Chapter 107 Clown God (Bonus)

“Traveler, you really pulled off a massive stunt this time.” The Emperor looked at the projection, which highlighted the various planets of the T’au Empire currently marked as active civil warzones, and then glanced over at an utterly thrilled Vane.

Deep within the Warp, inside the Crystal Labyrinth, a certain curious entity watching the whole situation unfold completely agreed with the Emperor. Honestly, Tzeentch wanted to clap its hands, cheer for the Evil Outer God’s brilliant play, and dish out some heavy blessings. Unfortunately, since it and this Evil Outer God were on opposing sides, funding the enemy was out of the question.

The other three Chaos Gods had also tuned into the T’au Empire’s upheaval after Vane hijacked their power to bless Shadowsun. Watching the previously rock-solid T’au Empire fall to pieces after just a couple of moves by the Evil Outer God left them completely speechless.

It’s one thing for this guy to be ridiculously overpowered in a fight, but he’s also this underhanded? How are we even supposed to win? It’s not like we can just scream about the power of friendship and charge at him!

“That’s what makes it fun.” Hearing the Emperor’s comment, Vane finally pulled his attention away from his notification interface. “The T’au Empire quest is wrapped up. Let’s move on to the next quest.”

“Next quest?” The Emperor looked curious. “What quest?”

“Dealing with the Ork Greenskins so they stop threatening the normal development of the other races in the galaxy.” Vane rubbed his chin. “This one’s a bit complicated. We need to go find some intel on their species first.”

“The Orks.” The Emperor frowned. “That race is incredibly difficult to deal with. Even during the Great Crusade, after exhausting every method at my disposal, I only managed to temporarily scatter them. Wiping them out completely is nearly impossible.”

During the Great Crusade, the Orks possessed a terrifyingly powerful empire. Ullanor, the very place where Horus was named Warmaster, was the capital of that Ork empire.

After crushing the Ork empire, the Emperor looked across the galaxy and saw no other xenos worth his personal attention. That was when he chose to elevate Horus to Warmaster to handle the rest of the mopping-up operations.

Following that, the Orks went quiet for a long time—until the War of the Beast broke out. That time, the Greenskins piloted their Attack Moons, completely annihilated the Imperial Fists, invaded the Sol System, and laid siege to Terra.

The High Lords of Terra at the time were so terrified they nearly drafted surrender terms overnight, ready to pledge loyalty to the Ork Empire. It was only because Koorland, the sole survivor of the Imperial Fists, initiated the “Last Wall Protocol” and summoned the sons of Dorn that Terra was held.

Now, in the 42nd Millennium, the Ork tide was rising again. Massive Ork Warlords like Ghazghkull swore to reclaim their ancient homeworld, continuously throwing themselves into the meatgrinder of Ullanor—now renamed Armageddon.

“That’s just because you suck, Big E,” Vane said bluntly.

Dark lines formed on the Emperor’s forehead. There’s just no talking to this guy.

Vane pulled a linking book out of his inventory. “Let’s go. We’ll track down Eldrad first; he should know where to find the Clown God.”

“Who is the Clown God?” Hearing Vane’s words, the Emperor paused. Since when was there a god with a name like that?

“Have you literally never read up on Aeldari mythology? I keep telling you to read more books, but you never listen, and now you don’t know a damn thing,” Vane scolded. “The Clown God is obviously Cegorach. Isn’t that guy the Great Harlequin?”

Hearing Vane’s logic, the Emperor felt his blood pressure spike. He took several deep breaths to calm himself down.

Brother, that is the Aeldari God of Laughter and Mischief, not the ‘Clown God’.

Though, to be completely fair, the nickname was pretty spot-on.

“Whatever you say.”

“Duh, of course I’m right.”

Vane used the linking book, teleporting himself and the Emperor back to their warship.

Captain-General Trajann had barely finished bowing to them before he was immediately shooed away to fetch Eldrad.

“Esteemed Traveler, and the Master of Mankind, for what reason have you summoned me?” Upon receiving the call, Eldrad rushed over to meet Vane and the Emperor immediately.

“No need for the formalities, Farseer. I just want to know where the Clown God is.”

“The Clown God is your God of Laughter, Cegorach,” Vane added thoughtfully, keeping in mind that the Emperor hadn’t understood him earlier.

The Emperor turned his head to look away, a look of profound melancholy on his face.

When Eldrad doesn’t know who the ‘Clown God’ is, he gets a polite explanation. When I don’t know, I get called illiterate and oblivious. I guess love really does fade..

Eldrad’s mouth twitched.

The majestic God of Laughter, Cegorach, is being called the ‘Clown God’ by you… but your fists are bigger, so call him whatever you want. I doubt Cegorach would dare pick a fight with you anyway.

“The movements of the Laughing God have always been shrouded in mystery. Even though we are aware of His existence, we have never actually seen Him,” Eldrad explained. “The only time He ever communicated with us was recently, when Sanguinius ascended to godhood. If you truly wish to find Him, you should ask a Great Harlequin of a Harlequin Troupe. They are the ones most closely connected to the Laughing God.”

“And where exactly do we find a Great Harlequin?” Vane pressed.

“Esteemed Ancestor of Humanity, you truly are a busy man with a short memory,” Eldrad said. “When word got out that you planned to hand Magnus over to a Troupe, one immediately set a course for Macragge.”

“So, we simply need to travel to Macragge to find Harlequins capable of communicating with Cegorach.”

“Macragge it is, then.” Vane turned to Trajann. “Go tell the shipmaster we are setting sail immediately.”

Eldrad hesitated for a moment before working up the courage to ask. “Esteemed Ancestor of Humanity, may I ask why you are looking for Cegorach?”

Please don’t let it be because you want his divine authority and are getting ready to butcher him.

Vane looked at the visibly tense Eldrad and waved it off dismissively. “There’s no harm in telling you. It’s because I need to get into the Black Library to find a way to deal with the Orks.”

Hearing this explanation, a look of sudden realization washed over Eldrad’s face. “Ah, I see. The Black Library holds the knowledge of the entire universe; there is indeed a high chance of finding relevant data on the Greenskins there. Esteemed Ancestor of Humanity, I will do everything in my power to help you get inside.”

Standing to the side, the Emperor heard this exchange and felt his heart grow even heavier with sorrow.

Eldrad, you’re the Grand Farseer of the Aeldari, how can you have such double standards? Back when I wanted to find the Black Library to seek knowledge about the Webway, you people guarded it with your lives, terrified I’d find it. Now the Traveler says he wants in, and you’re practically holding his hand and pointing the way, terrified he might get lost!

It was a good thing Eldrad didn’t know what the Emperor was thinking, or he definitely would have rolled his eyes at him.

Is this guy someone we can actually stop? If he can’t find the way, he’ll just tear down the entire Webway, and then we’d really be screwed. It’s way safer to just play nice, let him in to find his intel, and then walk him right back out when he’s done.

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