Chapter 237: Let

A silence came from within the door; the two voices fell briefly still.

Dante deliberately made a sound.

Both to express his shock at what he'd heard, and to remind Zhou Yun and Sanguinius that perhaps they should discuss such explosive matters a little more privately?

He was just a retired guard rehired to write a book titled: *On Being the Son of a Salt Merchant Who Was Guided by Sanguinelo and Ultimately Became Commander of the Blood Angels Legion for a Thousand Years*.

"Before I went to the Winged Fortress, you said you'd talk to me about Guilliman when you returned," came the voice from inside after a brief pause.

Outside the door, Dante exhaled slightly in relief.

He remembered Mortarion saying that the Primarch of the Ultramarines, Roboute Guilliman, was also about to be resurrected.

It was reasonable for Sanguinius and Lord Zhou Yun to discuss this—surely nothing else would be said that Dante couldn't hear.

"I'm considering how to pull Roboute Guilliman into this," came Sanguinius's voice from within.

Though "pull into this" was a crude phrase, Sanguinius clearly meant reestablishing contact with Roboute Guilliman; as the only two Primarchs to return to the Imperium, this was clearly necessary.

Dante nodded in thought.

"Oltremar was nearly the wealthiest and most war-capable region in the entire galaxy—I saw that for myself during the Second Empire."

"If it had been Guilliman, not Horus, who was corrupted back then, the Heresy would likely have been far more brutal."

Sanguinius sighed.

Hearing the words "Second Empire" and "Guilliman's Heresy," Dante's face twitched slightly.

As a new recruit, he had once seen Sanguinius's memories inside the Blood Coffin and learned of the Second Empire—he was at least mentally prepared.

"No, if Guilliman had been waiting for you and the Emperor aboard the Macragge's Glory, you wouldn't have even had the chance to give birth to your Warp essence," came Zhou Yun's voice, tinged with amusement.

"Don't say that—he'd at least have been blessed by the Four Gods if he'd led the Heresy?"

Sanguinius hesitated before saying:

"But the Emperor might never have reached the Golden Throne."

A moment later, a burst of cheerful laughter rang out inside the Crimson Grand Hall.

"But you know Guilliman's administrative prowess—Oltremar has been dissolved for ten thousand years, yet if Guilliman wished, he could easily rebuild the old Five Hundred Worlds."

"And Baal's Three Stars are too barren to develop the power needed to oppose the Emperor."

Listening to Sanguinius, Dante outside the door couldn't help but nod repeatedly.

Baal's Three Stars truly were too barren—if they were to oppose the… wait? Oppose the Emperor?

Dante froze in place.

"Only after my resurrection did I fully realize the Emperor's problem," Sanguinius's voice began slowly.

"He is deeply bound to the entire human species—humanity and the Emperor, from existence to soul, are inextricably linked."

"Humanity cannot exist without the Emperor, nor can the Emperor escape humanity—he has become the collective will of an entire civilization and race, an Alaya, the King of All Long Ages. This bond is deeper than that between the Dark Prince and the Eldar."

"For ten thousand years, across a million worlds, every human spirit has merged into the Emperor. Even he—my father—may not retain his reason."

"And I must say, in the 41st Millennium, humanity's collective emotion is saturated with self-destructive tendencies—this will influence the Emperor, and the Emperor has the power to drag everyone down with him."

Dante held his breath, unable to believe what he'd heard.

Yet the discussion inside the room did not pause.

"The Dark King," Zhou Yun's voice came: "When the Emperor was still young, he was destined to become the Dark King."

"When his uncle was killed by him, he whispered: 'The Dark King awaits you, Your Majesty.'"

"He must have thought the Dark King was some great enemy he would face in the future—but in truth, he himself was the fated Dark King."

"How is he?" Sanguinius's voice trembled slightly: "My father."

Zhou Yun seemed to think for a moment.

"When I last saw him, frankly, it was not good—he's like an old man with dementia."

"I hope he can hold on a little longer."

Sanguinius sighed softly:

"We must secure Oltremar and Guilliman. I have an idea."

"Oh?" Zhou Yun's voice lifted slightly with curiosity: "What's your plan?"

Outside the door, Dante's forehead was drenched in sweat.

The Emperor, the King of All Long Ages, humanity's self-destructive impulses, the Dark King—these concepts made his head throb.

Once, someone had said that Dante, who had ruled the Blood Angels for a thousand years, was the most powerful man in the entire Imperium.

But now, Dante felt like a raw recruit forced to absorb knowledge he never wanted to know.

Yet now, finally, those terrifying, dark topics must be over.

"The plan is simple."

"We go to Oltremar."

Sanguinius said clearly:

"Then you stab Guilliman through the heart."

"Huh?" Dante blurted out in shock.

His eyes grew more confused by the second.

He thought maybe joining the Blood Guard had been a terrible mistake.

Standing outside a door, listening to a Primarch say they should assassinate another Primarch.

Inside, Zhou Yun raised an eyebrow slightly, then understood Sanguinius's meaning.

Long ago, Fulgrim had nearly killed Guilliman—the wounds he inflicted carried a Warp-tainted chaos poison, nearly impossible to purge, a death sentence.

The stasis field had trapped Guilliman on the border between life and death.

The Archmagos Belisarius Cawl forged the Armor of Fate to heal Guilliman.

But to fully resurrect Guilliman, he must first be truly killed, and the chaos poison on him must be purged.

In the original timeline, this task was carried out by Yvraine, the Chosen of the Eldar Death God.

She killed Guilliman with the Eldar relic, the Hag's Blade, and guided the Death God Inqad's cycle of life and death, allowing Guilliman to be resurrected with the aid of the Armor of Fate.

She killed Guilliman with the Spirit Clan's divine artifact, the Old Crone's Sword, and guided the Spirit Clan's god of death, Inard, to enact the cycle of life and death, allowing Guilliman to revive with the aid of the Armor of Fate.

The Emperor had severed the authority of the Human Death God and cast it upon Zhou Yun.

After partially awakening his Warp essence, Zhou Yun now effectively holds the authority of the Human Death God.

For him to kill Guilliman would produce a similar effect.

And in the process, Zhou Yun could corrupt Guilliman through death.

Hmm—hopefully, for the Ultramarines, a human killing Guilliman is more acceptable than an alien witch like Yvraine.

"But before we go to Oltremar to kill Guilliman, we have another problem to solve," Sanguinius said softly.

"What if the other three Gods—besides Khorne—realize I've returned and turn their attention to us?"

"..." Zhou Yun blinked, puzzled: "Don't they know?"

"What if the other three gods besides Khorne become aware of my resurrection and turn their eyes upon us?"

"." Zhou Yun blinked, puzzled: "Don't they know?"

Don't they know???

(End of Chapter)