Travel to Warhammer 40K with Grey Wind

When Cawl was surprised by this, the clerk continued, "Lord Guilliman is too merciful. He was seriously injured and fell asleep here ten thousand years ago while defending the Empire. We have never felt that it was a sin..."

Rather, it is glory.

Caul didn't quite understand what the scribe was talking about, and he didn't have the energy to inquire in depth. The Great Sage now just wanted to get the landing permission document as soon as possible and go to the ground to find Guilliman to talk face to face.

As Cawl took the orbital elevator down to the rust-red surface of Konos, Guilliman's "repentance ceremony" was in progress.

Although Konos was classified as a Forge World, due to some political reasons during the Horus Heresy, the Adeptus Mechanicus was not able to fully control this important industrial planet. A large number of the Imperial population on it still firmly supported the Ultramarines and the Emperor. Most of them were natural humans rather than clones.

So Caul could see a large number of fanatical people surrounding the square where the Primarch held his ceremony, and the hymns chanted by the priests of the Ecclesiarchy were broadcast to every corner of Ultramar through the servo skull.

In the center of the crowd is the most magnificent Anglican Church on Connaught Planet - this kind of building would not be possible in other forging worlds that are completely controlled by the Adeptus Mechanicus.

From afar, Kohl saw a burly giant in blue armor standing in the square in front of the church. His sturdy figure was projected onto the huge display screen, and his resolute face was a pair of deep eyes filled with complex emotions.

Next to Roboute Guilliman stood two neat rows of Ultramarines veterans who had survived the defense of Macragge. Their dark blue power armor was covered with scars - what was particularly eye-catching was that these veterans were wearing helmets painted blood red.

Looking at the Ultramarines wearing blue armor and red helmets, Cawl thought of an ancient event:

During the Great Crusade, there was a sergeant named 'Hill' in the Ultramarines Legion. He once proposed a rebellious idea - Sergeant Hill proposed that the Ultramarines should not only use aliens as enemies to deduce tactics and formulate strategies. The training plan should also try to practice Space Marines as imaginary enemies in order to prepare for possible future battles with other Space Marine legions.

At that time, Warmaster Horus had not yet launched the rebellion, and the various Space Marine legions were as close as brothers. Once Sergeant Hill's idea of ​​using the brother legions as imaginary enemies to develop targeted tactics was proposed, it was considered unforgivable. Rebellious thoughts.

Therefore, Sergeant Hill was donned with a red helmet as a symbol of punishment and imprisoned in the arsenal to await the death of the Primarch.

This is a tradition learned from the Night Lords. The former Night Lords would make the warriors who made mistakes wear red gloves, which symbolized the Primarch's disappointment in him. The Ultramarines learned this system, but changed the red gloves to red helmets, which made the Night Lords very disgusted.)

During the subsequent Horus Heresy, the traitor Legion Word Bearers raided the Ultramarines, and the imprisoned Sergeant Hill immediately activated the weapons of the Primarch in the arsenal, leading the surviving battle-brothers in a desperate fight to rebuild the chain of command.

Sergeant Hill's heroic act made the red helmet no longer a symbol of shame among the Ultramarines, but instead a proof of the honor of the position of "sergeant".

So why are all the Ultramarines veterans standing beside Guilliman wearing red helmets? Are they all NCOs?

Kaul thinks this is unrealistic.

The Great Sage thought about the nature of this 'repentance ceremony'. It seemed that the red helmets worn by these veterans were no longer a symbol of military positions, but had returned to their original nature ten thousand years ago - symbolizing shame.

Then, Cawl heard Guilliman's speech to all of Ultramar being broadcasted from outside the crowd:

“In the past ten thousand years, the empire has endured too much suffering. The regime my father founded for humanity has suffered greatly in the midst of storms and was even on the verge of collapse.

It was the fearless sacrifice of countless warriors that saved the Empire from crisis after crisis. They used their lives to maintain the authority of the Golden Throne, guard the flame of hope in the dark galaxy, and protect the people of the Empire from the threats of malicious heretics and covetous aliens...

No amount of words can be said enough to praise the heroes who died for the Empire, but what makes me extremely sad is that in the past, the loyal world that believed in the Emperor was invaded by human enemies, and the innocent people of the Empire were tortured by heretics. At that time, as a descendant of the Emperor, I failed to stand up and fight for the Empire.

For ten thousand years, I have been sleeping between life and death, unable to make any contribution to the defense of mankind..."

At this point, Guilliman's tone was choked with sobs. But as the Primarch of the Ultramarines, the God-son of the Emperor, he shed not a single tear.

Guilliman said in an emotional voice:

"The planet is wailing! The people are bleeding! But I just sit in the temple day after day..."

"I'm ashamed of it! I'm ashamed of it!"

The Primarch's speech was passionate, stirring the emotions of countless people on the planet Connor. In the church, the priests of the state religion were already in tears.

Only Kaul frowned, feeling that something was wrong.

Then, Cawl saw the red-helmeted veteran next to him kneeling on one knee and presenting Guilliman with a crimson helmet that was wrapped in black thorns and exuded a hot bloody aura.

Through previous publicity, the people of Ultramar already know that red helmets symbolize shame and repentance in the culture of the Ultramarines.

For some reason, the moment this helmet appeared, the atmosphere in the crowd suddenly became agitated, and an inexplicable war fever began to burn on the Connaught planet.

Guilliman held the ferocious crimson helmet in his hands and put it on his head.

In an instant, the crowd burst into tears. Cawl heard many people crying at the top of their lungs, asking the Primarch not to blame himself like that. He was seriously injured while fighting for the Empire, which was why he had been sleeping until now. He had not made any mistakes.

"In the name of the Emperor of Mankind, I, Robert Guilliman, hereby swear that every world ravaged by heretics, every citizen persecuted by aliens, and every heavy blood debt of the Human Empire will be paid with blood. ——”

A big question mark appeared on Kaul's head.

Chapter 323 Meeting

After a public ceremony of penance before the people of Ultramar, Guilliman was finally able to wear the Helm of Domination.

The corrosion of the armor can be replaced, the entangled thorns can be covered up, and the horns growing on the helmet can be hidden, but only the bright red color cannot be hidden. He cannot take off such a conspicuous helmet. Once he takes off the helmet, basically Liman could feel the dull pain of the old wounds left by Fulgrim in the past, and the stubborn Slaanesh poison was crawling ambiguously in his blood vessels.

And when this ominous helmet was put on Guilliman's head, he could feel some kind of restless power related to the subspace flowing in his body, and something called the 'overlord body' suppressed the cut. The sword wound in Guilliman's throat, and the hot blood rushing in his veins gradually dispelled the poison that had been entrenched in Guilliman's body for thousands of years.

This unknown power was slowly healing Guilliman's injuries, but it was also affecting his mind, making him violent, irritable, and warlike.

Guilliman hated this irrational feeling, but at least he would need to keep wearing this helmet until his old wounds were fully healed - and accordingly he would need to give an account and a reasonable explanation to the Inquisition, the Ecclesiarchy, and the people of the Empire.

So Guilliman chose to 'repent' and used the Red Helmet tradition of the Ultramarines to explain the problem of the Crown of Dominance according to local conditions.

No matter how ominous this helmet stained with the breath of Chaos is, or even whether it is Magnus plotting against him, Guilliman clearly knows that he needs it...

"Next, let's check the star gate of Connaught Star first... No, let's meet with Ryan first..."

After the confession ceremony, Guilliman sat in the primarch's office specially prepared by the Ecclesiarchy and rubbed his frown.

Too many things had happened to the Empire during the ten thousand years of his sleep. There was too much intelligence and information that needed to be received in a hurry to wake up. Even with a powerful mind like Guilliman, it would take some process to accept and digest such a huge amount of information.

In the process, Guilliman met Llane, who came specially to visit him on Connaught.

squeak-

When the door to the office was pushed open, the first thing that appeared in front of Guilliman was a thick arm covered in silver-gray finely crafted armor.

The owner of the arm is a burly old man with gray hair.

"You are..." Guilliman looked up at the face of the visitor. The strong features surrounded by armor were so familiar, but the deep wrinkles growing at the corners of his eyes and forehead were so unfamiliar, and his loose hair was like hanging down. The branches in Caliban's forest are as white as the snow, exuding an aura that is particularly familiar to the Lord of the Ultramarines.

For a moment, Guilliman did not dare to call him by his name.

"It's me, Robert, it's me, Lion." Lion said softly, his soothing tone sounded gentle and tired, far from the ferocious lion in Guilliman's memory.

The lion is old but the politician is still young.

"Ryan, where have you been all these years? I heard that you disappeared quietly for ten thousand years, and it was not until a few years ago that you returned to the empire..." Guilliman spoke frankly without using too many political and verbal skills. He asked his brother about his biggest concern.

Guilliman did not know the inside story of the civil war on Caliban, nor did he know that the Lion was seriously injured by Luther and had been sleeping ever since. From his perspective, after the end of the Horus Heresy, Lion hurriedly led the Dark Angels back to his hometown of Caliban, and then there was no news for ten thousand years.

In response to Guilliman's question, Lion just laughed, neither getting angry nor showing any emotion.

He smiled and said, "Unlike you who has been sitting in the stasis field until now, I have been sleeping in the fragments of my hometown since I received a fatal blow from my loved ones. The long river of time has flowed through my body, smoothing out many of my originally sharp points."

Guilliman felt deeply, but he couldn't find the right words to describe it.

Lion sat down in front of Guilliman and explained to him the situation near the Eye of Terror - Ryan had been leading the Dark Angels to station near the Eye of Terror since his awakening, monitoring the Chaos forces in the unbreakable defense line, especially the Marauders. Abaddon's movements, he has the best knowledge of the situation around the Eye of Terror.

"The Unbreakable Defense Line is a large defense line across the Eye of Terror built by the followers of each of the Four Chaos Gods. It is used to resist the invasion of a high-dimensional creature called the 'Border Breaker'. This creature uses its soul to They feed on energy and seem to be the natural enemies of demons. The God of Chaos is particularly wary of them..."

"Rebel primarchs including Lorgar, Angron, Fulgrim, Perturabo, Mortarion... all led their legions to join in the construction of the unbreakable defense line, and the tug of war between the Chaos army and the Boundary Breakers The war has been going on for decades, and generally speaking, the Boundary Breakers have the upper hand..."

After listening to Lion's story about the Eye of Terror, especially the strategic intelligence about the Unbreakable Line, Guilliman felt a little confused, and he politely asked a question.

"Hmm... Lion, I noticed that your narration seemed to focus more on the Chaos general named 'Abaddon', and the information you described was mostly related to him. It is true that this Chaos general who inherited the mantle of Horus is an enemy worthy of vigilance, but there are still many traitorous primarchs actively active in the Unbroken Line of Defense."

Guilliman asked tactfully: "Why are you so focused on collecting information about Abaddon, Ryan, instead of focusing more on paying attention to the movements of the Chaos Side Primarchs? I think our fallen brothers are more A threatening enemy..."

Ryan was speechless for a moment, but he soon found an excuse to answer Guilliman's questions with words such as 'Abaddon was chosen by the four gods', 'Abaddon inherited the spirit of vengeance', and 'Abaddon proclaimed himself Warmaster'. Prevaricate.

Sensing Lion's embarrassment, Guilliman did not delve further into this matter.

Then the two brothers talked about how Ryan, who was stationed around the Eye of Terror, could arrive at Ultramar in such a timely manner? The answer given by Lion directly hit the place in Guilliman's heart where he most urgently wanted the answer.

"It's the Star Gate. I passed through the Star Gate." Ryan said: "You should already know something about the immortal known as the Star Destroyer. He co-initiated the Terra Expedition with our Emperor Father. Thirteen expedition fleets set out from the Far Eastern frontier, and in the process of crossing the galaxy, they continued to share the stargate construction templates with various important imperial worlds, and built stargates locally..."

"Today, the Stargate Network has connected nearly 1/8 of the major worlds in the entire galaxy, including the systems such as Kerentalina, Cadia, and Badab where I am stationed."

After receiving a positive answer from his brother, Guilliman let out a long breath.

The situation in the galaxy has deteriorated to this point, and even the home planet of the Ultramarines has been destroyed. After ten thousand years, he woke up leisurely, and saw the dark galaxy in full view, and what he saw was devastation.

In the eternal night of endless sinking, the light called hope flickers slightly.

"It's so beautiful..." Guilliman said softly: "I have never felt so clearly that hope is such a beautiful thing."

"It is indeed very beautiful." Ryan coughed lightly: "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but now I want to talk about that helmet more than nostalgia for the past."

Chapter 324 Destiny

What exactly is the Helm of Domination?

For Guilliman, it was the Chaos Artifact that Magnus wore on his head, a strange power that saved him from life and death, and behind it was Tzeentch's calculations.

But in Ryan's view, the crown that appeared on his brother's head was the embodiment of his father's 'prophecy'.

Ryan once saw a clear lake in the Caliban Forest in his dream, and his father, the Emperor, transformed into a wizened little old man fishing by the lake. In the reflection of the lake, he saw the Milky Way of the future, the burning worlds one after another, and Guilliman who wore the Blood God's Crown and ascended the throne in the blazing fire.

Lion told Guilliman what he saw and heard in the dream, including the Emperor's prophecy of the 'Lord of War', the future situation of the galaxy, and... the Star Bomber's role in this series of events. Role.

"According to my father, the Starbuster shattered the throne of Khorne, and if you wear the Helm of Dominance that symbolizes the concept of 'Khorne's defeat', you are equivalent to gaining the qualification to compete with him for the authority of the god. .”

Ryan raised his eyebrows and added seriously:

"But putting on the Crown of Dominance is only the first step. If you want to truly seize the power of Khorne and weaken a True God of Chaos, you must win a complete victory in a large-scale war as soon as possible, and use the glory of war and victory to lay the foundation for Your concept as the Lord of War prevents Khorne from taking back the fragments of his godhead from you..."

Listening to Lion's sincere advice, Guilliman's brows furrowed more and more.

Godhead, authority, symbols, concepts... Guilliman can completely understand every word that Lion said, but why when they are connected together, why are they all so... so idealistic?

The existence of the Chaos God is already very abstract, and now they are saying that as long as we win a large-scale war as soon as possible, we can completely take away some of the Chaos God's "authority". What is this all about? ... Looking at Lion's serious expression, Guilliman felt mixed emotions.

Guilliman subconsciously wanted to deny these weird and idealistic words, but the miracles he had experienced personally and the hoarse war roars echoing in his ears reminded him that blindly denying something he did not understand without practicing it was the true idealism.

Damn it, how did the universe become like this.

A long silence fell in the Primarch's office as Llane recognized his brother's struggle and gave Guilliman time.

After an unknown amount of time, Guilliman raised his head and met Lion's pale golden eyes. From the lion king's pupils, he saw himself distorted.

"Ryan."

"I'm listening." Ryan's voice was calm and upright.

Guilliman took a deep breath and said, "You said that I must win a large war as soon as possible and lay the foundation of the throne, right?"

"Yes, to become the King of War, that is your destiny." Ryan said.

"Destiny...?" Guilliman's eyes were slightly illusive. He thought of some past events ten thousand years ago, and Ryan said similar things at that time.