The Emperor’s Angel of Death

Standing before the webway gate, Ayla Ashbel felt the ripples gradually stirring ahead. She had once been able to observe the world in two ways: with her eyes and with her mind.

But her mind had been forced to witness the ultimate evil of the warp, causing her eyes to bleed tears of blood, and she could no longer see.

Although blindness was not particularly troubling to her, the vain and proud part of her still missed her eyes. After all, from all the compliments she had received about her appearance, she knew that her eyes had been quite beautiful.

But now, her mind had adapted to operating in the darkness.

Although she knew that she was surrounded by various members of the Craftworld, from Bonesingers to Aspect Warriors and Soulseers, no one made a sound.

This was not only because it was a solemn occasion, but also because everyone was in a bad mood. She could feel the frustration and despair spreading among her people.

After a painful defeat, they were forced to realize that they were completely declining, like a candle in the wind, which could be extinguished by anyone who blew on it.

This Craftworld, like the few surviving counterparts in the desolate galaxy, was very old, even by Aeldari standards.

It once had considerable strength, but it had been constantly worn down and consumed by the long passage of time and the endless battles. Even though the seers tried to avoid every conflict, there were always variables that forced the Craftworld to be involved in wars.

Ayla Ashbel was one of the first seers to realize that the Craftworld's strength had declined to the point where it could no longer directly save itself, so she began to change her thinking, using the power of humans and even forcing herself to think from a human perspective—because to deal with humans, one had to think like them in order to control them better.

Although these short-lived races, with their fanatical faith, crude and barbaric technology, and shallow wisdom, had become a quite influential force in the universe, which many Aeldari found difficult to understand.

But Ayla Ashbel had studied them carefully, surprised by their barbaric lifestyle and cultural immaturity, and shocked by the incomprehensible courage and will that occasionally burst out in their lives, which made them the race most easily tempted by the forces of Chaos, and also the most able to endure the temptation of the forces of Chaos.

For the past thousand years, she had been manipulating humans with her wisdom, like playing chess, making them invisible blades or stepping stones to eliminate the Craftworld's security risks.

In the long, long ago, before Kolor became desolate and decayed, the Aspect Warriors would have laughed at her for getting involved with inferiors.

But now most of those warriors had died in battle, and the Craftworld's beautiful colonnades had lost their former glory. The few survivors finally understood her idea—humans were the only pawns they could use.

Eventually, the blind and relatively junior she became the leader of the Seer Council, not only because of her talent, but also because she showed a more long-term strategic vision than other seers.

Of course, due to long-term exposure to human thinking, she occasionally had strange ideas, such as wondering how humans would see her if they saw her with their own eyes.

She felt that she might be regarded as a goddess by humans, after all, in their eyes, she was a woman, much taller than the average human woman, with a slender and noble figure—the Aeldari and humans were so similar in appearance, her perfection would undoubtedly arouse the desires of human males.

But overall, she still hated humans, especially men, because they were very easily controlled by desires, especially base desires.

Yet today she was here to await a human, a legendary human.

No, or rather, a non-human human.

This was a bit confusing, mainly because Craftworld Kolor was located in a remote area and had little contact with other Craftworlds and Aeldari communities. The news was very closed off. It was not until recently that she heard about an Eternal Court, and Ayla Ashbel specifically sent someone to inquire about the specific situation.

A girl with the potential of an Isha priestess became the Eternal Queen. If this was enough to surprise Ayla Ashbel, then a human becoming the Phoenix King made her jaw drop.

She didn't believe it at first, but as more and more news came, and it became more and more specific, she began to believe it.

But that person's identity also began to change a lot.

Some said he was a hybrid, some said he was one of the crude and manic Astartes of the human empire, and some said he was actually a demigod walking on earth. There were too many theories.

Ayla Ashbel had seen the Astartes of the human empire. They were like beasts in armor, always roaring, always angry, always full of killing intent. Rather than being creatures, they were out-of-control war machines. She didn't think such a person would get involved with an Aeldari girl.

As the saying goes, seeing is believing. Although her physical eyes could not see, her soul's eye could witness the truth of this series of rumors.

Even her heart had a little expectation.

"He's here."

Someone whispered. Ayla Ashbel then held her breath and concentrated.

Suddenly, light and heat surged over her head, as if a pair of huge wings were flapping, summoning a downward airflow.

In the soul's vision, it was as if a ball of fire erupted from the continuous and steady ripples of the highest heaven, stirring up layers of shocking waves.

Instinctively, Ayla Ashbel summoned a secret incantation to protect her spirit, but the spell collapsed in an instant. Then, a huge white-gold fire phoenix swept past her and slowly landed. Under its crisp claws, the tides of the warp sparkled with starlight. Then, it opened its wings, and the flame-like feathers flickered, like an open hearth. Four pairs of different colored eyes stared at her.

Then, more phoenixes fell, and Ayla Ashbel gritted her teeth to resist the huge mental pressure.

But the last thing that appeared crushed her. In an instant, the webway gate seemed like an erupting volcano, spewing out countless silver sparks. Ayla Ashbel felt her skin become like thin paper in front of a flame. Where the strong light touched, it seemed that her silent soul was also ignited.

She wanted to scream, but she felt like a speck of ash in the wind, lifted high, but still burning.

The flames scorched her vision and boiled her thoughts.

Then, she was free.

Powerful forces were still surging around the archway, and those shining figures had turned into shining warriors, guarding a towering giant. He stood on a huge and ornate phoenix-shaped vehicle, wearing armor and a mask. Just from his figure, the Aeldari present already knew that this was definitely not an Aeldari.

But it shouldn't be human either.