Chapter 455: Ahriman: I Am a Blue Ultramarine Librarian

Zhou Yun summoned Ahriman to the bridge of the *Light of the Lord* mainly for two reasons.

One was about the stack of demon tarot cards of Khayon.

That was a unique enchanted weapon of Khayon, and many Warp demons, or even Greater Daemons, were restrained by Khayon on it for his own use.

Not long ago, Ahriman dug out this stack of demon tarot cards that Khayon had hidden between his flesh and blood and gifted them to Zhou Yun.

Zhou Yun originally just treated this thing as an interesting collection, not really intending to use it as part of his own combat power.

Until Zhou Yun, while idle, flipped through this stack of demon tarot cards and had an unexpected discovery...

This discovery was very important and would definitely be useful at a critical moment.

But the problem was that Zhou Yun discovered that this demon tarot card was not something you could just throw out and shout "I usually summon a Bloodthirster" to use.

To use this demon tarot, you need a certain amount of demonology knowledge.

Zhou Yun naturally didn't know it, and inside the Empire... most of the people inside the Empire who knew demonology had already been slow-cooked on the white phosphorus stake.

So Zhou Yun thought about it, and decided to just find Ahriman, Professor A, to learn it.

Another reason for summoning Ahriman to the *Light of the Lord* was that Ahriman had discovered some traces of Erebus.

Ahriman, through a complex and huge spell, discovered that the energy flow of a certain Warp was a bit strange, and then discovered that Erebus was weaving a huge ritual on a planet in the Dark Imperium.

He came here also to report this point to Zhou Yun.

However, even Ahriman did not recognize what exactly the ritual Erebus was weaving was, or what its function was. Ahriman could only think that this thing came from the deep wisdom of the Dark Gods of Chaos and was a unique spell of the Word Bearers.

"... Demon is an ambiguous term; a more formal way is to call them the Unborn, or according to the Aeldari way, call them the Primordial Annihilators."

"Demons are born from the sea of souls; some are born naturally and belong to a certain God, some are born naturally but have no master, and some are deliberately created by the Gods, but essentially, demons are the distortion of our dreams, emotions, and obsessions, and are the reflection of a certain moment, a certain period of time, a certain trend of thought, or a certain extreme emotion in the real world in the Warp."

"For example, the Khorne Greater Daemon, the Stooped Knight, restrained in the demon tarot, is essentially a reflection of the slaughter that occurred in the Crusades of ancient Terra."

"You might wonder, the Crusades were just primitive wars that happened on a small continent on a planet, how could they nurture a Greater Daemon?"

"The answer is that the key is not the size of the event itself, but the impact the event brings."

"The Crusades to a certain extent shaped certain concepts and cognitions of humanity. This concept and cognition expanded among the stars with the development of humanity, naturally enough to nurture a Greater Daemon."

"Another example is Drach'nyen, the demon born from the first murder of humanity."

Ahriman taught the knowledge of demonology to Zhou Yun in an elegant, peaceful, and progressive tone:

"It is precisely because of the prosperity of humanity today that the influence produced by humanity's first murder is incomparable, and Drach'nyen's power is so strong."

"Relatively speaking, the demon born from the first murder of the T'au might be relatively insignificant."

Ahriman's teaching level was good, and Zhou Yun already had some understanding of demonology in his mind, and roughly understood how to use Khayon's demon tarot.

"Very clear teaching," Zhou Yun nodded and praised.

This made Ahriman chuckle, as if Zhou Yun's praise satisfied his self-esteem.

"Numerology is just feudal superstition, the Word Bearers' way is just reduced to slaves of the Gods, and Fenrisian runes are just covering up."

"Only the knowledge of my Thousand Sons is the real truth, a rigorous and reliable knowledge system."

Ahriman's tone was obviously a bit proud.

"Ah..." a confused exclamation came from the door of the bridge.

Zhou Yun was stunned for a moment, then turned his head, and saw a warrior wearing Ultramarine paint power armor, with short hair, a firm face, and service studs on his head.

That warrior stood at the door of the bridge, looking at this scene with some confusion and bewilderment.

Titus?

Zhou Yun recognized this famous warrior in an instant, it was precisely the Emperor's Chosen Titus.

He followed Zhou Yun's summons and returned from the Deathwatch, serving as one of Zhou Yun's twenty-two personal guards.

It just so happened that today was the day he reported to Zhou Yun... but Ahriman's teaching was too vivid and interesting, and Zhou Yun forgot about this matter all at once.

"He is actually just an Ultramarine Librarian who likes decoration and dressing up... you believe it, right?" Zhou Yun asked earnestly.

Titus's brain was buzzing, and he couldn't speak for a while.

Ahriman also tilted his head in confusion. Although confused, he was a person with service spirit.

Since Zhou Yun said so, he naturally followed Zhou Yun's words.

"Hello, I am Chief Librarian Tigurius," Ahriman turned his head to look at Titus and said with a serious face.

Titus suddenly understood.

Why his gene-father said that this task required a will as firm as steel, resistance to Warp corruption, and flexible adaptability.

"Kharn, you shit traitor, eat my chainsword!!"

Seth roared wildly, his fangs exposed, hideous and terrifying, looking a bit scary.

The famous Khorne Chosen, traitor Kharn, wielded his axe with ease, resisting Seth's fierce attack.

"Not enough, Seth."

Kharn growled:

"Amit was much more powerful than you back then; I never won against Amit in a First Blood duel."

"Don't mention the name of my ancestor, you traitor, you shit, you don't deserve it." Seth seemed to be provoked, and kicked Kharn's knee.

The demon on Kharn's body instantly crawled out, grabbed Seth's extended leg with both hands, and blocked Seth's attack.

Then it kicked back at the leg Seth was supporting himself with, and Seth immediately lost his balance and fell to the ground with a dog-eating-mud.

Titus sat by the gladiator cage, his hands on his knees, watching this battle silently.

In less than twenty-four standard Terran hours of entering the *Light of the Lord*,

Titus had already seen a full two Chosen.

Tzeentch Chosen Ahriman.

Khorne Chosen Kharn.

Titus suspected that he was not on the *Light of the Lord*, but on the *Vengeful Spirit*.

"This is indeed hard to accept, right, Senior Titus."

A gentle voice with accurate High Gothic pronunciation sounded beside Titus:

"We actually became comrades-in-arms with warriors of the traitor Legions, which makes people feel a bit strange."

Titus saw a warrior wearing elegant purple power armor, with a golden phoenix and helmet pattern drawn on his shoulder pad.

"Thor, Captain of the Primaris Company of the Doraemon Chapter, the future Chapter Master of the Children of the Phoenix Chapter,"

That warrior who could be called elegant introduced himself:

"I am not yet one of the twenty-two Dora personal choices; Lord Kharn thinks I still need training to take on this responsibility."

"..." Titus stared at this Primaris warrior named Thor.

This purple power armor, this phoenix pattern, this elegant posture, and Children of the Phoenix...

"Are you a son of Fulgrim?" Titus asked.

"That is a very rude question."

Thor raised his eyebrows fiercely, seemingly dissatisfied with Titus's words.

"I am the son of Rogal Dorn!" Thor emphasized firmly.

Titus had seen warriors of the Imperial Fists successor chapters in the Deathwatch, and Thor looked completely different from them.

However, Titus didn't find the situation before him so hard to accept.

There were many warriors hiding their identities among the Black Shields of the Deathwatch.

They might come from some loyalist factions of traitor chapters, and some were even vaguely like descendants of traitor Legions.

Right now, what was displayed before Titus was just a bit more exaggerated than in the Black Shields, nothing worth being strange about.

Hmm, not worth being strange... very not worth being strange.

"Do you want to drink some wine?" Thor suddenly asked.

Drink wine?

This made Titus stunned for a moment.

"Are Ultramarines all as serious as you?"

Thor couldn't help but smile:

"Lord Sanguinius taught the Blood Angels to pay attention to beauty, art, and noble sentiments outside of battle; this can temper our minds and restrain our behavior."

"I think it is absolutely correct, and tasting fine wine is also a part of cultivating sentiments."

"I am no stranger to alcohol," Titus said truthfully: "It's just that I haven't drunk it for a long time."

Although Ultramarines are serious, they haven't reached the point of cutting off drinking. At banquets from time to time, Ultramarines will still drink some wine. After all, unless it's something like Fenrisian honey wine, most wine cannot affect the nervous system of a Space Marine.

However, after heading to the Deathwatch, Titus hadn't tasted much wine.

The life of the Deathwatch was only slaughtering aliens, simple and pure.

Thor laughed, picked up a beautifully packaged bottle of red wine from his side, and even took out two wine glasses, clearly premeditated.

He poured a glass for himself, then handed a glass to Titus.

Titus awkwardly raised his glass slightly to toast Soth, a gesture he had seen performed by the nobles of Macragge.

Then, under Thor's urging, Titus drank the scarlet wine in one gulp, and the strong sweet taste of grapes exploded on the tip of his tongue.

"Delicious, is this Baal wine?" Titus asked curiously.

"Fart, Baal wine tastes as bad as Dante's urine!" Seth in the gladiator cage heard Titus's words and roared at him.

Thor revealed a smile: "This is Prospero wine, brought by Lord Ahriman when he visited some time ago."

"It is said that he opened up a vineyard on a steroid planet, isolated the Warp radiation, planted grapes himself, and brewed the wine himself."

Titus's expression suddenly stiffened.

"Don't worry, Lord Sanguinius has also drunk it, and he is sure it is harmless, and Lord Saint Doraemon also used the right-wrong divination machine to judge it." Thor comforted.

Titus's expression was even stranger.

A will as firm as steel, resistance to Warp corruption, and flexible adaptability.

My father, you are right.

This task indeed requires these very much.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 456 =====