Three divine artifacts of the old ones?
The ouroboros, the Tullucha Engine, and the plagueheart.
Alexander, of course, knew of their existence.
These three three divine artifacts of the old ones, once gathered, could automatically combine. The assembled trinity could directly open holes in time and space. The simplest way to use them was as a Webway tunnel boring machine or a time-travel device.
"I was just about to ask if you knew about the existence of these three three divine artifacts of the old ones?" Alexander asked, a slight tug at the corner of his mouth, looking at Emperor Nobita.
Among the three divine artifacts of the old ones, the ouroboros was Caliban, the home world of the Dark Angels, while the Tullucha Engine was picked up by the Lion King ten thousand years ago by chance and is now still on the Rock.
The plagueheart, on the other hand, had always been on a world near the Eye of Terror and was later accidentally acquired by Typhus.
In other words, ten thousand years ago, the Imperium almost got two of the three three divine artifacts of the old ones for free. If the Emperor had led his Expedition fleet, twenty Primarchs, two million Astartes, and endless mortal auxiliary forces to the Eye of Terror to seize the plagueheart, the Imperium could have recreated the Webway tunnel boring machine of the three divine artifacts of the old ones, freely creating Webways, completely escaping the Warp, and realizing the Emperor's grand vision.
So, what was the Emperor doing at that time?
The Emperor abandoned the Great Crusade fleet, gathered a group of people, and secluded himself in the underground of the Terra Imperial Palace, attempting to dig a tunnel with primitive methods to connect it with the already highly aging Old Webway.
"..I really didn't know ten thousand years ago," Emperor Nobita's mouth twitched, seemingly a bit speechless. "Lion King never told me about the problems on Caliban, nor did he mention finding the Tullucha Engine."
"Moreover, the three divine artifacts of the old ones themselves could, to a certain extent, interfere with and block prophecies. At that time, my Psyker prophetic abilities couldn't perceive their existence."
"Don't look at me like that. I'm not a god; I'm not omniscient and omnipotent."
Emperor Nobita couldn't stand Alexander's gaze and said, a little exasperated.
It was only after he sat on the Golden Throne and became the collective consciousness of the human race that he realized the existence of the three divine artifacts of the old ones.
At that time, he himself was extremely regretful.
The three divine artifacts of the old ones could indeed, to some extent, evade the sight of the Emperor and even the Chaos Gods. It was precisely for this reason that during the entire Great Crusade and Great Heresy, only Typhus, who accidentally discovered the plagueheart, attempted to gather the three divine artifacts of the old ones.
If the Emperor had communicated more with Lion King at that time and paid more attention to Caliban, he might have discovered some clues about the three divine artifacts of the old ones and gathered them, thus obtaining the Webway tunnel boring machine.
There would have been no need to risk a Primarch rebellion, abandon the Imperium and the Great Crusade, and dig tunnels alone.
Alexander didn't provoke the Emperor further on this matter. After all, the Emperor was right; he had done his best with the information he had at the time.
And even if he had truly abandoned the Imperial Palace Webway to search for the three divine artifacts of the old ones, he might not have succeeded. After all, the Tullucha Engine was found by the Lion King quite late, and the plagueheart was hidden directly within the Eye of Terror.
"Why are you thinking of the three divine artifacts of the old ones again at this time?" Alexander asked, frowning slightly, looking at the Emperor. "What role do the three divine artifacts of the old ones play in your prophecies for the future?"
Vashtorr, the Creator, believed that the three divine artifacts of the old ones was the foundation of his deification, capable of helping him find the 'weapons' left by the three divine artifacts of the old ones, bypassing the Emperor's blocking restrictions, and directly ascending to become the Lord of the Malicious Art.
Had Vashtorr already begun his actions?
"It's not Vashtorr, it's Erebus." Emperor Nobita's eyes reflected a faint golden glow. "I vaguely saw him collecting the three divine artifacts of the old ones, but he thought he could hide it from my sight."
"What does he want the three divine artifacts of the old ones for?" Alexander felt a bit strange. "Does he also want to dig a Webway?"
"The three divine artifacts of the old ones can not only cleave rifts in space but also rifts in time."
Emperor Nobita looked at Alexander and said in a low voice:
"I believe he wants to send you back to the Great Crusade, to have you ascend as the Dark King in the 30th Millennium."
Alexander tilted his head slightly, a large question mark appearing above it.
He found Erebus' logic a bit incomprehensible.
"Praise! Lord of Change! Muscle Supreme! Nine Birds Incarnate! Flesh Transcendent!"
Erebus chanted Tzeentch's new titles, and the azure, profane evil power circulated, twisted, and drifted within the Blessed Lady.
"Worship! Wrestling Eagle Person! Flesh Forger! Messenger of Hope! God Who Perceives All and Forges All!"
As Erebus chanted, the profane evil power swirling in the air injected inch by inch into Be'lakor's body, making the Shadow Master's physique grow larger and his muscles more defined and terrifying.
And within Be'lakor's body, among the four chains that firmly bound him, the blue, constantly changing chain gradually thinned, almost breaking all restrictions.
The Gods had once cursed Be'lakor, stripping him of the power they had granted him, making him forever unable to achieve an independent position in the material and Warp.
But Erebus, through mediation, pleading, prayer, and fulfilling the Gods' past rewards, weakened the part of the shackles Tzeentch had placed on Be'lakor and returned some of the past blessings.
At the same time, Erebus also promised the Blood God that Be'lakor would help corrupt Titus, in exchange for the Blood God weakening the shackles on Be'lakor and granting him some blessings again.
At this moment, Be'lakor's power had largely recovered, and he vaguely possessed the might of the Gods' Saint from the past.
The ritual ended, but the profane blue evil power did not disappear directly. Instead, it lingered in the real dimension for a moment, whispered a few words into Erebus' ear, and then vanished into the void.
The Lord of Change observed the traces of fate, predicting that Saint Doraemon was about to launch an attack on the Blessed Lady.
But the Lord of Change didn't need to remind him; Erebus himself knew.
Attacking the Blessed Lady was fine, because Erebus himself was originally bait, bait to buy time for Luther.
Those so-called loyalists and the rotten corpse on the Throne would never guess Erebus' plan.
They wouldn't guess that Erebus was trying to reunite the three divine artifacts of the old ones, tear through time, and send that one back to the past to ascend as the Dark King.
Besides, when danger arose, Erebus would use the ritual dagger to cut through reality and escape.
Thinking of this, Erebus revealed a mysterious, confident smile —
A pinkish-red wooden door suddenly appeared in front of Erebus, opened with a bang, and then threw something at him.
Erebus' mind went blank.
So, the Lord of Change's 'soon' was this quick.