Chapter 480: Wrestler-Eagle Man

The Three Ancient Saint Artifacts?

The Ouroboros, the Tuluch Engine, and the Plague Heart,

Zhou Yun of course knew of their existence,

When all three Ancient Saint Artifacts are gathered, they automatically combine, and together they can directly open holes in time and space; their simplest use is as a Webway Shield Borer or a time-travel device.

"I was going to ask you if you even knew about these three Ancient Saint Artifacts," Zhou Yun said, smirking at the Emperor.

The Ouroboros among the Three Ancient Saint Artifacts is the homeworld of the Dark Angels, Caliban, and the Tuluch Engine was recovered a century ago by the Lion by sheer luck and still rests on the Rock Fortress,

while the Plague Heart has always dwelled on some world near the Eye of Terror, later accidentally acquired by Tiphon.

In other words, a century ago, the Imperium nearly stumbled upon two of the three artifacts—if the Emperor had led his Expeditionary Fleet, the twenty Primarchs, two million Astartes, and endless human auxiliaries to the Eye of Terror and seized the Plague Heart, the Imperium could have revived the Ancient Saint Webway Shield Borer, freely constructing Webways and completely escaping the Warp, fulfilling the Emperor's grand vision,

so what was the Emperor doing at that time?

The Emperor abandoned the Great Expeditionary Fleet and secluded himself underground in the Terra Imperial Palace, attempting to dig a tunnel by brute force to connect with the already severely degraded Old Webway.

"I truly didn't know a century ago," the Emperor's lips curled slightly, as if exasperated: "Lion never told me about the problems on Caliban, nor mentioned that he had recovered the Tuluch Engine."

"Moreover, the Three Ancient Saint Artifacts themselves can partially interfere with and shield against prophecy; even my psychic foresight could not perceive their existence back then."

"Don't look at me like that—I'm not a god, not omniscient or omnipotent."

The Emperor, unable to bear Zhou Yun's stare, spoke with a touch of indignation.

Only after ascending the Golden Throne and becoming the collective of the human race did he become aware of the Three Ancient Saint Artifacts,

and even then, he was filled with profound regret,

The Three Ancient Saint Artifacts could indeed partially evade the sight of the Emperor and the Chaos Gods; precisely because of this, during the entire Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy, only Tiphon—who accidentally discovered the Plague Heart—ever attempted to gather the Three Ancient Saint Artifacts

had the Emperor communicated more with Lion and paid closer attention to Caliban, he might have uncovered traces of the Three Ancient Saint Artifacts, gathered them, and obtained the Webway Shield Borer,

making it utterly unnecessary to risk the Primarchs' rebellion, abandon the Imperium and the Great Crusade, and personally dig a tunnel in isolation.

Zhou Yun did not press the Emperor further on this matter; after all, the Emperor was right—he had done his utmost with the information available to him at the time,

and even if he had truly abandoned the Palace Webway to seek the Three Ancient Saint Artifacts, success was not guaranteed, for the Tuluch Engine had been recovered by the Lion far too late, and the Plague Heart was hidden directly within the Eye of Terror.

"Why are you thinking of the Three Ancient Saint Artifacts now?" Zhou Yun frowned, looking at the Emperor: "What role do your prophecies say they will play in the future?"

The Creator Vashthor believes the Three Ancient Saint Artifacts are the foundation of his ascension, capable of helping him locate the "weapons" left behind by the Ancient Saints, bypassing the Emperor's restrictions, and directly ascending as the Lord of the Domain of Malicious Arts,

has Vashthor already begun his actions?

"Not Vashthor—Aeribas," the Emperor's eyes glimmered with a faint golden sheen: "I caught a glimpse—he is gathering the Three Ancient Saint Artifacts, yet believes he can hide from my sight."

"What does he want the Three Ancient Saint Artifacts for?" Zhou Yun felt something odd: "Does he want to dig a Webway too?"

"The three artifacts can not only carve rifts in space, but also rifts in time."

The Emperor looked at Zhou Yun and spoke softly:

"I believe he intends to send you back to the Great Crusade, so that you may ascend as the Dark King in the thirtieth millennium."

Zhou Yun tilted his head slightly, a giant question mark appearing above his head. He could not fathom the logic inside Aeribas's skull.

"Praise! Lord of All Change! Sovereign of Muscles! Nine Birds Infuse the Body! Flesh Transcended!"

Aeribas chanted the new title of Tzeentch, and azure blasphemous energies swirled, twisted, and drifted through the Blessed Lady,

"Worship! The Wrestler-Eagle Man! Flesh Forger! Messenger of Hope! God Who Sees All and Forges All!"

As Aeribas chanted, the blasphemous energies swirling in the air slowly seeped into Bilar's body, causing the Shadow Sovereign's form to grow ever larger, his muscles more defined and terrifyingly pronounced.

Within Bilar's body, among the four chains binding him, the blue chain—constantly shifting in hue—gradually thinned, nearing the complete dissolution of all restrictions,

the gods had once cursed Bilar, stripping away the power they had once granted him, condemning him to eternal inability to claim an independent existence in either the material or the Warp,

but Aeribas, through negotiation, pleading, prayer, and fulfilling the gods' former rewards, weakened the portion of the curse imposed by Tzeentch upon Bilar and restored part of his former blessings,

and simultaneously, Aeribas promised the Blood God that he would aid in corrupting Titus, securing the Blood God's weakening of Bilar's bindings and the return of partial blessings,

now Bilar's power had been greatly restored, and faintly, he once again bore the might of the gods' chosen.

The ritual ended, but the blasphemous blue energy did not vanish immediately; it lingered in the material dimension for a moment, whispering a few words to Aeribas's ear before dissolving into the void.

The Lord of All Change observed the traces of fate and foresaw that Saint Dora would soon launch an assault on the Blessed Lady.

But this required no reminder from the Lord of All Change—Aeribas knew it himself,

attacking the Blessed Lady was irrelevant, for Aeribas himself was the bait, meant to buy time for Lu Se,

those so-called loyalists and the rotting corpse upon the Throne could never guess Aeribas's plan,

could never guess that he sought to reunite the Three Ancient Saint Artifacts, tear open time, and send that one back to the past to ascend as the Dark King.

Besides, when danger arose, Aeribas would simply use his ritual dagger to cut open reality and escape.

Thinking of this, Aeribas smiled—a mysterious, confident smile—

A wooden door, red with pink tinges, suddenly appeared before Aeribas, slammed open with a bang, and hurled something toward him.

Aeribas's mind went blank,

so the Lord of All Change meant "soon" like this?

(End of Chapter)