[Item Name: Magnus' book (Copy)]
[Origin: Prospero]
[Description: An immortal tome of sorcery compiled by Primarch Magnus from arcane knowledge collected during the Great Crusade. Its knowledge is so vast and complex that the book itself developed a desire for learning and absorbing knowledge. This constantly expanding knowledge, legends, stories, magic, and myths interweave, forming a peculiar realm within the book. Every copy of Magnus' book serves as an entrance to it.]
[Production Time: 799. M30]
[Evaluation: No one understands the Warp better than I do!]
[Value: 999,999,999]
Alexander was slightly surprised, not expecting that the book Sanguinius casually pulled from the shelf was the famous Magnus' book.
This book not only contained a vast amount of knowledge, but Magnus had also sealed numerous daemons, xenos, and other Warp entities within it. The knowledge itself even formed a Pocket Dimension.
Those entities sealed by Magnus resided within that Pocket Dimension. The talent within was comparable to the Black Cells beneath the Emperor's Throne, a place that even Warp daemons would call heaven-defying.
After all, ordinary entities were not worthy of being imprisoned by Magnus. Those admitted were carefully selected by Magnus, with a Warp concentration higher than the Warp itself.
As for the knowledge within, it was naturally more significant than the last, such as the famous red word spell, which annihilated the entire Thousand Sons Legion with a single cast.
The one in Alexander's hand was not the original tome held by Magnus, but a copy of the original. Its power was inferior to the original, but it could still connect to the realm of knowledge within the original.
"Do not read this one for now," Sanguinius softly cautioned. "The knowledge within and the things sealed inside are extremely dangerous, even for Magnus himself."
At this point, Sanguinius paused.
"And don't sell it," he said. "My prophecy indicates that this book will be useful in the future."
Alexander nodded slightly; Sanguinius' prophecies were generally reliable.
He directly stuffed the copy deep into his four-dimensional pocket.
This way, he wouldn't have to worry about anything crawling out of the book. If something did crawl out, it would just be sending money to Alexander.
Sanguinius continued to walk ahead of Alexander, relying on his prophetic abilities, stopping occasionally to pull a few books from the shelves and hand them to Alexander.
However, unlike books like Magnus' book that Sanguinius could recognize, most books were simply ones Sanguinius felt had value, and Alexander would need to use his four-dimensional pocket to determine their specifics.
"This is the 'Eldar Exorcism Codex,' which records the true names of six thousand six hundred and sixty-six Greater daemons."
"This is 'C'tan's Notes,' a summary made by an ancient Eldar warrior of the C'tan he had seen."
"This one is 'Complete Works of daemons,' a Warp demon bestiary."
"This is 'The Emerald Tablet,' written by the god Hermes—oh, actually, it's a book written by the Emperor under a pseudonym, containing the most primitive biological alchemy."
"This pile, 'The Unremembered Imperium: The Betrayal of Three Primarchs,' is the Eldar Harlequin's account of the history of the Second Imperium—"
"..You can directly sell that pile related to the Second Imperium," Sanguinius said, his expression twitching slightly.
"It's fine, I'll send it to the Ptolemy Library," Alexander said, stuffing the books into his four-dimensional pocket.
"Don't add more work for Tigurius," Sanguinius said with a wry smile, shaking his head. "He's almost driven mad trying to cover up that period of history."
Tigurius had recently been in the Ptolemy Library destroying—oh no, editing the history of the Second Imperium period.
If this pile of Eldar accounts of the Second Imperium's history was sent in, he would probably have to work overtime again.
Suddenly, Sanguinius stopped by a somewhat empty bookshelf.
On this shelf, only a plain parchment notebook was placed in the very center, as if the other books nearby were afraid of its contents and had all moved away.
Sanguinius slowly reached out and picked up the notebook. He looked at the text on the notebook's cover.
He frowned slightly. This text was clearly unfamiliar even to him; it seemed to be some ancient cuneiform.
Sanguinius handed the notebook to Alexander.
"You read it," Sanguinius said in a low voice.
His meaning was clearly to suggest that Alexander take the Translation Moyu to read this notebook written in some cuneiform script.
"Do you recognize this notebook?" Alexander asked curiously.
"..This cuneiform script should originate from Mesopotamia. Not many people can still use it."
Sanguinius looked at the notebook and said:
"You can probably guess, this was the first script the Emperor ever learned to use. Not many even among the Primarchs understand it."
"Only He Himself, the Perpetuals, or those who always accompanied Him would use it. I don't know which one it is."
"However, this notebook itself doesn't contain any power, nor is it tainted with any Psyker energy. I think it's unlikely to have been written by the Emperor Himself."
A notebook written by someone close to the Emperor?
Who? Malcador? Elda? Ollanius Persson? Or... Alpharius?
Alexander immediately put the notebook into his four-dimensional pocket for a scan.
[Item Name: Book of the King in Yellow]
[Origin: Terra]
[Description: A notebook written by an entity known as the 'King in Yellow.' It uses an ancient cuneiform script that is difficult to decipher. This script is protected by the Emperor's power, and only a select few permitted individuals can fully interpret it.]
[Production Time: 211. M31]
[Evaluation: Contains a small number of Curses]
[Value: 13,000,000]
"Holy cow?!" Alexander raised his eyebrows slightly.
First, he was startled by the price of thirteen million, then by the two words "Curse," and finally, his gaze fell on the four words "King in Yellow."
For a moment, Alexander's first thought was, did Hastur from the Cthulhu mythos next door invade?
Then Alexander recalled from his past life memories what this "King in Yellow" was.
The "King in Yellow" was a peculiar and mysterious entity, closely associated with the Way-Seekers, a school of thought that could be traced back to the builders of the Tower of Babel in the Ancient Terra era.
One of his goals was to find the Emperor's true name, but no one knew why he wanted to do this, nor what his ultimate purpose was.
And Curses were a kind of linguistic power that could twist reality, requiring no Psyker energy; they could take effect simply by being spoken aloud. However, the user themselves would also suffer harm from the Curse.
This unique language was once stored in the Tower of Babel, built by the predecessor of the Way-Seekers, but it was conquered by the Emperor and destroyed by the first Warmaster, Ollanius Persson.
No wonder Sanguinius deemed this ordinary and unremarkable, powerless notebook precious.
Even the small number of Curses recorded within it made it invaluable.
While relaying the information obtained from the four-dimensional pocket to Sanguinius, Alexander exchanged for a Translation Moyu.
The script used in this notebook was protected by the Emperor's power, which was likely why the author dared to write it.
But the Translation Moyu could allow Alexander to read any text without any restrictions.
"King in Yellow, Emperor's true name…" Sanguinius murmured, a flicker of confusion on his face.
It seemed that even he did not know who the King in Yellow was, nor had he noticed the King in Yellow's actions.
To be able to evade his prophecies, the King in Yellow must either be extremely powerful himself or be protected by some mysterious entity.
Alexander, having swallowed the Translation Moyu, opened the notebook in his hand.
"'I am the failure, I am the one who could not complete my mission, I am the betrayer.'"
"'I failed to protect my master, and in the end, I abandoned Him.'"
"'The Sun God built false reason upon primordial madness, but now the world of reason has crumbled in an instant under the tide of chaos.'"
"'The madness, ignorance, and irrationality of the Wine God resurface, but the wolf granted the Wine God chose a different path than mine.'"
"'"I will save His life" the wolf granted the Wine God said to me: "I will seek the Tree of Life and bring Him back to the mortal world."'"
"'I quarreled with the wolf granted the Wine God. I believed everything was according to my Lord's plan, but the wolf rebuked me.'"
"'O wolf granted the Wine God, our destinies are as equal and opposite as our spears.'"
"'You are savage and mad, named after the Wine God, embodied as a wolf, yet you bring truth to others with your spearhead.'"
"'I was forged in the image of reason, named after the Sun God, embodied as perfection, yet I take away the truth of others with my spearhead.'"
"'If you choose to save my Lord's life, then what choice should I make?'"
"'Have you heard the thirteen whispers that ceaselessly echo in my ears day and night? Have you heard my Lord's thirteen commands?'"
"'I hold the spearhead that knows all, yet I know nothing of my Lord, nor do I know what mission I should undertake.'"
"'I wander before His throne day and night, gazing repeatedly at the body that no longer speaks, gripping the Sun God bestowed upon me.'"
"'I can no longer endure these days of idleness, my Lord.'"
"'And so, I was controlled by the wolf-like madness, found an opportunity to face my Lord alone, and for this, committed an unforgivable sin.'"
"'I am the Custodian granted the Sun God, I am the failed guardian, I am the one who seizes truth.'"
"'And so, with a wolf-like heart, I plunged the Spear of the Sun God into the Master of Mankind.'"
"With the heart of a wolf, I plunged the Spear of Apollo into the master of mankind."
"The rational world woven by Apollo shattered before my eyes, and the primal, chaotic truth revealed itself to me."
"Master, would you truly lead humanity into such an abyss of eternal damnation?"
"Master, would you truly entrust such a cruel duty to me, who was gifted the Spear of Apollo?"
"Yet I heed your thirteen commands, knowing the thirteen sins I shall commit, and I shall fulfill the thirteen missions you have given me."
"I am the Custodes gifted the Spear of Apollo, my fate both similar to and contrary to the wolf gifted the Spear of Dionysus."
"That wolf shall seek the Tree of Life for you, so that you may return as a human."
"And I shall seek your lost True Name for you, so that you may die as a human."
Reading up to this point, Alexander paused slightly, his tone becoming strange, his voice involuntarily rising as he read the last line of the notes:
"I, the failed guardian, I, the most despicable traitor, I am Constantin Valdor."
"I shall abandon all identities, existing only in the name of the King in Yellow, until I kill our shared lord and all of humanity."
"May the sins I commit be forever scorned by all living beings."
Sanguinius fell silent, looking at the notebook in Alexander's hand with surprise and uncertainty.
Alexander was also slightly surprised by the content of the notebook.
This was a book of confession, the confession of Constantin Valdor, the Custodes Captain-General from ten thousand years ago, written on the eve of his and Leman Russ' simultaneous departure from the Imperium.
Valdor used obscure and symbolic language to describe what he was about to do, but Alexander understood.
The Spear of Dionysus and the Spear of Apollo were two twin power spears forged by the Emperor in the past.
Both spears possessed the same power: to reveal the truth.
However, the powers of these two spears were diametrically opposed.
The Spear of Dionysus would make the one pierced by it see their own truth.
The Spear of Apollo, on the other hand, would make the user see the truth of the object pierced.
The Spear of Dionysus was bestowed upon Leman Russ, the Wolf King, while the Spear of Apollo was given to Constantin Valdor, the Custodes Captain-General.
According to Alexander's memories from his previous life,
The wolf gifted the Spear of Dionysus clearly referred to Leman Russ. After the Great Crusade, Leman Russ and Valdor had an argument. Shortly after, Leman Russ declared he would search for the so-called Tree of Life to heal the Emperor, then disappeared from human sight.
Valdor left the Terra Imperial Palace almost simultaneously, his whereabouts unknown. Now, this book of confession solved the mystery for Alexander and Sanguinius.
The so-called King in Yellow was Constantin Valdor himself.
Whether by the Emperor's own guidance or Valdor's own decision, he plunged the Spear of Apollo into the Emperor, and evidently saw part of the truth about the Emperor, and possibly accepted the Emperor's command to some extent.
A command diametrically opposed to Leman Russ' mission.
Leman Russ would search for the Tree of Life, allowing the Emperor to be resurrected in the material universe in human form.
Constantin, on the other hand, was searching for the Emperor's lost True Name, which he would use to allow the Emperor to die as a human.
"Constantin Valdor, he was one of the people who accompanied the Emperor the longest, even longer than us Primarchs."
Sanguinius' tone uncharacteristically contained some complexity:
"In a sense, he is also our brother, a child of the Emperor."
Alexander nodded in agreement.
Constantin Valdor was the first Custodes the Emperor created, the template for all subsequent Custodes, the Emperor's left hand. He had fought alongside the Emperor since the Unification Wars on Terra, witnessed the Imperium's expansion from Terra to the stars, and then fell at Horus' hands on the Vengeful Spirit.
Now, he had taken on the task of killing the Emperor, which must have put immense psychological pressure on him.
The text in this notebook was protected by the Emperor's power and theoretically would almost never be revealed.
But if Constantin Valdor's mission was completed and the Emperor died, this confession would become decipherable content.
Constantin Valdor longed for his sins to be scorned.
But in Alexander's view, Constantin Valdor and Leman Russ both seemed to be one of the Emperor's contingency plans.
If Leman Russ failed and all other plans also failed, then Constantin Valdor, having found the Emperor's True Name, would become the Emperor's final executioner, preventing the Emperor from becoming the Dark King and bringing about the complete destruction of all humanity.
However, compared to Constantin Valdor's confession, Alexander was more concerned about some more practical things.
For example, at the back of this notebook, Constantin Valdor's training in the Curse was recorded.
Alexander was naturally very interested in that miraculous language that could directly alter the real universe without the aid of the Warp.
Then Alexander saw that after a mere two pages of confession, the entire thick notebook was filled with knowledge about the Curse, meticulously recorded in tiny script.
But even this thick notebook only recorded three Curses in total.
The first Curse was the simplest, its meaning roughly encompassing "harm," "equivalence," and "pain."
Alexander briefly understood it; the effect seemed to be to inflict a certain amount of damage on oneself, and the object affected by the Curse would also suffer equivalent damage.
This Curse contained a total of six syllables, but each syllable contained over seven thousand specific frequencies, and each frequency had to be uttered at a specific time, in a specific order and rhythm, without any pauses. The connection between syllables, frequencies, and words had to be smooth and perfect.
With these layers, the possible variations increased exponentially; merely memorizing the correct pronunciation was a challenge to the limits of the human brain.
Moreover, from the moment the first sound was uttered, the user's throat would endure immense pressure.
Without a powerful physique, it would be impossible to persist until the complete Curse was recited.
As for the other two Curses,
The second contained "essence," "Curse," and "contact." After using this Curse, as long as any part of the enemy was injured, even detached hair, fingernails, eyelashes, or even skin flakes, it could directly bypass all defensive measures and cause damage directly to the opponent's essence. However, its variations and complexity far surpassed the first Curse.
The third Curse contained "imitation," "reappearance," and "similarity." The complexity of this Curse made Alexander's head ache just looking at it. Its function was roughly to use this Curse to seemingly cause past events to reappear with similar effects through similar causes, but Alexander had not fully understood it.
"The third Curse is the most powerful."
Sanguinius listened to Alexander's narration and quickly made a judgment:
"This Curse can disregard specific spatio-temporal conditions and forcibly bring about similar effects from similar causes."
"For example, 'Sanguinius dies after boarding the Vengeful Spirit.' Boarding the Vengeful Spirit is the cause, and my death is the effect."
"This Curse can bypass the conditions for this cause and effect to occur. As long as I board the Vengeful Spirit again, the effect of death will directly follow, even if Horus isn't waiting for me there."
"Logically, the higher the similarity between cause and effect, the more powerful the achieved effect should be."
"However, this complexity…" Sanguinius couldn't help but shake his head as he looked at the content recorded in the notebook.
"Such a complex and variable technique that causes irreversible damage to the throat, no wonder only Perpetuals use it most of the time."
Alexander understood what Sanguinius meant.
These three Curses were all very powerful: one forcibly caused damage, one bypassed all defenses, and one could directly twist cause and effect.
But the drawback was that the training difficulty was too high. Simply recording these complex and cumbersome pronunciations and reciting them perfectly was not something mortals could do.
Furthermore, the Curse affected the fluency of recitation, but from the moment the first syllable was uttered, the Curse would damage the throat. Without a strong, resilient throat, training would be almost impossible.
All in all, it seemed that only Primarchs, Perpetuals, or Custodes could normally learn this. It would be extremely difficult for anyone else to learn.
One could only say, brother, your Curse is indeed powerful, but it's too demanding to wield.
Wait, memory, the ability to fluently recite complex syllables, and a throat that can withstand high pressure…
Alexander couldn't help but reach out and rub his chin.
He had it, he had it! He seemed to have all of these!
He seemed to have a solution.
"Guilliman has completed the negotiations."
Just as Alexander was thinking, Sanguinius suddenly spoke.
The two turned and walked back to their original position.
Then they saw that the previous spot had been set up with an extremely large wooden table, covered with piles of paper documents.
Cegorach, wearing a somewhat comical pair of small glasses, sat opposite Guilliman, pen in hand, signing his name on stacks of documents with a lifeless and dazed expression.
For some reason, he had acquired a poignant, corporate drone vibe, as if infected by Guilliman.
The current Cegorach didn't look like the Laughing God; instead, he resembled some poor Ultramarines grunt dragged by Guilliman to handle administrative tasks.
"Your Excellency Cegorach, we still have one hundred sixty-nine documents, two thousand one hundred ninety-seven supplementary documents, and twenty-eight thousand supplementary treaties formulated to eliminate ambiguity. Furthermore, these documents should ideally all be in triplicate; one copy for your Black Library, one for my Ptolemy Library, and another will be sent to Terra in the future."
"Of course, I hope you understand that these treaties are signed with you based on my authority as the Emperor's proxy. As I have not yet been truly granted the power to act as the Emperor's representative, most of the sections concerning humanity's obligations in the documents will only be activated after I have met with the Emperor."
"Naturally, as the only Aeldari god currently capable of independent action, I should be able to assume you have the authority to represent the entire Aeldari. I trust that the Aeldari will not encounter the same obstacles as I do when fulfilling their obligations."
Guilliman's mouth was like a bolter gun, much to the delight of the machine spirit, continuously spewing information and new protocol content at Cegorach.
Cegorach's eyes went blank.
"All of this can be agreed to, but do the documents need to be so detailed? Is it necessary to sign each clause independently?" He asked, trembling, as he looked at the vast sea of documents before him.
"You must be joking." Guilliman showed a polite smile: "You are the famous Aeldari God of Trickery, the fourth greatest deceiver in the galaxy. Of course, a contract with you must be meticulously detailed."
"Here, this document has twenty-two supplementary documents. Please sign here, here, and here."
Cegorach looked like he was about to die, his voice trembling as he asked: "You shouldn't have signed a contract with me, you should have gone to Vashtorr."
Guilliman didn't know who Vashtorr was; he simply displayed the smile of a pure political animal.
"Your recent insult to my mother has severely wounded my feelings, and by extension, the feelings of all of Ultramar and humanity."
"I believe we need to sign a few more supplementary treaties as compensation from the Aeldari for humanity's wounded feelings."