novelnext Chapter 810 - 810: 809
Chapter 810 - 810: 809
Mortarion covered the red mark on his face, utterly confused.Was the Emperor, his own father, not supposed to hate xenos? Had he not driven Mortarion to rebel and kill Necare?
Then why had he joined forces with Necare now? And why did the two of them seem to be on such good terms?
The entire situation had gone in a direction he had never expected, leaving him at a complete loss.
According to the Emperor, his xenos adoptive father Necare was a good leader of Barbarus, one who had led both xenos and humans in resistance against the Plague Lord.
Mortarion, meanwhile, had lost his mind, betrayed his adoptive father, and launched a rebellion under the Plague Lord's temptation, causing the deaths of far too many humans.
He was nothing less than a traitor to humanity and a disgrace to the Primarchs.
He had failed the Emperor, failed his adoptive father, failed Barbarus, and failed this planet's guardian god: the Lord of Hell, Diablo.
This is wrong!
Mortarion's entire body trembled, his head buzzing.
He vaguely felt that things were not supposed to be like this. But where exactly had it gone wrong?
Was this still Barbarus? Was this still the tyrant Emperor? Where the hell had he ended up?!
Yet before Mortarion could keep thinking, the whipping came down over his head and face. The sharp pain and remorse left him no room to think further.
"Ungrateful wretch!"
"I'll beat the lesson into you today. Do you know what you did wrong?!"
His xenos adoptive father Necare and the Emperor spoke with righteous fury, and their belt-and-whip double-team was terrifyingly fierce.
The poisonous whip and golden belt cut through the air with the force of sonic booms, leaving deep wounds across Mortarion's body.
They were not merely injuries to the flesh. They were wounds carved into the mind, making his suffering and fear even worse.
"Good. This is exactly how the plot should go. What a warm little family drama, full of stern but loving instruction..."
Eden's consciousness observed Mortarion's condition from within the illusion and nodded in satisfaction.
The traitor was supposed to be confused. This place had been created as a corrosive illusion meant to warp his mind and thoughts.
It was a standard technique used by the Chaos Gods.
Basic Chaos procedure, no applause needed.
Back then, the Chaos Gods had done the same to the Primarchs, using prolonged corruption to distort their view of the Emperor until resentment and rebellion gradually formed in their hearts.
For example, if the Emperor was merely a little strict, then after their thoughts were twisted, they would see him as an unreasonable tyrant.
The Emperor repairing the Throne and using psychic power became, in the Primarchs' eyes, a sign of his corruption, proof that he intended to sacrifice humanity so he could become a god in the Warp.
Even one of the Emperor's smiles would seem sinister to them, making them think that old man was deceiving and manipulating them.
That golden old bastard can't be trusted. He's probably out to get me!
In short, it was all about radicalization and distortion, adding new material on top of existing foundations to confuse the target's perception and infinitely amplify negative emotions.
That was how one could completely change a living being's original view of something.
Of course, those negative emotions could not simply appear from nowhere. The Emperor did have certain... issues, which was why the Chaos Gods found an opening for their corruption in the first place.
That corruption made the Primarchs extreme and warped, eventually leading to a large-scale betrayal.
Eden's corruption this time was nothing more than implanting a few new concepts on top of the original foundation and bending Mortarion's distorted views back into place.
Changes at the subconscious level would ultimately feed back into a person's thoughts, pushing their mindset to change.
It was like the concept from a classic film in his previous life, where people used a device to enter dreams and implant new fragments, unconsciously changing someone's mind.
Of course, the authority Eden now wielded was far stronger than that dream-invasion concept. It was a supercharged version.
"Divine authority," Eden murmured, rather moved.
The power of a higher-dimensional god was terrifying. It could not only alter the material environment through the Warp, but also manipulate the thoughts of living beings, gradually taking control of all things in the world.
Of course, such an ability was not invincible. If the target's mind was too firm, the cost of corruption would rise without limit, to the point where even the Chaos Gods would be left helpless.
Mortarion's mind, however, was clearly not firm enough.
At the very least, he could not withstand corruption on the level of the Chaos Gods. In other words, Eden could achieve the goal of changing the man's subconscious by investing enough faith-fueled fel energy.
After this period of practical experience, Eden had become increasingly skilled at using the Warp authority he controlled.
He poured out still more faith-fueled fel energy, making this corrosive illusion infinitely closer to reality, so the victim would more readily believe the concepts he was transmitting.
Even if someone barged in halfway through, they would have difficulty distinguishing truth from falsehood.
"You shame me.
"I failed to teach you to become a good human. You betrayed the Lord of Hell's blessing!"
"You ungrateful wretch. I should have poured you down the laboratory drain back then!"
The Savior versions of Necare and the Emperor struck harder and harder, the poisonous whip and golden belt blurring into afterimages even a Primarch could barely follow.
Under such a violent belt-and-whip assault, Mortarion's already crude armor was shattered completely. Horrific wounds opened across his Primarch body, filling him with unbearable agony.
The verbal punishment from his adoptive father and birth father broke his heart even more.
It was the punishment for his betrayal.
The Death Lord sank into total confusion. He suddenly realized that no one in the world acknowledged him anymore, and no one would grant him forgiveness.
Not so-called Grandfather Nurgle, not the rebel warriors, not his adoptive father Necare, not his father the Emperor, and not anyone else.
No one cared about him.
He remembered everything from the past. Regret and longing for redemption nearly drowned him whole.
"No. Perhaps my betrayal was entirely wrong. I should never have accepted the Plague Lord's temptation. I should never have betrayed Father. I should never have betrayed humanity.
"I am a pathetic traitor who committed unforgivable sins. Death is my only redemption."
That was what Mortarion thought.
His heart turned to ashes. As for his desire to resist and rebel, it vanished completely.
The Death Lord gave up all resistance and let the whip and golden belt fall heavily on his body.
He could feel his wounds growing worse and worse. Even a Primarch's body could not endure such punishment.
His consciousness gradually blurred. Death had already arrived.
"I'm sorry, Father..." Mortarion murmured. It was a sincere confession, and he calmly welcomed the end of his fate.
His vision blurred, and he slowly closed his eyes. Every sound began drifting farther away.
For a moment, Mortarion's body grew light. Even his soul seemed to become weightless.
That was the omen of death.
Yet at some point, a voice suddenly rang out. It was anxious and filled with concern.
"Stop!"
"He has already repented."
"If you have to hit someone, hit me. I will bear this for him.
"He should live and make up for all his mistakes, even if he dies on the battlefield fighting Chaos!"
At some point, Necare and the Emperor's strikes stopped falling.
Mortarion vaguely felt that someone had arrived and blocked all the attacks on his behalf.
He opened his eyes with difficulty and saw a figure in golden armor standing before him, using his back to stop every lash.
Those attacks shattered the figure's armor and left wounds behind. Even so, he kept holding on with bitter determination.
The scene was filled with tragic pathos.
Yet when Mortarion saw the newcomer's gorgeous, flawless face, he still froze.
The Savior?
Why was he here? And why was he shielding me from punishment?
The appearance of the Savior, the Emperor of the Imperium, made Mortarion's muddled consciousness begin thinking again.
The Death Lord started to doubt everything, and even this corrosive space trembled along with his doubt.
???
"This is bad."
Eden had been in the middle of acting, but when he suddenly sensed the change in Mortarion's consciousness, his mind went numb.
Had his intrusion been too jarring, to the point that it affected the corruption's effect?!
Sure enough, corrupting a Primarch was still rather difficult.
"That won't do.
"This guy is an important experimental subject in the plan. He determines whether the Lord of Hell can truly oppose the Chaos Gods."
Eden took a deep breath and thought this to himself.
If this attempt succeeded, it would greatly increase his power. Corrupting a Primarch would have a better effect than corrupting Abaddon and many other Chaos beings before him.
Not only would he gain a truly powerful chosen champion of Hell, but he could also recover some of the losses represented by these fallen Primarchs.
A Primarch-level existence was the kind of believer and combat power even the Chaos Gods drooled over, something like a high-ranking Greater Daemon, a trump card kept at the bottom of the chest.
Most importantly, this would prove that the Lord of Hell was now qualified to sit at the same table as the Chaos Gods.
He would no longer be like the Aeldari gods or Vashtorr, relegated to the children's table.
If Eden failed, it would mean the Lord of Hell's authority was still insufficient, and the fallen Primarch would have no chance of being recovered or used as a force for the Imperium against Chaos.
Then Eden could only take the butcher's knife on the Emperor's behalf and completely eliminate this fallen Primarch traitor.
For both Eden and the Imperium, that would be an extremely poor bargain. An absolute net loss.
After all, any Primarch-level power could reduce massive Imperial casualties. Eden also needed Chaos Primarchs to open territory and hold ground in the Warp.
The current investment was already a little beyond his capacity, making it hard to maintain for long.
In truth, even the Chaos Gods could not guarantee that every attempt at corruption would achieve its goal.
"But I've already invested so much faith-fueled fel energy. If I fail like this, won't I lose everything?"
Eden felt a pang of distress and hesitated over whether to continue the corruption, because from how things looked now, failure was possible.
He was beginning to understand the Chaos Gods' mindset. Sunk costs really did hurt, and they were hard to abandon.
More importantly, this was not merely the Death Lord, a single fallen Primarch. It was the entire Death Guard Legion.
A huge Chaos Space Marine Legion, practically sitting there with a price tag on it.
For ten thousand years, Grandfather Nurgle had continuously invested faith-fueled fel energy into the Death Guard, making them one of the core forces of the Garden of Nurgle.
If Eden could carry them off wholesale, would that not be the same as tearing a huge chunk of flesh from Grandfather?
"I have to increase the investment."
Once Eden thought of this, he immediately made his decision.
He would take the gamble and dig hard at Grandfather Nurgle's foundation.
Dig him out by the roots.
Eden gritted his teeth and mobilized even more faith-fueled fel energy. "One million horsepower of fel energy. Raise the stakes!"
Buzz.
In an instant, vast amounts of hellish fel energy poured violently into the corrosive illusion, frantically warping everything around it.
It made the illusion more real and more reasonable.
Smack, smack, smack!
The Savior versions of Necare and the Emperor struck even more fiercely, and Eden himself felt a trace of pain.
He really was taking the blows. Full method acting.
Eden's back was covered in wounds. He spat out a mouthful of blood and looked at Mortarion helplessly, as if there was a trace of disappointment in his eyes.
"Have you forgotten me as well? I am your beloved elder brother from another mother and another father!"
Mortarion froze at once, and one memory after another of this elder brother surged through his mind.
He was overwhelmed with remorse and shame. How could he forget this beloved elder brother?!
Mortarion looked at the Savior before him, who was blocking the severe punishment on his behalf despite being covered in wounds. Hot tears could not help falling from his eyes.
"Brother!" He struggled over, hugged the Savior's leg, and cried out hoarsely through streaming tears. His feelings were completely sincere.
"My Fourteenth Brother!"
Seeing this, Eden gripped Mortarion's hand as well, looking every bit the good brother.
Soon, the Savior versions of Necare and the Emperor also stopped the punishment. Under the Savior's intervention, they seemed to have chosen to abandon the punishment entirely.
They came before Mortarion and measured him with their gazes.
"I will make up for my past mistakes, even if it costs me my life!"
Mortarion wept, then fell to his knees before the Emperor and his xenos adoptive father with a thud, confessing his sins.
His resolve was firm.
Even so, the Emperor and the xenos adoptive father remained silent, which made him feel nervous and afraid.
He knew that they would now decide his fate: whether he would die in disgrace as a traitor, or carry his sins onward and continue fighting the heretical abominations.
He would spend the rest of his life repaying that unforgivable sin.
"I will not forgive you, but I will give you one more chance to continue fighting xenos and heretics.
"You are still my son."
The Emperor's expression remained cold, but he still reached out and helped this rebellious Primarch son to his feet.
"Father..." Warmth rose in Mortarion's heart, and his voice grew hoarse.
The Savior version of Necare also walked over. "Child, you still have the will to fight evil. I hope you do not dishonor the combat skills I taught you."
The rescue by his beloved elder brother and the recognition from both of his fathers finally shattered Mortarion's restraint. He knelt and threw himself against the Emperor, weeping loudly.
"With the Lord of Hell's aid, we will fight evil together."
As the Emperor spoke, his gaze softened further.
He raised a hand and gently pressed it against the fallen Primarch's back, while the xenos adoptive father Necare and his beloved elder brother the Savior also came over to comfort him.
Mortarion slowly raised his head and saw the Lord of Hell's enormous, blazing body in the sky.
This was the deity who protected Barbarus, a benevolent god willing to aid humanity.
He looked upon that being without any rejection, because the Emperor, his xenos adoptive father, and the Savior all honored the Lord of Hell.
Eden worked hard to control the development of the corrosive illusion, using a ridiculous yet reasonable method to implant certain concepts and ideas into Mortarion.
He was excited. "This is about to work!"
Soon, a Primarch-level being would completely submit to the Lord of Hell. That would be an enormous aid.
The Lord of Hell would become a true existence within the Warp and occupy an important, impossible-to-ignore position.
He might even be able to trade slaps with the Chaos Gods and throw hands in the Great Game.
Eden, the Savior, was also publicly one of the Lord of Hell's collaborators, distinct from His other followers.
Eden did his best to separate the Lord of Hell from himself, manipulating Him only from the shadows, turning Him into an independent supreme existence.
He would certainly never expose the fact that he himself was the Lord of Hell, because the Savior was human, the Emperor of the Imperium. He could not also be the Lord of Hell at the same time.
That might create a conflict in perception.
Besides, gods were unpredictable and nameless. If Eden's true body ran all over the galaxy, it would only weaken the Lord of Hell's divine majesty.
It was just like the Emperor.
Precisely because that old man was trapped upon the Golden Throne, hidden deep within the Imperial Palace, he seemed increasingly majestic and mysterious, gradually being regarded as a god.
If the Emperor could step down from the Golden Throne and wander around attending various events and meetings, appearing before Space Marines and priests in a real flesh-and-blood body, people would never revere him as a deity.
"I have both a divine side and a human side. A two-track approach is safest."
That was what Eden thought.
He had long used his true body to move through the galaxy with enough approachability precisely to preserve his humanity, allowing it to counterbalance his divinity and maintain a delicate equilibrium as much as possible.
As he was thinking, the corrosive illusion underwent another new change. It was an autonomous change, not something he had controlled.
???
Eden sensed the change in the corrosive illusion and felt a trace of doubt.
It seemed to be a good change?
(End of Chapter)
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