Emperor's Bane

Chapter 675: The prosperity of the times cannot hide the decline
“Return to the essence, assemble the gods, and ascend the throne above the clouds again.”

【The mind is stronger than things, transcending the ordinary and becoming a saint, changing the direction of all things in an instant. 】

"Is this what he said?"

[There are many more lofty aspirations: but at the root of it all are just these few sentences. ]

"..."

"Do you know which library Tianqi threw him into?"

[Maybe it's the one you used to brainwash my bastard dad into becoming an emperor.]

"Stop coming!"

The clanging of black iron staffs on the floor inlaid with double-headed eagles, and the rustling of dark brown robes against torches made of orc skulls were annoying: but all of this was dormant in the face of Malcador's full-blooded dissatisfaction. The eyes of the Sigillite were burning with anger at this time, a kind of arrogance mixed with tremendous pressure and willpower.

"If I really had such a treasure, I would definitely send all of you Primarchs in first. I was not even informed of Perturabo's whereabouts in advance. When his ship arrived in the low-Earth orbit of Ullanor, we learned that he had completed the construction work on Nikaea, but never reported it."

[Hmm, that sounds a bit illegal?]

"A bit?"

The seal bearer sneered.

"Even if he is a high lord, I can kill him just based on this matter."

"Bringing a fleet to the skies above Ullanor without any notice?"

"Humph!"

【But he is not a high lord. 】

Morgan shook his head.

[Perturabo is the Primarch. This matter can only be regarded as a small matter for a Primarch. Besides, from the perspective of a Primarch, a small matter is already a very serious accusation.]

[What! You still want to punish him? ]

[Are you going to let Guilliman lead the team to burn Olympia as well? 】

"Shut up."

Makhado's look was frightening.

"Of course I know that you primarchs always like to trample on the law."

Obviously, these trivial matters, which seemed insignificant to Morgan, ignited the timely anger of the Seal Bearer: when the Seal Bearer's face became serious, even Morgan could only lower his head and temporarily avoid the attack.

"So when I created you, I mentioned to Apocalypse that maybe I should make you all female. That way, at least you can become more reasonable, instead of being as troublesome as you are now. Even twenty of you are better than twenty Horus."

【Are you kidding?】

“It used to be: because we all know personality has nothing to do with gender.”

The seal holder rubbed his brow in pain.

"Besides, he can't even handle twenty boys, let alone twenty daughters. If it weren't for your support and me watching from behind, it would be harder for him to meet with each Primarch individually and pretend to be a loving father than to hang himself."

【Isn’t this a matter of course?】

Morgan chuckled.

[It was because I foresaw this that I prepared the script for him in advance.]

“Foresight.”

Malcador tilted his head slightly.

"But I'm curious: How did you get this foresight?"

[Having seen the performance of our beloved Emperor in the Perfect City, do you think that such things still require foresight? ]

"That was not what I meant……"

【I know what you want to say. 】

Morgan waved his hand.

[That’s right: I calculated it based on my current embarrassing situation.]

She seemed to sigh.

[Because now, I can't have a long conversation with every child under my command: I am really familiar with only a few thousand people, and although I know the rest of them well, I just can't chat with them: I don't know how many times I have been there trying to make conversation, and they just nod in front of me. ]

[There is already a thick barrier between me and most of the descendants, especially the new recruits recruited in recent years. Whenever I want to chat with them, I always feel like I can’t keep up. I know every bit of information about them, but there is just no topic for us to talk about: or in other words, there seems to be a lack of tacit understanding between me and them, a tacit understanding that can only be cultivated after decades of daily interactions.]

"tacit agreement."

The seal bearer chewed on the word.

【Yes. 】

The Spider Queen seemed to have thought of something, and she curled her lips, looking a little dejected.

[In the beginning, when the Dawnbreakers only had 10,000 or 20,000 people, and the Far Eastern Frontier was just a makeshift team, I could cram everyone into one fleet, ensuring that I could recognize and look at everyone's face: I had a tacit understanding with these first descendants, which was developed through daily interactions.]

[Rana, Hector, Bayar: Even though they each have their own missions now, and the time they meet with me is far less than before, but in the beginning, what they get from me is no worse than Horus.]

[But after them, when new warriors began to pour into the legion, the battle line on the Far Eastern Frontier expanded to the point where I had to divide the legion into branch fleets, and when these names that I used to be with day and night had to wait ten, twenty years or even longer before I could see them again, all the previous situations happened unknowingly.]

[Just like...]

"Like the Emperor?"

Morgan dropped her eyes, her pupils shadowed.

[I don't think that my emphasis on them is biased. At least in this respect, I think I do better than the Emperor: some of my descendants do deserve more attention from me, but I certainly can't exchange one for another, but I think the Emperor can do it.]

[He didn’t say it, and I haven’t seen it, but that’s how I feel.]

"..."

Malcador narrowed his eyes, and for two or three seconds he struggled between wanting to say something but stopping himself. But in the end, the Sigillite said nothing: even he could not guarantee to Morgan that the Emperor would definitely treat every one of his bloodlines equally.

After all, the man in front of her really has the blood of her brothers on his hands: as long as Morgan has some sense of common belonging to the concept of "Primarch", then the fact that the Lord of Mankind possessed her and asked her to kill that person with her own hands is enough to ensure that the Spider Queen will bear a grudge.

Of course, Morgan knew that the Emperor's actions were correct, and if it happened again, she would not hesitate to use assassins, but she would definitely feel uncomfortable. This was something that Malcador knew but could do nothing about: the original design of the Primarchs was not to be saints.

This is especially true of Morgan: she was just a little luckier than that guy.

"In that case..."

Malcador stroked his robes.

"Does it bother you that you can't maintain a strong connection with each of your descendants?"

This is a novel idea.

The Sigillite muttered to himself: During these days in Ullanor, not only the Emperor, but Malcador himself has been working hard to communicate with the various Primarchs to ensure that no new problems will arise in their hearts. However, looking at every Primarch who has reluctantly confided his thoughts to him so far, it seems that no one has ever had the same concerns as Morgan.

You know, as the fiefdoms of the various Primarchs have been implemented, almost every legion is expanding its size. In any expeditionary fleet, there are hundreds of Astartes warriors who have never seen the Gene-Father they are loyal to. They can only rely on the loyalty in their bones and the stories of their predecessors to maintain the increasingly fragile father-son relationship, but Malcador has never heard a Primarch complain about this situation.

Even Sanguinius, Vulkan, and Mortarion, who were known to be kind fathers, were more concerned about the Legion as a whole rather than any individual in the Legion during their difficult communications with Malcador: this was already very rare.

The seal holder didn't know whether this obvious contrast was a good thing or a bad thing, but in his heart, he sighed again because Tianqi had rejected his half-joking suggestion without hesitation.

"no doubt."

His tone was determined.

"The emotions you possess are indeed much richer than those of your blood brothers."

[Trust me: this isn’t an entirely good thing.]

Morgan smiled, enduring the soft and wet breath on his chest and shoulders, but his blue-green pupils were mixed with a hint of light purple.

"how?"

The seal bearer's eyes turned serious for a moment.

"Do you think this is their influence?"

【Let’s not talk about this. 】

Having said that, Morgan nodded again.

They all fell silent until the Spider Queen's gaze swept across the drill ground at the foot of the mountain: millions of warriors were doing final rehearsals for tomorrow's parade. Among the marching troops, you could see every Astartes Legion and all the famous mortal auxiliary forces in the Empire.

There is a mix of good and bad people, but everything is well organized.

【It’s really good. 】

Even the Queen of the Far Eastern Frontier exclaimed in admiration from the bottom of her heart.

【Did you arrange all this by yourself?】

"And the officers under my command."

The seal holder closed his eyes, but there was a hint of pride in the corner of his mouth.

"Tens of thousands of veterans from Terra can arrange everything on Ullanor."

[Incredible: Mortals always exceed my predictions of them.]

“It’s as it should be.”

The seal bearer silently recited the names one by one.

"I know that all of you dislike the Supreme Lords, or High Lords, that the Emperor and I have arranged. Even Leman Russ has complained to me in private, accusing me of transferring the power of the Empire from the War Council to the Terra Council."

【Power is not important.】

Morgan whispered.

[At least for most of my blood brothers, they don't really care about their positions on the War Council. The Great Crusade is so busy that every Primarch has very few opportunities to return to Terra. How could they care about a few positions on Terra? What we really care about is that the actions of mortals to squeeze us out of the center of power are so crude and ugly that they make people feel sick.]

[If we were willing to take a detour and postpone the matter until after the Great Crusade, everything would not be so troublesome.]

"Maybe."

Malcador did not argue: he did not like to dwell on matters that were already done.

"My decision was indeed flawed, but you have to admit one thing: the High Lords, at least the first High Lords of this generation, are all outstanding people, elites destined to go down in history. They are geniuses selected by me from across the empire, and their wisdom and abilities are not even inferior to yours."

【Really? 】

Morgan chuckled.

Does this wisdom include taking Cthulhu from Horus?

"It was a technical error."

The seal holder's complexion turned a little worse.

"After Horus reported to the Emperor, his Cthulhu remained his."

[Does he have to report this small matter to the Emperor? ]

"Very clever, isn't it?"

Malcador asked back.

"Although he was confused at first, His Excellency the Wolf Shepherd God obviously realized where his power and title came from. He knew that compared to so-called merit and strength, the Emperor's trust was the ultimate factor that determined his position as Warmaster: and he responded immediately."

"Look at it now. Horus almost always mentions the Emperor. He binds his will and ideas to the Lord of Mankind, and indeed no one can oppose him. Perhaps there is no clue at present, but in a few decades, when a new generation of people and warriors grow up, they will naturally connect the words of the Wolf God with the will of the Emperor they have never seen."

"At least on this point, Horus's actions were quite decisive and smart."

【I know. 】

Morgan nodded.

[Is this why you had to return Cthonia to him? ]

"In fact, at the beginning, Horus himself didn't care much about this world. He had no feelings for Cthonia, and he originally thought that it was the Emperor's will to take Cthonia away, so he didn't object at all: until he found out that it was actually the idea of ​​the High Lords' Council."

[Really? The relationship between you two is still so strained. ]

"Just muddle through: if anything goes wrong, the Emperor will be there to help."

[Indeed: this is the only way.] Morgan turned her head, and hundreds of flags were reflected in her pupils, full of patterns and words that she was familiar with, unfamiliar with, or even unheard of: even the innate language database that every Primarch had, which the Emperor gave her during the operation, could not overlook Ullanor at this moment.

After all, at this time, Ullanor was home to elite warriors from all over the galaxy, millions of worlds and countless expedition fleets. Although some of them had brilliant military achievements, they were never known to the general public in the empire throughout their lives. The cultural and linguistic gap between these human worlds and Holy Terra was so great that it could only be confirmed through genetic testing that they were indeed human.

However, from these lost worlds there are warriors with extraordinary strength and will. They only need the most basic weapons to fulfill their loyalty, and are often deployed on the most remote expeditionary fronts that Holy Terra only occasionally mentions every few decades, close to their hometowns, serving as vanguards and main forces.

These battle lines were so far away: so far away that Morgan had never even heard of them.

[Will it delay the overall progress of the Great Crusade if all these people are transferred here to participate in this flashy military parade? Especially those remote fronts, these main corps have been running back and forth for several years just to appear before the Emperor and the Primarch? What about their own wars? ]

"Why? Are you jealous?"

Macador smiled.

"I heard that your Far Eastern Frontier did not send more delegations."

[My mortal soldiers are not that interested in the honor of Holy Terra: I have ensured that every mortal auxiliary army legion under my command that has made great contributions will now have representatives on Ullanor, but their numbers will not be too large.]

"But the mortal auxiliary army you brought is second only to Guilliman in size?"

【Isn’t this normal? 】

"And his Ultramar soldiers seem to have little interest in the honor of the Empire."

[That's his problem: and you're really wasting these soldiers' time.]

Morgan frowned: this pure loss-making business made her feel very uncomfortable. Although if you look closely, the front line in the remote area has nothing to do with her interests at all, but what miser can watch a pile of banknotes burning in front of him?

This is a waste.

“It’s an honor.”

Malcador was quite open-minded. He stretched out his finger and measured with his naked eyes the statue of the Primarch standing next to the square below: the Mechanicus had worked tirelessly to replicate the Forum of Heroes in the Terra Palace on Ullanor, just to add a touch of embellishment to the vision of the Lord of Mankind on the day of the parade.

"Like this square. It will be of practically no use after the parade tomorrow, but without it and a thousand other useless things, and even without the parade, the Great Crusade will be lacking something."

"The same goes for those mortal warriors. If you use the war as an excuse to refuse them from being reviewed in front of the Emperor, they will instead regard you as a villain and an enemy. Doesn't Horus know that the position of Warmaster actually has no practical benefits? But it is absolutely impossible for him to give it up."

“Honor, fame, face: how many heroes live for this.”

"Even if blood must be shed."

[You have something else in your words, Seal Holder.]

Morgan glanced at him.

[Let me guess: Did something happen in the whirlpool again? ]

"Your information is quite good."

[Not really. Everyone knows how stubborn the pirates in the Great Whirlpool are. Maybe in ten thousand years, the defenders of the Great Whirlpool will still have to worry about the banditry. But what does this have to do with me?]

"Specifically, this has something to do with your friends in the Mechanicus."

The seal bearer rubbed his fingers, and whenever he talked about these serious matters, his expression, tone and movements would become light in the blink of an eye: the old and frail appearance was just a disguise after all, and the real seal bearer was in the prime of his life.

(Malcador's soul is said to be a young, silver-haired handsome boy. It is doubtful whether he is an immortal, but his actual physical condition is definitely much stronger than what he shows.)
"You should know that there is a group of space dwarves hiding deep in the Maelstrom."

[Of course I know.]

Morgan nodded.

[Their ancestors were enemies of the Human Empire in the early days of the Great Crusade. We took great pains to eliminate most of them, leaving only a few remnants to escape into the deepest part of the Maelstrom: It is said that the reason why the Mark III Power Armor was designed to be so short and strong is to make it easier to fight in the Dwarf's mountain fortresses.]

"Also, it is to adapt to boarding operations and assaults in the absence of cover."

Malcador clenched his fingers, and the crackling sound was fierce.

"My intelligence network in the Maelstrom region told me that as we mobilized a considerable number of elite troops in the Maelstrom region for the Ullanor military parade, countless space pirates who had been hiding have been dispatched again. Instigated and funded by the remaining dwarves, they have once again plundered the empire's colonies and shipping routes, and have even begun to endanger major worlds. The home planets of several legions have been affected."

[Sounds like the Germans destroying the newly disintegrated Roman Empire.]

"They are much more terrifying than the barbarians in the Black Forest: the Great Whirlpool is the second largest warp rift in the entire galaxy, second only to the Eye of Terror. It is also the area with the most dense star weight in the entire galaxy. It covers hundreds of light years, and warp storms occur frequently. There are countless abominations lurking inside."

"At least twenty small Ork empires or raiding gangs, remnants of space dwarves, independent Hrud worlds, countless space pirate dens, and a large number of alien remnants who refused to submit to Imperial rule and had fought wars with us: Imperial rule has never been stable no matter how great the Maelstrom is."

“Now, they’re out again.”

The seal bearer looked at Morgan.

"After the events in Ullanor and Nikaea come to an end, the several legions in the Maelstrom region must return immediately and use the most severe means to eliminate the pirates in order to deter the troubles deeper in the Maelstrom. Terra will also support them, and your Forge World ally Riza, as one of the undisputed overlords of the Maelstrom region, must also support the Empire's elimination activities free of charge."

"Give it your all."

Is this a request?

"It is an order: the Emperor's order."

"You will now have to pay for the favors you sought from the Emperor on their behalf."

【I see. 】

The Spider Queen nodded: She was fully confident that she could convince Riza, all she had to do was...

【But you know that, Malcador.】

Morgan blinked, she didn't intend to return empty-handed.

[If you want Riza to devote all his strength to such a large-scale battle, you must remove the shackles on them: Mars has always been very close to the military strength limit of each large forge world. The Forge General and his minions have asked other forge worlds to disband the oversized Skitarii more than once. If this shackle exists, Riza may not be able to exert their full strength. ]

(Mars does have the power to demand that other Forge Worlds surrender some of their armies.)
"You really never come empty-handed."

The seal holder groaned.

"Tell your friends that the Emperor and Terra will keep an eye on Mars for them: as long as the Great Whirlpool region can be calmed down as soon as possible, Riza can do whatever he wants. Mars will not ask about the size of their army, nor will it take the opportunity to harass their territory. This time, the Omnissiah will stand on their side, but they should not try to fish in troubled waters during the war."

【I can vouch for them.】

Morgan finally laughed.

[All-Out: Ryza is willing to devote himself forever to the cause of stability in the Maelstrom. Can I assume that as long as Ryza continues to shed blood and sweat for this cause, the Emperor's guarantee will continue indefinitely? The same goes for Mars' guarantee?]

"..."

The seal holder looked at her in surprise.

"You should know that for any Forge World, only their top leaders have the right to make such a decision. How can you make such a guarantee for Riza? The depths of the Maelstrom are not a playground, but a place where blood needs to be shed."

【Because my name is written in their supreme law. 】

Morgan answered her haughtily.

[I can guarantee it, can you? ]

The seal holder was silent, but his silence was an answer that satisfied Morgan.

After a while, the only sound in the air was the long sigh of the seal holder.

"Now, I kind of understand why they were so stubborn in choosing you."

【There is no need to worry about this. 】

The Spider Queen glanced at him: Morgan keenly smelled something unusual from what Malcador had just said. She just calmed down and thought for a second or two, and then she understood where the problem lay. She stretched out a finger to stop the seal holder who wanted to move forward.

【after all……】

The Spider Queen smiled.

[The interests of my Maelstrom region are only those of Riza and Catachan: they have no fundamental conflict of interest with Holy Terra's eastward expansion plan, right?]

"..."

The Sigillite stopped walking, and for the first time since they started this conversation, Malcador looked at Morgan so seriously.

"How did you know?"

[Your expression is too obvious.]

The Spider Queen put her hands behind her back.

[And it is also obvious that since Holy Terra owns the entire Solar System, you have Dorne to guard the south, and you have trustworthy loyalists such as Jonson, Leman Russ, and Ferrus to the north. Lorgar to the west is not a concern. In this case, the only place you need to be vigilant about is the east.]

[From the Solar Segmentum to the east, the Great Vortex is the valve that must be held tightly: this is not only the limit of the influence of Guilliman, Horus, Perturabo and me, but also the only way from the Far East to the Solar Segmentum. As long as this place is controlled, the various legions in the Far East will be locked in a cage. ]

[The only thing that makes me curious is: are you guys being too hasty? ]

"It's no use not being anxious."

Malcador glanced approvingly at Morgan.

"Do you know Badab?"

[What happened to the core world that Guilliman planted in the Maelstrom region? ]

"The rulers of Badab are trying to imitate the model of the Five Hundred Worlds and create their own Five Hundred Worlds in the Maelstrom region, becoming a small tyrant under the wings of Ultramar's hegemony. And because of Guilliman's decades-long protection, Badab now has a well-trained army and sufficient food, and has considerable influence in the entire Maelstrom."

"If they succeed, even if Guilliman's fork is completely stuck into the soft cake of the Great Whirlpool, he can dig out a large piece anytime and anywhere. As long as he wants, in thirty or forty years at most, the entire Great Whirlpool will be included in the influence of the Five Hundred Worlds."

[Have you never considered the factors of Horus and outsiders like me? ]

"Horus is out of reach. He doesn't even have a foothold in the Maelstrom. As for the Primarchs in the Maelstrom, to be honest, even if they really want to fight Guilliman, I don't think they can do it. As for you? There's Perturabo between you and the Maelstrom."

The seal bearer sighed.

"We had hoped that Angron could stop Guilliman's advance westwards."

[And I heard that Angron seemed to have been won over by Guilliman? ]

"Are you behind this?"

[Do I look like I have this ability? ]

Morgan raised a brow.

"Many believe you are the Lady Macbeth clinging to Guilliman's ear."

The Primarch smacked her lips. Of course she knew the story of Lady Macbeth: one of the four great tragedies by the ancient Terra artist Shakespeare, Macbeth, the regicide and usurper of the throne. His wife was first instigated by him to join the regicide conspiracy, and then became the absolute backbone of the conspiracy, and even in turn promoted Macbeth's ambition, just to fulfill his dream of becoming queen.

Now used on her and Guilliman...

Ok……

For a moment, even the eloquent Spider Queen didn't know what to say.

[So when do you plan to stop Badab's behavior? ]

"After the Emperor's departure: my tax collectors to the Maelstrom are ready."

Malcador paused.

"This matter has nothing to do with you, Morgan. I hope they can arrive safely."

【It's no use promising me. 】

Morgan was a little angry: she seemed to realize that without her noticing, a metallic shadow had attached itself to her back. This thing should obviously be borne by Guilliman!

[However, aren't you a little too impatient: the Emperor has just returned, and Terra is about to have a head-on conflict with Guilliman? ]

"Don't you know?"

The seal bearer laughed disdainfully.

"Before departure, your good brother Guilliman has approved Badab's expansion in the Maelstrom region: they have won over at least forty worlds through the promise of economic and military support."

“We can’t sit back and do nothing any longer.”

"After the incident with Nikea, if Guilliman still refuses to restrain himself..."

Malcador said nothing more, but his quiet, low tone, and the sudden drop in temperature around the two of them, said it all: Morgan's face turned serious, and she had to start thinking about her own position in this matter.

But Malcador gave her no time: the Sigillite smiled at the Primarch.

"Now……"

"Let's talk about Perturabo."

(End of this chapter)