The hot wind brought gusts of ashes, and the last gunboat roared through the layers of smoke and dust, landing in the midst of great sadness and confusion.
The hatch opened, and Lorgar stood in the shadow. He looked so hasty and at a loss. He stood there, standing in the ashes of the Perfect City, standing among his equally confused offspring.
He... he looked out slowly, and saw the Word Bearers still searching in vain for a possible remaining tome among the ruins and ashes. He saw the priests kneeling down and praying among the ashes, and a crumbling crack appeared in the people's indestructible hearts.
Gradually, a sound was heard.
"Aurelian,"
They shouted,
"Aurellion, my father."
Lorgar Aurelion, they called out his name. His name spread far and wide on the wind over the flaming wasteland. They stood up and looked at him blankly, at their father.
They are asking, why? Why is this happening
Surrounded by the confusion and pain of his offspring, Luo Jia felt that something in his body was broken and incomplete—why? He also wanted to ask, why? !
They had done nothing wrong, so why were they suddenly rebuked? Why were they humiliated with the Perfect City? Until now, Lorgar had received no other explanation except the communication from the Ultramarines.
Could it be the Ultramarines... ? Lorgar's mind was boiling. He was unwilling to think about another possibility. That was an abyss that his mind could not accept. Lorgar would rather accept another possibility - instead of... instead of...
But he couldn't... couldn't... at least not now. Lorgar looked at the Word Bearers. He tried to force a smile. As a representative, the Primarch could not show weakness. They were the spiritual support of the Scions - they were perfect.
In a sense, always staying calm, always staying rational, this is the weight that the Primarchs have to bear. If they can't keep it, then at least they need to act like it.
Angertai stood in the ruins, looking at his Primarch.
Lorgar walked out of the gunship. He looked so calm, but his calmness revealed anger and sadness. Erebus and Kor Phaeron followed the Primarch on both sides.
Angertai's teacher, Chief Priest Erebas was smiling gently and tiredly at the Word Bearers. He still seemed to find it difficult to accept the bad news of the Perfect City. Unlike other warriors, the Chief Priest of the Word Bearers always spoke softly in most cases, but the power of his words could not be ignored - this was why Erebas had won the respect of most of the Word Bearers and the Primarch valued him so much.
Ingres still had the necessary respect for his teacher.
On the other side of the Primarch was the Captain of the First Company, Kor Phaeron. Apart from the Primarch himself, the Word Bearers generally disliked this captain who was "promoted from within". Kor Phaeron wore shiny silver-grey Terminator armor. He was a coward. The thickness of his armor was comparable to that of a tank. Any soldier wearing such armor would have a dazzling record - instead of wasting this good equipment on a man who hadn't even undergone a complete Space Marine surgery.
Angertai did not want to comment on this person, and just as he was looking at the two people beside the Primarch, the Primarch spoke.
[We will always remember this moment, my descendants.]
Lorgar lowered his eyes, his golden pupils dimming under the ashes of the Perfect City.
Something incomprehensible has happened, but I swear to you, if the Empire, if the Ultramarines cannot explain this incident - then we will make them pay.
Price, this word echoed in Angertai's mind, he felt the touch of ashes brushing against his face, so what is our price? He thought, Ollierian, my father, what is the price for us to accept all this
He stiffly obeyed the Primarch's orders, and the Word Bearers troops scattered in the ruins began to gather. Even though they were shocked, confused and puzzled by the scene before them, they were still Word Bearers, the most elite warriors of the Empire, and soon, a hundred thousand Word Bearers troops gathered in this area.
As First Captain and Chief Chaplain, Kor Phaeron and Erebus had the right to be outside the ranks, and they stood to the left and right behind the Primarch.
The last Word Bearer had returned to the team. This was like some kind of signal, but not for them. There was a kind of uneasy restlessness in the air. Angletai hoped it would be the roar of the airship, but unfortunately, he guessed wrong.
The sun was about to set. On the other side of the ashes and embers, the orange sky was burning hot. A kind of golden light that was difficult to look directly at enveloped the earth. No, that was not the light of a star. It was far brighter than a star.
He is coming.
Angertai saw an expression of disbelief on Lorgar's face. It was the sound of a mask breaking. Aurelion, are you also expecting Guilliman, Malcador, or some other Imperial official? Except for Him - He came here, and landed on this huge ruin, which is a complete confirmation...
…proves them wrong.
Lorgar's cheekbones were tense, and he turned around slowly. The light was so bright that even the Primarch had to squint. Lorgar looked directly at the sun, at... the being that walked out of the light.
[Father.]
Luo Jia uttered this word with a trembling voice, this word that represents everything.
The God-Emperor looked at him. That was a Him whom Lorgar had never seen before. He was no longer wearing the heavy and glorious golden armor. His long dark brown hair hung down, and he was wearing a rough and simple linen robe. An olive leaf was tied on the laurel wreath made of thorns. There was a cold look in his eyes.
There's nothing in there.
"Kneel down."
He said.
This was not a request, nor was it an order. It was a far more powerful and primitive existence than either a request or an order. Angletai's brain went blank for a moment. His muscles tensed, his power armor creaked, and finally, he knelt down among the ashes. When he knelt down completely and obeyed completely, an indescribable calm and comfort emerged in the Word Bearer's brain.
Now, one hundred thousand Word Bearers, one hundred thousand warriors, all kneeled in the ruins of the Perfect City.
Lorgar looked back at his offspring in disbelief, his pupils trembling, and then he turned back, his voice almost inaudible,
[… Father?]
His father was looking at him at this moment, without a trace of emotion in his eyes.
"Kneel down."
He repeated it, and the word squeezed Lorgar so hard that he felt he could hardly breathe, his brain trembled, his back bent to an unimaginable arc - finally, he knelt down.
"Lorgar Aurelion,"
The voice came from above them.
"I'm disappointed in you, and I'm disappointed in your legion."
Luo Jia felt a buzzing in his head, and his blood seemed to stagnate. He couldn't breathe, and he couldn't understand, why - why? !
He wanted to look up at his father, but his attempt failed. The huge disappointment strangled him and he could not lift his head.
"You think I'm a god."
The Divine Emperor said calmly.
Luo Jia's mouth pulled into a twitching smile. Is it because of this reason, because you are still arguing that you are not a god, that you destroyed the Perfect City? You want us to kneel? The truth belongs to us, you can't -
"Why then do you and your legion fail to live up to my hopes for you, Aurelion?"
Luo Jia's pupils suddenly shrank. He... what... Could it be that he... No... He is not... Why is he...
Did He agree
Luo Jia's mind went blank again.
In great shock, Lorgar slowly raised his head. He saw the God-Emperor standing there. The setting sun was His halo. An incredible golden light enveloped Him, cold, but—
But it gave him a familiar feeling of warmth
Luojia opened his mouth in silence. The god was questioning his believers, so what should he do... what should he do to answer
[We... We spread your truth to the universe without any slackness. The legion conquers one world after another. Father, why do you...]
God, why are you so mean and cruel
The last words died between Luojia's murmured lips. He looked straight at the God-Emperor with great confusion and despair.
The Emperor of God raised one hand, his eyes were dazzling and burning gold, as if he was letting Luojia look at the ruins of this perfect city, the ashes of the burnt faith.
"Lorgar Aurelion, do you think you obeyed my orders?"
Isn't it? Lorgar shuddered.
"Your progress is the slowest of all the legions, Lorgar. The Great Crusade cannot afford to slow down."
Luo Jia felt his vocal cords oozing blood.
[The worlds left behind by the Word Bearers are never in ruins! The worlds we conquer can be put into production immediately - and they are absolutely loyal to you! Loyal to the Empire! ]
"Loyal to me?"
The God-Emperor spoke these words slowly. A huge feeling of suffocation and pressure once again strangled Luo Jia. An indescribable uneasiness and panic enveloped him. He suddenly remembered the abnormality that happened during his prayer a few days ago.
"Look at me, my child."
Lorgar stared at his god with trembling eyes. The sun behind the god was burning fiercely like an explosion, dyeing the entire sky into dazzling gold. His face was shrouded in shadows, and only his eyes were the same dazzling red gold.
"My child, Lorgar, answer me with your heart. Are you loyal to me?"
[I am loyal to you! I am your most loyal believer! God Emperor! My father! Why do you—]
Luojia roared, but he saw a drop of golden tear slowly sliding down the corner of the god's eye. The god lowered his eyes, which contained too much sadness and regret.
"Then you can see for yourself."
Luo Jia's expression shook, and everything around him was twisting and changing. In a trance, he saw people smashing the statue of the Emperor of Gods. He wanted to roar to stop them, but the next moment, the pus gushing out of the statue made his words stuck in his throat.
W-why?!
He saw the perfect city with its bustling crowds, he saw the filth hidden in the alleys, he saw the cultists in human skin dancing wildly and splashing blood on the holy candles, he saw... he saw...
Lorgar trembled slowly, he bent his upper body, and almost fainted - in those images, he saw a corner of the gray armor of the Word Bearer.
He was about to drown in this huge self-blame and despair.
“This is what you offer me, Lorgar Aurelion.”
The Emperor's calm voice sounded,
After a moment of desperate silence, Lorgar's hoarse voice rang out.
[God-Emperor, my Lord, please... please give me one more chance, I will peel off the rotten flesh myself, please give me, the Word Bearers, and your descendants a chance to atone for their sins... Father... My father...]
The Emperor shook his head slightly.
"I can't trust you."
Lorgar felt as though he were dead—he knelt rigidly, as though his breath had stopped.
Luo Jia suddenly looked up and looked at the God Emperor in disbelief, his eyes full of bloodshot. The scorching sun was about to set, and behind them, night began to take over the power of the day.
"Yes, Lorgar Aurelion, there are gods in this world."
Heavy footsteps sounded from far behind the legion, accompanied by slight, crisp metallic knocking sounds.
The sudden appearance of the outsider was too much of a shock for Luojia. He wanted to turn back, but the pressure from the God-Emperor strangled him and everyone in the legion.
"I will not deceive you again, Lorgar Aurelion, and I will not see you go astray again."
The God Emperor said lightly, his golden tears sparkling, and he closed his eyes, not wanting to look at him anymore.
"I am a god, Lorgar Aurelion. I am a god, but you will never understand what admitting this will bring me."
The God Emperor sighed slightly. It seemed that saying these words took him too much time and he became tired.
"You need to do the right thing again, my son. Now, bow your head and feel your sins, Aurelion. You need to repent."
Feel my sin? Feel what? Lorgar opened his mouth to ask again, but the God-Emperor closed his eyes. He was too disappointed in him. He did not want to see his offspring again.
Luo Jia still had endless questions, endless repentance and self-blame in his heart, but now nothing was of any use. Helplessly, he followed the instructions of the gods and lowered his head devoutly.
Neither spoke any more, and now all was quiet—
Except for the sound of footsteps, He was getting closer and closer.
In Luo Jia's sight, everything began to become dim.
As night falls, the dark and cold water of the Styx slowly rises, tapping the gray and dull helmets and boots of the Word Bearers. People grow weaker and become - more awake.
Lorgar held his breath. He wanted to look up and ask what was going on, but he suddenly found that he could not move - the god did not want him to move anymore.
The footsteps walked into a sea of a hundred thousand kneeling Word Bearers, the darkness swallowing them silently.
People wanted to look up, to see who this person was and what he was doing. But just like their Primarch, they could not look up, they were not allowed to peek.
Angertai held his breath. He felt the voice getting closer and closer. It was right behind him. The darkness almost completely enveloped him. Angertai struggled to keep his sanity under the wash of the sea of darkness. He saw a pair of black-armored feet walking past him, accompanied by faint green tears.
What…what is that
Hades walked silently among the kneeling Word Bearers. In his hands were two wrist-sized black stone spears - or rather long spikes, with elaborately carved three-headed hounds on top. In Hades' hands, they were looking down at all living beings mercilessly.
Finally, he stopped at the front of the line, behind Kor Phaeron.
Kor Phaeron knelt in heavy Terminator armor, his armor gleaming from the meticulous care he had put it on.
Hades listened to the accelerated breathing of the three people nearby.
He raised the spear in his right hand.
prick!
"Squeak!!!"
There was a sharp sound of metal piercing through, followed by a dull sound of flesh being stabbed, and then another sound of flesh and metal being stabbed, but Kor Phaeron's scream drowned it all out—
“Ahhh!”
He struggled to pull his hands back, trying to pull out the spear that had been nailed to the ground. The spear pierced his neck accurately, penetrated his lungs, passed through his thighs, and was firmly stuck in the ground.
He couldn't raise his head or look back, the spear had shattered his spinal cord, and he couldn't do that - he could even feel the poison coated on the spear, which amplified his senses and prevented his blood from clotting.
The executioner had not left yet. This cruel monster held the spear, and an indescribable sense of fear and powerlessness slowly fell along the spear.
"Ugh—s ...
Kor Phaeron gasped and screamed loudly, but he didn't even finish the Space Marine surgery, blood foam spurted from his mouth and he was like a rag doll, only able to make broken gasps.
Lorgar lowered his head, listening to the screams of Kor Phaeron to his right. No - no - he realized something. It was his adoptive father - no -
Scarlet sweat flowed down his head.
Meanwhile, Erebus felt a buzzing in his ears. No no no no no no no, Kor Phaeron had been discovered! Then he was probably already exposed—he wanted to run, he wanted to run! But how could he run? ! As if sensing his thoughts, the psychic flashes around Erebus became even stronger.
Fuck you! Erebus called out the names of those gods in his heart. He dedicated himself to them. He promised to dedicate the Word Bearers and Lorgar to them. They cannot abandon him! He is necessary! The fate of the empire's shattering will include his name, Erebus, and it will not end here. No!
The footsteps began to move and passed behind Luo Jia. Luo Jia would never admit that he felt relieved at that moment.
Erebas listened desperately as the monster walked towards him. He began to mutter nonsense about the will of the Four Gods. He struggled violently to break free from the spiritual energy that was hitting the false emperor. Finally, Erebas suddenly raised his head, and the violent struggle caused his head to suddenly fall back -
He saw a monster in the dark staring at him directly above him, with cold and lifeless eyes.
In an instant, Hades raised his spear and stabbed it down!
He heard the crisp sound of a skull breaking, then the sound of metal, and the sound of the spine shattering all the way.
Finally, the three-headed hellhound stood firmly on the top, with blood flowing from the bottom of the spear.
“Ahhhhhh!”
Erebus began to scream, he began to curse loudly, he began to roar, he tried to pull out the spear that pierced his face and avoided the deadly brain tissue with his hands, but all this was doomed to be in vain.
The monster looked at him expressionlessly, holding the spear firmly. Erebus despairingly saw a darkness that made him want to escape and wail climbing up the monster's hand and towards the spear. They slowly drooped down, just like Erebus's drooping organs.
“Ahhhhhhh!!!!”
Erebus let out a shrill scream that pierced the sky, and the scream, along with Kor Phaeron's dying wails and gasps, continued to ring in Lorgar's ears.
Luo Jia knelt with his head bowed tightly, feeling like he was going crazy.
The sun is about to disappear, and the last ray of light will sink into the earth.
The Emperor opened his mouth.
"You should repent."
The next moment, the Divine Emperor disappeared, and along with Him disappeared the spiritual pressure that had previously forced them to their knees - but among the one hundred thousand people, no one dared to stand up. They kept their heads down, feeling beads of sweat slowly running down their faces.
A soft and cold darkness enveloped them, as if to say that He was not cruel, He only punished sinners.
That's... what is that? That's not a Custodian... it can't be a Primarch... what is that
The screams of the sinners continued, but their screams only served to accentuate the terrifying silence of that existence.
Hades stared at Erebus coldly. Kor Phaeron was almost dying and was gasping like a dead man, but Erebus was obviously more energetic. He shouted loudly to the believers of the Four Gods and the name of the Great Demon. After realizing that all this was not working, he began to try to spit at Hades and cursed him, trying to anger Hades.
Hades just thought he was ridiculous.
He calmly watched Erebus's struggle. The chief priest tried to pull out the spear, but it only made him more embarrassed. His eyeballs almost burst out, and pieces of flesh and blood spurted out of his seven orifices.
Hades walked silently behind Lorgar, stopped, drew the broken sword from his waist, used it as a scepter, placed both hands on the sword, and said nothing.
He listened to Lorgar's suddenly rapid breathing, the hoarse sounds of Kor Phaeron, the shouting and cursing of Erebus, and the trembling sounds of the 100,000 Word Bearers behind him.
Darkness enveloped him, and now was the time of darkness.
Lorgar was shaking, going mad, as he listened in amazement to his most trusted chief priest spewing heretical obscenities. He listened to his adoptive father's dying cries, as if Kor Phaeron was calling his name - no, don't call him.
Except for the sinners, everything else was silent. The ruins of the perfect city stared at them silently, as if shedding silent tears.
When the planet's moon rose to the center of the sky, Kor Phaeron's increasingly dwindling hoarseness finally stopped, and a slight sound of armor scraping against sand could be heard - the sound of muscles twitching automatically.
Erebus began to insult Lorgar and the Word Bearers. He cursed each of them without holding back. Erebus called Lorgar a weak lamb and the Word Bearers a group of fools who knew nothing after losing the Book of the Holy Words.
The executioner remained silent, and Lorgar and the Word Bearers dared not move.
When the moon passed three-quarters of the sky, there was no sound at all in Kor Phaeron, even the sound of dripping water had disappeared. Erebus began to repent. He shouted that he was only deceived by the evil god, but he had now awakened from the pain of punishment. Give him a chance, a chance to atone for his sins, even if it means turning him into a mechanical servant!
Erebus shouted loudly, and he deliberately shouted in the direction of the executioner. His voice was so earnest and affectionate that for a moment he whimpered like a wounded animal in the desert.
Lorgar felt himself almost shaken by Erebus's confession, but behind him—
The executioner remained motionless.
An hour later, Erebus started cursing again, but his voice was noticeably quieter.
As the moon disappeared and the night behind them gradually brightened, Erebus's voice stopped. Finally, he uttered two loud, strange cries and dropped his hand that had been holding the spear.
The sinners died in the darkness; they did not survive the night.
There was a slight metallic collision sound, and Luo Jia felt that the executioner and the silencer behind him had taken action.
Lorgar's mind was in a mess. What was he thinking about that long night when Kor Phaeron let out his death howl, Erebus cursed, and the executioner stood behind him
Hades raised the broken sword and swung it down. He saw Lorgar's limbs suddenly tense, but he did not stand up to resist in the end—
"bite-"
The sound of the broken sword hitting the armor could be clearly heard.
Haddish paused, then retracted his sword, turned around and prepared to leave.
[Who are you?]
Lorgar's faint voice sounded behind him.
Hades glanced back at the giant who was still kneeling. He said nothing, without saying a word, and just walked away.
The footsteps left along the same path they came from, and a bright glow of dawn appeared on the horizon.
It's dawn.
I don’t have a partner. If I had a Valentine’s Day, I would type this fucking word. I won’t say anything more and would just kill two scumbags to vent my anger.
(End of this chapter)