The Emperor’s Angel of Death

“Lord Aeris, I ask not to embarrass you, but to illustrate a principle. I often tell this to my ministers and commanders. It is a sentiment from my century of life, that we must be realistic when looking at things or taking concrete actions. What is being realistic? It's analyzing specific problems specifically, proceeding from reality, and drawing conclusions based on the objective situation. Don't generalize, don't see things as black and white, and don't make subjective judgments or arbitrary speculations. If humanity were only backward, ignorant, and barbaric, the Orks should be sitting on the throne of the galaxy. The Eldar have a civilization of sixty million years, while humans only have forty to fifty thousand years. That's saying something. The galaxy is very different from the past. To think that the Eldar's recovery has nothing to do with humanity is self-deception. My current identity is special, and I won't deny that, but it is precisely because of this special identity that the Court has been able to establish and grow. It’s not that I miss my human identity, but that the Court needs help from humanity.”

Aeris was silent for a moment, then agreed:

“Morganna is right, your thinking has transcended the limitations of one race and one country. Your vision is based on the entire galaxy, something that cannot be found in any Eldar group. But the wars in the galaxy have never changed, Sotha. What if a conflict breaks out between a Craftworld or Maiden World and the human empire?”

“The question you raise is a bit late. The Court has been established for more than ten years, and it has encountered countless situations. The fact that you ask this shows that your understanding of the galaxy is not deep enough. Not to mention Eldar and humans, there will be conflicts and wars between Eldar and Eldar, as well as Eldar and other races. The human empire itself has been in a long-term conflict between various forces. You think the Empire is a whole, so you forcibly put the Court and the Empire on an opposite side, but the actual situation is that some Astartes chapters may be extremely hostile to the Eldar, but many chapters take a live-and-let-live attitude. The High Lords' view of the Eldar is 'a minor nuisance,' and they will never waste resources to take the initiative to cause trouble unless necessary. As for the Inquisition, hehe, there are even pro-alien factions and alien cooperation factions within it, can you believe it? The human empire is a complex and loose existence. It rarely shows consistency towards its goals, and internal struggles permeate almost all its actions. In this case, my special identity can handle those conflicts that are not too serious.”

“So you don’t think the human empire is an obstacle to our race’s rise?”

“Lord Aeris, the same four words, be realistic. In the current galaxy, is the threat from the Ruinous Powers and their dogs greater to the Eldar race, or the threat from the human empire?”

“Of course, it is the Chaos Gods and their dogs, but the servants of the Chaos Gods are basically humans.”

“What about the Necron race? Is the threat from the Necron race smaller than that of the human empire?”

“Of course not.”

“How do the Tyranids compare to the human empire?”

“I have not seen these extragalactic devourers, but I understand that they are indeed more threatening.”

“So, whether it is the servants of Chaos, the Necrons, or the Tyranids, their threat to the Eldar race is above that of the human empire. I admit that the Eldar and the human empire have had countless bloody conflicts over the past ten thousand years, and both sides have forged blood feuds, but as the helmsmen of the Eldar race, should our actions and decisions focus on past grievances or future hopes?”

Aeris did not answer, but his silence represented the answer.

“We are decision-makers, and we must rely on logic, not emotions, because our decisions are related to countless lives. Personally, the logic that guides my decisions is very simple. See what contradictions are major and what contradictions are minor, and based on this, determine who is a friend and who is an enemy. For the middle ground, try to increase more friends, because only in this way can more enemies be avoided. This is the basic logic of my actions, so I judge that at least for now, and for a considerable period in the future, there are no major contradictions between the Court and the human empire, so there is naturally no question of obstacles. On the contrary, both sides have a large number of the same opponents, especially the servants of Chaos and the Necrons.”

After a moment of silence, Aeris lowered his head slightly.

“I admire your wisdom, Phoenix King. I accept Morganna’s statement. No one is more suitable to be the leader of the Court than you, so I can make this decision.”

A seer behind Aeris stepped forward, holding a spirit bone box in his hand. Dorar then walked down the steps, took the box, opened it, and presented it to Sotha.

Inside lay a framed spirit bone document. Sotha picked it up and, unsurprisingly, it was Mymeara’s submission to join the Court and recognize Veroni as its master.

“Mymeara will forever be loyal to the Eternal Court and Her Eternal Majesty the Queen. May the sun shine again on our ancestral land, and may we not forget the glory of our ancestors who dominated the galaxy.”

Phoenix Lord Mymeara then knelt on one knee. At this time, the document had been handed over to Veronica by a maid.

“Twilight Shadow Aeris and Starlight Spear will also fight for our race’s resurgence, at the disposal of Her Majesty.”

Veroni's voice then floated from behind the curtain.

“Lord Aeris takes the overall situation of the race as the most important thing, which is admirable. I hereby grant you the title of Duke of Shadow and bestow upon you the newly built Shrine of Shadow.”

The position of Duke was newly established by Sotha after discussing it with Veronica for a long time. It is used to arrange the Phoenix Lords. It is more like an honorary title than a position. The Dukes have their own “fiefs,” which are the Great Shrines. Their main job is to train Aspect Warriors in them. At the same time, they will also serve as a senior military officer and have a high seat in the Privy Council. When war breaks out, they will serve as the Phoenix King's deputy.

But there is one thing to note, that is, the Phoenix Dukes do not have command over the Aspect Warriors who “graduate” from the Great Shrines. Even if the Aspect Warriors follow him, it is only out of personal will, but the Phoenix Duke has no right to prevent the Aspect Warriors from leaving the Great Shrine or being transferred by the Court. Only the trainees who are still in training will fully accept the management of the Phoenix Duke.

After all, “private individuals are not allowed to train and form armed forces” is written in the laws of the Court.

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

Before, Sotha noticed some anomalies in Mymeara’s submission. It was not until Aeris stood up again that he asked:

“Duke Aeris, why is the population of Mymeara so small? It seems to be much smaller than a normal Craftworld. Has it encountered war in the middle?”