Chapter 183: Neither Holy Nor Terra (Patreon)

"No, you've come at just the right time."

Hearing Heydrich's words, the Lion couldn't help covering his forehead.

There was nothing truly wrong with his Dark Angels. Or rather, their problems had been small ones, until this lot kept courting disaster and turned them into one big problem. They had actually been brainless enough to assault Holy Terra.

And all of it just to catch a Lord Cypher, though the Lion himself wasn't entirely sure what Lord Cypher even was.

But according to Heydrich, the fellow was supposed to be one of the Emperor's proxies. As for the way he kept flip-flopping between sides, that was exactly what made him so much like the Emperor. After all, the Emperor was a man whose left brain attacked his right brain, and whose brainstem attacked his cerebellum.

In any case, with this crowd getting more and more out of hand, the Dark Angels were probably the Chapter with the most black marks on their record by now.

Just listening to it all gave Lion a headache. These people were truly bizarre.

So, to punish them, Lion borrowed the method Heydrich had used to punish that Leandros fellow.

After gathering a certain number of Fallen Angels, he had reformed the Hexagrammaton (the Six Wings). He then made those Fallen Angels into a guard detail, tasked specifically with protecting a group of Inner Circle superhumans, Azrael included, and watching them day in and day out.

As for how those few took it, Azrael was actually fine.

Mainly because he wasn't all that unhinged or obsessed. Or rather, he'd spent so many days cleaning up after everyone else's messes that he'd gone completely numb. As for Asmodai, his face looked like he'd just swallowed a Mortarion, and it was as colorful as it gets.

The Fallen Angels reacted to the sight of Heydrich in all sorts of ways. Never mind that Heydrich could take on a hulking form.

That form was mostly for battlefields or big meetings, where it saved a lot of trouble. The rest of the time he kept his natural height, a little over one meter eighty.

Standing before this crowd, he looked like a minor. Yet the instant he appeared, they broke out in a cold sweat.

Most of them had faced the Lion back on Caliban, and many had met that bastard on their very first outing as fresh recruits.

Even so, the Lion didn't feel as terrifying to them as Heydrich did.

"Guilliman has already reached the moon and is about to return to Holy Terra. Do you want to see Goldie… your dad?"

"…"

After Heydrich's words fell, the Lion sank into silence. His eyes were complicated, with some anticipation but far more guilt and fear.

Clearly he was a bit unworthy of the title of First Primarch. The Fallen Angels, for their part, exchanged glances.

They very much wanted to say that calling him that was a bit… blasphemous.

But in the end they said nothing, because they knew who Heydrich was. For an ancient native of Holy Terra, addressing the Emperor like that seemed to be no problem at all.

"Then let's go. Things aren't good on Holy Terra right now, either."

Heydrich couldn't be bothered with any more nonsense. He grabbed the Lion and headed straight for the tavern's front door.

A tiny human dragging along a hulking mass like the Lion was a rather exaggerated visual shock. And since the Dark Angels were a fairly solemn Legion to begin with, the whole crowd was left dazed.

By the time they came to their senses, they found the hall completely empty. Heydrich, the Lion and the Harlequin had all left, leaving only an empty hall behind.

"Oh my… Father, we haven't caught up yet!!!"

In that instant the Dark Angels let out a shrill, sonic-boom wail, but Azrael quickly reacted and immediately sought out the Harlequin who was stationed permanently in their Rock.

………

Meanwhile, aboard Macragge's Honour, the mood was rather quiet. There was nothing to be done about it. What had just been said was far too blasphemous, and the Custodes were now looking at Guilliman with strange eyes.

If the situation hadn't been so urgent, they would have questioned him thoroughly: what exactly had he done?

They had also heard of the legendary Dragon Emperor of Cathay, but they were doubtful of whether such a being was real.

But…

Click.

With a crisp sound of a door opening, Heydrich walked out with the Lion, his own Palace Guard, and Irena.

Irena was, after all, one of the Imperial Cult faithful. Though she doubted the Emperor, and had even learned that His Majesty was not as holy and flawless as she had been taught since childhood, Heydrich didn't object to her worshipping him.

So she still held a certain respect for the so-called Lord of Mankind. And having followed Heydrich for so long, she'd picked up a few of his habits, such as visiting landmarks and taking photos. She'd pestered Heydrich to take her along when he returned to Holy Terra.

It would fulfill a lifelong dream, a pilgrimage to Holy Terra.

After all, this was the Warhammer universe built by the Brits, and in Heydrich's eyes the so-called pilgrimage was worthless. He even thought the whole thing was plain insane, but that was how it really was.

If you could complete a pilgrimage to Holy Terra, see a golden-armored Custodes, and still make it back to your own planet,

your standing would jump several tiers at once, and your family might even rise overnight to become the most famous nobles on the whole planet.

The farther you lived from Holy Terra, the higher your status. Never mind surviving yourself, it was already impressive if anyone in your family made it back even once.

But with Heydrich's appearance, the mood in the room turned strange. Guilliman stood up, a little excited to see him, while the Custodes and Sisters of Silence reacted in entirely different ways.

The Sisters of Silence went first, staring at Heydrich and checking him again and again. They even unleashed their anti-Warp aura, but it clearly did nothing to him, and he didn't even spare them a glance.

As for the Custodes, they had turned into startled cats with fur all on end, bristling like spiny dragons. Clearly Heydrich's presence was unwelcome.

Naturally Heydrich ignored them and went straight to the bridge. Looking through the enormous window at the planet ahead, the corner of his eye twitched.

He had prepared himself, but seeing it for real still left him breathless.

The azure planet no longer existed. In its place was a giant ball of dirt.

No water, no air, no mountains or rivers.

"What on earth did Neoth do? A perfectly good planet, and it ended up like this."

"Who are you?"

Just then a Custodes looked at Heydrich and demanded sternly.

"Neoth's alchemy-man."

Hearing the Custodes, Heydrich answered indifferently. As the saying goes, borrow the tiger's pelt. He knew how to deal with Custodes.

If there had been more time, Heydrich would have loved to have a good chat with them.

"Blasphemy!!!"

The Custodes flew into a rage at Heydrich's words.

But glancing at the Lion and Guilliman beside him, who looked ready to enjoy the show, and with the Lion's Gate so close, the Custodes had no wish to provoke another mysterious figure at a time like this.

They hadn't even come to blows with the Tzeentch daemons on the moon earlier, and the Palace Guard behind Heydrich had already aimed their weapons at them.

These Custodes sensed a threat from them. Were these Custodes too?

"Not convinced? Shall I tell you a few little stories?"

Just then Heydrich thought of something, and a strange look crossed his face.

Sure enough, hearing him, both Guilliman and the Lion wore strange looks. They were practically ready to slip away, for they knew the secret of Heydrich's little stories all too well.

"Don't you know? Since the founding of the Imperium of Man, do you know who was the first human to inflict real harm on the Emperor?"

"That's not important. The Lion's Gate is here now, and you will join me in the Boarding Action."

Guilliman cut Heydrich off right there. He didn't dare let him continue. He feared this man might say something even more blasphemous and make the Custodes slit their own throats.

The fellow was simply an automatic black-history dispenser. He could not be allowed to speak.

As for the rest, he would have to ask the Emperor, but before that, they had to support Holy Terra and deal with these Khorne Greater Daemons. Hearing Guilliman, the Custodes exchanged glances.

They didn't know what to say for a moment, and they were a little curious.

But Guilliman had interrupted, so it clearly wasn't anything good.

Guilliman had his reasons for stopping Heydrich, mainly that the Emperor now sat on the Golden Throne.

The Custodes were the Emperor's mouthpieces, and to be loyal to the Golden Throne was to be loyal to the Custodes.

Guilliman didn't know what had happened, but he was sure it was some more messy nonsense.

Everyone had a few little secrets. Whispering them in private was fine. Just not in front of him, because it wouldn't be fun if they really turned on one another.

Guilliman couldn't imagine what would happen if the Custodes learned of these things, so it was time to stop it quickly.

"Do you want to go down?"

Guilliman looked at Heydrich. Whether he went down or not was none of his business.

"No need."

Hearing that, Heydrich shook his head. Holy Terra's strength was considerable, but the problem was those few Greater Daemons they couldn't handle. It wasn't that they couldn't be handled at all.

Mainly it was that, with Khorne's power on them, they couldn't be killed. As for Trajann, he would most likely be dealing with whatever was in the Black Dungeon.

Guilliman and the Lion were enough. With a Primarch's power, they could kill them outright in an instant.

Heydrich didn't really want to get near the Emperor's palace on Terra at all. He had some psychological shadow where the Emperor was concerned.

"Khorne, Blood God!!!"

But at that moment a roar sounded, and then Irena rushed straight out.

"Almost forgot about her. I'll follow her, you don't need to worry about me."

Seeing Irena going berserk, Heydrich couldn't help scratching his head.

The girl had a grudge against Khorne, and he had granted her Destruction precisely to fight Khorne. Whether it would work, he didn't know. Casting a wide net was like Elation sowing seeds.

Seeing Khorne, she lost control, just like that youth who lost control upon seeing the Tyranids.

Heydrich also feared she'd get chopped up, so he decisively followed.

………

Holy Terra was shrouded in a mist of blood. When Heydrich followed Irena down, he froze for a moment.

"I knew it already, but seeing it for real is nauseating. Though purely in terms of the degree of corruption, Khorne's stuff is a bit weaker than Nurgle's."

Of course, what Khorne's domain consisted of was blood and skulls everywhere.

The last time at Hive City Kuent had only been a taste. This time it was truly spectacular.

"Blood for the Blood God, skulls for the Skull Throne."

As Heydrich was getting a headache, a crowd on the other side saw him. These people, with the Chaos eight-pointed star painted on their heads, charged at him. They were clearly just native Terrans, now tainted by Chaos.

"Die!!!"

Irena didn't waste words and struck right away. In the blink of an eye, a crowd of people were separated head from body. Then soul and flesh were burned to ash together by the Ember-Annihilating golden flames, leaving no corpse and no soul.

It was a kind of blessing, since Heydrich couldn't have saved these people anyway.

"Khorne…"

But Heydrich clearly had no intention of acting, because through the Warp rift he could see straight to the other side.

The brass throne, filled with blood and skulls, and the dog-headed one sitting upright upon it.

"As expected, this place connects directly to the depths of the Warp. I'd better not act."

Heydrich fell into thought. Khorne couldn't see him, but he absolutely had ways to observe him, provided Heydrich drew his attention.

Unfortunately, Khorne was the Dark God easiest to attract. The Daemon Princes' ascensions to daemonhood were all personally handled by him.

"Slow down, no rush. First rescue those who are still pure. Where is this… oh, the Administratum of Terra."

Because Macragge's Honour was right above the Imperial Palace on Holy Terra, his teleport had started from somewhere nearby.

His appearing here wasn't strange, but upon seeing the Administratum, the corner of Heydrich's eye twitched.

If anyone on all of Holy Terra could earn Heydrich's admiration, it was these Administratum officials.

"Someone is still working and mobilizing supplies. A capable one. Let's go in and see."

After thinking for a moment, Heydrich decided to go in.

But…

"Quick, quick, kill me! Kill me and I'll be free!"

As soon as Heydrich walked in he froze, because he saw a crowd of blue things charging at a Khorne Bloodletter as though greeting their own mother.

"Holy crap, Holy Terra really does have Tzeentch daemons."

Heydrich had only been making a joke, but it seemed there really were some now.

And looking at this crowd of blue things, even the Khorne Bloodletter's face showed bewilderment.

Wasn't this Holy Terra? Where did these things come from?