Comoros.
This is a place situated between the warp and the real universe. Within the gap of the veil, the Eldar empire at its peak, with its unparalleled technology, carved out a wondrous space.
They built cities within them, the core of which was the ultimate crystallization of Eldar technology: the Bone of the Universe.
Many Eldar technologies are built upon a material called 'Spirit Bones'. This is a highly malleable material developed and processed by the Eldar themselves. It can exhibit almost any physical property required by the shaper and can be used wherever the Eldar need it.
Warships, armor, Eldar Titans... all developed by piecing together spirit bones.
A high-level spiritual bone, combined with countless processed materials, created everything.
The Bone of the Universe is the highest-level existence among spiritual bones. Even when the Spirit Race was the overlord of this universe, they used all the power of the entire Spirit Race Empire to create only a handful of them.
At the height of their power, they used it to terraform star systems and build space cities. Each one was the Eldar Empire's proudest creation, a magnificent feat of engineering, an invincible war machine, a supreme work of art…
They arrogantly called this supreme creation the 'Skeleton of the Universe'. They truly believed that this was the skeleton of the universe, and the Eldar empire was the flesh and blood on that skeleton, and that they would be immortal.
However, at the height of the Eldar Empire's power, boundless greed and indulgence gave birth to Slaanesh, a malevolent god, deep within the souls of all Eldar. The warp storm unleashed by her birth not only devastated the entire warp but also reverberated throughout the real universe, instantly destroying the entire Eldar Empire.
The last Cosmic Bone created by the Eldar Empire was placed within the veil between the Warp and the real universe. After mastering the methods to open and control the veil, they planned to use this Cosmic Bone to build a Veil City, capable of swiftly and at any time connecting the Warp and the real universe, and allowing travel to any location at any time, serving as a transit station for the universe.
When the Eldar Empire was destroyed, only a very small number of Eldar living in this veiled city were fortunate enough to escape the calamity.
Although they lived in constant fear of being devoured by Slaanesh for countless millennia, at least they survived, and their city of the Veil survived to this day.
That veiled city is the Comoros; the Eldar who survived in the Comoros are the Dark Eldar.
They made Comoros their home, living a life of hiding behind a veil for tens of thousands of years. During this time, they also continuously plundered resources from the outside world, using the Bone of the Universe as their core to devour and transform these materials, thus contributing to the development of Comoros.
Today, Comoros is less a 'city' and more a planet that is constantly growing and expanding within a veil. Even if its development over tens of thousands of years has been slow, its scale has far exceeded conventional understanding.
Today, there are numerous families, large and small, in the Comoros. They were founded at different times, some recent and some ancient. The most recent ones may have been established in the last year or two due to intrigue and upheaval; the most distant ones may even trace back to the once glorious Eldar Empire, spanning tens of thousands of years.
At the same time, they also vary in size.
The larger ones, like the Blood Curse Clan, are among the pillars of the Comoros; the smaller ones consist of three or five nobles who band together to make a living.
Speaking of nobility, this is also a characteristic of the Dark Eldar.
Eldar have an absurdly low birth rate and a high infant mortality rate. Newborn babies are easily eaten by Slaanesh, so they must be born in special equipment, but even so, the risks still exist.
Their manpower is therefore severely lacking.
Every Eldar born normally is precious; these are called 'nobles,' possessing the highest ceiling in Comorian society. Not every noble can truly become a superior being, but at least their development has no limit; given the right abilities and opportunities, there are pathways for advancement.
Aside from the nobles, the so-called commoners are simply offspring born from secondary births. These are the Dark Eldar, created using genetic technology, not naturally produced.
Their lifespan is much shorter than that of normal Eldar, and so is that of their offspring. Compared to nobles, their bloodline is degraded in every way, and they are more susceptible to having their souls devoured by Slaanesh.
But no matter how much they deteriorate, they are still the Dark Eldar, and the nobles regard them as their own kind.
However, even with genetic technology to directly clone and create new populations, it would still be insufficient to address the massive manpower shortage in the Comoros. A large number of foreign mercenaries and slaves constitute the Comoros's largest manpower pool, controlled and enslaved by the Dark Eldar using cruel and bloody techniques. They perform the hardest and most exhausting tasks, serve as cannon fodder in battle, and, when necessary, are sacrificed to replenish the souls constantly drained by the Slaanesh.
Noble families led the way, their sons formed the main body of the family, and slaves and mercenaries were at the bottom. Countless such families constituted the general framework of the Comoros.
Above all the families are three major institutions.
The Witchcraft Cult, the Blood Spirits Association, 'Black Witch King' Victor.
The first two do not lead the clans; rather, almost every clan has a sorcerer or blood spirit who is also a member of the cult or association. Sometimes, they are loyal to the clan, but most of the time, when the interests of the cult or association conflict with those of the clan, they tend to side with the cult or association.
Some are families willing to go through fire and water for both, annihilating those families that dare to conflict with the religious order or association in order to gain greater benefits.
As for the 'Black Witch King', that's a single person.
It is said that Victor, despite his noble lineage, rose from humble beginnings. He started as a mercenary and, over a thousand years, built a great reputation, established his own family, and then, based on the 'Black Witch' family, united and allied with countless other families.
Intrigue, bloodshed, terror... these are the most common tactics used by the Dark Eldar, and he has mastered them to perfection.
His own power inspired fear and made people dare not confront him. He was the strongest warrior, a great mage, and a wise ruler.
The unification of the Dark Eldar and the Comoros was considered almost impossible in the past. But in the last three thousand years, it was achieved by Viktor.
Comoros is not yet a unified regime, but it has a unifying leader. He does his best to maintain the entire Comorian structure, and only he can mobilize dozens, or even hundreds, of families to act together.
In the last thousand years, no one has resisted him anymore.
They neither dared nor were willing.
The fear stems from dread of his methods and his power.
They were unwilling because there were genuine benefits to uniting around him.
He truly has the ability to lead a team and reap profits.
At this moment, he was with the leader of the Witch Spirit Cult.
The leader of the Witch Spirit Cult, the Great Witch Spirit Old Woman, had her eyes gleaming slightly with purple light.
The image revealed in his pupils was exactly the same as what Gu Hang had seen in the Storm God Kingdom.
After a while, the light in her eyes faded, and her body involuntarily took a few steps back.
After catching her breath, she bowed slightly to Victor and said, "He has seen it."
Victor nodded.
His expression was quite melancholy.
He never showed this expression to others.
That would be very dangerous for his rule.
But only in front of the old woman could he reveal a little of his true self without too much worry.
On the one hand, the old woman would not reveal it, nor would she become his enemy.
On the other hand, only the old woman knew the kind of pressure he was under.
The pressure regarding the fate of the entire Eldar race.
"Prophecy...prophecy...haha, do you know, I used to be the least skeptical of fate?"
"If I believed in fate, I would have bowed to it, and there would be no Viktor today."
He was speaking to the old woman, but it sounded like he was talking to himself.
He has the right to say that.
In the beginning, he really was just a mercenary. Viktor, who fought his way up from humble beginnings, only regained his surname after he achieved fame and success—or rather, his surname found him.
During this period, he faced death countless times. If he hadn't defied fate, maintained a calm mind at all times, and possessed a fighting spirit, he would have lost his life long ago during those numerous brushes with death.
How could he accept his fate?
The old woman understood, yet smiled and said, "Perhaps, this is your destiny? You are destined to lead our people. The hardships of the past were gifts from fate..."
"Heh." Victor sneered. "Fate, fate... Does this mean that the final fate of the noble and great Eldar will be decided by humans?"
"Those humans? Do they even deserve it? Their race is so lowly and ignorant. There is no reason or wisdom in them. They follow the crowd, they are blind, they are so easily controlled... Look at the slaves at the bottom of the Comoros, more than half of them are like them! They only deserve to be slaves! When did this inferior race ever get the chance to be kings and rulers?"
"Their laughable empire, with its vast territory, is ruled like a bloated zombie. Their inept governance is simply not befitting this era. The overlords of the galaxy? I have never seen an overlord so constantly attacked by various forces in the last ten thousand years! Utterly ridiculous!"
Viktor cursed and swore, listing the many despicable aspects of the human race.
The old woman stood nearby, listening quietly.
After Viktor finished venting, the old woman spoke softly: "But their numbers are endless."
"Ha, just endless slaves."
"Among them were many heroes. They had their emperors."
At this point, Viktor fell silent.
The Emperor... who dares to deny that?
That being who stands in the subspace, able to rival the four evil gods, can be feared and hated, but no one can ignore or deny it.
Furthermore, regarding the heroes among humanity… the Eldar pirate groups, who raided human empires and had numerous dealings with humans, the Dark Eldar often managed to gain the upper hand and achieve their desired results through their superior technology and elusive movements.
But they weren't truly invincible. They also had their share of mishaps.
Perhaps the Dark Eldar made a mistake, but there was certainly no shortage of so-called 'heroes' among the humans who turned the tide and saved the war.
"Moreover, a new god may emerge from among them."
The old woman added softly, making Viktor even more uneasy.
He paced back and forth, finally unable to resist asking the foolish question: "Are you really sure? Sure about everything?"
"No." The old woman spread her hands and said, "We've discussed this before, haven't we? Prophecies, we only know that they will come true, but nobody knows exactly how they will come true or in what way."
"Perhaps we are wrong. The Blood Curse Clan is right. It's very simple. That human emperor and his son who was destined to awaken are a perfect example."
"It's also possible that the Endermen are right, and that the human emperor isn't a true god yet. He hasn't sacrificed his entire race, the foundation of his ascension, to become a true god of the Warp. The youngest evil god is still the Slaanesh we fear. What we need to seek is a son of Slaanesh..."
"It's also possible that I'm right, that the Storm God who has already secured a niche in the warp and will likely grow even stronger in the future is actually the youngest. His already born son is the one who decides everything..."
"Perhaps we are all wrong."
"But it doesn't matter."
"We have enough strength to try every route."
Victor couldn't help but say, "Destroying Robert, or destroying Gu Hang's alliance, and killing his son, might reverse the prophecy?"
"All those who try to defy prophecy will eventually make it come true in another way that they would rather not want to."
"Hoo…" Viktor sighed deeply and finally fell silent.