Warhammer: Primarch's Life from the Beginning

Leo stared at that face.

The other man flicked the guard's spear in his hand, a smile playing on his lips.

"What, you're too scared to do it?" He tilted his head. "Seeing how pathetic you used to be, are you getting soft-hearted?"

Leo was amused and got back into position.

"I'm just feeling a bit sentimental." He stretched his neck. "Turns out I used to look so annoying."

The man also sneered.

"You've become quite the joker since then."

"Having died once, one should have learned something."

No sooner had he finished speaking than the other party charged at him again.

The spear thrust diagonally, the movement swift and clean. Leo parried while retreating, gaining a clearer understanding of the man's techniques. This guy knew the Imperial Guard's skills, as well as his own old habits, even the subtle movements were the same as Leo's.

Leo raised his arm to block the spear shaft, and with a push of his palm, he knocked the person away. He noticed something was amiss; the feel of the hand was very similar to the monsters he had killed in the online world before.

"You're not human," Leo said.

The other person stopped and raised an eyebrow.

"You finally figured it out?"

"I guessed a little." Leo rubbed his wrist. "If they were alive, they would have gone mad by now if they stayed here this long. You killed all these corpses on the ground, didn't you?"

"That's right, and you're going to die here too."

The smile on the man's face faded, and he raised the tip of his spear.

"Do you know what kind of monster this empire will become, what kind of people will kneel before the throne, and what kind of quagmire humanity will wallow in? Since you know all this, what gives you the right to put on this arrogant face?"

Leo didn't reply, looking at him as if he were an idiot.

The other person approached step by step, lowering their voice.

"You know very well that the Empire is not the empire you remember, the one you can entrust your life to. It will decay, it will become blind, it will crush loyalty and turn faith into chains. You also know how many of those Primarchs created to save humanity will turn their swords against the Emperor."

The man stared at Leo as if interrogating him.

"What makes you different from them?"

"You possess power and know the truth, but you will inevitably be disappointed and angry. You are destined to walk the same path as them, ultimately kneeling at the feet of those who exist behind the veil."

Leo pouted in disdain.

"Are you done talking?"

"Then it's my turn." Leo raised his hand and beckoned with his finger. "Come on, let's talk while we fight."

Anger flashed in the other's eyes, and the spear suddenly thrust forward.

Leo sidestepped, his fist grazing the spear shaft before slamming into his opponent's ribs, knocking him back several steps.

This time, Leo followed, but simply threw a punch.

He didn't kill him, but he forced his opponent to retreat repeatedly. Several times, Leo tried to create distance with his spear, but Leo managed to close the distance each time.

"Of course I know what the empire will become," Leo said as he threw a punch. "I know it even better than you do. Because you've only stolen a shadow of what's in my head; I'm someone who has truly lived through those thousand years."

He gripped the spear shaft tightly, his forehead almost touching the other man's face.

"I've seen people crammed together at the bottom of the hive city, struggling to survive; I've seen expeditionary forces sacrifice themselves on alien planets; I've seen mortals holding broken guns, standing in front of aliens, their legs trembling, yet still refusing to surrender."

"Of course humans fight amongst themselves and are short-sighted, but so what?"

Leo kept talking like a legionary chaplain.

"It is precisely because humans are imperfect that they deserve to be saved."

"This race is the one that should break free from the warp and embark on its own path."

The man was slammed against the wall, then let out a low growl and struggled violently.

"You really think you're a savior?"

"No," Leo said straightforwardly. "I just feel that someone has to do the work. The Emperor has been busy for so many years, it's time for me to work overtime."

The man then revealed a mocking expression.

"You still don't understand. You say you're doing this for humanity, but actually you can't bear to give up the meaning of your life in this world. You're not saving humanity; you're only doing it for yourself."

Upon hearing this, Leo's movements suddenly slowed down for a moment.

He looked at the face that looked exactly like his own in the past and suddenly sighed.

"You're quite right about that."

"I really can't bear to part with them, I can't bear to part with those brothers who died in the net, or those who didn't even leave their names in the expedition."

"But that's not a weakness; that's why I'm still standing."

Leo exerted his strength and snatched the spear from his opponent's hand, throwing it aside.

He grabbed the man's neck with one hand and pressed down on his shoulder with the other, pinning him to the ground. The man struggled to grab Leo's arm, but couldn't pry it open.

Only now did Leo truly understand.

This thing is more like a warp creation, used by the Emperor to guard this base. But over the long years, influenced by its own memories and emotions, it slowly grew into its former form.

No wonder this place is deserted.

If anyone were to come in, they would most likely have already been killed by it.

The man's face turned blue from being choked, and he managed to squeeze out a sound from his throat.

"Even if you kill me, you cannot escape the fate of being controlled by them."

Leo looked down at him, his fingers tightening little by little.

"There's nothing to be afraid of. Listen carefully, go back and tell them."

"I will restore the Empire to its former glory, and humanity will one day dominate the galaxy!"

As the last word fell, Leo snapped his neck.

The body turned into black mist, dissipated along the ground, and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

.

.

The room became quiet.

Leo stood there for a while, looking down at his hands.

"...Honestly, it's infuriating to hear me say such discouraging things with my old face."

He turned and walked toward a door deep inside the room.

A Thinker stood to the side of the door. Leo placed his hand on the scanning device, and the Thinker's eyes lit up red, then turned green.

The thick door slowly opened.

There were no traps or enemies inside.

Only one set of power armor stood quietly on the pedestal.

The radiant gold armor still gleamed in the dim light. Its design was thicker and more substantial than the Imperial Guard's armor, with ancient Terran patterns adorning the edges of the arm guards. On each side of the massive shoulder armor was an Imperial Aquila. Behind the helmet was a radiant gold halo, positioned above the power backpack on the back, which both absorbed impact damage and concealed the back of the head.

The entire surface of the power armor is engraved with magnificent reliefs, the front of the chest is decorated with the imperial double-headed eagle emblem, and the sides of the chest, armbands, and belt are adorned with bright red purity marks and strips of cloth bearing copies of the Emperor's Words.

Leo stood on the armor-piercing platform, and several mechs around him awoke from hibernation. They dragged cables and mechanical arms closer, and without a word, began to assemble the armor plates for him, lock the buckles, and connect the neural interface.

This power armor perfectly fits Leo's height of over three meters. As he puts it on, Leo's figure appears even larger, and his every move is integrated with it.

As soon as the helmet was lowered, the field of vision lit up instantly. A 3D map unfolded.

"Not bad." Leo shrugged. "The Emperor really thought of everything. I don't have to run around naked anymore."

.

The helmet's built-in map has already marked the route.

He walked up the corridor. The gates along the way sensed his identity and opened one by one. No one blocked his way anymore.

Finally, he arrived at the largest gate.

Authentication successful.

The gate slowly opened to both sides.

Leo had prepared himself to face ruins, war, or something even more absurd. But there was nothing outside the door. Only gray soil and the silent, dark starry sky above.

He went outside.

The armor's built-in breathing system activated automatically, and the ground felt very light beneath his feet; the gravity was much lower than he had expected. Leo paused for a moment, then slowly turned his head.

He witnessed the most unforgettable sight of his life and realized where he was.

The vast, pale earth beneath his feet contrasted sharply with the vibrant, rich colors of the planet before him. Humanity's home planet hung before him, so dazzling that he was momentarily speechless.