The Bizarre Adventure of the Warhammer Guard

After accepting the Yages Crystal, a brief silence fell over the meeting room.

The psionic crystal floated above Elpis's palm, its flowing emerald light shimmering like breathing, drawing in the power of the moon goddess within Elpis's body, and he could clearly feel the resonance.

After acquiring the Argos Crystal and reaching a temporary alliance with Zeratul, Elpis was not in a hurry to uncover all the crystal's secrets.

He waved his hand, signaling Loken and Ada to temporarily set aside their hostility, then looked at Zeratul and asked his question:

"What else did you see?"

"I see many chaotic fragments." Zeratul closed his eyes, and even his psionic energy seemed to tremble.

"I saw towering skulls, the corrupting toxins polluting the entire universe, countless desires devouring the souls of all things, and a voice urging me to go deeper. I wanted to escape, but I couldn't control my consciousness and was pulled by that voice into boundless darkness."

Zeratul shook his head, forcibly calming himself, and opened his eyes.

"But just as my consciousness was about to be completely overwhelmed, a voice saved me." His voice became firm, "pulling me out of the depths of darkness."

Elpis finally reacted to Zeratul's words. He frowned slightly and stared intently into Zeratul's eyes, trying to discern even the slightest lie or exaggeration from his green eyes.

Elpis needs to confirm whether this situation concerning chaos is true.

"I didn't see what it was clearly," Zeratul continued, "but I vaguely saw a throne burning with golden flames."

"The Golden Throne is above!" Loken exclaimed in a low voice upon hearing Zeratul's words, instinctively tightening his grip on his broadsword.

"What else, Dark Patriarch?" Elpis asked in a deep voice.

“My consciousness was already blurred there. But after seeing you, I remembered,” Zeratul said, “leaving only fragmented words: ‘Child of Hope,’ ‘Queen of Blades,’ ‘Chaos.’”

Only then did Elpis believe that what Zelatu said was true.

He traveled from the Warhammer universe to collect technology from the multiverse in order to continuously strengthen humanity's power and even find a way to resolve chaos.

But similarly, could the Chaos Gods, who possess supreme divine power, also have the same abilities as him? Or, could the Chaos Gods discover the passage he traversed?

All of this is unknown, but based on the current intelligence, the power of chaos has not been projected well. What I need to do is to keep speeding up my pace and complete the exploration of the unknown before the power of chaos does.

"In that case," Elpis nodded, "I will accept your kindness."

"This is a token of my race," Zeratul said, handing a diamond-shaped device to Elpis. "It's also an encrypted psionic communicator, allowing us to leave messages and communicate even across several star systems."

Then, Zeratul slowly retreated, disappearing into the darkness as mysteriously as he had appeared. His figure merged into the darkness and vanished, leaving only a single sentence in the air that slowly dissipated:

"May fate guide us to meet again, son of hope."

After Zeratul left, the psionic disturbances in the conference room completely subsided, and the lights returned to their previous brightness.

Loken sheathed his battle broadsword, but remained vigilant, his gaze fixed on the spot where Zeratul had disappeared. His voice held a hint of shock: "My lord, what this alien said..."

"No need to worry," Elpis said, picking up where Loken left off. His voice remained calm and collected. "These Nerazim are our 'allies' for now; at least we all have our ultimate enemies. Just be vigilant, no need for excessive hostility."

Elpis stepped out of the conference room and onto the corridor of the Norard II. Through the porthole, he looked out at the deep starry sky and the distant wreckage of the abandoned warship.

This is no coincidence. The illusion fragments, the Tower of Skulls, the Poison of Corruption, the lure of souls, and the potential temptation of exploration that Zeratul mentioned all perfectly match the authority of the Chaos God in the Warp.

However, the power of Chaos doesn't seem to be complete at this moment, unable to directly display its full might. Otherwise, Zeratul would likely have already been completely bewitched, becoming a plaything of the evil gods, instead of coming to seek allies with fragments of chaos.

As for the burning throne, Elpis was certain it was the work of the Lord of Mankind. Was He guiding Zeratul to find him, perhaps trying to give him some kind of hint?

"Loken, recall everyone." Elpis set aside these complicated issues for the moment, then turned to Loken beside him. "The Sons of Korhal's 'Psionic Emitter' project is a dangerous gamble."

"The Battle of Tarsannis is inevitable, and we don't need to interfere in their political games. But the influence of the Chaos forces forces us to proceed with caution, and we need to observe them closely to prevent any unexpected events from unfolding."

"Understood, sir!" Loken pounded his chest with his right hand, accepting the order.

"As for this crystal," Elpis said, his gaze returning to the Argos crystal in his hand.

A vibrant green luster flowed throughout the crystal, as if it possessed a life of its own. The power of the moon goddess resonated unconsciously within him, as if this crystal were a great tonic for him.

Elpis continued, "Allies are valuable in the face of the gods of darkness, but we cannot place our entire fate on others or on vague prophecies. I need time to understand this crystal more deeply; perhaps it can bring us new hope."

Elpis carefully stored the Argos Crystal inside his armor, preparing to analyze and study it later.

The pure psychic energy contained within this crystal may help him better understand his lunar power, and may even bring about some special changes to it.

-

A week later, in the command center of Norard II, Elpis stared at the densely packed dots of light on the star map.

The Sons of Korhal's uprising on most planets in the Koprulu Sector has succeeded, and now their final battle against the Federation is about to take place in Tarsonis.

"My lord, we have received the defense data for Tarsonis from the Sons of Korhal." Ada brought up the holographic projection, which displayed a map of the orbital defense network surrounding Tarsonis. "Their defenses are even more robust than expected."

"However," she paused, zooming in on the image, "not long ago, our equipment detected unusual subspace energy fluctuations in the periphery. According to the data readings, an unknown psionicist's psionic energy has gone out of control."

"Specific coordinates".

"It's in Tarsannis," Ada replied. "The exact location needs to be scanned closer."

"Notify the Son of Khar that we will proceed to the pre-defined coordinates on the outskirts of Tarsannis." Elpis gazed at the Federation's capital planet on the star map, his command leaving no room for hesitation.

"Navigator, initiate long-distance space jump procedure. Target: Tarsonis."