Holy Terra. The majestic, towering holy temple of the ecclesiarchy many kilometers up. This place was one of several centers of all faith in the Emperor God throughout human space.
It was here that one of the several leaders of the church, the cardinals, met.
Giovanni Mitresso was the name of the owner of this majestic temple-palace and ruler of a religious empire spread over many systems.
It was hard to imagine the full extent of the power that resided in the hands of this gaunt and ancient old man. The rejuvenation technologies allowed people like him to postpone death time after time, but at some point even the most skillful technologies could not hide the stamp of time on their faces.
With a sigh, Giovanni signed another super-important sheet of paper and set it aside. Mitresso was desperate to finish his business for the day, but he was well aware that with the annual audit of the parishes, he wouldn't be able to rest for the next month.
"That's the irony," Giovanni thought sarcastically as he leaned back in his luxurious, throne-like chair. The latter instantly changed its shape to make it as comfortable as possible: "It takes so long to get to the cardinal's seat, losing friends and followers along the way, only to end up swamped with work. There's something wrong with that. If it turns out that the ecclesiarch has even more work than I do, I might give up his chair.
Mitresso, of course, was lying. People like him would rather cut their own throats than voluntarily give up even the smallest bit of power.
The cautious ringing of the doorbell interrupted his musings. There was only one person in the entire universe who could afford such liberty.
- Come in! - Giovanni ordered irritably, glaring at his secretary. If Roberto dared to distract him at a time like this, then something truly important and worthy of his attention had happened. After all, Roberto had been with him practically from the bottom and for the last two centuries had known better than Mitresso himself what was worth his attention and what was not.
The man who entered, not unlike the cardinal on the contrary, was quite obese, and instead of eyes he was fitted with a complex bionic system including enhanced eyes. The secretary had two mechanical claws sticking out of his back like some kind of mechanic.
- What have you got there? - The Cardinal hissed indignantly, which might have caused someone else to go into cardiac arrest from fear, but Roberto was perfectly capable of distinguishing between his messire's real anger and his ostentatious anger.
- Recently we received important information from the Antar system. - The secretary bowed deeply.
- Antara-Antara-Antara-Antara," the Cardinal snapped his fingers, trying to remember one of the tens of thousands of systems under his command. - Wait, wait, don't tell me, is that where the Ixodus hive is? A couple of centuries ago there was a big fight with rebels who took over the entire hive?
Giovanni remembered this world only because it was one of the oldest colonies of mankind. He had a few implants in his head that helped him a lot.
- You are right as always, Your Eminence. And as we see, history has a way of repeating itself.
- I'll never believe you'd distract me because of some other, albeit major, rebellion," Giovanni shook his head boredly. - Giovanni shook his head boredly. He decided to use the conversation with the secretary to delay the moment of the meeting with the documents.
- That is correct, Your Eminence," Roberto nodded and emphasized his last words. - Yes, there was an incredibly large rebellion in the Ixodus hive, and a couple hundred thousand rebels rose to the top. But the whole point was that they were led by... a Saint.
- Again? - The cardinal asked in a completely indifferent tone, rolling his eyes. - There are more and more of them lately. - Has the quality of education in the Ministorum fallen so low that these idiots in the field are so incapable of dealing with such falsehoods in the field? Do such cases have to be personally examined by the Cardinal himself?
At the end, Giovanni's voice turned to a hiss, and Roberto tensed. The cardinal was obviously furious, but he calmed down almost immediately.
- Should I direct such requests to the Ecclesiarch himself? If according to the ministorum we have so many saints in the Imperium, who but the highest person of the church should consider it?
- Your words are full of truth," Roberto supported Cardinal's statement. - But there are too many oddities and dark spots in this whole incident.
- Surprise me," Mitresso waved his hands invitingly. - It seems to me that only during my own tenure as a cardinal, I have encountered many thousands of "saints". I know everything about them!
- This Saint has been an incredibly mysterious person from the beginning," Roberto began to elaborate. - Our agents have only been able to approximate his path from the surface to the depths of the hive. Even so, there is no clue as to where he came from or who he is.
- Ah, the mysterious stranger," the cardinal nodded understandingly. - Not the most common of the "saints," but not the rarest either. So far you have not impressed me in any way.
- The first more or less plausible information about the Saint's identity comes after he reaches some of the lowest levels of the hive, where relatively intelligent life is still possible. The Saint's arrival coincided with the beginning of a major exodus of mutants and heretics, causing many gangs to have to fight for their lives. The worst part is that that wave of aliens was led by a powerful sorcerer of the Great Desecrator....
- Chaos," the Cardinal said as he spat. - Of course, how could I not have guessed. And this Saint completely 'unexpectedly' defeated him?
- If you take what happened as a whole, yes.
- Damn it!" Giovanni couldn't take it anymore. - Every fourth self-appointed "messiah" is a puppet of pernicious forces. What exactly did this one promise? A cure for all diseases? Eternal youth? No suffering?
- That's the point, Your Eminence, it's how he defeated the Sorcerer of Chaos that matters.
- Surprise me.
- According to the engineers' reports, exactly at the moment when the surging hordes of mutants led by the sorcerer were ready to destroy one of the largest and most organized gangs, the ceiling of this level of the hive collapsed and many tons of acid poured on the horde.
- Acids? - The cardinal raised an eyebrow.
- Yes, as it became clear later, the breakthrough with acid tanks occurred as much as two hundred levels above and the acid leaked from the tanks went down as much as twelve hours.
- Wait," Giovanni frowned. - So you're saying that the breakthrough started before the mutant invasion even began?
- And more than that," Roberto's voice held a touch of admiration. - The flow of acid could have come out in hundreds of thousands, even millions of places in different areas of the hive, but it flowed out exactly over the heads of the mutant army, without affecting any of the fighting humans.
Roberto paused, checking the reports.
- Then, the information is constantly changing, as the only sources of information are the followers of the "Saint" himself, but if we try to generalize, there was a grand battle between the object itself and the sorcerer of chaos. In the course of which the sorcerer was killed by the object itself.
- And how did he do it? - The Cardinal asked incredulously. - Was he armed with any weapons from the Dark Age?
- No, he handled him in hand-to-hand combat.
- So, even the Emperor's children themselves have to attack chaos sorcerers with whole squads, and he is able to deal with a sorcerer alone, and even in hand-to-hand combat? - Giovanni said slowly, as if he could not believe his own words. - Roberto, I don't like this at all. It should be obvious to even a complete idiot that the hand of the Changing Path is visible here. Such accidents don't just happen!
- Listen to what happened next," the secretary went on stoically. - When the sorcerer and the mutants died, the survivors of the lower levels of the hive were so delighted with the stranger's victory that they named him Saint, and then they all swore an oath to him, after which their leader led them straight upstairs, building up their troops.
Giovanni's face grew dull again.
- ...However, when he got to the top, where all the SPO forces were already waiting for him, he expressed his desire to contact not just anyone, but the Inquisitor himself.
- What?" the Cardinal jumped up instantly. - What is the inquisitor doing in this story?
- I've sent her data to your cogitator. In short, she came to the planet in search of demonic influence that led to a rebellion in one of the hive's industrial areas. Then she decided to trace the connection between the rebellion at the bottom of the hive and in the middle of it.
Roberto paused.
- Once the "Saint" had established communication, he expressed his desire to go to Armageddon to, as he put it, "wash away all his sins with blood".
The secretary had the pleasure of seeing his patron's unusually surprised and at the same time wary face.
- That's all we need," the Cardinal hissed. - As if we didn't have enough of the first Chaos invasion with the fallen primarch. And now an orc invasion with a puppet of the dark gods.
- Indeed it is," Roberto agreed. - We've just recently gotten word from astropaths in Hell's Edge, one of the hive cities on Armageddon. According to the reports, one of the orc hordes had almost taken over a major industrial hive when the Saint's landing shuttles dropped out of the sky.
- Another "coincidental" coincidence.
- The Holy One's forces kicked the orcs out of the city at once, but there were still orcs outside the hive. Even with the surviving SPO units, the Holy One's forces were outnumbered by twice as many orcs.
- Roberto, spare me all this military nonsense. I know enough to know that with that ratio, it's doubtful the orcs could take a fortified hive. - Giovanni rolled his eyes, but his secretary smiled discreetly with the corner of his lips.
- That's the point," Roberto's mechanical eyes moved animatedly. - The Saint did not wait on the defensive; as soon as the landing was over, he immediately ordered an attack! And after a brief battle, he overturned and then dispersed the horde's forces!
- So you're saying he saved the city?
- Not only that. According to the latest astropaths, his army, or as they call themselves, the Small Crusade, are rushing hard to the central horde besieging the Hive of Gades. That is where the commanding leader of the orcs appears to be located. Considering
- Fascinating," the cardinal finally said after a long pause. - Who is before us. A puppet of the dark gods, a brilliant tactical nugget, an overly clever impostor, or all of the above?
- Not a Saint?
- Any signs of sainthood noticed?
- Not that I'm aware of.
- Strange, for a follower of the Changer, he was surprisingly modest. All right," Mitresso finally made a decision. - Send the nearest fleet after him. Calculate how many ships and troops will be enough to capture him even if all of Armageddon resists. I know such agents all too well. When our men arrive, the heresy will be in full bloom.
- It will be done, Your Eminence, but I must tell you that we are not the only ones interested in the Saint. According to our information, the Inquisitor from Ixodus sent a request to the Lord Inquisitor, after which he too expressed a desire to communicate with our subject.
- The Inquisition..." the Cardinal said in a dangerous tone, clenching his fists. - As usual, they're always meddling where they're not asked. Their task is to drive psykers on black ships, and they think they're nothing. Prepare the closest fleet to the system for intercept immediately. We've got to get there first!
- It will be done, Your Eminence.
*****
When Stanislav once again opened his eyes and did not see the surroundings of his own mobile warehouse, he felt only mild irritation.
The fact that this time there was no campfire and no interlocutor sitting behind it was a little confusing.
This time he found himself in some old cafe, as if from an American movie from the forties. The black and white retouched surroundings, ostentatiously devoid of all other colors, created the feeling of being right inside a movie.
There wasn't a soul around besides himself.
- Mr. Stanislav," someone's polite voice made Stas turn around. Literally two tables away from him sat a representative-looking man, dressed in a vertically divided tailcoat. - Sit down, I've wanted to talk to you for a long time.
The left side of his tailcoat was coal black, while the right side was dazzling white. Moreover, even his face was divided into two halves, where one side was white and the other, respectively, black.
Stas obediently made his way to a soft armchair and, pushing it back with a creak, sat down opposite the incredibly suspicious creature. One glance at the stranger was enough to sense his "otherness.
- A polite man introduces himself first. - Stas muttered, glaring at his interlocutor with an unfriendly look.
- How fortunate that I am not human at all," the stranger smiled disarmingly. - Before we begin our conversation, I would like to assure you at once of my complete admiration for the path you have chosen. The way you uncompromisingly pursue the path of self-destruction so accurately epitomizes my own aspirations that in you I feel, I will not be afraid to say, a kindred spirit!
- Really?" Stas said venomously. - Considering how unsuccessfully all my attempts end?
- What are you - what are you. Don't say that! - The stranger laughed, leaning back merrily in his chair. - One might think that all this "death wish" of yours is nothing more than a fixation and a clever trick to disguise your true desires, but I can see your desires and how they coincide.
The stranger waved his hand and two cups of hot coffee appeared on the table in front of them. In black and white, the coffee liquid was so dark it was physically painful to look at.
Someone else might have been afraid to drink unknown things from unknown people, but Stas, without blinking an eye, tasted the contents of his own cup.
The interlocutor stepped forward in confidence.
- Personally, I think that the path to self-destruction is much more important than the end goal. Yes, sooner or later the moment of "the end" will come, but is it impossible to enjoy the journey itself?
- It's strange to hear such words from someone like you. - Stas snorted, and the stranger laughed again, flashing teeth that were too sharp for a human.
- So you do know who I am. But then again, what would you expect from someone I chose to talk to?
- And why did you want to talk to me? - the coffee was surprisingly good. Made with cream, real coffee beans, and some light sweet syrup made the current conversation much more bearable.
- Would you believe me if I said that I just wanted to talk to someone who so fully and truly understood my teachings? - The stranger smiled slyly, and Stas noted that the division into black and white was even in his teeth.
- Sure. - Stas replied indifferently, and they both grinned at such an obvious lie.
- Well, then, I won't drag it out," the stranger became a little more serious. - I have a dream, a goal or, if you want, a confession. My dream is to twirl with my brothers in the last dance, to the beautiful melody of my favorite flute. I wish for our last meeting, where we will all fade into oblivion forever.
- A fine goal," Stas nodded, taking the second cup of coffee that had appeared out of nowhere. This time the coffee was bitter, without a grain of sugar or syrup, but its bitterness was tinged with the slight flavor of almonds. - What did I have to do with her?
- Something tells me that sooner or later you, my friend, will meet my brothers, and when you do, I want-" The black-and-white man held out his hand, and his eyes flashed into two pools of black fire. - To help you. To share your purpose.
- Why not? - Stas shook the stranger's hand calmly, and a slight, barely perceptible wave passed through the cafe.
Stanislav's interlocutor, who was listening, grinned in anticipation.
- Thank you for your consideration. When the moment is right, I will be there for you. And yes, you may call me Malal. It was a pleasure to meet you.
- Likewise.
The floor, walls, and ceiling cracked and began to disintegrate, revealing through the cracks a view of a horrifyingly slow swirling black and white hole in creation itself.
There were no demons or demonic possessions around the break in reality he saw. There was only darkness and a self-destructive hunger that could only be satisfied by death.
This chapter was edited by Old Man of the Mountain/Darklord331 Thanks to him pat him in the comments.
For those who don't know who gg was talking to: https://warhammer-40-000.fandom.com/ru/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%BB
And yes, in this Warhammer universe, Malal is quite alive.