“This is where destinies converge, the ice moon—Kleilas.”
“Here, the fates of the Aeldari and mankind will be woven together for a time, until the touch of Chaos contracts and returns to where it ought to be.”
Eldrad, the great seer from the craftworld of Ulthwé, explained the purpose of their journey to Yvraine, Iyanna, and the other high-ranking members of the Ynnari at his side.
At this moment, they were concealed within the Webway of another dimension, watching the battle between the Imperium and the forces of Chaos upon the ice fields.
The Astartes of the Black Templars, the Battle Sisters, the Imperial Guard, and the forces of the Adeptus Mechanicus fought beneath the feet of Imperial Knight walkers.
The clamor of battle rang to the clouds. Both sides were locked in a particularly brutal slaughter, and broken corpses lay everywhere.
Many of the wounded and dying struggled through pools of blood, searching for a place of safety.
“Who is he?”
Yvraine raised a hand and pointed toward an Astartes in Terminator armor who was hopping about across the battlefield.
There were no markings on him that could be used to identify him.
For the Astartes, who regarded honor as their very life, this was extremely abnormal.
Only warriors who believed themselves to have brought shame upon their Chapter would erase their Chapter insignia.
Stranger still, this warrior would throw out block after block from time to time.
By means that seemed almost magical, he stacked them into protective walls, establishing defensive lines for the Imperial forces.
This ability shook all the Aeldari present. They had never seen such an uncanny power.
At this moment, High Marshal Amalrich of the Black Templars, the Emperor’s Champion Galein, and the Living Saint—Celestine—were doing all they could to intercept Abaddon, preventing him from charging toward that nameless warrior.
Abaddon had gone completely mad, constantly ordering his subordinates to launch suicidal charges,
while roaring at that warrior, swearing that he would make him properly experience the hospitality of the Warp.
It was hard to imagine what this nameless warrior had done to make the Despoiler so furious.
“This one!” Eldrad narrowed his eyes and frowned.
In his prophecy, he had not seen the existence of this human warrior.
Was this another variable in fate?
“Perhaps he is only an insignificant nobody.”
Iyanna also turned her gaze upon that nameless warrior.
She was a spiritseer from the craftworld of Iyanden, and likewise possessed the gift of prophecy.
“How could an insignificant nobody enrage the Despoiler so? A variable has appeared upon the path of fate. We must act with caution.”
As a Shadowseer of the Harlequins, Sylandri spoke in a cautious tone.
“In any case, we must assist this force in escaping the Despoiler’s clutches and allow them to go to Macragge to resurrect Roboute Guilliman.”
“Only the Emperor’s son can unite all mankind and lead them to resist Chaos as one. If Chaos is allowed to grow unchecked, every race in the galaxy will perish, and even we will be no exception.”
Eldrad suppressed the murmurs of discussion among them, then looked to Yvraine. “Let us act.”
Yvraine nodded. She touched the gate device with psychic fire, tracing out lines of spirit-flame and activating the portal.
When the Webway opened the barrier between the labyrinth dimension and the frozen world, the wild wind blew into the Webway, stirring the white mist within.
The forces of the Ynnari rushed out of the Webway and charged toward the army of Chaos.
………………
Archmagos Cawl held his mechanical cog-staff and stood beside the transport vehicle,
ready at any moment to give his life for the covenant made ten thousand years ago.
Even with the aid of that mysterious angel of the Emperor, the Imperial forces were still inevitably sliding toward the abyss of defeat.
They were too few in number, and they lacked ammunition.
If that mysterious angel of the Emperor had appeared before the blackstone pylons on Cadia collapsed,
they absolutely could have routed the Despoiler with ease.
But now, everything was far too late.
Just then, an ancient xenos structure began to glow faintly, forming a passageway.
A group of elegant armored warriors appeared out of thin air and launched an attack against the ceaselessly advancing army of Chaos.
Archmagos Cawl swiftly identified these reinforcements—the Aeldari.
The Dark Watch from the craftworld of Ulthwé were the first to rush onto the battlefield,
the Wych Cults of Commorragh, and the Aeldari warriors of Biel-Tan and the other craftworlds followed close behind.
Dense volleys of shuriken flew toward the enemy. Resplendent weapons poured out beams of destruction. Windrider jetbikes wove across the ice fields, their sharp blades harvesting the lives of daemons and Chaos traitors.
Their every movement revealed elegance and strength, as though they were performing an art called slaughter.
The situation reversed in an instant. The Chaos army, which had originally held the advantage, was driven back step by step.
“Damn xenos.”
Abaddon was furious. These Aeldari were clearly reinforcements for the Corpse-Emperor’s lackeys.
At this point, the tide had already turned.
The Despoiler knew that he had no chance of stopping these lackeys of the Corpse-Emperor from escaping this place.
If the battle continued, the elite of the Black Legion under his command would all be buried here.
He had to preserve his strength for the plans to come.
“Retreat.”
Abaddon gave the order, abandoning any further entanglement with the Corpse-Emperor’s lackeys.
The Despoiler himself, guarded by his bodyguards and sorcerers, gradually withdrew.
Along the way, he still glared fixedly at Daqi.
The rage in his eyes made it seem as though he wanted to skin this unknown warrior of the Emperor alive and devour him.
“I will kill you.” Abaddon left those words behind viciously.
Daqi: …
Oh my, a mere NPC dares threaten the Fourth Calamity!
Got things backward, have you?
Good thing this isn’t Stellaris, or I’d definitely open the console and force it through!
Daqi threw back his throat, raised his arm, and shouted.
“Long live the Luna Wolves!”
Abaddon was so furious that his body trembled without cease.
This bastard was definitely doing it on purpose.
From this moment on, he declared that the one who deserved death most in the galaxy was the Emperor, and the second was this foul-mouthed bastard.
“Hastur Sejanus asked me to pass on a message. He’s waiting for you in hell, you shameless coward who ruined the Legion.”
“And I’m going to split this whole story into three chapters and nine sections, then hire a troupe of storytellers to tell everyone how you ruined your own primarch, betrayed the Emperor, and sold your ass to the Chaos Gods in order to become Warmaster of Chaos.”
The retreating Despoiler, Abaddon, was so enraged that his eyes turned bloodshot, his gaze looking as though he might devour someone.
The bodyguards and sorcerers beside him forcibly dragged the Despoiler into the torn Warp rift and teleported him back to the Vengeful Spirit, preventing this Warmaster of Chaos from losing his head again.
The Inquisitor beside them—Greyfax—stared wide-eyed at Daqi.
This fellow actually knew so many dark secrets. What kind of heretic was he?
Archmagos Cawl, who had lived for ten thousand years, also revealed a look of astonishment.
As one who had personally experienced the Horus Heresy, he had preserved a great deal of data concerning the Great Rebellion.
Many events and many people were known only to those of that era.
For example, names such as the Luna Wolves and Hastur Sejanus.
The Luna Wolves had been the original name of the Sixteenth Legion, commanded by their primarch, Horus.
After the Battle of Ullanor, Horus became Warmaster, and the Luna Wolves were renamed the Sons of Horus.
Hastur Sejanus had been the captain of the Fourth Company of the Sons of Horus, and also a member of the Mournival. He had once been one of the rebel Warmaster Horus’s most beloved sons.
During the Great Crusade, Sejanus had attempted through negotiation to bring a long-lost human civilization into the Imperium, only to be murdered by the local rulers.
Afterward, Garviel Loken took his place and became one of the members of the Mournival.
All intelligence concerning such matters should have been sealed away or destroyed.
Just who was this nameless warrior before him, and why did he know these things?