Chapter 254: The Death God of Humanity

Xigaoqi's laughter never ceases,

this last surviving member of the ancient Eldar Pantheon uses his mocking laughter to guide the Death God's army,

the clowns of the Midnight Mourning Troupe perform the famed play "The Fall of the Eldar," lamenting the sorrow and agony of their people's demise, while following Xigaoqi's laughter—the Webway's path unfolds in their dance,

The clowns of the Curtain Path Troupe alternate between laughter and tears, capricious and erratic, while their leader, Sirendeli the Curtain-Walker, moves with elegant grace, her mask constantly shifting with light and shadow to reveal bizarre prophecies,

long ago, the Eldar's excesses awakened the slumbering Hunger God, Slaanesh; her first cry shattered the entire Eldar Empire, then the Eldar Pantheon fell, the gods once worshipped by the Eldar were devoured by Slaanesh, the Phoenix King Asuryan's fire was extinguished, the Old Hag Morai-Heg's fate was shattered, and the Maiden Goddess Lileath was defiled,

the only three survivors were the Lord of Murder, Blood Hand Kane, the goddess of healing, fertility, and harvest, Isha, and the Laughing God, Xigaoqi,

but the Lord of Murder, Blood Hand Kane, was shattered into thousands of fragments during Slaanesh's struggle with Khorne,

Isha was abducted by Nurgle and now imprisoned deep within the Nurgle Gardens,

only the Laughing God Xigaoqi truly survived, hiding deep within the Black Library of the Webway,

and the Eldar clown troupes are His agents of will,

but today, those following Xigaoqi's guidance are not merely clowns—Dark Eldar, Craftworld Eldar, pirates—all once-divided Eldar have now converged as a single force,

for a new Eldar god is awakening: the Death God Inard is about to rise; He has blessed Yvrene, reviving the Daughter of Shadows and delivering Inard's teachings to the Eldar,

had the Eldar Pantheon still stood, had other gods remained, Xigaoqi would never have chosen Inard—a gloomy, malevolent deity whose very birth required the complete sacrifice of the entire Eldar race—as an ally,

but a Death God is better than Slaanesh; any force capable of opposing the Hunger God is precious, and besides, Xigaoqi has no other choice,

thus, the new Eldar Pantheon consists of only three gods,

Kane, occasionally summoned in fragments, represents destruction and slaughter; Inard is the Lord of Death and Souls; Xigaoqi balances their power,

this Pantheon is profoundly unbalanced—at least in the clowns' eyes, Kane is a shattered, antisocial madman, and Inard is perpetually morose,

conversely, in the eyes of the other two gods, Xigaoqi is a lowly clown and actor, and the clowns believe Xigaoqi is fully aware of this,

but the Eldar are already in this ruinous state—let them just muddle through together,

only a fraction of the Death God's army choose to honor all three Pantheon gods simultaneously in thought, behavior, and ornate attire,

but fortunately, the vast majority of the Death God's army accept the joint guidance of Xigaoqi and Inard, following the Webway toward the prophesied cold planet, the Ice Moon Krasus,

the leader of the Death God's army, Yvrene, swings the Old Hag's Sword—the blade forged from the bones of the Eldar Old Hag—its surface erupts in soulfire, opening the Webway gate,

the icy gales of Krasus surge forth, and the Death God's army charges through the gate against the freezing wind,

they beheld death,

as foretold, the Imperial humans are battling the Black Legion; the Chaotic hounds tear at these mortals' flesh,

how foolish and stubborn they are, utterly unaware they have no chance of victory,

they, reduced to nothing but mortals, dare face the Black Legion, blessed by Chaos,

they foolishly form lines, desperately resisting an enemy they can never defeat,

the Eldar suspect their goal is the Webway gate, though they do not realize how close they are to achieving it,

at that moment, a burst of teleportation light explodes within the Imperial human ranks,

the clowns let out a mournful sigh, as if lamenting the impending glorious sacrifice,

the Dark Eldar burst into gleeful cackles, unable to suppress their delight at the coming carnage,

the Craftworld Eldar gaze with disgust and a hint of fear at the figure emerging from the teleportation light: the Warlord Abaddon,

that entity nearly perished beneath Abaddon's blade; a moderately skilled psyker attempted to save her,

but alas, such a psyker is insufficient to rival the Warlord, blessed by the Four Gods,

look, another mortal has emerged, attempting to stop Abaddon, besides that psyker,

how endlessly foolish and arrogant humans are,

the Warlord is not only the mortal agent of Chaos power, but also wields the demonic blade Drenikorn,

the demon within that blade was born from humanity's first murder, intrinsically tied to the human race,

now that humans dominate most of the galaxy, the blade's power has reached its zenith, and worse—it is the very antithesis of humanity,

but what happened next exceeded the Eldar's understanding,

the clowns' lament for death and sacrifice was abruptly cut short,

the Dark Eldar's cruel laughter ceased all at once,

the Craftworld Eldar emitted confused murmurs at the sight unseen in their prophecies,

that mortal wielded a toy sword and effortlessly blocked the demonic blade Drenikorn,

the Eldar's eyes filled with confusion—clowns, Craftworld Eldar, and Dark Eldar alike,

only Yvrene's gaze flickered faintly with the glow of death, as if she had glimpsed a sliver of truth,

"Competitor on the Path of the Highest Dao,"

a whisper echoed in Yvrene's ear—the resonance of the God of the Dead:

"The Death God of Humanity."

Yvrene stared at the mortal dueling Abaddon, her eyes filled with astonishment,

then came an event even more shocking to the Eldar: from the pocket on the mortal's abdomen, a figure clad in a linen robe emerged,

the figure was shrouded in profound mystery—even the most gifted Eldar soul-seers and Grand Seers could not pierce its veil,

yet all felt the aura radiating from that figure,

the Death God's army included Eldar who had lived over ten thousand years, witnesses to the Age of the Great Crusade,

they sensed the aura emanating from that figure,

the aura of the linen-robed figure resembled that of the former Human Warmaster,

"The God of the Dead of Humanity," Yvrene whispered softly, her gaze lingering on the seemingly mortal being, on the pocket upon his abdomen,

at that moment, the Eldar noticed Abaddon's body ignite with teleportation light—the Great Warlord fled!

Then the mortal turned his head and spoke something to the Black Legion,

after which, the Black Legion turned their heads,

and began running toward them?!,

Grephax watched in astonishment as the battle erupted atop the mountain peak,

the blasphemous Eldar aliens leapt among the Black Legion, these agile warriors clad in dazzling armor danced between the Astartes, blades constantly reaping lives,

the clowns, more than warriors, resembled dancers; they performed grotesque alien dances, each step bursting with eerie elegance, their swirling blades slicing Abaddon's followers into fragments,

besides them, the Dark Eldar of Gorm, Craftworld warriors, and pirates from the stars—all manner of Eldar from different factions and Craftworlds—united under the command of a woman clad in ornate robes,

this filled Grephax with dread: could the once-divided Eldar now be acting under unified command?

behind this strange assembly of Eldar, a Webway gate churned and roared,

what was their purpose here? What exactly did they intend to do?

What connection did the False Saint Celestine and the enigmatic Zhou Yun have with these Eldar?

Especially—Grephax had just heard Abaddon call the robed figure… Father?

Too many mysteries filled Grephax's mind,

and the apparent closeness between Leina and Zhou Yun troubled her,

she was now, effectively, fighting alone,

Leina stood beside Zhou Yun, the Knights and Grand Master Belisarius Cawl stood together, the Battle Sisters followed Celestine,

she, Grephax—the highest authority in the Imperium's power structure—had become the lone fighter,

and now Grand Master Belisarius Cawl had been deceived by the False Saint, while Zhou Yun was shrouded in a veil of blasphemous secrets,

how she wished for a band of loyal Storm Troopers or Astartes to stand beside her,

at that moment, footsteps suddenly sounded across the snow,

Grephax and the expeditionary force turned sharply,

behind them, a squad of Astartes clad in blood-red power armor marched up from the mountain's base,

their leader was Calain, First Captain of the Blood Angels,

Grephax felt overwhelming joy—the Emperor had not abandoned His loyal servant,

Captain Calain had held out against the Black Legion's assault!

Hmm?

Suddenly, Grephax noticed something strange,

the faces of the Blood Angels accompanying Captain Calain seemed unfamiliar,

and why were these Astartes not wearing Terminator armor?

Calain's elite First Company were all Terminator warriors,

then, as a Judge, Grephax's instincts detected something amiss,

one shoulder plate of Calain and the unfamiliar Astartes was painted blue—Calain's appeared to be hastily applied,

in Grephax's bewildered gaze, Captain Calain slowly approached Zhou Yun, knelt on one knee, and placed the holy weapon, the Hammer of Bal, between himself and Zhou Yun,

"My Lord," Calain bowed his head: "In the name of Sanguinius, I swear fealty to you as I swear to my Father."

Grephax's vision went black.

(End of Chapter)