Emperor's Bane

Chapter 991 Substitute, Substitute, and More Substitute
The entirety of Terra is under attack.

From nests to wilderness, from plazas to fortresses, from armories a thousand meters underground to the towering Mountain Array, from the heavily guarded Ministry of the Interior to the bustling Lions Gate Airport.

It was as if every inch of sacred Terra was being swallowed up by panic and chaos: the shadow of war had never loomed so clearly over them, pressing down on the people under the Emperor's feet, making them tremble and gasp for breath.

But most importantly: at this point, they can't even be sure where the enemy's real target is.

He was preparing to start a war and devour the heart of the human empire at a moment of surprise.

Or is it a desperate gamble, merely to hold back the most elite forces of Terra and Emperor Fist, so as to create invaluable strategic space for the Wolf God's all-out offensive?

Or perhaps all of this is just a smokescreen: the true purpose of the instigator remains shrouded in mystery?

Even Makado couldn't be completely sure about this.

After the Lord of Emperor Fist hastily departed, using his anger and honor to defend the Star Torch's integrity, only the breathing of the Seal Bearer remained in the empty strategic conference room.

He stood there, silent for a minute, letting the situation gradually crumble in his hands.

A minute later, when the penetrating master opened his eyes again, his aged pupils were now flashing with a completely different light.

He began his operation.

Orders were issued, decrees were conveyed, and billions of pieces of information flooded the mind of the one in charge, yet they could not shake his resolve in the slightest. His body, which was usually so aged that one doubted its ability to continue, moved with astonishing speed when dealing with matters, almost as if leaving a trail of afterimages. Even the Ministry of the Interior, which was still functioning, was struggling to keep up with their old superior who was operating at full power.

With a wave of his hand, Makado brought thousands upon thousands of disturbances to a proper conclusion. The Imperial Ministry of the Interior, founded by the Sealholder, displayed an efficiency that could only be achieved in theory: countless orders were directly implemented to the lowest levels, and the authority of the High Lords was deeply rooted in the soil of Holy Terra.

Wielding the cold sword of power, the Seal Master began to purge all those who dared to offend the grand order.

Thousands of soldiers poured out of their garrisons, and secret warehouses storing weapons of mass destruction and biological and chemical weapons opened their doors to them. Formations of bombers, carrying incendiary bombs and tactical nuclear weapons, circled continuously near the airspace of Terra Palace, waiting for a single order to launch a deadly strike on the areas controlled by the rebels.

Perhaps some of these methods seem a bit too radical, but in the face of the urgent need to suppress chaos and restore order, a few small costs are insignificant: those areas swallowed by chaos are like festering sores on a diseased body, and if you want to stop it from spreading to the surrounding areas, you shouldn't care about the few good bits of flesh that have been dug out.

The person in charge of the seal naturally understands this principle.

After a brief hesitation, Makado quickly returned to his Great Crusade form, gripping Terra firmly in his grasp with commands and authority, confronting the shadowy adversary head-on: against the power of the Highlords Council and the elite garrison of Holy Terra, these fifth columns, without the support of a foreign army, were simply no match for the Sealholder's iron fist.

He first spent five minutes sifting through hundreds of millions of espionage activities and attacks to identify the key issues that could not be ignored and prioritized their handling. This order was thoroughly carried out in the following half hour to an hour: by then, Makado had essentially brought the situation in Terra under control.

Although more terrorist attacks are still occurring, their rate of spread cannot keep up with the Highlords Council's ability to handle the situation. With the Royal Army eradicating the most rampant areas of chaos, Hydra's operations have also entered a period of stagnation.

Ultimately, the total number of troops they could commit to this attack was barely over five figures, while the Imperial Fist's garrison on Terra far exceeded that. As for those loyal and highly skilled mortal agents, although they had tried to incite a mob to fight against the army, their efforts were utterly futile against the mortal legions that had earned their reputations during the Great Crusade.

After ensuring the situation did not spiral out of control, Makado did not focus his energy on the details. He delegated more authority to his deputies and high lords, letting them handle the less serious crises, while he himself, while overseeing the overall situation, focused on the few directions that could truly threaten Terra and the palace.

The Star Torch is naturally the most important: its importance is such that even a theoretical threat must be taken seriously.

But when Dorn personally selected several thousand Imperial Fists to accompany him to the Starlight Court, the Alpha Legion's offensive quickly crumbled.

As it turned out, although these Alpha monsters claimed to have power comparable to the Primarchs on the battlefield, they were ultimately inferior to the true Primarchs.

The Lord of Emperor Fist effortlessly killed every monster that dared to appear in his sight, although he did encounter crises during the battle: on several occasions, dozens of Alpha monsters seemed to unite, trying to use their overwhelming numbers to cut off the Primarch and his legion.

But Dorn is clearly not the kind of fool who would be driven to the brink by ten Alphas who have drunk the blood of the Primarch.

According to the Imperial Fist who accompanied him, after killing the first wave of Alpha monsters charging at him, the Primarch did not continue to engage the others. Instead, he temporarily lowered his shield and opened his palm: accompanied by a whisper, a golden flame appeared in the palm of the Imperial Fist Master.

The psionic power swept across the battlefield in front of Starlight Court like a roaring eagle. When the victorious Imperial Fist finally had time to raise their heads, they saw their Gene Father standing proudly at the forefront of the battle line, with a whole wasteland burned to ashes before them: the main force of the invaders lay dead on this desolate land.

Dorne simply sent a message back to the palace.

"Alpharis is not in the Starlight Court."

The person in charge of the seal was somewhat moved upon receiving this news.

Firstly, he was struck by the fact that he had originally thought Dorn's intermittent inquiries about psychic knowledge over the years were merely a way to build a closer relationship and prepare himself with powerful tools to fight against psychic opponents.

But unexpectedly, the master of Emperor Fist actually achieved something in the path of psionic energy.

Secondly, he was struck by the fact that Dorn still harbored doubts about Alpharis in his heart.

However, this is only human nature.

While the master of the seal was also overwhelmed with dealing with the mess on the Mountain Formation, he also had doubts about the reliability of his students: but these concerns did not affect his thinking.

To save the Mountain Array, he spared no effort in sending reinforcements while swiftly quelling the chaos at Lionsgate Airport, ensuring the Mountain Array's garrison received a continuous stream of military support. However, to deal with the insatiable Alpha monsters, Macado needed to provide new assistance to the garrison.

It was at this moment that the actual controller of the Highlord Council realized his other identity.

So, while pondering what his hidden adversary was up to, he dialed a long-dormant communication link.

"Hey, it's me."

The person who held the seal didn't nag at all.

"Notify the others."

"Send out the entire Assassin's Court."

"Target: Mountain Formation. Clear out the enemies on it. You are permitted to use any means necessary."

"Note that the enemy is very strong. They are required to carry suicide weapons with the sole objective of eliminating the enemy."

"I will make the conditions right for you: set off immediately."

After saying that, he hung up the communication, his finger already on a highest-level command: the Mountain Array needs to fully cooperate with the special forces dispatched by the Seal Master for the next period of time.

Yes, the Assassin's Court.

This mysterious assassination organization was proposed and established much earlier than people expected.

Initially, this was simply a matter of Macardo creating an informal department to guard against the Alpha Legion's deployment of its main forces to the Great Crusade and the resulting vacuum of responsibility in the areas originally under the Hydra's control. The Assassin's Court was not only not incorporated into the Empire's power structure, but its keeper also attempted to conceal its existence from the Emperor, the Custodian Army, and Morgan.

But it turns out that the Emperor knew from the beginning what his old friend was up to, and the Custodians quickly noticed the new anomalies in Terra. Even the Lord of Avalon, far away, deduced the existence of the Assassin's Court based on reasoning.

In Morgan's words, it's an extremely simple logical problem. A powerful human empire couldn't possibly be without such subtle means of violence. Either the Emperor and Macardo are idiots who don't even know to prepare assassins, or the existence of these assassins is very well hidden by the Emperor and Macardo: it's that simple.

Fortunately, even something as simple as this, most Primarchs didn't seem interested in thinking about it: the Assassin's Court thus existed in Terra as an informal organization with the tacit approval of a few bigwigs.

It is worth mentioning that, in return for the Spider Queen's caution in remaining silent about the Assassin's Court, the Marker reserved a place for her: a certain Lord of Avalon thus nominally became the eighth Founding Grand Master of the Assassin's Court.

And Macardo plans to repeat the same thing on another matter.

However, there is currently no reason for that organization called the Tribunal to appear in the galaxy.

Makado rubbed his temples.

Perhaps due to prolonged desk work, he always felt somewhat distracted.

After personally confirming that the garrison of the Mountain Array had received the order, the Seal Bearer turned his gaze to the gradually disappearing red dots on the security map: Alpha's offensive had gradually subsided, but the chaos they had caused in Terra in the past few hours would take at least several weeks to several months to completely quell.

The one who held the seal fell into deep thought.

He thought of sending reinforcements to the Mountain Camp.

Hopefully, Dorn can understand his methods.

Although the Emperor's Fist Master has always been resistant to these actions that do not belong to the battlefield, this is, after all, an informal organization whose existence has been tacitly approved by the Emperor.

With Alpha no longer trustworthy, the importance of the Assassin's Guild is self-evident.

Dorn will understand.

He will be angry and resistant, but he will accept it.

As for Makado himself?

……

He had to deal with some small mice that had sneaked in.

------

"Then, tear them to pieces."

"This is the last thing I remember."

In front of the gates of that gene laboratory, which once belonged to the Emperor and was classified as the highest secret of the human empire, but is now completely abandoned, two somewhat bored Alphas were whispering to each other.

In normal times, combat brothers like them, who come from different companies and organizations and are only temporarily brought together for the same mission, would not have anything in common. Hydra is different from other legions. Although they also value brotherhood, their obedience to missions and organizations is higher than blood ties.

Silence is the best way to get along.

However, today, these two Alpha warriors, who were ordered to guard the outermost perimeter, quickly and unexpectedly discovered their common topic: memories.

After being awakened by their respective Primarchs, their memories became noticeably disordered.

"This is different from the previous situation."

One of the Alphas looked slightly worried.

“In the past, although we would modify our memories when performing missions, even after the modification, our memories were still clear. At least the part of the memory that could be retained was clear and smooth: this was to give us enough clues to figure out the logic of the mission.”

"But this time the situation is different."

"I was awakened by the Primarch, who gave me a code that reminded me of the mission."

"But then I discovered that there were obvious errors in my memories."

"Give me an example."

He held out a finger.

“I remember that I secretly infiltrated Terra’s underground 114 years ago and have never left.”

"But at the same time, I also had thoughts about the Battle of Ulanno and the Ulanno War General Ceremony in my mind."

"That was at most fifty years ago."

His companion reminded him.

"That's right, that's where the problem lies."

“I have never encountered this situation before. The memories in my mind are completely fragmented, contradictory and chaotic.”

"This is not conducive to carrying out the mission at all, nor is it like the style of our legion."

Do you have the same situation?

"Not as serious as yours: I've also encountered something that's bothering me."

Another Alpha opened his palm, revealing the psionic flames floating in his hand.

"In my memory, I am not a think tank."

"But after I awoke, I felt as if a strange energy was penetrating my body. It felt like you had passed through the Mandeville Point and traveled back and forth between the warp and the real universe. When I came to my senses from this feeling, I discovered that I had somehow become able to use psionic powers."

"Isn't this a good thing?"

"It is indeed a good thing: if it weren't for the fact that a whole bunch of memories related to the warp suddenly appeared in my mind."

For a moment, both Alpha Legion soldiers fell silent.

"By the way, have you seen the Primarch?"

"I took a peek at it from afar when I set off."

"However, something feels off: he certainly gives me the feeling of being the father of our genes, but..."

"There's something about it that I can't quite put my finger on... how should I put it..."

"Weird?"

"Like subspace?"

"Almost: I can never feel at ease during any subspace voyage, even when the seas are calm."

"And the Primarch gave me a similar feeling this time."

"Tell me, is it possible...who!"

Even though they were happily slacking off, the two Alpha warriors remained vigilant.

When a strange psionic energy fluctuation slowly appeared not far in front of them, the two Astartes immediately picked up their weapons and focused intently.

But when they realized who the withered figure emerging from that psionic fluctuation was, the situation seemed to become somewhat delicate.

"Your Excellency, the one who holds the seal?"

One of them tentatively asked a question, but all they received in return was Makado's cold and indifferent gaze.

The look in their eyes frightened them, as if they were looking at two corpses.

Cold sweat slowly trickled down the back of my neck.

Finally, another person mustered up the courage to take a step forward.

"Excuse me, could you...?"

Before he could finish speaking, the Alpha suddenly felt dizzy. His vision suddenly tilted uncontrollably backward and upward, as if someone had ripped his head off his spine and then roughly and carelessly thrown it on the ground. His pupils, which were spinning wildly, could only blankly accept the dusty ground and ceiling.

It wasn't until the sound of his foot hitting the ground rang out, until he felt the coldness of the ground on his cheeks and ears, until the long-awaited pain finally arrived, that the Alpha realized what was wrong with him.

In his final moments, a trace of astonishment lingered in his pupils as he slowly shifted his gaze, only to see his headless torso kneeling on the ground, scattered like sand blown away by a storm.

Whether it was physical bodies or power armor, when the Marksman walked past them as if no one else was there, his rage instantly crushed them into dust.

In the final moments before their souls turned to ashes, Alpha heard the Marker push open the door and walk toward his fellow combat brothers and mortal agents stationed there, and their dying screams as they rose and fell.

Less than a minute later, Makado stood at the last pass of this defensive line.

Before his gaze even reached them, the four Alphas guarding the area had already turned to dust, meeting the same fate as the other hundreds of rebels stationed there: the Master didn't even glance at them. He knew that these poor wretches, who had been haphazardly controlled, would not yield any useful information even if he delved into their minds.

Just like the subspace power on them, it was simply attached to them unintentionally.

Those evil gods hidden in the warp were unwilling to expend even the slightest effort to alter the warp power within these poor creatures and cause them a little trouble for Macado. Of course, it's also possible that the power of the Chaos Four is not yet capable of so vividly influencing everything in Holy Terra.

Terra is currently in chaos, but not so chaotic that it can respond to the power of the four gods.

But who knows what will happen next time?

Putting these distracting thoughts aside, Macardo pushed open the door.

He knew this place all too well.

Before that warp storm completely disrupted the Emperor's dream of the Primarch, the Seal Master had visited this important research site hundreds of times.

After the Emperor finally abandoned this place, it was Macardo and Waldo who personally supervised the removal or destruction of anything useful.

If anyone tries to dig something out of here, they will be disappointed.

Unless... that's not his purpose.

When he saw Alpha, Macado felt that the truth should be the latter.

“You’ve arrived much earlier than I expected, sir.”

The person before them was not Alpharis, but rather another Primarch of the Hydra Legion.

The moment Macado saw him, he had already made up his mind.

Although he has no actual blood relation with any Primarch, having followed the Emperor for many years and had deep interactions with many Primarchs, the Marksman can naturally distinguish the true from the false through that unique aura and the sense of the Warp.

Just like Alpha, who stood in the ruins and welcomed him as if he were his master, although he was tall and perfectly met the Primarch's standards, and his strength and temperament far surpassed those of ordinary Astartes warriors, he could not possibly be a Primarch. He lacked the feeling brought about by the unique concept of the Warp.

"And: I was even angrier than I thought."

As the one who held the seal looked at the person in front of him, Alpha was also looking at Macado.

He is smiling.

"It seems my colleagues on the ground are doing a good job?"

Macardo did not respond to that statement.

He glanced around and found that there were no signs of change compared to last time.

So he slowly began to speak.

"He's quite generous: judging from your condition, you must have received a lot of Primal Blood."

"It was just my father's order."

Alpha simply smiled.

"And I am also well aware that no matter how much Primarch blood I infuse, I will not be your match."

"But if I can just get your attention temporarily diverted to this place, then I'll have accomplished my mission."

"certainly……"

Alpha looked around again.

"Being able to come to this place and see how the story of the entire galaxy begins makes this trip worthwhile."

“A lot has happened here: my genetic father has already told me.”

"And I understand his dream."

"..."

"So, what is his real target?"

Macardo grasped his scepter.

"I do not know."

Alpha shook its head.

"That's the only thing he never told me."

Then, he laughed heartily.

"Isn't that exactly what my father and his father are most similar to?"

"No, quite the opposite."

A hint of disdain flickered in Makado's eyes.

"This is the part where he is least like an emperor."

"Although it's still a form of concealment."

"But your father chose to keep it a secret because, ultimately, he doesn't trust anyone."

"The reason the emperor chose to conceal it ultimately stemmed from his willingness to trust everyone in the world."

"Whether they are war generals or ordinary people."

With that, the one who held the seal said no more.

He gripped the scepter and, with a flourish, tapped the ground as Alpha, standing opposite him, drew his sword.

With a silent command, the power of the warp began to howl for Macado, instantly sweeping across the not-so-wide battlefield.

------

"There's no suspense whatsoever."

"They had absolutely no power to resist."

Standing before the incubation chamber and electronic screen containing the Black Templar Legion's genetic source code, Alpha muttered to himself.

He silently watched as the various numerical sequences and genetic codes on the screen descended into chaos, recombine, and were gradually distorted into the form they desired by the bio-virus he had just inputted: this attack was not enough to completely destroy the Black Sanctuary, but it would certainly cause them considerable trouble.

It won't cause the Black Templars to get out of control, but it will make their production more difficult.

For at least six months, Rogdorn will be plagued by a shortage of troops.

His mission was successfully completed.

Alpha scratched his neck, his fingers occasionally touching the communicator in his ear: the device was trembling from the excessive noise.

Even in the air, one could almost hear the slaughter and screams coming from the other end of the communicator, along with the continuous sounds of gunfire and blades slashing.

It has been going on for about ten minutes.

"He's almost there."

Alpha muttered to himself, but he seemed completely oblivious to the horrific scene outside, focusing all his attention on the documents in front of him.

While he greedily analyzed and plundered them, he continuously transmitted these top secrets to somewhere outside.

"really interesting……"

When another continuous barrage of gunfire abruptly ceased in the air, the dull, angry footsteps unique to the Primarch were already faintly visible, while Alpha remained engrossed in the new content on the electronic screen.

"The Black Sanctuary... so it's been modified?"

"The work of the Emperor and Morgan?"

"Most of the subspace elements were deliberately removed, resulting in a combat power far inferior to the originally planned Super Raven Guards. However, they are actually more controllable than the latter: at least there will be no uncontrollable mutations. It's just that their exceptionally impulsive belligerence makes managing them somewhat difficult."

"This can be used as a tool."

It was as if he was talking to someone who didn't exist.

"Yes, sir: the War General will be interested."

"But he doesn't need to know anything else."

The footsteps grew closer, accompanied by dying curses and low battle cries, and the sound of the chainsaw sword being wielded with great force by the Primarch.

"Wait, what is this?"

"Transformation surgery?"

"Dorn is still trying to see if he can transform the veterans of the Imperial Fist into Black Templars?"

"But it hasn't started yet? Is it because you're worried that this kind of modification will affect the current state of the war?"

"Or……"

"boom!!!"

The laboratory door was smashed open: this is enough to show the extent of the anger of the person who did it.

Alpha looked over.

Sure enough, it was Rogdorn.

He was dressed in full military uniform, his golden armor stained with countless bloodstains and severed limbs, enough to show how brutal the battlefield he had returned from. His cold face remained unchanged, but the murderous aura emanating from it was enough to make Alpha tremble and break out in a cold sweat.

He had to exert all his strength to stop himself from kneeling down and to be able to smile at the killing god in front of him.

The confidence behind that smile came from the virus that had been uploaded the moment Rogdorn burst through the door.

That's all the meaning he needed.

Thinking of this, Alpha calmed down.

He bowed slightly toward the Primarch.

"Hail, my Lord."

"My father asked me to convey his greetings to you, and his regret that you brothers rarely see each other."

Rogdorn did not speak: blood slowly trickled down his silver hair.

He raised his arm and pointed his sword at the traitor in front of him.

……

"die."

(End of this chapter)