My Life as A Death Guard
Chapter 488: Corax Thinks This Won't Do
Corax turned his head once.
His gaze swept across those people before quickly shifting away.
The Primarch's figure swayed slightly, and Corax turned back once more.
The Eldar beside him noticed the Primarch's unusual reaction. The xenos looked toward Corax and asked whether he had any questions.
Corax's eyes remained fixed upon the richly dressed nobles.
The people were bowing their heads in devout prayer, but the title "Lord of the Underworld" in their chants had now been replaced with "The Fool."
They prayed with such sincerity, such focus—that they completely ignored the fact that a living Primarch stood directly before them.
These people were bait gathered by the Eldar to draw the attention of the Head of the Silent Sisterhood.
Not only nobles—among them, the Primarch sharply noticed figures dressed as psykers.
Corax's gaze paused briefly.
"…Where did you find these people?" the Primarch asked softly.
"I mean… how did you make them establish faith?"
"Very simple," the Eldar replied calmly.
"The Merciful One is generous enough. We merely selected these human nobles in advance and informed them that a great catastrophe would come, and that only He would be the cure."
The Eldar's gaze drifted toward the nobles.
"They are all the last survivors of their worlds. Their planets had already been consumed by the Youngest Queen, and it was precisely their faith in Him that saved their lives."
Creating a small organization promoted by the powerful and influential was not difficult. Nor did the Eldar need to plant deep faith within them.
They merely needed these humans to know that "Hades" existed.
When the Astronomican went dark and the true catastrophe arrived, those who survived naturally clung to faith as their only remaining path.
Thus, with very little effort, the Eldar obtained human followers devoted to "The Fool," and their faith had already proven capable of attracting "The Fool's" attention.
After listening to the Eldar's explanation and understanding the situation, Corax slowly spoke.
"So summoning Him here… requires certain conditions?"
The Eldar looked at the Primarch, eyes flickering beneath the mask.
"At present," the Eldar said, "there are only two requirements to call Him forth. First, one must possess a soul. Second, one must speak His name."
"The stronger the soul, the easier it is to attract His gaze. The more devout the believer, the more likely they are to receive His response."
Then the Eldar let out a soft laugh.
"You needn't worry at all… We are certain that a Primarch's soul possesses tremendous attraction to Him. You merely need to speak that word—"
The ship suddenly lurched violently, interrupting the Eldar's speech.
Corax heard cries of alarm rise from the nobles behind him. In silence, the Primarch lowered his hand to the power whip hanging at his waist.
The assault had begun.
The Eldar's operation was brutally straightforward. The vanguard strike vessels would cut through the outer ships of the Emperor's Children fleet like sharpened daggers, then deliver the "payload" into the heart of the Pride of the Emperor.
After successfully reaching the flagship, the Eldar would use short-range psychic teleportation to send part of the bait directly into the ritual chamber, while the rest infiltrated by conventional means.
During all of this, every Eldar participating in the assault possessed the right to pray to The Fool.
For the Eldar, the key to success or failure lay in summoning The Fool quickly and ensuring that the overwhelming majority of His attention would be drawn here.
Corax listened to the prayers of the nobles behind him.
Human bait… The Primarch thought.
Were these Eldar worried they might fail to attract the Head of the Silent Sisterhood?
Suddenly, Corax felt the whole thing absurd and laughable.
Gods existed.
Humanity possessed gods of its own.
And now xenos were attempting to pray to a human god.
These three facts filled Corax with immense helplessness. It felt as though he were trapped inside the most insane dream imaginable.
Yet, he also had no choice but to immediately accept this maddened reality and act accordingly.
The Primarch's keen hearing caught the sound of explosions outside the ship's hull. He listened to the conversations among the Eldar.
Silently, Corax counted within his mind.
If the Eldar's operation proceeded smoothly, then they were close now.
Corax silently memorized the "word" required for the summoning.
The Primarch despised himself for doing so, but if it truly could save his life and keep him from becoming that thing…
"…There's nothing wrong with this."
The cabin shook violently. The lights overhead flickered on and off. People cried out in alarm, but Eldar soon emerged from the darkness, comforting those who had willingly chosen to walk toward death.
For those who had chosen to believe the Eldar's words, there was nothing frightening about being consumed by the god they worshipped during a single operation.
After all, those who had once lived upon fallen worlds had already experienced true terror and chaos. Having watched Slaanesh steal away their families and loved ones, they had long since prepared themselves to sacrifice their lives to a greater existence.
The Primarch waited silently.
He had already made up his mind: seize a ship and leave directly. This was not his battlefield.
If Fulgrim truly could no longer be saved—
Then let him fall.
Corax only hoped the Eldar's operation would truly succeed, allowing his brother to remain far from genuine torment.
…
Corax remained silent. Yet suddenly, the Primarch thought of something.
An uneasy sensation crept across his soul like that faint, ever-present darkness lurking everywhere, making him nauseous.
"…Has your operation… ever succeeded before?" the Primarch asked quietly.
The Eldar beside him was clearly preparing for the coming battle. The xenos glanced at Corax.
"We do not engage in meaningless actions," the Eldar said, adjusting the power sword at his waist.
"We are not the first. Similar events have already occurred more than once throughout this galaxy. Great or small, the same kind of drama has already played out many times."
Corax realized what he himself had just understood.
"…"
The Primarch fell silent for a long moment.
His pitch-black eyes stared at the Eldar before him. The xenos seemed puzzled by the Primarch's sudden silence. Beneath the grotesque mask, the Eldar raised his face to look at Corax.
"Suppose," Corax's voice rang out, always carrying an undertone of sorrow. This Primarch always seemed deeply pessimistic.
"Suppose the 'god' you are targeting knows of your hatred toward it."
The Primarch paused, emphasizing his next words.
"And this sort of thing has already happened many times before. I don't know exactly how many times—but it has happened before."
With sadness, Corax saw a flash of panic flicker through the Eldar's eyes.
But in the next instant, they reached their destination.
The rapidly advancing vessel slammed violently into the Pride of the Emperor. The force of inertia hurled everyone outward.
That only strengthened Corax's determination to escape immediately.
. . .
Aboard the Pride of the Emperor, Fulgrim lazily lifted his eyes while reclining amidst layers of silk drapery.
The servants applying cosmetics around the Primarch hurriedly set down their tools in panic.
"…An enemy attack?" Fulgrim said slowly.
Before him, Lucius appeared visibly anxious. The Primarch merely smiled gently, his face as beautiful as a god of beauty itself, signaling for his son to relax.
"There is no need to worry," Fulgrim said.
"Let them come. During my coronation ceremony, I shall personally water our glory with the blood of the invaders."
Lucius acknowledged the order and immediately hurried out to make preparations.
For some reason, he keenly sensed a certain anticipation hidden within Fulgrim's expression.
Watching Lucius depart, Fulgrim reclined sideways within the hanging curtains of his bed. Cheerfully, he lifted a mirror adorned with golden tassels and examined himself.
Apparently satisfied, he lowered the mirror and let out a yawn.
"Continue," the Primarch commanded the mortals to resume adorning him.
An uncontrollable smile spread across his lips.
"For the only time—this one and only time—I shall face all of this in my finest form."
His chest trembled.
The Primarch released a satisfied sigh, as though excited for what was about to happen next.
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Tn: I updated the story once every 2 days, but if you want to see more chapter of this story ahead of time, please go to my Patreon.
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