Warhammer: Start with a dog.

Chapter 808 Waiting Only
When Gavial Loken, in his three-headed form as Cypherus, arrived at the entrance to the Temple of Delphus, his now-connected six eyes conveyed what they saw to him from a peculiar perspective.

They disembarked from the rhino troop carrier, the only entrance, where candles were lit on the ground, some extinguished and some still burning.

There are also many offerings and ritual objects with local characteristics, but few locals dare to watch or linger there.

Then, Loken, with his own thoughts, made "Cyberus" "shake its mane".

Then, under the greedy and obsessed gazes of Eribus and Akshub, Cypherus's form instantly grew larger. The abundant power of the three powerful gods flashed past the two of them once again, like fine wine before a drunkard, a jewel before a greedy person, or a delicacy before a glutton.

He then placed his arched leg and the pads of his feet into the sand in front of the entrance with a sense of novelty.

Before them lay a valley of ancient ruins, magnificent and splendid even by Astartes’ standards.

The sandstone cliffs, ranging from orange-red to lemon-yellow in the sunlight, are several kilometers thick and stand tall in the reddish-brown desert. The cliff walls on both sides are carved with many ancient statues that are hundreds of meters high.

Judging from the content and posture of the carvings, it can be roughly seen that these are ancient monarchs of this place—but the jewelry they wear and the tools they hold look much more civilized than those of the modern Devonians.

At the same time, Loken also noticed that although the heads or faces of most of the ancient king statues were damaged, there was no doubt that the remaining parts showed that they looked "more like Terrans" than the Devon natives of today.

"You're very perceptive."

At some point, the Primarch phantom dressed in yellow and black stripes reappeared beside his soul.

"This place was once inhabited by descendants of the Terran colony fleet in much earlier times, and they fared quite well after receiving help from other civilizations."

"Is the current appearance of Devonian a result of regression? Or is it related to...?"

Loken didn't ask the second half of the question, but he believed the other person would understand what he was thinking.

"No, they did not mix with the outsiders who provided assistance."

The other party, as expected, understood his meaning and answered his question.

"There are many factors... but the main ones are likely intentional inbreeding, adaptation to environmental changes, and subspace pollution they have been exposed to."

"Then what was the original civilization...?"

"They learned warp technology from outsiders, and of course, they received warnings. And guess why there are strange tribes on Devon's satellites that look exactly like Devon's own people? Devon doesn't have any ancient traces of large spaceships or orbital space stations, does it?"

"That's right. When we discovered it, there were no traces of advanced technology in the surrounding space or on the local surface... Indeed, then why is there the same race on Devon Moon?"

“Warspace,” said the Primarch’s phantom. “They used the warspace techniques and rituals they learned to cross space and get to the moon. Doesn’t that sound romantic?”

"This is impossible! How could this be possible?"

Loken exclaimed in surprise. The three-headed demon in reality flicked its tail, and the rubble that had been shaken off fell in front of its claws and was immediately crushed into dust. Venom and corrosive saliva fell to the ground from its sharp teeth.

"Even a great creation like the Vengeful Spirits needs a massive warp engine and a navigator to travel through the warp! How could they possibly do this with some so-called ritual?!"

"Their casting techniques and technological level are clearly insufficient for them to build starships. However, their mastery of subspace technology is obviously not very related to their level of technological development, but it allows them to literally 'break through space to transfer entities.' This is why there are Devonian tribes in Devon Moon."

The Primarch's phantom said, "The power of the Warp is just that unreasonable. Do you think the changes you saw in Zavoye Jubo in the Whispering Mountains and our current existence are in accordance with Imperial truth?"

Loken was speechless.

"But it is clear that after many years of mastering and using it well, they finally lost their caution and awe towards the warp and began to abuse it. Subsequently, it is clear that the civilization that abused the resources was destroyed, and the remaining people became wandering tribes on the ruins. These ancient skills degenerated into some kind of religious rituals, and those who mastered them naturally became priests or chiefs—you see, a very familiar process, isn't it? Human settlements often repeat this process in cycles."

“...like Ksunia,” Loken said softly.

“Just like Cthulhu.” The Primarch’s phantom nodded. “There’s nothing new under the sun.”

By this time, the group had traversed a valley filled with statues of ancient kings and entrances to tombs, the terrain gently sloping downwards until they entered a circular area...

“This must be a giant impact crater,” Loken said.

“Yes,” the Primarch’s phantom replied. “The lords of a warp always like to create something out of the ordinary, after all, the meteor symbol itself carries a natural mystical power. Look, the temple is right there.”

A magnificent stone temple appeared before them, its main structure built on a raised platform of rammed earth. The front had an exquisite multi-tiered staircase, which was divided into two sides by three streams of water. At the top of the staircase, there was obviously a reservoir to supply water, as well as a huge stone archway. Behind the archway, a pair of bronze doors with intricate and beautiful patterns shimmered with a mottled dark gold light.

“Look,” Eribas said proudly, “I have spent sixty years and resources restoring the Temple of the Serpent. Here I will offer you… and our master the flame that will ignite the entire galaxy.”

The old woman tapped the ground with her staff, and hissed as she spoke, her voice filled with a venomous resentment, like that of an old desert viper, “Don’t forget me and my people! Messenger!... But the slaves you provided were also of great help in the construction, of course. Don’t forget you still need my skills and assistance, Messenger.”

"Your contributions to this are undeniable, but you are not irreplaceable now."

Eribus glanced smugly at the increasingly tense priestess. "Now, I obviously don't need your help as much in terms of warp technology as I used to, Akshub. Thank you for bringing us here, but your work ends here."

He approached Loken defiantly, glancing at the priestess who was beginning to grow angry. "Am I right, my lady?"

Loken clenched his fists, suppressing the urge to punch the two bastards in the head right now.

"Enough!" the bird-beaked head of Cypherus shouted. "The great task is not yet accomplished, why are you all behaving like this?! My lord will not overlook any servant who has contributed to him, even those who have served other gods."

The priestess breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this and bowed to Cypherus. "Merciful master!" she exclaimed. "Please follow me."

They climbed the steps, and Loken noticed that the three streams of water dividing the steps were rare springs on this planet. He dipped a scaly claw into the water, then extended his forked, slender tongue and licked it. "How strange, isn't it?" said the Primarch's phantom, the tall Primarch with his arms crossed, looking rather displeased.

"It's even too clean. This is treated, pure water that shouldn't exist on this planet—which is one of the reasons why Akshub was able to acquire so many slaves and sacrifices, and why the Coiled Serpent Temple is considered a sacred place with powerful healing and regenerative effects. Just the fact that people switch to drinking clean water for a period of time can help many children or patients with good health recover from illnesses like diarrhea."

"What could be the reason? It's unlikely that her subspace technology would allow her to purify water sources?"

"Obviously not. The warp technology of the Devon priests has been gradually corrupted by chaos over thousands of years, and their skills are mainly focused on how to travel through the warp. The source of this pure water is another group of secret patrons of this temple."

The Primarch shook his head. "I'm still surprised by his confidence in returning to Terra under these circumstances."

The implication in his words made Loken's heart sink again.

They had reached the top of the temple steps, behind which lay the bronze gate at the entrance, behind the stone archway.

"Please come in with me." The priestess murmured a spell in the local script, took the lead and walked to the door and slowly pushed it open. The smell of spices and firewood wafted out, masking the strong, sour smell of the ritual.

Upon reaching this point, Loken discovered that the main design on the door was a towering tree with three roots extending from it, pointing in the direction of three streams of water. The tree trunk was laden with fruit, and two large, spiraling snakes coiled around it, converging at the top.

“No wonder it’s called the Temple of the Coiled Serpent,” he said. “Upon closer inspection, it does look a lot like the symbols used by the apothecary brothers.”

The Primarch's phantom laughed, "After all, it was the Marines who misused it first, and that's why they perpetuated the mistake."

"What? Sir? Are you saying the Space Marine used something wrong?"

“Nothing, I mean, it’s quite obvious that whoever decided on the apothecaries’ shoulder armor insignia must know some ancient army in North America.”

"Is this a mark once used by the ancient Terran army?"

“I saw a similar symbol they used in the Marine Corps medics, but actually… ironically,” the Primarch’s phantom said as they crossed the gate, “the scepter of two serpents is actually the symbol of Hermes, while the scepter of one serpent drinking water is the symbol of Asclepius.”

"Who are they? Adults?"

"The god of commerce, messengers, theft, and eloquence... the latter is the god of healing. ... Alright, watch closely, she's going to take you to the most important place."

Akshub skillfully led them through the various settings in the hall and the clean and mysterious altar stone bed in the center, until they began to walk to an inconspicuous mark at the back, hidden by many carvings.

As if in some absurd dream, amidst a pile of primitive carvings and things like animal teeth and feathers, Akshub lit up a screen, reached out to verify his palm print, and then Irebas entered a series of passwords.

Then, the unique smell of ozone filled the air.

The three of them disappeared from the spot.

Akshub paused with the ancient staff in his hand, and then the smell of burning oil began to fill the air, and a circular secret chamber appeared before them.

Loken immediately realized that, as a secret chamber, it was too spacious and tall, as if it had been built specifically for a very tall figure, since even a figure as large as Cyphers would not need to stoop to move around here.

But what shocked him even more was that just now...

"Were we just now...?"

“You just teleported. That’s right. So the secret chamber is safe on this planet, and no one will discover the secrets inside the temple,” the Primarch’s phantom replied.

“That’s the problem. Akshub may only know it’s some kind of protective measure, but as a senior Astartes officer, you should be able to recognize quite a few of them.”

“Yes… Terra above…” Loken murmured in reply. He recognized some of the expensive and rare generators, as well as the even more expensive power source devices that linked them. Although the markings on them were carefully concealed, their unique design and appearance could not fool those who knew them.

“That’s… Good heavens.” He murmured, looking at the Mechanicus-style force fields and shield generators and other things. “This is terrifying. I always thought Mars was just different from us because of its lifestyle or customs…”

"Come on," the Primarch's phantom snorted heavily. "He forbids the cult of Terra from calling him a god, but how about that? He's the Om Messiah in the mouths of everyone on Mars. You don't know what the Om Messiah means to all Mechanicus followers, do you?"

Loken froze again.

Yes.

Why has no one ever mentioned this before...?
“Then…” he managed to squeeze out the words, his mind a complete mess.

"So it's actually quite easy to win over members of the Cult of Mechanics right now. Because many of them are probably already aware of this. As long as resources and research permits are provided, a Primarch can find allies in the Cult of Mechanics much more easily and efficiently than you think."

A Primarch. For him, knowing more details might indeed be a curse, and bitterness spread through his mouth once more.

At this point, Eribas and Akshub had already begun to introduce and revise some of the names on the magic circles that had been prepared on the ground.

Loken looked around the secret chamber, filled with the painful echoes of betrayal by brothers, betrayal by allies, all kinds of betrayals, and sacrifices, and slowly sat down, waiting.

His commander, his genetic father, and the wolf god's body awaited his arrival.

Loken will also complete his mission here.

Then everything will... flow into the turbulent river of fate.

(End of this chapter)