Chapter 910 - 909: When the Imperium Came to Caliban, Its Destruction Was Sealed

After hearing Zahariel's report, Nareth leaned back against his throne.

'It's time to guide Zahariel to contact the Watchers in the Dark.'

"What the texts of the Knights of Sirius said is true. Caliban has been corroded by the power of Chaos."

With a thought, Nareth sent some basic knowledge to both of them via a mental pulse.

The Warp. Chaos. The Eye of Terror. Caliban...

Luther and Zahariel both shuddered. The crusade against the beasts had never been a victory, and could never have been won. Chaos corruption was ever-present and ineradicable. They exchanged a glance, seeing each other's worry through the hazy mist.

They both looked up at the Black Emperor upon his throne.

"There are other beings on Caliban who have long recognized the threat of Chaos and have been fighting against it."

"Zahariel, you are not unfamiliar with them. You once swore to use your sword to punish evil on their behalf."

Zahariel was taken aback. He had not yet met the Black Emperor then; that oath had been sworn when he became a knight.

'My Lord is the Black Emperor. Of course He knows.'

"By Your will."

The black mist swallowed Luther and Zahariel, returning them to Aldurukh.

They clasped their hands in an inverted hold, offered a brief prayer to the Black Emperor, and left the altar.

Zahariel then left Aldurukh, alone, into the wilderness.

The wind howled, but he did not hesitate.

The Librarian took a deep breath, focusing his mind, and let out a psychic shout: "Come out! I know you have been watching from the shadows!"

"I swore to you that I would use my sword to punish evil."

"Now I have seen the truth. This world is corrupt and my people are in grave danger."

Blue-white lightning crackled, appearing before Zahariel.

The color deepened, turning silver, like moonlight.

Three figures appeared amidst a howling whirlwind, wearing strange robes that shifted from black to brown to grey, and back to black.

They were no taller than a meter, but the Librarian could sense their powerful mental energy.

Their heads were completely shrouded in hoods, their faces hidden in darkness.

Their hands were concealed within their sleeves, no flesh visible.

Zahariel stared at the three. "You are not ghosts, nor are you creatures of the forest. You are xenos."

The central, forward figure spoke. "We are the Watchers."

His voice was a complex whisper, intertwined.

"Watchers," Zahariel repeated. "You have guarded Caliban for hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years."

"Now disaster looms. As Watchers, you should bear as much responsibility for what is to come as we do."

The Watchers did not answer. The Librarian felt the ebb and flow of aetheric tides; they were communicating through mystical means.

Time passed. The aetheric tides subsided.

"We will help you."

"Ask what you wish to know, and we will answer."

Zahariel felt a trace of disappointment upon realizing that the Watchers did not seem willing to directly fight Chaos.

'Since my Lord sent me to them, they must still have some use. And since they have fought the evil of Caliban for so many years, they may know secrets unknown to us.'

He asked, "How long has Caliban been afflicted by this evil?"

"For a very long time. Long before your kind came here," the Watcher on the right said coldly.

"Then why had no Calibanite ever truly fallen to corruption before?" Zahariel pressed.

"Because of our efforts," the right Watcher said, a note of pride in his voice.

The left Watcher spoke: "The Great Beasts were born from the corruption and could only remain near the regions it polluted."

"They killed almost all who ventured too close."

"The few who survived were eventually executed by your people as witches before they could become powerful enough to pose a greater threat."

Zahariel nodded, thinking of the texts in the Order of the Knights of Sirius library. The Watchers were referring to the authors of those forbidden books.

"Ironically, that situation would have continued indefinitely... until the Imperium arrived."

"They felled the forests and forced their way into the most inhospitable regions of Caliban, searching for resources to feed the Imperium's war machine."

Realization dawned on Zahariel, "The thermal cores?"

"You mean the engineers who arrived with the Emperor buried thermal cores underground and released the corruption beneath the northern wilderness?"

Luther's words echoed again: "The Emperor and the Lion are not of Caliban. They care nothing for our world's survival."

"Those outsiders fed the evil with fire and slaughter," the Watcher on the right said coldly.

Zahariel knew he was referring to the Terran-born Dark Angels whom the Lion had exiled to Caliban.

Some of them were filled with resentment toward both the Imperium and their Primarch.

"Urian has been hunting them, but something is interfering."

Besides Seraphax, over a thousand Terran Dark Angels had vanished, roaming the shadows.

And Urian occasionally discovered new fallen among the Terrans.

The middle Watcher spoke. "The power of evil."

"It is already too late."

"They have infiltrated the two thousand hive cities established by the Imperium and used tens of millions of Calibanite laborers as sacrifices to empower their ritual."

"A terrifying amount of energy is accumulating in the darkness."

"Once it is released, no one will be able to stop it."

His voice was filled with sorrow. "The moment the Imperium entered Caliban and began destroying its forests, Caliban's destruction was already inevitable."

"There is nothing you can do to stop it."

"You are mistaken, Zahariel of the Dark Angels," it continued in a low, ghostly voice.

"Caliban is doomed."

"No matter what you do, you cannot prevent it."

Thunder struck Zahariel's mind. Everything fell into place.

The Lion had read the texts of the Knights of Sirius. He had learned the source of the northern wilds' corruption.

He had abandoned the crusade against the Great Beasts, knowing he could not root it out.

He had chosen to accept the Emperor's and the Imperium's policies, exploiting Caliban to the last, draining its resources to fuel the Imperium's greater stellar crusade.

He had allowed Caliban's destruction.

Zahariel was heavy-hearted, but also immensely relieved.

'Luther has led us to new hope. The Black Emperor is Caliban's hope.'

All illusions about the Lion vanished. He held his head high.

"Caliban will not be destroyed."

"There is still hope."

The right Watcher scoffed. "Ridiculous confidence."

Bang!

The silver light vanished in an instant, and the Watchers disappeared into the darkness.

Zahariel immediately returned to Aldurukh and went straight to Luther's office to report everything that had happened.

After hearing his report, Luther thought for a moment, then decided.

"Astelan is secretly allied with us. We can use him to draw the Terran-borns out."

....

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