"Father, even without you, the Imperium can still realize the ideals from back then and complete the work we left unfinished ten thousand years ago!"
The illness buried in Vulkan's heart finally cleared away. He raised his head and looked toward the mist-shrouded Webway tunnel stretching to the end of his vision.
His eyes were filled with hope.
The Lord of the Salamanders now knew clearly what he had to do, and he had the courage to go to Terra and face the Emperor, that father of his.
He believed completely that he and Brother Eden could stop this disaster and make the Imperium great again.
"Once we stop the Dark King, humanity will be able to fully escape the danger of extinction and develop rapidly…"
Vulkan thought this to himself.
With the Imperium in its current state, once the threat of the Dark King disappeared, its rise was inevitable.
"I must smelt better, harder metals on Nocturne and forge more efficient tools.
"Only then can humanity achieve final victory in its competition against xenos and heretics."
Vulkan was not blindly optimistic.
He knew that aside from the Dark King, humanity still had other enemies to face.
For example, the xenos—especially the Silent King, who ruled vast star domains and had revived ancient legions.
It was said that within the Silent King's territories, any life with a soul, even abominations from the Warp, were lambs waiting for slaughter. They had no power to resist at all.
Even Space Marines could hardly withstand those ancient weapons. Beneath ghost-green gauss rays, any armor would be reduced to ash.
"Not only that, if Father completely loses his former power under the suppression of the ancient relic,
"Chaos daemons will also become even more dangerous. They will inevitably accelerate their corruption of humanity."
Vulkan thought of something else and began to worry again.
Under the deterrence of the Dark King, the Chaos Gods of the Warp had restrained themselves somewhat, temporarily halting their invasion of galactic reality.
But once the birth of the Dark King was stopped and that deterrence lifted, the Chaos Gods of the Warp would counterattack even more recklessly, corrupting more humans.
That was how they would make up for their losses.
Vulkan had spent too long in the Warp. He had never doubted the Chaos Gods' hunger for human souls.
They were so greedy that they could not possibly give up their corruption of humanity, especially after the Sacred Sun was extinguished.
"I wonder whether Brother Eden has prepared the relevant plans to handle the Chaos Gods' counterattack?"
Vulkan frowned slightly.
That was something they had to consider. Even if the threat of the Dark King had not yet been removed, preparations had to begin.
Otherwise, when the time came, humanity would inevitably be exhausted by the response, perhaps even caught completely off guard, causing even more worlds to fall.
The Lord of the Salamanders considered the future threat that Chaos and the Warp posed to humanity, thinking through possible countermeasures.
That was an enemy humanity could not avoid, like a disease clinging to the bone.
Yet in the next instant, he sensed the aura of Chaos. Ahead, dark mist appeared within the tunnel.
Inside that mist, the hateful shapes of Chaos daemons could be seen faintly.
The sudden surge of Warp corruption and black fog caused alarms to blare across the entire battle barge.
The Salamanders warriors moved into action at once, preparing for possible danger.
"How can Chaos daemons be inside the Webway? Are they trying to take advantage of the crisis?"
Vulkan was both shocked and furious when he saw the Webway being invaded by Chaos daemons.
He knew these Chaos entities would never truly settle down. They coveted humanity at every moment.
The Lord of the Salamanders treated the situation like a deadly threat. He immediately ordered the battle barge to stop and remain on alert, keeping its distance from the black mist while preparing for battle at any moment.
He knew how violent the invasion of Chaos daemons could become after a breach opened in the Webway. He had personally witnessed such a terrifying scene.
During the Webway War ten thousand years ago, the tide of Chaos daemons had surged out through the Webway breach, almost drowning everything.
The Legio Custodes and the Adeptus Mechanicus had thrown in almost all their forces just to barely hold back the daemonic invasion.
"Is history repeating itself? Is humanity's Webway once again being coveted by Chaos…"
Vulkan murmured. The brutal scenes from the Webway War flashed through his mind.
The Imperium's most elite armies and warriors had fallen one after another within the Webway. Custodians had died in succession.
Even a Primarch would be helpless before a daemonic tide like that.
"No matter what, I cannot retreat."
Vulkan tightened his grip on the True-One forging hammer and took a deep breath.
He would never allow those damned Chaos daemons to spread into the Webway transport hub behind them.
Otherwise, those Chaos daemons would affect the Departmento Logistics' material shipments, causing disaster-relief supplies to fail to arrive on time.
Right now, every disaster zone across Imperial territory was under immense pressure. Any delay would force countless humans to pay with their lives.
Buzz.
Sa'kan's communicator rang. It was a message from the Void Angels Legion. The captain lowered his head and quickly browsed through it.
After that, he let out a breath of relief and looked up at the Lord of the Salamanders.
"My lord, according to the latest intelligence, the unrepaired Webway region ahead has suffered a small-scale collapse under the influence of the dark rift.
"The Imperial Webway Traffic Department has already received the information and will send an engineering team to repair it at once.
"The Void Angels Legion garrison has also arrived on-site to handle the matter.
"However, before the collapsed area is repaired, we may be unable to pass through. We will be delayed for some time…"
"What about those Chaos daemons?" Vulkan asked.
He had clearly seen the shapes of Chaos daemons within the black mist earlier. There could be no mistake.
Sa'kan nodded.
"As you said, many Chaos daemons have indeed entered the Webway. But they are not invading. They have been affected by the dark rift and temporarily fled inside to take shelter.
"The Void Angels have already drawn a security line to stop these Warp daemon refugees from running elsewhere.
"After that, they will also be handled accordingly."
"Warp daemon refugees?"
Vulkan froze for a moment when he heard that. Those words put together were somewhat difficult to understand.
"Yes. Recently, there have been quite a few daemon refugees. Fortunately, the Imperium has methods to handle them."
Sa'kan nodded and said this as though he had long since grown used to it.
Vulkan fell silent for a moment.
Chaos daemons were savage and cruel. Wherever they went, they brought blood, ruins, endless fear, and suffering to humanity.
And yet, from Sa'kan and the relevant Imperial departments, the description sounded so casual.
It was almost like they were describing mortal refugees, as if the matter could be solved with ease.
That challenged his understanding somewhat.
There was no helping it. The New Imperium's education on daemon-related knowledge was extremely complete.
Not only the military, but ordinary citizens and even kindergarten children were taught about daemons.
Children were given a rough idea of what daemons looked like, what weaknesses they had, and what they feared.
Even at cultural evening performances, children would play Imperial warriors and priests judging daemons.
During the Victory Day holiday, teachers would also take children to judgment chapels to view daemon specimens and remains.
That let them know what these enemies of the Imperium looked like, how evil they were, and how they had been destroyed by Imperial warriors.
By the time they reached the primary and secondary levels of the Loyal Scions Academy, teachers would even take students to watch Inquisitors execute daemons. Some students could even personally pull the lever of the execution machinery.
Students could watch with their own eyes as daemons struggled and wailed before humanity.
This was the Savior's goal: to dissolve humanity's fear of daemons through education, then influence the Warp in reverse and weaken the daemons' power.
When people generally believed that humanity could defeat daemons, the Warp's powerful idealistic nature would help make that wish reality.
By then, even mortals would be able to deal with daemons.
The relevant education had now been spread quite well. Citizens of the New Imperium were generally no longer very afraid of daemons.
That was even more true of the Imperium's warriors.
Not only that, the New Imperium had been winning spectacular victories in its wars against Chaos daemons, staying far ahead, which further strengthened the people's confidence.
As for Space Marines like Sa'kan, who fought on the front lines for long periods, they were even less afraid of daemons.
When they saw daemons, they only felt that the enemy had brought their heads to be taken.
"How did it become like this?"
Vulkan looked at the general confidence of his gene-sons and suddenly felt that he was the one overreacting, out of place among them.
The Imperium had changed too much. He had no way to fully understand it all. That would likely require time.
His deep wariness of daemons was unlike the attitude of the people of the New Imperium.
There was no helping that. It was also the Emperor's influence.
Previously, the Emperor had long instilled in the Primarchs the terror of the Warp, especially the enemies that came from it. Those were forces capable of destroying humanity.
This had caused the Primarchs and some Space Marines who knew the truth to be extremely wary of the Chaos daemons of the Warp.
Perhaps this was fate. The Emperor had poured everything into preparing for humanity's future, but in doing so, he had indirectly strengthened the fear within the hearts of his warriors.
That, in turn, made the Chaos of the Warp even stronger.
If people knew nothing about the Warp, and did not even know that daemons existed, perhaps the Chaos Gods would never have been able to extend their influence into galactic reality and corrupt humanity.
Now the Savior had taken the completely opposite path. He had fully accepted the Warp and made use of it.
He even planned to seize control of the Warp from Chaos.
Although Vulkan had received the latest intelligence, he was still somewhat worried.
He led several companies of Salamanders toward the collapsed area where the black mist was located, ready to respond to any possible danger.
…
Webway collapse zone.
A crack had appeared in the towering metal wall that stretched endlessly upward, and Chaos corruption was pouring in without pause.
Along with it came a large number of terrified Chaos daemons.
They were frightened and shaken.
"Gods, we beg you, stop this terrible disaster! Our souls are going to be devoured!"
"The Dark King is coming! We're all going to die!"
"Run!"
These Chaos daemons had fled their own Chaos domains in panic and surged into the Webway, seeking a slim chance of survival.
The daemons knew that the hateful tendrils of the Dark King could not extend into the Webway to steal their souls.
At least, not yet.
However, the gradually spreading dark rift still terrified the Chaos daemons. They knew that if the Dark King was fully born, not even the Webway would be able to protect them.
"All refugees are forbidden from leaving the designated area. Otherwise, you will lose protection and face judgment!"
A Void Angels captain in dark blue armor held up a voice emitter and shouted to the Chaos daemons, his tone full of menace.
Across the ground and ruins of the nearby Webway region, one security line after another was projected.
Those daemons, with their ragged armor and wounded bodies, crowded together. Some lay on the ground moaning, while others trembled. They had all been scared senseless by the Dark King.
"Crouch down with your hands on your heads!"
"You damned daemons, you see us and still dare to run?"
Not far away, several Void Angels warriors were swinging alloy batons, brutally beating Chaos daemons that had fallen to the ground. They struck several times in a single second.
They even leapt up and kicked them hard, extremely savage.
Golden arcs of electricity flickered over the warriors' alloy batons, delivering even more pain to the daemons.
This vicious and cruel scene made the daemon refugees inside the security zone shiver in sympathy, almost feeling grief for their own kind.
They no longer dared step across the security line. They even lowered their heads and did not dare look at the Void Angels.
Otherwise, one of them might suddenly swing a baton at them.
??!
When Vulkan arrived and saw this scene, he was somewhat dazed.
What was going on?
How had these savage daemons become more obedient than the last? Someone who did not know better might think they were underhive civilians being persecuted by corrupt enforcers.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
"Abomination, do not stand up!"
"Quiet!"
The Void Angels patrolled through the security zone. Every one of them held an execution whip specially designed for use against daemons.
Whenever they saw a Chaos daemon acting out of line, they lashed it with a whip, leaving the creature covered in wounds as foul blood hissed and steamed out.
"What are you looking at?"
"I… I already crouched down…"
"You get beaten even if you crouch. And the one beside you too. I'll beat you together!"
"Chaos maggots, you should be grateful that the merciful His Majesty the Savior is willing to provide you with shelter!"
The Void Angels even violently whipped Chaos daemons that had obediently crouched down and merely raised their heads a little.
They did not stop until the daemons no longer dared lift their heads.
None of these Chaos daemons were anything good. They had to be hit hard.
The Void Angels had to intimidate these daemons, who had just surged in and were still shaken, as quickly as possible to prevent them from developing other ideas.
This was the best method of control. If they simply killed them outright, it would easily trigger a large-scale daemon riot.
The New Imperium's Webway extended in every direction. If these creatures were allowed to run into its depths and hide, finding them would become difficult.
The Webway Department also did not want these daemon refugees running into busy areas and affecting the Webway's urban appearance.
The administrative officials of the Royal Court could not bear to see such things.
After being hammered by the Void Angels, the Chaos daemon refugees all crouched down with their hands over their heads or curled up, their daemonic bodies trembling.
The Imperial warriors were too vicious.
"Good."
The Void Angels captain looked at the scene and nodded in satisfaction.
After seeing that the Lord of the Salamanders had arrived, he went forward and spoke respectfully.
"Lord Vulkan, you need not worry. We have already brought these daemon refugees under control.
"At the same time, I have urged the engineering team. They will repair the road behind us as quickly as possible, allowing you to go to Terra and meet His Majesty the Savior as soon as possible!"
After the captain finished speaking, he turned around and raised a large boltgun, knocking down a Chaos daemon that was trying to flee.
He impatiently pointed at the fallen daemon, signaling the Void Angels to hurry up and drag away the twitching creature on the ground.
That way, it would not affect the Primarch's mood or the fine image of the Void Angels garrison.
Why did those brats have so little sense?
He had only just told the Primarch that the daemon refugees were already under control, and right in front of them, one had nearly escaped.
Were they not embarrassing the Void Angels?
"Discipline has been a little lax lately. When we return, we must strengthen the assessments."
The Void Angels captain thought this to himself.
He had already decided that after returning, he would drill those brats hard, especially the recruits.
"Captain, you need to increase your troop strength here. Otherwise, this will inevitably spiral out of control…"
Vulkan looked at the Void Angels captain, his tone grave.
He could sense that many Chaos daemons in this region were suppressing their anger. They simply dared to rage but not speak.
More importantly, the Imperium had too few warriors here. There were only a few hundred of them, while the daemons outnumbered them by several hundred times.
Suppressing them for a short time was fine, but over the long term, there would definitely be resistance.
Once chaos broke out, they would all be drowned.
"Your conclusion is correct.
"That is why our mission is only temporary suppression. The team that will truly handle the problem will arrive soon."
The Void Angels captain spoke these words.
The moment his voice fell, a roar came from the distant Webway.
(End of Chapter)
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