"My Lord, we are about to enter the Ultramar space - but my thermal sensors tell me that you are now in a state of agitation."
Jin bent down, the metal behemoth bending beside the thin old man, the gold and black stone ornaments on his red robe swaying.
Malcador opened his eyes, which had been closed for a long time, seemingly dozing off.
From beneath his deep eye sockets, Malcador cast a hawk-like glance at Sage Gold.
Jin was unmoved.
After a long while, Malcador let out a deep sigh.
"He…he told me what happened to Cartier in the end."
Jin's indicator light flashed wildly for a moment, and he said calmly,
"My Lord, I do not understand what you mean."
Malcador paused, feeling the jolt of the ship as it sailed, and he remembered what he had just seen through the chaos of the warp.
Malcador stumbled, holding on to his scepter tightly.
“… Maybe I should be nicer to him.”
The old man muttered to himself softly, but chuckled again.
"No... maybe I should have pushed harder at the end."
Malcador stood up, feeling the huge psychic shock coming from the Emperor when the Astronomican went out and the impact came.
He was certain that something had attacked the Webway, but now that he was outside the Sol System, Malcador was unsure of what it had been, or the extent of the damage.
But judging by the feedback from the Lord of Humanity’s spiritual energy…
… This is at least better than originally expected.
Malcador smiled bitterly. His old bones would be of little use to the Lord of Mankind.
The Lord of Mankind will take care of it. The Custodes and the Imperial Fists are now on Terra, and under the Emperor's orders, the Salamanders have also begun to return to defend the Webway under the Imperial Palace.
Malcador smiled bitterly. He really shouldn't hide in Terra anymore. Before this, the Imperial Regent always hid under the light of the Emperor.
This always makes people forget that Malcador is also a shining human star.
Malcador sighed once more, his friend Hades had already rushed towards his battlefield without fear, and it was time for his old bones to fight for their lives.
But... before that, Malcador thought, as he looked at the glittering dot on the star map - Macragge. Their ships were very close to it.
The old man frowned - and not just because he was troubled by the prospect of explaining Hades' situation to the Primarch there.
What's more, he sensed an unsettling aura in that star region—
…something has locked onto Mortarion.
Malcador hid his newly darkened gaze beneath his hood.
Things might be more troublesome than he thought.
—————
Mortarion strode through the streets of Macragge, and he could see the vague movement of people in the streets.
Guilliman's second-in-command, Gage, caught up with Mortarion. Even though the Primarch did not run, Gage still had to jog to keep up with Mortarion.
"My Lord, you wish to be granted temporary overall security authority over Macragge."
[It is the temporary highest authority, including permission to start a war, full alert, regional blockade, and material mobilization. ]
Gage's voice stopped, but after a moment, his serious voice sounded again,
"My Lord, I am unable to give you these powers as requested by Lord Robert Guilliman."
The tall, thin, pale giant glanced at Gage casually, and Gage was sure that at that moment, he felt the presence of some murderous intent, and that feeling gently brushed across the back of his neck, making him shudder.
[Kind and responsible, Robert Guilliman's Little Commander,]
Mortarion said,
[I just want to emphasize once again that I am here to save the lives of most people and to prevent humans from falling into the hands of the warp as much as possible.]
[I am not interested in what you call the glory of war, political correctness, human rights correctness... and other things that have nothing to do with life and materials. ]
[I have no interest in Macragge.]
Mortarion said,
[But Macragge must not fall.]
[Do you understand now, Commander Guilliman?]
Gage swallowed, the Primarch was putting pressure on him, and he knew it.
The leader of the first station pondered, weighing the pros and cons like a standard Ultramarines. Finally, he spoke,
"My lord, the Ultramarines will assist the Death Guard in this fight, but you must give us a good reason - we need to weigh the risks."
Mortarion sneered, about to laugh—
The Lord of Death stopped.
Gage, who was chasing him, took a step forward. He wanted to ask the Lord of Death what happened, but he saw Mortarion slowly raise his head and look up at the sky.
[… Not only here. ]
Mortarion held out his hand, motioning for Gage to hand him the command board.
Gage handed it over, and the Primarch opened the star map and circled the first fallen world.
Mortarion then opened the map of Macragge and expertly circled the key hubs and streets.
The Lord of Death raised the command board to his side, then let go, and it fell from his fingertips. Gage hurriedly caught it.
[Four minutes... No, three minutes later, you will receive news that Yax has fallen.]
Mortarion hissed under his gas mask, completely ignoring the shocked Gage, and continued calmly,
[Stand troops in the streets and hubs I have circled, and tell the mechanical sages to inspect Macragge's circulating water system and call out all the pharmacists.]
Gage took a cursory glance at the Primarch's handwriting.
"You mean—the plague?!"
The Lord of Death laughed.
[If only it were just a plague. ]
Mortarion said,
[Now, everyone is under house arrest. If your Macragge people still want to escape, the Death Guard doesn't mind providing some non-lethal poison gas bombs - only one is needed, and an entire main road will be unsuitable for any carbon-based creature to breathe in the next week.]
Mortarion looked up again. Thick clouds were gathering in the sky.
It's going to rain soon.
——————
Seven felt very uncomfortable.
Even though he successfully became an immigrant to Macragge, the fear in his heart still did not dissipate.
A huge hole was eating away at him.
He felt uneasy, he felt scared, he was not used to the densely populated Macragge where the whole world was moving at a fast pace, and he felt unbelievable.
It shouldn't be like this.
Seven thought, and he remembered his home planet, Yax, a calm and peaceful agricultural world where nothing would change and the world would reach eternity in the cycle of crops.
He subconsciously scratched the scars on the back of his head, which felt like ripe, heavy berries.
God's whispers echoed in his ears. He sat up from the bed and walked nervously towards the hospital stairwell. He was going to the third underground floor.
There he met the remaining six men.
"Relax."
Raton muttered.
Yay!
(End of this chapter)