Chapter 141: Warhammer: Lord of the Endless Monster Horde [141]

"Respected Grand Master and my fellow brothers, I don't know how to explain this, but I cannot deceive my battle brothers. Just now, the Emperor's Avatar chose me to wield him in battle." Calern took a deep breath and began to speak. Among the Space Marines, there is an ironclad rule: absolute trust among battle brothers, with no room for any deceit. Thus, Calern chose not to hide anything. As the captain of the entire company, he bore a responsibility to his battle brothers. He decided to reveal everything, especially since the scenes from the recent battle should have been recorded by the battle barge—there was no point in concealing the truth. "So, Brother, can you confirm? Is that being truly the Avatar of the Great Emperor?" the Grey Knights Grand Master sighed and asked. "Grand Master, do we need to doubt this? Are we to believe that everything we just experienced, everything that transpired on this planet, was merely an illusion? That purple giant daemon didn't exist! Our battle barge wasn't damaged! Our Nemesis Dreadknight armor wasn't so easily destroyed!" Calern took another deep breath and asked in return. The Grey Knights are known to be suspicious of anyone, questioning whether they might have been corrupted by daemons. However, they are absolutely certain that they themselves cannot be corrupted—never. This is because their gene-seed does not allow it! Their gene-seed is sacred, originating from the Great Emperor, the Lord of the Imperium. All Grey Knights firmly believe this. "Grand Master, you also felt the resonance in the gene-seed earlier. That sense cannot be faked—it's the kind of feeling one only experiences when encountering a Primarch," one of the Grey Knights couldn't help but speak up. Amid the battle earlier, he had thought he was doomed, yet he had miraculously recovered. What else could this be if not a miracle bestowed by the Emperor? Could it have been a trick by a daemon? Just to deceive this group of Grey Knights? What a ridiculous notion. These daemons despise the Grey Knights to the extreme. After all, any daemon that invades the material universe will be hunted, slain, or exorcised by the Grey Knights. If a daemon were to capture a Grey Knight, it would undoubtedly kill him without hesitation. There have been daemons that attempted to corrupt the Grey Knights—even the Chaos Gods of the Warp have tried—but none have succeeded. Thus, a daemon as powerful as that giant purple one would have no reason to spare all 100 Grey Knights, let alone heal their wounds and try to corrupt just one of them! That purple, immensely powerful daemon had combat abilities far beyond those of ordinary greater daemons. Even a Daemon Prince could scarcely compare. With such overwhelming strength, it was far beyond what they could contend with. "Brother, I must ensure that our gene-seed remains completely untainted by any corruption!" the Grey Knights Grand Master roared. Under normal circumstances, an ordinary Grey Knight would never dare to contradict the Grand Master—his word was absolute authority. But today, even the Grand Master himself was somewhat shaken. The resonance in the gene-seed and the golden light—they spoke for themselves, leaving no further room for doubt. "Let me explain this matter myself. I am temporarily residing within Calern's body." At that moment, Calern's body suddenly emitted a brilliant light, bathing him in golden radiance. Behind him, a towering golden figure appeared—the same Emperor-like giant clad in golden armor who had fought the purple daemon earlier. "Now, tell me your origins! Who exactly are you?" the Grey Knights Grand Master demanded. "I am a miracle created by the Emperor, whether you believe it or not. I was forged during the Great Crusade as a statue of the Emperor, a 1:1 replica of his likeness," the Chaos Daemon Slayer began to explain. "If you were merely a statue, then how did you come to life?" the Grey Knights Grand Master asked. "Centuries of worship by the people of the Imperium, millennia of devotion, combined with the fact that the material used to forge me was extremely special. Several thousand years ago, I awakened self-awareness, continuously absorbing the faith and prayers of the local people directed toward me. Until one day, my world was invaded by demons. The countless people who had once knelt before me, who had prayed to me, let out anguished screams before their deaths. Their cries finally awakened me. The Emperor granted me his psychic power, giving me life. I am not the Emperor; I am merely a statue. But the Emperor's golden light shone upon me and gave me life—I am the Avatar of the Emperor. My purpose is to destroy all daemons, and nothing more. That is my origin." The Chaos Daemon Slayer recounted his backstory as instructed by Lord Rhodes. According to his master, this explanation would pave the way for significant events in the future—after all, he was merely a resurrected statue. The Grey Knights Grand Master nodded. This explanation made sense. Because the prayers of countless humans can indeed trigger miracles, the Grey Knights, as the Empire's most important force, understand this deeply. They possess extensive knowledge—about the power of prayers, the truths hidden within the Warp, and the immense strength of faith. If a statue truly absorbed ten thousand years of prayers and a vast reservoir of faith in the Emperor, combined with the Emperor's deliberate guidance, then there is a chance it could come to life. The fact that it would wield such extraordinary power is certainly astonishing. The Grey Knights will use any means necessary to combat daemons. As long as it can kill daemons, no method is off-limits. They have even allowed themselves to be possessed by daemons to uncover their weaknesses. For example, they once sacrificed the souls of tens of thousands of Imperial citizens to a Khorne daemon prince to learn the weaknesses of a Slaanesh Greater Daemon. As long as the benefits are sufficient and the destruction of demons harmful to the Empire can be ensured, they will do whatever it takes. If this Emperor-incarnate statue truly possesses immense destructive power against demons and unparalleled combat strength, then it must be utilized by the Grey Knights to achieve its full potential. The Grey Knights were created when the Emperor still walked among mortals. This resurrected statue, this incarnation of the Emperor, may have encountered them under the guidance of that great being. Moreover, the Grey Knights can monitor it at all times. If it poses any threat to the Empire, the Grey Knights will fully understand its weaknesses and be ready to eliminate it at any moment. "One last question—do you know where that powerful daemon came from?" the Grand Master of the Grey Knights asked. At this moment, the tone had changed, and he used honorifics in his speech. "I don't know where it came from. I came to this planet to destroy daemons. When I had defeated them all and was preparing to leave, it suddenly appeared, and then we fought. After that, you arrived," the Chaos Daemon Slayer replied. "Hmm. I will record the information about that daemon. In the future, it will be one of our Grey Knights' targets," the Grand Master nodded and said. This newly emerged giant purple daemon was so powerful in combat that even the Empire's Warlord-class Titans would likely be shredded to pieces by its speed. This is not a matter of numbers—even ten Warlord-class Titans would not be enough. The daemon's flying ability and agility were a nightmare. Ordinary Space Marines of similar size would be helplessly crushed before it. And then there was the purple rune sword it wielded, which exerted immense pressure. At the moment, only this resurrected Emperor statue, this incarnation of the Emperor, could confront the enormous purple daemon. "I've answered your questions. Do you still harbor hostility toward me?" the Chaos Daemon Slayer asked. At this moment, Rhodes was also observing everything through the system screen. Unless you define a living saint as a daemon, this Emperor-avatar must be accepted because it wields the Emperor's power. "We fought side by side just now and defeated that purple daemon together. I choose to believe what you have said, and I hope you do not betray our trust. All of us—100 battle-brothers including myself as Grand Master—will pledge our lives to ensure your safety. You will remain in our Company Captain's body in the future, fighting alongside him. We will swear to the death to hunt down that purple daemon," the Grand Master of the Grey Knights declared. Making this arrangement wasn't too difficult. After all, this Emperor Avatar was not a daemon. Most importantly, over 100 Grey Knights pledged their lives as a guarantee. Additionally, the immense psychic power radiating from the figure, coupled with the mysterious resonance inherited in their genes, confirmed that the power of this Emperor-avatar indeed came from the one seated on the Golden Throne. After some discussion, all the Grey Knights present decided to vouch for this Emperor-avatar and also for their Captain. The battle barges in the sky began undergoing repairs, and the Grey Knights departed from the planet. Meanwhile, Rhodes, guided by the Harlequins, returned to the Webway via the Pedan ship. He did not bring the Slaanesh Ace slayer aboard the ship to avoid unnecessary trouble. After all, the presence of Slaanesh's power would make these hyper-sensitive Harlequins overly paranoid. The Ace slayer imbued with Slaanesh's power would prove useful in the future. Rhodes' first plan was to send this Acee slayer to attack Khorne-aligned daemons or Chaos warbands, triggering a war between Khorne's and Slaanesh's Chaos factions. It would give that perverse, androgynous entity some trouble. After all, those two factions already despised each other. Khorne's forces, being a group of mindless brutes, would undoubtedly retaliate once attacked by someone who was aligned with Slaanesh. Rhodes could then enjoy the spectacle of Chaos fighting Chaos. "You sick, perverse androgynous freaks—one day, I'll deal with all four of you Chaos bastards," Rhodes muttered to himself.