“Search the entire city for a bastard named Erebus.
When you find him, grind his bones to dust and scatter them to the winds.” Lorgar issued the order to the captain of the guard.
The whole business with Erebus was giving Lorgar a headache.
According to a short story called Child of Chaos that he’d read in a previous life, Erebus was originally a decent person, until some great villain stole his identity and took his place.
The problem was, Lorgar had no idea whether Erebus had already been replaced.
If he had, simple enough: one slap and done.
But if he hadn’t been replaced yet, then what?
After a moment’s thought, Lorgar decided: to hell with it.
Kill the dog-bastard first and sort it out afterward.
If Erebus turned out to be innocent, Lorgar would observe one whole second of silence.
If he’d already been replaced, then it was fireworks time to celebrate that son of a bitch going down.
The answer came back fast.
Subordinates reported that not a single person named Erebus had been found anywhere in the capital.
The soldiers had turned the slums inside out.
Nobody knew anything.
“Alright, so what, he’s in some other city?
That can’t be right.
I’d be searching until the cows come home.” “Hold on…” Lorgar slapped a thigh.
It suddenly hit: Erebus might have joined the Covenant.
And no one had been sent to look inside the Covenant yet.
“Senadis, I need a favor.” Lorgar turned to the captain of the guard standing nearby.
“Bishop, please give the order.” Senadis said, expression lit with excitement.
“I need you to go through the Covenant from the inside.
Still looking for the one called Erebus.” Lorgar said.
“Understood, my lord.” Senadis accepted the order with eager enthusiasm and led a squad of guards toward the church where the Covenant was based.
“Hah.
This damned Covenant.” Lorgar let out a long sigh.
“I absolutely need to find a way to disband it within the next year.” Truth be told, Lorgar had always felt the Covenant was nothing but a Chaos knockoff, and it might well be the direct handiwork of those four bastard Chaos gods themselves.
We’ve been played by Chaos, friends.
Truly.
Time passed second by second, and Lorgar’s unease kept growing.
The decision was made to go see the Covenant’s church in person.
Handmaidens and bodyguards draped silver armor over Lorgar’s frame.
Lorgar picked up a war hammer bearing a snarling lion’s head and strode out of the vast palace.
Worth mentioning, by the way: Colchis at this point in history is a slave society.
Compared to Colchis, even the Qin and Han dynasties would count as advanced civilization.
— On the other side of the city, inside the Covenant’s church, Senadis had already forced entry with sword in hand, arriving just as the congregation was conducting its daily baptism rite.
“Nobody move!
The great Bishop is searching for a man named Erebus!
If any of you know who that is, bring him out now!” Senadis shouted.
“The Bishop?
Is Lorgar looking for me?” From within the crowd, a man in a long red robe stepped slowly forward.
His gaze was cold and poisonous.
His expression sharp.
His eyes full of schemes.
“You’re Erebus?” Senadis and the guards raised their weapons, a hard gleam of menace in their eyes.
“The Bishop wants you to come along.
I’d advise you to behave.” Senadis glared at him.
Erebus stared back, and behind that calm face, wariness coiled tight.
Has Lorgar found out?
How could that fool possibly have discovered what I’ve done.
Just as Erebus was turning it over in his mind, another voice rose from somewhere deep in his soul.
Why fear them?
You are a vessel of the Empyrean’s power now.
This is merely the Empyrean’s test.
Accept it.
Accept the power that belongs to you.
Listening to that seductive voice, Erebus let a slow look of anticipation spread across his face.
Senadis, seeing no resistance, waved a hand.
Several tall soldiers surged forward and seized Erebus, then moved to march him back to Lorgar.
CRACK.
CRACK.
The instant Senadis turned away, Erebus exploded into motion.
A triumphant, scheming grin split his ugly face, and in that same instant, the necks of every soldier gripping him snapped clean.
Their cold bodies dropped across the gleaming floor of the church.
“Damn it!” Senadis raised the sword and thrust at Erebus.
Erebus didn’t dodge.
He swept out one hand and slapped the blade away.
One breath.
The sword shattered.
“Submit to me, Senadis.
The Empyrean will give you everything you desire.” Erebus sneered.
“Monster,” Senadis muttered.
But Senadis didn’t stop.
One of the guards had already broken away to run for help, all that mattered now was stalling Erebus here.
Senadis pulled the dagger from the hip sheath and settled back into a fighting stance.
“Planning to fight back, mortal?” Erebus charged.
Senadis had no time to react.
A tremendous force slammed in and Senadis went flying, spine cracking into the decorative stonework of a load-bearing wall.
“Pfft—” Blood sprayed from Senadis’s lips.
The dagger was gone, knocked somewhere into the dark.
“Looking for your weapon?
How amusing.” Erebus walked forward without hurry.
Blue psychic energy flickered at his fingertips, and the shattered sword reassembled itself, mended whole.
“Come on.
Keep fighting me.” He laughed, loud and unhurried.
“Keep fighting, the Empyrean only watches over me when I do.” He advanced step by step toward Senadis, who lay crumpled on the ground.
“You don’t understand, Senadis.
I have already obtained power far beyond anything you possess.
Even if that bastard Lorgar stood before me right now, I have more than enough strength to put him down.” The congregation hadn’t moved.
Not one of them had stepped forward to help.
Senadis noticed something wrong about them, but there was no strength left to examine it.
Every last scrap of attention was locked on Erebus, drawing closer with every step.
“You’re completely exhausted, aren’t you, Senadis.” “Next, I’ll send you — and every member of your family — to dwell in the Empyrean’s domain.
To keep you company.” Erebus reached down, seized Senadis with one hand, and rammed the captain bodily into the wall.
“Remember the name of the one who sends you there.
I am Erebus, Child of Cha, ” BOOM!
The boast died in his throat.
The great doors at the far end of the hall exploded inward under a colossal impact.
More than a dozen followers standing too close had no time to move.
The flying doors crushed them on the spot, turning them to a red mist.
“Erebus!
I’ll send you straight to hell!” A towering figure stepped through the shattered doorway, silhouetted against the sunlight outside.
“Erebus.” Lorgar’s voice was flat.
Unhurried.
“Did those bullshit things you worship ever bother to tell you, in my eyes, you’re nothing but a pushover.” ➤ Next: How Dare You Turn Your Back on Me, Erebus