[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-warhammer-the-11th-primarch-the-black-emperor":3,"chapter-warhammer-the-11th-primarch-the-black-emperor-warhammer-the-11th-primarch-the-black-emperor-chapter-648":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Warhammer: The 11th Primarch - The Black Emperor",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1511341,1962,"Chapter 648 - 647: The Shadow Tarot, Different from the Emperor's Tarot","warhammer-the-11th-primarch-the-black-emperor-chapter-648",648,"\u003Cp>Segmentum Obscurus, 11-12-35.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>William Wood, Chapter Master of the Twelfth Chapter, stared at the xenos before him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hundreds of them, their arms like scythes, charged.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their cracked, tree-trunk-like bodies emitted a strong, musty odor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were about half a head taller than him. Barbed wheat ears swayed on their heads.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their gaping mouths, split to their ears, had no tongues, but he could see swallowed green plants within.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Colorful mushrooms sprouted from the pores of their root-like feet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His Guard raised their bolt guns, unleashing dense fire.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Amidst the explosive cracks, splinters flew. The tree-like xenos still advanced.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'Tough hide.' A thought flashed through his mind. He raised his hand. Crackling blue lightning leaped.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As a full-fledged \"Clown,\" he flicked his wrist. Claws shot out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ten monomolecular blades, forged by Vulkan, flew in different directions, precisely striking different enemies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A piercing, tearing sound, like sawing wood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was astonished to find the monomolecular blades quivering inside the xenos, unable to break free and return.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The \"Faceless\" swayed lightly, dodging the scything blows.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He leaned forward, puffing his cheeks, exhaling. He aimed at a xenos's mouth and mimicked a 'pop.'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The tree-like body trembled. Its chest was pierced. A monomolecular blade shot out, arcing under magnetic guidance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He raised his hand. A blade appeared in his empty fist.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His \"Air Bullet\" ability, gained as a \"Magician,\" had been almost ineffective against Shadows of Order.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But since advancing to \"Faceless,\" \"Air Bullet\" could now inflict decent damage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Amidst sounds like breaking wood, his curiosity about the xenos grew.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'My Lord would be interested in them.'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He continuously puffed his cheeks, expelling \"Air Bullets,\" retrieving the monomolecular blades, while memorizing their creaking sounds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He grasped their subsequent movements, combining this with his psychic foresight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When he had retrieved all the monomolecular blades, he had a basic understanding of their language.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He ordered loudly on the vox channel. \"The xenos are slow. Engage in melee.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had noticed that though not slow relative to their size, they were much slower than Shadows of Order, especially his Guard, who were mostly \"Clowns.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The \"Clowns\" slung their bolters, activating their disassociation fields.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With a hum, they bent their knees, then spread their arms, leaping.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was the first to reach a xenos. He pressed his five fingers together, tearing into its tree-like body.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With a crack, its abdomen shattered. His claws pierced its body.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As a full-fledged \"Clown's\" intuition, quicker than his own \"Foresight,\" detected the scything blades swinging from both sides.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the gap, he twisted, leaning low to avoid them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like a roly-poly toy, he straightened, sliding to the creature's side.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he moved, his claws swung.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The \"Clowns,\" following their Lord, charged into the xenos formation, using their agility, rolling between their root-like feet, weaving between their bulky bodies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With creaking sounds, the bulky bodies fell.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the battle, he found a relatively intact corpse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He tore off the xenos's head and put it in his mouth, like chewing sugarcane from the Symphony of the Sea.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he chewed, he digested the information flooding his mind. Combined with the sounds he had recorded, he gained a sufficient understanding of the xenos, who called themselves Harvest Giants.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He removed his claws and placed his hands on the tree-like body.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He stroked it, feeling the texture.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A dozen seconds later, he stepped back. Cracking sounds came from within his body.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His lustrous skin, inherited from the gene-father, grew dry and dull, then withered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His short, dense black hair became wheat ears, pushing up his helmet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His lips stretched back, splitting into a wide mouth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As his mouth opened and closed, it emitted a creaking sound.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One branch of the \"Faceless's\" \"Shapeshift\" ability was mimicking target sounds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If he heard it, he could reproduce it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though this mimicry had limits, experiments showed a Shadows of Order's vocal cords could still manage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Confirming he could \"Shapeshift\" into a Harvest Giant, he produced a Monarch coin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His eyes focused, their color deepening. He reviewed his plan, silently intoning in Dunnish:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The plan to lure the Harvest Giants will succeed...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After eleven repetitions, he flicked the coin, then extended his gauntlet flat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Slap! The coin landed, steady in his palm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Heads up, indicating affirmation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He then produced a data-slate, displaying a hololith.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He scrolled, then selected a basin with soft soil, according to auspex matrix scans.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His neck cracked. His stiff vocal cords loosened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He opened the vox channel, ordering the Techmarines and Apothecaries.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Apothecaries, create a paralytic fluid based on the enemy's body composition.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Techmarines, bury the fluid at the ambush site, to quickly soften the soil under pressure.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the newly promoted \"Potion Professor\" and \"Artisan\" teams conducted their research, he removed his armor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cracking sounds came from his body. He expanded, reaching the height of the shortest Harvest Giant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He placed a stack of parchment tarot cards on his person.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unlike the Emperor's Tarot used by most Imperial diviners, his Shadow Tarot, invented and promoted within the Twelfth Chapter, was completely different.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Based on the Legion's culture, his homeworld Vostroya, his birthplace Gardinaal, the Chapter's recruiting world Tanith, and other worlds he had visited, he had created a unique deck.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Shadow Tarot's back bore the Legion's emblem. The front had different images on each card.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Replacing the Emperor card as the core was the Monarch card.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It depicted a blurred figure, enthroned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ordinary Shadows of Order, unaware of the Black Emperor's existence, or that the Black Emperor and their Father were one, either saw this as an abstract representation or a sign of respect.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only those who knew of the Black Emperor, who had visited the mysterious realm, recognized the figure as the Black Emperor enthroned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had engraved patterns on the edges of both sides with a ritual knife of dual-numbered black gold.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This allowed \"Seers,\" \"Clowns,\" and \"Magicians\" to use them as a divination focus, like prophecy psykers use the Emperor's Tarot. They also served as a medium for \"Clowns\" to use \"Paper Daggers,\" and for \"Magicians\" to advance to \"Drawing Paper As Weapons.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Paper Daggers,\" as a \"Clown,\" created blades only slightly sharper than throwing rocks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But \"Magician's\" \"Drawing Paper As Weapons\" was a decent alternative when weapons were damaged.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He also placed paper dolls, cut from parchment, and promethium matches, developed by Techmarines specifically for \"Magicians,\" on his person.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"A 'Magician' does not perform without preparation!\" He always remembered the Black Emperor's teaching.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was his preparation that allowed him, during his grand performance on Taxal, to withstand Slaanesh's corruption until his prayer was answered and he was saved by the Black Emperor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He oriented himself and strode towards the Harvest Giants' gathering.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>.....\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[email protected]\u002FDaoistJinzu\u003C\u002Fp>",1127,"2026-06-06T05:05:28.115Z",1,"novelbin.me","9570efefcc57d9bc9498b7b8d12c3c27e913b18f5a254668bd85a5ae13004a3d","warhammer-the-11th-primarch-the-black-emperor-chapter-649","warhammer-the-11th-primarch-the-black-emperor-chapter-596",698,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fwarhammer-the-11th-primarch-the-black-emperor-cover.jpg"]