Chapter 73: The Peerless Beauty of Ten Thousand Years
It was already evening outside. Erda, supporting her pale face with her slender hand, said in disbelief,
"Damn it. I feel like your chess skills are about the same as mine, so why do I keep losing?"
"I knew you'd be like this from the second game onwards," Omega said softly, noticing that her demeanor had become much more anxious than before. "You seem preoccupied with something, which makes you overly concerned about winning or losing. Can you tell me about it?"
From this, Omega learned a bit about Erda's personality: as conditions grew increasingly unfavorable, she became increasingly irrational and made poor judgments.
Erda, her true colors revealed, retorted coquettishly, "Hmph, you're clearly thousands of millennia younger than me. What are you pretending to be an adult for, ch.il.d?"
But Omega looked at her quietly, and Erda, who rarely had someone she got along well with, thought for a moment and couldn't help but express her anxiety and unease.
The matter had come full circle. It turned out to be related to Lorgar, the Primarch of the Word Bearers.
Erda had always known that the Emperor's tolerance for Lorgar had its limits. After seeing Malcador and his group depart, she secretly realized that the Emperor would take action against Lorgar.
She worried that Lorgar's persistence would anger the Emperor and that the Word Bearers Legion would be wiped out, as were the Second and Eleventh Legions.
After all, Lorgar had done something the Emperor could not tolerate. The Emperor was always a staunch atheist and materialist. The conflict between the Emperor and Lorgar was bound to end in Lorgar's defeat.
Although unaware of the relationship between Erda and Lorgar, Omega calmly stated, "The Emperor won't kill Lorgar. You can rest assured about that."
"Why are you so sure? You've never even been to Monarchia and haven't seen anything," Erda asked curiously after her initial surprise.
Omega analyzed, "Because it was the Ultramarines who destroyed Monarchia this time. Roboute Guilliman won't just stand by and watch his brother fall at his feet. If the Emperor wanted to kill Lorgar, Guilliman would definitely stand between the two of them. So Lorgar won't die."
"However, the Ultramarines and the Word Bearers have now become enemies. Do you have any ideas on how to deal with this?" Erda asked, realizing that this was indeed the case.
Omega shook his head.
"No. Things develop naturally. None of us can change other people's will easily, and it's unrealistic to expect everything to go in a positive direction."
"Do you think Lorgar's missionary work is right or wrong? I remember you weren't against the Emperor's faith," Erda asked, feeling somewhat disappointed.
"Do you want to hear the truth or a lie?"
"Of course it's the truth!"
"Lorgar's missionary work is wrong, but people's faith in the Emperor is right. That's all I have to say."
Erda was shocked and incredulous upon hearing this. Omega's words were too contradictory.
The other party was willing to risk going against the Emperor's wishes to say such things. It was true, but she couldn't understand why they would do that.
Omega found it rather strange that the woman before him, who had lived for thousands of years, had such unclear thoughts.
He had thought that beings who could live for a thousand years had become wise. But now it seemed that a long lifespan did not necessarily equate to great wisdom.
This was a rare encounter on Terra, and he suggested going out for some good food so Erda could think it over on her own.
An hour later, the two enjoyed a delicious meal in the living room of the chess room, and Erda's mood brightened again.
Ignoring the time constraints, Erda continued playing chess with Omega, unexpectedly winning several opening moves. This extraordinary performance left Omega utterly astonished.
The next morning, Omega emerged from the disguised high wall as if he had passed directly through ripples in the wall.
The two had plenty of time this time, and Omega, in a good mood, left the street and went onto the main thoroughfare.
Suddenly sensing something amiss, he discreetly observed the situation and saw several squads of heavily armed Imperial Army soldiers patrolling various locations, along with numerous tanks on the streets.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a woman on the street corner wearing exquisite golden armor and a white cloak that accentuated her feminine form. The moment his gaze fell upon her, he felt as if he could perceive death itself.
The woman exuded a soulless silence and a sense of death, causing one to repel and instinctively avoid getting close. This was a Sister of Silence, a psychic null, an untouchable dedicated to hunting psykers.
Any psyker who approaches a Sister of Silence's domain will have their psychic powers immediately rendered ineffective and will then be mercilessly killed by the Sister. The Sisters of Silence have no presence in the Warp and suffer natural rejection from psychic forces, making them like soulless humans, a rare and unique gift among humanity specifically designed to counter psykers.
Back at the fortress, Omega continued reading intelligence reports. Days passed by like this, and he spent his free time playing chess and chatting with Erda in the chess room, enjoying various delicacies.
One month later
The Emperor's flagship returned to Terra, followed by hundreds of Ultramarines warships. Over the past month, Primarchs of the Astartes Legions had been returning one after another, and the sight of these massive warships anchored in space was truly magnificent.
Omega and Alpharius stood together atop the fortress, silently gazing at the sky.
On that very day, an order regarding religion was issued from the palace, prohibiting and cracking down on the spread of any form of religion within the empire. The Imperial Truth was what ordinary people should uphold and believe in.
In a short time, a massive search was launched throughout Terra. Many cults were discovered and eradicated at the grassroots level, and rogue psykers were eliminated. Everyone applauded the result.
Throughout the various Legions of Astartes, they were also reminded not to engage in religious activities, and news of the destruction of Monarchia spread far and wide.
Inside a large hall of the Alpha Legion fortress, Alpharius frowned and said, "Now a secret society has formed among the various Astartes Legions, and it's becoming increasingly difficult to figure out what they're thinking. These small groups discuss things privately."
"But this won't stop Alpha's warriors. I will uncover all their secrets, little by little!"
Omega, upon hearing the change of topic, said,
"The order from the palace is to crack down on all religions, but it doesn't explicitly target religions and followers who worship the Emperor. It seems Malcador doesn't want things to escalate too much."
"Once it involves the Emperor, it becomes difficult for everyone to handle," Alpharius also felt troubled and could only resort to attacking all religions to strike at those who worship the Emperor, without daring to do so openly.
The handling of religious events had little to do with the Astartes. The dozen or so Legions were constantly engaged in overseas campaigns and were overseen by the Primarchs. This was primarily a matter of concern for ordinary people.
Seeing that things were more or less settled, Omega and Erda decided to leave Terra for the Alpha Sector. Before doing so, Omega decided to give Erda a proper farewell.
The chess room was brightly lit, and Omega, dressed in power armor, was playing chess with a beautiful woman draped in a black robe. After a game, the two drew, and upon seeing this, they couldn't help but laugh in surprise.
Erda gazed at the chessboard, clasped her slender hands together, and smiled calmly.
"One advantage of a long lifespan is that you don't have to worry about time. A hundred years is just a fleeting moment in our lives."
"I have far more experience with the long journey of life than you do. Don't think that being a hundred years old means you're old; that's a mortal's mindset. For people like us, as long as our hearts are young, we'll still be young even after ten thousand years."
"A woman's most beautiful moment is when she is young, and I am eternally youthful and immortal, I am truly immortal!"
As she spoke, her slender, pale hands gently removed her hood and mask, revealing a stunningly beautiful woman with long chestnut hair. Her humanity and youthful vivacity were clearly visible in her smile.
This was a quiet yet lively young girl who looked only about twenty years old, but her actual age was astonishing.
The amazement lasted only a moment. Omega teased, looking at the stunningly beautiful Erda,
"A beautiful girl who's ten thousand years old, unbelievable!"
Erda is an ancient being who has existed since the earliest ages of human civilization, making her among the most ancient beings in the galaxy. She possessed an unparalleled beauty and a cool, ethereal demeanor.
"Hmph, you're not even two hundred years old yet, and here you're putting on airs of maturity and world-weariness in front of me like an old man. For people like us who are practically immortal, the mindset is age. If your heart ages, your body will show it."
"Your current level of understanding has exceeded my expectations. It's hard to believe you're not even two hundred years old. I'm very pleased, but you're still far from sufficient compared to the wisdom accumulated over millennia."
She was truly an unparalleled beauty, a rare human indeed.
Omega awkwardly covered up the glare from Erda's beauty and coughed, then nodded as he seriously considered her words.
Sometimes he truly felt he was standing in front of an elder figure, like a mother or older sister, hmm...hard to tell.
[End of Chapter]
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