Chapter 377: The Inquisitor Is Worried About Your Loyalty and Faith

Chief Kaelaprin stood silently in a corner of the Eternal Wall, gazing toward the distant spaceport.

This vast wall was wide enough for titans to sprint and starships to land, yet Kaelaprin's dim, gray eyes could not discern its edges.

According to the Imperial Cult's propaganda, it was forged over eighty-eight days by Roge Dorn, the Emperor's divine son, using steadfastness, loyalty, and sacrifice as raw materials, the Mountain Array as his hammer, and Mount Ximalaya as his anvil, unyielding and unbreakable.

But Kaelaprin, who was psychically linked to the Emperor and often heard the Emperor's Song, and who was among the Empire's highest elites, knew this was a lie.

The Primarchs surpassed mortal imagination in some ways, yet in others, they were far more human than people imagined.

They were special beings woven from divine radiance and human flame, each embodying the extreme of some human trait.

Roge Dorn's resolve, Perturabo's obsession, Sanguinius's purity, Angron's rage, Lorgar's faith, Guilliman's ambition.

Yet the Imperial Cult always delighted in exaggerating the Primarchs' divinity while ignoring their humanity.

The scene about to unfold would surely be grossly exaggerated in the Cult's propaganda.

They would claim Sanguinius and Guilliman were welcomed by countless masses, with more worshippers gathered on the Eternal Wall than at any time in the past thousand years.

Countless people stretched out fingers to touch Guilliman's cloak or Sanguinius's feathers; worshippers wept with joy, some even committed suicide from the fulfillment of their lives.

Hymns rang ceaselessly; the Primarchs proclaimed their divinity with pure words, the Emperor's glory shone upon them, and heretics fled in terror.

The people were so fervent, the Primarchs so mercifully responsive to their believers, that it took them two days and two nights to reach the Eternal Gate.

The Cult would use falsified records and forged imagery to prove all this.

But sadly, the common folk who should have been devoutly welcoming the Primarchs now screamed below the Eternal Wall for food.

Starving civilians, even if they wished to greet the Primarchs' return, lacked the physical strength to do so; even if they forced themselves with faith to muster a sliver of energy, the machine cannons on the Eternal Wall would not permit it.

Of course, merely asking for food was better than nothing—under these conditions, craving food alone proved their piety.

Those less pious civilians had begun to gut, boil, and eat their overseers, nobles, and even priests.

As for those who had completely abandoned faith, they had begun blood sacrifices to the Blood God.

Kaelaprin secretly used Tiruien's corruption network to send select loyal Astropaths into the hive cities, attempting to purge Blood God worshippers.

But sadly, Blood God worshippers had existed since the dawn of human civilization, evolving alongside humanity, shaping its culture, accumulating vast quantities of Khorne relics on Terra, and spawning countless sects.

Kaelaprin's efforts amounted to nothing more than a drop in the ocean.

Common folk could not come to welcome the Primarchs; only those who could were:

Scholars ignorant of truth, palace guards maintained by the High Lords or senior officials, bureaucrats of the Neiwu Force, acolytes of the Imperial Cult or other departments, and the Astra Militarum stationed on the wall.

Only the Astra Militarum could be called loyal and reliable; the scholars, palace guards, bureaucrats, and acolytes were merely there to delay the Primarchs' progress—these people would be more useful chopped into corpse flour and fed to the common folk outside than standing here.

After the Primarchs arrived, they would swarm forward, block the Primarchs, and slow their entry into the Inner Court.

Among them were even kept incommunicado individuals, clearly intended to counter Kaelaprin or any psykers in the Primarchs' entourage.

They could not truly resist powerful psykers, but they made psychic signatures glaringly obvious.

Any use of violence, even, would awaken the High Lords' memories of that hidden history.

They would recall the Horus Heresy's slaughter of mortals before the rebellion, remember that half the Adeptus Astartes and Primarchs had betrayed the Imperium.

The High Lord—or Lords—orchestrating this would seize the chance to make a spectacle, possibly swaying even neutral High Lords toward opposition to the Primarchs.

The question was: who was directing them? Neiwu Force Chief Iltu? Imperial Cult Pope Baldo? Fawu Force Minister Avilisha?

All three had the means to orchestrate such a spectacle.

Iltu was the prime suspect, but that fat Neiwu Force chief carried an amulet made of incommunicado ashes; Kaelaprin could not secretly probe his mind.

The Pope and the Fawu Force Minister each had their own anti-psyker measures—and there was an even worse possibility:

Master Assassin Fadix. If he opposed the Primarchs, it would be catastrophic.

Of all nine other High Lords on Terra, none posed a real threat—only minor or major troubles at best.

The only truly dangerous High Lords were Inquisitor General Trajan and Master Assassin Fadix.

Even if the Primarchs and Saint Dora themselves were unafraid of the Assassin's living weapons, those around the Primarchs would struggle to resist them.

"Hmm?" Kaelaprin suddenly lifted his head—he sensed something.

The voidship carrying the Primarchs had landed in the spaceport, and the crowd—whose allegiance was unknown—swarmed forward en masse.

But when the voidship's hatch opened, instead of the two Primarchs' divine faces, they were met with the black muzzles of laser rifles.

The officials, acolytes, guards, and scholars screamed in terror as emerald-green human warriors poured from the ship, swiftly surrounding and subduing them.

"What are you doing?! This is sacred Terra! This is the Imperial Palace! Is there no Imperial law?!"

"We came to pay homage to the Primarchs! What do you intend?!"

"Traitors! Traitors! Where are the Lucifer Blackguards? Subdue them!!"

The palace bureaucrats of Terra shrieked their protests.

The Lucifer Blackguards guarding the wall began to move to protect them, but upon seeing the uniforms of the soldiers pouring from the ship, they all lowered their weapons.

"Traitors? Who are you calling traitors?!"

A woman's voice rang out from the ship, a powerful, brutal psychic force erupting chaotically into the surrounding air; even the incommunicado hidden among the crowd could not suppress this overwhelming psychic surge.

Kaelaprin's expression turned intrigued—this psychic power, though weaker than his own, was among the strongest ever seen in a mortal.

A woman clad in faded, emerald-green Cadian assault armor stepped from the ship, a deep scar across her cheek.

"Do you mean to say the Cadian Shock Troops are traitors?!"

Her roar erupted without any psychic power, yet the mere words shook the Terra palace bureaucrats to their core.

Only now did they realize: the soldiers surrounding them all wore washed, threadbare Cadian uniforms and bullet-riddled armor, staring at them with eyes brimming with lethal intent.

The loyalty of the Adeptus Astartes could be doubted, Inquisitors could be doubted, the loyalty of other Astra Militarum units could be doubted—even the loyalty of the High Lords could be doubted.

But no one could doubt the loyalty of the Cadian Shock Troops, nor replace their status within the Astra Militarum.

Countless worlds' Astra Militarum and PDF units modeled their training and organization after the Cadian Shock Troops, taking pride in emulating Cadia.

Especially these Cadian Shock Troopers—clearly veterans of the cataclysmic Battle of Cadia.

Every Astra Militarum soldier who knew of their heroic sacrifice respected them from the heart; and the Lucifer Blackguards, who guarded the palace, were still Astra Militarum.

"In the name of the Emperor of Mankind, by the command of Lord Roboute Guilliman of Ultramar and His Imperial Majesty's designated heir, Primarch Sanguinius, I, Captain Leina, commander of the 184th Cadian Shock Troop, demand command of the Eternal Wall's defenses."

The woman identifying herself as Leina stepped from the ship's hatch onto the wall.

The Lucifer Blackguard commander on the wall saluted her with the Eagle salute; Leina directly showed him the order signed by both Primarchs.

The commander seemed hesitant—Kaelaprin guessed he had received orders from some High Lord not to surrender command of the Eternal Wall.

But soon, the commander realized resistance was meaningless.

Hundreds of Adeptus Astartes clad in red or blue power armor surged from the ship like a tide, their numbers far exceeding the vessel's capacity; in an instant, they formed a thousand-strong formation on the wall—equivalent to a full Chapter.

Alongside the Astartes emerged the heavily modified Magi of Mars, human soldiers in Ultramar Auxiliary uniforms, Imperial Guard, Grand Mistress Mo Wen Val of the Sisters of Battle, an Inquisitor, and the soaring Living Saint Celestine.

The appearance of this force settled the matter; the Lucifer Blackguard commander bowed again to Leina and smoothly surrendered command.

Yet the bureaucrats still stirred restlessly—apparently dissatisfied.

"I just heard someone call the Cadian Shock Troops traitors?"

An Inquisitor wearing a monocle—whom Kaelaprin did not recognize—raised his Inquisitorial Seal.

"I am Inquisitor Grayfax of the Hereticus Purge. Myself and Saint Celestine here are deeply concerned about your loyalty and faith."

"Who among you volunteers to let me test whether my white phosphorus rites have grown rusty?"

The restless crowd instantly fell silent.

Kaelaprin watched this scene with interest, wondering whether the shadowy masterminds had yet realized: playing such tricks before two Primarchs and a living saint was meaningless.

He also could not help but wonder: where were the Primarchs? Where was Saint Dora?

Meanwhile, before the Lion's Gate spaceport within the Inner Palace:

Inquisitor General Trajan stared fixedly at the suddenly appearing wooden door—reddish-pink in hue.

(End of Chapter)