The Emperor’s Angel of Death

Hearing old Vok relate the past, Soshyan blinked. He really hadn't imagined Orold having such thoughts, so he asked in return:

"Then why is he so tirelessly trying to overthrow the Imperium?"

"It's not just for revenge. He once gave me an analogy: the slave owners of Commorragh often don't let their slaves die quickly, because only living slaves can provide nourishment and pain. For the Ruinous Powers, the Imperium of Man is the same. After the Primarchs of the Imperium launched their rebellion, he told me with great concern that the Chaos Gods' plan had begun. Destroying humanity is meaningless, but turning humanity into a half-dead zombie is very valuable. To maintain its existence, the Imperium will become more and more cruel and dark, providing a constant stream of nourishment for the evil entities of the Warp. Therefore, he believed that to save humanity, the Imperium must be overthrown and this zombie destroyed. But he didn't know of a better way to solve the threat of the Warp to humanity and the Eldar, so until he found a solution, he could only let the Imperium continue to exist."

Old Vok exhaled a puff of smoke and leaned towards Soshyan, a light in his eyes.

".But he wasn't without any clues. Orold seemed to have discovered some secrets of the Eldar Gods, especially those related to the chief god Asuryan. He heard of a place called the First Shrine, where some powerful individuals who survived the Fall were said to be living in seclusion. Since leaving Commorragh, Orold had always wanted to build his own army. He thought that might be an opportunity. If he could recruit those powerful individuals, then his cause would truly begin. But before he could set off, I encountered a group of stranded Hearthkin. I had to escort them back to the League, and then I agreed with Orold that we would set off again to find the First Shrine when I returned. But the subsequent Warp Storm blocked my path. By the time I could leave the Galactic Core again, the Primarchs' rebellion was over. I only found Orold's descendants and his grave."

Soshyan looked at the old Hearthkin, his heart filled with mixed feelings. He picked up his wine glass and took a sip, but it tasted like nothing.

"Soshyan, when I saw you, although your appearance is basically dissimilar to his, I could see Orold's shadow. Although our daily life was bickering and ridicule, until we parted, I firmly believed that he was the greatest hope of the galaxy. Even now, I still believe he is a special specimen, almost in every aspect. He was once blinded by hatred, but after seeing the truth of the galaxy, he abandoned his various personal obsessions and focused on saving rather than revenge. I may have mocked his ambition in the past, but the longer I spent with him, the harder it was to mock him. I think he actually had the power and determination to change the status quo. No matter how fate arranged him, he would do his best."

"I...I am different from him, in every way."

The old Hearthkin grinned.

"Do you think Orold was actually an Eldar?"

Soshyan didn't answer, but silence itself was an answer.

"Well...I thought so at first, although he had half human blood. But you know, he was never ashamed of it. He may have once had something that could be called a sense of belonging to the Eldar, but after entering Commorragh and seeing the most insane side of this race, he realized that good and evil depend on the individual, not the race. He said more than once that the Eldar's fall was entirely their own fault. The degeneration of a race is inevitably the choice of thousands of individuals. The Eldar race, after going through tens of millions of years of history, is ultimately corrupt. The pride of the past is nothing but fleeting clouds. Orold didn't want this to happen to humanity as well. In fact, he also had your current state of mind, hesitating and confused between the two identities of human and Eldar, but in the end he understood that he is who he is. The definition of race is meaningless to him, and it can't bring him anything. Haha, speaking of which, there's a funny story. Orold got drunk one day and had a big argument with me. I said the galaxy is like this now, and you can't do anything about it. He jumped on the table and danced, shouting that he would just have a lot of children, create a new race, and in the future this mixed-blood race would be able to lead all races to establish a new kingdom. But when he woke up, he didn't remember what he had said."

Soshyan sighed softly, picked up his wine glass, took a sip, and then said softly:

"Chieftain Vok, do you know how he died?"

Hearing this, the smile on old Vok's face disappeared. He silently puffed on his pipe a couple of times, two trails of white smoke drifting from his nostrils, and turned to look at Soshyan.

"This doesn't really matter to you now. If I have to say...I don't really know, but Orold had his descendants leave a handwritten letter for me. He knew I would come to him. The letter said that he had discovered that a force seemed to be monitoring and tracking him recently. One day, he set a trap on a planet, but he still couldn't catch the other party. But fortunately, he used his powerful psychic powers to trace back the traces left by the other party, and based on those traces, he judged that it should be a C'tan, in human language, a Star God."

"Star God?"

Soshyan's eyes widened.

"What happened next?"

"The letter didn't say much more. Orold only said that in the years after I left, he explored some ruins and discovered a huge secret involving the ancient War in Heaven and the Eldar chief god Asuryan. He planned to find an ancient shrine recorded in ancient texts after the human rebellion subsided and the galaxy gradually stabilized. It was described in the texts as the source of creation, also called the Drifting Sanctuary. He believed that if he found that place, he would be able to obtain the power to realize his ideals."

"Drifting Sanctuary..."

Soshyan blinked, trying to hide his surprise as much as possible.

The old Hearthkin stared at him, then nodded thoughtfully.

"It seems...his descendants finally realized it. Fate, is it really being pulled by invisible threads? In fact, when I saw Orold's children, I also found that they basically didn't possess any of the treasures or legacies I obtained during my adventure with Orold. I knew that Orold must have thought they were not up to the task before he died, and chose to hide the legacy, waiting for a qualified descendant to discover it. This is his style of doing things, always leaving a backup plan."

"Did Orold say which Star God it was?"

The other party shook his head.

Soshyan then fell into thought. Before, he always thought that the Imperium didn't want Orold to live, but now it seems that he misunderstood.

But the situation has become more complicated. If a certain Star God harmed Orold, then that means it definitely didn't want Orold to obtain the legacy left by Asuryan, and now this legacy is in his hands, the Star God who harmed Orold is likely also staring at him.

Recalling what happened during the trip to Commorragh, and the appearance of Amonkh, Soshyan faintly had a guess.

This may be related to the Star God called the Deceiver. It is not only the most active Star God in the Eldar's records, but it has also appeared in real space many times and caused some big news. Its suspicion is undoubtedly the greatest.