitality on the vast majority of planets within the Eldar Empire - that is, within the scope of the Eye of Terror today - were devoured by the birth of the Dark Prince in an instant, becoming His initial sacrifice and nourishment.

Now, according to limited legendary records, except for Belia IV, all other Eldar Empire worlds have been swallowed up by the Eye of Terror and become worlds of death and demons.

There are neither plants nor animals, no water sources or geological activities on it, only stone cliffs and Gobi deserts that are gradually weathered and broken by the invisible pressure and coldness of the Eye of Terror, collapsed ruins haunted by resentful ghosts or demons of the Warp, the sound of whistling wind, and priceless treasures scattered in these black deserts of death - Soul Stones.

Unlike the Dark Eldar who use the intense pain and souls of others to torture their bodies and minds as their own scapegoats to feed the Lady of Thirst to escape their own fate, Soul Stones are a means for the Ark Eldar to keep their souls after death and not be eaten as desserts by the Lady of Thirst who is always greedily watching every Eldar. (However, it still cannot prevent hunters who hunt the Ark Eldar, such as the Dark Eldar or the Emperor's Children, from eating them as delicious candies and desserts.)
When an Ark Eldar wearing a processed Soul Stone dies, their soul will enter the Soul Stone that has been prepared long ago and be preserved in the material world. Those who are particularly wise will also join the infinite circuit crystal of an Ark world through the ceremony of the Ark Prophet Elders to resonate.

The only known origin of Soul Stones is in these crone worlds.

In view of this, it is not surprising to hear rumors that the Ark Eldar disguise themselves and hire human captains and ships who are desperate for money and have nowhere else to go to enter a planet in the Eye of Terror. These aliens will even provide very detailed route maps or intelligence - perhaps spoils from Comoros, relics of the old world, or perhaps from the divination of a prophet.

However, even so, this kind of journey still has a 100% chance of survival and there is almost no return. Even if someone is lucky enough to return and deliver the order, their wealth cannot protect their souls for too long.

However, the demand for it is strong, and there are always adventurers who take risks and think they have both luck and courage to look for this precious ore. Even if they are sold to human collectors, the profit is already so great that a decent soul stone can buy an ordinary merchant ship and all the sailors on it.

When Ivrenee claimed that they had to go to Belia IV to get a Crone Sword, Malcador had already made an estimate in advance, and then asked all non-eldar members to wait where they were. He would go to this Crone World alone with the Death Army, the Ark Eldar, and the pirates.

"I don't see any need to sacrifice humans for their purpose." He told several companions and made them swear to wait for their return on the spot instead of relying on their own passion and bravery to kill (attract) all kinds of monsters during their stay.

His companions swore oaths in the names of those they valued, and Malcador secretly issued orders to monitor a group of them. Only after these arrangements were completed did he board the Eldar starship to protect them as they entered the depths of the Eye of Terror.

Although the Death Army has witnessed the new possibilities brought to them by the Daughter of Shadows and the soon-to-be-born God of Death, as well as the new salvation brought to them by human psykers, relying solely on starships to sail for long periods of time in this overlapping area between the real world and the warp and search for targets is beyond the imagination of most Ark Eldar.

Around this place where Slaanesh was born, the stars might be ghosts that greedily want to devour anyone who approaches, and the planets might be living beings that are never satisfied. The climate here completely violates any natural laws. Hail of blood may blow up in the empty space, and there may be hurricane tornadoes with teeth that grind everything made of flesh and metal into powder.

What allowed them to get through all this was not only the power of the god of death as Ivrene called it, but also the fact that their companions this time, powerful human psychics, helped them to dispel the evil spirits on their way. This made a deep impression on many Eldar.

Now, they finally stood on the surface of Belia IV. As expected, it was still full of demons and ghosts from the past, but if it were just these enemies, they could still handle it. The old man who once had the name of Kaduer and was more commonly known as Malcador found that as he left the Iron Blood, which now also went by the name of Destiny Steel, time and space became increasingly "distant". Although he could still maintain his strength and thinking with the token secretly given to him by a black and white furry tyrant, some traces of past emotions inevitably took the opportunity to stir up the residue from the sediment of memory.

He was standing at the back of the battlefield, staff in hand, staring at the Eldar in front who were fighting the Keepers of Secrets, Chariots of Pain, Lashers or others.

Now here are the Eldar pirates and her bloody bride that Ivrenee brought from Commorra, the subordinates of the Pirate Prince, those among the Ark Eldar who are willing to believe them, and the mysterious clowns even among the Eldar.

Their number was not too large, but all the aliens' bodies were wrapped in exquisite close-fitting armor, which was now decorated with additional gods of the dead and strange alien totems in a new way. The complex and elegantly rhythmic lines and dot patterns were inlaid with soul stones with the souls of the dead in the center. There was an extra comma "wow". This practice had been criticized by many princes, ladies and prophets before. Only Ivrenee, the Army of Death and Eldrad supported him. But when they entered the Eye of Terror and experienced for themselves on the way how good this improved practice was in protecting the soul in battle, the voices of opposition gradually became sparse.

This reminded him of someone's comment, that the Eldar were actually a race that was conceited, arrogant, and self-confident to the point of being bastards, but were extremely pragmatic in some aspects, and it was not impossible for them to be dogs for the so-called "monkeys" for some "charming things" that seemed incredible to others - of course, there was also a sentence added at the end, that it was better not to believe what the Eldar said, because before you successfully become their master, they always feel that they are qualified and should be your master.

However, unlike the Primarchs, Custodes and Astartes that Malcador was used to seeing, whose faces showed a brutal and blunt expression of power and oppression that could almost overwhelm any sentient being in the galaxy, even these remnants of the Eldar Empire were as graceful as their ancestors when they fought.

These aliens did not forget to rotate their limbs during battle, as if they were dancing. Their limbs were taller than those of most humans, and their movement was fluid, more like skating on ice than walking, and more like the posture of a cat than a human's.

This reminded him of some extinct or not extinct cat predators he had seen before. If a raptor or strong brain cat was wearing the skin of a bipedal upright creature, it might be like this. Their double blades and weapons were as deadly as the claws of predators. With the protection of Malcador and the improvement of the soul stone, they were harvesting demons and ghosts on their way like a whirlwind.

In his eyes, the actions of the most mysterious group among the Eldar, the Clown Eldar, were more like a stage sound and light effect.

In some seemingly empty areas, they seemed to peek behind clouds of smoke and light or to fire a sudden shot at a beam; but where the fighting was most concentrated, they rarely set foot.

On the main roads of the dead cities and palaces, the Eldar covered the stone floors with the blood and debris of the demons with strange luster. "It's almost done," said Ivreni, who was once a star in the Comoros Arena. Her fan blade was stained with smelly blood, and she was about to shake it off into the dust.

The dart fragments and the psychic shocks and flames that were triggered filled the entire route forward. The ruins began to narrow, and the terrain on both sides began to rise. Purple fox fire roared out from the darkness, reaching to the sides of the dancers spinning in the air and the advancing warriors.

At certain moments, the clowns jumped to the ceiling, like a drop of crystal falling to the ground and then jumping lightly again.

The gem-like light scattered behind their path, the mark of the broken star darts. All the naked eye could see was the inexplicable smoke and fire, which was the phenomenon of annihilating the dead here. The heat of the living life shone in the inhuman sight.

But at least this was not the case for Malcador. In his eyes with psychic vision activated, the clowns revealed their true faces in another form. They were neither the light and shadow in flowery clothes, nor the flesh and blood moving at high speed that could not be seen clearly.

They are illusions formed by particles of light that have been re-endowed and constructed from the realm of ether, and therefore can move at the speed of thought. However, no matter how they cross the tapestry of fate, they will only penetrate it like light and cannot leave any trace on it.

Their lives and souls have been sacrificed in advance, just to escape the final fate with an eternally frozen smile. Their laughter is extremely cheerful but so empty and hollow. Except for Eldrad, the others don't know what they will face in the end. Although each ending is just a cause and effect ending, he actually feels pity for them when he thinks of those endings.

However, the square they have advanced to now is really a good place to set up an ambush.

The old man narrowed his eyes and clenched his staff.

Their real opponent is about to appear.

(End of this chapter)