Warhammer: Start with a dog.

Chapter 852 Saying that is hellish, Morpheus!
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*The think tank levels, from lowest to highest, are: Editor, Chief Recorder, Star Talker, and Chief Think Tank.

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Because of Ramizann's easygoing nature and Zao's advice—or more likely, because someone didn't want to move his lazy legs and preferred to stay in the shade enjoying the power armor's air conditioning—

They stood there, watching Andros join Mephisto and Lacerius like a little dog wagging its tail.

Andros was angrily rebuked by Lacerius;
Anteros sought help and mediation from Mephisto;
Anteros was hurt by Mephiston's equally disapproving attitude...

Then... they saw Anteros shout defiantly, "I didn't! In the name of Saint Gilles! I didn't! Why won't you believe me?!"

Then he rushed to the exposed silver ring with its intricate patterns and forcefully pushed one of the runes with his hand.

“I’ll prove it to you! It’s just a coincidence! And first I’ll find that damned demon! I’ll kill him to prove my loyalty!”

In an instant, the giant silver-white ring emerged from all the shadows, emitting glimmers of light like fireflies. Then, light flowed from the vine-like, morphing runes everywhere, and began to spin.

At the same time, a voice that sounded like a sweet hymn appeared in everyone's ears.

Andros seemed surprised for a moment, then an even more fanatical look rose in his eyes.

"Damn it! Anteros! Damn it, you brat! Wait!"

"Lasserus roared, striding forward and reaching for Anteros's arm."

But it's too late.

A burst of psionic brilliance shone with rainbow colors on the young editor, and then Antros, with a heroic and tragic expression and an anger that only the youngest teenager possessed, plunged headlong into the obviously unorthodox portal.

"...The term 'obviously improper' is a bit too simplistic, sir."

"Zan'o said as he gripped the net and ran with Ramizann toward the middle of the riverbed."

"The way that thing opens is through human sacrifice, if I didn't mishear the faint cries of those vengeful spirits. I don't know why that strange older brother could just rush in like a street thug..."

“I’ll teach you a word, I guess you want to say, ‘understatement’.”

“Very good vocabulary, sir.”

In just a few steps, they had reached the riverbed, while the other Blood Angels who had been scattered on guard were already lined up on the riverbank.

"What's going on?" Ramizam asked as he approached the two think tank members.

Mephisto's expression was inscrutable, while Lacerius appeared much more agitated and furious; the older scribe was practically lashing out at the chief think tank.

“I told you long ago that we should have left him in Baal for this trip! Morpheus! This isn’t the first time he’s acted this way, lacking discipline and training! Yet you’ve been tolerating him! I know he’s your protégé, but what are your true intentions toward him?!”

The clerk's long finger almost poked Mephisto's nose.

"I couldn't hold him back just now, do you think you can't?!"

“Calm down, Lacerius, my old friend,” Mephisto’s eyes gleamed with psionic energy, and he seemed quite calm about the situation. “The threads of my fate with Andros remain a mystery, but I have a feeling that with Zaedgir’s capture and execution, the issues between him and me will also be resolved.”

"You make it sound so easy! The biggest problem is that you seem completely oblivious to how strange he is! After all, you two have already..."

But as Ramizan stopped to ask questions and approached the other Blood Angels, the two Blood Angel officers ceased their inappropriate argument.

Zan'o was speechless for a few seconds at the second half of what he had heard from the old think tank.

“It’s nothing.” Mephisto looked thoughtful. “It’s just a coincidence… We discovered the spell to start using this portal without even studying it, and it just so happens to be related to Antros. When we questioned him, he seemed to think we doubted his loyalty and abilities, so he acted impulsively.”

"So Andros rushed in just out of spite...?"

“Young warriors always crave glory. He’s just too young; he only acquired his black armor not long before the Battle of Baal… We should hurry in and find him, lest he run into my old adversary, Zaedgir, and something untoward happens.”

Contrary to his appearance, Mephisto looks pale, cold, and unapproachable, but he actually takes good care of his apprentices. Ah, that's what a teacher should be like! Ramizain couldn't help but think, nodding slightly at the same time.

Zan gave him a very subtle look, as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.

"If he can get through this door, why don't we follow him immediately?"

“Good question.” Lacerius was still furious. “The first cultist to use this door obviously sacrificed a living person, and Andros recklessly poured his own psychic energy into it and opened it. So, it’s clear that as long as the power is strong enough, you can open the door without a living person; all you need is enough energy. But every time someone passes through, regardless of the number of people, you have to offer up your power.” He shook his head. “Greedy creation.”

“I’ll do it.” Mephisto walked to a small swirling decoration on the silver ring, where a tiny, keyhole-like mark was cleverly concealed beneath the vine-patterned leaves.

"There's no way a master key could fit into that keyhole," Ramizan said, squinting as he estimated the angle.

"Because it does not require a physical key."

Mephisto raised Vitalus in his hands, his arms glowing red. The light then condensed through his palms onto the tip of the crimson sword. He then chanted a few incantations, and the blood-red light poured into it, merging and intertwining with the shimmering blue light of the silver ring.

Immediately, the sound of what seemed like a pious and beautiful hymn became even more pronounced, and Ramizam seemed to hear some of the rhymes and words that were very similar to the lyrics he heard when passing by the chapel of the Imperial State Church.

What's going on? Weren't they supposed to be cult members? Why are they singing imperial-style hymns?

As the melodious hymns grew louder and clearer, the energy in the silver rings was also poured to its limit. Then, they began to decompose, deform, and recombine until a new portal stood before everyone. Behind the portal, on the ground leading to another space, there were neat steps of man-made buildings, as if welcoming the visitors.

“This looks much more formal than when Antros ran in just now. Are we really not going to lose him?” Ramizan voiced his thoughts, drawing an angry glare from the old think tank member. “Let’s find him first,” Mephisto said. “Maybe we can catch up with Antros before he finds that demon.”

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The world beyond the portal is like a maze of rooms connected by countless staircases and doors.

After going through the same cycle of going upstairs, downstairs, opening doors, going downstairs, and going upstairs countless times, Ramizam felt that although his LOGOS could still diligently help his body keep up with everyone else's pace, his spirit was tired enough and he needed to rest and eat some decent hot food.

It's just that this situation is a bit difficult to bring up...

Mephisto led the way, his body surrounded by black and red flames, clearing the path. However, no terrifying enemies had appeared here so far, and the path illuminated by his flames was also lit on both sides, but the color was bluish-green, which looked rather ominous.

Lacerius walked beside him, followed by Ramizane, and then the other Blood Angels.

Ramizane glanced again at the timer inside his power armor.

The timer showed they had been walking here for over six hours, and nothing had happened except that the faint chanting seemed to have grown louder and turned into a multi-sound surround sound.

...We really should eat something! If we don't eat or drink something soon...

"Uh, I was saying..."

"What are you doing?!" Lacerius abruptly interrupted him, gripping his staff tightly. "What new discovery have you made?!"

"No, but shouldn't we rest for a bit and get something to eat first..."

"This is the second most ridiculous thing I've heard today! Brother Ramizann. We are, Astartes, warriors of the Emperor, soldiers with blessed and bestowed bodies. We are not weak mortals who need food and water to fill our stomachs..."

“We have to feed the child even if we don’t eat… and what you’re saying makes you all sound inhuman…” Ramizan muttered. Lacerius’s eyebrows almost stood on end. Just as he was about to speak, Mephisto stopped in front of a new door.

“Listen,” he said.

At this moment, everyone noticed that the singing here seemed particularly clear, as if they had finally approached the source of the singing.

“Let’s see what’s behind the door,” Morpheus said, “and then we can rest here for a while.”

Lacerius was about to say something when the chief think tank officer raised his hand to stop him, saying, "He does indeed have mortal children with him, old friends. Be lenient with the children."

The old think tank member finally shut up, but at the same time, Zao also heard the Secretary's doubts and a hint of hidden annoyance: How could he have overlooked this child's existence from time to time? I think I still have some treasured jerky in my purse...

...Forget about the jerky from the highly poisonous lizard of the Bal Desert. I'm just an ordinary child; I couldn't possibly chew or digest it. Thank you, kind-hearted old man with a sharp tongue. Zao clasped his hands in prayer.

He then turned around before they opened the door, facing Ramizan's breastplate.

Sure enough, when Mephisto pushed open the door, Zao felt Ramizan stiffen all over, and heard the slight rumble of LOGOS pushing him forward, causing the server power to increase.

...It was indeed a terrifying scene, thankfully I was able to avoid seeing it with my own eyes.

"This is... God! What a crime against humanity! Put him down!" Ramizan's shocked voice rang out above his head.

“No.” It was Morpheus’s voice. He seemed to have taken a few steps closer. “His body and spirit have been completely ignited, becoming one of the living energy sources burning to maintain the operation of this entire maze array. We can’t put him down. He will die the moment we put him down.”

"Then it would be better to just kill him and give him a quick death! It's too perverted, burning a person alive like a sky lantern and making them sing, it reeks of lewdness..."

"What singing?" Lacerius asked, puzzled.

"...His horrifyingly miserable state, yet he couldn't die, still singing hymns with his mouth wide open—wasn't this a result of the inhuman crime deliberately set up by the guy who designed this place...?"

“They’re not singing,” Morpheus said calmly. “We could tell from the doorway that they were wailing, but the flow of power here has twisted their screams and wails into hymns of praise. I suppose it is indeed a mockery of the Empire.”

The air seemed to calm down for a moment.

Zao blinked, shaking off the frost that had lingered from the moment the time-space reset had occurred. He heard several inner voices expressing confusion, yet not knowing why.

"No matter what, if we can't save him, then let's not let him continue to suffer like this! He's burning up like a melted candle..."

Ramizam appears to be trying to continue advocating for the victims' right to immediate death as a form of release.

“No.” Mephisto refused him again, even offering a polite explanation. “There’s a reason for that, monk. Look, here, and here, do you see those glowing lines engraved on the floor and walls?”

"I see, what do you mean? You mean he's trapped in this maze, becoming part of a circuit... or a magic circle, so you can't kill him? But weren't we here to destroy your enemies?"

“Of course,” Morpheus replied, “but we’re not close to the core yet. There’s still a way to go. If we kill him here, his point will be severed at both ends and isolated outside that space, preventing us from continuing along the path to the core. —I guess you’re thinking that’s not the case, that we can just follow the lines, right? No, no, monk, the rules of the warp are different from the rules of the spells we practice and the material world… The design here is very ingenious. The labyrinth, through the burning souls and agony of the people, has been pulled to the other side of the veil, and is no longer entirely a material world. So, if we release him, we’ll be immediately thrown back into the material universe and unable to find the labyrinth again. Therefore, our best and fastest course of action is to follow the songs of those who sing wailing along the way. This way, we won’t get lost, and we’ll definitely reach our final destination.”

"...You sound familiar with this practice, Chief Think Tank."

“Everything has two sides, light and shadow, monk. I do not deny that what I have done is not a glorious path. But I am now convinced that what we are doing is the fulfillment of Saint Gilles’ will. My heart is as clear as a mirror, and all my actions are for justice.”

Ramizann seemed to choke for a moment.

Then Zao heard him mutter to himself: "God, I never imagined that line would be so hellish... especially with Mephisto saying it to the victim in such a classic, old-school vampire form..."

(End of this chapter)