Alexander, in a pleasant mood, tucked the Black Sword he had collected from the Black Templars' Heretic Blade, along with three virus bombs, into his four-dimensional pocket.
Counting the Black Sword he had recovered from Abaddon, which belonged to Marshal Amarrich's Expeditionary Force, Alexander's four-dimensional pocket now contained two Black Swords.
According to Sanguinius' earlier statement, although Sigismund had died, his hatred for Abaddon and Chaos was so profound that fragments of his consciousness had intertwined with the machine spirit within the Black Swords.
If more than half of the Black Swords could be collected, combined with the authority Alexander gained from the Malicious Art, it might be possible to revive Sigismund's consciousness from the machine spirit.
This was also why Alexander had never sold the Black Swords.
A mechanical body, with a machine spirit as its soul, Sigismund, theoretically, would not even be restrained by the Demon Sword Drach'nyen.
That Demon Sword, born from humanity's first murder, restrained all humans and was one of Abaddon's greatest assets.
Alexander was very curious: if Drach'nyen no longer restrained humans, who would be superior, Abaddon or Sigismund?
Hmm, it should be a three-seven split, right? Sigismund three, Abaddon seven. After all, Abaddon was chosen by the Four Gods, and Sigismund would need at least three swords to chop Abaddon into seven pieces.
Alexander took the Black Sword and informed the three Black Templars priests on the Heretic's Bane about his plan to collect the Black Swords and revive Sigismund.
The three priests were greatly excited, praising Saint Doraemon repeatedly, never expecting that Saint Doraemon could not only revive Primarchs but even the Emperor's Champion.
It was a pity that the Black Templars were always a decentralized organization, and their duties were limited to escorting this Black Sword and verifying loyalty, so they had no way to deliver other Black Swords to Alexander.
The three priests could only promise Alexander that after completing the deployment of the five hundred Black Templars warriors, they would search for other Expeditionary Forces scattered across the galaxy, trying to find other Black Swords to bring back Sigismund, the founder of the Black Templars and the first Emperor's Champion.
After disembarking from the Heretic's Bane, Alexander went to see Guilliman, who was working through the night on state affairs.
Upon learning that the entire Black Templars maintained a force of at least five thousand, possibly even tens of thousands, Guilliman praised the Black Templars repeatedly, commending them as worthy descendants of Dorn.
Although their extreme devotion to the Emperor and nearly blowing up Macragge made Guilliman a little uncomfortable, maintaining such a scale for ten thousand years and constantly undertaking Expeditions against Chaos meant the Black Templars were indeed the most active Battle Group during his ten-thousand-year slumber.
Guilliman greatly hoped for the Black Templars' assistance, but unfortunately, most of their Expeditionary Forces had lost contact after the Great Rift opened.
After Guilliman plunged back into his complex and tedious work, Alexander returned to his residence alone.
After the Doraemon Battle Group plan began, Guilliman expanded the area assigned to Alexander within Hera Fortress.
The surrounding area was the Doraemon Battle Group's station, while the central area was where Alexander and the Doraemon Battle Group's commanding officers resided.
As soon as Alexander returned, he heard roars coming from the training ground behind his residence, with occasional thunder and explosions.
Alexander walked towards the training ground with a hint of curiosity.
This training ground was a small Roman-style arena, built from rough, hard stone, with layers of stone steps around it and a sand pit filled with fine sand in the middle.
Currently, four figures stood in the sand pit, seemingly engaged in a 2-on-2 battle.
Alexander silently stood by a marble pillar, looking down at the battle from above.
One side consisted of Captain Karlaen of the Blood Angels' First Company, equipped with Terminator power armor, and Chief Librarian Mephiston of the Blood Angels.
The other side was Reyna and the Harlequin Shadowseer Sylandri Shadowseer.
Sylandri Shadowseer was someone Alexander had retrieved from Cegorach.
"Laughing God, Sylandri is my beloved; you cannot take her from me!"
"Understood! Understood!"
Although Sylandri Shadowseer was bewildered at the time, Cegorach directly appointed Sylandri Shadowseer as the Eldar and Human Friendship Ambassador, responsible for communication between him and Alexander, effectively kicking her over to Alexander.
Sylandri Shadowseer was, in a sense, a rare talent; Alexander truly needed her for certain sneaky tasks.
He just hadn't expected how she had ended up in this arena.
A roar from Reyna interrupted Alexander's thoughts.
She wore a Portable Pyramid on her head, an item that could stimulate one's potential.
Reyna had previously used Memory Bread to forcibly memorize many theoretical knowledge about Psyker powers, but she hadn't truly learned them and completely forgot them after one trip to the restroom.
Helpless, Alexander gave her another Portable Pyramid, hoping to stimulate her mental potential.
As a result, Reyna's Psyker power increased under the Portable Pyramid's effect, and her resistance to the whispering voices in the Warp also rose.
However, her learning ability remained the same, becoming even more saintly and pure.
Pale white Psyker flames continuously burst from her eyes, and her entire body was enveloped in a flickering, ethereal arc light, suspended in mid-air.
As her roar echoed, the veil between reality and the Warp was torn in an instant, and the air in the arena suddenly grew cold due to the Psyker reaction, condensing into sparkling, crystalline frost in the air.
A Psyker lightning bolt, condensed from Empyrean power, flashed with a deep blue light in Reyna's palm.
The hurricane arced through the air in a manner that defied physical laws, carrying a Damning sound as it slammed heavily into Captain Karlaen on the ground.
Captain Karlaen raised the holy relic Baal's Wrath, and the iron halo behind his head also hummed.
The blue energy field accumulated in Baal's Wrath exploded with a bang, and the iron halo projected a deflection field, colliding with the Psyker lightning bolt fired by Reyna.
Lightning and energy fields simultaneously electrolyzed the surrounding air, a smell of ozone wafted, and the splashing currents melted and blackened the surrounding fine sand.
The Take-copter on Captain Karlaen's head spun silently; this small device suddenly provided Captain Karlaen with immense lift.
Wearing Terminator power armor, he shot up like a crimson cannonball, wielding the humming Baal's Wrath and smashing towards Reyna in mid-air.
Reyna raised a single hand, and the Psyker energy around her was infused with her will, instantly condensing before her to form a thick protective force field—one of the few telekinetic Psyker abilities she could still use.
Baal's Wrath collided with Reyna's protective force field, and Reyna attempted to deflect Baal's Wrath with her will.
But Captain Karlaen gritted his teeth, using his physical strength, the auxiliary power of his Terminator power armor, and the power of the holy relic Baal's Wrath to contend against Reyna's will.
In contrast, the battle between Sylandri Shadowseer and Mephiston was relatively simpler.
Sylandri Shadowseer suddenly charged at Mephiston; her figure instantly transformed into hundreds of thousands of shattered color blocks, flashing in the sand pit, almost as if she had vanished from her original spot.
Mephiston, however, was in no hurry; he merely raised his hand slightly.
A Psyker power instantly covered the entire sand pit; in an instant, all the sand grains rose from the ground, followed by the hidden Sylandri Shadowseer.
Mephiston squeezed in the air, and her body was instantly restrained in mid-air; with a slight flick of his finger, Sylandri Shadowseer was thrown out of the sand pit like a rag doll, crashing heavily among the stone-carved spectator seats.
The few Astartes and Cadian 184th Regiment warriors sparsely seated in the spectator stands all cheered.
"How did you provoke them?" Alexander couldn't help but laugh, plopping down next to Sylandri Shadowseer, who was sprawled in the spectator seats.
The Harlequin Shadowseer's eyes were rolling back, her lips trembling, looking utterly wronged as if she had been bullied.
But before she could speak, Finnie, a warrior from the Blood Angels' Sixth Company, now one of Doraemon's chosen, who had once brought back the Spear of Accomplishment to the Blood Angels, spoke first: "We were having a regular spar, and the Shadowseer suddenly joined in."
"We are ashamed, our strength was no match for the Shadowseer; most of our warriors were knocked down by her."
"Later, when she encountered someone she couldn't beat, the Shadowseer even dragged Commander Reyna into it, relying on Commander Reyna's Psyker powers to fight us two against two."
"Then, Captain Karlaen and Sir Mephiston noticed the situation in the arena, so Sir Mephiston invited the Shadowseer to a first-blood duel; he wanted to witness the abilities of an Eldar Harlequin."
"The Shadowseer initially wanted to refuse, but Commander Reyna wanted to see the gap between herself and Sir Mephiston in terms of Psyker power, so she agreed first."
"I just wanted to bully some ordinary Astartes," Sylandri Shadowseer said weakly, "Who knew there was a monster like Mephiston here, who would be considered a Psyker madman even among our Eldar."
Alexander smiled helplessly and shook his head.
Sylandri Shadowseer's strength was indeed good; even a normal Battle Group captain was no match for her.
Unfortunately, Mephiston, the Chief Librarian of the Blood Angels, was one of the top psyker in the entire Imperium of Man and even the galaxy.
Among those who could still be called human and move freely in the material universe, perhaps only a handful of individuals, including Tzeentch's chosen Ahriman, could consistently defeat him.
On Macragge, excluding the two Primarchs, only Tigurius, who was currently working overtime, was his match.
Sylandri Shadowseer came looking for fun, but ended up becoming the fun herself.
Reyna in the sand pit noticed that Sylandri Shadowseer had been instantly defeated by Mephiston; her expression suddenly stiffened.
She had witnessed Mephiston's Psyker power in Ashford, but at that time, Mephiston had directly confronted the hive mind, destroying a group of alpha-level brainbugs and psychotropic beasts, sustaining considerable injuries.
Reyna gritted her teeth, and the Portable Pyramid on her head suddenly burst forth with a green light; her Psyker potential was instantly stimulated by this item.
In an instant, Reyna felt every cell in her body immersed in Psyker energy, constantly sinking into the Warp, seemingly transforming into some non-physical entity.
She slightly opened her mouth, letting out a silent roar, and Psyker flames and light simultaneously roared out from her facial features.
She violently swung her arm, her will pressing heavily upon the real dimension; Karlaen watched in astonishment as the reality around him twisted and warped under Reyna's mental control.
Reyna forcefully threw Karlaen, along with the entire space around her, towards the spectator seats.
A burst of sound rang out in the stands, and everyone scattered. Alexander also grabbed Sylandri Shadowseer, who was exhausted from being beaten by Mephiston, and flashed to the side.
Captain Karlaen, completely embedded in the thick rock, twisted his body, but his Terminator power armor was damaged by Reyna's psyker, temporarily unable to move.
Mephiston in the sandpit noticed Reyna had subdued Karlaen, and slowly raised one hand.
In an instant, beneath Mephiston's flesh and blood body, some kind of power beyond the real dimension seemed to be wriggling. A pitch-black shadow was spreading outwards from him as its center.
The Chief Librarian of the Blood Angels used his psyker power, competing with Reyna for control of reality.
The psyker powers of the two intersected in mid-air, and reality wailed from the crushing force of the Warp.
The surrounding Blood Angels couldn't help but let out a sigh of admiration, simply because Reyna didn't immediately fall in front of Mephiston's psyker.
But after a few minutes of such an psyker duel, Reyna felt she couldn't sustain it.
The psyker power she gained by enhancing her psyker potential with the Portable Pyramid – she couldn't judge what level she had reached, but there was no doubt that this psyker power exceeded the carrying limit of her physical body, constantly dragging her towards the brink of collapse.
And Mephiston's psyker power also filled Reyna with fear. Her control over reality grew weaker and weaker, and Mephiston's psyker power easily overwhelmed hers.
Finally, Reyna could not resist and could only raise her hand to surrender to Mephiston, withdrawing her psyker power and falling into the sandpit.
"When did you start liking dueling?" Alexander stepped into the sandpit and pulled up Reyna, who was drenched in sweat and lying in the sand.
"Since I found that studying couldn't improve my psyker skills."
Reyna tried to wipe the sweat from her forehead with psyker but accidentally scratched herself, drawing blood.
She then tried to use psyker to heal the wound, but the flesh overgrew, creating a growth on Reyna's forehead.
Reyna let out an annoyed huff and physically tore off the growth with her hand.
The Portable Pyramid did enhance her psyker power, but this power, enhanced out of thin air, was harder to control. Reyna could barely use most psyker spells, only relying on pure psyker to overwhelm opponents.
"So I participated in the dueling pit, trying to improve my combat skills."
"It's quite useful, do you want to try it too?"
Reyna pointed to the sandpit at her feet and said. In her impression, apart from his marksmanship and Denkōmaru, Alexander's combat skills were quite ordinary.
Hearing Reyna's suggestion, before Alexander could react, Mephiston took a step back in fear, seemingly wanting to leave the dueling pit unnoticed.
The Blood Angels in the surrounding seats also showed similar expressions. They quickly covered their Chapter relics, as if remembering some dark memory.
"Alright, can I bring my own weapons?"
As he spoke, Alexander reached into his four-dimensional pocket and casually pulled out a revolver:
"This is a combat gun, one shot can destroy a tank."
Before anyone present could react, Alexander rummaged through his pocket again and pulled out a gun with a sci-fi feel.
"This is an Overlord Gun, one shot can destroy a building."
Reyna swallowed slightly and also moved a little away from Alexander with a hint of fear.
She could also destroy buildings, but this was a gun, and Alexander's marksmanship was always accurate, never missing.
"And this, this is—"
Alexander suddenly stretched out his hand, the four-dimensional pocket expanded, and he held up a dark green air-drop bomb:
"Ta-da! Earth Destruction Bomb!"
Gasps of cold air echoed all around, everyone looking at the bomb in Alexander's hand with a hint of fear.
Reyna was drenched in sweat. Only then did she realize she shouldn't have suggested Alexander come to the dueling pit.
"Boss Alexander!" Just then, Sylandri Shadowseer did a somersault and walked a few steps to Alexander's front.
"What, do you want to have a bloodless duel with me?" As he spoke, Alexander smiled at Sylandri Shadowseer, the Earth Destruction Bomb in his hand slightly lowered in her direction.
Sylandri Shadowseer was startled and quickly flashed back: "Please hold it steady!"
She hesitated for a moment, then approached Alexander and whispered:
"The Laughing God is ready. He has already sent an invitation to the Human Death God."
"Inviting Ynnead to the Black Library to discuss the future of the Eldar."
Yvraine stood high in the Eldar embassy on Macragge, gazing at Guilliman's Shrine in the distance.
During this time, she had spoken with the Lord of Ultramarines several times.
He was such a perfect being, possessing both immaturity and maturity at the same time.
Immaturity in that he had actually walked among mortals for only two or three hundred years, even shorter than Yvraine.
Maturity in that he had actually existed for ten thousand years. Of course, immaturity and maturity were more reflected in his spirit.
Immaturity in the incredible ideals that filled his deepest heart, maturity in how powerful and wise he was, to strive with all his might on the path to realizing his dreams.
Yvraine had never felt such admiration and respect for a human, even though there were many conflicts of interest between them.
Of course, this did not mean that there were no other humans worthy of Yvraine's respect.
Sanguinius was one, and the "Human Death God" Alexander was another; these two were also equally noble beings.
But Sanguinius was more like some Warp entity, sublime and sacred.
Alexander, on the other hand... well, Yvraine didn't know how to describe Alexander. That man's spirit was simply unlike this era, as if he belonged to a different worldview than others.
When the two even brushed past each other in Guilliman's command center, that Alexander suddenly proposed something about him and Guilliman marrying to deepen the relationship between humans and Eldar for the sake of cooperation between the two races.
This suggestion made Sylandri furious, cursing and calling it a humiliation or something.
But Yvraine herself had no ill feelings about it, only slightly surprised by Alexander's erratic thoughts.
Although the Eldar often called humans monkeys, or Mon Keigh in Eldar language, in reality, humans and the true Mon Keigh, the barbaric species that once enslaved the Eldar, were fundamentally different.
In fact, the Eldar and humans were physiologically quite similar, a point acknowledged by the most rational scholars of both races.
In a broad classification, both humans and Eldar belonged to bipedal primate psyker races, and the genetic basis of both was a deoxyribonucleotide sequence; humans had two strands, while Eldar had three.
Although direct interbreeding between the two was difficult to produce offspring, through biotechnological means, it was easy to create hybrids of the two races.
Moreover, compared to most Eldar males, Guilliman lacked that awkward self-pity and the perversion hidden beneath forced asceticism, possessing a unique sense of propriety.
Yvraine seriously considered Alexander's proposal, after all, Guilliman was not resurrected by the Death Guard, and the relationship between the two races was somewhat tenuous.
Just then, footsteps sounded behind Yvraine. Sylandri, clad in red armor, silently walked up behind Yvraine.
"Little girl," Sylandri said gently.
Yvraine felt goosebumps from Macragge's hot wind. She involuntarily distanced herself a little from Sylandri .
Sylandri had once been her teacher in the Ark World, and Yvraine respected him.
If it weren't for the feelings he showed towards Yvraine, she would respect him even more.
"You should know that the Laughing God has sent an invitation to Ynnead," Sylandri said.
Sylandri was Ynnead's chosen one. Although not as blessed as Yvraine, he could still hear Ynnead's murmurs in his sleep.
The Laughing God Cegorach had sent an invitation to Ynnead, inviting Ynnead into the Black Library to discuss the future of the Eldar.
This was the first time. After Ynnead's initial awakening, the Laughing God seemed to have always been wary of Ynnead.
Although Ynnead's birth had been aided by his Harlequin, he had always communicated indirectly with Ynnead through the Harlequin and Yvraine.
He had always been unwilling to fully open the Black Library to the Death Guard and Ynnead, instead hiding away within it.
But why this time?
Yvraine frowned slightly: "Is the Laughing God playing some trick?"
Ynnead had just been initially born, and largely thought by instinct, with innate intellectual deficiencies.
Sylandri's combat ability was decent, but his intelligence wasn't particularly high. She wondered what he was thinking with his Eldar multi-lobed brain.
Therefore, among the three pillars of the Death Guard, only Yvraine would think and make plans.
"What trick could there be?" Sylandri shook his head and said, "Little girl, you're overthinking it."
"Cegorach is the last Eldar deity, and Ynnead is the Eldar god about to be born. How could Cegorach play tricks on Ynnead? He is his brother."
"The Broken Khaine, Ynnead, and Cegorach can form a small Eldar Pantheon. This is absolutely beneficial for Cegorach, who is now the Lord of the Pantheon and responsible for reconciling the divine lineage. His power will also be enhanced, and his strength will increase."
"What's more," Sylandri's tone carried a hint of disdain: "Cegorach was already a marginal figure in the Pantheon, only managing to control the Pantheon by luck and escape. His position in it is not as good as Ynnead's. How could he possibly scheme against Ynnead?"
Yvraine did not speak.
She understood Cegorach better than Sylandri, who had always been in the temples of the Ark World. Many Ark World temples had rekindled the faith of the former Pantheon, revering the dead gods, mourning those shattered glories, just like the Eldar immersed in past splendor. They had never worshipped Cegorach, the only surviving Eldar god.
But Yvraine, walking through the galaxy, knew clearly that Cegorach was a great deity, perhaps the greatest of the Eldar gods.
He cared about the Eldar Pantheon, about his other brothers, about his own power, but... but these were not the most important things in his heart.
What he truly cared about was...
Yvraine shook her head.
"No, I must be overthinking it."
"How could the Laughing God... how could he backstab Ynnead, who is also an Eldar god?"
"What good would that do him? The renewed destruction of the Pantheon would only harm him."