How can a retired savior be considered retired if he drops to 40,000?

But that is the conclusion that can be drawn based on data from ten thousand years ago. The current Primarch of the Iron Hands has undoubtedly become some kind of Warp creature, or at least a similar existence. So in this space filled with ether energy, where the two Chaos Powers cast a spell that mixed the High Heavens with reality itself, will he really have a moment when his ammunition runs out?

The demon prince quickly realized that if he made one mistake, the situation would soon be irreversible. He nodded slightly, and while struggling to hold on amidst the dense rain of bullets and the occasional flash of sword light, he immediately began to mutter and pray to his current master. And Slaanesh did give the corresponding "blessing" to his most beloved child:

In a soft but inexplicably dazzling purple light, the demon prince let out a sharp cry that was not sure whether it was joy or pain. The long-range weapon behind the Medusa's shell could no longer cause damage equivalent to the power it should theoretically be able to output. All of the snake demon's coiled and twisted limbs, along with his body, grew visibly larger.

Immersed in the energy of the Warp, Fulgrim has now truly become a monster.

Meow (six o'clock)

To be honest, I am quite shocked. Why can I think of Iron Hand, a straight man who just fights when he is not convinced and can talk back at others (and even succeed)... (Space Seal)

To be honest, I really want to watch this episode. Can someone write something for me (hello), the kind that makes the mouth cannon successful?

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 215: Fateful Battle (Part )

He should have done this long ago, Slaanesh thought as he looked down upon everything.

He believed that Fulgrim should have done this from the moment the battle began. If he wanted to achieve a perfect victory, he should not have left the enemy with any unrealistic illusions from the beginning.

But He Himself also knows that "perfect victory" and "perfect victory" are not strictly identical. The definition of "perfection" is always subject to the limitations of those less than perfect creatures, resulting in some deviations that vary from person to person. Even though He is the god closest to the concept of "perfection" in this galaxy, He cannot say that His "perfection" is "absolute".

Besides, Fulgrim was indeed his favorite toy in the past ten thousand years. Any sentient intelligent creature might have a preference for his favorite things. Unfortunately, Slaanesh has feelings, so he is no exception in this regard.

He therefore allowed a little wilfulness from one of his favorite toys, and Fulgrim did not disappoint him, presenting him with a sufficiently amusing farce. Putting aside the unexpected incident in the whole process, the Lord of Pleasure still appreciated the rest of the show.

Therefore, when the little creature begged for His help in panic, He did not hesitate to give it to Him - rather, He was even more generous than necessary.

The Lord of Pleasure sat high in the sky, looking down at his little toy struggling in pain: Fulgrim's armor shattered as his body expanded, and his pearlescent skin was stretched into a thin, almost transparent film due to excessive growth, and was forced to tear when it finally reached its limit, revealing the bloody, violently twisted muscles and bones underneath, which were growing and extending like living things. Even though the damage caused by this process was healed in an instant by the blessing of Slaanesh himself, and Fulgrim did not undergo any excessive changes in the final result other than his size, the pain that was bound to exist was still real.

Every gift from the hands of the Chaos Powers is not free. If the Daemon Primarch prays for the Lord of Pleasure's gift, then he must offer a corresponding amount of pain.

After a period of time that was difficult to determine the exact length, Fulgrim's body had become as big as a mountain. The body of the Daemon Primarch, after being transformed by Chaos, was already a head taller than Ferrus. If the snake tail he dragged behind him was also counted, Fulgrim's overall length was almost twice that of Ferrus - but now, such a calculation was meaningless. Fulgrim, who stood up again from the extreme torture, was undoubtedly a giant beast. His body was like a Titan and the defense that was strengthened at all costs by the blessing of Slaanesh made almost all conventional firepower meaningless.

The Lord of Joy looked down upon the scene with satisfaction, until the sharp laughter coming from "not far away" disturbed His interest again.

"What are you laughing at again?" He asked the Lord of Change who had fallen into madness again - perhaps He should not use the word "again", because ever since this warp storm was generated under their spell and the two Chaos Powers sat in this "audience seat" together, Tzeentch has never stopped.

In fact, the Lord of Change's obviously abnormal mental state should be traced back to an earlier time, but it must be noted that this is Tzeentch. If He ever appears to be "mentally normal", that would be even more abnormal.

"I saw new destinies sprouting branches!" In the warp, the Supreme Eagle's joyful shout set off another wave. "Nine hundred and ninety-nine possible futures have completely withered and dried up because of the choice you just made, and nine hundred and ninety-nine new possibilities have sprouted and grown because of it! The changes in destiny are always so wonderful - do you want to know what I saw? It's so interesting -"

Tzeentch laughed to himself once again, lost in his own world. The Lord of Pleasure turned his gaze back to the battlefield without any interest, and did not continue to ask questions.

Therefore, He did not know that, of the nine hundred and ninety-nine "new possibilities" that had just emerged, most of them would undoubtedly lead to—

Chaos failed again.

-

Ferrus had no doubt that Fulgrim could now easily crush the entire battlefield simply by moving normally.

In a literal sense.

The huge serpent roared instinctively in pain, and just such a simple cry of pain seemed to have the power to move mountains and take souls away. Everyone on the battlefield who saw this scene was disturbed by the cry of pain, and instinctively lowered their bodies to take precautions and defense. Even some of them had their physiological functions disrupted because of this - except Ferrus.

The size difference doesn't mean anything, he thought. In the early stage of his life, he had successfully hunted many monsters that were much larger than himself. At that time, he obviously didn't have such excellent and complete equipment as he did now.

The Primarch of the Iron Hands remained motionless amid the roar of the beast, and even smiled a slightly ferocious smile because of the emotion brought back to him by the scene:

"Look, who looks more like a Gorgon now," he sighed softly.

A murderous monster, a symbol of terror, a behemoth related to the "snake" - did Fulgrim realize what he was praying for? Did Slaanesh realize what he had granted? Did they mistakenly believe that they could win a war purely by crushing the enemy with power and data? What was Tzeentch doing? Did he not realize that the legends he had set up had been deciphered one by one? Did he not use this to remind Slaanesh? Or was he also looking forward to the results that could be derived from this with great interest?

Countless chaotic thoughts flashed through Ferrus' mind in an instant, but none of these questions really troubled him.

The curse of defeat brought by the Jericho legend has been eliminated by Ferrus himself; after he denied the continuity of "Fulgrim" as the same entity in these ten thousand years, and the fallen primarch strengthened his concept of "Demon Prince" after receiving a large number of Slaanesh blessings, a leading actor was disqualified, and the old events that happened on Istvan V could no longer serve as the weight of fate here.

The only play left to be performed on the stage was "The Legend of the Gorgon". However, as Ferrus had just said in his almost unconscious sigh:

Now, who is the Gorgon in this drama? Is it Ferrus Manus, who bears the well-known nickname, or is he more of a Daemon Prince, who is more closely related to the legendary concept?

——And who will eventually become Perseus who successfully kills the monster with the help of the gods?

The warrior from Medusa, also known as "Gorgon", fearlessly and slowly raised the flaming sword in his hand amid the chaotic turbulence of fate.

He didn't think about more complicated things. He only had one goal now: to kill his enemy completely.

Meow! (Leopard is angry)

I am a very good guesser! But you are not allowed to guess so accurately! (Crawling on the ground in frustration)

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 216: Fateful Battle (V)

"By the way, do you know the story of Perseus beheading the Gorgon?"

Perhaps it was a sudden inspiration. Not long ago, when the situation of the Cyberway War had not yet been sufficiently controlled, Fujimaru Ritsuka, who had temporarily become a kind of field doctor with the help of Chaldea's technology, once asked Ferrus Manus this question.

He knew. He had learned relevant knowledge for a period of time after being found by the Emperor and returning to the Empire. It was a compulsory course for every Primarch to have a general understanding of human history and culture on the human home planet, and Greek mythology happened to be an important part of it that could not be bypassed - not to mention that he himself had the well-known nickname "Gorgon".

The Primarch's memory allowed him to not forget the old events that happened in the early days of the Great Crusade, or the knowledge he had memorized, even if ten thousand years had passed. But when Fujimaru Ritsuka asked this, Ferrus also saw that this tired-looking girl just wanted to find a topic to talk to him about so that she could stay awake.

So he let her continue, and was a little surprised to find that she was not only good at telling stories, but also mentioned many details in her narration that he had not paid much attention to before. He did not have much interest in this area back then and only knew the outline of the relevant story, but the part he knew did not match some of the parts mentioned by Fujimaru Ritsuka.

"Myths and epics passed down orally will always be distorted in the process of transmission. The reinterpretation of myths by later generations in completely different social environments will also affect their own attitude, and may even become unrecognizable due to the degree of transmission. This is true for any story - after all, no matter what, the storyteller is still a human being."

Fujimaru Ritsuka explained this as follows:

"It's like in this world, the legendary Gorgon or Medusa, in the earliest records during the Archaic Age, was just a horrible monster with snake hair, fangs, copper and iron claws, and golden wings, and anyone who looked into its eyes would immediately turn into stone. Later, in the Classical Period, artistic creations and depictions such as 'Medusa has a beautiful face' gradually appeared. As for stories such as 'Medusa was cursed by Athena and turned into the monster Gorgon', they were re-creations made by Roman poets even later. Later, in the era roughly equivalent to the time I lived in, it became more common to depict the 'basilisk Gorgon' as a monster with a snake body and snake hair.

"To you, these are all old stories from thirty or forty thousand years ago. Without my knowledge, it is natural that myths continue to change with human cognition and the continuation of history. For example, if you mention Gorgon to others now, most people who know this term will not think of the banshee living on the island, but you."

-

Ferrus didn't know why he thought of such trivial matters at this critical moment.

The previous battles between the Primarchs were shocking enough, but this "Fulgrim" was now able to trigger aftermaths comparable to the most intense stages of their previous battles with almost every move - and these were even just some instinctive reactions he made without any subjective intention to attack.

There is no doubt that Fulgrim, who had received too much blessing from Slaanesh, was being tortured by the aftermath of the pain and could not regain his sanity for a while. The will that the Purple Phoenix should have had had had been worn out by the enjoyment of the Silver Palace for ten thousand years. The reason why he could still exist in this form that barely resembled "Fulgrim" instead of directly turning into a Chaos Spawn was perhaps more due to the superior biological alchemy skills of the Emperor who created the "Primarch" species ten thousand years ago, which allowed his body to easily accommodate so much Warp energy.

But even so, he is still a Primarch after all. Ferrus is not optimistic about the current situation. He now has a short window of time, maybe just a few seconds, for the favored demon prince to successfully come to his senses, control his actions with his own will, and do whatever he wants.

The Iron Hands Primarch should have used these few seconds to devise a strategy to defeat such a giant, instead of recalling some irrelevant trivialities. But in the next microsecond, he realized that these "trivia" were not completely "unimportant" in the face of the current situation.

——In the logic of the subspace, the success or failure of a battle depends not only on conventional factors such as firepower and tactics, but also on things that are hard to explain, such as "fate" and "symbolic meaning". And I don't know if it's a coincidence, but Fujimaru Ritsuka did tell him these "hard to explain" things in great detail at an inconspicuous time in the past.

The next moment, "Fulgrim" moved.

He did not stop screaming in pain, perhaps the torture was still lingering in his nerves and perception, but the demon prince still remembered what he should do now. His eyes, which were glowing with a hazy purple light, were filled with pain and resentment. When his eyes successfully locked onto Ferrus's position again, one of the four arms slapped down at a speed that almost exceeded everyone's imagination.

This was a bit beyond expectations, but it was not completely unmanageable. Ferrus, who barely managed to react in time, successfully left the direct impact range of the slap, but the large amount of psychic energy that supported the demon prince to make such a swift movement and wrapped around him immediately caused an ether storm to blow around him. The aftermath of this storm alone successfully shattered a special protective force field installed on the Medusa's shell.

And this is obviously not the end, for this huge monster, this is just the beginning.

In Slaanesh's view, even though his beloved has become so huge, slow and sluggish movements are still not allowed. Fulgrim can still make any swift and agile movements he can make, and when his size increases proportionally, the momentum caused by similar movements will also increase exponentially.

After finally realizing what a monster he had become, Fulgrim was not surprised but delighted. He reached out again and pulled out scimitars that matched his current size from the void one by one. If Ferrus had followed his usual practice, he would have immediately chosen to unfold his essential form, trying to obtain a size, mass, and output efficiency comparable to that of his opponent, regardless of the cost, to adjust the balance of power that both sides could exert on the chessboard - but now he did not do that.

Because no matter which version of the myth it is, Perseus, who killed the Gorgon, is just a "human".

-

Tezcatlipoca traveled alone in the flesh across the waves of the vast ocean, but in a sense, he was not alone.

"I have only been in this universe for a short time, but I have already realized something obvious." He complained to his "traveling companion" who was not here but could clearly hear what he was saying, "The four people sitting at the top of this subspace are obviously looking like they can't stand losing."

His so-called "travel companion" might have replied to him, at least he did remain silent for a while and made a gesture similar to listening. Then, he laughed:

"I'm not like that. Although I am indeed similar to Tzeentch and cannot be called a good god, at least, after I have indeed lost, I will admit it openly. But so far, no one in this universe has ever defeated me fairly - even Khorne always wants to cheat at the poker table."

If it weren't for this, maybe they could actually get along.

Smoke Mirror thought so, but he did not stop his pace through space. His "travel companion" might have asked him something again. After listening for a while, he shrugged indifferently and answered nonchalantly:

"Because it's fun. And although casting spells with a human body is limited, it's also relatively difficult to detect."

He stopped at a place that looked no different from any other place, seemingly floating in a strange subspace. Some creatures that originally lived nearby were frightened by the divine aura he deliberately released, and they all ran away cautiously, so that the area appeared strangely calm.

“I think this is a good place,” Tezcatlipoca said. “It’s a good place for you to start paying for everything that’s happened.”

After another brief pause, he laughed again: "Hahaha, I am a businessman who will not do anything without profit. I have said before that I do not have the kind of selfless dedication. I am just keeping you here because I am in the mood and think it will be interesting to do so. In two completely different universes, I can even reflect each other with Tzeentch in terms of concepts. Do you still expect me to be a "good person"? "

After another short pause, Tezcatlipoca smiled and said:

"The price is - run away." The face of the human in the smoke mirror showed a cruel joy of gloating. "Escape quickly, and it's best not to get caught - of course, whether you are caught in the end has nothing to do with me now."

With a snap of his fingers, a spell that was blocking something in another space in the subspace that was "mirrored" to his location in the mystical sense was silently broken.

Meow (six o'clock)

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 217: Fateful Battle (VI)

"…Even if Storm's Edge were here right now, it might not be able to accurately measure the current spiritual base size of 'that thing'."

Following the main force of the Iron Hands, Debbie, who was rapidly retreating to a safe distance, was hanging himself on a Rand generated by the "wisdom of the people", looking back at the turbulent situation on the battlefield behind him, with such emotion.

There is no doubt that it was a battle that would literally shake the world.

The huge energy of the warp space echoed every move of the equally huge "Fulgrim", and thunder, fire and storms seemed to appear naturally according to his will. This was not a spell, but a natural phenomenon - a monster infused with so many "blessings", its existence itself could cause all kinds of anomalies.

The ground was shaking constantly, and the magnificent sky that was mixed with the warp on this battlefield also had dark cracks due to the powerful energy. It was unclear whether it was the air flow or the strong wind blown by the ether that tried to destroy and devour everything on the ground. No one knew where those things that were blown away eventually went and what kind of ending they had.

Most of the Chaos Space Marines and Slaanesh Daemons began to cheer when the Lord of Pleasure blessed Fulgrim, but they were still too immersed in their own world and did not realize that what was happening was also a disaster for them. Unlike the Iron Hands, who received the Primarch's order from the command link when the mutation just happened and began to shrink the defense line in an orderly manner and prepare to evacuate, those Chaos supporters who just stood there stupidly were quickly torn apart in the aether storm that followed.

Although the Iron Hands received a warning in time, everything happened too fast, and they were not without damage during the retreat. Some battle brothers fell forever on the battlefield because of the relentless enemy, but thanks to the fact that most of the vehicles built by the "wisdom of the people" became temporary shelters, they at least did not fall into the situation of almost annihilation like the enemy.

But compared to themselves, they were obviously more worried about Ferrus Manus, who was still stranded in the center of the storm, facing the monster that caused all this.

Even without access to the Astartes' communication network, Debit knew exactly what they were discussing silently. He did not pay much attention to the Primarch's guards, whose number was less than one-fifth of the original number when they set out. He just raised his head and looked diagonally above him, asking bluntly, "How are you doing now?"

"It's better than I thought, but it's limited." Enkidu, who was floating in that relative position, replied, "Although I don't know how, I also received strange support from the earth veins on this planet, but consumption is consumption. To use the 'wisdom of the people' to build such a large number of man-made objects with such a fine structure, it is understandable that a lot of resources will be consumed."

Debit did not comment on this, but continued to ask in this straightforward and inhumane way: "Then, can we use 'People of the world, hope to chain the gods (Enuma Elish)' again?"

Enkidu stared at Debito for a moment with a puzzled look, as if assessing whether he was still sane.

"It can be used, but I cannot guarantee the effect." After a short silence, the God-made Weapon chose to respond in a normal manner, "According to our common sense, 'People, I hope to use the Chained Gods' as a 'pair of rectification treasures' can indeed help in the current situation, but you must realize that the world before our eyes is not operating according to our common sense."

——“The Noble Phantasm of Rectification” often exists based on the support of the power of restraint, and will only be activated when a major disaster occurs in the world itself. Although in an objective sense, Enkidu’s Noble Phantasm can certainly play a sufficient effect when facing Fulgrim, whose spiritual base is so large that it can be called a “disaster”, there is a very important prerequisite for activating this Noble Phantasm:

Restraining force.

Whether it is Gaia or Alaya, the activation of this treasure must rely on the injection of restraining force. Just like a sports car, no matter how fast it is in theory, can only be parked in the garage without oil, without restraining force, even if Enkidu rushed up with his chain, which is a weapon made by God, it is not "human beings, hoping to chain the gods", but just "the chain of heaven".

"Let's not talk about Gaia. The Alaya in this universe has indeed been proven to exist by Fujimaru Ritsuka." Debit understood the other party's concerns, but his words still seemed to be urging him in a concise and tough manner. "Since you can get the support of the earth veins in this fake 'Jericho', then at least this land is recognized by 'human law'. Based on this, on this battlefield, the 'Anti-Correction Noble Phantasm' should be able to unfold and function normally."

A large part of the argumentation process was omitted, but this was obviously not the right time for a leisurely debate, and Enkidu himself certainly had the relevant knowledge. He did not question Debit's conclusion, but figured out the key points in an instant, and smiled and said, "It seems that I have to thank the Lord of Change again this time."

When Tzeentch tried to use the coincidence of the names of "Jericho" and "Jerrick" to construct a destined fate for the Iron Hands based on human legends, it meant that He had to admit conceptually that "Jerrick is Jericho." Naturally, there was also the concept of human activities since the beginning of the human race, which provided conditions for the natural response of the restraining force.

"Even if the Noble Phantasm can be deployed normally, I cannot guarantee its effectiveness." Enkidu turned back to the center of the storm. "I don't know how much energy the 'restraining force' in this universe can provide. In the worst case scenario - forget it. Anyway, you are not the first one to face the possible 'worst case scenario', so there is no point in telling you this."

He just stared at the storm of ether, the shadows cast in it barely outlined the outline of a huge four-armed basilisk, and the figure of Ferrus Manus was completely invisible in it. Judging from the fact that the remaining members of the Iron Hands Chapter were able to barely maintain their emotions, they should have some way to confirm the basic condition of the Primarch from a distance, but there was still a little bit of unnoticeable anxiety in the atmosphere.

Debit didn't rush to urge him, because he knew what Enkidu's "worst case scenario" meant to the Servant himself. If that possibility came true, he would be asking his Servant to commit suicide on the battlefield as a Master. This was certainly not a "good deed", but its result could also lead to greater "good".

There was no relationship between him and Enkidu, or that they were working for the same goal. They were able to establish this master-servant relationship only because of Fujimaru Ritsuka's matchmaking. It would be normal for Enkidu to refuse this order here, but this was the best solution for the current situation in Debit's judgment. If -

"Don't look so ready to die. I will go." Enkidu was the first to comfort Debit. "Although I am doing this for Ritsuka's sake, if she believes that she can trust your judgment, I will do the same. My question is: How sure are you about the next step?"

Debbie paused and said, "I don't know either."

"Isn't this just a gamble?" Enkidu complained, but he obviously had no intention of going back on his word.

The green-haired and white-robed hero sighed helplessly, leaving a faint golden lightning in the air. As the lightning rushed towards the storm that was getting farther and farther away from Debit, he also threw down his last words:

"I will remove the 'Wisdom of the People'. Now you have to find a way to escape!"

Before he finished speaking, the Land Raider "carrying" Debbie had already started to vibrate abnormally during operation. The moment the only occupant on it sensed danger and hurriedly jumped to the ground, it quickly collapsed while moving and turned back into a mass of rocks and gravel.

From the storm in the distance, a thunderous roar was heard again.

Meow (peaceful)

(End of this chapter)