Warhammer: Start with a dog.

Chapter 851 Moses Parting the Sea (Youth Edition)
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"If we were to say which prophecy brought me here and which enemy I am hunting best fits our current situation, it would undoubtedly be Zaedgir."

As the golden light filtered through the dark green treetops of the rainforest, Mephisto explained to them, “My divination book has been strongly telling me that a great crisis is unfolding here right now, so strong that I must leave Lord Dante alone to face the myriad problems of the dark side of the Empire.”

"At first I thought the omen indicated that the long-lost Prospero and the traitor would make some moves, and that the number of psionicists and the Tzeentch cult suddenly appearing throughout the star field had reached an unprecedented level."

“Based on the results of my interrogations and those of my subordinates, the vast majority of these psionicists and cultists who emerged after the Great Rift erupted refer to a single name: ‘Wizard Star.’ They believe it will be the new beacon and paradise promised to them in the future,” Lacerius added, while Ramizane showed no interest in the details of his interrogations.

"...No matter how you go around in circles, you can't escape this monotheistic trick of the Promised Land. I think Loja is somewhat wronged..." Ramizan muttered to himself, but then all four psionicists present looked at him, which startled him and made him immediately dismiss the thought.

"What dangerous things were you thinking about?" Anteros complained again, "For the sake of Saint Gilles and that awakened Guilliman! Can't you just stay here and behave yourself?"

“Oh…” Ramizam replied listlessly, “So, what exactly is the connection between Prospero, Wizard Star, and this Zaedgir? And what is your relationship with him? Are you sworn enemies?”

“Not quite accurate… but you can interpret it that way,” Mephisto said, looking somewhat helpless. “No matter how I divine or try to see the way forward, my divination book keeps mentioning his name and that Sabathus will bring an even more terrifying and irreversible threat to the galaxy, which is now split apart by the rift.”

Ramizann was completely unaware of the meaning behind Mephisto's words, so he merely nodded as if he understood. Meanwhile, Zao Eifernetti silently turned his head away from Ramizann's embrace to hide the uncontrollable fear and disgust on his face.

The boy saw a lot through involuntary psychic resonance while speaking in Mephisto.

Blood, flesh, peeled skin, blood threads running through countless dead bodies, enormous blood wings, the vengeful spirits of the dead, countless corpses—the pungent, steaming stench of blood almost tangibly assaulted Zaan's nostrils and lungs. He disliked this smell, even though fresh, similar odors wafted through the hive every day.

—He had to help Ramizan stay away from these Astartes who lurked in the shadows, carrying too much bloodshed… He pondered. As fellow Space Marines, these people, judging from Ramizan's tone and the thoughts flowing through his mind, seemed to be more “loyal” “Imperial”? But…

He once again glanced at the Mephiston think tank trio with a puzzled look out of the corner of his eye.

...To be honest, the number of blood-soaked vengeful spirits surrounding this trio was far greater than any cultist wizard he had ever seen when he was an assistant to the Inquisitor...

...Is repeatedly doing such things considered a form of loyalty...? Especially since the evil spirits inside have long since vanished, and what remains seems to be... truly vengeful souls...

"That's not surprising, after all, Prospero is a very important place name for witchcraft or symbolism. So, is Sabathus the only planet left here that still has inhabitants?"

“As far as I know, that is the case,” Morpheus replied. “It is well known that Prospero’s true form has been missing from the physical universe for ten thousand years. A theory that has recently gained increasing acceptance is that the ‘Wizard Star’ is very likely the Prospero that fell into the warp wave, and the Demon Prince’s desire for revenge is to bring the ‘Wizard Star’, that is, the demonized Prospero, back to the physical universe.”

If I didn't know what had happened, it would make perfect sense. Ramizam thought, but this time no one was looking at him except Zao. He looked down at the boy and patted him to reassure him.

"So, all things considered, the omens suggest that Zaedgir is inextricably linked to Sabathus and Wizard Star, and this is also the place where a human sacrifice was recently performed and where Zaedgir, leading the Red Letter Warriors, entered the passage. So, let's see what this demon is up to here."

Having determined the location of the colossal machine and the nature of the enemy, further investigation is necessary, and Mephisto's power is so all-encompassing and omnipotent.

Now comes the moment to witness a miracle.

Ramizan and Zaon stood with the other Holy Blood Angels, quite surprised, to watch a grand display of think tank magic.

The chief think tank led Larsellis a few steps forward and pulled a book wrapped in gold from his belt. The title on the cover, inlaid with gold, flashed before Ramizan and Zao's eyes: "The Scythe Cuts the Redundancy".

“Chapter Twenty-Seven,” Mephiston said, “section seven, ‘The Indescribable Attraction’.”

These words were clearly not meant for Ramizan and the others, because the old strategist nodded and instructed Officer Tuliussa, who had come with him, to lead the other Holy Blood Angels to spread out in the jungle to form a protective and guard circle. Then he pulled out a book of the same size, decorated with gold, from the chain behind his belt.

Only editor Anteros was required to stand beside Ramizan and his group, remaining in place to protect the chief think tank and the old think tank.

Anteros gripped the silver staff in his hand, seemingly a little aggrieved, but his brows furrowed with envy and resentment.

Zano glimpsed his own thoughts: When will I be able to prove myself in this way...? My power is ready to be unleashed... All it takes is an opportunity... If the chapter and Lord Mephisto need me to save them, I will...

"He's quite the hero-daydreamer; how dare he accuse others of having wild fantasies?" Zan thought to himself.

The two think tank members each took a spot on either side of the original bridgehead. Then, Lacerius frowned and focused, reciting the contents of the chapter he had turned to in his book in a simple and deep voice. In contrast, Mephisto appeared particularly calm and composed. Although he had taken out the same spellbook, he did not even glance at it. He simply held it in his hand, his sharp, hawk-like eyes fixed on the riverbank, the river, and the mountains, not missing the slightest movement, while his mouth continued to chant in a loud and mellow voice.

As the double incantation continued, Mephisto and Lacerius's voices gradually became faster and faster, exceeding the frequencies that mortal tongues could produce, until the incantation they chanted changed from strange words and syllables to something like the meaningless howl of a beast, and then to something beyond the frequencies that ordinary human ears could perceive.

“The psionic pressure is immense right now.” Zao shifted his position and whispered a warning to Ramizan. The latter was taken aback, then hurriedly used his mind to request LOGOS to increase the strength of the camouflage shield, so as not to be disturbed during the spellcasting process and reveal someone’s true form, which was far superior to that of an ordinary Astartes.

Anteros suddenly turned to look at the person beside him with a puzzled expression. "What's going on? What are you hiding? What is this?"

“Ah, this kid isn’t trained, so I brought a relic that our chapter specially made for candidates like him… a relic! A relic psionic protective field.” Ramizan blurted out without thinking.

As everyone knows, in the universe where you can spend 40,000 gold to survive, if you really can't explain why you have so many life-saving trump cards from spending money, you can immediately attribute it to the Warband's artifacts and dispel 90% of your doubts and questions. However, a certain Seresian believes in keeping your wealth hidden and is familiar with the legendary cheat codes of a certain Warband whose emblem is quite similar to the Blood Angels, so he generally doesn't point it out.

"Oh... it seems that the Silver Skull is indeed a warband established during the second founding of the army, with profound heritage, to have such a sacred relic."

Ramizam put on a polite, fake smile and mumbled a few perfunctory replies.

Strange? Zao tilted his head in his arms and looked at Anteros. With this older brother's psionic abilities, he shouldn't be able to see LOGOS's force field, right?

Meanwhile, the two think tanks were also coming to an end with their spell incantations. As their voices gradually took on a psionic vibration, the entire forest and even the cliffs on the ground began to tremble.

With a high-pitched, silent incantation too loud for human ears to hear, Mephisto raised his blood-red psionic sword Vitalus, while Lacerius raised his force field staff topped with a skull with two horns, and the two weapons pointed fiercely at the rushing, ceaseless river.

A pillar of light shot skyward from the ground. Then came a second, a third…

Its color was deep red, and its light was dazzling. When the river water splashed onto the pillar of light, it immediately turned into wisps of white mist and smoke, which were blown away like rain.

The chief think tank roared, his eyes shooting out like swords in all directions. His swirling lips and ferocious facial muscles had long since robbed him of his original handsome god-like appearance, and his sharp, long canines pierced from his gums all the way to his lower lip.

With this roar, the red pillar of light grew brighter and brighter, then merged into one in a violent fluctuation, forcefully splitting the wide river, as vast as a lake and as turbulent as a torrent, in two, erecting a high wall of red light in the middle of the riverbed!

Anteros, thrilled by such power, exclaimed in praise of Saint Gilles, while Zano was also mesmerized: It's one thing to think the opponent's power is immense, but to wield and manipulate it with such exquisite skill is quite another. The boy felt he still had much to learn—perhaps joining this warband first, obtaining their spellbooks, and then running away wouldn't be too late? After all, knowledge is…

“…What Moses Parting the Sea Youth Edition…” A soft muttering hit Zan’ao like a bucket of ice water being poured over his head. He blinked hard, the thought vanishing completely. Then he tugged at the net.

Lamizain lowered his head. "What's wrong, child?"

"You know the name of this spell, sir?"

“I don’t know what kind of spell they are using. But I have seen it before… I should say I have seen it before, in… cough cough, I saw a similar spell in a book, except that back then, at the staff’s request, what was separated was an inland sea called the Red Sea, not a large river like this.”

"To part the ocean," Zao whispered, "is that even possible?"

"At least that's what the book says."

"Can this book be found at the Wandering Harbor Library?"

This time it was Ramizam's turn to laugh.

"The port library would never have that book, but our ship's main library should. I remember seeing that shelf when I was looking for books last time."

"Can I go there to read books? I'd like to know a lot of things."

“Of course, child, of course.” The librarian’s satisfaction reached its peak immediately in the child’s eager eyes. “Once we find a way back, I’ll have Magna give you access to read books there.”

While Andros rolled his eyes at them for chatting in the face of such magnificent magic, Mephisto and Lacerius had already descended into the muddy exposed riverbed.

Although the river is swift, the channel is wide and deep, and the old silt at the bottom is several meters deep. Fish, shrimp and aquatic plants are scattered everywhere, and you can't see anything at all.

Mephisto and Lacerius unleashed their powers, psychic flames shooting from their weapons, scorching the damp, putrid mud in front of and around them, turning it into unnatural wisps of smoke. Soon, a silvery-white substance that looked somewhat familiar to Ramizan began to emerge from the silt.

—By the way, this was from the vision that Zano showed him before they met Colonel Fedorak, a vision of what would happen next…?
So if he hadn't taken Colonel Fedorak and the others away in time, he might have seen the whole thing and—run into the Red Letter Warriors and their leader.

What a close call with trouble! Ramizain silently wiped the sweat from his brow.

After seeing what he was looking for, Mephisto seemed to be in a daze for a moment, then shouted and slammed his longsword into the ground—an even more powerful vortex of spiritual pressure poured out from his Vitalus sword, sweeping across a radius of dozens of meters, as if someone had suddenly summoned a small hurricane. It blew the mud and debris from the riverbed to both banks, broke trees and flowers, and even blew away the mud and dust that had splashed onto the two think tanks' boots and robes, until the supernatural gale revealed the full picture of the huge silver ring-shaped metal structure buried at the bottom of the river.

Lacerius seemed rather surprised by this. He stepped forward, his anxious expression undisguised, and hurriedly whispered to Mephisto about the conversation.

“The blood of Saint Gilles!” Antros exclaimed softly, his voice filled with fervent longing and admiration. “The esteemed Chief Think Tank didn’t even chant any incantations! Nor did they perform any rituals or gestures! — This is too — this is too incredible! So powerful!”

After their worried conversation, the old think tank member and the chief think tank member began to study the ring that at first glance looked like it was made of exquisite silver flowers and vines. Anteros, though still standing in the same spot, craned his neck and stared at it with fascination.

Both Ramizam and Zao could see his lips moving, as if he were silently muttering something.

"...What is he looking at? From such a distance."

“What do you know?” Anteros turned around, annoyed at being interrupted. “I’m looking at the ancient incantations engraved on it.”

"You can understand it? I think Mephisto and Lacerius are still carefully discerning it."

"Of course I can! I am Lucius Anteros, the Holy Blood Angel!" The blond editor proudly puffed out his chest, the hideous scars on his handsome face displayed like a mark of honor, the golden wings and blood droplets on his breastplate shimmering. "Even Lord Mephisto greatly admires my talent and progress!"

He proudly displayed the ancient eagle claw staff in his hand to them, saying, "This is the staff of the ancient think tank Anton Matthias, which was bestowed upon me by Lord Mephisto before our arrival as an encouragement to me."

"Uh, uh, well, congratulations?"

The other person's handsome face, half-handsome and half-scarred, wrinkled up again, as if he wanted to say something. However, a voice descended into their ears—Morpheus's psionic whisper.

"Come here for a moment, Anteros. There's something we'd like you to explain."

So the little think tank immediately ran happily to the middle of the riverbed.

Should we follow them?

Zao shook his head, watching Anteros's retreating figure.

“My gut feeling tells me it’s best not to, sir.”

(End of this chapter)