After arriving in the Kingdom of Disorder, Nareth first went to the Blasphemy Slate to view the Sequence 4 "Earl of the Fallen" potion recipe.
Main ingredients: 1 Hrud source, 1 fragment of Be'lakor's relic.
Supplementary ingredients: 331,133 milliliters of Vosvoth, 1 grey Nephilim, 1 Barbarus Overlord's skull.
After reading the recipe, Nareth's eyes deepened.
The appearance of the Nephilim was thought-provoking. Though their sonic weapons could kill Astartes, they were no more dangerous than the Psychneuein.
What concerned Nareth was that the Nephilim were closely linked to faith. They had enslaved billions of humans across hundreds of worlds.
The Nephilim made humans see them as gods. Even knowing they were food, they told Jaghatai Khan without hesitation, "For mortals, what could be more wonderful than nourishing a god?"
'Does a Sequence 4 potion ingredient already show obvious faith characteristics?'
As he thought, he knew he could not miss the war against the Nephilim.
He then thought of the Overlords of Barbarus.
Through his trade with Mortarion, he already had many Overlord skulls.
'Individually, the Overlords are indeed more dangerous than the Hrud.'
Though the Hrud's entropic fields could conceal them, thermal imaging could compensate.
Though the Hrud King had resisted the silence with its powerful entropy, it had no resistance when alone and was captured instantly.
But without his help or the Emperor's, as in his memory, Mortarion could not defeat Necare.
"What truly makes the Hrud terrifying is their numbers. In thousands, they reduce Astartes to dust."
"Billions together tear apart stars, age void ships."
"Unfortunately, Mortarion keeps Necare's head as proof of fulfilling his destiny."
Nareth knew the significance of Necare's head to Mortarion.
If he took it, it would mean a fight to the death.
"It's not worth it for a boost. If he truly falls to Nurgle, the plagues will be troublesome, even with my Beyonders on the Sun, Mother, and Moon Pathways."
"If Mortarion ascends, given our previous relationship, I won't be his primary target."
Just as he was about to abandon the idea, inspiration struck.
"Hmm, I could use 'Backroom Deal'!"
"But the space created by 'Backroom Deal' is limited. It can't be formed from a distance. I need an opportunity."
His eyes deepened. The outline of a plan formed in his mind.
He then thought of the Hrud. He had first encountered references to the Hrud on the Squats' stone slab, then found more information in the Hrud's mycelium books.
Of course, he didn't need this data; he already knew something of the Hrud.
The Hrud were powerful psykers. They could remotely possess minds through the Warp, then drain the host's life force to augment their own combat power, until no hosts remained on a planet.
Individual Hrud were also powerful warriors. The weakest exceeded Astartes and could contend with Custodians.
A Hrud source could even rival a Primarch.
Angron and Sanguinius had both fought Hrud. Finally, the Lion, with his will, resisted possession and tracked down their homeworld.
He deployed Men of Iron, which could not be possessed, and nuclear strikes to destroy their base, but many survived.
'The main ingredients for Sequence 5 Slaughth and Enslavers had no specific requirements.'
'Ordinary Slaughth and Enslavers sufficed. But "Earl of the Fallen" requires a Hrud source.'
'Indeed, the requirements are higher.'
Finally, Nareth looked at the Blasphemy Slate. There was no image of the ingredient.
He knew there couldn't be.
The First Prince, Be'lakor, had ruled many empires since the Dawn Age.
His relics were scattered across millions of Terran years. They took many forms, statues carved from fossilized psyker bones, fragments of horn sealed in sacred coffins...
Each fragment was different.
Ultimately, it was the Mechanicum's Tech-Priest, Kober, working under Be'lakor's behind-the-scenes guidance and assistance, who pieced together Be'lakor's history, searching ancient ruins across the galaxy, finally recovering all the relics.
'I first found traces of Be'lakor on Vigilus. He likely had domains there in the past.'
'The Void Fist, that devastating weapon that could cause an apocalypse on Vigilus, was probably built to counter Be'lakor's threat.'
'But I found no fragments of Be'lakor's power. The most likely place now is Sak'trada Deeps.'
He had three reasons for this conclusion.
The ruins in the Gurgan system might be civilizations Be'lakor destroyed.
The mycelium books mentioned Be'lakor. And there was the Aeldari warning.
'Sak'trada Deeps is already in my plans.'
'After converting the Pellpetuals and obtaining Pellturabo's improved stasis device, I can go deeper into Sak'trada Deeps.'
Having formed a plan, he thought with puzzlement.
'Why must it be a fragment of Be'lakor's power?'
'Even if it must be a Daemon Prince, not just banished daemons like Samus, there are many.'
'Why Be'lakor? Does the sefiroth's evolution require it? What is the requirement?'
After long thought, he still had no conclusion.
He turned to the advancement ritual for "Earl of the Fallen."
Advancement ritual: Kill a Daemon Prince during their ascension. Drink the potion amidst their death and complex emotions, seizing the power meant for them.
"Very 'Earl of the Fallen.'"
He thought about how to perform the ritual.
'After ascension is too late. It must be during.'
'There will be many Astartes, even mortals, who ascend in the future.'
'But during the Great Crusade, there aren't many. Ingethel on Cadia is one.'
The moment the name came to mind, he rejected it. Her ascension was to complete the task of leading Lorgar on his pilgrimage to the Eye of Terror.
Killing her during her ascension would mean facing the Four directly, within the Eye of Terror.
'Even more dangerous than killing most ascended Primarchs. The power she gained was less than theirs.'
'More trouble than it's worth.'
He thought of the few other names, rejecting them one by one.
'Unlikely during the Great Crusade.'
'During the Heresy, I'd have to kill ascended Primarchs.'
'If my potion materials are in excess, especially Be'lakor's fragment and the Hrud source, I might have to.'
The images of the Primarchs' ascensions flashed through his mind. His blurry ideas grew clearer. He had a target.
Then, he looked at the Blasphemy Slate again, reviewing which of the unlocked recipes he knew and possessed.
After memorizing all the recipes and rituals, with a thought, he went to the eighth layer, newly unlocked after advancing to "Mentor of Disorder."
.....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
[email protected]/DaoistJinzu