Two Xenos

"We still can't break through?"

Before Fulgrim, the raging storm grew increasingly unpredictable.

Warp travel remains an extremely unstable medium. Sometimes, interference can create inexplicable and destructive storms in a Warp, preventing navigators from steering ships onto the correct course.

"No, not only is there no way, but this storm seems to be intensifying. If we try to force our way through, we are likely to deviate from our original course by several days or even weeks."

"It's impossible to wait until that moment; the Azure Crystal Alliance is already in Philus's hands."

Clearly, Fulgrim would not adopt this approach.

But it seems that Philus has all the initiative in her hands.

Even though Fulgrim is the Imperium Warmaster, if the fact that Kasgar is actually Eldar spy were to be revealed, this scandal, which is a serious violation of Imperium creed, would surely cause a huge uproar.

Even her authority as Imperium Warmaster couldn't protect Kasgar from being scrutinized by those damned mortals.

Terra now belongs to the High Lords of Terra Terra.

There are no Primarch or Legiones Astartes locations here.

Even though an Imperium Warmaster could command the military operations of various Primarch, the suspicion that Kasgar was Eldar spy still had to be resolved through procedures such as the High Lords of Terra.

—This is the Emperor's arrangement.

Philus even claimed that they possessed an artifact that could make Kasgar manifest pointed ears. This undoubtedly increased Fulgrim's suspicions once again.

Even Fulgrim, the Imperium Warmaster, didn't dare gamble with Kasgar's life.

She had no choice but to accept the other party's demands.

In order to take down the Azure Crystal Alliance's rebel fleet as quickly as possible, Fulgrim needs to destroy the enemy even faster.

Even Mortarion, who rushed over, was completely unaware of this bet.

He was assigned to patrol the perimeter of the campaign, protecting the two rival legions from external interference.

Unfortunately, he didn't get to eat Aqua's meal today.

After all, the fact that Kasgar's true identity was Eldar was quite shocking, and when it got back to the Imperium of Man, it caused quite a stir.

Fulgrim has almost no chance of winning the bet. Wouldn't it be better if Kasgar were to remain permanently in the Iron Hands Legion and serve Philus forever?

Philus felt exceptionally excited at the thought of the future.

Although Philus knew that as Primarch, her act of stealing someone else's love was not honorable, deep down, whenever she thought of the woman who had taken her Warmaster's position looking at Kasgar with her in pain, a strange pleasure would arise in her heart.

It was an intoxicating pleasure.

She was fascinated by it.

The Warp Storm outside show no signs of abating.

It is even continuing to coalesce and take shape, and an even more terrifying and expansive Warp Storm seems about to engulf the entire region.

Fulgrim could only attribute it to her bad luck.

She never imagined that all of this was actually predetermined the moment Philus picked up Medusa's Blade.

As long as the Dark Gods of the Warp have the power to control Warp Storm, humanity will have no way to escape their control.

Just like now—not even the great Imperium Warmaster can do it.

"Wait until the navigator finds the right moment to complete the warp. All members of the Sons of the Emperor fleet, prepare for battle."

The weather wasn't on her side.

Just as Fulgrim was confidently preparing to launch a surprise attack on the Warp Azure Crystal Alliance's rear via warp warp, this sudden Warp Storm blocked their path perfectly.

Even if Fulgrim was anxious at this moment, he could only wait for the mechanized forces of the Iron Hands to break through from the front with firepower.

Fortunately

This is also one of the few weaknesses of the Iron Hands Legion – they are vulnerable to being kited.

Although their heavy firepower is unmatched on the front lines, if the enemy chooses to engage in guerrilla warfare and instead uses their superior mobility to outmaneuver the Iron Hands's fleet, they will be difficult to withstand.

Fortunately, the Azure Crystal Alliance fleet possessed this speed advantage; otherwise, it wouldn't have been possible to drag this out until now. Philus invited the Sons of the Emperor to join the battle.

However, this speed advantage seems unlikely to last long against Philus's increasingly powerful firepower and tracking technology.

Philus and her Iron Hands Legion are still too strong.

Even if Fulgrim manages to complete Warp jump and reach the heart of the Azure Crystal Alliance, she will still have to engage in a fierce battle with the core fleet of the Azure Crystal Alliance protecting the capital.

The Emperor's Children Legion, which charged in alone, was not confident that it could completely defeat Philus before she arrived.

A profound sense of despair washed over Fulgrim at that moment.

Sometimes, it's only when you lose Kasgar that you realize just how crucial he was to the Legion.

"Warmaster, they're back."

"Who? Is it Kasgar?"

"No, it's 'them'." The coded message, which the other party had emphasized before, came through the communication device. "Yriel requests access to fleet communications."

Them!

Ah, right, and those Corsairs, they might know something!

As if suddenly remembering something, Fulgrim quickly reconnected the communication devices, and Princess Irill's serious face appeared on the fleet's Holographic Projection screen in the next moment.

"Yriel! What is Kasgar— "

"No need to say more, Fulgrim. The Prophet has foreseen this conflict, and he will soon come to intervene and stop the spread of Chaos and evil."

"The Prophet?" Fulgrim asked anxiously. "Who is he? Where is he now? What Chaos evil are we facing?"

"With the Warp Storm raging, how can I contact the Prophet you mentioned?"

No need, I've already arrived.

A Psychic Power communication, accompanied by a faint blue Psychic Power flash, slowly emerged from behind the main control room of the Fulgrim.

The Psychic Power teleport was to an Aeldari wielding a long staff, wearing a slender blue helmet and an exquisite purple robe embroidered and engraved with countless mysterious runes.

He removed his helmet amidst the wary presence of many Sons of the Emperors in the cabin to show that he meant no harm.

"We've finally met, great Violet Court Phoenix. I've been planning our meeting for a long time."

Beneath the helmet, the Aeldari revealed the face of a middle-aged man—his features were long and angular. His jet-black hair cascaded over his prominent, pointed ears and was tied into a long bun at the nape of his neck.

It's difficult to judge someone's age from their appearance. After all, once the Eldar reaches adulthood at any stage of their life, they almost never age again. Sometimes, the difference in appearance between someone who is tens of years old and someone who is thousands of years old is simply not noticeable.

Moreover, he was a Prophet.

Behind him followed a massive Wraithbone construct, resembling an Automated Mecha with Eldar characteristics. This construct, known as the "Wraithlord," was empowered by the Spirit Stone of deceased Eldar and gained even greater reflexes and agility through the guidance of the Aeldari Farseer beside him.

"Please allow me to introduce myself— Eldrad Ulthran, the Prophet Ulthran the Ulthwé Craftworld. On behalf of the Craftworld, I welcome you all."

"We hope to cooperate with you."

(The first character is Eldrad Ulthran, the Aeldari Farseer)

With that, he lightly tapped the marble floor of Pride of the Emperor with his staff and took a few steps toward Fulgrim.

As he said, the great Prophet Eldrad had been planning this meeting for a long time.

He originally intended to meet in Talos, the Eldar's Maiden World, a beautiful world filled with mountains and clear waters.

But clearly, the sudden Warp Storm disrupted his plans and thwarted their upcoming meeting.

"Prophet, this is not the time to waste time on pleasantries. Especially while Kasgar himself is still being held captive in an unknown place by my sister."

"It's normal for you to worry about his fate," Eldrad said, "But this is just a sign that the time is coming."

"A chaotic century is about to begin. After centuries of silence, the darkness lurking in the Empyrean will once again sweep across the world, and this time they will be more ferocious, more terrifying, and more capricious than ever before."

"After losing the great Phoenix King Asuryan, it remains to be seen whether the newly born Phoenix Young God can take up the banner of resisting Chaos."

With that, Eldrad let out a long sigh.

"The young phoenix Young God has been working hard to prevent it from happening, but unfortunately, all his efforts are in vain before the predetermined fate."

"Because races like humans never accept the inevitable; they always try to change what they cannot change. It seems our new Phoenix King is indeed more like a human."

"I don't understand your talk of Chaos and disordered world, nor do I understand why you call Kasgar the New Phoenix King," Fulgrim said, her patience with these people who started with riddles was dwindling.

"I need to understand why you're here, and how we can rescue Kasgar?"

"Our purpose? I already stated it from the beginning, Violet Court Phoenix. We hope to establish a cooperative relationship with you."

"Why? As far as I know, humans and Eldar have never been compatible, and beings like Yriel are only a minority."

Under normal circumstances, Fulgrim will only encounter Eldar are arrogant and haughty.

"Because it's only you."

Eldrad said helplessly, seemingly unwilling to accept this sad reality.

"Humanity, and only humanity, will become the last bastion against Chaos."

"Humanity will become a solid barrier against Chaos in the future. Without humanity, the last remaining part of the Aeldari will eventually perish, and soon the entire galaxy will be destroyed."

"So what? Prophet!" Fulgrim's voice was tinged with urgency. "If you truly wish to cooperate, then show it—my Kasgar, who is also the New Phoenix King whom you shout 'Long live!' is in danger!"

"We should be talking about how to save him, not discussing such vague and unrealistic things as chaos and Chaos!"

Fulgrim, it's urgent.

Although she knew that what the Aeldari Farseer was saying might come true in the future, she simply didn't have the energy to deal with the Riddler's riddles at this time.

"Alright, Violet Court Phoenix."

Unfortunately, humans will never understand that abstract threat; they will only feel fear towards the concrete existence before their eyes, without thinking about what might be lurking behind it.

Neither Philus nor Fulgrim could clearly perceive the Chaos threat lurking behind all of this.

Humans are truly impervious to reason; even those who consider themselves great, like Gorgon and the Violet Court Phoenix, are no different. They are destined to witness their own demise in the face of fate.

They will not only destroy themselves, but also the entire galaxy, and the universe is destined to be engulfed in war.

The Aeldari Farseer thought helplessly.

Of course, he wouldn't tell Fulgrim how abstract the Aeldari Farseer's so-called warnings to Gorgon, or Philus, were conducted.

First, they lured Philus into a hole in the ground, and then placed twenty strange statues in front of him, two of which had been completely destroyed.

—Who would have thought that this refers to the Primarch?

Who would have the time to count things like, "Ah, this roaring wild hound looks just like my brother Angron," or "And this knight with shield and warhammer looks exactly like Rogal Dorn."

After being completely bewildered by the nonsensical cave, Philus returned to her flagship with some oddities, never again recalling the trials she had endured on the planet.

Riddler can kill.

Of course, Riddler never consider themselves Riddler.

"You don't need to worry about Kasgar, which you mentioned. We have already made the necessary rescue preparations—it's just that this task fell to another alien leader. He took the initiative to apply to me for this deal when faced with the threat of Chaos."

Eldrad's expression was strange, as if he were talking about an oddball he never wanted to mention.

"Although I don't like him and his race, I have to admit he is indeed very cunning."

[Iron Fist]

In the flagship of the Iron Hands Legion, in a compartment undetectable by any probe, lay Kasgar's hiding place.

Although she wasn't hung up like a roast duck, it seemed that in Philus's eyes, she was not much different from a "roast duck".

The black-tech Psychic Power restraint device from Iron Hands restricted his movement; wrapped up like a dumpling, he couldn't do anything.

"Oh no! What are we going to do?"

Kasgar felt a pang of misfortune as he noticed what appeared to be several more lipstick marks on his face.

Fortunately, out of fear of Kasgar's Psychic Power, Philus did not remove the anti- Psychic Power straitjacket from his body, otherwise...

Kasgar feared that Fulgrim would be so enraged that he would kick the crippled Dog-headed Man off the Bronze Throne on the spot and then sit on it himself.

But now, what means are there to save him?

In order to weaken Kasgar's will to resist, Philus even told him the details of the wager between the two Primarch —but this was practically a guarantee that Fulgrim would lose.

Unless

Unless there's something still lurking on the world map— the Emperor has already returned, so we can rule that out;

Most other Primarch would be kept out by the unsuspecting Mortarion, who would claim that two Primarch were making a bet!

And then there are those old charlatans from the Eldar!

That charlatan from the Eldar, whose name I can't recall but is quite long, even had a past relationship with the Emperor himself. He might be able to come to the rescue!

There aren't many left. It seems that besides them, the only intelligent species left in the galaxy are the Necron!

(The short man was too short for Kasgar to see)

But which Necron would wake up at this time?! Except for that—

Iron Fist.

Aqua Duna's private training cabin.

Faced with five combat robotic arms attacking from all directions, the Second Captain of the Sons of the Emperor, after a moment of contemplation, chose to draw the sword from his other hand.

Even with the Iron Hands's mechanical arm moving swiftly and precisely when both swords were unleashed, it still couldn't gain the slightest advantage over Aqua.

Soon, under her fluid swordsmanship, the five training devices that were attacking her were stopped one by one.

As the last mechanical arm lost its ability to move, Aqua's gaze sharpened, and she thrust her weapon towards an open space to his right rear.

There was nothing there; it was as if Aqua was attacking thin air.

—But of course, her purpose was not to vent her anger on thin air.

"Who's there!"

With her angry shout, a dark green light suddenly appeared at the spot where she had previously thrust, and then, with the same agility, she dodged the sudden attack.

Only then was Aqua able to see the intruder's exact appearance.

That was a Xenos.

He was tall, no less than Astartes in size, and his body seemed to be made of some kind of silver metal, without any flesh and blood as a carbon-based life form.

The Xenos creature also held a staff that emitted strange energy, and the blue scale cloak it wore gave Aqua a sense of unreality, as if the creature both existed and did not exist at the same time.

Who are you? Why have you come here?

Aqua raised her sword with both hands and asked.

She had never seen Xenos with this appearance before, and they had no way of knowing it.

But the other party still gave him a very powerful feeling, and was full of endless variables.

It was not something she could resist.

"My Trazyn, the Infinite, ruler of the world of Solemnace, and a voluntary protector of the history, artifacts, and events of the galaxy."

The Xenos even seemed to bow politely to her.

The Trazyn the Infinite, Trazyn the Infinite.

"State your purpose."

"As I said, madam, it is my mission and duty to collect and preserve the history, artifacts and events of the Milky Way."

What do you want to collect?

"Could it be—" Her keen senses alerted her to danger, "Me?"

"Of course—no."

Actually, he wanted Kasgar more.

Who wouldn't want this?

The Trazyn the Infinite, wished he could immediately Kasgar into the Stasis Field and then run back to his museum before anyone could react.

This is certainly a viable option, but it seems the only outcome would be being hunted to the ends of the earth by Chaos Warmaster Fulgrim.

I'm scared.

"My other duty is to better collect the artifacts in the future and to stop those forces that attempt to destroy everything."

Take Chaos, for example.

Even the Necron and Eldar would stand on the same side when facing Chaos.

Moreover, Kasgar will be the most crucial core element in the fight against Chaos in the future.

He couldn't catch it.

Main character storyline locked, cannot be captured!

This made Trazyn very sad.

But the work must continue.

"For example, the contents of that bet."

"You knew all of that?!"

"Of course, but that is not the focus of our discussion, madam."

"With all of Fulgrim's fleets trapped in the Warp, Philus, who was on the verge of victory, seemed to have forgotten that the Sons of the Emperor still had a company floating outside of it."

"The Second Company, that is, me."

Aqua's expression seemed to soften a little. "What do you want to tell me? I don't know where you learned High Gothic, Xenos, but I will always have reservations about your suggestions."

"Tell me, how can I defeat the Azure Crystal Alliance before the Primarch?"

"I don't need your trust," Trazyn replied, his tone still unhurried.

"You should put yourself in their shoes. Think about it from the perspective of the Azure Crystal Alliance. When you know a powerful fleet is hunting you down and seeking your destruction, why don't you just leave? Why don't you move to a safer place?"

"I don't know why?"

Thinking is not Aqua's forte; aside from combat, her proficiency in other areas seems to be no different from her cooking skills.

"Because they can't. They're trapped in this galaxy."

"Fuel. Their fleet needs fuel."

"Each acceleration of their escape requires a significant amount of energy from the Azure Crystal Alliance fleet. To traverse any distance, they need substantial amounts of fuel. The fleets in nearby star sectors that obey the world have not reported any major losses of transport convoys, so we must assume they can obtain fuel from other sources."

"It's on the Star of Carolus, which is nearby. They must have hidden a solar energy collector somewhere on the corona. Their main core fleet is currently hiding on this planet, waiting to collect enough energy before continuing their advance."

Having said that, Trazyn mysteriously flicked his cloak behind him, then tore open a dark green rift in front of him as if by magic—a feat that was completely unimaginable—and stepped forward into it.

"Hey! Wait a minute!"

Aqua was about to step forward to intercept, but before she could react, the rift closed in front of her, as if nothing had ever happened.

Gazing at the empty room once again, Aqua silently gripped her sword tightly.

Philus Manus was very happy.

Just as if the Warp was not only on her side, but also unleashed a powerful Warp Storm while Fulgrim was still navigating through the Warp.

And shortly thereafter, Company Commander Gabriel Santo reported his discovery to the Primarch—

It turns out that those damned Azure Crystal Alliance fleets are hiding on a nearby planet right now!

Once the enemy fleet is completely destroyed, the Azure Crystal Alliance, having lost all means of defense, will also lose all means of resistance.

Her victory was inevitable.

Under the sudden attack of the Iron Hands fleet, the explosion of the solar collector in orbit above the planet was as bright as the birth of a new star.

The scorching cloud of debris and the released potential energy spread for hundreds of kilometers, shattering the Azure Crystal Alliance warships that were close to the collector.

Nearly a thousand interstellar ships hovered above Carolis, each with its own complex trajectory. Dazzling cannon fire and torpedo trails crisscrossed the space between them.

Caught off guard, the Azure Crystal Alliance fleet was ultimately dragged into battle by the Iron Hands fleet. Like the Beast trapped in a bay, protecting its cubs.

Fully armed warships of ancient design formed a perimeter around the solar collector, while smaller, faster Escort attempted to break through the blockade of Imperium vessels and take their equipment with them from the battle.

But it was all in vain.

Under Philus's relentless bombardment, the mechanical army from the Iron Hands soon landed on the planet and began destruction and slaughter.

Those dead Xenos from the Azure Crystal Alliance were muscular quadrupeds with ochre-colored skin and scales that resembled snake scales but were harder and more like chitin.

Some of its limbs have been reinforced with mechanical prosthetics, and its head has been elongated. It appears to have no eyes, and its mouth is a black ring of teeth filled with undulating tentacles.

A strange armature was fixed to its back and connected by a series of cables to its spine and many fingers and forelimbs.

Of course, there were other humans fighting alongside them, their twisted bodies immediately recognizable, despite the damage inflicted by the torpedoes.

Philus couldn't understand why humans would fight alongside the Xenos. Although she could understand the purpose of the Xenos' mechanical modifications, which were similar to the modifications she had seen in the palace on that initial outer planet.

However, it still cannot achieve perfection like humans.

A sense of unease welled up in Philus's heart. Was it jealousy?

No, this strange creature works, lives, and fights alongside pure-blooded humans, descendants of ancient Earthlings, and this behavior itself is repulsive.

But all of this will soon come to an end.

After wiping out the surface forces on the planet's surface with endless firepower,...

Her gaze fell upon the Azure Crystal Alliance warship docked above near-Earth orbit.

It seems somewhat familiar.

She felt like she had encountered this scene before.

Was it the Gardinar Campaign?

She reminisced about the past.

At that moment, Aqua, the Second Captain Commander of the Emperor's Children, appeared out of nowhere and stormed into the enemy's camp.

--etc.

Aqua is the Second Captain of the Emperor's Children!

At that very moment, Philus saw a Drop Pod, streaking into it like a meteor.

"Lady Philus, now it's my turn."

On her communication channel came the voice of Aqua Duna, the Second Captain of the Sons of the Emperor.