Old Friend

While Qin Xa was fighting.

Realm of Slaanesh.

In some unknown corner.

Something Qin Xa could never have guessed was happening.

Eldrad Uslan, Farseer of the Usvi Craftworld, was moving through secret paths within the Realm of Slaanesh formed from the concepts of "secrets" and "keeping secrets."

The old Farseer wore every good thing he had collected since birth.

A soul invisibility device the Old Ones had used to manage the Immaterium.

An artifact amulet forged by Vaul, the smith god among the Eldar Gods, in ancient times, one that incorporated the concept of "nonexistence."

And an artifact created by the last Old One—the creator and father of the Hrud—when he left the species he had cultivated to fight Chaos, meant to isolate its bearer from Chaos's influence.

Those were the three most important items.

As for the countless other Artifacts, ancient relics, weapons, and armor meant to amplify power or protect the soul... there were simply too many to count. Empowered by all those creations, Uslan looked like a nouveau riche upstart who would replace even his teeth with gold.

Thanks to those Artifacts, Uslan could move secretly through the Realm of Slaanesh to carry out his mission of rescuing Isha.

An artifact forged by Asuryan, lord of the Eldar Gods, floated before Uslan and guided him toward Isha's location. Otherwise, finding her alone would have sent Uslan on a futile trip to Nurgle's realm instead of bringing him directly into the Realm of Slaanesh.

"The Gods are fighting among themselves, as always."

A gemstone was set into Uslan's right eye, and within it was refracted the sight of the entire Immaterium.

That too was an artifact of the Old Ones.

Without it, Uslan would have been corrupted merely by witnessing the aftershocks of the Chaos Gods' battle.

After