In the ninth layer of the Kingdom of Disorder, upon entering this layer, Nareth immediately understood its corresponding ability, "Words of Order."
Threads of law filled this space. Once he spoke, issuing a decree, they would follow his will and enact punishment accordingly.
After grasping the function of the ninth layer, his first thought was to bring Slau Dha, who was still resisting, still holding onto some secrets, here for a judgment of order.
The Aeldari Autarch was one of those in the Cabal who advocated the sacrifice of humanity. By that standard, his crimes were innumerable.
But Nareth quickly dismissed the idea. The punishment for "Words of Order" included death.
Slau Dha's greatest value lay in the many secrets he held. Punishment was not his objective.
He then went to the fourth layer. He extended his spirituality, touching the orb of William Wood, Lord of the Fourth Chapter.
Seeing William in a black robe, alone, he pulled him into the Kingdom of Disorder.
Simultaneously, with a thought, the materials for Sequence 6 "Faceless" on the Fool Pathway vanished from their palace, appearing before the furnace.
The Jokaero in the first layer added the doppelganger and other materials to the furnace in sequence.
"My Lord, the Tanith, raised in environments with Nalwood trees, have natural a sense of direction..."
"The first batch of recruits, one thousand thirty-five, have shown intuition far surpassing recruits from other worlds in training..."
"I have ordered training fields with various traps to be built in areas with dense Nalwood forests. Shadows of Order of the Chapter will undergo training there without power armor."
As a full-fledged "Clown," William had immediately grasped Tanith's value after learning about it.
As Nareth listened to William's report, his right hand moved within the black mist. A black-green potion appeared in his palm.
"Good." Nareth said approvingly to William. With a thought, the potion, which occasionally bubbled with eye-sized bubbles, floated before him.
"Thank You, my Lord, for Your gift." Images of his time as a worker-caste child on Gardinaal, fleeing into the wilderness, flashed through William's mind.
Even the best future he had envisioned was nothing compared to his present.
He took the potion, watching bubbles rise to the surface and burst.
"Praise be to my Lord." He drank. A slight tingling sensation spread through his mouth and esophagus, eventually numbing him, leaving him senseless.
His spirit was pulled from his body. He watched, as if from outside, his mouth, nose, ears, and eyes dissolve, one by one, followed by his entire face.
In three seconds, his face and head melted like wax. Bone and skin also dissolved rapidly.
A torrent of information flooded William's mind, leaving him momentarily dazed.
A commanding voice sounded in his mind.
"Meditate. Find your body."
He instinctively obeyed the "Majestic" voice. He entered a state without reflection, struggling to control his body.
Nareth watched as William's face and skin grew covered in dense pale granulation.
An ordinary person would have been horrified, repulsed.
Through meditation, William reined in the overflowing power of the potion. The disgusting granulation gradually vanished, integrating his lustrous flesh.
Nareth said to William, now restored to his original appearance: "Try your new 'Shapeshift' ability."
"By Your will."
The "Faceless's" bones and ligaments cracked. His entire body shot up.
As the "Faceless" tried various forms, both he and Nareth, watching, understood the scope of the "Shapeshifting" ability.
'A newly advanced "Faceless" can alter his height by fifteen centimeters, slightly more than in my memory. Perhaps because of the different potion ingredients, or because the consumer is an Astartes.'
'He can mimic voice and scent, but cannot change his clothing.'
Nareth's eyes deepened. Extraordinaries on the Fool Pathway gained greater bodily flexibility but did not significantly change in height or weight. Their stature was roughly average for an Astartes.
The "Faceless" range was within Astartes norms. He could not become an ordinary human, nor a Primarch.
'Not necessarily. Alpharius and Omegon could.'
'Hmm... compared to the Alphas, the "Faceless" is better suited for infiltration.'
Ideas flashed through his mind: Luther, after becoming a "Barbarian," could more easily slip away from Caliban, participating in the Reductus Sector campaign to advance to "Mentor of Disorder."
His plan to use "Backroom Deal" to obtain Mortarion's trophy, his adoptive father Necare's skull, would be easier to implement.
And, infiltrating other Legions.
He thought to himself.
'The Heresy will be a good opportunity.'
'By then, I will have a certain number of "Faceless."
If they show some anomalies during infiltration, it can be attributed to the major events they've witnessed.'
The Heresy was never simply about loyalty or betrayal. It was a trial of faith.
Mental shocks changed the minds of countless individuals. Changes in behavior were common.
Reining in his thoughts, Nareth spoke gravely, warning the "Faceless."
"You can pretend to be anyone, but you can only be yourself."
Black mist swallowed William. The Black Emperor's admonition echoed in his mind.
Three months later, on Perditus II, in its largest city, Tefmor.
The people gathered below a raised platform, watching as their hereditary king, Kael of House Mebri, under the stern commands of the black-armored warriors, slowly shed his human skin.
He revealed a nebulous form, like a patchwork of mismatched limbs.
Their ruler had been silently replaced by a shapeshifter.
They looked at the viewscreens, which showed bloodstained prisons piled with bones. Rescued residents screamed "Cannibals!" in terror.
They had no more doubts. The truth the black-armored warriors had revealed: shapeshifting monsters had taken over their world, reducing them to a food reserve for evil xenos.
Without Shadows of Order, they would have been slowly consumed, never knowing by whom.
The people shouted in unison, praising their liberators.
"Shadows of Order!"
"The Monarch!"
At the same moment, aboard the Shadow's Sovereignty, Primarch's Office.
"My Lord," Arsena reported respectfully. "In the campaign to cleanse the doppelgangers on Perditus II and VI, two hundred forty-nine Shadows of Order fell."
"Of these, one hundred eighty-five were from the First Chapter. The rest were Librarians and Court Brothers."
"Hasik Noyan-Khan's brotherhood lost one hundred seven."
Nareth nodded slightly. He had a more complete picture. Thirty "Marauders" and sixty-one "Assassins" had also fallen.
"Order the Techmarines to occupy Perditus II and VI. Develop them as industrial worlds."
Besides the Tuchulcha engine, he had also gained the resource-rich Perditus VI.
In his memory, it would grow into a Forge World over the next few decades.
"By Your will." His Aide acknowledged. Before leaving the office, he said.
"Hasik is outside, as You commanded."
"Send him in."
A blood-red potion appeared in Nareth's right hand.
"Lord Nareth." Hasik walked to the desk and bowed.
Nareth slid the "Hunter" potion to the successfully "corroded" Hasik. The White Scars, skilled hunters and swift in action, suited the Red Priest Pathway.
Moments later, Hasik, in his white armor, knelt before someone other than the Great Khan for the first time.
"My Lord, thank You for Your gift."
"I will carry out Your will."
Nareth nodded with satisfaction. He knew that in the future, Hasik would be known as Khan.
A Khan led a brotherhood. A Khan led many brotherhoods.
There were few Khans among the White Scars. Hasik was the most powerful.
Jaghatai had granted him the authority to make decisions on all matters independently.
Noyan Hasik Noyan-Khan commanded more White Scars than any other Khan.
'Jaghatai, my apologies for taking your first Khan.'
'But for you, this is also a good thing. Hasik will not launch a rebellion in Prospero's orbit.'
'Hasik, following me is far better for you than following Horus. At least you won't fail and be imprisoned.'
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