The Emperor’s Angel of Death

“Which is stronger, Shadow Spectres or Dark Reapers?”

As soon as Soyaang said this, the faces of the Seers and Farseers around him changed slightly. Doral quickly explained:

“Your Highness, it’s best not to say such things in front of any warrior of either of these paths.”

“Hmm?”

Soyaang immediately noticed the strange atmosphere around him, realizing that he might have said something wrong, and asked in response:

“Is there a problem?”

“Once, two shrines of Shadow Spectres and Dark Reapers had a fierce argument over this issue, which eventually evolved into a deathmatch between the two shrines. The shrine’s bishops each led 10 warriors to compete on a planet until one side conceded or was completely annihilated.”

“There was such a thing? What was the result?”

“The result, no one knows. Some say that only 2 Shadow Spectres left that world in the end, others say that 2 Dark Reapers stood to the end, and another said that the surviving Shadow Spectres and Dark Reapers, after discovering that they could not kill each other no matter what, decided to temporarily end this deathmatch and wait for their skills to improve before completing this ultimate battle. Your Highness, this story is no longer verifiable, but once the old things are brought up again, it is easy to arouse the competitive spirit of the two paths and cause unnecessary bloodshed. I also knew a Shadow Spectre. They are all silent and aloof warriors who regard honor as life. If others say these things, they may just ignore them, but if it comes from your mouth”

Soyaang immediately understood that he had indeed said something he shouldn't have. Said from his identity, it could easily be extended to the court's view of the advantages and disadvantages of the two paths, triggering a new round of disputes.

“Ah, I see. It was a slip of the tongue. Then everyone present, remember, take my previous words as if they were never said. Do not spread them, or you will be severely punished!”

Everyone agreed, and Soyaang then shifted his attention to the Shadow Spectres' equipment, mainly their weapons and the amazing anti-gravity backpacks.

The prism rifles used by the Shadow Spectres and the prism cannons used by the Fire Prism tanks operate on the same principle, but the technical difficulty of the two is vastly different. After all, miniaturizing weapons is not a simple addition and subtraction, especially without reducing too much power. And now the smallest prism weapon known to all Craftworlds is at least the size of the Fire Prism tank's main gun. That is to say, the prism rifle is a technical mystery that has not yet been solved for all Craftworlds, which made Soyaang feel very puzzled, so he summoned a Bonesinger to ask the reason.

“Your Highness, the operating principle of prism weapons is like this: a medium-intensity laser beam from the main energy component will first pass through a charging chamber, and then enter a crystal prism. This prism captures this laser beam and enhances its power. This is the first stage, generally called the energy storage stage. After that, these energies will pass through a guide tube, which can freely adjust the speed of the laser, keeping it in a semi-firing state. When firing is required, it will be concentrated in a secondary crystal prism. By adjusting this lens, the firing component can generate a highly focused energy beam to penetrate the thickest armor or generate a scattered energy beam to kill dense enemies. This is the second stage, the firing stage.”

The Bonesinger specially brought a prism cannon to give Soyaang a technical explanation, and every time his hand passed over a part, he would easily peel off the spirit bone shell like peeling fruit. Every time he saw these craftsmen who could complete weapon manufacturing with thoughts, Soyaang would sigh that technology is not completely equal to steel and fire.

Then, the Bonesinger picked up a prism rifle.

“So, the two biggest problems with miniaturizing prism weapons are, first, how to reduce the charging chamber, and second, how to ensure that the secondary crystal prism has enough time to adjust after shortening the guide tube. And these two problems have not been solved by any Bonesinger so far. If Master Calas Typhon was still here, he might be able to solve it, but he has been missing for a long time.”

Hearing the other party mention Calas Typhon, Soyaang asked with a normal expression:

“Then how are these in your hand made?”

“Your Highness, Shadow Spectres have their own exclusive Shadow Artisans. They once studied the path of Bonesinging and then switched to the path of Shadow Spectres. For this reason, they will strictly abide by the shrine's oath of silence and even cut off their tongues to swear to keep the shrine's secrets.”

What the other party said made Soyaang think of Morganna's act of mutilating Master Calas Typhon in order to guard the secret of the weapon. The Shadow Spectres' behavior was quite like this kind of extremism, so he sighed:

“Presumably this Phoenix Lord of the Shadow Spectres is not an easy person to talk to. Now that the Aeldari are in turmoil, if this kind of excellent weapon can be spread, wouldn't it save more Craftworlds? The bad consequences of technological selfishness have been fully reflected in humans. Why should the Aeldari be like this?”

Doral then replied:

“If Your Highness intends to eliminate such drawbacks, perhaps you can send an invitation to Lord Eiris.”

“Hmm? Do you have news of him?”

“I heard that this Phoenix Lord has been reborn in his hometown, the Craftworld of Mymeara, and is living in seclusion there.”

“Living in seclusion?”

Soyaang heard some implied meanings from Doral's tone, so he nodded slightly.

“Then I will trouble you with this matter. Write a letter and invite this Phoenix Lord to the court for a talk.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

After inspecting other things in the spirit object library, Soyaang saw the equipment of the Warp Spiders. Obviously, the Warp Spider Shrine of Malan'tai had also been destroyed. Even without the attack of the Tyranid, the strength of this Craftworld was probably not much stronger, no wonder they would completely fortify their home.

However, seeing the Warp Spider equipment made Soyaang think of a long-term ignored but actually obvious question.

“Doral, does the Warp Spider path not have a Phoenix Lord?”

“Your Highness, yes, but no.”

“I guess, what you mean is that without a Phoenix Lord, there can be no path shrine, but no one knows who the Phoenix Lord of the Warp Spiders is to this day, and has never shown up. Do you think Lord Jain Zar or Lord Morganna would know?”

“Possibly, but they may not say. The Phoenix Lords have their own common secrets, and there are some inexplicable problems surrounding the destruction of the former First Shrine. The Phoenix Lord of the Warp Spiders disappeared so silently and thoroughly, I am afraid it is also a kind of consensus among the Phoenix Lords. After all, Your Highness, even if others are not worried, wouldn’t the various shrines of the Warp Spiders look for the whereabouts or secrets of the Phoenix Lord themselves? After so many years, there is still not a shred of information, which shows that some force has covered things up very tightly, maybe even the Harlequins are involved.”