Chapter 400 Loyalty
“He does not need to eat or drink, and His rituals require neither gold nor silver, but people still use gold, silver, marble, and silk in rituals, as if the etiquette is not enough Luxury is not enough to call it worship. They do not invite people to believe in Him, but sell His grace." - "The Book of Lorgar"
Logar Aurelion replaces the Wandering Saint. For the four candles on the altar of the church, he gently pried off the old, burned-out wax oil from the black iron candlestick, and then placed the brand new candles in the base shaped like the wings of an eagle. The candles are evenly distributed on both sides of the emperor's icon in the center of the altar, symmetrically.
The fire ignited one after another, and a cluster of deep and red flames swayed on the top of the white jade candle. Soon, the first drop of wax oil slipped against the edge of the candle, and the inside was glowing with a solidified light red color, like falling blood or flowing tears.
Logar raised his head and looked at the statue of the sword-holding emperor in the center of the black iron candlestick, seeking higher guidance.
The uncarved eyes of the Emperor's statue stared into space. Under the icon, the black iron reliquary stood alone in the center of the altar, maintaining its eternal silence.
Every picture painted on the colored window is silent, refracting the artificial light into countless brilliant and transparent colors. After careful arrangement and design at the time of construction, the color blocks are laid out On top of the long carpet that runs through the center of the sanctuary. Aurelion turned around, walked down the steps, and left this empty and bright hall along the long carpet in the center of the sanctuary.
"The fathers of Bible exegesis will also be ignorant of many things." He thought silently. "Why does death come?"
The glory of the Wandering Temple remains undiminished, but on the surface of the planet where the Law of Faith anchored, Space Marines are dying. Faster than in the outer battle before they entered the sentry. Faster than the dozens of blitzkrieg campaigns they had previously completed.
Caught between reality and echo, in battles or exploration missions, dangerous or not, thousands of Astartes died one after another in just a few days, and most of them even lost their bodies. Nowhere to find it.
In the Word Bearer's Queen of Glory, the resting place in the Hall of Hindsight is filled with the names of new ones every day, who leave their expeditions in advance to bask in His glory.
Almost all the dead had been close or far to the wreckage of the Randan biological spaceship on the surface after it disintegrated, and heard some kind of distant echo, and even saw a kind of cluster. mirage.
Trees. river. Rustling grass. Rolling stone mountains. Aggressive native predatory plants. A harmless beast with smooth, warm light orange fur. Some life forms that once existed and established simple civilizations lived in groups near water and on different planets. One hundred unspoiled natural terrains. A thousand different kinds of ancient life. Full of life. Verdant green. Bright yellow. Watery red wild flowers. Edible amaranth.
What is that? Perturabo's Iron Warriors carefully and quickly collected local geological data, and the Iron Lord himself supplemented his study of the analysis of geographical conditions.
“About fifty to five hundred years ago,” Perturabo said. On the screen, his image was more distant and colder than the real him. “That was the original ecological environment of these planets. Later, Ran Dan expanded to this point, relying on Ran Dan's seeds to convert all organic matter into nutrients for Ran Dan's alien survival."
"Why do the Randan aliens' psychic fields radiate memories of when they first landed?" Horus asked this question, "rather than the current status of the planet they now possess?"
Perturabo He was thinking, with an unexplained seriousness on his face. Then, he shook his head: "That is not Ran Dan's alien memory, Horus. Morse has told us that from Ran Dan's perspective, there is no difference in color in the world."
"I "I don't know much about psychic powers," Horus frowned, "But can the psychic memories of creatures that survived five hundred years ago be preserved until now? It's a pity that my father did not allow us to contact the brother who is good at psychic powers. . Can you-"
"He is already here," replied Perturabo. "Next time, we will come with the answer."
"None of us have been to the Indomitable Truth." Horus said, his voice deepened, and his eyes moved to one side in the screen. Lorgar knew what he was looking at - the piece that symbolized Leon. Black screen. "It seems that if we don't take the initiative to meet our Emperor's eldest son, he will never take the initiative to find us again."
Lorgar walked out of his memories, and his feet landed on the edge of the long carpet on the floor of the Wandering Temple. The Word Bearer pondered for a moment, then took another step out of the sanctuary and glanced at the two Word Bearers guarding both sides of the sanctuary.
"Close the door, children." Aurelion said, "my priests."
The two Word Bearers pushed the open sept door inward, Lorgar Watching the door close, blocking the vast brilliance of the Wandering Temple, he once again looked into the empty eyes of the emperor's statue in the center of the two doors, then turned around and followed his path. The Word Bearers were at his side.
"What do you think of this battle?" Aurelion asked gently, "Tell me, Daniel, Erebus."
Two The heads of the famous cults looked at each other, and Erebus took the lead in saying: "The First Primarch is proposing the use of extermination weapons. He is right. The punishment of warriors is not enough to make up for the insult brought by heretics. We should choose His method is to directly send down the punishment of heavenly fire.”
Luojia nodded slightly, hiding his satisfaction.
Erebus can always tell the answers he especially wants to hear. His understanding of doctrine is always so consistent with him, and he is even willing to use some of Lorgar's usual teachings in the form of tattoos. Etched on his skin. This allowed Lorgar to acquiesce in the Word Bearer from Colchis's journey to where he is today.
However, a devout person who was too perfect and never wandered sometimes made Lorgar Aurelion feel strange and hesitant about the authenticity of the other party's beliefs.
There are times when the human spirit lacks wisdom, judgment and obedience, so people need to be guided.
But Erebus is not. He seems to naturally understand why He is the source of salvation. His spiritual life does not deviate for a moment, which is something that even Aurelion himself finds difficult to achieve.
Aurelion didn't want his suspicions to stem from jealousy, that would be a terrible mistake.
“What about you?” Lorgar lowered his eyes and asked the other Word Bearer beside him.
“His love cannot accept them into favor so long as they remain sinful,” said Daniel. "The love of acceptance is established in Him, and only by relying on Him and entering into Him will He not return sin to them."
"So, what is your opinion?" Erebus was sharp. He asked directly over Luo Jia, or he consciously asked on Luo Jia's behalf.
Daniel lowered his head and made a worried cross on his chest. "They are still sinful," he murmured.
——
When the Primarchs entered the battle command center of the Indomitable Truth, they were certain that Leon El'Jonson did not want to receive them.
Leon stood next to the hologram, looking down at the suspended screen and the scrolling data. The long blond hair was draped over his shoulders and back without being tied up. The hair ring given to him by Horus is now missing. Lorgar Aurelion believes that with the sensitivity of the Wolf God, he also discovered this small but natural change. Horus's expression became disturbing.
"Leon," Lorgar said softly, "we are coming."
"I know." The lion turned around, this was an unusually simple opening statement, in line with Leon Ang El'Jonson's usual habit. The stubble on his chin has lengthened slightly, making his face look more mature, and the emotions hidden in his green eyes have always been difficult to judge.
"Are we talking here?" Horus asked.
The lion didn't even look at him. He turned to Perturabo: "I heard that you brought more knowledge of Randan, Perturabo."
"Indeed," said Perturabo, "he went The surface, and then went to more planets, gaining knowledge from the wreckage of the battlefield..." Leon raised a hand, "Sit down." He pointed to the chairs around him, they seemed to have just appeared, and they seemed to have been placed. In obvious places, only just noticed.
No matter what, this symbolizes that Leon finally decided to talk to them.
"May I continue?" asked Perturabo, who was never one to smile in response to cold enthusiasm even when he was not irritated. The wiring to his head shimmered with reflections from the room lights, and Lorgar wasn't sure if that meant Perturabo was using his neural links at the same time.
The lion stared at him without moving or giving an immediate answer. There was some hidden evaluation going on in his mind, like a good meditator who doesn't have to make noise while thinking. His silence confused Lorgar as to the Lion's sincerity, and then he saw the Lion's eyes moving between Horus and Perturabo: he suddenly understood what the Lion was thinking.
The Lion wondered how likely it was that Perturabo would side with Horus.
Finally, Leon said: "This makes no sense, Perturabo."
"Tell me your reasons."
"For this war, we need to know the enemy's firepower, the way the enemy supplies, the enemy's camps, the tendency to counterattack on the front line and more combat techniques to effectively kill the enemy." Lion said, "To complete our The goal of every battle. But Ran Dan’s alien social culture has nothing to do with us.”
When he said the second half of the sentence, his tone became obviously more serious, “I know that there is a female beast in the group. How many males there are, how many cubs there are, it doesn't help to know where they came from and when they moved to the forests where they are now, it won't stop us from swinging our swords on their necks!"
Before Perturabo answered, Leon stared directly at Horus, and clear anger finally burst out from his deep eyes: "Is this the answer you gave us? Horus? I agree to follow you through the radical battle, not to let my honor be insulted by your recklessness and let my legion be the price for your research on aliens!"
"What are you talking about, Zhuang? "Sen?" Horus said, his tone was very soft, "The price of studying aliens? I don't want to accuse you, my brother, but why should my legion be the price of your hiding the secret?" Damaged because of your resistance?"
The lion pursed his lips and gave a sullen look in response to Horus' words. Luojia stood uneasily, his eyes moving between the confrontation between the Wolf God and the Lion King.
He wanted to join them and advise them to live in harmony, but the silence at this moment gave him a dangerous warning, telling him that the conflict between the two was not only a competition between hunters, but also a mutual repulsion between beasts. contradiction.
Around Leon El'Jonson, the Dark Angels remained silent in their black armor, but Lorgar could feel that their previous pride had faded away like a tide, and was replaced by an emotion almost shuddering. It exists within their bodies, just like they would rather be pierced by thorns and bones on the battlefield than stay in this combat command room.
Perturabo nodded suggestively to the Dark Angels.
"Please allow us to retire," the commanders whispered, bowing slightly, and there was an urgency in their leaving movements.
Leon did not look at his warriors, but simply acquiesced in their actions.
"You will only use intelligence on a level that has nothing to do with the battle assigned to you by the Emperor. Horus, you insist on having the squad search for traces of the Second Legion in the wreckage of flesh and blood, and let them fall into the wrong battlefield. Recently, Within three days, every soldier who fell into Ran Dan's trap died because of your wrong decision."
Leon said coldly, his lips curved slightly in the suppression of anger, and the arc was like a fist. Curved sword. "But after the air defense system was broken, those planets could have..."
"I thought you knew that the range of the surface that orbital strikes can scorch is limited," Horus said, "not to mention those aliens hidden underground should How to clean up? Only the Astartes can accomplish this task, and Perturabo understands this, which is why the battle of Hrud is so difficult, Leon! It's a weapon of extermination, Lupekar." Leon's words were softer, and his fingers passed around his waist, where he deliberately did not wear a sword. "Cyclone torpedoes, bipolar cyclone torpedoes, virus bombs, atomic weapons, atmospheric missiles..."
"How many did you bring, Leon?" Horus asked. "Dozens? Hundreds? Do you want to destroy the entire sector? Not even an inch of land is left for the empire? And are your torpedo reserves really enough? Instead of understanding their weaknesses as soon as possible on the periphery, you have to be in the core Is the core of the target blindly hitting a torpedo in space at a micro-target within a diameter of twenty kilometers? ”
"Excuses, lies," the Lion King sneered, "Nonsense. Don't lie to yourself, Luperkar, all your decisions are based on your stubbornness to save a brother. You pretend to be a vassal and supporter of the Emperor. , but you are greedy for frivolous brotherhood and care about what you think in the eyes of others."
"What about you, Leo? Pretend that you are not one of us, pretend that you don't care about normal friendship? Or you can't get it..." Horus almost couldn't speak at all. He swallowed back the harsher ridicule with difficulty, which made his face, which was always full of vitality and vitality, turn slightly pale. "Or have you always lived in this world? Didn’t you get that kind of inspiration in your savagery?”
Leon squeezed out an almost roaring sneer from his lips. "Huh... What exactly do you want, Horus? Do you want the friendship itself, or the satisfaction it brings you? Do you want your brother, or your brother's respect and love?"< br>
"Leon..." Lorgar said softly.
"Are you obeying the Emperor himself? Is your loyalty to the Emperor himself, or to the love your father gave you? Do you respect and love him, or do you respect and love the preference he gives you, the favor he bestows on you? Your kindness, and the joy and comfort you get from being his beloved son? Why else would you disobey him and resent the possibility of his love being transferred?
"From Perturabo and Russ to later brothers, they regarded your sourness as a harmless joke, but I have never understood your mutually contradictory duplicity, Horus Luperkar."
< br>Horus's pupils shrank instantly, as if being penetrated by a terrifying thunderbolt. The anger only rose in a very short moment, and then transformed into bone-crushing shock and some kind of fear.
"You are wary of me, Horus." The Lion King added calmly, "During our first tactical meeting, before I made any suggestions, you wanted to hand over the interrogation work to Dark Angel. You are assigning us tasks naturally, Warmaster
"You know that Perturabo and Aurelion will agree with your assigned duties, but I don't necessarily, so you show me first. How did Perturabo and Aurelion approve of you, leaving me the last inquiry. "
Horus's hands were clenched into fists, and his knuckles were white from excessive exertion. Lorgar had never seen Horus look so bad. He was no longer radiant and energetic. Mu. The wolf god became a stiff stone statue, stripped of all its bright clothing and jewelry, leaving only his marble-white self.
"Perturabo..." Horus squeezed out a breath from his throat and changed the topic with a wolfish hiss: "I... But you should still listen to what we found, Leon. Chasing the Second Legion... ...It's not a complete lie, we do have clues... Please, Perturabo..."
The lion tilted his head, his blond hair flowing and shiny like a mane. "Please, Perturabo."
"The memory sources obtained by our warriors are indeed Randan aliens, although these memories did not belong to them in the first place."
Petura Rabo said that during the tit-for-tat conflict between the two Primarchs, he remained as calm as steel, which at this moment was almost the only source of calm in the arena.
"The memories of creatures transformed by Randan's seed will also be absorbed into the Randan alien itself. This is why we found nothing in the remains of the original traitor, and in the psychic field around the alien To find memories that don’t belong to them.”
"That is to say," Lorgar said, his words like a whisper of condolences, "the clues to the disappearance of the Second Legion may exist in any of the Randan aliens, even themselves..."
The Lion King His teeth made a clear grinding sound.
"You won," he said coldly, all the emotions returned to the inside of his heart, "but I will personally go to the surface and lead the Dark Angels to fight. They will no longer listen directly to your command, Holland Ruth Luperkar"
(End of Chapter)