Chapter 478 Black and Red, a Plan in the Shadows Epilogue

"Broken...?" In the terrifying storm, the body of the fallen demon primarch had long been torn apart, leaving only a shadow-like mass that maintained itself while unconsciously muttering.

"Broken? How is it possible?" The incarnation of the gods stood up from the throne.

It was a symbol and epitome of chaos, and no one could destroy it. The gods thought that the danger came from their own authority, but who knew that the real crisis was the eight-pointed star itself.

What made them even more angry was that the source of the disaster that created all this, after swallowing the fragments of the eight-pointed star, had even broken the original balance and was still expanding wildly...

What should we do? The current situation has exceeded the expectations of the gods.

Although the danger did not directly threaten them, the damage of the eight-pointed star, which was a symbol of chaos in miniature, was actually a worse situation in a sense:

That meant that the foundation of chaos was shaken, and it no longer had an absolute advantage in the universe;

That meant that the cycle constructed by the eight powers was broken, and the tacit understanding between the gods based on certain predetermined destinies also showed subtle variables.

"Can't wait!"

"Contain it!"

The bloody figure on the brass throne roared, and the Lord of Life in the distance also made up his mind.

The three evil gods, wrapped in the will of the Lord of Joy, worked together and began to try to erase the source of the crisis. However, their attempts failed as expected, and the power they exerted in the air was like a drop in the ocean.

This is the problem of no incarnation coming. Their power, after being projected from a distance, is no longer enough to directly resist the disaster happening on the eight-pointed star.

"Expel it first!" The voice of the Lord of Change sounded, and once again gave a new solution.

"Price..." The voice of the Lord of Life retorted. The power needed for expulsion comes from time and space, and this method means that they have to pay a high price while maintaining trust in the Lord of Change, who is best at the power of time and space.

Trust? To the Lord of Change? Are you telling a cold joke?

A rare calm appeared in the subspace, and the distortion on Khorne's face showed how he was like other beings.

"Do you have a choice? Haha..." The neurotic words of the Lord of Joy broke the calm and made them quickly recognize the reality at the moment.

They have plenty of time to recover, but what happened on the eight-pointed star must be stopped.

"Promise!" Khorne roared violently, and three eyes immediately stared at the divine domain of the Lord of Change.

"Okay, I promise... in the name of my god..."

"Bah! You are fooling around!" Khorne's voice sounded again.

"...In the name of Chaos, I promise that there is no selfishness in this incident..."

"Even public-spiritedness is not allowed!" The voice from the realm of Nurgle interrupted Tzeentch's oath again, but this interruption was exchanged for Tzeentch's sharp rebuttal:

"Tell me, how can I, the Lord of Change and the Lord of Conspiracy, make an oath without conspiracy?

Can you? Can you create a world without germs?

And you, Khorne! Can you put down the sword in your hand when you speak?"

………………The awkward atmosphere spread in the subspace, and the gods fell into a brief silence. It is indeed impossible for them to violate the meaning of their existence, because in a sense, germs and swords are themselves.

"Then limit..." The Lord of Pleasure spoke again, and this time no one raised any objections.

The power of the gods once again converged in the direction of the Lord of Change, and His oath also sounded simultaneously:

"I swear, there will be no conspiracy involving fundamental interests..."

"What about the lost fragments?" Nurgle whispered to himself, and Khorne rarely gave an admonition:

"It's too late, solve the problem at hand first..."

The endless wave once again rose from the depths of the warp, and this time its target was magnified to the entire world of the eight-pointed star. Time and space began to solidify under the power of the gods, and Calvin's body began to be stripped and expelled by this power.

The instinctive swallowing of darkness fell into a momentary pause, and Calvin's consciousness broke through the obstacles with a flash of opportunity.

"Now!" Calvin shouted, his will reconnected with the crown symbolizing authority, and the consciousness in the depths of his soul completely sank into the cold silver ocean of order...

A heavy sigh came from the rusty steel crown, and the silver and platinum intertwined firelight lit up from the spikes of the crown.

The light of reason penetrated the darkness and spread outward in the soul. Under the dual pressure from inside and outside, instinct finally lost the dominance of the soul.

In the darkness that faded to the subconscious like a tide, in a dazzling silver light, the throne symbolizing authority was rising slowly.

"Come!" Silver thunder gathered in the eyes of the original body again, and the cry from the will penetrated the curtain of space and sounded in reality.

"Come!"

Countless imperial soldiers who died or were dying swore that when they heard the call, they also saw a tall silver angel in a trance. He wore a crown full of thorns on his head and stretched out his palm to them from high in the sky.

A white portal appeared behind him, and the moment they saw the portal, they instinctively understood the meaning of the portal - it was not the salvation promised in faith.

It was a road destined to be more cruel and self-sacrificing. Once they responded to His call, they would face a lifelong, endless battle.

Fighting the enemy and fighting themselves, endless battles are all they have left in their lives, and even if they can always win, what awaits them will be a long torment, becoming a gradually cold and inhuman sculpture...

But it is also a road with hope, because they can see through the portal that it is the power that can really allow them to compete fairly with those demons.

Their sacrifice will not be meaningless, they are destined to be the hope of the entire human race, and the pioneers of the entire human race towards a more distant future.

"Come!" The third call sounded, and the soldiers who understood all this no longer hesitated. A little bit of white light emerged from the battlefield, and then more white light spots joined in.

The souls in the spiritual world also responded to the call, and dense white light like raindrops rose from the ground. All the imperial soldiers who had fought in their lifetime finally waited for the opportunity they had been waiting for!

In Calvin's soul pure land, the structure of the Iron Temple was undergoing a huge change again:

The iron-cast temple was rapidly rising, and the square outside the temple was rapidly expanding outward. Wide steps were erected layer by layer, and angel statues of different forms symbolizing different stages were also rising on both sides of the steps.

White light spots fell from the sky like dense raindrops, and the light bands formed by the same dense light spots also gathered from all directions of the pure land to the center.

On the lowest steps, countless souls showed their appearance before death, and as the angels on both sides of the stairs sang, they smiled to their comrades around them, and closed their eyes to officially enter this cruel selection.

Souls, those are countless souls willing to dedicate themselves to this path. They are reorganizing their core wills by reshaping their own memories.

Souls are dying every moment, because their faith and belief are not enough to stick to themselves, walk out of the fog of endless memories, and complete the last step of transformation;

Souls are sublimating every moment. They sort out their memories with the support of their own firm will, discard those useless parts, and appear on the next step with a more relaxed attitude.

The souls of losers lose the protection of the light of reason. After opening their eyes with regret and looking at the world with nostalgia, they completely dissipate in Calvin's soul pure land;

The souls of successful people disappear on the spot and appear on a higher step. White light beams descend from their heads. That is the soul origin of the pure land blessing them.

"It's really... cruel." Standing in front of the temple door at the end of the stairs, Spyr looked down at the souls below and whispered.

The faith of the state religion certainly has its significance, but it is a far cry from the rational path that Calvin upholds.

The former can allow these warriors to show enough courage in their battles before they die. But when they bravely step into the path of sublimation, the huge difference in concepts still makes this ceremony a cruel selection.

The soul is sublimating, but more souls are dissipating, but this does not make the later ones feel afraid. On the contrary, more souls are joining this precious ceremony every moment.

Calvin did not answer his comrade's sigh, because he no longer had the energy to do so when he was sitting deep in the temple.

The coldness of the power of order is eroding his humanity all the time, and the fragments of the eight-pointed star in the depths of his soul are also turbulent from time to time.

The battle in the eight-pointed star is over, or it is still changing there, but it has nothing to do with Calvin.

In this world outside of time and space, everything that happens seems long, but in reality it is just a matter of a moment.

Deep in the Warp, the power of the gods fell into a long low tide after a brief outbreak. After forcibly resetting the time and space of the Octagram world, they also fell into a temporary dormancy due to weakness.

The fallen demon primarch was quite lucky, but it could also be said to be extremely unfortunate.

He did not die at the hands of Calvin's soul essence, nor did he die in the confrontation between the gods and the soul storm, but his body had been completely destroyed in the devouring of the soul essence, and his will and memory were not left at all.

When the gods found him, he was left with only his Warp essence.

The gods who did not obtain any useful information simply used waste, restored his memory to before entering the Warp, and then threw it back to his fiefdom - Sicarus.

On the battlefield in the real world, the cognition of all the warring parties was changing due to the change of time and space.

The soldiers on the Imperial side ignored all traces of Erebus's existence, while the Word Bearers were in even worse shape. On the one hand, they completely lost all memories of the Chief Priest, and on the other hand, they had to endure the morale blow of the mysterious disappearance of the Primarch on the battlefield.

The dark tide that enveloped the Janmorro sector finally receded, and the Imperial reinforcements that had been cruising outside the sector also arrived immediately.

After hastily recovering most of the ground forces, the Word Bearers' fleet began to retreat in an orderly manner. The demon legions on the planetary worlds in the fallen areas also gradually died out because they lost the support of the Primarch's power.

On the battlefield that restored contact with the Empire, new allied units continued to appear in the vision of the Imperial soldiers, and in the Primarch's soul, another familiar figure quietly appeared beside Spyr.

"Five hundred years..." With the crisp sound of the steel scepter hitting the ground, the figure of Saint Marduk strolled down the steps below.

He first bowed to Calvin in the depths of the temple, then turned around and stood beside Spier, spitting out the cruel reality he had sensed.

"Yes... five hundred years." Spier repeated the words of the Great Confessor, his tone heavier than before.

What they were talking about was the lifespan of these sublimated souls, and the cruel reality faced by these heroes who had experienced such a cruel integration of will.

On the road to sublimation, the soul's will and original intention are the only way to success, but even after such cruel selection and baptism, they still face the problem of lifespan.

Five hundred years is the limit of the survival of these sublimated souls.

Once the time is up, what awaits them will be a new selection and elimination.

Those who maintain their original intentions stay, and those who have lost their will leave.

The former accepts the increase of the soul pure land, and then takes over the power of order diluted by Calvin, and after becoming a more powerful psychic, continues to fight for their ideals.

The latter is completely annihilated, and all souls and powers return to the ocean of consciousness under the Pure Land of Souls, becoming the nutrients for the newcomers to be blessed.

This is the true face of the road to sublimation, and it is also the core rule of the War Council, from top to bottom, without exception.

Yes, there are no exceptions, even the leaders and commanders of the war lords are also bound by this rule.

But their time is one thousand years. If they cannot maintain themselves after a thousand years, they will still be waiting for the same demise.

"Don't think about it... I may not live to that time..." Spier said with a smile.

"Yes, it's not certain... and if all wars can really end, then I would rather enjoy eternal peace..." Marduk was interrupted by Spier's words and responded with a smile.

The two turned to the direction of the temple and slowly walked towards the empty hall.

And when they looked through the reality that was still at the end of the war, fell into the calm subspace, and finally locked their eyes on that distant time and space.

On the crack of the broken eight-pointed star that was still spinning, a faint silver light was slowly growing and silently joining the eternal cycle...

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