Not just facts on a page. Not diagrams or ancient footnotes in dusty tomes. Empathy. That's how you understand an Emperor War Beast.
That's how you survive one.
They weren't just born of chaos—they remembered it. They carried it. They chose to evolve, to ascend, not through power, but through pain. Through loss. Through choices so impossible, even the gods looked away.
And now… somehow… one of them had shared that with me.
I pressed a hand to my chest, grounding myself.
"If I could feel that—really feel what Nian felt—then maybe…" My voice wavered. "Maybe there's a way to reach them. To reason with them. Maybe not all of them are monsters waiting to tear the world apart."
Maybe they're just… grieving.
Trying to protect something no one understands.
I slumped back into the chair, heart still racing, but a flicker of hope lighting up inside me like a spark catching dry wood.
