Boyzilla: I agree; there is little reason to worry about how Hakuno will end up commanding on the battlefield. The gods of chaos are jealous deities. If Hakuno starts stealing worshippers from them, she will eventually become the first target of the tide of madness and destruction that threatens to flood the Old World... but well, I think with the help of her Servants she will be able to face it!
Sarii: Thank you for your interest in this fanfic, but I already have enough servants to add without being asked for more. Think about this: "More Servants on as many pages = fewer lines dedicated to each Servant". What is the point of adding Servants if in the end, we can't talk about them because of lack of space?
Mures et Homines
(Of Rats and Men)
"We can compare the Demons of Chaos to hungry and enraged wolves. The shepherd must not waste his time hating the wolf that attacks his flock. He just has to kill it."
The Great Theogonist Vohlkmar the Severe
The victory had a bitter taste for Hakuno. She did not like fighting. Forced to fight to defend herself, she suffered every time the Moon Cell erased one of the Masters of Grail War.
She was now discovering that in the absence of corpses and blood, the Chimerical Lunar Seas clashes were in fact... forgiving and sanitized.
The Old Word was neither merciful nor sanitized.
There were people of flesh and blood in the wars. The magic of a repair program did not erase the damage. Humans were not enemy_programs that disappeared into particles before being replaced by identical programs...
"Milady"
Immersed in her dark thoughts, Kishinami did not turn her head. She continued to fix the battlefield, following Marcel de Dammartin towards the baronet's manor. He had just interrogated a captured zealot. The worshiper had told him that the Slaanesh temple was in the cellars of this great building.
The fighting had ended in the streets of the village. The dead littered the dirt, some houses were still burning, the black smoke, pushed back by the wind, made Hakuno cough.
The real wars were dirty, horrible, and permanently disfigured the landscape. That's what she learned today. Books never taught that kind of thing.
"Milady" This time, the worried voice pierced the mist that reeked the spirit of the Victor of the Moon. The teenager in school uniform turned to Saber:
"Artoria?"
The lady knight looked regal in her dress-armor. Moreover, her hair like powdered gold, her distinguished features and her eyes similar to priceless emeralds gave her a breathtaking beauty. Yet when Hakuno tilts her head, the adorableness appearance of her young Master took the legendary King Arthur by surprise. In spite of her expressionless face and her ordinary appearance, Hakuno Kishinami had a formidable charm and the knights of the escort began to whisper, suddenly looking at the teenager with interest.
The King of Knights blushed and turned her head aside to try to mask her trouble, and then she coughed in her gauntlet to lighten her voice... Saber was suddenly unsure of her vocal cords. While her voice had always remained strong and clear even in the fiercest of battles:
- Milady, you should not follow Lord Dammartin to the temple of Slaanesh.
A determined glow passed through Hakuno's starry eyes as she pressed her hands on her chest:
- I must go and see.
Artoria sighed. Why did she always find herself invoked by stubborn Masters who did not listen to her warnings?
- Milady, you don't have to go yourself, I can represent you.
But the young Inheritor of the Moon shook her head. Although her face remains as impassive as ever, she nevertheless manages to give the impression of firmly abide by her earlier decision. Her Servant held a second sigh before taking a gentle voice, like that of a mother explaining something difficult to her child:
- Master, the vision of the battlefield has already shaken you. I fear that the temple of this... god is an even more horrible place. This kind of divinity demands from its followers' acts of... depravity that are already difficult to hear and much more to see. You have no reason to do this to yourself.
Hakuno nervously swallowed... the usual absence of expression leaving room for an obvious dilemma. Unable to speak, the Moon Cell survivor nodded and stepped back.
Artoria straightened up, instantly becoming the King of Knight again, capable of judging at a glance and giving the best orders:
- Knights, stay with milady, and defend her.
- Yes, Lady Pendragon.
The waiting began. Towards the west, the sun disappeared behind the trees and the shadows lengthened. The victorious fighters were busy digging a common grave for the dead cultists... the bodies of the Daemonettes having fallen to dust as soon as the spirits that animated them had returned to the Warp. The killed peasants would be entitled to an individual grave and the knights would be brought home to be buried in their family vault. For the time being, their armored bodies had been placed on their saddle covers, their hands crossed over the pommel of their sword. The battle pilgrims had erected a small altar nearby and prayed.
Under the fringe of her long caramel-colored hair, Hakuno's eyes cleaved. Sad feelings came to trouble her.
She could not bury her own deads or pray for them...
Part of her had seen her death, deleted by the Moon Cell, as a way to pay for her sin. Only... Hakuno had received neither death nor the expected atonement. Instead, as in these mangas that some students in class 2-A were reading, she had been reincarnated into another world.
She inspected herself with a critical eye, always this body too thin, she still even wore her old school uniform... which seemed completely anachronistic in this medieval world. Nothing had changed in her... except the ring on her finger. According to Artoria, its name was "Regalia" and represented her quality as Sovereign of the Moon Cell.
Why was she there? Apart from a nearly complete history of the world, she was on, the Moon Cell had not explained anything to her.
The teen girl had read somewhere that we never started a new life, we only continued it. This must have been true, for once again she was lost in a story that surpassed her with the sole support of her Servant and as an enemy a being who wanted to change the world for reasons as nebulous as they were selfish.
She wasn't a goddess, she didn't have huge powers, but Hakuno knew that thinking about others didn't mean thinking in place of others. Power was not an excuse to deprive others of their ability to make choices, because, without the responsibility of choosing one's life, there was no freedom. Rin had explained it to her at length
A freedomless human was... just an NPC... like those of the Seraph. And no one was better placed than her to understand that death was better than this fate.
Mechanically, Hakuno shook her head... Since when did she think she was a great philosopher?
Rather than get lost in this kind of sterile daydreaming, the young Master sought something concrete to do and her eyes settled on the Regalia. If this ring was indeed a link to the Moon Cell and gave her power over this entity of photonic crystals, it must have been able to use it.
Focusing her thoughts on the narrow band of gold adorned with a ruby, a sapphire, and an emerald, Kishinami swallowed unintentionally. It wasn't a physical object in spite of... in spite of the fact that she can touch it and see it. It was actually an incredible number of lines of compressed computer code!
Facing a violent headache caused by the complexity of the structure she was trying to understand, Hakuno refrained from continuing the exploration of the Regalia. The young Master silently cursed the Moon Cell (a reaction that began to become a habit). It was too much like her creator to release her into an unknown environment to carry out an unspecified mission thanks to a kind of miraculous ring... and no explanation of its utilization.
Hakuno Kishinami often felt like living her life in the "Extra-Hard" mode.
Like every day of her week is the worst day of normal people's week.
Artoria Pendragon had seen horrible things in his lifetime. How many times had she looked for villages looted and burned by the Saxons in search of survivors? Only, by comparison, her former enemies were saints.
How could one sink so far into depravity?
Robert de Dammartin and the knights who accompanied him had begun the purification of the temple of pleasure from their entry. They knew exorcism rituals and had brought with them relics of knights of the Grail to chase away the impure influences that permeated the place.
Artoria had thus devoted herself to the more prosaic tasks, such as the visit of the prisons where the future sacrificed were waiting... There she found a terrified teenager. He did not appear to have been subjected to any... or at least physical... abuse, as far as his mind was concerned, he had been permanently shocked. However, after she had spent a little time talking to him in a gentle voice, the teen boy returned to her a clear look.
The teenager was shocked but not broken; he seemed to have understood that she was not part of the Slaanesh cult and that the horrors that had been inflicted upon his had just ended. So there was hope that he would recover completely.
Enveloping the teenager in a blanket, she led him outside the manor to entrust him to the battle pilgrims, the only healers accompanying the small army.
The night was falling and with the exception of a few sentries, everyone was asleep. The peasants were laying on the ground... no one wanted to stay in the still-standing houses. As for the knights, they had set up several round tents that they occupied.
Artoria found her Master in one of them. Hakuno Kishinami, lying curled, asleep with her head resting on her arm. The slightly open lips let in a peaceful breath.
"Looks like an angel, doesn't she?"
Artoria turned to face Robert de Dammartin. The paladin no longer wore his armor. Age had bent its great powerful body marked by the rough life of the soldier. Emaciated, wrinkled, bleached under the Harnois, his eyes were filled with a power that was not quite his, the eyes of a man who had seen the inside of the Grail.
She had a thin smile, tilted her head in a polite salute:
"Yes, Lord Dammartin, a strange mixture of innocence and an experience of the world too bitter for her young age. The winners of the Grail Wars are always quite unique individuals. Let's move away, shall we? Talking here might wake up my Master."
The paladin made an invitation gesture:
"After you, Lady Pendragon."
They walked to the outskirts of the camp. At night, the black and white landscape was peaceful. You could hear an owl singing on a tree of the forest. In the sky, lazy clouds partially hid the stars but the silver light of Mannslieb and the green light of Morrslieb were visible. The two moons of the Old World could not so easily be masked.
As the clouds tore to reveal the chaotic moon that served as the planet's companion, Artoria shudder. It emanated from this moon such an unhealthy and corrupting presence...
- Don't stare too long at Morrslieb, Lady Pendragon.
- Thank you for the warning, Sir Robert. I do sense danger... What happens to those who stare at this moon for too long?
Robert de Dammartin shrugged:
- There are only rumors. Some people would have seen Morrslieb turn into a demonic and laughing face. What is certain is that an astronomer has never managed to understand the phases of this moon. It grows and decreases without rhyme or reason. Those who spend too much time watching it go crazy. Morrslieb was not always there. She appeared seven thousand years ago. Some say it was shaped by Chaos from the debris of the portals of the Slanns.
- I see.
Artoria remained silent for a moment, tasting the wind passing through her hair and caressing her face. Then she turned towards the old paladin:
- Do you hate Chaos?
Surprisingly, Sir Robert smiled:
- When I was young I hated it. Then I realized it was absurd. If you walk down a cliff and the ground collapses under your feet, you're not going to hate the cliff. Khorne is the embodiment of violence and death. Tzeentch is the change when Nurgle embodies disease and decay. They are natural forces endowed with intelligence. They threaten this world and want to change us into things we can no longer call "human". We must fight them... but why hate them?
The King of Knight acknowledged with a nod but her gaze remained questioning:
- I note that you did not mention Slaanesh.
- Because I hate him...
As Artoria lifted a surprised eyebrow, the old man had a tired smile:
- It is said that even the other gods of Chaos are frightened by Slaanesh. Yet he is the youngest and least powerful of the four major gods. He was born of the corruption of the Elves who became the Dark Elves (1).
He shrugged:
- What will happen to Khorne when the world becomes a gigantic battlefield? What will happen to Tzeentch when he has corrupted every living thing? What will happen to Nurgle when the world will be filled with only undead and sick peoples? I suppose they will cease to exist, probably because deprived of purpose they will destroy themselves... But what about Slaanesh? He represents the infinite capacity of the human heart to desire! There is no end to desire. Every desire satisfies is a door that opens to a new desire. Moreover the wise know this is a hunger that is better not to seek to satisfy...
The eyes of the King of Knight narrowed:
- And you hate Slaanesh because he feeds on desires and reminds you of yours, Sir Robert.
- Yes... there is nothing glorious about it, Lady Artoria. The Grail's Knights live in deprivation, having vowed poverty and chastity. I live in an isolated chapel and feed on the vegetables of my garden and the offerings of the peasants. The local lord provides me with a steed when I need it, repairs my weapons and armor. Yet, like every man, there is a shadow in my soul... a part of me that is not satisfied with this life. What remains of the young boy I have been, dreaming of marrying a princess and having a great castle.
Artoria approved of:
- It is human, and desire is not bad in itself.
The old paladin smiles again:
- I am well aware of that. But I am also aware that even the simplest and most just desire, like having a family and wanting to see your children prosper in peace, is a door through which Slaanesh can enter the heart of the best of men.
The King of Britain pondered this answer a few moments before approving with a chin movement:
- I now understand why you hate Slaanesh.
The long column of the Bretonnian army was now on the way back. Like on the outbound trip, Hakuno's donkey was firmly guided by Artoria Pendragon riding alongside her Master.
Things looked a lot like the precedent trip... and Kishinami had a sore butt again. The travel on horseback was very uncomfortable for someone who did not know how to ride!
However, the ranks of the men-at-arms and knights had been cleared up by the deads of the previous day, while the battle pilgrims led about a hundred prisoners wearing wooden shackles and tied together by a long rope.
A pegasus returned to the column of men, having circled a moment in the sky in search of possible enemies. He came to rest next to Robert de Dammartin who guided his steed towards him to listen to his report.
He returned to Artoria and Hakuno. As the paladin did not carry his helmet, they saw that he was worried. The King of Britain took the initiative to ask him what was going on.
He winced:
"Beastmen attack a commercial caravan of the Sigmar Empire, just west of here on a secondary road crossing the Great Forest of Artois towards Lyonesse. I would like to go to their rescue, unfortunately, I can't risk the prisoners escaping taking advantage of the confusion."
Artoria thinks for a moment:
- Are there many assailants?
- Not less than three hundred, but according to my scouts they would have these non-chivalrous weapons called harquebus. It's unusual, Beastmen are generally considered stupid.
- What about the Imperials, Sir Robert?
- The escort must be eighty men and small cavalry of black reiters armed with wheeled pistols and an infantry formed by arquebusiers and pikemen. Not to mention hundreds of merchants, mule runners, and travelers who take advantage of this escort.
The gain of connecting with the Moon Cell was obvious to any tactician imagining a battle plan. Artoria had never faced troops using primitive firearms. However, hardly had the term "reiter" been pronounced that she visualized mercenaries in black armor, carrying pistols to the belt. They were skirmishers who would run their horses close to their enemies, unload their weapons and pick up to reload, before repeating the maneuver.
The Sigmar Empire infantry was based on two types of complementary units.
The pikemen were troops armed with very long spears that advanced formed in a long rectangle. This mass of fighters moving forward and handling their pike could break any unit of cavalry or infantry that hit him from the front. However, it was a heavy and not very maneuverable unit, very vulnerable to flank or reverse attacks.
The harquebus was one of the first firearms created. Heavy, long to load, but able to pierce without difficulty an armor of plates, the harquebus was seen by the Bretonnians as "non-chivalrous" because the harquebus allowed any commoner to kill with a bullet a knight much better born than him. The imperial arquebusiers fired by salvo, on several rows. While one row fired, another was reloading.
Taken separately reiters, pikemen and arquebusiers certainly constituted dangerous units. Nevertheless, these were highly specialized units with weaknesses that were easy to exploit. However, together and in capable hands, these troops could do terrible damages.
"Give me three hundred men, sire Robert and I will save this caravan."
Artoria's replica was awaited by the sighing paladin. Hakuno addressed a warm smile to her suddenly embarrassed Servant. The legendary King Arthur could not leave innocent people in danger.
When the Bretonnians arrived on the scene, the battle had already lasted for hours. The Imperials had time to position their carts in a circle. Shielded from this improvised barrier, they were shooting at the enemies that surrounded them. Like all struggles before the invention of smokeless powder, the battlefield was obscured by grayish clouds and the acrid smell of consumed gunpowder irritated the throat.
However...
The Beastmen were wielding weapons that spewed green smoke.
"Knights with me!"
The twenty or so gallant knight in heavy armor who formed the cavalry of her small troop gathered around Artoria. At the same time, she ordered the infantry to remain hidden in the forest, the men-at-arms in front, the archers behind. As the forest dominated the road that passed below, the archers were a little higher on the slope and could, therefore, shoot over their comrades without hindering them.
Hakuno Kishinami turned to King Arthur: "What are you preparing?"
"Look, Master, and learn. I entrust you with the command of the infantry. Archers must only fire at my command." Artoria smiled: "I always thought that telepathic communication between a Master and his Servant could be an extraordinary asset on the battlefield. A direct communication that cannot be intercepted... that changes the very conduct of the battle, isn't it?"
The Victor of the Moon nodded. Of course, she had never fought an army. However, her innate tactician abilities had enabled her to triumph over all her opponents. She was intrigued by Saber's behavior, but the assurance of the King of Knight was contagious. Hakuno lit up with a smile.
Busy attacking the caravan, the Beastmen saw the knights arriving at the very last minute, they could not prepare for the shock, scattered as they marched undercover to pull towards the wagons. The shock was appalling...
- Pour la belle Bretonnie !
- Pour la dame et le bon roy Louen !
The war cries of the knights gathered in spearhead sounded a moment before contact. The spears struck humanoids in armor, while the horses trampled on the opponents. The galloping steeds crossed the entire enemy formation to the other side. Already Saber was bending her course to describe a circle bow and return to the Beastmen.
The latter were growing terrified squeaks and regrouping. Artoria frowned... According to the Moon Cell, Beastmen were usually Gors (male goats or male boars with long horns). The Brays (the un-horned Beatmen) was at the very bottom of the ladder and were generally weaker.
The long muzzle trimmed with whiskers, the body covered with a thin dark grey coat, the long bare tail, the trembling ears... these Beastmen looked like rats standing on their hind legs.
The mutant monsters gathered fearlessly while some harquebus fired at them. The knights had broken their spears during their first charge and were now wielding magic silver swords shining with sunlight. The rat-men seemed blinded by this brightness and some lifted their paws armed with claws to protect their red eyes.
Wielding Excalibur surrounded by its wind sheath, Artoria struck left and right, smashing the strange triangular shields of the enemies. The monsters failed to stop their charge and once again the knights came out on the other side of the rat-men formation.
Once again King Arthur was on the battlefield, the young woman calmly considered the situation. Cheering echoed from the cart circle. Taking advantage of the chaos, the escort of the caravan opened fire on the humanoid monsters, inflicting severe losses on them that were in addition to those of the two charges of the knighthood.
She nodded: "We withdraw in slow trot, let the enemy follow us".
The Bretonnian knights were proud and reckless. They could not bear to hear words like "withdrawal" and even less "flight". However, the charisma of Artoria was such that no one protested.
Sheltered in the forest, Hakuno had seen the confrontation between her Servant and the strange rat-men. Now Artoria came back on them, making sure not to distance her pursuers. And the plan of the King of Knight became evident.
"Prepare to fire!"
The peasant bowmen buttoned their arrows, keeping their weapon down. Tense, the Master was waiting (by a strange reversal of situation) for the order of her Servant.
[Now, fire, fire!]
The mental call of Artoria touched Hakuno just as the knights were accelerating all of a sudden, taking a course parallel to the edge of the forest. The Sovereign of the Moon Cell stretched out her arm, pointing to the humanoids:
"Commence firing!"
The archers fired a salvo after another and the arrows fell on the rat-men, caught by surprise... it was a massacre. Many humanoids rode to the ground, wailing in pain and terror. The light wounded and those who had been spared immediately abandoned their pursuit of the knights who, moreover, were returning to them. Leaving their deads and severely wounded, they began to run desperately.
Artoria waited only for this and charged again. The retreat of the rat-men turned into a general rout. Every humanoid didn't hesitate to run to save his life and abandon his helpless comrades.
Around the caravan, the onslaught of the monsters also turned to a rout. Apparently, the creatures weren't courageous and the loss of half of their strength was enough to convince the others to run as fast as they could. Of course, the Imperial escort was not really willing to let them go like that and pushed a cart to let the reiters go out. Saving the powder, they drew their swords and slashed mercilessly their fleeing enemies:
- Sigmar !
- Tötet die Monster bis zum letzten!
Artoria had just landed near her Master. The teenager in a brown school uniform was examining a rat-men's corpse. Several expressions quickly passed over the face of King Arthur. She disapproved of the teenage girl approaching the dead. The King of Britain tried hard to convince herself that one of the rat-men may have been acting and might have been attacking Hakuno. Except that Artoria recognized what she really wanted was to spare her Master the sight of the corpses. However, she is not intervening. A battle pilgrim quartet surrounded her Master, and these bodyguards seemed ready to give their lives to protect her.
Somewhere, the King of Knights was annoyed by its own response. She only knew Hakuno for two days why did she react so overprotective?
Unaware of the embarrassment of her Servant, Kishinami smiled at Artoria:
- Good job, Saber.
Artoria bowed one hand on the heart:
- Don't think about it, Lady Kishinami. I have only done my duty.
- How did you come up with this idea?
- This is an elementary tactic, I have only applied it. Is it not said that the surprise effect is three-quarters of the victory?
Haluno nodded before focusing on the humanoid rat. During the battle, these monsters seemed smaller than her. In fact, the men-rats were standing crouched and their actual size had to approach that of her guards. They wore hoods concealing the top of their head, cloth armor, or sometimes scales armor on the body, with dirty bandages covering their hands and feet. Their smell... Hakuno laid her hand on her nose in the vain hope of filtering out the stench that evoked sewers and garbage.
The triangular shields bore inscriptions and signs. As she concentrated to understand them a translucent window appeared in the air, filtering her vision. Above the lines of writing appeared a translation which the teenager pronounced aloud:
"Skryre Clan"
The Regalia immediately opened a new virtual window containing information about the "Skyre clan". It was a faction of the Underground Empire (or cloacae), the Skaven nation.
Skavens? Kishinami had briefly seen some images of these creatures during the Moon Cell presentation. These were mutated rats, having taken a humanoid form. They worshipped a god of chaos called the Horned Rat. They used rather advanced technology and magic by the norm of the Old World, naturally. It was based on the Evilstone, or Distorting Stone, a kind of mutagenic ore that looked like uranium in old pulp novels or comics.
As for the Skyre clan, they were technomages and sorcerers specialized in the use of the Evilstone. They utilized it to strengthen the weapons and armor they made... or even to replace the ordinary gunpowder, hence the green smoke emitted by their weapons.
Hearing a horse coming, Hakuno Kishinami looked up to see several reiters coming. Whoever was in the lead must have been their leader, given the jewels he was wearing and his velvet clothes.
Artoria cames closer and stood behind her with her hands crossed over the pommel of her invisible sword, radiating a formidable presence... The captain of the reiter cast a strange glance at Saber. He had seen her fight but still had trouble believing that such a slender and beautiful woman could be so dangerous.
Fortunately for him, the mercenary had just come to thank his saviors in a few flowery phrases pronounced in a bad Bretonnian and with an involuntarily humorous accent. The man's name was Friedrich Kraulen. He directed not only the reiters but also all the guards of the caravan. They had left Marienburg and crossed the Grey Mountains by the south pass, before going north towards Artois. Their goal was Couronne. However, during the crossing of the Great Forest, they had begun to be attacked every night. Shadows crept into their camp and attacked them under the cover of darkness.
"... and so the Beastmen attacked us every night. However, we arrived here and this forest was the last obstacle before Couronne. I guess our enemies tried to do or die by attacking us en masse in broad daylight."
Hakuno listened and nodded:
"These are not ordinary Beastmen, they are Skavens."
Friedrich Kraulen looked at the Victor of the Moon as if she were crazy:
"Skavens are a fairy tale for children. They don't exist!"
There was a moment of silence, the guards of Kishinami did not believe in the existence of the Skavens any more than the mercenaries of the Empire themselves. However, they were conditioned to obey those who spoke in the name of the Grail... And for them, Hakuno was one of the many. They were offended and ready to jump at the neck of the mercenaries.
Artoria felt the tension and intervened:
"You have an idea of why your attackers chased you so hard, my good man. As you can see, they are cowards. So they needed excellent motivation."
Kraulen took a few moments to think:
"I asked myself the question and I see only one thing. Come, follow me, I will show you."
Following the reiters, they entered the ring of merchants' carts. Friedrich Kraulen then showed them a priestess of Shallya goddess of healing, compassion, and births busy caring for the wounded:
"This is Hilda Fieseler, she was given a special assignment. Explain yourself, fraulein Fieseler!"
The tall, skinny woman was hasty and visibly ill, losing her hair by a handful. Her hands trembled:
"A few months ago, a dwarf miner found a strange stone in a vein in the Grey Mountains. The miner became ill and died. The stone was accused and sent to the Shallya temple in Marienburg. Our healers found that the stone was impregnated with the powers of ruin and sealed it in a transparent cube. I was tasked with transporting it to the Great Temple of Shallya at Couronne and entrusting it to the Most Holy Matriarch Lisegund in the hope that she would find a way to neutralize this thing."
Hakuno agreed: "Can I see this stone?"
Fieseler hesitated for a moment and shrugged her shoulders. She went to one of the carts and opened a chest to show a glass cube containing a large rock from which came out several green and luminous crystals. The Master reached out:
"Code Cast: View-Status"
"What are you doing?"
Hakuno did not answer, a new virtual screen had just appeared in front of her, covered with lines of code in the strange writing of the creators of Moon Cell.
Hakuno Kishinami nodded, that was exactly what she had thought when she heard about this stone:
"It is Evilstone. This rock is simultaneously the origin of the science of the Skavens and the pillar of their religion. I think they feel a little offended that priests of another god are trying to destroy a creation of the Horned Rat!"
Fraulein Kraulen looked at Hakuno with a mixture of anger and disdain:
"Impossible the Skavens do not exist. It is a legend".
To say that after a real rat-men attack gave an indication of the arrogance of humans, always sure of knowing everything.
"The greatest trick of the Devil is to persuade you that he does not exist."
Charles Baudelaire.
(1) This is a common belief in the Old World, but it is wrong. Slaanesh is older than all known civilizations.