Meditation Room
The corpses were staring at them in horror, emitting a burnt stench. They were nailed to the ground by countless long spikes, keeping them in a miserable kneeling position. Two long, straight black spears pierced through their flesh and blood, but only dripped slightly turbid tar on the ground.
Ingrete slowed down his breathing imperceptibly and pulled Cyrene in front of him to the clean road. The lady looked back at him in confusion.
Anglete coughed.
"My father?"
He looked at the back of the figure sitting hunched over a desk deep in the room, surrounded by flames and corpses. The Primarch had his back to them, shirtless, and the burning iron left marks on his back. The golden inscriptions originally engraved on Lorgar's back were covered by bleeding scars.
Nothing seemed quite right. Angertai stepped forward and took Cyrene's hand, cautiously waiting for the Primarch's reaction.
If Lorgar flew into a rage, then he would at least need to help Cyrene intercept the Primarch's anger, after all, he had condoned the lady's rude behavior.
Unexpectedly, Luo Jia's voice was unusually calm.
[If you are here to persuade me to cheer up, then you can leave. ]
"My father, I have discovered a mortal who witnessed the burning of the Perfect City and survived - perhaps you could meet her."
Lorgar's writing hand stopped, and the Primarch straightened up, with a hint of joking in his tone.
[I'm still wondering why you brought a mortal lady here, Angleta.]
Lorga... It sounded strange, but not incomprehensible, so Angertai took a deep breath and continued,
"Father, the Word Bearers are looking forward to your returning to lead the Legion. We have waited too long for you, and the Ultramarines are still urging us. We need your leadership."
He clearly saw Luo Jia's spine straightened in an instant, the wound was torn open, and blood flowed again.
Then Lorgar's gentle voice sounded, and the words he said suffocated Angertai.
[Sorry, my heroic offspring, I can't do that.]
Anglete suddenly realized that they might be too late—they hadn't made it in time for something to break, and now all they could see was a pile of broken glass.
Lorgar continued to speak, holding the quill in his hand in vain, the white feathers soaked with blood.
[I claimed to be the one who believed in truth, but I spread false beliefs; I claimed to be a demigod, but I promoted traitors... I betrayed His trust. I was the only one who was right among them, but I was also the only one who hurt Him.]
Luo Jia's hand holding the pen loosened and tightened again.
[He admitted that I should have been ecstatic, that the God himself had taken off his veil, only to guide the lost shepherd, but I was so wrong, I was raised by a sinner who could never redeem himself, I made friends with a traitor who was full of lies - I failed Him. ]
Luo Jia's back hunched again.
[Maybe I am not suitable.]
"grown ups,"
Cyrene's trembling voice echoed in the meditation room, as clear as the first bird song in the forest in the morning.
"He allowed us to live because He knew our faith would grow again, not wither."
Luo Jia was silent for a moment.
[What did He tell you? What did you see, ma’am—]
[No, excuse me, what is your name, ma'am?]
Angertai felt that Cyrene's hand was shaking uneasily in his hand. It takes courage to talk to the Primarch.
"You can call me Cyrene, sir. I was originally a native of the Perfect City. During the days when the blue giant landed, he pointed out the way for me. I followed his instructions and witnessed the burning of the Perfect City."
[Ms. Cyrene,]
Luo Jia said calmly, although his voice was extremely hoarse,
[How will you prove that what you are experiencing is His will and not your over-stressed imagination - there will always be mortals who talk nonsense after the war. ]
[I have been bitten by a hissing serpent and I no longer want to be credulous.]
The Primarch pointed out mercilessly the mistake they made in standing there, and Angertai felt his cheeks getting hot.
The Primarch's doubts were correct, but when he saw Cyrene for the first time, he trusted this lady very much. No... Angertai suddenly thought of Erebus. The former chief priest had also given him the same feeling.
Anglete slowly realized that his impulsiveness seemed to have made a mistake.
Cyrene seemed to be afraid, but she spoke without wavering.
Cyrene swallowed, as if the memory itself was painful to her.
"I saw ..."
"I saw a darkness that was not described in any ancient book. It was a depression that could not even appear in the deepest nightmare... That darkness was like... like the sea?"
"He appeared before me. He was not the God-Emperor. No, not Him. It was another existence... He... He was crying, crying in the darkness. His tears were emerald green."
Angertai felt that his breathing had stopped, and perhaps Lorgar's breathing had also stopped. In the reports given to them by the God-Emperor and the Ultramarines, the Perfect City of Seven Days did not mention Him.
Nor did He appear in the more distant past - in the history of the empire.
But only the Word Bearers who were punished at that time truly and completely sensed His existence.
They might be the first to know, or perhaps the others who knew of His existence have died.
The Word Bearers have always avoided mentioning that existence. It is not pleasant to mention Him. Criminals will not be happy to talk about what the executioner is wearing today. They focus their attention on the God-Emperor. He may be the executioner under the God-Emperor, or perhaps... another existence.
The Primarch, who had been facing away from them, turned around. In the reflection of the blazing flames, the two bloodstains under Lorgar's eyes were particularly obvious, as if reflecting golden light.
[You saw... the Silent One?]
The Primarch asked hesitantly, and this question made Cyrene stunned.
"The Silent One?"
She spoke doubtfully.
"I thought... I thought He told me He was Hades."
Pluto
The word stirred ripples in the hearts of the two Word Bearers present, and they seemed to be back in time to that night with a full moon.
The dark sea of depression, powerlessness and difficulty in controlling themselves beats against them, and their souls float alone in the deep, pitch-black ocean.
Lorgar stared at Cyrene, his eyes gleaming with fire.
[Do you know anything else about Him? What is He?]
Cyrene blinked her eyes in confusion, then shook her head.
"I... I can't remember clearly. I only remember that it was the sin in the truth that He discovered. He seemed to say something to me... but I... but I forgot."
The Primarch was silent, then spoke again,
[He is avoiding people from remembering Him.]
The Primarch glanced wearily at the two bodies.
[If this is their will, then so be it.]
Then there was silence, and the Primarch seemed unwilling to recall that silent and crazy night.
Cyrene mustered up her courage, realizing that her words had earned her enough trust.
"My lord, His true will is for you and your legion to once again serve as messengers of faith. Culture and faith need to be reshaped."
Luo Jia lowered his eyes and loosened the pen in his hand.
Is this what He wants you to say to me
The Primarch asked abruptly.
No more, yay!
(End of this chapter)