"In the face of death, you must face it calmly; fear is useless in a fight. Remember, Sanguinius, fear kills your Determination." Sanguinius recalling the God Emperor's words while facing the god of death himself.
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The House of Black and White stands on a rocky hill made of dark gray stone. It has no windows and a black tiled roof. Its wooden doors are 3.6 meters high and carved. The left door is made of Weirwood, the right of ebony. In the center of the doors is a moon face carved in ebony over Weirwood, Weirwood over ebony.
Looking at the House of Black and White before him, Sanguinius showed a cold smile. With a wave of his hand, the Astartes advanced towards the building, and the door, which had never been breached, was broken in a mere second.
Sanguinius entered the building with a calm and gentle expression. He walked in his heavy armor, his heavy and firm steps echoing in the building that looked more like a sacred temple than a place of the famous faceless assassins.
The temple itself has rows of long stone benches and a rough stone floor, and hard stone beds are located in louvered niches in the walls.
In the center is a black pool of poisoned water, three meters wide and lit by faint red candles. Statues of gods surround the room. There are thirty tall statues of gods in total.
Among them are Bakkalon, the Black Goat of Qohor, the Hooded Wayfarer, the horse god, the Lion of Night, the Merling King, the Pale Maiden of the Moon, the Stranger, and the Weeping Woman.
Looking at the thirty statues of the gods, an amused smile appeared on Sanguinius's lips. Taking a step forward, white flames shot from his feet and spread to the surroundings. All thirty statues began to combust.
As the statues burned fiercely, Sanguinius's eyes focused on the tall priest who appeared before him. The tall man had an old and gentle face and wore a hooded robe, black on the right side and white on the left.
He had a very gentle expression; who would have imagined that this was a Faceless Man assassin who had operated for decades before retiring and serving as a Priest in the House of Black and White.
"What is your name, Heretic?" Sanguinius asked as the spinning blades of his Chainsword began to spin quickly and lethally.
"I lost my name long ago; I am known only as the Kindly Man." The Kindly Man replied in a gentle and warm tone. He didn't seem angry at seeing flames consuming the statues around him.
"Are you prepared to die?" Sanguinius asked, narrowing the distance between them. When fighting assassins, you should keep your distance, but he was not afraid of the abilities of the Priest of the God of Many-Faced.
"Valar morghulis." The Priest replied as two daggers appeared in his hands. "All men must die."
When he said this, the old man simply disappeared and reappeared beside Sanguinius. Fast, silent, and deadly. The man's dagger aimed surgically at the weak points of the armor.
Sanguinius smiled, and white flames exploded around him. The white flames seemed alive, taking on a bestial force that tried to bite the Priest of the God of Many-Faced.
The Kindly Man calmly moved away and circled Sanguinius with a gentle gaze, without any murderous intent or even any feeling of hostility.
"Your body is stronger than any human. Your muscles are like steel, your blood thick and full of life, your reflexes are inhuman, and your strength even more monstrous." The Kindly Man said with an admiring tone, as if he were seeing through Sanguinius's armor and seeing his body.
"Blood Magic," he concluded. "The House of Black and White was also from Valyria, but instead of assassins, our art given by the Valyrians themselves was used for theatrical plays for the Forty Dragonlord Houses to enjoy."
"We were slaves, but we survived the Doom of Valyria, something our former captors could not survive." The Kindly Man said with an still warm and gentle tone.
"We, the Faceless Men, have only a small part of the blood magic heritage of Old Valyria; this has already made us world-famous. I wonder what terrible existence the complete heritage is." The Kindly Man's insinuation was obvious: Aenar had the full Blood Magic Heritage.
"For an assassin, you are quite talkative." Sanguinius said in a calm tone. He didn't care about the old man's words.
"Forgive me; when you get old, you like to tell stories to the younger generation." The Kindly Man spoke, apologizing sincerely.
When he finished speaking, he disappeared again. Appearing behind Sanguinius, both daggers crossed the air like snakes and went towards the head of the Primarch of the Blood Angels Legion.
Sanguinius simply moved his body to the side and dodged the attack, his eyes amusedly watching the old man's body pass by him. The Chainsword advanced, its spinning blades seeming eager to drink the blood of the Priest of the God of Many-Faced.
However, to Sanguinius's surprised eyes, the Kindly Man's body contorted abnormally, causing the Chainsword to miss its target.
The Kindly Man began to attack relentlessly, delivering attack after attack. Attacks that Sanguinius dodged or used his sword to block the Priest's attacks.
The Primarch felt he was fighting a slippery and deadly serpent, always aiming at his weak points. However, Sanguinius felt he was getting more and more excited about the fight.
Suddenly, when he was happily fighting the Priest of the God of Many-Faced, Sanguinius's expression changed drastically. He felt for the first time a dangerous feeling beneath him.
Sanguinius used all his body's strength to move to the side and saw a small figure pass by him. Even faster than the priest!
When the figure landed on the ground, the Primarch could see the appearance of who had attacked him earlier. It seemed to be a pale girl with a thin, bony face, sunken cheeks, and large dark eyes. She wore a hooded cloak of a Faceless Man priest, black on the right side and white on the left.
"I'm late, Kindly Man." The girl spoke in a cold tone as she circled in the opposite direction of the Kindly Man.
"Waif, attack when I attack, retreat when I retreat." The Kindly Man said in a still warm tone and began to relentlessly attack Sanguinius again.
Waif attacked in conjunction with the old man. The pressure on Sanguinius increased drastically with the arrival of another elite assassin.
Sanguinius showed no fear and attacked both at the same time; there was a smile on his face. The daggers imbued with deadly poison came dangerously close to his face, but he still continued to smile.
"Burn by the Emperor's flames, you filthy heretics." Sanguinius said as he kicked Waif in the stomach, sending her flying backward. Flames exploded from his body, advancing towards both assassins.
The Kindly Man and Waif drastically changed their expressions. The white flames seemed beautiful, but equally deadly. They retreated and used the pillars to hide from the flames.
However, they quickly discarded that thought and began to run with all their might. The flames were following them!
Sanguinius smiled and manifested even more flames. The entire temple began to burn under the eyes of all the civilians of Braavos.
"Let's dance fire until death." Sanguinius said as he advanced towards the two assassins. This time, he would attack with all his might. He would crush his enemy as one crushes an insect.
The Kindly Man knew he couldn't run forever; he ignored his burning body and attacked with a gentle expression on his face. The daggers were even faster than when the fight began.
Sanguinius did not retreat and used the Chainsword to attack. The sword passed between the daggers and hit the head of the Priest of the God of Many-Faced squarely!
The Chainsword spun and brutally tore the Kindly Man's face. Blood, bone fragments, and flesh splattered everywhere as the sword cut the enemy's body in half.
Surprisingly, the daggers still continued on their path and left a streak of blood on Sanguinius's face.
Cleaning the blood on his cheek, Sanguinius saw that his blood was slightly purple, but he wasn't worried. He had the Emperor's blood running through his veins; it wasn't a simple poison made by a human that could kill him!
Taking the Chainsword from the Kindly Man's corpse, Sanguinius looked at Waif, who stared at him with a cold and deadly gaze.
"You're next, heretic." Sanguinius said in a gentle tone.
However, to Sanguinius's surprised eyes, the girl stabbed her own throat while looking at him with a cold gaze.
Suddenly, Sanguinius's expression changed. The white flames that burned the statues went out, and in place of his flames, black flames manifested. A cold, silent, and deadly feeling hung in the air.
Sanguinius could smell corpses and death.
He knew it had manifested before him.
The God of Many-Faced!
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Read my other books:
Game Of Thrones: The God-Emperor of Planetos (400,000 words written).
Percy Jackson: Godwyn the Golden.