Warhammer: Lord of the Endless Monster Horde [210]

Rhodes turned to look at the Living Saint—she gave him no face at all! She was in a foul mood. Cut him down? What exactly does she want to cut?

"Everyone has a private life! Right, Miss Celestine?" Rhodes smiled.

We're all adults. Public is public, private is private. No need to meddle in my personal life.

"Hmph! I just want to advise you, Lord Rhodes: you are still young, and temptations are hard to resist. I understand. But you must uphold your beliefs. You are the Emperor's Primarch, his chosen. You even have access to the Emperor's avatar. The Emperor's love for you exceeds even his other sons. Don't let him down," Celestine snorted.

"What does this have to do with letting the Emperor down?" Rhodes asked.

The Emperor's avatar is my doing! Even the Emperor's got to curry favor with me, and you're lecturing me now?

"Instead of doing dirty things with those Xenos, why not spend time honing your skills or visiting your soldiers? That would be meaningful," Celestine snapped.

Rhodes' recent behavior annoyed her. The Primarch should be perfect—powerful, wise, and charismatic. He and the soon-to-awaken Guilliman could save the Imperium. He should be fighting for mankind's future. But he's into Xenos! To Celestine, this was pure blasphemy! Even though Eldar are beautiful, they're not even the same species.

She had to correct the Primarch's mistake, to tell him what's right and wrong.

Rhodes shook his head with a smile. The Imperium's truth—mankind above all. That's fine. But if you exterminate all non-humans, how are you different from Chaos?

Not to mention, I have a whole bunch of non-humans working for me!

"Heh! Miss Celestine, you're quite charming yourself! Even though you're technically dead, as they say—'the jade still shines, the fragrance lingers,'" Rhodes said, lifting her chin playfully.

Celestine's eyes widened in disbelief.

He… he dared to tease me?

She froze for a few seconds, then trembled with rage, hand on her sword. Rhodes just smiled. If you want to fight, go ahead—I won't back down.

Just then, golden psychic energy flared from Celestine, her gaze growing distant.

"That's enough, friend. My Living Saint has a fiery temper; even with my persuasion, she'd cut you without hesitation," the Emperor's voice sounded in Rhodes' ear.

"You saw it, she started it! I didn't provoke her. And since when can you talk through her?" Rhodes asked.

The Emperor could communicate with Rhodes via a psychic link through his avatar. Normal beings can't handle the Emperor's psychic might—it would fry their brains and souls instantly. But Rhodes' soul and body are strong enough, especially with the avatar as a buffer and his system.

But Celestine shouldn't have this function—she can receive the Emperor's will but not let others hear him.

"The balance between realspace and the Warp is broken. My psychic powers are stronger, thanks to you. I upgraded my Living Saints, combining warp energy and avatar materials," the Emperor explained.

He used to be unable to speak through the living, but now, with upgraded bodies, he can. Only with Rhodes, though—others can't handle it.

"So her upgrade is thanks to me," Rhodes said.

The Emperor was quick—using avatar materials to upgrade the Saints. The avatar is a biosynthetic weapon, not just a machine. Its regenerative powers mean losing some flesh is no big deal and is perfect for upgrading Saints.

With this, the Saints' power skyrockets!

"You can play with Xenos, just don't fall in love. I got along with Eldar back in the day," the Emperor said.

"You? The human supremacist? You were with Xenos?" Rhodes grinned.

Didn't expect the Emperor himself to have had Eldar girlfriends!

"Ahem! Stop talking nonsense. I didn't play with Xenos, just had some contact. Where do you think my swordsmanship came from? Before mankind left Earth, I already knew about the Eldar, who visited us as elves. I liked them at first, and an Eldar swordmaster taught me. I even lived with them for a while. But you know why I left?" the Emperor asked.

"So why?" Rhodes asked.

In some 40k lore, it's hinted the Emperor learned swordsmanship from the Eldar. Turns out he did stay with them, and his height matches Eldar women.

"I went there with a friendly, inquisitive mind; we got along at first. But I realized they didn't respect me—they saw me as a pet, a smart monkey. Their friendliness was just curiosity. I was furious. I concluded: you can cooperate with Xenos, but never fully trust them," the Emperor said.

Rhodes is still young, but I can't blame him. When I first entered the galaxy, I was curious about everything, even the beautiful Eldar women. But their affection was only curiosity for a clever monkey—they never saw humans as equals. When I learned that, I was deeply offended. The proudest Eldar Empire even humiliated early humanity, so we beat them to show them they weren't alone in the galaxy.

Rhodes nodded thoughtfully—so the Emperor and Eldar have quite the history.

"I'm not blaming you, and I no longer hate all Xenos. I've learned a lot in these ten thousand years. Too much force breaks things, as your people say. I'm on the throne because I was too forceful. Now I choose to cooperate with the Eldar gods. The red-haired girl is fine—keep her if you like. But the white-haired one is a prophet—don't marry her. As a lover, I'll turn a blind eye," the Emperor said.

"Got it! Don't worry, the white-haired one's just for fun," Rhodes replied.

"I'll handle Celestine for you, erase some of her memories. Show her some respect—she'll be your supporter for a long time. And stop teasing her!" the Emperor said.