My Life as A Death Guard
Chapter 390: Hades Thinks You're Capable
Argel Tal's throat was dry as he stared at the Lord of the Underworld, hoping the other man would believe his words.
In the distance, beyond the viewport, armies were locked together in a tangled slaughter.
Where should he even begin?
"Perturabo betrayed us," Argel Tal said painfully.
"Lord Lorgar originally planned to go to the front lines of the Great Crusade to spread the faith, stopping along the way to visit his brothers."
"By rights, the Word Bearers should not have been able to reach this region, but the Fourth Legion showed us a path—warp routes leading here."
"I imagine your voyage was exceptionally smooth?" Hades' voice sounded. He held an ivory-white pistol engraved with intricate patterns, its muzzle pressed to the head of the captain seated in the pilot's chair, leaving Argel Tal only a side profile whose expression was hard to read.
"Yes," Argel Tal replied hoarsely. "Then the traitor invited us to Cadia. There, we saw natives who blasphemously worshipped false faith, and they even spoke Colchisian."
Argel Tal's memories sank deeper. He unconsciously clenched his fist.
He remembered… he remembered…
"That traitor… that traitor deliberately lured my lord away from the Custodian."
Argel Tal could taste the blood in his own mouth.
In a daze, his pupils reflected that day—the silhouette of his Primarch walking away at the boundary between dawn and dusk.
Darkness surged up like a tide. Argel Tal faltered for a moment, then fixed his gaze back on the Lord of the Underworld.
"Don't drown in your emotions. Get to the point," Hades frowned, casting a thoughtful glance at Argel Tal.
"The two armies are still fighting. I hope you understand that time is precious."
Argel Tal immediately corrected himself.
"After meeting with Perturabo, Father changed. Drastically. His temperament shifted, and he began compiling scriptures based on the faith of Cadia, massively redeploying the Word Bearers, and plotting the assassination of the Custodian."
Hades glanced at him.
"And then?"
Argel Tal took out the Illuminarum from his back. The exquisitely religious gilded engravings shimmered upon the black stone staff. It was unclear whether the dazzling brilliance came from the gold and jewels reflecting the light, or from the scepter itself.
"I once sought out my father in private. He handed this to me, and ordered me to find either you—or the Emperor."
Argel Tal watched as Hades, who had been coolly keeping the captain under guard, turned his head. His gaze fixed on the scepter. In that instant, the command throne—previously the brightest spot in the entire chamber—dimmed. Darkness flowed down like a viscous swamp.
It spread to Argel Tal's feet, climbing over the scepter. Its radiance dulled—but in the very next moment, all changes of light and shadow vanished without a trace, as if the dark swamp had been nothing more than an illusion.
Hades pondered for a moment. He pulled out the Emperor's finger bone hanging at his neck, weighed it in his hand briefly, then tucked it back away.
This feeling… it was very similar to what the Emperor's finger bone gave him. But not entirely the same. It was dimmer, mixed with other psychic traces… not the Emperor's power, yet strangely close.
Was it Lorgar's own faith-born psychic energy?
Unfortunately, the power contained within had not been properly guided. It merely resided there, and Hades very clearly lacked the ability to chant or invoke its might.
Hades stared at Argel Tal. This looked like goodwill left by Lorgar for a loyal son. He would pass on using it. Hades couldn't imagine how he would wield such power, and besides, the only one at his side who understood such matters was a Tech-Priest drenched in machine oil.
"What else did Lorgar say to you?"
Argel Tal opened his mouth.
"Nothing more. My father's condition at the time… was not good. He couldn't control himself. He just stood there."
Those words were nearly forced out through clenched teeth.
Hades fell into thought.
Had Lorgar been possessed like Fulgrim in the original canon?
In the end, it would depend on whether Lorgar could remain true to himself in the presence of the Four Gods, or whether he would, like the Phoenix, ultimately fall.
Hades pondered heavily, yet the conclusion was simple. Based on his understanding of Lorgar, Hades did not hold much hope.
What he needed to do was preserve the loyalist faction within the Word Bearers as much as possible, and at the same time extract the greatest possible value from them. Even if sacrifice was required, Hades wanted that sacrifice to carry its proper worth.
Under the fires of war, Hades could only strive to trade the smallest losses for victory. To the Lord of the Underworld, every piece on the board had a different value, and each had been assigned its priority from the very beginning.
This was simply reality.
"…What is your name?" Hades asked softly, though in truth he had already guessed the identity of this Word Bearer.
"My lord, my name is Argel Tal."
Hades fell into silent perception… He could feel it: even now, prayers addressed to him still echoed within the Word Bearers. And because he himself was currently aboard Fidelitas Lex, Hades could be certain that the degree to which he was "responding" to his believers had reached its peak.
Among them, Hades could also vaguely sense the soul of Argel Tal standing before him—burning, resolute gold, yet wrapped on its outermost layer by a ring of heavy darkness.
Good, Hades thought. Loyal, and capable.
Then it was time to put him to work.
Hades raised a hand and snapped his fingers. Across Argel Tal's power armor, emerald arcs of electricity flashed and vanished in an instant.
Argel Tal lowered his head in astonishment, discovering that his armor had begun repairing itself. The metal moved as if alive, the scars and gouges knitting closed on their own.
—This could only be described as a miracle.
"Argel Tal."
Argel Tal remained silent. He even felt a trace of unease—the Lord of the Underworld's voice had clearly changed. It was no longer cold and emotionless, but carried a sense of gravity and solemnity.
"I am the Lord of the Underworld," Hades said.
"I need your help. The Silent Sisterhood needs your help. Humanity and the Imperium need your help… and I believe the Word Bearers and Lorgar need you as well."
As he spoke, Hades kept an eye on the time. He recalled how the Emperor manipulated people—how the Emperor could make others give their lives for him with only a few sentences.
He began recalling his own past experiences of being PUA'd by the Emperor.
Argel Tal swallowed subtly. He stared at the giant in black armor. The space of the entire command deck began to warp, like flickering black-and-white static. An eerie pale green haze coiled around the instruments. The mortal crew were nearly on the verge of fainting, yet under the Lord of the Underworld's terrifying pressure, they forced themselves to keep piloting the ship.
"The first traitor has already emerged from among the Emperor's own sons. There is little time left for humanity," Hades said calmly. "Argel Tal, the Word Bearers are the first heralds of this betrayal. You were chosen—and you, too, are chosen."
"Lorgar chose you," the Lord of the Underworld's gaze shifted backward, fixing on the two dark spears upon Argel Tal's back, the three-headed hound glaring fiercely, "You bear the guilt-spears meant to judge traitors. I have chosen you as well."
"Argel Tal."
Argel Tal drew in a deep breath, listening to the faint crackling sounds around him.
"Then… what can I do?" he asked softly.
The presence hidden in the darkness answered without hesitation.
"Save the Word Bearers," the Lord of the Underworld said. "You have not yet fully fallen into the abyss, Argel Tal. Speak to your battle-brothers. Tell them the truth, and then turn the Word Bearers' guns toward the true traitors."
Argel Tal stood there, muscles taut, teeth clenched tight. A hoarse voice forced its way from his throat.
"Then… my lord… does my father still…?"
The Lord of the Underworld stared at him without emotion.
"The bond between a Primarch and his Legion carries power, Argel Tal. If Lorgar still retains even a shred of hope, then his Legion cannot fall completely."
As the last words fell, Hades withdrew the gun from the captain's head. He stepped down from the command dais with brisk efficiency and strode toward the exit hatch, brushing past the stunned Argel Tal.
At the same time, other footsteps sounded. Blanks, an Archmagos, and even the Word Bearer Sor entered the command chamber, taking over Fidelitas Lex in the Lord of the Underworld's stead.
Argel Tal saw the Archmagos stop and bow deeply to Hades.
"My lord, the takeover of Fidelitas Lex is complete," the Archmagos reported.
The voice of the Lord of the Underworld echoed back, "Argel Tal, from here on, the Silent Sisterhood will assist you in taking control of the Word Bearers—to do what you wish to do, and what you are able to do."
The Lord of the Underworld's figure vanished into the darkness of the corridor, as urgent as when he had arrived.
Argel Tal stood there, stunned.
Meanwhile, even as he spoke with Argel Tal, Hades was directing the ships of the Silent Sisterhood to continue advancing, while also ordering Fidelitas Lex to turn about and withdraw from this battle line.
Though Hades could not control the other Word Bearer vessels, the Word Bearers' Gloriana-class Battleship was slowly altering its course within the fleet. A behemoth of that scale immediately threw the surrounding ships into disarray. Seizing the chaos, the Silent Sisterhood split the formation and clung tightly to Fidelitas Lex, like shoals of fish pressed close against a great whale.
The skeletal, gaunt Cocytus ran alongside Fidelitas Lex, like the shadow the latter cast upon the void.
The two sister-like colossi danced a perilous close-quarters waltz within the Word Bearer fleet. They could not draw too near—too close, and the gravitational fields of the two ships would interfere with one another. Nor could they drift too far apart, or the Blackstone spires aboard Cocytus would be unable to cast their baleful shadow upon Fidelitas Lex.
Without the slightest hesitation, Hades departed the Fidelitas Lex directly. The strike craft that had long awaited the Lord of the Underworld launched at once, carrying him back to Cocytus.
At this moment, the two great vessels had already reached the very rear of the Word Bearer battle line. The Silent Sisterhood's black ships formed up and surged forward. Then, this fleet of deep-black hulls abandoned the Word Bearer armada they had shattered in such a short span of time—now almost entirely combat-ineffective—and advanced without hesitation toward the depths of the Eye of Terror.
There was no hesitation, and no regret. Hades knew well that if he lingered even a little longer, his degree of control and infiltration over the Word Bearer fleet might increase further. But time did not allow it, and a demoralized Word Bearer fleet was not something Hades could readily exploit in the short term.
Thus, Hades chose the fastest path: boarding actions to directly seize the Word Bearers' flagship Fidelitas Lex, using a null field to cripple most of the crew's ability to act, and ordering the Blanks to swiftly purge the decks.
From his brief observation of the battle, Hades made a bold decision. Originally, he had planned to seize an opening to bombard the Word Bearer fleet directly, crippling Fidelitas Lex and eliminating its combat capability outright.
But after a quick assessment of the loyalist elements that might exist within the Word Bearers—and after encountering Sor Talgron and Argel Tal in succession—Hades chose a different path.
At the very least, Argel Tal could further neutralize the Word Bearers' fighting strength.
Hades thought that if Argel Tal proved even more exceptional than expected, he might yet be able to rely on Word Bearer forces in the future.
At the same time, to prevent the Word Bearers from attempting to rebuild a rebel power after this battle, Hades left Korklan behind. If Argel Tal—or any other Word Bearer—fell to corruption, the Archmagos would loyally carry out Hades' orders: destroy Fidelitas Lex's engines, then withdraw.
As for whether something might happen to Korklan, Hades left him with a contingent of warriors—and on another front, Hades trusted in his combat ability.
And because the Word Bearers had previously attempted to assassinate Custodian Vendatha, Hades did not choose to send Charon to watch over them, even though under normal circumstances the Custodian would have been the optimal choice for such a task.
Now, less than five hours after the Silent Sisterhood cut into the Word Bearer formation, the fleet under Hades' command had already broken through the Word Bearers' defensive line and was pressing onward without pause into deeper regions of space.
All that was left behind was a scene of utter chaos: a Word Bearer fleet thrown into disarray, stripped of its fighting capacity in the short term.
On the other front, the Iron Warriors—who had originally hoped to achieve victory through numerical superiority by leveraging the size of the Word Bearers' fleet—had never anticipated this turn of events. Instead, Ferrus directly severed their connection with the Word Bearers.
The Iron Warriors' flagship, Iron Blood, was not present here. Judged solely by the number of Iron Warriors vessels currently on site, they were outnumbered by the Iron Hands. Under Ferrus' command, the Iron Hands seized the opportunity without hesitation and poured firepower into the Iron Warriors' ships. For a time, lances and macro-cannons fired in unison, torpedoes and strike craft launching together.
Betrayed by the Word Bearers, the Iron Warriors attempted to withdraw—but the enraged Lord of Medusa was hardly going to grant them the chance.
Upon the battlefield of steel and iron, vast fields of wreckage were hurled into the cold depths of space by the shockwaves of explosions. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but metal and flame. Before the colossal warships built by tens of thousands of years of civilization, blood and life were rendered so small as to be invisible.
"Ferrus, the Silent Sisterhood has successfully entered the next region. The plan is proceeding smoothly."
The blazing fury in the Lord of Medusa's eyes dimmed for a brief moment. The Primarch replied succinctly:
"Acknowledged. The Iron Hands will rendezvous with you shortly."
The plan devised by the Lord of the Underworld and the Lord of Medusa was for the Silent Sisterhood to break through first from the Word Bearers' flank, while the Iron Hands would do their utmost to attrit the enemy forces stationed in this star sector within the shortest possible time.
The Belis Corona sector was a mandatory gateway to Cadia. If the battle went well, the Iron Hands would detach part of their fleet to garrison the area.
If it went poorly, then they would expend as much of the enemy's strength here as possible before choosing another breakout route.
Time was tight. The sole decisive point still lay within the enemy's encirclement—an unavoidable gamble.
"Don't get bogged down," Hades said curtly. Having broken away from the Iron Hands, the Silent Sisterhood's fleet now resembled a pitch-black dagger—razor-sharp and unstoppable, yet also perilously easy to snap.
It plunged straight toward that anchor point.
Time itself was the factor that would decide survival or extinction.
Arrive in time, and a chance at life remained. Miss that final sliver of opportunity… and the only possible end would be death.
——————
"It's over." Perturabo said. He smiled, while Vashtorr watched him in silence. Perturabo seemed half-amused in anger, half-pleased by what was about to unfold.
His fingers curled ever so slightly, sensing the presence of the abominable entity beside him. No—this had not been his original plan.
But under the pressure of the Iron Hands and the Silent Sisterhood, Perturabo had few choices left.
There was only calm in his iron-black eyes.
"They're already too late. Let us begin the countdown."
As the Lord of Iron spoke, upon Cadia's savage surface, the final remaining Blackstone pylons began to hum in faint resonance.
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