Chapter 143: 「The Eye of Secret Prying」

Ninglu activated his Spirit Vision and, after asking Adams to confirm that he had already digested the Potion of the "Gravedigger," he spoke.

"Meet me in my palace office in ten minutes."

A moment later, the Primarch looked at the Death Lord before him; even without touching Adams's body, he could keenly perceive that the "Gravedigger's" body was cold, like a corpse buried deep underground.

【Hidden among a pile of corpses, no one would notice his difference.

When Adams was still a Sequence 9 "Gravedigger," because he possessed the superhuman body of an Astartes, his body temperature did not drop much.

After advancing to "Gravedigger," the temperature dropped significantly; is this the effect of the Cold Stone among the Potion Materials?】

Ninglu was thoughtful, then said to the "Gravedigger."

"The tombs of the Steel Lords of the Spider Alliance are the opportunity for you to grasp power."

"Father, I understand. I will dig up all the tombs of the Steel Lords and send the strange items within to you."

Adams said calmly, "The special items I collected previously have arrived at the Shadow of Sovereignty with me; they will be sent to your palace shortly."

Ninglu nodded slightly; not just the Fourth Legion, but the special spoils from the other five Chapters were also being "unloaded."

【There should be quite a few Potion Materials among them; I hope to gather enough for a new Potion.】

After the Death Lord left, Ninglu called Arsena in.

"How is the progress on the study of occult languages?"

"My Lord, a major breakthrough has been achieved."

"The languages of past human civilizations found in the Terra library, the occult language within the Book of Thelema, as well as the data and research results sent by Lord Thomas, have filled in the missing parts."

The "Reader" said, operating a Data Slate to show Ninglu; there were eleven symbols on the page.

The "Briber" looked over; among those symbols, there was one he was familiar with, an arrow-like symbol that meant "God's Name" in the Rune Alphabet.

The Rune Alphabet, also known as the Runic Alphabet, has its runes widely used in the weapons of the Imperium; every Chainsword and Power Sword manufactured in Vostonia is engraved with its runes.

Ninglu opened his mouth and, using the pronunciation marked by Arsena, uttered "Tiwaz."

The Primarch keenly felt that an invisible yet perceptible occult power was surging, surging as he spoke.

"Your research is correct."

Ninglu said appreciatively.

"My Lord, I have found a total of twelve Rune Alphabets, three of which come from Old Terra; only in the earliest versions do this symbol and pronunciation contain occult power."

"My further research has discovered that, like this Rune Alphabet, there are ten other symbols; they are special."

"What is special about them?"

Arsena did not answer immediately; he tapped his finger on the Data Slate, and the page changed to another, which contained thirty-three symbols.

Ninglu also saw some familiar symbols on this page, and he read the pronunciation of an X-shaped symbol among them: "gebo."

The "Briber" felt that an invisible power was brewing, but it did not surge.

The Primarch was silent for a few seconds, comparing the difference between the two symbols, and he asked.

"Complete and incomplete?"

"My Lord truly sees the subtle and the obscure; that is exactly it."

The silver-haired Arsena sighed, then continued.

"The eleven letters I showed you first, I call Core Runes; every word must contain at least one of them, and it must start with this letter."

"The thirty-three letters you see now, I call Auxiliary Runes; they follow the Core Runes in a word, and if one starts with them, no power can be invoked."

The "Reader" continued to slide his finger while speaking.

"The first version of the vocabulary I compiled contains one thousand one hundred and thirty-three words."

Ninglu's gaze swept over, seeing the words composed of letters containing occult power, as well as their corresponding meanings.

【——Gift.

——Sacrifice.

......】

After the Primarch scanned it once, he committed all these words to memory.

His brain spun rapidly, combining the words into sentences of varying lengths.

【Barely able to form ritualistic sentences, but they are too short and the semantics are not clear enough; it is difficult to achieve results by using this for ritualistic prayer.】

A few minutes later, Ninglu spoke.

"Your line of thinking is correct; continue to supplement and enrich the vocabulary list."

"As you command, my Lord."

After the "Reader" left, Ninglu received a report from a member of the Honor Guard that the items sent by the various Chapters had been placed into his private treasury.

The Primarch then rose and headed to the treasury to inspect them.

At the same moment, in the Crystal Illusion.

Thomas, who assisted Arsena and made significant contributions to the research of occult vocabulary, arrived before the crystal statue mentioned by the Primarch Attendant.

Compared to other Chapter Masters, the progress of the Mystery Pryer's conquest was much slower; he had been executing Ninglu's special mission, studying the Crystal Illusion and the worship of the Heart-Slayer in the surrounding star systems.

While Thomas was conquering a nearby star system in the direction of Vostonia, he discovered the same worship—the worship of the Heart-Slayer—in the beliefs of six indigenous tribes.

The "Mystery Pryer" studied the indigenous language and compiled the research results into a report, recorded on a Data Crystal produced by the Crystal Illusion.

It was then sent to Vostonia by a supply ship and transferred to the hands of the Primarch Attendant, making a major contribution to the birth of the occult language.

After the "Mystery Pryer" mastered the local language, he also conducted research on ritual procedures and prayer sentences, and had already achieved preliminary results.

He had a certain degree of understanding of the Heart-Slayer, and now he came before the blurry, unrecognizable statue to verify his research.

The "Mystery Pryer" activated the "Secret Eye," his pupils instantly turning deep and dark as he looked at the statue.

In an instant, his Spirituality was rapidly consumed, while a blurry figure appeared in his pupils, and the sound of whispering murmurs echoed in his ears.

"Thomas, Reaper, go and kill, offer me blood and sacrifices, and you will gain powerful strength."

Order Shadow raised a hand to press against his temple, soothing the discomfort of his rapidly depleting Spirituality.

"Not interested."

The murmuring whispers ceased for six milliseconds before sounding again, and at the same time, a cold wind blew through the cave out of thin air.

"You will gain knowledge, secret knowledge that no one has ever known."

"You will be able to see more and discover the mysteries of the supernatural world."

The eyes of the "Mystery Pryer" moved slightly; his Spirituality accelerated its consumption, and countless mysterious scenes flashed through his eyes, containing mysteries he had never perceived or known before.

The "Mystery Pryer" could not help but instinctively feel a trace of yearning, and at that moment, the owner of the whispering voice seemed to notice.

"Serve me, I am the Heart-Slaughterer."

"I refuse."

The "Mystery Pryer," his Spirituality exhausted, closed the "Secret Eye," and everything vanished in an instant.

【I will never betray the Gene-Father to serve anyone, any existence!】

【Furthermore, the ability Father bestowed upon me is more powerful and more mysterious than yours.】

While Order Shadow flatly refused the Greater Daemon of Slaanesh, Ninglu also finished inspecting the spoils of war, where he joyfully found a white, eye-shaped piece of brain tissue.

【The main ingredient for the Sequence 8 "Deduction Student"; after Arsena promotes, as a master of deduction and a master of Ritual Magic, his progress in studying the language of mysticism should increase significantly.】

After sailing for four weeks, the fleet of the Eleventh Legion arrived at its target—the region controlled by the Spider Alliance.

(End of this chapter)