Warhammer 40: Doom

Chapter 74 Following its Guidance

Harlan drove the anti-gravity motorcycle, which was strapped with Doom's coffin, away from the heavily guarded main domain and sped across the wasteland.

"Follow your guidance?"

He looked puzzled, turning the jade sphere in his hand over, seemingly finding nothing unusual.

Grip the ball firmly and apply pressure slowly, following the method taught by Flano.

"Sigh~"

When the pressure reaches a critical point, the sphere finally reacts.

Its complex surface patterns transform into golden lines that float in the air and encircle the sphere.

After the golden line appeared, the sphere seemed to gain self-awareness, suspending in the air and maintaining the same speed as the anti-gravity motorcycle.

The jade surface shattered, from which a fine, mercury-like gray liquid flowed out, forming a gray map marking the route.

Harlan's eyes lit up. He quickly located his position on the map, turned on the switch, and sped off.

Unbeknownst to him, the moment the sphere was activated, the gods in the subspace who were watching the universe lost sight of Doom and him.

The two seemed to be enveloped, completely disappearing into the real universe without leaving a trace.

"Is it really okay?"

The young Slaanesh used his tongue as a pen to complete the true names of the demons, including Sharasi and the other Keepers of the Secrets.

They were banished back to the warp by Doom, who took away a portion of their demonic nature and even erased some of their true names.

He looked toward Khorne—his eternal nemesis.

The Blood God was the first to come into contact with Doom, so he must have known that Doom possessed authority like a true god, capable of erasing the true name of a demon.

But He didn't say anything, and didn't mention it at all.

This ability is terrifying, and Doom is not yet fully developed.

If he awakens his ability, he can completely erase the demon's true name and make the demon disappear from the timeline forever.

To a certain extent, it even threatens the gods themselves.

It doesn't matter how many demons die to the evil god, nor does it matter how much the Prince of Pleasure threatens the gods.

God doesn't care.

He asked about the present, how Doom disappeared from their sight and from the divine's view.

"That ancient artifact has blinded us."

Tzeentch was in high spirits; Norwick's mortal wisdom brought Him a surprising transformation.

Now that Doom has disappeared from sight again, what kind of surprise will he bring?
I really look forward to his next appearance!

Nurgle chuckled sheepishly, clearly enjoying himself and unconcerned about the vanished Doom.

He sensed the children constantly evolving within Doom's body, the struggle and evolution of humans and viruses in their fight for survival, embodying the greatness of life.

How wonderful!

Khorne didn't care. His gaze lingered in the warp, fixed on the bloodthirsty freak banished by Doom, and on Skabrand, the traitor.

The Blood God is training his army, preparing for the next exhilarating battle.

Watching his divine brothers revel in their respective powers, Prince Pleasure idly toyed with his fingernails and lazily reminded them, "The Primarchs you have chosen have already stood on the opposite side of the gods."

"Like that..."

The Prince of Pleasure spoke in a languid tone, pondered for a moment, but still did not utter His name. Instead, he exhaled a cloud of purple mist that condensed into the shape of an emperor.

"Boring."

Tzeentch instantly lost interest. His empty gaze swept over the Prince of Pleasure's languid body with the same disdain he would show when looking at the Chaos Egg, and then he left.

He had no interest in explaining to the youngest god.

Humans have humanity, and gods have divinity. The two cannot be equated.

Humans fight and kill each other because of their conflict, and gods are opposed because of their different powers.

But it is important to understand that God is an immortal, eternal, and undefiled being.

The thoughts of all intelligent beings cannot be used to measure God's actions. The struggles and plunder that God displays are merely what God chooses to display.

The "opposition" between gods is merely an entertainment element in the grand game, a necessary element that leads destiny to its ultimate conclusion.

The battles between gods in the warp are a boring pastime, and their entanglement in the mortal world is nothing more than a fleeting whim to watch ants tear each other apart.

So what if Doom became a god? So what if that god in human skin ascended to godhood?
It's just that there are two more players at the game table, making the great game more interesting; there are two more chess players in the warp.

Moreover, they had not yet become gods, and were like ants, manipulated at will by the gods.

Only by becoming a god or close to a god can one be qualified to "oppose" them; the current Doom is far from qualified.

Khorne and Nurgle, both casting disdainful glances at the Prince of Pleasure, returned to their own divine realms.

As the youngest god, He still didn't quite understand the meaning of the Great Game.

Everything is meaningless, and everything has meaning. In this great game, the more players involved, the better, so that the gods can enjoy themselves even more.

What's a few demons Doom wipes out? The demons in the warp are endless!
So what if he's out of the gods' sight? He'll reappear one day.

It doesn't matter if he deviates from the gods' plan temporarily; countless plans await him before he can be equal to the gods.

God certainly loves Doom.

Khorne deeply loved the warriors He valued, Tzeentch anticipated the surprises his capricious fate would bring, Nurgle admired his fighting spirit, and the Pleasure Prince enjoyed everything.

It was because of love that she schemed and plotted to win him over.

As for the "opposite side"? God is even happier, brings even more joy, and loves Him even more!

Harlan was naturally unaware that four gods were watching him from the Warp.

Following the map's guidance, he rode his anti-gravity motorcycle all the way to his final destination—the Crystal Mountains.

The most mysterious existence in Nur is that the Crystal Mountains existed tens of millions of years before humans colonized the planet.

The main mountain ranges are majestic and magnificent, stretching endlessly in Nur.

Our early humans discovered its uses, but knew very little about how it came into being.

It is like a gift from the universe, left for the intelligent beings who discover it to use and make use of.

Nuer crystals seem inexhaustible, and indeed they are.

Its unique structure allows it to absorb various cosmic rays, which then undergo a mysterious transformation to increase its physical mass.

The map pointed deep into the mountains, and as Harlan navigated through the crystal-clear mountain valleys, he had to slow down.

Excessive accumulation of crystals in the mountains can create a unique "crack" phenomenon.

Reality is like a mirror, severed by the brilliance of crystal, but its two-dimensional thickness is difficult to detect.

Those who collide with it face two fates: either they are severed by the dimensional rift, with their mutilated bodies still able to be pieced together, or they are completely swallowed by the rift and exiled to an unknown other dimension.

Sweat dripped continuously from Harlan's forehead, and the power armor's servo system automatically adjusted the humidity to prevent the inside of the armor from becoming sticky and damp.

If it weren't for the gray liquid in the sphere having a detection function, he would have been cut into pieces by the crystal light refracted in all directions.

He was glad he hadn't encountered the Crystal Symbiote, one of the top predators on Nur.

"Wow~"

Just as I was thinking this with a bit of hope, a long, melodious cry suddenly rang out, like the clear sound of crystals colliding.

"Damn it!"

Harlan cursed under his breath. He didn't even need to turn around to know what was watching him.

The Crystal Falcon, a top predator that inhabits the Crystal Mountains.

It is a magnificent and unique life form, composed entirely of the purest Nur crystals, and its size is completely unknown.

Falcons are not three-dimensional beings; their majestic bodies can transform between multiple dimensions. When their bodies unfold in three dimensions, their size depends entirely on their will.

From hundreds of meters high that blot out the sun, to as small as a human fingernail.

It is immune to damage from three-dimensional and four-dimensional forces, and can even perform short-distance dimensional jumps for rapid predation.

In the Golden Age, humanity used forbidden weapons to drive away this dangerous creature, but it still managed to survive in Nur.

Humans acknowledged their defeat, and the two coexisted because falcons do not leave their territory.

Harlan didn't turn around; the round, gray mercury-colored orb constantly reminded him of the falcon's position, that it was swooping down on him.

Its hunt is silent and unstoppable; the falcon travels through other unknown dimensions, and what is seen in the three-dimensional world is merely a projection.

The weapons in our hands are useless; the only thing we can do now is abandon the vehicle!
Harlan lowered the motorcycle and flipped it over in a relatively open gap, decisively throwing Doum off from the air and abandoning the vehicle to escape.

After he left the vehicle, a pair of blue crystal claws pierced through the anti-gravity motorcycle, silently like overlapping phantoms.

The motorcycle and the falcon disappeared together into the three-dimensional universe. Harlan watched the motorcycle disappear and felt sorry for Senna before it hit the ground.

After landing, it rolled around on the ground a few times, dragging Doom's plastic coffin along, and they were not far from their destination.

The servo motors creaked and groaned, and Harlan had never felt so burdened by Doom’s towering frame.

He could only drag it, not carry Doom on his back, which greatly slowed down his speed.

"Wow~"

The magnificent falcon reappeared, its crystal feathers reflecting iridescent light, staring intently at Harlan, who was slowly dragging along the ground.

No! To be precise, it was staring at Doom inside the transparent coffin!
Harlan's face turned pale, and he could only pull out his spear and light the blade. He was now truly feeling a sense of despair.

A despair that comes from within, a despair that is utterly unattainable.

"Relax, young man! It's just curious about the person in the coffin."

A strange sound rang out, seemingly with magical power dispelling the fear and calming Harlan's inner unease.

He turned his head and saw a talking toad standing in front of a crystal cave?

(Brothers, we can't take it anymore. The pilot of the Ancient Terran Titan has been infected by Slaanesh and transformed into a noise warrior.)
(The noise overwhelmed my brain. I don't even know how I wrote this.)
(End of this chapter)