Chapter 429

He was indeed extremely weak, unparalleled in weakness, unprecedented in weakness,

His power, compared to what it once was, was no more than a false trace lingering on the retina after a glorious radiance had faded,

yet everything else in this material universe, compared to Him, remained utterly insignificant,

though shattered, He was still exalted and powerful,

and after all, this planet was one He had carefully chosen?

By reversing the polarity of the Black Stone, He summoned storms from the sea, using this crude method to borrow the sea's power and hurl Himself across the far shores of time and space,

relying on information hidden within atoms and the lingering echoes of creation that permeated the universe, He was certain He had arrived tens of millions of years in the future, and that the information of those who had betrayed Him had nearly vanished from the cosmos,

and He had deliberately chosen a planet in its medieval era,

a world neither so backward that its sparse population could not provide Him with sufficient test subjects,

nor so advanced that it could harm Him or cause Him trouble,

the most powerful weapons on this world were still clumsy trebuchets and lances carried by mounted cavalry,

what? Could a knight on horseback, with a single lance charge, kill Him?

If that were truly possible, why had those who betrayed Him forged weapons capable of slaying gods?

Though shattered and weak, He still wielded power sufficient to devour stars, to effortlessly overturn an entire star system, to flip a planet inside out with a mere gesture,

His vessel remained unbreakable, forged from undead living metal, into which He had fused smelted Black Stone—indestructible and capable of blocking the sea's power,

the only weakness of this body was a wound beneath His left wing,

a wound left from the War in Heaven,

the vile Eldar forged Val, a god-weapon, from His Black Stone, crafting it into a fortress known as the Val Amulet,

then the Eldar hurled the Black Stone fortress at Him, wrapping it around His neck and piercing beneath His left wing, leaving a wound that could never be healed.

But these species on this planet had only arisen after countless eons since the War in Heaven—how could they know this secret?

Thus He was absolutely safe; He could conduct His experiments here without fear,

long before this, He had forged the unique substance known as Black Stone,

a substance possessing polarity—capable of suppressing the sea, or amplifying it,

which led Him to perceive a possibility:

His kin had long ignored the sea's power, immersed only in the forces of their material universe,

yet the sea's strength was undeniable; fragile beings could harness it to resist them,

what if He too could borrow the sea's power? What if He could control it? Even become the master of both the material and the sea dimensions?

He began His experiments and plans, commanding His servants and kin to erect Black Stone Towers across the galaxy under the guise of severing reality from the sea,

but in truth, this was to enable Him to manipulate the sea over a far wider range through the Black Stone,

on the day this plan was completed, He could, with a single thought, sever the sea entirely—or drown reality in it,

Unfortunately, this plan was unfinished when the traitors shattered Him.

Now He had descended upon this still-medieval planet, beginning anew His experiments to control the sea.

Hot, dry air stirred over the stony ground, carrying the scent of spices from afar,

a dragon coiled like flowing mercury upon the scars of the earth, fierce and terrifying, the light of stars He had devoured burning within His chest,

Zhou Yun, through the dream, could sense that the dragon had been enjoying his days immensely.

He spent most of His time circling this scorching land, occasionally leaving the planet to journey among nearby stars and devour stellar energy,

the stars thus grew dim or toxic, and along with them, the nascent life on planets orbiting those stars was also devoured,

when countless eons had passed and the intelligent life on this planet ventured among the stars, they would surely be puzzled by the absence of any other intelligent life in their vicinity.

By devouring stellar radiance and these lowly lifeforms, He regained a fraction of His power,

yet He had never consumed the souls of the beings on this planet who called themselves humans, even though their souls were far sweeter than those of the Fearful,

this race possessed a natural attunement to the sea; their emotions were so clear, their fear so sweet—a perfect experimental subject,

so He settled beside a city-state named Cyrene, demanding that the people nearby offer Him one maiden each day,

imitating the planet's primitive legends to awaken in these humans a spectrum of emotions, including fear,

intense emotions rendered souls delicious—whether souls filled with fear, despair, or courage were all exquisitely savory,

more importantly, these emotions stirred the sea's fluctuations, allowing Him to study it,

at the same time, the dragon began attempting to spread faith through fear, seeking to understand the relationship between faith and the sea,

for this purpose, He created for Himself a brand-new name to be worshipped by these humans,

OmMessiah, His new name,

Om derived from the Eldar word for electrical resistance, signifying His origin and His identity as the Lord of Technology and Craft,

Messiah taken from the planet's primitive religion, meaning the promised savior,

He would not destroy this race,

once His experiment succeeded, He would need a cohort of sentient believers—this race was so perfectly suited, He loved them so dearly,

when He mastered the sea's power, He would grant this race unparalleled wisdom and technology, elevating them into a race worthy of serving as His servants and worshippers, leading them to once again ravage the galaxy,

He was their promised Messiah, their fated OmMessiah.

His experiment progressed smoothly,

this race was indeed an ideal test subject; through research on the Black Stone, He even engineered a new genetic sequence within the maidens offered as sacrifices, granting them innate immunity to the Warp, and even a degree of isolation from the sea,

He also used these studies to reshape the Black Stone composing His body, enabling Him to more flexibly block and summon the sea's power,

and those humans who worshipped or feared Him had begun sharing similar dreams with Him,

soon, soon, He would soon shatter the barrier between reality and the sea, becoming master of both dimensions,

then He would be restored to wholeness and become immensely powerful—he could already sense, through the Black Stone, a place within the sea meant for Him.

At that moment, the crisp clatter of hooves rang out,

a steed blacker than night appeared on the horizon, crimson feathers fluttering in the wind carrying the scent of spices,

golden armor blazed dazzlingly under the bright, scorching sun, a lance of pure silver gleamed with cold radiance,

tied to the lance was a long banner, upon which was painted an eagle clutching lightning.

"How nostalgic—I was once a soldier under Emperor Diocletian."

A voice with a Central Asian accent echoed in Zhou Yun's ear; the brown-haired boy appeared beside him, gazing with Zhou Yun at the dragon's dream,

the Emperor's will entered the body of Da Xiong, entering the dragon's dream after Zhou Yun.

"So His goal is to break the barrier between matter and the Warp, becoming a god of both."

"No wonder He differs so greatly from the fragments of other Star Gods."

Hearing the brown-haired boy's words, Zhou Yun could not help turning his head and asking, "You didn't know?"

"Of course I didn't know—I was still young then, even earlier, I thought the Warp might be a gentle, beautiful place."

said the brown-haired boy with deep reflection,

"And when I encountered the dragon, it was pure coincidence—I was rushing to Libya to rejoin my comrades, and happened upon Him along the way."

In the dream, the dragon let out a low growl and a laugh,

a knight—another knight,

countless knights had tried to challenge Him, imitating the legendary heroes who slew dragons,

He delighted in the souls of these knights, in their courageous souls, in their noble souls, and in their souls at the brink of despair,

some sweet human knight souls to snack on!

The dragon roared, louder than thunder,

the colossal beast unfurled its body across the stony earth, its mercury-like shell flowing endlessly, its scales arranged in geometries beyond the comprehension of the material universe—mere mortal eyes gazing upon those non-Euclidean scales would descend into madness,

within His chest, the unabsorbed fire of stars burned fiercely, brighter than the sun,

matter twisted, reality unraveled, dimensions folded within the microcosm unfolded,

fluorescent green lightning surged across the entire wasteland, peeling back the earth in Cengceng layers,

He displayed but the tiniest fraction of His power to frighten the knight before Him,

whether the knight fled in terror or summoned courage, his soul would become delicious.

"I am the Dragon."

"I am a Star God."

"I am your race's fated OmMessiah."

His roar deafened the heavens, a mighty storm rising from the sky,

yet the knight remained unmoved, merely raising his shield slightly and leveling his silver lance at the dragon's head,

"A mere common cavalryman under Emperor Diocletian."

the knight slowly announced his name:

"Come on, bitch."

(End of Chapter)