Emperor's Bane

Chapter 554 Kneel down, you bastard!

Chapter 554 Kneel down, you bastard!
"The Emperor has summoned us all: the entire Legion, a hundred thousand men, who, at the command of the Lord of Mankind, have trampled through the stars and space, abandoned the Holy Crusade, and returned to this place."

"We paid so much, both in terms of the victory that was within our grasp and in the losses of soldiers in the warp voyage, but what greeted us was only an empty space, with only your two blood relatives and dozens of scattered servants: no cheering crowds, nor the grand parade ground we had set up before."

"But most importantly..."

"The Emperor is not here."

"At least, I can't feel him."

"This is not a good sign, Luo Jia."

"A Primarch and his Legion should not be slighted in this way: not unless there is a reason for it."

"Of course, it's possible..."

"Alright! Kor Phaeron."

When his adoptive father's nagging had affected his inspection of the legion, the Word Bearer finally spoke in displeasure. His voice was so soft that only he and Kor Phaeron could hear it clearly, but it was also stern enough to make the captain of the first company shut up.

"In any case, we have returned to this land."

The Primarch let out the breath in his chest and walked towards the end of the phalanx. That was the last squad that needed to be inspected. They stood at the bottom of the hillside, closest to the City of Perfection. They were so inconspicuous among the vast army of Word Bearers in gorgeous clothes.

But even so, more than ten meters away, Luo Jia still recognized at a glance that it was a team belonging to the Jagged Sun Regiment. Then, he recognized the warrior standing in the front: when everyone was cheering, this team leader with long black hair and yellow skin was so quiet.

And Luo Jia appreciates this calmness even more.

The Primarch stepped forward and smiled at his scion. Three years had passed since they last met: yet Angertai looked unchanged.

"And now that we're back here, there's no reason for us to leave in a hurry."

The Primarch added the second half of the sentence, speaking to both Kor Phaeron behind him and Angertai in front of him. Then, the Primarch did not forget to ask the captain, who actually understood nothing.

"What do you think, Anglete?"

Angertai did not speak, he just stood straight, beating his fist on his breastplate to express his support for the Primarch. His pupils were covered by tactical goggles, and Lorgar could see his own snow-white face in contrast, and the hundreds of Colchis characters written in golden ink on his face.

They stretched from the bald head to the chin line, tight and perfect, and every word was the most pious prayer, foreshadowing the Primarch's hope for the galaxy.

The Primarch's gaze lingered on these glittering scriptures for a moment, then he turned around, leaving Angertai who was trembling with excitement, and looked at his adoptive father again, looking at this skinny and aging man: his eyes were still fierce, his teeth were still sharp, and there was no change from the day they met.

"So don't worry, Kor Phaeron."

The Primarch smiled a comforting smile, leaving behind the cheers of a hundred thousand soldiers, and walked to the front of the entire legion. Only he and his captain could stand here. Behind him was the legion that was indistinguishable from the crowd, and in his lifetime it was a perfect city that was quiet and dead.

Behind him, the silent Korphan casually glanced at Angortai further behind him: Angortai was not the only one who cared about the second that Rogado stayed, but after observing him carefully, the company captain finally withdrew his gaze with disdain.

He saw nothing special about this Anglete.

“It’s still so sacred.”

Luo Jia sighed, pride echoing in his chest.

"No matter how many times I watch it, I can't imagine that such a miracle was built by our own hands: Think about it, Kor Phaeron, since the Perfect City still stands here, then what suffering is there in this galaxy that you, I, and our Legion cannot endure?"

The captain lowered his head and did not try to persuade his son again.

After all, the other two Primarchs were walking towards them at this moment, and the distance between them was only a few hundred meters. Kor Phaeron was very worried that what he said to Lorgar would be heard by these upcoming children of the Emperor.

"This is your decision, and I will follow you to the very end, as always."

"Like on Colchis."

The company captain's cracked lips moved up and down, he swallowed his saliva, and rubbed his rough skin. In the end, he could only squeeze out a dry oath of allegiance. He did not forget to specifically mention the years when he and Luo Jia shared hardships, adding weight to his words.

The Primarch smiled and did not care about the inner struggle of his adoptive father. Instead, he was immersed in the glorious silhouette of perfection, tracing back his past years here: both forty years ago and the three weeks before.

"Yes, I was in a state of confusion during the past three weeks."

Luo Jia stood there, talking to himself, questioning his own heart.

At this moment, he remembered his previous embarrassment and panic: after being double-polished by the Emperor and the Primarch, the letter from Governor Monachia was directly disseminated throughout the legion through public channels. From the Primarch to the mortal servants, everyone could analyze what they wanted to see from it.

But without exception, the Emperor's fleet surrounded the City of Perfection. This ironclad fact still caused the Word Bearers to fall into panic. Although Lorgar's own calm attitude suppressed the turmoil within the legion, it could not suppress the heart of the Primarch himself.

Along the way, the Great Bearer did not meet anyone, but locked himself in the hall, reading the letter over and over again, thinking about the Emperor's meaning, his mood fluctuating between joy and panic: and this transformation finally reached a climax when they just sailed into the Monachia system and saw the glaring Space Wolves fleet that was stationed next to the Ultramarines fleet.

Ruth came in person.

But Ruth didn't meet him, or even talk to Luo Jia.

It didn't matter. Russ's fleet was a symbol in itself: the whole Imperium knew that these Wolves were the Emperor's military police. They rarely visited other legions, but every visit was accompanied by disturbing rumors.

Such a message was enough to intimidate the Primarch, or at least Lorgar: so, when he was sitting in the Stormbird being monitored by Guilliman and flying towards the ground, the Primarch felt more panic than humiliation, and fear of the future in a few minutes.

But this fear finally stops at the perfect city.
When Luo Jia saw that the building that he had spent his entire life on was still standing there and still shining brightly, the Primarch's quick thinking confirmed one thing: at least, the situation had not yet reached its worst point.

Otherwise, all he would see would be the ashes of the perfect city.

Thinking of this, the Primarch couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief.

Just like a spring that had been compressed to the extreme was suddenly released, although the perfect city before him could not actually guarantee anything, the Primarch's heart was still greatly relaxed, and even his eyes became much more peaceful: even when he saw Guilliman walking towards him, his quiet heart was able to accumulate some goodwill.

In fact, if you think about it carefully, his brother Macragge is stubborn, ambitious, arrogant, annoying, spiritual, and reckless...

But if we ignore these shortcomings, Guilliman is also a good person.

With this thought in mind, Lorgar was the first to smile at Guilliman. This abnormal smile made Guilliman, who was halfway through his walk, stunned for a moment. He instinctively shifted his center of gravity backward, posing a posture ready to act at any time: this abrupt action made the already subtle atmosphere between the three Primarchs fall into an inexplicable awkwardness.

What are you doing?
Guilliman understood the confusion in Morgan's eyes and could only shake his head awkwardly and force a smile in response to Lorgar. Then, he took two quick steps and shook Lorgar's hand first, but the horrifying scene of the Great Speaker smiling at him just now emerged in his mind.

So scary...

"I hope everything that happened before didn't mislead you, brother."

Guilliman managed to squeeze out a word, but he didn't know what to say next. Fortunately, Lorgar didn't actually want to talk to him in depth: after a few simple polite words, Lorgar turned his gaze to another blood relative who had arrived late.

"Long time no see, Morgan."

He smiled genuinely.

Frankly speaking, Lorga actually had a very good impression of Morgan. Although they had only met briefly a few decades ago when they went together to pick up Conrad who was still on Nostramo, the meeting was generally pleasant, especially Morgan's final initiative to ask Lorga for the Records of the Holy Words, which made the Great Bearer of Words label her as "spiritual".

Not to mention that after that, Luo Jia accidentally heard that Avalon under Morgan's rule maintained a tolerant and laissez-faire attitude towards faith, and [freedom of belief] was also written into the basic national policy of the Far East Frontier: Although this is not a world-shattering achievement, compared with other areas of the empire, this simple move is enough to make Luo Jia feel warm.

Finally, among his brothers, there was someone who understood things.

Thinking of this, the Great Speaker's smile became much more sincere.

"I didn't think that what happened here would make you go through so much trouble to come here."

Lorgar held Morgan's hand and shook it up and down vigorously. The gentle words he said made Guilliman, who was standing next to him, look at his empty palm innocently: Didn't he and his Ultramarines also go through great trouble and come here from a similarly long distance?

#bitter#
【The Emperor's will.】

Morgan responded simply, trying her best to make it impossible for Lorgar to remember her voice.

"Yes, only the order of the Emperor of God can bring us together here."

The Great Speaker smiled.

"So: Where is the God-Emperor?"

This simple question made Morgan and Guilliman look at each other, and just as the Macragge man was thinking about how to answer, the Spider Queen had already stepped back, turned sideways like she was entertaining a guest, and showed the gate of the Perfect City to Lorgar. The Great Speaker looked in the direction, but only saw Malcador and dozens of guards.

Before he could figure out the meaning of this action, he saw that the heavy gate of the Perfect City, which required hundreds of people to push open, was suddenly melted alive by the dazzling sun with a loud rumbling sound.

"……no no……"

Luo Jia realized what that sun was, and he stepped back, unable to even stand steadily, speaking incoherently, as if whispering could change his fate.

But unlike the cowardice between his words, the face of the Great Speaker at this moment was distorted and ecstatic: sometimes he was dazed because of shock, and sometimes he showed joy because of the miracle in front of him, as if he had obtained an extremely dangerous and priceless treasure. Between fear and joy, he didn't know how to choose for a while.

“…This…this is true…”

Behind him, the silent and majestic Word Bearers were finally dispersed by the noise: thousands of Word Bearers warriors had their eyes irritated by the strong light, and they retreated together with Kor Phaeron. The shouts that came one after another disrupted the public channel, creating chaos.

The insiders standing in front of them already had their own countermeasures.

Guilliman turned his back, shaking his head and sighing at the farce that was about to happen; the Guards separated to both sides of the road, paying silent blessings to their master who had not appeared for a long time; while the Sigillite standing in the distance and Morgan standing nearby simply did not move: they had long been accustomed to the feeling of the sun being so close to them.

Morgan was more accustomed to it: after all, she had come into contact with this sun at a negative distance.

It was because of this that she was not disturbed by the Emperor's light, and was able to see Lorgar's cowardice, the chaos of the Word Bearers, the true majesty of the Emperor over the world, and the shock that his aura alone could bring to an entire legion. She also saw and remembered it all.

She swore to herself: One day, she would also be able to perform this genuine miracle.

Then, Morgan turned around, a perfect smile already on his face.

She bowed slightly to the approaching emperor, fulfilling her duty as a subject, and the Lord of Mankind glanced at her silently. A moment of helplessness flashed across his serious and gentle face, but more of it was just a trace of time after long-term hard work.

As the Emperor passed by Morgan, she heard his inner voice: her Gene-Father speaking to her in the spirit realm.

+Did you remember it? +
He asked: standard, imperial style of evasiveness, but by then Morgan was already very familiar with these sentence structures, she knew what the Emperor was saying, and her answer was also in the Emperor's style.

【They are just the tip of the iceberg.】

Morgan's voice echoed in his heart again, but he did not receive a response from the Lord of Mankind, because the Emperor was already standing in front of Lorgar: The Great Speaker stood up again, and he bravely tried to confront his father, because he found that there was still love, trust and kindness in the Emperor's pupils.

That's for him.

＋Luo Jia. ＋
The Emperor spoke.

"Father."

After a moment's hesitation, the Great Speaker bowed his head to his lord.

"You're here?"

Lorgar lowered his head, but the Emperor did not respond to him immediately. Instead, he waved his hand to the side. From the corner of his eye, he could see his brother Guilliman, the Guards and that old man Malcador, who, under the Emperor's silent command, stood aside one after another and became insignificant spectators.

The Primarch watched silently, and only when his eyes passed Guilliman did he feel a little bit of emotion for his blood brother. As for Malcador and those guardsmen? Lorgar never felt anything for these flashy people.

But then he discovered something wrong: his relative of Avalon obviously wanted to follow the others and leave the venue together, but just as she passed behind the Emperor, the Lord of Mankind only stretched out one arm, abruptly pressed Morgan's shoulder, and then forcibly brought Morgan to his left side.

Luo Jia was shocked by this action, and Morgan's face was full of surprise. She even looked at the Great Bearer who raised his head: just a moment of eye contact. Luo Jia could confirm that his Avalon bloodline was completely unexpected.

This is the Emperor's idea.

……probably?

Before Luo Jia could figure it out, the Emperor spoke in this strange posture: one hand on Morgan's shoulder, the other hand on his waist, to his offspring in front of him and the 100,000 Word Bearers warriors who had regrouped in formation.

His voice echoed in a hundred thousand extremely nervous hearts.

+You know where this is. +
The sound echoed in the square, but was greeted only by silence.

"Father……"

Luo Jia stammered, trying to answer the emperor, but was ruthlessly interrupted.

＋You also know who I am. ＋
The Emperor's emotionless gaze swept over everyone present, and although these words confused all the Word Bearers warriors, no one dared to look at the Emperor: they avoided the Emperor's sight as if they were avoiding looking directly at the sun, and just listened to his voice devoutly.

Then, they heard the third sentence.

＋So, you should know. ＋
＋Here, facing me, what should you do? ＋
No more sound was heard, leaving only Lorgar with his head down, and the 100,000 bewildered Word Bearers warriors behind him: these people were always waiting for their Primarch's orders, and it was no different now, while their Primarch was also trying to figure out his father's thoughts.

What do the Emperor's words mean?

Where is this?
It is a perfect city.

Who is in front of you?

It is their god.

So, what should they do?

Confusion surged in his heart, causing Luo Jia to frown deeply. Beads of sweat began to appear on his forehead, until a very strange groan, like Morgan's voice, reached his ears.

The Primarch instinctively raised his head, only to see a scene he would never forget.

Morgan, looking at him.

...No, that's not right!
That's not Morgan!
Luo Jia's eyes widened.

He saw it. He saw the Lord of Avalon left by the Emperor on his left hand side, but she was no longer the relative he was familiar with: her hair escaped the influence of gravity and floated in the air. Her face was no longer as gentle as before, but full of holiness and majesty. But the most important thing was her pair of blue-green pupils.

Now, it is golden yellow.

Now, it is a burning flame.

just now……

It can only belong to... one god.

A god behind her!
"..."

At this moment, the Great Speaker's entire body was shaking.

What should they do?

How could he be so stupid!

In the perfect city, the holy city in their hearts, facing their gods, what can these humble believers do? What should they do!

"..."

No hesitation, no repentance, and no further thinking.

In silence, in ecstasy, in full view of a hundred thousand Word Bearers warriors.