Twenty-One Dead Otakus Can't Talk Their Way Out of It

Chapter 21: 20. Homebodies Don't Talk Smack

Barbarus, Southern Swamps, Morit Village.

Hades' third year in the south.

White mist billowed. Mortarion stood, scythe in hand. Hades rose a few meters away, also leaning on his scythe. The young man still lay on the ground, unconscious.

The pressure from Mortarion bore down on Hades, making his breathing quicken.

Damn it, Mortarion's adoptive father, Nac'Lare. Hades was sure he'd touched a nerve.

But if Hades didn't say it, Mortarion would have to face it sooner or later.

No, he had to smooth things over quickly! Otherwise, Mortarion would eventually hack Hades to pieces!

Hades, without any shred of dignity left, surrendered to reality once more!

"I believe, and I hope, that you will succeed in killing Nac'Lare."

But...

"Then why did you ask?"

"I just wanted to know... Grim Reaper, in your heart, which is more important: vengeance, or the people of Barbarus?"

Mortarion's hood obscured most of his face, his breather mask covering the rest. His expression was unreadable.

However, the exposed upper half of his face showed faint wrinkles around his eyes.

Hades knew he was hesitating.

Mortarion faltered.

Just as I thought.

Hades sighed inwardly. It was inevitable. This was fate toying with him, the root of Mortarion's corruption.

Among the twenty-one Primarchs, Mortarion's corruption had begun the moment he landed on Barbarus.

Damn it, is Hades really going to have to run away from Death Guard and watch Mortarion and the others fall?

Fuck.

"The people."

Mortarion added, "My adoptive father, Nac'Lare, is the one who deprived me of everything, who denied everything. He is the one I hate the most."

"And the people of Barbarus."

"They accepted me when I had nothing. They gave my existence value and meaning. They entrusted themselves to me."

"They are the value of my existence."

"To rebel against all injustice."

Is that really true, Mortarion?

Deep within Mortarion's heart, a voice whispered.

We all have selfish desires. Will you really give up on avenging yourself against that tyrant?

Didn't you always swear to kill him? Why have you betrayed your former self?

Mortarion hesitated.

"No," he whispered to himself, "the people chose me. They entrusted themselves to me. I cannot betray them first."

"I cannot be the next tyrant."

He silenced the voice in his heart.

If Hades could hear Mortarion's inner monologue, his expression would be quite something right now.

First, that voice was definitely suspicious.

Second, after all, the people "abandoned" Mortarion first!

This was an unsolvable problem.

After all, you couldn't expect humanity not to worship the Emperor.

Mortarion crouched down, gently picked up the young man lying on the ground, then stood up again, scythe in one hand.

"Thank you for your question, Hades."

Mortarion looked at Hades, his eyes unreadable.

He chose the people. From beginning to end, he had only ever chosen them.

Hades stood there, looking back at Mortarion. But in his eyes, Mortarion saw no doubt or malice.

Only anxiety and worry.

Mortarion spoke, "But you shouldn't doubt me."

"You've changed a lot these past few years."

"Go back to the stronghold and rest. Stop fighting aliens in the wilderness all the time."

Mortarion didn't think Hades doubted him. He had simply become more steady and mature. The familiar feelings he had before hadn't changed.

(Like making inappropriate jokes, and still liking to do those quirky actions.)

The questions Hades asked wouldn't become reality; such choices wouldn't appear in reality.

They were useless except for causing inner turmoil.

Perhaps Hades was worrying unnecessarily. Staying alone in the dangerous wilderness would indeed make one feel that the future was bleak.

Unfortunately, the people in the stronghold hated Hades because of his constitution.

He should pay more attention to his friend, but he'd wait until after he killed Nac'Lare.

Compared to Typhon, his loyal companion who often offered direct advice, Hades was more like a disreputable, unreliable friend to Mortarion—

For example, he often dragged Mortarion into long conversations, though Mortarion himself wasn't familiar with this way of passing the time.

That young man would wake up soon. Mortarion had to take him to a safe village before he did.

Mortarion prepared to leave. He turned to face Hades, signaling him to end his conversation.

Hades was a tiny bit shocked.

Did Mortarion just care about him?!

Holy crap, didn't you just have a knife to my throat a moment ago!?

Then, there was only one possibility—Hades had accumulated enough favor with Mortarion!

Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh!!!

Hades wanted to throw down his scythe on the spot, raise his arms, and shout, "I did it! I've accumulated enough favor!"

Before, when he was still young, before Mortarion became the stronghold commander, those persistent offerings, those shared battles, those occasional dry jokes...

Finally, they had earned Mortarion's favor.

In addition, Hades wanted to kneel and pound the ground, shouting, "Oh, holy crap!"

—After all, in both his past and present lives, the number of people who cared about the shut-in Hades could be counted on one hand!!!

Cough, cough, these were all figments of the part of Hades' brain responsible for being unserious.

The part of his brain responsible for normal life was still thinking intensely.

It was clear the conversation had ended. Hades didn't know how far Mortarion had thought about his question.

But his initial goal had been achieved: to plant a warning for Mortarion.

However, he didn't know if Mortarion could grasp Hades' true intentions on his own.

After all, the plot from the original work, where a mighty warrior suddenly appeared, was indeed beyond human imagination.

As for Mortarion's final decision?

That was something Hades could do nothing about.

Sigh, other transmigration protagonists either had cheats and mowed everyone down, or got systems and cheated their way through.

Only Hades himself couldn't even think too much about knowing the plot; he usually just chopped up minor enemies. According to the setting, he couldn't even defeat a single named character.

Thank you, this messed-up Warhammer world.

Hades shrugged and slowly walked to the edge of the road.

"Goodbye, Grim Reaper. I will. I'll come back after I'm done with my business."

Mortarion nodded.

"Go back north. The fighting in the south will be over soon too."

Hades scratched his head and laughed heartily.

"Okay, I'll be back! I'll help you fight Nac'Lare!!!"

Hades made way, watching Mortarion leave with Vokes.

Only when Mortarion reached the village's perimeter did Hades' presence behind him suddenly disappear.

[In the Warp]

Nurglings giggled and jumped on His flab, their favorite playground being the large, corrupted, pus-filled flesh lumps.

At the extreme edge of the Endless Garden, where the flowers of flesh began to wither and the carrion flies no longer buzzed, in a place where both life and death felt too distant—

A hoarse cry erupted, piercing through time and space, crossing life and death. The winds of infinite change broke open, and eternal, stagnant waves cracked apart.

It raised its still-churning spoon, its short arms flailing as it waved, thick cytoplasm reluctantly dripping into the endlessly boiling pot of soup.

"Get away! Get away! He's mine!!! He's with me!!"

Birdsong echoed stubbornly, lingering long after.

"Annoying pests,"

It grumbled.

Damn, Mortarion, just genderbend already, I'm begging you.

Oh, right, there's no female lead in this story. I'm not into that Slaanesh stuff.

Also, don't expect too much from this book, I'm a total beginner (;Д｀) It's great that you all care about this book so much, but the author is really panicking (;Д｀). At its core, the protagonist is still a bit of a dragon-king type, and this book is a bit different from the mainstream Warhammer fanfiction out there. Which serious Warhammer fanfic has a protagonist with a comedic streak? (:з」∠) (pointing finger.jpg)