Warhammer: In the Name of Ashes

"Broken...?" In the terrifying storm, the body of the fallen demon primordial had long been torn apart, leaving only a shadow-like substance that maintained itself while unconsciously muttering.

"Broken? How is it possible?" The incarnations of the gods stood up from the throne.

It was the symbol and epitome of chaos, and no one could destroy it. The gods thought that the danger came from their own authority, but who knew that the real crisis was the eight-pointed star itself.

What made them even more angry was that the source of the disaster that created all this, after swallowing the fragments of the eight-pointed star, had even broken the original balance and was still expanding wildly...

What should they do? The current situation has exceeded the expectations of the gods.

Although the danger did not directly threaten them, the damage of the eight-pointed star, which was a symbol of the epitome of chaos, was actually a worse situation in a sense:

That meant that the foundation of chaos was shaken, and it no longer had an absolute advantage in the universe;

That meant that the cycle constructed by the eight powers was broken, and the tacit understanding between the gods based on certain established destinies also had subtle variables.

"Can't wait!"

"Contain it!"

The bloody figure on the brass throne roared, and the Lord of Life in the distance also made up his mind.

The three evil gods, wrapped in the will of the Lord of Pleasure, worked together and began to try to erase the source of the crisis, but their attempts failed as expected, and the power they exerted from a distance was like a drop in the ocean.

This is the problem of no incarnation coming. Their power, after being projected from a distance, is no longer enough to directly resist the disaster happening on the eight-pointed star.

"Expel it first!" The voice of the Lord of Change sounded, giving a new solution again.

"The price..." The voice of the Lord of Life refuted that the power needed for expulsion comes from time and space, and this method means that they have to pay a high price while maintaining trust in the Lord of Change, who is best at the power of time and space.

Trust? To the Lord of Change? Are you telling a cold joke?

A rare calm appeared in the subspace, and the distortion on Khorne's face showed how he interacted with other beings.

"Do you have a choice? Haha..." The Lord of Pleasure's neurotic words broke the calm, making them quickly recognize the current reality.

They have plenty of time to recover, but what happened on the Octagram must be stopped.

"Promise!" Khorne roared violently, and three eyes immediately stared at the Lord of Change's divine domain.

"Okay, I promise... in the name of my god..."

"Bah! You are fooling around!" Khorne's voice sounded again.

"...In the name of Chaos, I promise that there is no selfishness in this incident..."

"Even public-spiritedness is not allowed!" The voice from the realm of Nurgle interrupted Tzeentch's oath again, but this interruption was exchanged for Tzeentch's sharp rebuttal:

"Tell me, how can I, the Lord of Change and the Lord of Conspiracy, make an oath without conspiracy?

Can you? Can you create a world without germs?

And you, Khorne! Can you put down the sword in your hand when you speak?"

………………The awkward atmosphere spread in the subspace, and the gods fell into a brief silence. It is indeed impossible for them to violate the meaning of their existence, because in a sense, germs and swords are themselves.

"Then limit..." The Lord of Pleasure spoke again, and this time no one raised any objections.

The power of the gods once again converged in the direction of the Lord of Change, and His oath also sounded simultaneously:

"I swear, there will be no conspiracy involving fundamental interests..."

"What about the lost fragments?" Nurgle whispered to himself, and Khorne rarely gave an admonition:

"It's too late, solve the problem at hand first..."

The endless wave once again rose from the depths of the warp, and this time its target was magnified to the entire world of the eight-pointed star. Time and space began to solidify under the power of the gods, and Calvin's body began to be stripped and expelled by this power.

The instinctive swallowing of darkness fell into a momentary pause, and Calvin's consciousness broke through the obstacles with a flash of opportunity.

"Now!" Calvin shouted, his will reconnected with the crown symbolizing authority, and the consciousness in the depths of his soul completely sank into the cold silver ocean of order...

A heavy sigh came from the rusty steel crown, and the silver and platinum intertwined firelight lit up from the spikes of the crown.

The light of reason penetrated the darkness and spread outward in the soul. Under the dual pressure from inside and outside, instinct finally lost the dominance of the soul.

In the darkness that faded into the subconscious like a tide, in a dazzling silver light, the throne symbolizing authority was rising slowly.

"Come!" Silver thunder gathered in the eyes of the original body again, and the cry from the will penetrated the curtain of space and sounded in reality.

"Come!"

Countless imperial soldiers who died or were dying swore that when they heard the call, they also saw a tall silver angel in a trance. He wore a crown full of thorns on his head, and he stood high in the sky and stretched out his palm to them.

A white portal appeared behind him, and the moment they saw the portal, they instinctively understood the meaning of the portal - it was not the salvation promised in faith.

It is a path destined to be more cruel and dedicated to oneself. Once they respond to His call, they will face a life-long, endless battle.

Fighting with the enemy, fighting with themselves, endless fighting is all they have for the rest of their lives, and even if they can always win, what awaits them will be a long period of suffering, becoming a sculpture that gradually becomes cold and loses their humanity...

But it is also a path with hope, because they can see through that portal, that is the power that can truly allow them to have a fair fight with those demons.

Their sacrifices will not be meaningless. They are destined to be the hope of the entire mankind and the pioneers of the entire mankind towards a more distant future.

"Come!" The third call sounded, and the soldiers who understood all this no longer hesitated. A little bit of white light emerged from the battlefield, and then more white light spots joined it.

The souls in the spiritual world are also responding to the call, and dense white light like raindrops rises from the ground. All the imperial soldiers who had fought before finally got the opportunity they had been waiting for!

In Calvin's Pure Land of Soul, the structure of the Iron Temple has once again undergone tremendous changes:

The temple made of steel is growing rapidly, and the square outside the temple is rapidly expanding outwards. Wide stairs are erected layer by layer. Angel statues of different shapes symbolizing different stages are also on both sides of the stairs. rising.

White light points rained down from the sky densely, and the same dense light points converged into light bands that also converged from all directions to the center of the Pure Land.

On the bottom step, countless souls showed their former appearance, and as the angels on both sides of the stairs sang, they each smiled at their comrades around them, then closed their eyes and officially entered this cruel selection. .

Souls, those are countless souls who are willing to dedicate themselves to this path. They are using the reshaping of self-memory as a way to reorganize their core will.

Souls are withering every moment because their faith and belief are not enough to persist in themselves, walk out of the fog of endless memories, and complete the last step of transformation;

Souls are sublimating every moment. With the support of their own firm will, they sort out their memories, discard the useless parts, and appear on the higher ladder with a more relaxed attitude.

The soul of the loser lost the blessing of the light of reason. After opening his eyes sadly and looking at the world with nostalgia, it completely dissipated into the pure land of Calvin's soul;

The souls of successful people disappeared in place and appeared on a higher level of steps. White light pillars descended from their heads. It was the soul origin of the Pure Land blessing them.

"It's so... cruel." Standing in front of the temple door at the end of the stairs, Speyer whispered as he looked down at the souls below.

The faith of the state religion certainly has its meaning, but it is vastly different from the rational way that Calvin upheld.

The former allows these warriors to show sufficient courage in battles during their lifetime. But when they bravely embarked on the road to sublimation, the huge differences in concepts still made the ceremony a cruel selection.

The soul is sublimating, but more souls are dissipating, but this does not scare the newcomers. On the contrary, more souls are joining this precious ceremony every moment.

Calvin did not answer the exclamation of his comrades, because he no longer had the energy to sit deep in the temple.

The coldness of the power of order was eroding his humanity all the time, and the fragments of the eight-pointed star deep in his soul were also turbulent from time to time.

The battle in the Eight-Pointed Star is over, or in other words, changes are still happening there, but it has nothing to do with Calvin.

In this world separated from time and space, everything that happens seems to be a long time, but in reality it is just a moment.

In the depths of the subspace, the power of the gods fell into a long ebb after a brief burst. After forcibly resetting the time and space of the eight-pointed star world, they also fell into temporary dormancy due to weakness.

The fallen Daemon Primarch was quite lucky, but also extremely unlucky.

He did not die at the hands of Calvin's soul essence, nor did he die in the confrontation between the gods and the soul storm, but his body was completely destroyed by the devouring of the soul essence, and there was no trace of will or memory left in it. remain.

When the gods found him, all that was left of him was his warp essence.

The gods who did not obtain any useful information simply used it to restore his memory to before entering the subspace, and then threw it back to his fiefdom - Sikalus.

On the battlefield in the real world, the cognition of all participating parties is changing due to changes in time and space.

The warriors on the Imperial side ignored all traces of Erebus's existence, but the Word Bearers were even worse. On the one hand, they completely lost all memories of the chief priest, and on the other hand, they had to bear the Primarch's death on the battlefield. A morale hit from the mysterious disappearance.

The dark tide that shrouded the Gian Morro sector finally receded, and the Imperial reinforcements that had been wandering outside the sector also arrived immediately.

The Word Bearers' fleet, after hastily recovering most of its ground forces, began to retreat in an orderly manner. The demon legions on the planetary worlds in the occupied areas also gradually died out because they lost the support of the original body's power.

On the battlefield where contact with the empire was restored, new allied units continued to appear in the sight of the imperial soldiers, and in the soul of the original body, another familiar figure quietly appeared next to Speyer.

"Five hundred years..." Amidst the clear sound of the steel scepter hitting the ground, the figure of Saint Marduk strolled up the steps below.

He first bowed to Calvin in the depths of the temple, then turned around and stood beside Speyer, vomiting out the cruel reality he perceived.

"Yes...five hundred years." Spier repeated the words of the Great Confessor, his tone heavier than the former.

What they are talking about is the lifespan of these sublimated souls, and it is also the cold reality faced by these heroes who have experienced such a cruel integration of wills.

On the road to sublimation, maintaining the soul's will and original intention is the only way to success, but even after such cruel selection and baptism, they still face the problem of lifespan.

Five hundred years is the limit for the survival of these sublimated souls.

And once the time arrives, what awaits them will be a new selection and elimination.

Those who maintain their original aspirations stay, while those who have lost their will leave.

The former received the increase of the Pure Land of Soul, and then inherited the power of order diluted by Calvin. After becoming more powerful psykers, they continued to fight for their ideals.

The latter is completely annihilated, and all souls and powers return to the ocean of consciousness under the pure land of the soul, becoming nutrients for newcomers to gain blessings.

This is the true face of the road to sublimation, and it is also the core law of the War Council organization from top to bottom, without exception, for all members.

Yes, there are no exceptions. Even their leaders and commanders who are war lords are also bound by this rule.

But their time is a thousand years. If they cannot maintain themselves after a thousand years, the same death will still be waiting for them.

"Don't think about it... you may not be able to survive until that time..." Spier said with a smile.

"Yes, not necessarily...and if all wars can really end, then I would rather enjoy eternal peace..." Marduk was interrupted by Speyer's words and responded with a smile.

The two turned towards the direction of the temple and walked slowly towards the empty hall.

And when he looked through the reality at the end of the war, fell into the calm subspace, and finally locked his eyes on that distant time and space.

On the crack of the spinning, damaged eight-pointed star, there is a hint of obscure silver slowly growing, and silently joining the eternal cycle...

renew.