Chapter 378: The Inquisitor Is Very Concerned About Your Loyalty and Faith

Stellaris Court Steward Kelaplin stood silently at a corner of the Eternity Wall, gazing into the distance at the spaceport.

This vast, towering wall was wide enough for Titans to charge across and starships to land upon, and in Kelaplin's two grey, hazy eyes—whose vision left much to be desired—the end of it could not be seen at all,

In the Ecclesiarchy's propaganda, this was forged by the Hua Hua Hua Di Huang's divine son Rogal Dorn using fortitude, loyalty, and sacrifice as raw materials, the Phalanx as his hammer, the Himalayas as his anvil, forged over eighty-eight days, never to fall, never to collapse,

But Kelaplin, linked to the Hua Hua Hua Di Huang through the warp and whose ears could often hear the Hua Hua Hua Di Huang's song, and who was also one of the most powerful figures in the entire Empire, certainly knew this was a lie,

Primarchs, to a certain extent, far transcended mortal imagination, but on the other hand, primarchs were also far more possessed of mortal qualities than people imagined,

They were special existences woven from the radiance of the divine and the fierce fire of humanity, each one the extreme of some aspect of human nature,

Rogal Dorn's fortitude, Perturabo's obsession, Sanguinius's purity, Angron's wrath, Lorgar's faith, Guilliman's ambition.

And the Ecclesiarchy, in its propaganda, was always willing to extol and exaggerate the divinity of the primarchs, while ignoring their humanity.

Presumably, the next scene would also be greatly exaggerated in the Ecclesiarchy's propaganda,

They would say that Sanguinius and Guilliman were welcomed by countless citizens, that the worshippers gathered on the Eternity Wall were more numerous than at any time in the past thousand years,

Countless people stretched out their fingers to touch Guilliman's cloak or Sanguinius's feathers, the worshippers wept with joy, and some even took their own lives on the spot out of a life made complete,

Hymns rang out without cease, the primarchs manifested their divinity through pure words, the Hua Hua Hua Di Huang's glory shone upon them, and the wicked fled in terror,

The people were so fervent, and the primarchs so graciously answered their faithful, that it took them two days and two nights to reach the gates of the Eternity Wall.

The Ecclesiarchy would use falsified records and forged imagery to prove all this,

But unfortunately, those common folk who ought to have been devoutly welcoming the primarchs were now howling beneath the Eternity Wall, demanding food,

The starving commoners, even if they had the heart to welcome the primarchs' return, no longer had the strength in their bodies to do so; and even if they somehow squeezed out a little strength through faith, the wall-mounted autocannons would not permit it,

Of course, merely demanding food was still acceptable—in circumstances like these, merely craving food was already proof enough of their devotion,

Those commoners who were less devout had already begun to gut overseers, nobles, and even priests, then boil and eat them,

As for those who had entirely abandoned faith… they had already begun to offer blood to the Blood God.

Kelaplin, using in secret the corruption network Viceroy Tiruien had built, sent a portion of loyal Stellaris Court psykers into the hive cities, attempting to purge those worshippers of the Blood God,

But unfortunately, worshippers of the Blood God had existed almost since the very dawn of human civilization, developing alongside humanity through the long ages, influencing human culture, accumulating a vast number of Khorne artifacts on Terra, and giving rise to a great variety of sects,

Kelaplin's efforts in the end amounted to nothing more than a drop in the bucket.

Commoners could not come to welcome the primarchs; those who could come to welcome the primarchs were only

Scholars who did not know the truth of the matter, court guards kept by High Lords or some high official, bureaucrats within the Departmento Munitorum, acolytes of the Ecclesiarchy or other departments, and the Astra Militarum upon the high wall,

Among these, only the Astra Militarum could be called loyal and reliable; the rest—the scholars, court guards, bureaucrats, and acolytes—were here only to delay the primarchs' steps; this lot, chopped up and made into corpse-starch to feed the commoners outside, would be more useful than standing here,

And once the primarchs had descended, they would swarm forward, blocking the primarchs, slowing the primarchs' steps into the inner palace,

There were even some kept untouchables mixed in among this lot—clearly meant to guard against Kelaplin or the psykers within the primarchs' retinue,

They were of course insufficient to resist truly powerful psykers, but they could make any psychic reaction fully visible,

Including the use of violent means, all of it would awaken the High Lords' memories of that hidden history,

It would make them recall Horus's sons' slaughter of mortals before the rebellion, recall that once half the Astartes and primarchs had betrayed the human Imperium,

The High Lord or High Lords who had directed these crowds would surely seize the chance to make a great fuss of it, and might even push some originally neutral High Lords toward the faction opposed to the primarchs.

The question was, who had directed them to do this? Departmento Munitorum's Lord Commander Ilitu? Ecclesiarchy's Cardinal Bardo? Lex Scripta Minister's head Avrisha?

Any one of these people was capable of putting on such a show.

Ilitu was the prime suspect, but that fat man from the Departmento Munitorum carried talismans made from untouchable ashes on his person, and Kelaplin could not covertly peer into his mind,

The Cardinal and the Lex Scripta Minister each had their own anti-psyker measures as well—and then there was the worst possibility of all,

Assassinorum Grand Master Fardix—if he opposed the primarchs, that would truly be terrible,

Across all of Terra, the other nine High Lords posed no real threat; at most they could cause trouble great or small,

The only High Lords who posed a real threat were Custodian Guard Commander Trajann and Assassinorum Grand Master Fardix,

Even though the primarchs and Saint Doraemon themselves feared not those living weapons within the Assassinorum, those around the primarchs would find it very hard to resist.

"Hm?" Kelaplin jerked his head up; he seemed to have sensed something.

The voidship carrying the primarchs had landed at the spaceport, and those crowds—who knew not by whose orders—surged forward in a great black mass,

Yet when the voidship's hatch opened, what greeted them was not the holy faces of the two primarchs, but the dark muzzles of lasrifles.

Those officials, acolytes, guards, and scholars let out terrified cries, watching the dark-green mortal warriors carrying lasrifles pour forth from the ship and swiftly surround and take control of them,

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

"We are here to pay homage to the primarchs! What do you want?!"

"Traitors! Traitors! Where are the Luxi Fa Black Guard?! Subdue them!!"

These bureaucrats within the Imperial Palace of Terra let out shrill cries of protest,

The Luxi Fa Black Guard who guarded the city wall had just been about to come forward and protect them, but upon seeing the uniforms worn by those mortal warriors pouring from the ship, they all lowered their weapons.

"Traitors? Who are you calling traitors?!"

A woman's voice rang out from within the ship, and a powerful, overbearing psychic force surged forth from it, spilling out chaotically into the surrounding air; even the untouchables hidden among the crowd could not suppress this immense psychic force,

Kelaplin's face took on an intrigued expression—this psychic force, though weaker than his own, was already among the finest among mortals.

A woman clad in a worn, dark-green Cadian military uniform stepped out from the ship, a deep scar running across her cheek:

"Are you implying that the Cadian Shock Troops are traitors?!"

A roar burst from the woman's lips, carrying no psychic force at all, yet the words alone made those Imperial Palace bureaucrats tremble,

Only then did they realize that the mortal warriors surrounding them were all wearing Cadian uniforms washed countless times and flak armor pocked with bullet holes, fixing them with gazes brimming with killing intent.

The loyalty of the Astartes could be questioned, Inquisitors could be questioned, the loyalty of other Astra Militarum regiments could be questioned, even the loyalty of the High Lords could be questioned,

But no one could question the loyalty of the Cadian Shock Troops, nor could anyone replace the Cadian Shock Troops' place within the Astra Militarum,

The Astra Militarum and PDF of countless worlds modeled their training and organization on the Cadian Shock Troops, and took pride in imitating Cadia,

Especially the warriors of this Cadian Shock Troops regiment before them, who had clearly survived that world-shattering battle of Cadia,

Every Astra Militarum soldier who knew of their heroic sacrifice would respect them from the heart, and the Luxi Fa Black Guard who guarded the Imperial Palace were still Astra Militarum.

"In the name of the Master of Mankind, the Hua Hua Hua Di Huang, by order of the Lord of Ultramar, Primarch Robert Guilliman, and the Hua Hua Hua Di Huang's designated heir, Primarch Sanguinius, Cadia's 184th Regiment Commander Xiang Xiang Leina, I demand to take command of the defense of the Eternal Wall."

The Cadian Assault regiment commander who called herself Xiang Xiang Leina strode out from the ship's hatch and onto the city wall,

The Luxi Black Guard commander guarding the wall saluted her with the Aquila, and Xiang Xiang Leina directly presented him with the order signed by the two Primarchs,

That commander still seemed somewhat hesitant; Kelapulin guessed he had received orders from certain High Lords not to surrender command of the Eternal Wall,

But very soon, that commander understood that resistance was meaningless,

Vast numbers of Astartes in red or blue power armor poured out of the ship like a tide, their numbers far exceeding the ship's capacity, and in the blink of an eye they formed an array of over a thousand on the city wall — the size of an entire Chapter,

Along with the Astartes, emerging from the ship were also the heavily augmented Magi of Mars, mortal soldiers in Ultramar Auxiliaries uniforms, Custodians, the Canoness of the Sisters of Battle Mo Wen. Wal, an Inquisitor, and the living Saint Celestyn who had taken flight.

The appearance of this force settled the matter once and for all; the Luxi Black Guard commander saluted Xiang Xiang Leina once more and smoothly handed over command.

Only those bureaucrats were still somewhat restless, seemingly dissatisfied —

"I believe I just heard someone slander the Cadian Assault Corps as traitors?"

That Inquisitor, wearing a monocle whom Kelapulin did not recognize, raised high his Inquisitorial Seal:

"I am Inquisitor Grefax of the Ordo Hereticus, and I, along with Lady Saint Celestyn beside me, am deeply concerned about your loyalty and faith."

"Which volunteer would like to let me test whether my skill at administering the White Phosphorus pyre has deteriorated?"

Those restless crowds instantly fell silent.

Kelapulin watched this scene with considerable amusement, wondering whether those behind-the-scenes plotters had realized that playing such tricks before two Primarchs and a god was utterly meaningless,

At the same time he could not help but harbor a question: where had the Primarch gone? Where had Saint Doraemon gone?

Meanwhile, before the Lion's Gate spaceport in the inner palace of the Imperial Palace,

Custodian Commander Trajan stared fixedly at this red-and-pink wooden door that had suddenly appeared before him.

(End of this chapter)