Although Zeke and the Emperor did not intervene in this matter, he thought a great deal during those seven days.
Even when he stood up resolutely, he was still examining his inner self, scrutinizing his efforts.
He scrutinized the cowardice deep within his soul; on the day Saekya was destroyed, the young him watched the surging tide of demons retreat.
On the day the people of Saekya fled, with nowhere to go, he could only shoulder the heavy burden of leading the refugees.
But even if he did that, could it atone for his sins?
He knew clearly.
No.
He had not fulfilled his duty as a noble; he had not defended his territory, nor his people.
For countless days and nights, he dared not look in the direction of his homeland, completely unable to imagine the outcome if he had held his ground back then.
He dared not imagine how many lives were lost due to his family's abandonment.
But this time, he would shoulder his responsibility, not only for his family but also for the two great Emperors, and for the human race!
The galaxy-wide live broadcast started again, but this time it was not on Terra, nor did the two Emperors appear.
This broadcast was directly set up on the industrial planet where armies were gathered.
All xenos saw the surging fleet from the Imperium of Man, and the T'au Empire was no different; they saw their lifelong enemy, the lunar class cruiser.
Yet, their lifelong enemy appeared so small, so insignificant within the Imperium of Man's fleet; whether it was the massive emperor-class battleship, the gloriana-class battleship, or the largest flagship, the Mountain Array-class titan, all struck fear into the hearts of the T'au Ethereals.
The Space Marines, once a rarity in the Imperium of Man, now arrayed like common units.
The surviving eldar saw the Iron Legion, left over from the Terran Dominion era; they saw the powerful Iron Legion and recalled the surging tide of Iron Legionnaires they had encountered in past wars.
The majestic Custodes still accompanied Karl Reiss, and this time, everyone in the entire galaxy fell silent once more.
The last time they were so silent was when a sixth Chaos God appeared, adding another Chaos God to the Imperium of Man; now, they stared blankly at this colossal fleet.
Everyone was pondering this massive fleet of the Imperium of Man: What was their objective? Who was their enemy? What exactly were they going to do?
And under the gaze of all, Karl Reiss strode majestically onto the podium that had long been prepared for him!
He refused the Custodes' support, still walking powerfully towards the podium that had been prepared for him.
Under the gaze of the entire galaxy, under the gaze of all xenos and chaos forces, he drew the sword bestowed upon him by the high lord' council.
"I am the Warmaster! I have my own responsibilities," Karl Reiss told himself in his heart, then drew his blade and pointed it skyward.
"In the name of the Emperor, in the name of humanity, for the manifest destiny of mankind! Second Crusade Army, advance!"
The Imperium of Man indeed had its share of garbage, was indeed very corrupt, and indeed very incompetent.
But when the Emperor of Mankind rose from the golden throne, when a new Emperor of Mankind appeared, when House Yaeger restarted its war machine.
Then, when this time arrived, when these conditions were met.
In the galaxy, all enemies would know what the manifest destiny of mankind was!
Undoubtedly, this broadcast was for the entire galaxy.
This broadcast, a year in the making, made the ordinary xenos breathe a sigh of relief; the Imperium of Man was not coming for them.
The T'au Ethereals, as if granted a great pardon, breathed frantically, trying to relieve their stress.
But Abaddon, hiding in the Eye of Terror, turned ashen, looking as if his father had died.
The Imperium of Man was coming for him, for the Eye of Terror; perhaps the Imperium of Man's army would not invade the Eye of Terror itself, but all the armies he had sent out would inevitably be attacked by the Imperium of Man.
If he hadn't seen this massive fleet before, and hadn't witnessed the great battle at Cadia, Abaddon might have disdainfully dismissed it as merely a weakling, or the dying struggle of the Imperium of Man.
Then he would have confidently engaged the Imperium of Man with all his might.
But now... the Imperium of Man's galaxy-wide broadcast would indeed expose the Imperium of Man's operational objectives and alert the targets in advance, but all of this was meaningless.
In the face of so many battleships, all strategies seemed like a joke.
As for the idea of begging the Chaos Gods for help, Abaddon didn't even consider it.
The two Corpse Emperors sitting on the golden throne—
Ah, no.
He shouldn't be called a Corpse Emperor now; he should be called the Emperor.
The Emperor of Mankind could now rise from the golden throne; what shocking news this was.
This was a fatal blow to the traitor Astartes of the chaos forces.
And besides that, the Emperor of Mankind personally acknowledged the existence of another Emperor, with that string of titles.
It was even recited by the Ecclesiarchy, and his powerful strength was on par with the Emperor of Mankind; what did this mean?
Just one Emperor of Mankind being able to rise from the golden throne was enough to give them a headache, making them lose their will to fight.
And now they had to face two Emperors!
Even more terrifying, the Imperium of Man's military strength seemed to have inexplicably grown considerably; how many Space Marines had they gathered for a small crusade?
Even if Abaddon was indeed proud, even if Abaddon had won 13 Black Crusades, even if Abaddon had destroyed the Imperial fortress world of Cadia.
But facing such a massive army, he still felt fear.
This was not a battle of the same level; the Black Legion had no ability to face this level of combat, it was a battle they could never win.
Abaddon was broken; he locked himself in a secret room and began to think, pondering what he should do next.
He had not pledged allegiance to the Chaos Gods; he had not worshipped any of them.
He merely wanted to use them, to have them declare him warmaster of chaos, and he succeeded.
But the problem was, he did it then to destroy the Imperium, but now the Imperium was coming to destroy him; he had to carefully consider what to do to save his own life.
Abaddon was afraid, but neither Zeke nor the Emperor of Mankind had time to cast their gaze upon him.
Last time, it was stated that the Tyranid Swarm would arrive in two years, and now half that time had passed; the main force of the Tyranid Swarm had not yet arrived, but their vanguard units had already landed.
Zeke received a report from the Deathwatch at the farthest reaches of the Imperium's most remote Segmentum Obscurus.
A hive Ship of the Tyranid Swarm appeared on Keltaros; the Tyranid Swarm has landed on the planet—