Astartes vessel, The Endurance
<+>
The vast cosmos flowed as the Galaspar system steadily followed its trajectory, and waves of psychic energy surged.
The command Hades had requested was sent to distant Barbarus with the low chants of the astropaths and the flickering of psychic lightning.
Mortarion turned around and silently looked at Hades.
Hades had demanded an immediate halt to the recruitment efforts on Barbarus and ordered Calas to stand down.
"I've noticed you always hold hostility toward Calas," Mortarion said.
"Why?"
Hades hesitated. After a long pause, he slowly spoke.
"Do you remember the prophecy, Mortarion?"
"I have seen more than any of you."
"I saw Calas Typhon as the first of the Death Guard to fall."
Mortarion was silent for a moment before his hoarse voice sounded again.
"But in that prophecy, it was not just him."
Hades took a deep breath.
"I'm sorry. I know this might seem like an unfounded suspicion, but right now, I really need to go to Barbarus and confirm the situation."
Mortarion stopped and began to recall past events. Memories surfaced clearly in his mind.
From the very beginning, Hades and Calas had never gotten along.
Mortarion had dismissed it as the two of them simply thinking each other was a freak and had never thought much of it.
But looking back now, Hades' attitude toward Calas had seemed less like hatred… and more like wariness?
However, there had been a time when they did get along. It was during the establishment of a new stronghold, a time of growth and expansion.
Back then, they still firmly believed in the inevitable liberation of Barbarus, completely unaware of the bloated and vast human empire that existed beyond.
Later, Hades had left for the south due to his physical condition, followed by Calas, who led forces in the same direction.
After that, their paths diverged as the Legion's structure took shape.
Calas Typhon had sought him out a few times at first, but after the spectacle in the dueling cage, they had no further private contact.
Mortarion focused on his last memory of Calas—when he had come to request permission to return to Barbarus for recruitment.
Calas had seemed no different from before. Mortarion had noticed nothing unusual.
Frowning, Mortarion asked,
"And if Calas turns out to be innocent, how will you explain yourself to him?"
"I will apologize."
Hades stared at the map marked with various star routes, his voice hoarse and heavy.
He, too, hoped he was simply being overly cautious.
<+>
Barbarus. Now.
A lone eagle streaked across the murky yellow sky, its wings beating as it let out a sharp cry before vanishing into the rolling toxic clouds.
Thick, oppressive clouds hung low over vast stretches of farmland, the air heavy with the acrid scent of impending acid rain.
The people had returned to their settlements to take shelter from the storm. A lone figure moved across the vast, dim landscape.
Calas Typhon walked slowly along the ridgeline, a scythe dangling from his hand, its blade carving a deep, straight furrow into the loose, damp soil.
He had been actively preparing for the recruitment of new soldiers. Laton had gone to the orbital ring to negotiate with the Magos Biologis, while Calas had chosen to return to the human settlements on Barbarus to enlist recruits.
But something had happened—something that should have been gone still lingered.
As the murky swamps bubbled, the plan was postponed—canceled.
And so, he was here, far from everyone, making his way toward the highest peak of Barbarus.
Upward, toward the tallest mountain, into the densest mist. Beneath his skin, his flesh roiled.
In the distance behind him, there was a small disturbance, but it quickly faded into silence.
A droning voice buzzed in his ears.
+ You have returned, my son. +
Calas Typhon gritted his teeth and pressed on, his once-clear mind sinking once again into the mire.
+ You know you are an outcast. Why force yourself to seek acceptance among those who will only reject you? +
+ Embrace the power of the heavens above. Trample the weak beneath your feet! +
"My mother was human."
"Shut up, monster."
A shrill, mocking laughter cut through Calas' patience.
+ Oh— that poor human woman. If she hadn't been so sturdy, I would have chosen someone else. +
+ But it seems that what was born was destined to be a failure. +
+ Look at you. You thought Mortarion was your kin, thought you were just another pet raised by the Overlords— but he was the true golden one. +
+ And you? The offspring of a Xenos and a human, a bastard monster that belongs nowhere. +
+ No one has ever cared about you. You're nothing but a clown screaming for attention. +
+ Weak. Your original sin is weakness! +
The voice grew faster and more piercing. The clouds descended, and the thick fog rolled in.
A sharp crack— and the voice was gone.
A figure slowly emerged from the mist.
Calas staggered.
"Mom?"
He spoke.
The small, hunched woman stood inside a house, smiling at him. Calas suddenly realized how short his mother had always been.
He walked forward and sat down. She gently ran her hand over his power armor, just as she had in his earliest memories— just as she had when she held him, hiding from the villagers who sought his death.
+ You've grown so much. + She said.
He smiled.
Calas Typhon had not died. He had not been corroded by the omnipresent poisons. He had not been stoned to death by the angry villagers. He had not been devoured by his Xenos father.
Calas was still alive. He had won.
+ What's wrong? Are you unhappy? +
She gazed at him with her dull, pale-green eyes, a faint glow flickering within them.
"I— I'm fine. I'm here on Barbarus for recruitment. I became a minor officer in the Legion."
+ Does someone hate you? +
Calas fell silent but then weakly shook his head.
"No."
"It's just… just some things happened."
+ Tell me about it? +
The hunched, weary mother sat down beside him, and for a moment, Calas felt like he was back in that twilight, being hunted by the villagers.
They had sat together in the toxic mist, shivering from fear and cold.
Afraid of being found, they hadn't lit the firewood they'd gathered. The blackened branches lay abandoned on the ground.
"I had a disagreement with a friend."
"It wasn't supposed to be anything serious… but something went wrong."
His mother watched him patiently.
+ Calas, making friends is a good thing. +
+ Wherever there are people, there will always be disagreements— even between friends. +
She placed her dry, thin hand over his.
Calas' hand, altered by surgery, was massive— like a giant's.
+ But if the differences are too great, why not tell your friend about His teachings? +
… Him?
+ Life and death stagger their dance. Despair and greed melt away the remnants of regret. Entropy accumulates, destruction walks its slow path once more. +
+ The world suffers, but He is merciful. +
+ I know I can't keep up with you anymore. +
Her pale-green eyes softened.
+ But if you can rest in His merciful embrace, then even destruction holds no fear. +
+ And I believe your friends would choose a merciful lord as well. +
+ He will forgive your past mistakes. You no longer need to rush. +
Her pale-green gaze was frozen in an endless kindness.
Calas reached out and took his mother's hand.
She looked at him with warmth.
Maggots, pale and fat, wriggled in her eye sockets, as pus oozed down her face.
"I must go."
Calas looked into those pale-green eyes and murmured to himself,
"Indeed, I need to make my two friends realize the mistake they're making."
The figure before him dissolved into a pool of thick, putrid liquid, but Calas did not seem to notice.
He picked up his scythe and continued forward.
<+>
If you want to see more chapter of this story and don't mind paying $5 each month to read the latest posted chapter, please go to my Patreon [1]
Latest Posted Chapter in Patreon: Chapter 160: Bargaining[2]
Link to the latest posted chapter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/my-life-as-death-126282689[3]
https://www.patreon.com/Thatsnakegirl[4]
[1] https://www.patreon.com/Thatsnakegirl
[2] https://www.patreon.com/posts/my-life-as-death-126282689
[3] https://www.patreon.com/posts/my-life-as-death-126282689
[4] https://www.patreon.com/Thatsnakegirl