The Emperor’s Angel of Death

In the raging storms of Ulthwe, the reinforcements from Biel-Tan engaged the daemonic hordes. To protect this maiden world and safeguard the webway gate leading to the craftworld, Biel-Tan placed immense importance on this operation. They not only drew a third of their forces from the craftworld but also deployed most of their heavy weaponry and vehicle units, unleashing endless fury to destroy the daemons who slaughtered their kin. Skarbrand, fearless, brandished his twin axes, roaring that he would single-handedly defeat the entire craftworld!

The lesser daemons were quickly eradicated, but Biel-Tan discovered that this erstwhile First of Khorne was becoming increasingly powerful in battle!

Though an exile, Skarbrand remained a terrifying Greater Daemon of Khorne. Rage and slaughter continuously amplified his strength, while the Masque lured him toward the webway gate. Eventually, Biel-Tan concentrated all its heavy firepower, nearly bringing the daemon down.

Realizing he was about to fail in the contest, Skarbrand flew into an unprecedented rage, especially when he saw the Masque provocatively performing a pole dance on the webway arch. He was like a star about to explode.

At that moment, Khorne's gaze seemed to return to him, and his power began to surge, escalating to unprecedented levels! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!

Skarbrand's aura was fifty times stronger than ever before, utterly tyrannical and mad, such a bloodthirsty demon... what in the universe could withstand him?!

And so, filled with endless rage, he withstood the Eldar's fierce fire, leaped up, and brought his axe crashing down on the Masque—

But he missed. She had already dodged aside, and he struck only an afterimage, but the webway seal could not withstand it.

In a violent burst of warp energy, the gate to the craftworld burst open, and the Masque and her followers plunged through. Enraged at being tricked, Skarbrand gave chase.

"So Biel-Tan was invaded by daemons."

Sosyos blinked, then asked:

"What happened next? How does this relate to Biel-Tan's sundering?"

"Your Highness, Biel-Tan then strove to eliminate the daemons invading the craftworld, but the cunning Masque had already abandoned her forces and infiltrated the Infinity Circuit, allowing her followers to shed their corporeal forms and enter the Infinity Circuit, corrupting the entire craftworld."

The scene described by Night Spear sent shivers down the spines of many Eldar present. As Slaaneshi daemons devoured the souls of Biel-Tan's ancient ancestors, the craftworld moaned like a living thing, the terrible screams echoing on the edge of hearing.

Without the support of soul energy, the craftworld's keel began to shatter, turning into gray ash. If this terrible metaphysical transformation continued, the craftworld itself would slowly collapse. Though the seers tried to save it, they were helpless against the daemons in the Infinity Circuit. The dimension spiders were completely unable to clear out the vast number of powerful Slaaneshi daemons.

"If I'm not mistaken, this is when the Death Seer Yvraine appeared."

Hearing Star Child's words, Night Spear nodded.

"Yes, as Biel-Tan's seers were at their wits' end, Yvraine and her followers appeared, announcing a way to save the craftworld, the so-called Seventh Path, which involved retrieving the Crone Sword of Vaul, Asu-var, hidden within Biel-Tan's keel."

These words caused an uproar, and Star Child exclaimed in surprise:

"A Crone Sword hidden in Biel-Tan's keel?"

"I was also surprised."

Sosyos cleared his throat, and the surrounding voices immediately ceased. Then, he slowly said:

"Did Biel-Tan's seers agree?"

"Your Highness, yes, but they did not know the cost at the time."

"Why didn't they seek aid from the Throne?"

Hearing Sosyos's question, Night Spear pursed his lips, as if considering his words. After a moment, he replied:

"Perhaps they had concerns or didn't realize things would be so bad."

Sosyos sneered.

"Were they afraid of owing the Throne a favor, or were they worried that it would threaten their 'freedom' and 'independence,' or did they feel that bowing to a Phoenix Lord who didn't suit their tastes would damage their self-esteem?"

"Things happened very suddenly."

Sosyos raised his hand.

"Mr. Illic, there's no need to explain anything for them. I don't care what they think. What happened next?"

"Afterward, Yvraine took the Crone Sword and awakened an avatar of Ynnead in the mortal realm. The daemons in Biel-Tan's spirit bones were gone, but the keel was completely deactivated, and the entire craftworld began to fall apart. The Infinity Circuit was also destroyed. The seers could only try to collect the scattered souls of their ancestors and temporarily house them in spirit engines. The Death Guard also collected the souls of the dead, which aroused the hostility of Biel-Tan's inhabitants. Many viewed Yvraine as a shameless liar and traitor, attempting to attack her, but the Midnight Sorrow intervened. The Usvé faction used a seer's crystal gate to take the Death Guard away. Some of Biel-Tan's inhabitants, seeing the power of the Death Guard, chose to join the Seventh Path and join the Death Guard. The rest could only face their ruined home."

"Usvé."

Sosyos narrowed his eyes, and Eldrad's face appeared in his mind. He was involved again.

Veronika was, and so was Yvraine. It seemed that this old thing was plotting something big.

Then, he turned his gaze to Dolarn.

"Lord Dolarn, tell Lord Alvarid to have the Ministry of Foreign Affairs send an envoy to Usvé to understand the situation. If they can meet Yvraine, tell her that I invite her to the Throne for a meeting. Remember to state that the Throne currently has no hostility, but only hopes to understand the specific situation and avoid any possible misunderstandings."

"Yes, Your Highness."

As Dolarn hurried away, Sosyos turned his gaze to Night Spear.

"What is this so-called Seventh Path?"

"Your Highness must have heard the legend of Ynnead, a god who can destroy the great enemy. But if this god is to fully awaken and defeat Slaanesh forever, it requires the demise of all Eldar in the galaxy, so that the god of death has enough power to achieve victory."

Sosyos nodded.

"I've heard of it. It's utter nonsense. What's the point of destroying the so-called great enemy if the race is extinct?"

"Yes, Yvraine also knows that this is difficult to accept. She proposed the so-called Seventh Path, which winds between darkness and light, which is actually to collect five Crone Swords made by Vaul. When the five blades are combined, they have the power to awaken the god without sacrificing the entire Eldar race."

After listening, Sosyos showed a "what the hell" expression, then rubbed his forehead and sighed softly:

"Why is she still so naive? The Eternal Queen told me the story of the Crone Swords, but with a little thought, you'll realize that if destroying a Ruinous Power only requires collecting five swords, why haven't the other three in the warp done it?"

Then, he glanced at the members of the Privy Council.

"Everyone, think about it. If you were that great enemy, what would you do when you knew that others only needed to collect five swords to destroy you, or at least harm you?"

Star Child smiled coldly.

"Your Highness, then I would definitely be the first to collect them, or ensure that they would never be collected. Only third-rate stories have villains sitting and waiting for righteous heroes to collect the props to destroy them."

Then, he shook his head and spat out two words.

"Stupid."