Emperor's Bane

Chapter 713: The Weak, Poor and Helpless Emperor

"Do you feel it, Apocalypse?"

"That son of yours seems to have brought something extraordinary."

"That invisible sun: Does he want to kill everyone present?"

As he was the Emperor's envoy, holding the Emperor's scepter in his hand and the Emperor's true words on his lips, standing like a statue in the center of the battlefield where Guilliman and Mortarion were arguing with each other, the Sigillite's eyes were always focused on Magnus who had already left the battlefield.

The reason was simple. In the eyes of a psychic master like the Sigillite, Magnus at this moment was more dazzling than everyone else in the venue, including all the other Primarchs combined: the invisible sun was like a sword inserted between his two hearts, looking like a time bomb that could explode at any time.

Did Prospero realize that he was walking with death?

Under the cover of the hood, Makkado had a cold look in the shadows: Although in his previous cognition, Magnus had never been a disgusting guy, although he seemed naive and straightforward, he was still considered a kind person among the Emperor's children, at least he had no flaws in his character.

But now, the Sigillite found that his past conclusions were too hasty: stupidity is a flaw that can obscure all advantages, and arrogant stupidity is even worse.

Regardless of whether Magnus intentionally brought this damn sun into the hustle and bustle of Nikea, he should pay the price for it: but a more terrible speculation was circling in his mind, that is, whether Morgan had anything to do with this matter?

If it was indeed the Spider Queen who was secretly directing Magnus to bring such a horrific suicide attack to the Emperor's presence, then Holy Terra should prepare to face a rebellion launched by three to five Legions: the Far March and the Five Hundred Worlds of Ultramar would undoubtedly unite, and the Night Lords and World Eaters would become their humble servants.

The Raven Guard, the Iron Warriors, and the middle-of-the-roaders like Forge World Ryza might weigh their stances, but they would have no shortage of reasons to lean towards the Far East: of all the possible arguments for rebellion, this combination is the one Malcador least wants to encounter.

This will not be an easy war, and Terra must do her best: they will lose almost the entire Far East star region the moment the war begins, and every fortress from the Maelstrom to Salamas will become a bloody field for the Imperial army. They may have to pay the price of two or three Primarchs and their legions to get the final victory by chance.

No: maybe more.

Morgan will not lack manpower and production capacity: the Ultramarines, Night Lords and World Eaters are all legions famous for the quality of their gene-seed, and the Far Eastern frontier under Morgan's rule is a well-known source of manpower. They can pull out an army comparable to that of the Empire, and there will be millions of rebellious Astartes fighting bloody battles with the loyalist army.

As for production capacity: whether it is Ryza, who is just short of placing the statue of the Spider Queen next to the Omnissiah and worshiping them together, or the Triple Fal, who has been unknown all along but has actually been infiltrated by Morgan and turned into his own private property, or the [Forge World Allies] under Guilliman who bow to him like slaves, it is destined that the two Primarchs have enough capacity to flood the entire galaxy with bombs and gunpowder.

Beyond that, fleets, psychic powers, or mortal supporters would not be Morgan and Guilliman's weaknesses: in fact, apart from the fact that they had an additional Emperor, Malcador could not think of any great advantages that Holy Terra had in the face of the Far Eastern forces.

Within two or three generations, the Spider Queen and the Lord of Macragge had created a new, terrifying kingdom in the eastern part of the galaxy, a mirror image of the human empire: but most people did not realize this, and still viewed them as two independent and balancing entities, rather than an alliance that could merge at any time.

In other words, they saw it, but they didn't dare to point it out.

Just like him.

Even the Sigillite himself could only pretend to carefully observe the tug-of-war between Guilliman and Mortarion on the surface, and then secretly use his psychic perspective to glance in Morgan's direction as if unintentionally?
Malcador had long since run out of ways to deal with the Emperor's eldest daughter.

Fortunately for him, he clearly saw Morgan sitting there, also staring in the direction of Magnus with a frown on his face, and he had already cast a thick psychic barrier around him: at least it showed that Morgan was also unaware of Magnus's behavior.

Malcador breathed a sigh of relief, he didn't want to go through another war that needed to be erased.

But while he was relaxed, more confusion and anger surged in his heart: when a Macragge and a Barbarus were each holding up their reference materials and fighting against each other on the question of [whether psychic power increased or decreased the death rate of the Imperial Army], the thoughts of the Seal Bearer were quietly passing through the fierce battlefield where saliva was flying.

"You can't convince me, Guilliman. I have sufficient data and evidence here: every year, millions of human soldiers are killed or forced to retire because of the psychic rampage of their fellow think tanks. The loss of control of a psychic often threatens the establishment of an entire mortal auxiliary army. I can find 13,700 extreme cases related to this."

"Then you are totally wrong, brother. I can find three times as many cases to prove that the existence of psykers will effectively reduce the death rate of soldiers. And I would like to point out again: among the more than 30,000 typical cases you just cited, there are about 29,000 cases where the psykers went berserk not because of themselves, but because of the mistakes of their commanders or fellow soldiers. You deliberately cut out this part of information so that the jury here can only hear what you want to say."

"Nonsense, Guilliman, in the Death Guard's marching journals..."

"I have a Death Guard marching diary in my hand. Don't worry about where it came from, but I spent three months studying it before the meeting. I know every record in it by heart, and I haven't found any record that can forcibly overturn my previous remarks."

"How arrogant! Don't you know that I am in the Kajol world..."

"You may boast as much as you like about your encounters with the alien wizards and their tyranny, my brother Mortarion, but before you do, I want you to understand something else: a simple truth that even a child should know."

Guilliman shook his head and once again rudely interrupted Mortarion. Judging from the expression of the Macragge man, he did not think this was so rude: it was like an adult interrupting a child's nonsense, it was just a bit of impatient helplessness.

"First of all, you don't need to repeatedly mention the conquest of the world of Kayoel to us. I respect the contributions of the Death Guard, but this only makes your argument seem poor and weak: when I have given several examples, you are still obsessed with an incident that happened decades ago. This is really frustrating, brother."

"Secondly, we all know that the world of Kajol is a place where a small group of wizards enslaved a large number of fellow humans with tyranny. Do you think I have never seen a world like this? My Ultramarines recovered the most territory for the entire human empire during the Great Crusade (this statement made at least one-third of the Primarchs frown). Worlds like Kajol have been witnessed by every Ultramarines under my command."

"Not only that, you can also ask every Primarch brother and the legionaries under their command, and ask every army general and navy admiral who led the army into battle: each of them has commanded the army to eliminate out-of-control humans or alien wizards, and this is only a tiny part of the Great Crusade."

"Moreover, the cause of these wizards' tyranny is often the weakening of human civilization itself, the collective invasion of an entire alien race, or deep-rooted economic decline and cultural decay: countless tyrants, slave owners, and bandits have emerged from the corpses of the Age of Strife. You don't have to put a magnifying glass in front of all of us, so that we can only see those who can play witchcraft and ignore other victims."

"We all know that there are tyrants who, because of their fleets, are able to maintain rule over several star systems, and who are far more dangerous than most so-called wizards: should we condemn the navy of the Imperium of Man, and its brave captains and sailors, for this?"

"I have witnessed no less than a hundred criminal groups that relied on inferior cyborgs to commit crimes: if we label cyborg surgery as heresy, how should we face the Astartes warriors who fight for us and for the Emperor?"

"The same principle applies: some tyrants rely on the army to rule, some tyrants rely on countless mechanical legions to do evil, and some tyrants can rule for hundreds of years just because they master one or two long-lost ancient technologies. If we hate the power they hold because of what we see, then how can we fight? How can we build the current Galactic Empire?"

"No fleet? No transformation? Or no collection of ancient technology?"

"What's the difference between psychic powers and them?"

"Those tyrants who use psychic energy to cause billions of people to suffer are indeed worthy of hatred, but this is no reason for you to hate power itself, my brother Mortarion: your behavior is like seeing that the advancement of science and technology has caused more soldiers to die on the battlefield, and then turning around to hate scientific progress itself."

"Your starting point is fundamentally wrong."

"Don't confuse the concepts, Guilliman!"

As the Macragge's highly organized voices echoed throughout the hall, causing thousands of onlookers to nod their heads in secret at the countless examples cited by the Lord of Five Hundred Worlds and his unquestionable eloquence, only Mortarion, standing opposite Guilliman, still stubbornly maintained his point of view: he was the most resolute of all the opponents.

"I know you want to tell us that power is power and that power itself is innocent, but this is wrong, brother: some power requires a huge price to obtain, and those who can master it are heroes with strong will and rational thinking. But some power is inherently unstable, and those who obtain it are most likely relying on luck rather than ability."

"You are trying to confuse psionics with other powers in our hands, Guilliman, but this is exactly the point you are most wrong about: psionics is different from science and technology or fleets. The latter require rich knowledge and firm will to truly master their power, while psionics are damn random. It is very likely that it will be mastered by a scum whose mind is not worthy of controlling such a powerful force."

“And then, it caused a disaster.”

"Indeed, from your point of view, this probability is not terrible, but you have to know that a thousand-mile dam can be breached by an ant hole. Ignoring any small mistake will lead to devastating consequences: in the face of psychic energy, which is too easy to obtain, too powerful, and inherently unstable, even a sober person will make mistakes, and those who already have ill intentions will quickly fall into depravity."

"You want us to believe that psychic power itself is as infallible as other powers, but in fact: there are no preconditions for its use, its development trend is extremely irregular, and it has a great deal of randomness: for the human empire we are dreaming of building with order and stability as its theme, aren't these three words wrong in themselves?"

"Guilliman, what you said is like saying that because it is the gunman who kills, not the gun in the gunman's hand, the gun is not wrong: but in fact, aren't guns designed to kill people? If psychic energy continues to circulate, what is the difference between that and allowing guns to proliferate?"

"If every person with bad intentions can easily get a gun, then the world will never have a peaceful day. You can praise the value of guns in war, but you cannot ignore their harm to peace. The same is true for the psychic power before us."

"In the future, I don't see any urgent need for psionic powers and think tanks in the human empire."

“They’ve done more harm than good.”

"That's because you are short-sighted!"

Guilliman clenched his fists.

"I can make you admit right now that the Empire needs a think tank."

“They are irreplaceable!”

"Then you should show it."

The Lord of Death spread his arms.

"Why? Don't your references give you confidence in this regard?"

"I had thought your infiltration of the various Legions would help you more, Guilliman."

"That's normal, bro."

The Macragge took the sarcasm more lightly than Mortarion had expected.

“Some things are destined to be impossible to express clearly with words and data.”

After saying this, the Lord of the Five Hundred Worlds bowed slightly in the direction of the Seal Bearer.

"Sir Malcador, I hope to have three to five minutes to prepare."

"can."

The palm bearer nodded.

He just happened to need some free time to communicate with Apocalypse behind him.

"What's your opinion, Lord of Death?"

"It doesn't matter to me." Mortarion shook his head.

"I just want to know as soon as possible: what can Guilliman come up with that I can't refuse?"

------

"Isn't there one right in front of you?"

After Guilliman chose to turn around and leave to prepare an excuse for Mortarion that he could not refuse, everyone present got a short break: except for Morgan, Horus, Jagatai Khan and others who were rushing in the shadows, more mortals and bystanders devoted their energy to resting and whispering.

But that doesn't include Machado.

When Guilliman disappeared into the human wall formed by Morgan and the chief think tanks of each legion, and Mortarion could not wait to return to his shadow to continue discussing the next plan with Leman Russ, the Sigillite was still like a stone statue, standing silently and firmly in the center of the venue. The emperor's scepter shone brightly in his hand, and no one dared to look directly at this sacred light: and under the cover of this emperor's light, Malcador's soul quietly floated to the ear of the Lord of Mankind, who remained silent and majestic throughout the whole process.

"Did you hear me, Apocalypse?"

+I've heard it before. +
The Emperor sat on the throne, his armor and his eyes shining as brightly as ever. Even arrogant men like Mortarion or Magnus did not dare to look directly at their father: he was like a real sun, descending mercifully in the center of the ignorant world.

But this scene is exactly what the Sigillite is most worried about now: he knows very well that the sun-like appearance is just a disguise made by the Lord of Mankind using psychic power, but to some extent it is also the essence of the Emperor. From the perspective of the Warp, the Lord of Mankind is nothing more than a cold and ruthless sun.

And this is the problem.

"If you heard my warning just now, you should be cautious now, Apocalypse."

"Except for you, I have never seen a ruthless sun in the warp: we all know that this power belongs only to you, but now, your son Magnus has come to us with an equally ruthless sun, and what's even more terrifying is..."

The seal holder took a deep breath.

"At least from where I am, the sun looks almost identical to you."

"What's going on? Apocalypse?"

Malcador had to admit that his mind and worldview were briefly shaken: the more carefully he looked at the sun hidden in Magnus' chest, the more he was convinced that it was almost identical to the Emperor's incarnation in the Warp.

When Malcador turned his head, in his third eye he could see the cold and ruthless sun still circling the Emperor, but in Magnus' direction, a cold sun that was almost identical to him except for its size was also shining in his sight.

They are exactly the same.

Even the aura is that of an emperor.

There was a sense of decay, of something not quite right, to be sure, but otherwise it was all too similar: Malcador even wondered if the Emperor had performed some sort of soul-splitting operation in the past, and then accidentally left that soul in the Warp.

He is capable of doing such a thing.

"Even your precious daughter doesn't dare to get too close to Magnus now."

Malcador chuckled, but it did nothing to dispel the heaviness in his heart.

"Can you give me an explanation, Apocalypse?"

"So you've changed your mind: you want Magnus to win a great victory here?"

+...+
The Emperor never responded, maintaining a strange and dangerous silence: the Sigillite was certain that the Lord of Mankind had been staring at Magnus' direction, and he was neither angry nor panicked, but fell into a state of long thought.

He seemed...confused?
+...+
Malcador could feel the Emperor's lips muttering something, not a thought, but more like an instinctive utterance of her name after seeing something, and then a shake of the head to deny his answer: this process was repeated many times, until Malcador's soul came closer, endured the heat, and heard the words clearly.

+The Lord of Darkness...+
The Emperor whispered the name, his gaze fixed on Magnus's smile.

"The Dark Lord?"

Malcador repeated, then frowned.

The Dark Lord...

What is the Dark Lord?

Hiss... that's not right...

He knew for sure: his cerebral cortex responded to the name, he had at least heard of it at some time in the past and knew what the name stood for, but when he thought about it more carefully, he found that he really knew nothing.

Had he forgotten the name? Or was it just an illusion?
In the waves of the subspace, authenticity is not something incredible.

But the Dark Lord...

The name made his hair stand on end.

He had certainly heard of it, at some time in the past, and had been terrified by it.

"What are you talking about, Apocalypse?"

The seal bearer tried hard to suppress the trembling in his soul senses.

＋The Lord of Darkness. ＋
＋That should be... the Dark Lord.＋
The Emperor's voice returned to normal.

+Magnus brought it. +
"What is darkness..."

The seal bearer was about to ask further questions, but the emperor suddenly interrupted him.

+Malcador, my friend. +
"I'm here."

The seal bearer suddenly woke up: it had been a long time since he had felt such a vigilant aura from the Emperor.

+Did my daughter Morgan ask us for a halftime break? +

"Indeed: but you must wait until Guilliman and Mortarion have settled the score."

+ During the break, I will let all the primarchs leave the hall, and you need to complete another task: except for those absolutely trustworthy subordinates and allies, you need to clear out all other bystanders when the primarchs are resting. The next meeting has nothing to do with them.

“That’s tens of thousands of people.”

+ I don't care what excuse you give them, just let them leave the temple of Nikaea. +
+ I will have the Imperial Guards cooperate with you, and those who stubbornly disobey will be made to disappear. +
"Ok."

Malcador did not argue.

"Then you have to tell me first, what exactly is Apocalypse: The Dark Lord?"

＋Don't you know? ＋
"Obviously I should know: if someone hadn't altered my memory."

The seal holder was so angry that he laughed. He was not angry about this. Having certain memories erased was just a trivial trauma he encountered after choosing to follow the Emperor. He knew that some memories were taboos that he should never remember, even for him.

Is this also true for the Dark Lord?
Malcador waited for the answer: should the Emperor give the affirmative, he would immediately banish the word from his mind once more.

＋Actually...I don't know either. ＋
"……what?"

The seal holder was even stunned for a moment.

＋I don't know either, my friend.＋
the Emperor repeated.

＋I have also: to be exact, forgotten the concept of the Dark Lord.＋
+At least at this stage, I will never remember what he is. +
"That is to say, you also..."

＋Yes, just like you. ＋
The Emperor nodded.

+ I once knew this concept, and I am sure that I should be the person who has the clearest understanding of the concept of the Dark Lord in the entire galaxy, but at some point in the past, I chose to actively seal my memory of the Dark Lord: I still react to this name, but I no longer know the connotation of the Dark Lord. +
+At least I don’t know now: but I will probably remember it in the future. +
＋Or rather, the me in the past does not want the me in the present to be able to remember this word. ＋
"what is this?"

＋Deceiving oneself and others. ＋
The Emperor replied calmly.

+This is nothing, my friend. +
+You must know, Makado: for the weak, self-deception is often the last effective means of protecting themselves. +
＋And now, at least regarding the issue of the Dark Lord. ＋
+I, the Emperor, am a weakling. +
------

Ah, I've been having a high fever these past two days because of the temperature drop. My temperature has been fluctuating between 38 and 39, and I've been in a terrible state (but I don't have the leave application yet). Today I've recovered a little bit, and my temperature is finally coming back to normal. So I'll make up for the past few days.

Another note: Because the Dark Lord is a relatively rare concept, and GW will obviously not give any explanation or setting for it, so I will use a lot of personal settings when it comes to the issue of the Dark Lord.

Well, I tried my best to explain it reasonably.

(End of this chapter)