Chapter 507 Phoenix in the Mirror (4)
“Were you deceived by me?” Fulgrim said tremblingly.
Darkness, do you think you can shake me like this? Do you think this will make my heart tremble without peace? I was indeed wrong. This last step was not made by Ferrus for the sake of his heirs.
But does this make me feel guilty? Will this make me defeated? No, no... never...
"You will never deceive me, and I will never misidentify you. You are the son of the Emperor, the noble Sky Eagle, the Purple Phoenix." Ferru Si said, "I rashly took the wrong steps and fell into the trap of anger."
"You remember, my brother. Since when?" Fulgrim tried to calm his tone, but he could not cover up all the bitterness.
"When its blood fell on you, I saw myself intermittently. If you let me return to me, I can make the maze never change. This is my mistake, I will make up for it."< br>
The echo chuckled faintly... Tie Shi was deceived by Zifeng, and her heart was burning to save her. She wished to return to the dark place for her brother, but when she heard the wind, she cried deeply...
" "Shut up!" Fulgrim snapped to stop the snickering of any dark god. Did it think this could shake him, or did it just find this scene interesting to it?
“Huh?”
"It's not about you, Ferus. Then go ahead and I'll use my fire to stabilize your mind. Hopefully this will keep us a little longer! Yes, it's back."
Within a few words, the mechanical monster appeared from the shadows again and gradually approached them. The entire maze space continued to be turbulent and squeezed. Fulgrim reached out and grabbed a hanging chain to fix his center of gravity. He really didn't have much strength left.
"I want your power here, Fulgrim. You can't continue to lose..."
"How can I not! I will completely let you go, how can you set up a guarantee? You can wake up again! If you shirk one more word from me, I will never miss you again when I encounter Ferus’ Ascension Festival!”
Ferus’s laughter is like gold and iron, “ Do you really want to organize this festival for me?”
"You ask again?"
"Then you come to help me, but you have to make sure you live, Fulgrim. I am not going to sacrifice, and I will not waste your efforts. But I know that we As long as one of them survives, he can always save the other. My existence has been rusted, but your wings can still grow."
"That's enough, I understand. You can speak less. It's my strength." Fulgrim said, gritting his teeth, "What should I do?"
"Get close to it and fix the relative position-"
Fulgrim He rushed forward, almost catching the machine off guard. The mirror-like metal spikes on the mechanical body instantly pierced his body, as if he himself had melted into the mirror.
At the same time, he felt the cold feeling on half of his cheeks instantly fade away like running water, and the legs, feet and one arm he had reconstructed in the spiritual world with living metal turned into smoke and flew away.
Ferrus took action.
He plunged his remaining hand into the mechanical body with the sword, and the mechanical structure immediately opened its appendages impatiently, locking Fulgrim in a cage of thorns pierced by steel. middle. The blade began to stretch and retract, but Fulgrim still felt no pain, only a strange touch, which was the feeling of the existence medium in his body overflowing.
He held the mechanical heart formed by the reorganization of the gears, and watched as the firelight glowed on his fingers, and blood-red shadows were reflected on every broken silver plane inside the machine.
Ferrus can do it.
"Are you ready?" he asked loudly.
The sound echoed in the continuously changing mechanical space, like a drop of red ink falling into a dim pool of water, without arousing any echo.
Fulgrim fixed himself to the mechanical body, and he could no longer move except in this way. The fire burned downwards violently, turning the last few corpses attached to the machinery into ashes. Now, what is still connected to him is the pure machinery itself, threatening each other and locking with each other.
When the changes in space created a hole under their feet, the dark depths below opened to them.
The fall begins.
... Deep love turns into a joke, and every foolish act is self-destructive. The calls coming and going were shrill and shrill, but who knew that love would turn into sorrow. Both fell into ruin and had no way out, and they returned crying after being tricked by fate...
Phoenix didn't listen to a word, let the inanimate thing in the darkness laugh. Those beetle-like noises and the clanking of pincers hidden in the shadows were no more harsh to him than the howling of the wind.
He grabbed the machine and descended, searching for the existence of Ferus in his mind. He gathered the fuel-like will from nowhere, making the flames grow stronger.
...He and this machine were like a ball of firewood wrapped in an iron net. Flames rolled out from every joint gap of the machine's limbs. With the air flow, they rose higher and higher, and gradually Pull out an afterimage like a tail feather.
In the weightless environment, Fulgrim called again: "Are you okay, Ferus!"
Thorns passed through his inner being, his intelligence... The invisible force tightly grasped his soul, suspending him between life and death... There was still no pain, but the cold touch became more and more vivid. For a moment, he thought that he and the mechanical body had assimilated and became a part—a part that could no longer be separated. The spikes continued to penetrate deep into his body, approaching his heart...
"Ferrus..." There was an almost pleading tone in his voice.
The thorns barely stopped, hovering at the edge of his heart, as if the final blow was just waiting for the slightest tremble of fate to fall. However, it stayed there and stopped moving forward.
Time was pulled away, frozen at the moment when the original body's heartbeat was about to stop.
Fulgrim's hand still held the mechanical heart firmly, and the flames beat between his fingers, burning more intensely as he fell.
"Finished? No... not yet." Fulgrim murmured in a low voice. The dark abyss seemed to slowly open in his heart, and his reason began to burn. The firelight reflected on the inner walls of the machinery around him, and countless silver surfaces reflected Thousands of twisted and broken fires emerged, each reflection carrying a blood-red monster.
Once again, the spike advanced slightly, the cold touch was close at hand, and it could pierce his heart in the next moment.
A moment. It seemed like an unexpected moment. A miraculous moment.
It stopped.
The mechanical structure lost all movement in an instant. There was silence all around, except that their fall continued.
The darkness was endless, seemingly endless.
Fulgrim's voice was like a trembling flame in the strong wind: "Ferrus! I feel it! Where are you?"
The fall accelerated, every steel tentacle of the mechanical body It wrapped around him more and more tightly, like invisible chains, trapping him. The flames surrounding him did not extinguish, but instead burned more intensely... He waited for his response in the roar of deep silence.
"Ferrus!" A low echo was indistinguishable, slow and vague, but it seemed extremely clear to Fulgrim's ears, as if it sounded specifically for him.
When this voice sounded, his fall suddenly stopped. He was no longer swallowed by darkness, but was held up by gentle but cold power.
Together with the machine, he sank into a quiet silver lake. The surface of the lake was as smooth as a mirror, reflecting the broken machine body and the faded afterimage of Fulgrim himself.
Just wait. Ferrus Manus's voice echoed in his mind. The sound no longer entered through the ears of reality, but stirred directly in the depths of his consciousness. Their wills directly engage in ways that transcend reality. It was as if after the mirror was broken, the two corresponding mirror images inside and outside the mirror finally came into contact with each other, and even became one.
Their thinking, their will, their existence. Gradually blend.
At that moment, Fulgrim seemed to see Ferus's eyes. It was no longer the coldness and determination he remembered, with some complex emotions that were almost apologetic.
...A sharp cry of annoyance sounded in the distance, as well as various trivial curses, such as failure, cursed person, the messy fifth lord, the supreme traitor, and even some nonsensical exclamations, such as pure The joy, the wonderful emotions, and so on.
They don't care about the noise. It's just something that the outside world cannot disturb their hearts.
Just wait. Ferus said. I'm sorry for my impulsiveness.
Isn’t this your old problem? Fulgrim said gently, "Is this the first time you have been impulsive?"
I don’t know. Ferus's answer was slightly hesitant, obviously he had not fully recovered his memory.
It seems you haven't remembered everything yet. Do you need me to introduce you one by one, Ferrus Manus, the Gorgon of Medusa? Do you need me to tell you how your Medusa chases you, and how you govern your planet?
Okay. Ferus' voice calmed.
So Fulgrim began to tell. He described his Medusa to Ferus: iron and rock, cold and storm, endless challenges and icy desperation. Every step he took was like a hammer striking the rock.
Medusa is his mirror, he and the planet are essentially the same species. Cold, cruel, and unparalleledly powerful. He conquered it—as he conquered himself.
The entire mechanical maze fell into silence, and Fulgrim's narration gathered together a stormy time. Every leader is shaped by their world, and all are shaped by their destiny. Medusa shaped Ferus as Fulgrim was shaped by Chemos.
Maybe emotion was always my flaw. Ferus said suddenly, with deep thought in his tone.
Oh, is this your conclusion? Without emotions, why do we exist? I love my planet, my people, and my legion, and my planet, people, and legion return the same sentiments. The fire in my heart is fueled by emotion. So does my confidence and pride.
Even so, my emotions still led me to make wrong judgments.
That is a question of your sanity! Fulgrim retorted mercilessly, with a firmness in his voice.
I understand what you mean, and I partly agree with your view. When I see your blasphemous imitators, I think it's the bane of Medusa. Only I can deal with it, and my failure is that I am not strong enough to defeat it. Regardless, my anger still clouded my judgment.
Okay, I listen to you. Fulgrim chuckled. In this case, now that we have fallen into this abyss, you will not continue to quarrel with me over these things, right?
They chatted calmly. Fulgrim did not discuss any complicated truths, but in a nostalgic tone, told how Ferus led the Legion to sweep across the galaxy. They recalled the scorching flames of war and the twinkling stars, the unswerving decisions, the cold and precise art of war, and the delicate balance between destruction and alliance. The cruelty and decisiveness of every battle, the glory and price of every conquest, were all beautifully reproduced in Fulgrim's mouth.
They chatted together, in the Silver Lake controlled by Ferus, in the pure land supported by Fulgrim's fire, isolated from outside interference, and said goodbye to the threats in the darkness.
Sinking in the depths of the small silver lake, they chatted about many trivial things and were immersed in memories. Fulgrim's narrative sometimes skipped to how they competed to make swords when they first met. and Hammer, sometimes returning to the present, chatting about how the Star Torch has dimmed and how much they still have to do after the subspace returns to normal. They laugh, sometimes sentimentally.
We are still trapped, Fulgrim sighed, but at least there are no pursuers. You are also awake. We have captured your existence... essence and body. What's this? Forget it, I tried my best, you have to thank me.
Thanks. Ferus responded calmly.
Fulgrim chuckled, recalling past events: I told you, the Emperor once saved me. Ashamed as it is, maybe we need to wait for him again.
Yes, you said it. Will the Emperor come?
I believe Dorn will complete his mission. If he can't be trusted, who else in the galaxy can we rely on? Fulgrim thought for a moment and then added, what do you think of him?
Not as high as you think of him. Ferus admitted.
Each of us has something to learn from others. Fulgrim smiled slightly and said with emotion.
You are right. Ferus's voice was low and sure.
Until a certain moment...
A subtle change came to the world, so familiar, even nostalgic.
The Golden Throne. Fulgrim whispered the name with a mixture of awe and hesitation.
The icy darkness poured into the Silver Lake, bringing with it a terrifying force of destruction, competing with the power of the subspace that deceived Ferus here. It was cruel and tyrannical, irresistible, and could only be accepted. Another warp force screamed with rage, cursing the "cursed" in words that did not form rhymes or even sentences.
The power that descended was undeniable in its majesty, but there were hidden subtleties that made Fulgrim uneasy.
The Golden Throne. Ferrus affirmed, the Lord of Mankind to whom we swore allegiance.
Fulgrim was silent for a moment. This was the Emperor, the unshakable leader, and his father. He had saved him once, and now he had arrived for the second time, pushing aside the obstacles of the subspace power and approaching them.
He should have looked forward to him with joy and thrown himself under his throne. But he hesitated.
What does he suspect? That great power? What was he rejecting? Was he going to question the cold force that was about to reach them?
Is it a throne? Ferus asked again. You doubt it, Fulgrim.
I don't know, this feels... it doesn't look like the Emperor we remember, at least not entirely.
I am indeed waiting for him. But if this is really the Emperor, why does he make us feel... so uneasy? But that was the Emperor's call. Have we been deceived by the warp and misunderstood, so that we dare not hold the Golden Throne's helping hand in time?
The Emperor... Ferrus said slowly. We have always been loyal to the Emperor.
(End of this chapter)