He and I Are Not Brothers
Seeing the Emperor readily agree, Leman Russ's eyes flashed with a fierce light, the same kind of ruthless glint Fenrisian would show in a duel.
Sensing their brother's fighting spirit, the two giant wolves stepped forward from either side.
Adult Fenrisian Wolf are at least the size of a horse.
The smaller, silver giant wolf's head was only slightly lower than Alpharius's shoulders.
The black one curled its lips, revealing sharp, sword-like teeth, and had a bare, prominent pink scar on its head.
They stared wide-eyed at the cat-like creature, which was only a meter long and had ginger-yellow fur, and menacingly approached it.
Undeterred, the Brainy Cat's completely black eyes flashed.
A cruel scene immediately flashed in Freki and Geri's eyes: the hunting party, armed with poisoned arrows, knives, and guns, attacked the wolf pack, and their mother lay dead in a pool of blood.
The tall brother fought valiantly, suffering multiple cuts and stabs from the hunters' weapons, and was eventually captured by the large and powerful hunting party.
Freki and Geri were gripped by the deepest Nightmare of fear, their bodies trembling, their heavy-smelling sweat dripping onto the snow.
Leman Russ stretched out his hands and placed them on the two wolf brothers.
Feeling the warmth and strength of the large hand, Freki and Geri awoke from their nightmare.
They crouched down, let out an angry roar, and made as if to pounce.
The Brainy Cat strode with elegant steps, its black pupils flashing with a cold light.
The Wolf King stood up, his massive body shielding his two wolf brothers.
The "Heavy Strike" slammed into him, and his massive body swayed slightly.
Lehman Rusrus's eyes flashed, and he said in a cold voice.
"Witchcraft!"
As the Wolf King spoke, he raised his leg and kicked at the Brainy Cat.
With a loud bang, Leman Russ's leg was blocked by a leg encased in black leg armor.
The black-armored giant stepped forward, lowered his head slightly, looked at the Wolf King, and said in a cold voice.
"You should kill the two behind you first."
Nimrod's gaze swept over the two men wrapped in black fur. They wore simple fur hats on their shaved heads, unlike the other Fenrisian grew beards.
They wore strings of primitive bone charms on their bodies and carried Bone Staff in their hands.
"They are not wizards, but Sons of the Storm."
From the previous clash, Leman Russ sensed that the black-armored Warrior's strength was no less than his own, and he watched his opponent warily.
"False words cannot change the essence."
Nimrod's eyes were icy cold as he spoke with a mocking tone.
"This will only make you seem hypocritical."
The Wolf King's eyes were filled with rage as he swung his arm and punched Nimrod on the head.
Nimrod was about to swing his arm to block when he sensed the movement of the figure beside him and stopped.
The Emperor Flash Step in front of Nimrod, blocking Leman Russ's ferocious attack.
"The differences simply stem from cultural differences."
"Russ, this is your brother Nimrod. You are brothers; you shouldn't fight over this."
"Keeping a pet with witchcraft is shameful; he and I are not brothers."
"The Wolf King said disdainfully," Nimrod said coldly.
I won't try to wake someone who's pretending to be asleep.
As the Primarch, Lehman Ruth could undoubtedly discover that the power used by the Fenris Shaman was essentially no different from the witchcraft used by the Strongbrain Cat, which he described.
There's no point in arguing when you don't see eye to eye; Nimrod has no interest in debating with stubborn people.
The Emperor frowned slightly; today's meeting was going even less smoothly than he had imagined.
Before the competition even began, the two Primarch had already clashed.
We need to find a way to resolve their conflicts, at least so as not to affect coordinated operations.
Before that, one must first win the duel with Russ.
Thinking of this, the Emperor spoke.
"Russ, should we complete the challenge now, or are you already willing to return to the Imperium?"
Through observation and conversation, he gained a considerable understanding of Russ, knowing how to stimulate the Primarch to temporarily divert his attention from the brotherly conflict.
"Of course not."
The Wolf King withdrew his gaze from Nimrod and spoke to the Emperor.
"Come with me."
A moment later, the group arrived at the huge, round, ivory-shaped gate, where a giant python was coiled around it.
The giant python's jaws were tightly gripping its own tail; Nimrod recognized that it had been deliberately trained into a ring shape, Mimicry Ouroboros.
The Terra regarded Ouroboros as a symbol of eternity, a cultural belief that was brought to Fenris by the colonists.
After passing through the ivory gate, the chill was dispelled behind me, and the air was filled with smoke and a strange, mixed smell.
The awful smells of cured meat, herbs, burnt fat, damp fur, and the sultry aroma of animals sleeping in their dens.
It was more like an animal's den than a palace.
The resin torches hanging on the wall and the flickering candlelight on the table illuminated the Chieftain's Hall, the walls covered in soot.
The brazier between the dining tables emitted suffocating heat, and the burning animal fat inside left the ceiling covered with deposits of grease.
Russ continued on her way until she arrived at the throne, which was covered with thick animal fur.
After he sat down, Freki and Geri lay prone on either side of his feet.
The Emperor sat at the head of the guest seats, with Alpharius standing behind him.
The Fenrisian brought over a spare king's throne, put the two tables together, Nimrod sat behind the table next to the Emperor's.
After everyone was seated, Leman Russ began to speak.
"The first challenge: the eating challenge."
"Food is a gift from nature to Fenris for his people. The more they eat, the more gifts they receive, and the stronger they become!"
"Good."
After the Emperor nodded in agreement, the banquet and the competition began simultaneously.
Plate after plate of meat was served on Nimrod's table. In the icy, snowy Fenris, crops struggled to survive, and the diet consisted mainly of hunted meat.
The soaked fruit leaves had long since charred into translucent thin armor, which cracked crisply when gently lifted, revealing the ribs underneath that gleamed with an agate-like luster.
The high-temperature slab etched crack-like brown lines onto its surface, with fine oil bubbles slowly wriggling between the amber-colored layers of fat.
As the blade sliced through, rose-colored juices meandered down the lines carved into the flint, and the rising steam carried a wild fragrance of minerals and fruitwood.
The muscles close to the bone present an attractive gradient color: the outer layer is a dark brown covered with a honey-colored crust, transitioning to a juicy crimson inwards, and the deepest part retains the unique light cherry blossom color of rock grilling. Each layer of the muscle is permeated with the bitterness of pine needles and the sweet and sour taste of wild berries.
Nimrod didn't stand on ceremony; he used a fork to pick up a steak and put it in his mouth.
The first thing the tooth tip touches is the brittle shell mixed with salt crystals, carrying a faint flint scent from the volcanic rock.
Then comes the layer of fat wrapped with broken leaves, which melts on the tongue as a waterfall of oil with a milky aroma.
When you bite into the center of the meat, the accumulated juices mixed with the smoky flavor of fruitwood burst in your mouth, and the juices seeping out from between the fibers give off a refreshing and sweet aftertaste unique to ice water.
The gnawing bones were covered with translucent fascia, which looked like solidified amber in the candlelight. My fingertips still felt the rough texture of licking the mixture of rock salt and meat juices.
[Although the cooking method is not complicated, it preserves the original flavor of the food, and the Fenris flavor is quite good.]
After eating three pieces of meat, Nimrod ignored Leman Russ's provocative gaze, slowed down his eating speed, and focused his attention on the eating contest between the Old Man in Yellow and the Wolf King.