[927.M32]
[Terra]
[Mortarion is coming? ]
Guilliman, with a little white hair under the emerald laurel crown, looked up in shock as he was correcting papers on the command board.
Angron sat down casually, the shadows of the trees casting dappled shadows on his light armor. When the weather was good, Guilliman would choose to work in the pavilion in the palace garden.
[Yes, it’s him, no doubt about it.]
Angron said, his golden eyes looking towards the treetops, [This stubborn guy, how long has it been since he contacted us? ]
[Five hundred and ninety-nine years,] Guilliman said, lowering his head to continue reviewing the documents. The Travis system’s application to reduce the tax rate was approved.
Angron grinned,
Guilliman paused while reviewing the document.
[Maybe he... hasn't adjusted to our gaze yet? ]
Silence, with only the melodious chirping of birds in the garden.
Angron clapped his hands and sighed.
[I have advised him many times, but he still refuses to believe that we don't care about these things... He is too stubborn.]
Guilliman smiled wearily.
The footsteps sounded moderately, and the afternoon sun became brighter because of it. "I guess you are here." A brisk voice sounded, and Sanguinius, wearing white wings and white robes, walked over.
Angron patted the spot carelessly, motioning the Archangel to sit down, but Sanguinius simply leaned against the white pillar of the pavilion, shaking the wine in his hand.
[Good afternoon, everyone.]
[Good afternoon,] Guilliman said. [Finished? Our brothers plan to visit Terra.]
[Come now?]
Sanguinius raised his eyebrows, with a warm smile on his face. [I don't think our brothers from the Storm Star Region like to visit and rest.]
Angron raised his hands.
[I didn't invite him this time—and he never accepted my invitation.]
By the Emperor, Angron invites Mortarion on average once every seven years.
Guilliman's face remained expressionless.
[It has become increasingly difficult for Terra to monitor the Tempest Sector recently,] Guilliman said, [Our brother, he has great power - but I still hope he can tell us.]
Sanguinius smiled helplessly.
[There is new news from the State Church. They have once again impeached Mortarion's weird religion... I continue to treat them coldly and tell them not to tell me similar news again.]
The atmosphere fell silent. A country within a country is always a dangerous topic. If it weren't for the performance of the Death Guard during the Greenskin War, the Death Guard's position might be even more embarrassing now.
Sanguinius took a sip of his wine and broke the silence.
[Mortals always worry too much.]
[They were just doing their job.]
Guilliman said, "Their vision may not be that broad, but they are fulfilling the mission we entrusted to them diligently and conscientiously, and we should not blame them."
Sanguinius smiled apologetically.
[Anyway,]he skipped Guilliman's correction,[I told the Ecclesiarchy to leave this alone.]
Angron scratched his head. [Why do I feel like I've heard this more than once, Sanguinius?]
Sanguinius sighed and drank the wine in his glass. A certain sadness appeared on his face.
[Because our brothers have been escalating the threat level.]
Sanguinius said, he sighed again, [It just so happens that he is here this time, we can have a good chat... There should be no rift between brothers, and the tragedy of a thousand years cannot happen again. ]
… … … … …
Mortarion said, breathing rapidly,
[And, Sanguinius, I solemnly warn you to cease your religious practices - the state religion can no longer expand, and the Lord of Mankind cannot bear these beliefs. ]
A crack appeared in the Archangel's perfect smiling mask, and his arms, which were about to be used to give Mortarion a hug, remained awkwardly suspended in mid-air. Behind him followed Angron who was holding his forehead with his hand, and Guilliman who had a wry smile on his face.
[I think we can talk about this topic later.]
Sanguinius said, "You have not been to Terra for a long time, Mortarion."
[There is no need to come here,] Mortarion leaned on his scythe, hunched over, the small limbs on the scythe waving, [You are here.]
The smile on the Archangel's face became warm again. He lowered his arms and walked sideways beside Mortarion.
[Shall we go see the Lord of Humanity? ]
Sanguinius suggested gently that the Emperor's condition was improving, a fact that anyone could see. Sometimes he would see the Lord of Mankind nodding at him in his brief dreams.
Mortarion tightened his grip on the knuckles of his scythe, he could barely see the road ahead, the Warp was taking a heavy toll on him, he felt himself burning—
He was walking on a burning golden sun.
[No.]
Mortarion uttered a single syllable, "I need not visit this tyrant."
He was almost melted, unable to maintain his identity, his former "creator" wanted to interrupt what he was about to do and wanted to turn Mortarion into a personalityless puppet.
The Lord of mankind has been alienated by these beliefs.
Mortarion persisted. He knew what he had to do. He persisted in speaking.
[Suspend the state religion, Sanguinius,] he said firmly. [It is too late. He needs power - but these powers are too mixed. No one can maintain his own identity in the face of mixed power.]
As he spoke, Mortarion saw the golden star grow dim, and the revelation given to him by the Warp confirmed this, and he and his Death Guard would be the main force to stop this.
The more determined he was, the dimmer the planet became.
Next to Mortarion, Sanguinius stopped, the smile on his face disappearing. The Archangel looked sternly at this... blasphemous... ugly being. He spread his hands,
[Mortarion]Sanguinius asked in disappointment. [Must we talk about this now? And—why?"
[Why?]
Sanguinius said. Mortarion opened his eyes and saw a creature with pure white feathers. A golden ring surrounded the wings. Countless eyes looked at him unblinkingly between the wings.
Mortarion was silent for a moment.
[Stop,] Mortarion then said in his most sincere voice, [Sanguinius, don't you feel something is wrong? That feeling of being bitten back?]
Sanguinius merely shook his head, looking firmly but somewhat sympathetically at Mortarion, then back at the surprised Guilliman and Angron.
Sanguinius said.
… … … … …
Parted on bad terms.
In front of the buzzing shuttle, Mortarion looked back for the last time. He saw Sanguinius who was completely corroded. But why was Sanguinius in a normal state? Why was his sanity and personality not corroded
Mortarion felt pain. Was he really the only one
No—that is absolutely not the case.
The Pale Lord reaffirmed his belief. He looked sadly at Angron and Guilliman behind the wings of Sanguinius. Angron's old wound had not healed, and Guilliman...
Mortarion opened his eyes, and seemed to see something in a trance.
What is that
No... I can't be distracted by other details now.
Mortarion boarded the shuttle and decided that if words couldn't convince them, he would use the scythe.
Humanity cannot be destroyed.
(End of this chapter)