Warhammer: Black Emperor

Chapter 678 Birak's Shadow Blade, the Best Relic Fragment
909.M30.

The Shadow of Reigns, Primarch Office.

Arsène Dunn, holding a data tablet, began his report.

"My lord, I have compiled the exploration status of the twenty-five fleets that have been scattered across the six warbands. We have discovered a total of thirty-five star systems and ninety-nine worlds that were once inhabited by Hrud in the Sak Trada Abyss."

Nimrod knew that the Hruds had fifteen major worlds and eighty-four minor worlds in the Sak Trada Abyss, meaning that all worlds had been discovered.

"There are 105 worlds in total, with a variety of rich mineral resources, but none of them are Terra-like worlds."

During the Great Expedition, millions of mineral-rich worlds were discovered, among which the Terran-like worlds were the most habitable and the most valuable.

The Empire's mining world, with an environment more or less similar to Terra, is more habitable than the world of Sak Trada Abyss.

In fact, Nimrod knew that Sak Trada had never been developed by the Empire, which was why most Iron Warriors considered the missions assigned to them by the War Council meaningless.

Far from the empire's frontiers and plagued by alien invasions that warp in spacetime, Gorgis, a desolate paradise in the Abyss, is devoid of rare worlds like Terra.

Peturabo also agreed with their view that this place might only become important to the empire millions of years from now.

But what they considered a weakness was precisely what Nimrod valued as a strength.

He has dealt with Hrud, and Sak Trada, far from the imperial borders, is now his.

“From Vostonia, as well as Necromonda, Vigilant Star and other populous immigrants from around the world, we will build the new district of Sac-Tradi.”

"Except for Wizorre, which belongs to the Fourth War Group, the rest of the world is under the jurisdiction of the Fifth War Group."

"As you will." The Primarch servant, with his snow-white hair, accepted the order and continued his report.

“My lord, I led the ‘detectives’ to carefully examine all the reports, but we found no trace of Birac.”

"But I found the relevant records in the sixty-one mycelium volumes."

"It depicts an evil being lurking in the shadows, driving his demonic army to destroy many races and burn countless worlds."

As he spoke, Alsena placed a glittering data crystal on the table.

“I understand.” Ninglu nodded slightly. He was now certain that something was hidden in Birac’s shadow.

After Alsena took his leave, he quickly checked the information in the data crystal and then went to the third level of the "Land of Chaos".

He picked up the prophecy die, and after all the information flashed through his mind, he silently recited it in his heart.

[The star map of the world, where Viziore leads to the abyss of Sak Trada, and the shadow of Birac looms over it.]

[…]
The triangular pyramidal body spiraled upwards at a slower and slower speed, and a hazy shadow appeared on the surface of the crystal.

After slowly rising to its highest point, it hovered for a moment before slowly falling.

After noting down the star chart, Ninglu stared at the slightly dim crystal in his palm.

[The world shrouded by the divination of Bilak has paid a price; he truly deserves to be called the Lord of Shadows, who is close to godhood.]

Hmm... Judging from the speed at which the prophecy dice rolled and the degree to which their light faded, the cost was not as high as when the divination involved uniqueness.

It will probably take a few more days to recover.
As Ninglu pondered, he heard layers of prayers around him. He took a step forward, sat on the throne in the fourth dimension, and spread his spirituality, touching the sphere of light.

He saw William Wood kneeling on the altar, his hands clasped together.

“My Lord, I have arrived at the orbit of Narctis.”

Ninglu thought about the fact that the exploration fleet had not found anything, and also the anomalies in the prophetic dice and the warnings from the Eldar during the divination.

This fragment of the sacred relic shouldn't be so easy to obtain.

I should have consulted the oracle beforehand, as William is about to be promoted to Sequence 5.
William possessed the ability to divine when he was at Sequence 9 "The Diviner," and each subsequent Sequence advancement brought him some improvement, with a significant enhancement at Sequence 6 "The Faceless Man."

He soon advanced to "Master of the Puppet", and his previous abilities were enhanced by at least 50%, including his divination abilities.

Upon realizing this, Ninglu's spirituality spread, conveying the command.

"Land immediately and proceed to the island inhabited by the mermaids."

After giving instructions to William, he thought of several other extraordinary individuals skilled in divination.

With a thought, Ning Lu flipped through his hands and three data crystals appeared. He then infused them with the world he had divined with the dice of prophecy, along with related information.

He then bestowed two of them upon the Fifth Warband Commander, Sequence 6 "Recorder" San Diego Bergkamp, ​​and the Sixth Warband Commander, Sequence 5 "Winner" Flamini.

As the two prepared to perform a divination, Ninglu returned to the real world and, through a telepathic link, shared information with the "winner," the powerful cat John.

After writing swiftly on the parchment and looking at it eleven times, John leaned against the pine bed and drifted into a dream.

Through the mental link, Ninglu saw four people emerging from four misty passageways deep underground.

They each wielded a serrated blade, a psionic staff, a rotten greatsword, and a living whip.

The image is fragmented and indistinct.

As John's spirituality was exhausted and he fell into a deep sleep, Nimrod once again came to the "Land of Chaos".

He spread his spirituality, touching the spheres of light. San Diego used astrology, his hands moving swiftly across the long table, arranging crystal celestial bodies.

As each constellation, planet, and house took shape, his brow furrowed deeper and deeper.

San Diego clasped his hands together upside down: "My lord, please forgive my incompetence, I only saw a shadow shrouding that world."

"This applies not only in a practical sense, but also on the other side of the mirror."

Nimrod was not surprised by the real world and the subspace that were shrouded in shadow; he turned his attention to Flamini's description.

“I saw a man wielding a psionic staff unleash psionic flames, burning the man covered in pus to ashes, and then he walked toward something.”

A series of thoughts flashed through Ninglu's mind. Combining the images from John's dream divination, he pieced together the cause and effect:

The four peddlers' followers fought, and in the end, the one with Tzeentch's power emerged victorious, heading towards the fragments of the relic.

[They may not necessarily be followers of the four hawkers.]
Nimrod knew that Birac had been granted power by the four gods and was a demon prince of chaos.

As the first demon prince, the four peddlers fought over him like they were vying for a beloved toy, showering him with all their blessings.

Although the four peddlers later realized that it was foolish to favor one believer who had taken advantage of their suspicions, and began to bestow favors upon other believers, Birac lost most of his power due to the dispersion of divine gifts, but he still retained a considerable portion of each of the four peddlers' power.

Upon realizing this, Ninglu could confirm that the four men had obtained some of the peddler's power from Bilake, either willingly or unwillingly.

As he pondered, his spirituality spread, touching William's sphere of light.

As Nimrod saw the black stormbirds begin to descend, he had an idea and instructed the space apes to use the Gorgon of Kos to begin concocting the potion of "Master of the Puppet".

Narctis, black mist surged, and a bottle of completely black potion appeared in William's kneeling hands. At the same time, the Stormbird's fuselage trembled.

The mermaid's song suddenly grew louder, ringing in the ears of the pilot and William.

As William stood up, he was somewhat dazed, and he restrained the urge to jump into the sea and swim toward the source of the song.

After the aircraft shuddered for a few seconds, it calmed down under the control of Jorginho, who was piloting the aircraft.

William peered through the narrow viewing window at the creatures on the reef.

The sea monster has a human head, graceful curves wrapped in dark red scales, and a huge fish tail as its lower body.

They sensed the roar of the engine, looked up, and saw faces that resembled humans, with an indescribable allure in their eyes and brows.

Their melodious whispers grew ever more captivating.

Their deep red lips parted, revealing sharp wolf fangs, from which dripped a viscous liquid.

William looked away and glanced at the potion, noticing what appeared to be countless tiny insects swimming rapidly inside.

He did not consult the oracle, but followed the Black Emperor's command and drank it down.

Immediately, William's body became unusually stiff, as if he had been asleep for thousands of years.

He tried to move his joints, but they felt as heavy as lead.

William felt tiny worms burrowing into every cell, and his thoughts slowed down.

William inherited his father's sleek physique, but his skin quickly turned yellowish-brown, like an old doll wrapped in bandages.

The granulation tissues wriggled within the skin, sometimes separating, sometimes merging.

At that moment, the mermaid's song entered his ears, stirring William's desire and gradually helping him break free from his rigid state.

"meditation!"

William followed the voice of "majesty," reining in his scattered spirituality and letting the stiffness in his joints and muscles subside.

As the newly appointed "Master of Mysteries" sorted through the information flooding his mind, he saw countless illusory black lines spreading from the island below and from the "Lucky" pilot.

The "Master of Puppets" knew those were threads of spirit, which he could manipulate to directly influence the target's spiritual body, astral body, mental body, and etheric body, thereby controlling the target's body.

Of course, manipulation has certain distance limitations, takes time, and can be detected by those with prophetic abilities.

Just as William was assessing his own abilities, black mist surged up, and a shimmering crystal fell into his hand.

A moment later, Ninglu, perched atop the black mist, received the results of the "Master of Puppets'" dream divination:

The person wielding the psionic staff picked up a greatsword that was as shapeless and intangible as a shadow.

Ninglu's eyes lit up, and he whispered the name of the sword: Shadow Blade.

He knew that the Shadow Blade was a true artifact, capable of flickering between the physical and the void, easily piercing through any defense, including armor, scales, flesh, or steel and concrete.

[It turns out that Bilak lost the Shadow Blade, which was the most important thing to him.]

No wonder the Eldar issued a warning; they didn't want the Shadow Blade to return to Bilak's hands.
Ninglu knew that the Shadow Blade might be part of Birac himself, or it might be an ancient gift of the Four Peddler that had been preserved in some way after falling out of favor.

Of course, it's also possible that it's both, that he combined the gifts of the four peddlers with the power of shadow to preserve it forever.

[Bilak's Shadow Blade, the best relic fragment.]

If I can obtain the Shadow Blade, my advancement to "Fallen Earl" will far surpass that of other relic fragments.
(End of this chapter)