bookbashuk Page 673
Page 673
[06:00 AM]
In the gentle glow of the candles along the pilgrimage route, some blind pilgrims attracted the attention of the guards—they exclaimed that they "saw" a black-gold giant with a floating head, and firmly identified him as a preacher.
This was not reported, and in fact, the closer the day got, the more frequently miracles occurred.
Some devout believers, even to the point of having nothing, have even seen visions of a golden sanctuary shimmering on the Himalayan ridge—
A colossal palace rose from the ground, floating above Terra and taking the place of the Sun.
In the very center of the towering palace, the enormous, bloodless, tearless god-emperor sat silently within a radiant golden halo. Anyone touched by its golden light was instantly ignited. The golden flames burned silently, yet did not cause pain; instead, they brought a sense of liberation and ease.
Those who witnessed these visions prayed even more fervently, crowding together to reach the state cathedral and leaving behind all their possessions.
For a time, gold coins and faith together paved the way to the state cathedral.
[6:29 AM]
Mortarion's escape was discovered, and an army composed of Blood Angels, World Eaters, and Ultramarines immediately began a search mission. At the strong suggestion of the Lord of Red Sand, the search team was led by World Eater Cain.
Fearing unrest caused by the Primarch's escape, the three Primarchs, after a brief discussion, unanimously decided to block information and strengthen security near the ritual site.
[6:30 AM]
[Underground River on the Himalayas]
They're only just realizing it now?
Mortarion spoke slowly, and in the rushing river, the Primarch grabbed a protruding stone pillar in the crypt with one hand and held Sevita with the other. Garo had already transformed into the golden flame above the Primarch's head.
"I informed the Assassin's Court to carry out some cover-up work."
Severta said with a sense of despair, no matter how much he thought about it, he felt that Vincent in the courtroom was not right.
Then I should thank you.
Mortarian said that the Primarch timed it perfectly, released his grip, and they were immediately swept downstream by the rushing river.
Five minutes later, Mortarian grabbed another protrusion in the rock wall.
This is an underground river that leads to a place not far from the altar of Saint Gilles and his men, which also serves to prevent Mortalian from being found by them.
(*There is no sea on Terra, but there are snow-capped mountains.)
Mortalian did not intend to use psionic powers. Sanguires' psionic intuition was already at a certain level, and any rash action would expose the plan in advance, thus causing it to fail.
According to the plan, they were supposed to soak in the deepest part of this underground river for at least two hours before coming out.
His brothers would never have imagined finding Mortarion in such a place; their arrogance, conceit, self-righteous humility, and belief that Primarchs should be respectable and superior would never have guessed that Mortarion was here.
In fact, Mortarian even strangely sensed a hint of acceptance.
This is at least cleaner than the river water in Barbarossa.
When the plan was being made, Vox and Karas also thought there was nothing wrong with it.
"You don't need to be so modest."
Severta said palely, he didn't know why he was always the one to encounter such bad luck. He would rather stay at the scene and be captured than be in the same dark river as the Pale Lord.
You shouldn't be a midnight lord... never mind.
Mortarian muttered to himself that Sevita should have been angry and offended, but the current situation left him with no energy for such thoughts, and his helmet, submerged in water, emitted a dull hum.
7:00 AM
The wrinkles on Killieman's forehead creased into a small knot. Anglon looked at Killieman, paused, and...
Try to think more positively.
The Lord of Red Sand spoke, yet he also felt the inadequacy of his words.
He won't be on the rooftop, and even if he were—we'd all be there, along with Valdor, the commander of the Imperial Guard; he can't defeat us.
【No,】
Guilliman shook his head, then forced a smile, trying to relax. In half an hour, he would be going with Saint Gilles to give a speech to the dignitaries.
[Angron's very existence foreshadowed defeat; it was a massive political disaster.]
Guilliman shook his head again. Angron "saw" the Imperial Regent's anxiety reach near-maximum levels at this moment. Noisy, restless sparks burst forth from the steadily burning golden flame, almost like fireworks.
Killieman subconsciously rubbed his temples.
We should postpone the ceremony until Mortarian is found.
At this moment, Saint Gilles, who was sitting calmly behind them and receiving his makeup from mortal servants, raised his hand.
Angron turned around and saw the golden light gradually shining in the archangel's eyes.
【No need. 】
Saint Gilles said softly, trying his best to comfort his anxious brother.
There's no need to panic, Guilliman. We are in the right, and there's no need for us to back down.
【and,】
Saint-Gilles added,
[A failed assassination attempt... in the long run, religion can actually unite people's hearts.]
That's true. Angron was lost in thought for a moment. He even wanted to smile bitterly. With Mortarian's attire, anyone who looked at him would think he was an enemy from another race.
Religion and politics are all about embellishment and packaging. Anglon came to understand this more and more during his time with Guilliman and Saint Gilles, which made him uncomfortable, yet he knew the difficulties his brother had to face.
He now actually hoped that Mortarion had escaped—the crowd and noise made it a good time for the Primarch to flee Terra.
As long as Mortarion returns to Barbarus, to the Storm Sector, and stops causing trouble... Angron believes that in the end they can still turn a blind eye and leave the Barbarus Sector for Mortarion.
7:13 AM
"A being resembling half of Luo Jia appeared beneath the palace maze, leading an army of skeletons burning with golden flames, attempting to break through the palace."
Waldo, a member of the Imperial Guard, stared silently at the Imperial Guard who had come to report.
"Their destination and intentions."
"The general analysis is that the Inquisition, Saint Gilles, and another army are marching toward the Star Torch."
What new developments does our Lord have?
The Imperial Guard shook his head.
Waldo remained silent. Over the years, he had become friends with Saint Gilles – at least they could exchange a few words. Whenever Saint Gilles appeared before the Golden Throne, the Lord of Mankind's condition would improve.
"I'll go check it out myself."
Waldo said he would go and ask the Emperor himself.
"The rest of you, guard the rooftop."
8:03 AM
Vincent/Emperor slipped away from the nobles who fawned over the Primarch, and he laughed, his hand, which had been cut off by Severta, had long since grown back.
He was walking on the snow-capped Himalayas, where the faint morning light and the candles from the palace made the snow-capped mountain shine almost like a golden mountain.
He felt such a powerful surge of faith, saw the Lord of Humanity just one step away, and heard the Lord of Humanity's unheard, agonizing screams—the God-Emperor was clearly just one step away, yet he hesitated to move forward.
He insisted on waiting until his offspring decided to take that step for him.
The emperor sneered at the woman's kindness, just like his sons Anglon or Vulcan.
But the ruler of mankind will not succeed.
The Emperor knew this perfectly well. A thousand years ago, when he awoke in Caliban, he knew the future—ten thousand years later, the Emperor would still not become a god.
Then this time it will be Mortarion's success.
Thank you, Mortarian.
This left room for him to ascend to godhood.
The emperor laughed, for the era of the Primarchs was coming to an end, and the regency of the empire should abdicate.
He laughed as he waited for the final hour before the statue of his former best friend, who was in agony.
Yay, it's gone!
Chapter 707 Everyone Takes Their Places
【Barr】
What? What did you feel?
The gaunt Primarch slowly rose, and dried sand, like Baal's blood, trickled from Mortarion's drooping hands.
The arid and barren land of Baal is unsuitable for cultivation, a fact that has remained unchanged for millennia.
In the bright sunlight a hundred meters in front of Mortalian, Guilliman was negotiating with Baal's people. The Imperial Regent's crimson cloak fluttered in the wind, and shimmering starlight gathered around him, almost making the mortals and Space Marines who approached him lose their senses. They instinctively wanted to kneel before Guilliman and submit to him.
Behind Killieman, who shone like the sun, were the other two, shrouded in shadow and twisted in the towering building's shadow.
Hades and Mortarian unanimously decided to send Gilliman to diplomacy, for no other reason than this.
People were unwilling to approach them; the Pale Lord was like a skeletal monster crawling out of a tomb, while Hades exuded an aura that was impossible to look at directly.
"Very...hard to describe?"
Hades pondered for a moment, then continued to squat and poke at the sand with his hands.
The moment Hades entered the atmosphere of Bal, he immediately began surveying using the Dark Domain.
He had never seen such a strange psionic field.
Baal's crust was almost entirely covered by golden psionic energy of faith. The pure and dazzling light enveloped every gap like an eggshell, and for a moment Hades could only see a sea of gold.
These spiritual energies originate from the churches on the surface of Baal. Like capillaries, these energies flow subtly from the feet of each believer, then infuse Baal, coating the great eggshell with a thick layer of gold.
After initial exploration, Hades gathered the dark domain, bringing together the vast, sparse, wasteland-like dark domain. He then condensed the dark domain into long spikes and plunged them downwards.
After reaching an almost unimaginable thickness, the psionic energy finally began to change.
Hades's golden psychic energy turned crimson, then became even crimsoner, and he continued to probe downwards—but in order not to disturb the archangels who might be imprisoned in the dungeon and cause unnecessary trouble, Hades stopped going deeper when the chaotic psychic energy was almost black with red.
"The power of faith forcibly restrains the power of corruption, but the two are not mutually exclusive. At a certain depth, the power of faith is slowly transforming into the power of chaos."
Hades raised his head, no longer looking at the ground, and looked at Guilliman in the distance, his gaze stretching further and further away until it reached the horizon.
"Can I say that the sky here is also chaotic?"
Hades blinked, and Baal's magnificent sky was reflected in his black pupils. The psionic field here was too chaotic. A large mass of psionic energy suddenly disappeared, and another large mass of psionic energy suddenly appeared.
The complete lack of pattern and unpredictability worried Hades.
But near the ground, these chaotic psionic energies were driven away by the power of the church on the ground.
Mortarian shook his head and spoke in a hoarse voice.
The psionic polarities here are unstable, and conventional methods cannot measure the chaos here.
The moment they boarded Baal, both Primarchs present simultaneously felt unwell.
It was an extremely strong sense of exclusivity; Baal did not welcome them, regardless of which side of Baal they were.
Mortarian glanced casually ahead and saw the son of Saint Gilles, who was walking angrily behind Gilles.
Amit the Flesh-Tearer.
There was also Dante behind him trying to stop him, but Amit was too fast, and Dante looked a little disheveled, and there was some distance between them.
Mortarian narrowed his eyes, sensing the scent of hatred. The Primarch casually extended a hand, and a scythe began to emerge from his palm.
"No way, Old Mo?"
Hades joked, seemingly understanding what had happened. The son of Saint Gilles, coupled with the seal from a thousand years ago, Hades could imagine just how many people Mortarion had offended back then.
"Are you really holding a grudge against the offspring of other legions?"
【…】
I simply hope he can understand what happened back then; that's a matter of respect.
Mortarian said calmly, but Guilliman, who was in front of them, reacted immediately. The Regent stepped out of the crowd and placed his hand directly on Amit's shoulder armor in a casual and natural manner, forcing the Flesh-Tearers to stop.
Mortarian clicked his tongue.