"Keep this in mind, and also do not forget to pass this ssage to the other three."
After saying this, the Emperor placed his hand on Zeke's shoulder. "It is ti to leave."
In his final glance, Zeke saw Nurgle sitting dejectedly amidst His burning garden. He was beside the Manse, comforting Isha, the Goddess of Life, even though she wanted none of His comfort.
Zeke began to ponder the relationship between the four Chaos Gods of the Warp and humanity. The four Warp Gods needed to feed on souls and gorge on emotions; this was the primary contradiction between them and humanity.
The four Gods could not be killed off completely; even if they were killed, new ones would be born.
This gave Zeke a second option outside of killing the four Gods.
That was to create a new world, strip the entire Warp away and exile it to another universe, or simply transfer all of humanity out of the Warhamr universe entirely.
But creating an entire world... was that sothing he could truly achieve?
Zeke began to fall, down and down, until his knees hit the ground, and he woke up once more in reality.
Zeke opened his eyes; he had returned to Iax.
The winds of Iax still carried the lingering stench of corruption left by the rampaging Nurgle creations, but compared to the suffocating stench of Nurgle's Garden, it was so fresh it almost felt like a luxury.
Zeke believed that as long as it was given ti, combined with the Officio Logisticarum's terraforming capabilities, everything would gradually improve.
Guilliman let out a sound akin to a sigh and stood up from another pile of rubble.
The Emperor had already withdrawn from his body, casually healing all the injuries Guilliman had sustained previously in the process.
"My son, Lion, is about to awaken." The Emperor's voice appeared in Zeke's ear.
"Hmm." Zeke grew alert. Calculating the tiline, it indeed was almost ti. "Why are you ntioning this to ?"
"Nothing much. Just that the final puzzle piece of your Imperium Secundus plan is about to be assembled. I am specifically notifying you."
"What, do you want to join my Imperium Secundus too?" Zeke wasn't surprised that the Emperor knew about Guilliman's little secret; there were very few things that could be kept from Him.
"If possible, that would be acceptable."
"Emperor, it's only been a few days, how did you suddenly develop a sense of humor?"
The Emperor of the past opened His mouth with eternal majesty and closed it with the heavy burden of humanity's survival. When did He learn to joke around?
"Then what kind of person am I in your eyes?" the Emperor asked in return.
Since the Emperor asked, Zeke didn't mind answering.
"First of all, let correct you: you're not a person, you're a god."
"As for how I evaluate you... A stern, profoundly wise leader. An incompetent old father. A not-so-successful savior. A..."
Zeke rattled off a whole bunch of labels. So he had summarized from the original lore, so he had witnessed with his own eyes, and others he had concluded during private discussions with Guilliman.
The Emperor did not interrupt him, waiting patiently until Zeke finished his very last word.
"Perhaps you have only seen the surface." His voice gradually dissipated into the wind.
Zeke began to recall everything he had done recently, trying to find the reason why the Emperor was acting out of character and holding such a subtle attitude towards him.
Searching through the mories in his mind, Zeke had a sudden realization: He must be bored.
Ever since Zeke arrived in the Imperium, it seed he had beco the busiest person in it.
He had helped the Emperor solve the Necron issue, and he had helped the Emperor solve the Primarch resurrection issue.
It seed the Emperor now only needed to sit on His golden throne, act as a hands-off boss, and watch Zeke perform.
"Ugh..." The sound Guilliman made pulled Zeke out of his thoughts.
Guilliman fully snapped out of his dazed state. "Is it over, Zeke? I truly owe you my thanks."
"Don't ntion it. Oh, by the way, I'm borrowing your sword for the ti being." Zeke waved the Emperor's Sword.
Guilliman looked at the Armor of Fate Zeke was wearing, then at the Emperor's Sword in his hand, and smiled bitterly.
If this keeps up, Zeke is going to strip down to my underwear.
"Mortarion has been driven out of Ultramar, and his network of corruption has been dispelled," Guilliman said. "There are still enemies lingering on their last legs, but the Plague Wars are over."
It should have been a piece of good news worthy of joyous celebration, yet there wasn't a trace of a smile on Guilliman's face.
"What's wrong? Sothing on your mind?"
Guilliman looked at Zeke and still chose to pour his heart out.
"I find that wars in the Materium seem to be becoming increasingly irrelevant. I still cannot conceive a strategy to confront the powers of the Warp. These things require delving into the realms of the arcane—the domains of psykers, sorcerers, and esoteric tech—and I know nothing of any of these."
Guilliman recalled everything that had happened in Nurgle's Garden. He was certain that even if he brought the entire fleet of the Indomitus Crusade here, it still wouldn't have made the slightest difference.
"Sigh, you're worrying over nothing. It's not your turn to figure out a solution for this kind of thing anyway." Through the war with Nurgle, Zeke had also witnessed how troubleso the Warp could be, and he had already secretly devised several corresponding plans and mods.
"Guilliman, I recall you built a hall capable of accommodating all the Primarchs?"
Guilliman didn't know why Zeke was shifting to this topic.
"Yes. In the distant past, when most of the Primarchs still walked in reality, I inwardly hoped that amidst the endless wars and crusades, my brothers could temporarily set aside our differences and heavy burdens, sit together like a family, and share a peaceful al. I specifically built that hall for that purpose."
"However, through the baptism of ti, that hall was destroyed in battle long ago. Why do you ntion this?" Guilliman had a premonition.
"Congratulations, Guilliman. You are one step closer to your old goal. One of your Primarch brothers is about to return."
"Truly? Who?!" Guilliman's voice carried pleasant surprise, along with a trace of a tremble he hadn't even noticed himself.
"Lion El'Jonson, the Lion," Zeke announced the na.
Guilliman looked as though he had been struck by lightning, standing frozen in place.
He recalled his relationship with this Primarch.
He then rembered his promulgation of the Codex Astartes and his forceful action of breaking up the Lion's Legion, the Dark Angels. The smile that hadn't even fully unfurled on his face drooped instantly.
Why him?
How could it be him?
So many years had passed; was he still as short-tempered as back then? Guilliman was filled with apprehension.
"I rember the Lion's howorld was Caliban, right? Have you ever been to that place, Guilliman?"
"How about we call Sanguinius and go welco him together?"
"Hey, are you listening, Guilliman?"
Guilliman was completely spaced out. Zeke's words went in one ear and right out the other.
Reviews
All reviews (0)