The world of Usvi's Ark is near the Eye of Fear, and this Ark Spirit gives itself the responsibility and burden of being vigilant against the intrusion of the forces of Chaos into reality, the Eye of Fear was formed when the Great Enemy of the Spirit Race, Slaanesh, was born, and it may take a lot of courage for the Spirit to stay near the Eye of Fear.

And it is precisely because of the long stay near the Eye of Fear that the world of Usvi's Ark is rich in prophets. Compared to the other ways of the craftsman, warrior, and sailor, practicing the way of the prophet requires more powerful psionic talents. The principle of prophecy in Warhammer 40K is to spy into the future through the temporal confusion properties of subspace, so the closer you get to subspace, the more prophets are abundant.

The Eye of Dread's effect on nearby creatures doesn't stop there, blocking the world of Fortress Cadia, the only stable passage from the Dreadeye to the outside world, and the inhabitants can look up and see the massive purple-red scar in the sky. As a result, the Cadians generally have a physical trait - their pupils are purple, which is also an effect of the Eye of Fear psionic radiation.

Carrying Fu Qinghai and his beloved motorcycle, the Idalong ship left the Usvi Ark World and slowly sailed towards the Cadia Fortress World. In order not to be discovered by the Imperial Navy's patrol fleet, the Idalong ship stopped at a distance from the fortress world, and then Fu Qinghai drove the Blue Falcon out of the boarding deck alone and flew to the nearby Imperial warship.

Soon he was discovered by the Imperial Navy.

Two frigates wrapped up in him, one left and one right sandwiched him in the middle, and all the detection arrays on the battleship scanned the starmarine, who was alone in space. Fu Qinghai rode on the jet motorcycle and slowly raised his hands to show that he had no malicious intent, and an inquiry sounded in the public channel:

"Identify yourself, Space Marine."

Fu Qinghai did not answer the other party's question.

Instead, his lips opened lightly and he said:

"Take me to Sigismund."

……

The battleship Eternal Crusade.

Flagship of the Black Templar Warband.

It is also a Glorious Queen-class battleship.

Fu Qinghai, unhelmeted and unarmed, walked in the passage of the battleship under the escort of five black Templar Space Marines. Heavy footsteps echoed across the floor as they walked down the passage to the bridge and eventually into a large, vaulted hall flanked by Space Marines.

At the end of the hall is a throne carved from Terra's stone and bronze. The throne was flanked by tall braziers and rising candles, the flames of which painted the white stones with an amber hue and cast flickering shadows onto the black-armored warriors seated on the throne.

It was a gray-haired Space Marine, leaning on his throne like a king in his spare time. He was too strong to be lazy, too alert to rest, his hands resting on the hilt of a black long sword, his gaze calmly and indifferently looking at Fu Qinghai at the other end of the hall.

"Who are you?"

The Black Sword Saint asked in a deep voice.

"Aoyama Khan."

Fu Qinghai posted his name:

"The commander of the Iron Floating Regiment, the former company commander of the Eleventh Company of the White Scar Clan, the Brotherhood of Divine Machines. I am a contemporary of you, the High Marshal of the Black Templar. ”

Fu Qinghai seemed a little strange when he said this, Sigismund was already an old Space Marine, with a face full of vicissitudes and gray hair, while Fu Qinghai's face was still young and handsome, as if he was a recruit who had just joined the warband. But he said that he was a warrior of the same era as the Black Sword Master.

"Aoyama Khan ......"

Sigismund lowered his head and savored the name, as if he was trying to search for something in his memory, then he raised his head and looked at Fu Qinghai, and asked with a little doubt:

"I seem to be reminded that you are the sons of the White Scar, the sons of Chagatai Khan, and your warband, like the Black Templars, was born in the Second Army. You were famous in the Battle of the Ring of Steel, Aoyama Khan, and I've heard your name. But, as far as I know......"

Sigismund frowned and said:

"You, and your warband, were declared missing by the Ministry of Military Affairs seven hundred years ago."

"That's right."

Fu Qinghai nodded calmly:

"But I'm back now."

"For what?"

Sigismund asked.

"For a prophecy."

Fu Qinghai replied calmly.

"Prophecy?"

"Yes."

Fu Qinghai nodded and said:

"A prophecy about you."

"About me?"

Sigismund narrowed his eyes and stared at Fu Qinghai:

"I want to hear about it."

The corners of Fu Qinghai's mouth hooked up a smile:

"You play with me, in the training cage. If you win, I will tell you what the prophecy is, and if you lose...... I'll tell you if you lose, what do you think? ”

Sigismund's eyes suddenly shot a fierce light:

"Maybe I'm not clear enough, you may not quite understand where you are now. Aoyama Khan, a space marine, who disappeared seven hundred years ago, suddenly appeared alone in space on a jet motorcycle, your identity is very suspicious, the navigator and star whisperer of the Eternal Crusade told me that there are demons hidden in your power armor, maybe more than one. Whatever you are, whether you've fallen into chaos or not, you're now a prisoner, not one of my challengers! ”

The black sword master suddenly burst out with murderous aura.

The surrounding Black Templars were also eyeing each other.

"Don't be so serious."

Fu Qinghai shrugged his shoulders and spread his hands and said:

"It's just a duel, just like you did on the Conqueror of the World Eater, you've had countless duels in your life, just one more. With just one duel, you can get the truth about everything, including who I am and where I came from, including prophecies about you. ”

When Fu Qinghai mentioned the World Eater, the surrounding black Templar Space Marines suddenly clenched their weapons. They didn't know if Fu Qinghai was hinting at the involvement of his generalissimo with the traitor legion, but they knew that the Supreme Marshal had indeed spent a long time in the Twelfth Legion during the Great Expedition.

"You even know that......"

Sigismund felt more and more peculiar.

He didn't care about the accusations and suspicions of being involved with the traitor legion, he was the Black Sword Saint Sigismund, he was the Imperial Champion Sigismund, no one was qualified to question his loyalty, and no imperial body dared to investigate and judge him. He slowly rose from his throne.

"Okay, I'll duel with you."

The Black Juggernaut spoke.

……

In the training cage of the Eternal Crusade.

Fu Qinghai and Sigismund stand facing each other.

They all took off their power armor and wore only simple close-fitting clothing, compared to Fu Qinghai's perfect and strong body like a carving, Sigismund's body was covered with large and small criss-crossing scars, plasma, hot melt, and cracking force fields...... All of them have carved countless marks of pain on his body.

Outside the training cage, the Space Marines of the Black Templar squeezed the already small space to the brim, because Fu Qinghai proposed to take off his armor for a duel, and did not wear his power armor that sealed the demon, so the Black Templar Space Marines were not worried about what happened to the Supreme Marshal.

Even they were not worried about the outcome of the duel.

No one can beat Sigismund.

The warriors of the Black Templar have confidence in their own marshals - because of the most powerful Space Marines of the Astarte Legions: Coth Wayne of the Dark Angel, Juba Khan of the White Scar, Karn of the World Eater, Sevita of the Midnight Lord, Lucius the Emperor's Son, and Abaddon of the Shadowmoon Wolves...... They were all defeated by his men.

Sigismund casually drew a longsword from the weapon rack—no surprise. He raised his sword in a warrior's salute: bowed his head and kissed the hilt, then pressed his forehead against the cold spine of the sword. This action only means that Sigismund respects the sword in his hand and respects the ritual of the Imperial Fist, but it does not mean that he respects Fu Qinghai.

Fu Qinghai strolled past the weapon rack, his palms casually rubbing and sliding over the shelves, halberds, chain flails, double-edged axes, meteor hammers...... Fu Qinghai took out a long knife and tossed it around in his hand, just like a mortal throwing a fruit knife, measuring the weight of the knife and tasting its center of gravity. Eventually, he settled on the long knife and turned to stand calmly with his legs outstretched.

These are heavy weapons with blades open.

It's just that the cracking force field is not installed.

Sigismund began to slowly wrap chains around his wrists, one end of which was attached to the hilt of his sword, and the other end of which was wrapped around his arm, and began to make a "boom" sound, his pulse slowing with the echo.

This was his personal habit in battle - using chains to fasten his weapons, and Sigismund traveled with the Twelve Legions for a long time during the Great Expedition, something he learned in the Colosseum of the World Eater. This custom was followed throughout the Black Templar Warband, with both blasters and chainsaw swords, including power armor, which they would never admit to having learned from traitors.

Fu Qinghai waited quietly for him to finish tying up.

"Your name is known to everyone in the Legion."

Fu Qinghai raised his chin and said:

"Imperial Champion, Master of the Blade. Lead by example and never slow down. The heart is like a rock, and the body is like a flame. ”

Sigismund didn't answer Fu Qinghai's words, he imprisoned the chain on his armguard, held the end of the hilt with one hand and moved it twice, felt its weight shift in the palm of his hand, and then lifted it above his head. He felt the muscles in his shoulders get ready and the blood in his veins slowly rising and falling. Sigismund was silent and quietly observed Fu Qinghai, feeling the rhythm of measuring the other party's stillness, listening and waiting for the moment to unfold.

"Huh!"

Fu Qinghai swung forward with his sword, and Sigismund slashed with his sword, and his opponent dodged, the blade in his hand turning into a phantom and enveloping his body. Sigismund swung his long sword like a steel hammer breaking through the rain curtain of light, and he kept cutting high and low, the sword wind howling. But the white scar leaped through the air, dodging each attack calmly, and the tip of the long knife slammed down in the blink of an eye.

The Black Juggernaut suddenly froze.

Fu Qinghai's blow missed.

Sigismund dodged, and the long blade flashed above his head, and the sword stabbed out in a flash. Fu Qinghai's retreat was like a spiritual snake, and the big knife was raised and slashed. The two swords collided again with a blast of steel.

"Bang!"

The spark exploded at the edge.

"You really live up to your reputation!"

Fu Qinghai couldn't help but admire:

"And far more clever than the legend suggests."

Sigismund was silent and continued to slash forward, feeling every vibration from the hilt of his sword. Fu Qinghai's long knife turned into a piece of light and shadow, and turned into a dance drama performed by cutting, dancing and spinning weapons.

Fu Qinghai found out that Sigismund didn't speak at all during the battle, he didn't say anything he said, and it seemed that he couldn't hear what others were saying at all, so it could be said that he was immersed in the battle in front of him without distraction.

Fu Qinghai's signature skill: mouth cannon taunt.

At this moment, it is no longer useful.

Despite this, Fu Qinghai was still attacking violently, his body like a whirlwind cutting, constantly sending blow after blow. Sigismund realized that the Space Marines in front of him had greater speed and strength than himself, and he was so fast, faster than the wind, faster than lightning.

Sigismund could feel the sword in his hand drifting uncontrollably, and felt the sound of parrying each attack, the force and vibration of the weapon's collision through the bones to his teeth. The opponent in his sight had turned into an afterimage and parried himself, making him keep retreating.

"Squeak...... Squeaky ......"

Slipping your feet on the floor of the training cage.

"You're old, Sigismund."

Fu Qinghai could still take the time to sigh.

But suddenly, as if the thunderstorm clouds had instantly dispersed a pillar of daylight—there was an opening! Sigismund's afterglow caught the twitch that flashed in the corner of Fu Qinghai's eyes as he spoke, and at the same time, his steps changed to avoid the other party's sudden stab. At this moment, all he had in his mind was the sword in his hand, only the dance of weighing that slashed and moved washed through his body, and everything was as natural as blood breathing.

Everything was still.

Sigismund let his heart beat like a drum through his body, his world was here and now, his whole existence was the sword in his hand, nothing else, and no other than that.

His sword met the blow.

"Ding—"

Sigismund turned and slashed down, feeling the impact of the slash, slashing twice more in quick succession, each more violently before the aftermath of the first blow could be dissipated.

"Ding! Bite! ”

The long knife in Fu Qinghai's hand suddenly became unstable.

Wait until you clench it again.

A long sword was already in front of his throat.

Ooh!

Fu Qinghai was shocked by this.

Unbelievable that I lost!?

Obviously, he has been pressing the opponent's attack, Sigismund's skills are indeed impeccable, and his defense is flawless, but his strength and agility have surpassed the opponent in an all-round way, and if he continues to fight like this, the Black Sword Saint will be defeated sooner or later. But unexpectedly, just caught a tiny flaw that was too small to be smaller, and Sigismund completed the counter-kill in an instant.

Sigismund withdrew his sword.

Fu Qinghai touched the blood beads on his neck.

"Your sword skills remind me of an old man."

Sigismund spoke.

"Who is it?"

Fu Qinghai inserted the long knife back into the weapon rack.

"Juba Khan."

Sigismund said calmly.

"Midsummer thunder."

Fu Qinghai nodded and said Juba's nickname.

As the former commander of the first company of the Fifth Army, Fu Qinghai had of course heard of Juba Khan's name, but by the time he returned to Terra, Juba Khan was already dead.

During the Great Expedition, each Astarte legion will encounter a situation where it is necessary to fight together, and at this time, they will often send their subordinates to fight the most powerful Space Marines, not only to enhance mutual understanding before fighting side by side, but also to secretly give each other a disadvantage. And in this duel, Sigismund never lost, he picked all the legions' Star Marine champions, and never lost.

The first person under the original body.

Fu Qinghai has seen it today.

There is not a hint of moisture in this title.

"Now, tell me about that prophecy."

Sigismund looked at Fu Qinghai and said.

"The Supreme Prophet of the Ark of Usvi, Adrad Uslan, prophesied that Isokel Abaddon would lead the Chaos Space Marines legion out of the Eye of Fear, and you...... will die in a duel with him. ”

Fu Qinghai looked at Sigismund and said.

"So, they got back anyway."

Sigismund's eyes lit up:

"I knew it, and I never questioned that."

Fu Qinghai could not see the slightest look of worry or horror on Sigismund's face, only a flush of excitement and hatred, as if he had not heard the second half of Fu Qinghai's words at all. Fu Qinghai suddenly remembered what others had said about him - he hated traitors too much, so he never refused to die.

"So what are you doing here, Aoyama Khan?"

Sigismund looked at Fu Qinghai and asked:

"You're here to witness this happening?"

"I'm here to stop this from happening."

Fu Qinghai said with a serious face.

"Hmph."

Sigismund chuckled and asked:

"Just by what you just did?"

"My performance doesn't stop there."

Fu Qinghai turned his neck and said with a smile:

"Do you want to do it again?"

Fu Qinghai's interest came up, in the past, he had picked up the entire battle group without an opponent, and it was rare to encounter a strong opponent who was evenly matched, so he was naturally unwilling to let it go easily.

Sigismund's interest also came up, and Fu Qinghai reminded him of the time of the Great Expedition, when the Star Marine Legion was so pure and desirable.

"Come on!"

Sigismund clenched his sword again.

……

In the training cage, Jin Ge resonated and his figures were staggered.

Outside the training cage, the Space Marines of the Black Templar crowded into a small viewing space and watched in a daze.

From the perspective of a bystander, they gradually summed up the similarities and differences between the two war leaders.

Generally speaking, if a warrior is skillful, he will defy himself by deflecting and blocking in duels, and will often prefer to hold a sword in one hand. If a warrior lacks skill or prefers to rely on sheer strength to win, he will hold a sword in both hands in battle, relying on the weight and strength of the weapon to break the enemy's defenses.

Sigismund did not belong to either of the two, and like Fu Qinghai, he sometimes held a sword in one hand and sometimes a sword in both hands, and he was both skilled and powerful, switching between the two states at any time. He doesn't have a simple defensive move, every move he makes is a perfect blend of defense and offense, and every move contains a fatal blow.

Here's what they have in common.

However, they also have differences.

Sigismund has only used a long sword from beginning to end, and he has integrated all his fighting skills and fighting instincts into this long sword, and the battle process is extremely focused, so it can be said that he has reached the realm of human and sword unity.

Fu Qinghai used all the weapons on the weapon rack, swords, guns, halberds, axes, hooks and forks, it seemed that there was no weapon he wouldn't use, any weapon could burst out with terrifying power and gorgeous skills in his hands.

And during the duel, if you focus on the weapon in his hand and ignore the other parts of him, such as his other hand, his head, his legs, feet, and knees...... These body parts can be a lethal weapon, and if you are not careful, you will be hit and defeated.

Aoyama is a consequentialist — that's what his martial arts teacher, Albuth Lang, said about him at the time.

As long as he can win the battle, he doesn't care what means he uses, whether it is biting teeth or slashing swords, or even adopting some fraudulent strategies, as long as these means can lead him to win the final victory.

Like now.

In the face of the Black Sword Master's fierce blade storm, Fu Qinghai did not retreat but crashed headlong into Sigismund's attack, the blade brushing diagonally across the side of his face and cutting off a tuft of hair. The double-edged axe screeched into Sigismund's blade, deflecting the lower end of the axe to the hilt in a trembling wrestle to hook the blade and press it against Sigismund's wrist.

Sigismund drew his sword and retreated, the double-edged axe roared over his shoulder, Sigismund did not continue to distance but directly smashed the end of his sword hilt into Fu Qinghai's face, Fu Qinghai dodged and then tilted his head, his skull hit Sigismund's forehead, only to hear a loud "bang" on the ground, Sigismund was flipped to the ground.

This is already the third duel between the two.

Fu Qinghai's record: one win, one draw and one loss.

Fu Qinghai laughed and looked down at Sigismund, who was lying on the floor with blood on his face, and asked:

"How, how am I doing?"

……

The Eternal Crusade's bilge prison.

Fu Qinghai leaned against the wall alone.

Sigismund is a very stubborn person, three evenly matched and equal duels, so that the two of them have a faint posture of becoming confidants, but when it comes to the matter of demon armor, the black sword saint still refuses to compromise, insisting on putting Fu Qingguan in the bilge prison and waiting for the trial court to come.

Fu Qinghai didn't think there was anything about it, and he wasn't the only person in the Human Empire who used demonic weapons. Garland Crowe, the lord of the Grey Knight Castle, wields a demonic weapon, the Sword of Antville. The leader of the Space Wolf Warband, Logan Grimnall, also has a demonic weapon, the Mokai's Axe.

Demonic weapons are powerful, but they are also very dangerous. Lord Garland Croburg needs to face the bewitchment and whispers of the demon in the sword at all times, and it is with an extremely strong will and faith that he can keep this magic sword. Logan Grimnar also relied on his own willpower to subdue the demon of apocaustism in the axe. Cases of demonic weapons controlling the host or even counter-devouring the host are always common, and Fu Qinghai is now able to completely control the ghost battle armor, not by his willpower, but by Zhang Yuning's use of his own essence and blood combined with the exquisite formation arranged by Fu Qinghai's real name, so that the eight evil spirits and demons can obediently.

Fu Qinghai is not worried about these now.

According to the time in Adrad's prophecy.

The Black Army is coming soon.

Fu Qinghai leaned against the wall, took out the long-lost notebook from the white suitcase, opened the notebook, and browsed the names from top to bottom:

The Widowmaker, Fakus Kaibo (dead).

Flesh Ripper, Nasir Amit (captive).

The Tattooed Prince, Nacred Saul (deceased).

Demon sorcerer, Kteshas (dead).

Smiling Lord, Sherion (dead).

Flawless Blade, Lucius (defeated).

Soul Breaker, Adoron (dead).

……

These are his defeated men.

Fu Qinghai continued to look down.

Blade Warrior, Coth Wayne.

Midsummer thunder, Juba Khan.

The philosopher of war, Makarion.

The Prince of Ravens, Sevita.

The Raven of Mourning, Sharokin.

The Lord of Cowardice, Qin Xia.

……

These are all regrettable things that have never been fought against.

Fu Qinghai finally found the name:

Black Juggernaut, Sigismund.

Fu Qinghai bit his pen and thought about it.

Finally wrote one after his name:

"(Ping)."

…………

The void outside the Eternal Crusade.

The Eye of Fear is the only stable passage to the real universe.

It is also known as the "Gate of Kadia".

Suddenly, a magnificent warship that was as large as the Eternal Expedition jumped out of it. It was another Glorious Queen-class battleship, once belonging to the Sixteenth Legion, the son of Horus, the personal seat of the commander, the place where the angels died, the famous ...... Vengeful Spirit!

At this time, on the bridge of the Vengeful Spirit, Abaddon saw one after another jet-black battleships outside through the viewing circle, and couldn't help laughing. A hint of ill-intentioned joy flashed in his eyes, and he opened his arms and assumed a king-like pose, turned to Cayan beside him, and said:

"It seems that we are not the only 'black' legion."

…………