Chapter 10 - Infiltration

Haratek and I stood at the top of the tomb, with Rahkikh and Thaszan at my side, we watched the clouds dissipate, the months of storm are over, meanwhile Haratek gave me a report.

"…And with the defeat of the leader of the Greenskins, repairs to the tomb progressed unabated, the cover granted by the storm allowed the use of Scarabs, Spiders and Wraiths in abundance, with your order, I can initiate the full awakening of the tomb." Haratek reported.

"And our troops?" I asked.

"The water in the tomb was drained, and with the materials collected through mining, our damaged and rusted units were fully repaired and brought back to their peak efficiency state."

"Hm! That's good to hear. Good job Haratek, but what about you?"

"Me, My Lord?" Haratek asked hesitantly.

"Yes, how are you? If I remember correctly, I sent you on a mission while damaged. How do you feel now? Is there a problem? Do you need some rare ore? Or some downtime to recover?"

Haratek looked at himself, analyzing his body "I believe not, My Lord, but I am grateful for your concern." Haratek said, bowing slightly.

"And you, Rahkikh and Thaszan? Do you two need anything?"

"No, My Lord." Rahkikh replied.

"Serving you with all our strength is the only reward we desire." Thaszan completed.

I mentally sighed, having absolute authority is annoying sometimes. I can't have a normal conversation without being praised and treated like royalty. I'm offering them the chance to ask for a reward and they're turning it down. I'll think of something later.

"My Lord, if I may ask…" Haratek spoke.

"Ask it."

"When do you plan to eliminate life on this planet and conquer it? These so-called humans have stained your glorious planet and invaded your territory like a plague. If you don't want the trouble to eliminate them, I can do it, just give the order."

Well, the time has come, I hope my speech works.

"Haratek, what would be the point?"

"I'm sorry My Lord, but I don't understand."

"What would be the point of eliminating all life on this planet?"

"To reclaim the territory that belongs to you and restore it to its former glory!" Haratek spoke happily.

"And then?"

"Then we would go from planet to planet in this system, clearing out organics and awakening tombs."

"And then?"

"Then we would establish your power in that system, leaving capable rulers on each planet, take the fleet and conquer nearby systems, clearing organics, awakening tombs and reclaiming your territory."

"And in the end? What would be the point of all this? Kill and conquer, kill and conquer, until in the end there are only Necrons left in the galaxy. Haratek, let's suppose we conquer the galaxy. What will we do next? We are Necrons, immortal machines that don't age, don't eat, don't sleep and don't feel. If every planet in the galaxy becomes a metallic, lifeless planet, what do we do next?"

"I… I don't know… My Lord." Haratek looked away, embarrassed.

"That's the problem, you're not thinking long term. The beauty of the galaxy is its variety, if everything becomes Necron there will be nothing left to do, it would be boring, we would become stagnant, just like the Eldars, we would end up repeating the mistakes that led to the downfall of their empire. Do you want to be like an Eldar, Haratek?"

"No My Lord! I'd rather be permanently eliminated than bear any resemblance to the Old Ones' damned creations!"

"Hump! I see you agree with me, that pleases me."

"But My Lord, if I may ask. What do you plan to do?"

"The humans of the Imperium are ignorant and superstitious, afraid of the unknown and new things, they fear innovation and pray to a man who never wanted to be a god, most of their planets are ruled inefficiently by incompetent leaders. I plan to be a leader for humanity. I don't wish to replace the Imperium, but I won't allow myself to be destroyed by it. We will build our power, conquer planets with subterfuge, manipulation and placing humans and Necron loyal to me in positions of power, we will show humanity that we are the best option, we will give them prosperity, in return they will submit to me, we will become so powerful that every faction in this galaxy will think twice before challenging us!"

I said as I walked to the edge of the tomb and opened my arms.

Suddenly the clouds opened, the sun shone on the top of the tomb, illuminating me and reflecting on my body, simultaneously the wind blew towards me, making my cape flow.

CLAP!

CLAP!

CLAP!

Looking around, I saw that Haratek, Rahkikh and Thaszan were clapping their hands at the end of my speech.

"That… That was wonderful My Lord! Only you could create such a plan! No wonder I couldn't figure it out sooner!" Haratek "wiped away" a "tear".

"Impressive My Lord! We will follow your plan masterfully!" Rahkikh spoke.

"Just order us and we'll eliminate anyone who gets in the way of your glorious plan!" Thaszan continued.

For the Emperor's sake! What I said was so impressive? I improvised this speech as I spoke!

"So My Lord, what will be the first step?" Haratek asked.

"Well, the best way to conquer this planet is not by destroying its armies, but by controlling those who control the population, in other words, the nobles and the governor, if we can make them loyal to me, or ultimately, control their minds, we won't have to worry about resistance or the Imperium trying to take back the planet."

"If you wish, I can send scarabs to spy on the governor and other nobles."

"Do it. But it would be nice to have some members of the local population to interrogate."

With my enhanced vision I saw something approaching the tomb, it was a human ship.

"And an opportunity arose."

XXXXXX

Outside the Tomb

"So, do you mind saying why we're here?" A member of the planetary defense force asked his comrades as they approached the forbidden ruins.

"Haven't you heard the rumors? During the months of storm, green lights were seen flashing across the sky amidst lightning, green colored bolts tearing across the storm, and what appeared to be a ghost ship flying through the clouds. All of them coming from the Forbidden Ruins." Another answered.

"HA! These are rumors that the population created to irritate the governor. Don't you think everyone is tired of having their houses destroyed by the storm and having to hand over everything they have to the nobles in exchange for rebuilding it? They can't do anything to the governor other than piss him off a bit."

"I don't know. People are scared. Don't you think something must have happened?"

"Who knows? The galaxy is a big place. Maybe it's some Xeno wanting to devour our brains or the vengeful spirits of the Imperial Guard trying to haunt us?"

"Don't play with that kind of thing? What if the Emperor hears you?"

"HAHA! Calm down, it's just an abandoned ruin, don't let the stories scare you."

The ship circled the ruin, looking for an entrance.

"Is it just me or does this place look brand new?"

"It must be your impression. Who would bother to repair an old ruin?"

"Hey, I see an entrance!" Another member of the force shouted as he pointed to a metal platform that extended from a large entrance into the ruins.

"Dock the ship!"

The ship docked next to the platform, the side of the ship opened, forming a ramp and the defense forces descended, there were four members in total, while four others stayed on the ship.

The group of four men advanced along the platform and into the ruins, they walked in formation down a long dark corridor made of a black colored material.

"Light your lanterns!" The leader of the group ordered.

The leader and the other members of the quartet turned on the lights attached to the bottom of their autoguns, this only served to illuminate the corridor a little.

"Wow! This place is huge!" A man said as he shone his light upwards, but the light wasn't strong enough to reveal the hallway's ceiling, fading into darkness.

"Focus, we are here to investigate this place!" The leader demanded as he pointed his light forward, but the end of the hall wasn't revealed, only darkness stared back.

"Come on! What's the worst thing that can… AAAHHH!" One of the team members screamed as he was dragged away, his body passing through the floor.

"What was that?!?"

"Where did he go?!?"

The other two team members shouted as they shone their flashlights on the ground where the man had disappeared.

The team leader dragged his hand across the floor where the man was.

"Did you see what happened?" the leader asked.

"He sunk to the ground!"

"Something pulled him down!"

The leader slammed his fist on the ground.

"A trapdoor?"

"I don't… AAHH!" Another man was dragged away.

The leader and team member pointed their flashlights towards the soldier taken away, they managed to see a metallic tentacle wrap around the man's waist before he disappeared into the wall.

"AAAHHH!" Another man was dragged toward the ceiling, a metallic tentacle wrapped around his neck.

The leader of the group looked around desperately, trying to find the thing that dragged his men away, then a metallic noise echoed through the corridor and the little light that entered dimmed, looking back the leader saw the entrance to the ruin closing.

The leader ran towards the entrance, meanwhile the sound of something metallic hitting the ground chased him, the leader pointed his gun back and pulled the trigger.

CLANG!

CLANG!

CLANG!

The bullets bounced off something metallic, unfortunately the leader wasn't fast enough and the entrance closed.

Turning around and pointing his light to the corridor, the leader found nothing, until a green light appeared on the ground. This light rose and rose until it reached a height of three meters. This light approached the leader and he had a good vision of the thing that took his men.

It was a large green and silver machine, with eight legs and a long metallic tentacle extending from its torso to support it. The thing approached the leader and opened its eight legs like a spider ready to attack.

"AAAHHH!" The leader yelled as he discharged his weapon towards the thing, then everything went dark.

XXXXXX

Back to the Tomb

"Are these all men sent to the tomb?"

"Yes My Lord, and they are all under the control of Mindshackle scarabs."

The eight men were placed on their knees in front of the stairs to my throne, each of them with glowing green eyes, indicating that they were under my control.

I went downstairs and approached, only for them to scream in agony and bang their heads against the floor repeatedly.

Rahkikh, Thaszan approached with weapons raised, ready to kill the prisoners, but I held up my hand, stopping them.

"Haratek, what is happening to them?"

Haratek quickly typed into a green holographic screen, "Doesn't seem to be a problem with scarabs My Lord."

A green light came out of the screen and scanned the men, a hologram of their brains appeared.

"They seem to be reacting to your Shadows Ankh, My Lord."

My Ankh? What's wrong with it? All it does is generate a null field and... Ohhh I think I get it. My Ankh generates a powerful null field similar to the field generated by Parias, a stronger version of Blanks, the same field that causes a sensation similar to your soul being sucked into a black hole, creating a reaction of panic and despair, where death is preferable to staying close to what generates the null field.

I lowered the power on my Ankh and the men stopped screaming and banging their heads, now they just gave me an uncomfortable look.

"Now that you've calmed down, I'd like to ask you a few questions. First, why are you here?"

"We were sent by Governor Mathias to investigate the source of the rumors." A man answered.

"What kind of rumors?"

"Strange lights were seen in the sky during the months of storm, things resembling ships flew among the clouds, all of them coming from the general direction of the ruins." Another man answered.

"Hmm! Tell me, do you know what a Necron is?"

"No."

"T'au?"

"No."

"Eldar?"

"No."

"Have any of you ever seen a Space Marine?"

"The Emperor's angels? No. I don't think anyone on the planet has ever seen one."

"Have any of you ever seen a Space Marine depicted in statues or other art?"

All responded negatively. A planet where no one has seen a Xeno and they don't know what a Space Marine looks like. Perfect!

"Last question. Do any of you know about Chaos? If so, are any of you part of a cult?"

Negative responses again.

"Listen carefully, you will return and tell your governor that you found nothing wrong. Do you understand?"

Everyone nodded.

"Excellent. Haratek, alter these men's memories and send them back to the Governor, so get ready, for we will soon take control of this planet."

"Yes, my lord. If you have time, there is something in the tomb I would like to show you."

"Of course, lead the way."

XXXXXX

"Haratek, is that a Pylon?" I asked Cryptek.

"Yes My Lord, and it is ready to be activated." Haratek replied.

The huge monument in front of me was like an obelisk, made of smooth dark stone, with holes the size of a human head in its surface, seven hundred and fifty meters high in total, the Pylons can mess with the Imaterium, leaving it strangely calm and stabilizing the area's spacetime.

A perfect weapon to fight Chaos and Daemons.

"Haratek, what else do we have in the tomb?"

"Well, we have a Tesseract Vault."

"Show me!" I grabbed Haratek by the shoulders.

Haratek stepped back in surprise, but nodded.

We walked through the tomb until we reached a large metal door, typing a command on a holographic panel, the door opened, only to reveal another door, this door also opened, revealing another door.

This process was repeated until we entered a large room with thousands of Necron warriors pointing their weapons at a large machine in the center of the room, the machine was floating in a containment field.

"Open the Vault." I ordered.

The vault opened inside the containment field, and inside it I saw a gigantic being made of green energy. A C'tan shard, the shard screamed in agony, the Tesseract trapping its fragmented form in eternal agony.

"Haratek, do a full overhaul on the Vault. We don't want the C'tan escaping, do we?" I said playfully as I patted Haratek on the shoulder.

"Y-yes My Lord!" Haratek answered nervously.

Probably due to how lightly I treated the C'tan.

"Is there anything else I should know?"

"Well… Let's say there are unwanted guests in your tomb, My Lord."

Unwanted guests?

XXXXXX

Now I understand what Haratek meant.

We were in the tomb equivalent of a prison, and trapped in large cells with walls of green energy barring their exit, were the Destroyer Cult and the Flayed Ones.

In the cells to my left were the Flayed and to my right the Destroyers.

"Shall I eliminate these disgusting stains on your tomb, My Lord?" Haratek asked.

"No, I won't let anything so useful go to waste. Hey! Is there any leader among you?" My scream echoed down the long corridor of prison cells.

"Well, well! Who would say? The Overlord graces us with his presence after so many millennia!" A mocking voice said to my left.

Amidst the Flayed, a taller Necron appeared, dressed in a finely sewn skin cloak, wearing a crown made of bones and bracelets of bones. A Flayer King, a Necron Noble who kept his mind intact even though he was affected by the Flayer Virus.

"You! Get me out of here! I must exterminate all life in this miserable galaxy!" A strong angry voice came from my right.

A large, heavily modified Necron approached, its torso attached to a floating platform, it was a Lokhust Lord.

"How are you, my dear guests? Would you like something? A little bit of food? A massage? Get out of here and fight until your incessant madness is satiated?" I spoke to the leaders on each side.

"I would like some wine and the flesh of the living, raw if possible." The Flayer King spoke as he leaned against the cell barrier.

"Stop mocking me and set me free!" Lokhust Lord punched the barrier.

"If that's what you want, then maybe you'd be willing to listen to my proposal?"

"You have my interest!" The King rubbed his hands together.

"What kind of proposal?" Lokhust crossed his arms.

"I am planning to conquer some planets, but the galaxy is full of dangers, so I would like your forces to fight on my behalf."

"And what do we get out of it?" The King asked.

"You can sink into your vices as much as you like, meat and destruction until you can't anymore."

"What's the catch?" The Lord asked.

"You will keep your troops in check and I will choose which enemies you will fight. I can't let you run free, it would damage my reputation."

The King and Lord were silent for a few minutes and then looked at each other.

"We accept." Both responded simultaneously.

"Perfect! In the future each of you will receive an area in the tomb, until then, prepare your troops for the moment when I request your services. Haratek let's go!" I hurriedly walked out of the prison.

"Yes, my lord!" Haratek responded nervously and ran right after me.

"My lord. Are you sure that was wise? Employ the services of those two madmen?"

"That, Haratek, only time will tell, but we must not overlook possible resources, not in this deadly galaxy."

"I… I understand My Lord."

XXXXXX

Governor's Palace

Governor Mathias was in his office, watching the city through a large glass window.

*KNOC*

*KNOC*

*KNOC*

"Come in."

The office door opened and Jacqueline entered.

"Governor." Jacqueline greeted as she bowed slightly.

"Speak Jacqueline." Mathias answered without turning around.

"The defense forces returned, they reported nothing unusual in the ruins."

"Hump! As expected, it was a waste of time to send men to the ruins."

"Governor, if you allow me…"

"Say it."

"I had more visions, Le Refuge Ombré was surrounded by a sea of green, simultaneously the sky took on a pink color and opened, releasing screams of pain and pleasure, from the sea, silver knights emerged, and from the sky a swarm of harpies."

"Another one of your cryptic visions. Any particular meaning this time?"

"Visions are difficult to interpret, but I sense that Hidrus Quintus is in great danger. We must report to the Imperium immediately."

Mathias took a deep breath, clutched something on his chest and muttered inaudible words. Mathias turned to Jacqueline as he smiled and clasped his hands "You're right, but we can't do that today, I have a celebration planned for tonight and I'd like everything to go off without a hitch. Would you like to participate?"

"Governor Mathias, this is not the time to party, Hidrus Quintus is in danger!"

"I see, I think I can postpone the party, but it may take me a while to get in touch with the larger Imperium, after all I need to prepare a whole speech saying why the Imperium should worry about our small planet."

"I appreciate it, Governor, just let me know when you're ready." Jacqueline answered as she left the room.

"She is a nosy girl." A voice spoke to Mathias, if it was real or in his head, only Mathias knew.

"I know, wouldn't it be better to get rid of her?"

"We need her alive, you want to know the greatest pleasures my goddess has to offer, don't you?"

"Yes, I want."

"So, do as I taught you, bring the girl tonight and get what you want."

"Tonight." Mathias spoke as he took something out from under his shirt, it was a pink and purple medallion whose design represented a mixture of the symbols that represented the male and female genders.

Mathias approached his desk, towards his personal cogitator and pressed a series of buttons, a holographic screen appeared and a man faced him from the other side.

"Start the plan." Mathias spoke and the man waved, ending the transmission.

XXXXXX

Jacqueline walked the halls of the governor's palace, her "vision" enhanced, thanks to the soul-bonding ritual allowing her to observe the world in a way no one else could, a mass of colors revealing the different energies that covered the galaxy, and the calming golden light of the Emperor, watching and guiding all in his Imperium.

But in the midst of this mass of colors and energies, Jacqueline saw something strange, a small green stain entered a corridor to her left, Jacqueline tilted her head, confused, with nothing better to do, Jacqueline followed the strange green stain.

The stain made several curves, left, right, straight, stuck to the ceiling or walls, the stain stopped on the frame of an open window, Jacqueline approached the stain and stirred up her psychic powers, thus managing to have a better view of the thing in front of her, it looked like a small metallic insect with six legs and two small green eyes.

"What are you?" Jacqueline asked as she pointed her staff at the small insect.

With a small boost of her psychic power, Jacqueline better sensed the strange energy present in the insect.

"A soul? No, not a soul, but a fragment of one, such a small piece, smaller than an ant. How did you get that tiny piece?" Jacqueline asked as she took a closer look at the insect.

With her powers, she saw a green line connecting the small insect to something over the horizon.

But before Jacqueline could do anything, the insect flapped its metallic wings and flew away, following the green line invisible to the normal individual.

Jacqueline just watched the insect go, their encounter generating more questions than answers.

Jacqueline continued her walk through the palace, thinking about what had happened, during this walk she noticed being followed by three individuals, with her powers she felt three more people waiting ahead.

"You can stop, I know you are here." Jacqueline spoke as she stopped in the middle of the hall.

And the individuals approached, there were six men, dressed as palace servants.

"Could you accompany us, Miss Jacqueline?" A man from the group in front of Jacqueline spoke.

"Where exactly?" Jacqueline asked as she scanned the hallway.

"Unfortunately I cannot say, but your presence is necessary for a glorious purpose." The man spoke with a note of zeal in his voice.

"What if I refuse?"

"Well, I'm not giving you an option." The man replied as he took something out of his pocket, it was a small staff-like object, pressing a button, electricity surged at the end of the staff, all the other men held similar weapons.

"I'm glad, because I didn't intend to accept it." Jacqueline responded as she pointed her hand at a chandelier on the ceiling, the chandelier came loose and with great strength was thrown down, hitting the man's head, killing him.

"Bastard!" A man behind Jacqueline stepped forward.

Jacqueline reached her hand towards the window in the hallway and the glass shattered into many shards, with a flick of her arm, the shards were hurled towards the advancing man, his body falling to the floor with several pieces of glass piercing him.

Four left now.

"AAAHHH!" Jacqueline screamed in pain as her body was electrocuted by one of the men who had advanced from behind.

With her powers, Jacqueline forced the arm of the man holding the bat up, towards his chin, the man was electrocuted by the weapon, he fell to the ground spasming.

Unfortunately, that blow caused Jacqueline to lose concentration, leaving her wide open against the remaining three advancing men, Jacqueline screamed in pain as she was electrocuted repeatedly, eventually Jacqueline lost consciousness and the world went dark.

XXXXXX

Time had passed and it was night, the party was about to begin, the gates of the governor's palace opened and the various nobles of Hidrus Quintus entered, dressed in extravagant clothes, adorned in glittering jewels, and wearing absurd hairstyles, music echoed from the palace to the city where the commoners lived, from their partially destroyed houses, they could see the party lights in the palace.

At the back of the palace, the servants entered through the back door, so as not to tarnish the honor of the nobles with their presence, from behind the servants, small metallic insects came out of the palace's drainage system and stuck to the back of the servants neck, the servants tried to touch the thing that had stuck to their bodies, but were knocked unconscious by the insects messing with their brains.

The bars of the large drainage system in the floor were torn away and from it came four skeletal metallic beings, an Overlord, a Cryptek, and two Lychguards.

XXXXXX

Overlord's POV

"Haratek, do your magic."

"As you wish." Haratek typed something on a green screen and a small green portal opened near us, a mini Gate of Eternity, using Haratek as a beacon.

From this portal some Warriors and Immortals advanced, Haratek scanned one of the servants and pointed the scanner at a Warrior, using his solid light technology, the Warrior assumed the appearance of the servant, we repeated this process with all the units present, replacing twenty servants with fifteen Warriors and five Immortals.

I ordered them to infiltrate the party, taking on servant roles.

"Now Haratek, Rahkikh and Thaszan, we will enter the party in style, I hope you are ready. I want you to blend in, not get into trouble, and try not to kill any humans, no matter how much they anger you."

"I don't feel sympathy for organics, but since you're the one who orders it, I'll keep my feelings buried." Haratek replied.

"I am indifferent to humans, but would like to learn more about them. If you will allow me, I would like to embark on a dialogue with some of them." Rahkikh spoke.

"You have my permission, in fact I would like you to do this, try to find something useful during interactions."

"Yes, my lord!"

"My Lord, what if something happens? How shall we proceed?" Thaszan asked.

"Hm! If something happens, I'll send a command to you, but if I'm not present, I want you to get out of sight and go towards the source of the problem and eliminate it if necessary, but try not to break your cover."

"Yes, my lord!"

"Now with all said, let's get into this party!"

Haratek used his solid light technology on us, our appearance changing into something more presentable.

XXXXXX

In the palace, the nobles celebrated in a large hall, servants carried trays of food and drink, a large table was in the hall, also covered with the most diverse foods and alcohols, a band played pleasant music, in the midst of this, Governor Mathias was talking to other nobles.

"Everything is ready?" A nobleman asked Mathias.

"Yes, we will start soon."

"I hope to get what you promised me." A noblewoman said to Mathias as she covered her face with a fan.

"Don't worry, when we're done, you'll have a young woman's body again."

The conversation of the three was interrupted by the servant who announced the arrival of the guests.

"Announcing the arrival of Lord Akarion Ultaniel!"

The door opened revealing a tall, strong, young-looking man with tanned skin, dark hair combed back, brown eyes and pleasant features, the man was dressed like a nobleman, wearing a black suit with green and gold details, while he walked, the man passed a group of daughters of nobles and smiled at them, revealing aligned teeth white as pearls, while blinking, the young women blushed and looked away.

"And accompanying Lord Utaniel! Minister Harold Terchion!"

Right behind came an old man, but with a strong physique, fair skin, age-white hair and a sharp and serious face, his eyes were a piercing green, with a monocle in his left eye, the man wore a black suit similar to the Lord, but he carried a cane adorned in silver and gold with an emerald at the end.

"Accompanying them, the couple of Marchioness Thassiana Kihen and Marquis Rahon Kihen."

The Marquess and the Marchioness entered, the Marquess was a middle-aged man, with blond hair and yellow eyes, wearing a party suit, and holding his arm, was the Marchioness, with long red hair, black eyes and wearing a beautiful red dress.

"Do you know these people?" A nobleman asked the governor.

"No, but I prefer to avoid problems, so I'll treat them with courtesy."

Lord Utaniel walked through the hall, greeting other guests, or holding a brief conversation with them, beside Utaniel was Harold, who kept a straight face and ignored the guests trying to initiate conversation.

"Governor Lafaille! It is an honor to be in your presence!" Utaniel held out his hand to the governor as he looked into his eyes.

"Likewise Lord Utaniel! Tell me, have we met?" Mathias asked as he accepted the handshake and returned the gaze.

Imperceptible to Mathias, a tiny metallic insect crawled out of Utaniel's sleeve and into his sleeve.

"I don't think so, but you must have known my aunt." Uthaniel answered.

"Are you sure about that? Could you tell me her name."

"Necilia Utaniel, my grandmother's fifth cousin on my mother's side."

Mathias was silent as he thought of the aforementioned person "Of course! How could I forget dear Necilia. How is she?"

"Unfortunately, not very well, her health is fragile due to a serious illness."

"Oh! It's really a pity…" Mathias pulled out a pocket watch and checked the time. "…But I feel that our meeting will end here, I have important matters to deal with at the moment."

"Of course! I wish you a good night, Governor Lafaille."

"Same to you."

Mathias walked towards a door, accompanied by other nobles, he pressed a button next to it, the door opened revealing an elevator, when everyone entered the elevator door closed and the screen above the door indicated that the elevator was going up.

Utaniel and Harold returned to the party, chatting with guests, but for some reason always refused when food and drink were offered.

Taking a quick look at the elevator, Utaniel saw the numbers on the screen descending, indicating that the elevator was coming back, with a nod of his head to Harold, the two walked towards the elevator and entered.

XXXXXX

"Where are they now, Harold?" Uthaniel asked.

Harold raised his arm, displaying a 3D map of the governor's palace, where a green dot was floating above the highest tower of the palace.

"Interesting, as per the tracker scarab, they're on a floor not listed in the palace blueprints, the elevator can't get there normally, but probably with a secret key or password on the button panel. Fortunately, we don't need that."

Harold put his hand on the elevator button panel, the panel was covered in a series of green lines, the elevator lights flickered for a moment.

On the 3D map, a green triangle rose, passing the roof of the tallest tower and stopping at the same height as the green dot.

Eventually the elevator stopped and the doors opened, Utaniel and Harold arrived in a large circular hallway.

"This is the secret floor of the palace, My Lord." Harold spoke.

"Lead the way." Uthaniel answered.

The two walked along the large windowless corridor, passing in front of several doors that led to rooms filled with antique but of great quality furniture, until the two arrived at a large wooden double door, where voices could be heard on the other side. .

"Remember Harold, we will try to negotiate with the governor, if he refuses our proposal, we will go for mind control."

"Yes, my lord."

Then Harold and Utaniel opened the door, only to let out a sigh at the sight in front of them.

It was a large hall with walls adorned in gold, paintings of extravagant nobles hung on the wall from the ceiling, a large golden chandelier illuminated the room, expensive tables, full of food, drinks and drugs were in the corners, with velvet sofas serving as seats.

And across the hall, was a naked woman floating in the center of a circle of indecipherable arcane symbols, strange marks were carved into the woman's skin, she screamed in pain as corrupted energy flowed through her body, surrounding this woman were other nobles and their loyal servants, all holding hands and speaking an indecipherable language.

Naked or partially naked, their pupils dilated, stomachs full and minds delirious, due to hedonistic actions recently performed.

In front of that woman stood Governor Mathias, with a medallion glowing with evil energy around his neck, the governor uttered profane and demonic words.

"Uz'ak Marchiion namote'k urazon Slaanesh!"

"Uz'ak Marchiion namote'k urazon Slaanesh!" The nobles repeated.

"Karov Jorak Karvin Slaanesh!" Mathias spoke.

"Karov Jorak Karvin Slaanesh!" And the nobles repeated.

That was enough for Utaniel.

"Governor Mathias, you have fallen to Chaos!" Utaniel's scream echoed through the hall.

The nobles continued chanting in a trance, only Mathias acknowledged the presence of Utaniel and Harold.

"How wonderful to have you here Lord Utaniel, I would like to invite you to participate, but judging by your tone, you don't plan to do so. Unfortunately, I cannot allow you to leave!"

From a nearby table, Mathias retrieved a pistol-like autogun, pointed it at Utaniel, and pulled the trigger.

BANG!

CLANG!

"My leg!"

Only for the bullet to ricochet off Utaniel's chest and hit one of the nobles in the ritualistic circle in the leg.

"What?!?" Mathias exclaimed as he fired repeatedly at Utaniel and Harold.

BANG!

CLANG!

BANG!

CLANG!

"Please stop, you have a better chance of killing yourself by shooting me than killing me." Uthaniel spoke.

BANG!

CLANG!

"Haratek, enough of this farce." Uthaniel told Harold.

With the press of a holographic button, there was a great flash, Harold and Utaniel disappeared and in their places, there were two great metallic beings, one of them eight feet tall with a single eye in its face, and the other ten feet tall, wearing a cape and with a golden headpiece.

"What are you?!?" Mathias demanded in a panic.

"AAAHHH!"

The woman at the center of the ritual screamed in agony, an unearthly wind blew through the windowless room, in front of the woman, a crack formed in the fabric of reality, this crack expanded, revealing a sea of colors and faces screaming in a perpetual state of pain and suffering.

Music came out of this portal, accompanying the music, a pleasant scent flowed through the room, felt by all.

From the crack, now closer to a portal, a female silhouette emerged, Mathias approached the silhouette with open arms.

That silhouette stepped out of the portal and grabbed the sides of Mathias' head, placing a kiss on his lips, Mathias let out a moan of pleasure upon receiving the kiss, only for that moan to turn into a cry of pain as his tongue was ripped out of his mouth in a spray of blood, the silhouette threw Mathias aside and walked away from the portal.

Away from the multicolored light, the silhouette could be clearly seen by everyone, it was a figure with purple skin, sharp teeth and a long tongue in its mouth, long dark hair pulled back and claws similar to a lobster in its hands.

It was a Daemonette of Slaanesh.

"HAHAHA!" With a sadistic laugh, the Daemonette spat Mathias' tongue onto the ground, Mathias got what he wanted, partially, summoning a daemon was one thing, but controlling a daemon was an entirely different story.

More female silhouettes passed through the portal, revealing an army of Daemonettes; the Prince of Pleasure's forces reached Hidrus Quintus.

END OF THE CHAPTER