After completing the burial of his children, Elaine found the great sage Redjak in the corner of the ancient temple.
Thanks to his intimate knowledge of Salem's ancient temples, the Archmagos was able to escape under the cover of the Astartes, hiding where the Daemon of Khorne was hard to find.
However, the other accompanying Tech-Priests were not so lucky.
They couldn't even escape from the temple that sealed the demon before they were turned into unrecognizable corpses under Salam's power sword.
"Tell me, Redjak."
"What's your loyalty worth?"
Elaine looked down at the hunched great sage in front of her, her tone extremely cold.
She knew that the reason why the Khorne demon named [Primary Blade] was released could never be separated from Redjak - it could be said that it could only be the leader of the mechanical cult who knew Salem well. .
"I...I didn't want to release the machine soul that had been sleeping for thousands of years...it was just those technical priests from Mars..."
"They're dead. And I don't want to hear you placing responsibility on the dead, unless you want to be like them, Redjak."
"But, but... Cocoa... I thought it was not that dangerous to the outside world... Its twisted and deformed appearance was definitely not my intention, sir..."
"So, you knew about its existence from the beginning, but you hid it? Good."
"No, no... Sir, please listen to my explanation..."
Faced with the anger that almost burst out from the Primarch in front of him, the little luck left in Redjak's heart was completely dispelled, and he could only answer tremblingly truthfully.
"At first...I set out from Mars in the distant age of strife to search for the endless knowledge hidden in the stars...until I came to Salem. The value it hidden under the dark curtain was unimaginable, so...I Completed my settlement here. Then I discovered 'it' existed..."
The husky electronic voice of the Great Sage revealed a little fear, but when he mentioned that past, he was filled with a little pride.
As the founder of the Mechanical Paganism, Redjak has studied the 'machine soul' hidden deep in the forging world countless times. The countless ancient technologies and foundries contained on the planet are also related to it. In the age of strife, Redjac discovered more unknown and precious knowledge for this forging world by studying this sleeping 'machine soul'.
Moreover, after realizing that the existence of this 'machine soul' relied on the core of the entire planet, the great sage relaxed his vigilance.
"Through its murmurs while sleeping... I got the key to the treasures hidden on this planet. It is the key... Its murmurs can connect the ancient past and present, and it has unlocked the production rights for countless sleeping military STCs. …”
"I began to believe in it, sir... To this day I can't believe that it is a dirty and filthy subspace creation - if it is really such a dirty existence, then what is my belief... ?”
"The 'faith' you speak of has already slaughtered two groups of loyal Astartes - including my heirs. Know your position, Redjak."
Elaine coldly interrupted Redjak's self-questioning. What she wanted was the result.
"Okay...Okay...Sir, when I was ignorant and blinded by the filthy knowledge in front of me...I placed my humble faith on this planet...naturally, including...it."
Redjak's voice was slightly choked.
Because Redjak believed that 'it' was the mechanical soul given to this forging world by the God of All Machines, and it was Omnissiah's reward for his exploration of the lost world in the Age of Strife. Even based on this, the founding world of Salem gave birth to a branch of the Mechanicum faith - Mechanical Paganism.
It can be said that most of everything in Salem today relies on the core of this forging world.
Now... everything is just a lie. Everything is meaningless. Whether it is faith, the precious knowledge he has preserved for thousands of years, the ancient STC that he has tried his best to protect... everything is tainted with the filth from subspace.
"So...so, when the priests from my hometown came, I immediately brought them here..."
Redjak's mechanical vocal chords began to tremble, and his rickety figure became more and more haggard under the cold sight of the Primarch.
Yes, Redjak once proudly believed that the Mechanical Paganism based on Salem would become an important branch of the Martian Cult, and the religious significance it contained could also make his identity skyrocket. ——After all, he found countless miracles of Omnisiah. So much so that when the technical priests from his hometown of Mars requested a visit, Redjak immediately led them to see this long-sleeping 'World Machine Soul'.
That was also the moment when his proud dream was shattered.
"...In my data recording, each of us sang the binary prayer beside it. Although the prayers were slightly different throughout the era of strife, 'it' is still sleeping..."
"Until...when we were about to leave, it...suddenly woke up."
A light blue holographic image shines through Redjak's electronic eyes. It records the scene of two groups of technical priests escorted by Astartes singing binary hymns. You can even clearly hear this person. The hoarse but proud voice of the Great Sage. At that time, none of them thought that the 'World Soul' in front of them would awaken. Even the two teams of Astartes did not care: in their eyes, these Although it is difficult to understand the religious enthusiasm of the oil guys, they will not interfere too much.
However, what no one expected was that when the scientific expedition team was preparing to leave - the Khorne demon named Salam suddenly awakened.
The scarlet figure quickly came to the side of its destined person, the steel warrior named Walker.
…
Looking at the holographic image and the trembling Great Sage in front of her, Elaine was silent.
…This was completely inconsistent with what she had imagined—there was no mention of this part in the plans and plans.
There must be something wrong, it shouldn't be like this.
The Primarch's thoughts were a little confused.
"grown ups…?"
Redjak looked up at the silent Elaine with some confusion. In his increasingly dim golden pupils, he didn't know whether his explanation could satisfy the god.
But in Elaine's mind, there is no longer any trivial matter about Redjak - in front of her eyes, there is only a series of intricate webs of conspiracy.
You can vaguely see the dark blue bird feathers falling on it.
—I should have expected it.
Elaine thought in annoyance.
This team of accompanying Iron Warriors... was approved by her without realizing it.
Even though she had already anticipated Salam's existence, she could not imagine that things would develop to the point where they are now.
She knew that the Iron Warrior named Volker would have his body taken away by Salaam and become a possessed Space Marine named Volker Salaam.
In her comprehensive and rigorous plan, this demon will be safely dealt with in the near future. Dozens of plans to deal with it have been made even before the expedition. No Space Marine will be there. Died in battle.
However, Elaine seemed to have no idea about this, and during the conversation with Perturabo, he sent out a team that he had not seen carefully, which happened to include a warrior named 'Salam'.
In the established future, it should have awakened when Perturabo came to look for Angron during the Great Rebellion, and possessed the Astartes who had not yet entered the Dreadnought. The two would have merged into Enchanted Space Marines named 'Destroyers' and spread dangerous cybernetic daemons to assist the Chaos Warmaster in the siege of Terra.
However... they now meet each other at the crossroads of fate.
Under Redjak's confused gaze, the Primarch turned and left in silence.
However, her majestic figure... seemed a little rickety at this time.
——I personally contributed to all this.
The weird and funny truth was completely revealed, and Elaine only felt extremely cold. The pride that she used to have no plan... also cracked at this moment.
Her face was shrouded in gloom.
Yes, she should have expected it from the beginning.
From the agony of blood connection, from the corrosive whispers of the power of the warp.
When two fools who claimed to have escaped fate, but never escaped the prison of fate, met.
The blood god's eyes never left.
He is still sitting on the brass throne, enjoying the farce.
…
…
