"Zabriel," Lion ElJonson said sternly, "I must know our situation. How is the Imperium? What about my brothers? What about my Legion?"
Zabriel gave a bitter laugh... "Where to begin? The exact date—even for someone who has lived four centuries—is long forgotten. The Emperor still sits upon the Golden Throne, or at least his followers devoutly believe so; I cannot say for certain what the true situation is. He is now worshipped like a god—"
"He's like what?" Lion ElJonson's eyebrows immediately furrowed, unable to believe his ears.
Zabriel shrugged and explained:
"The Imperial Cult. The Ecclesiarchy is as fanatical as those scoundrel Word Bearers were in our time, except now they have the full might of the Imperium backing them. Denying the Emperor's divinity is a capital offense. I believe most Space Marine have some opinions on this, but I've had almost no chance to discuss it with them. When everyone around you firmly believes the Emperor is a deity, I've had to keep my thoughts to myself."
Lion ElJonson closed his eyes in pain: "After the Siege of Terra, I wondered if the price of this so-called victory was too high. Now I begin to doubt if we truly won."
He reopened his eyes: "How could my brothers allow such a thing to happen?"
"They are all gone," Zabriel sighed again,
"When I escaped the Warp, all the loyal Primarchs had already become mere shadows in memory. I desperately searched for information, yearning to find some connection to the past I knew. Some say the Primarchs are dead, some say they vanished, and others believe the Primarchs are merely figures of myth and legend, and that the Imperium is now jointly led by the High Lords Council of Terra and the Imperial Palace Administration."
The Lion gritted his teeth, his hands unconsciously clenching into fists. He remembered the grief when he heard the news of Ferrus, Corax, and Sanguinius's deaths.
Perhaps telling him of all his brothers' deaths at once would be far better than witnessing them fall one by one?
He wasn't sure, but he suspected it wouldn't make him feel any better.
"What about my Legion?" He controlled his emotions.
"It was reorganized under the command of Lord Guilliman," Zabriel explained impartially,
"All Legions were broken down into Space Marine Chapters. The Dark Angels still exist in a size of around a thousand, along with many subordinate Chapters."
"Guilliman!!!!"
Lion ElJonson roared, startling the surrounding civilians, making children cover their ears. His grief was instantly replaced by surging anger:
"Always thought others were incompetent! He even wanted to 'optimize' our father's masterpiece! I should have killed him the first time he laid hands on me on Macragge. Why Sanguinius? Why wasn't it you, you scoundrel, who died that day!!!"
He took a deep breath, calming himself down. Due to his age, the sudden surge of anger had caused his blood pressure to rise, making his neck stiff and his head dizzy.
Lion ElJonson now finally understood why his second brother, Sarradin, was so 'Zen' every day, and when there was no war, he liked to play 'golf' with Malcador, such a boring sport... "I must go to Terra. Assuming, as you say, my father is still on the Golden Throne, if there is even a shred of life and consciousness in him, I must see him."
Zabriel shook his head again, "That's impossible, at least," he narrowed his eyes, "I don't think it can be done. After all, I don't know how you arrived here."
Lion ElJonson recalled his awakening on the shore. The surrounding forest was definitely not located on Calmas.
Now, looking back, he realized it greatly resembled the forests of Caliban, but he also didn't know how he had appeared there, or how that place had turned into this one.
"This matter is still full of questions for me. But why is going to Terra impossible? Can humanity no longer use the Warp? Have all the Navigators died?"
"The reason isn't that complicated," Zabriel said, "Didn't those civilians tell you why the people of Calmas became like this?" He gestured towards the surrounding camp.
Lion ElJonson stroked his chin, remembering the words of the locals he had met along the way.
"They said the sky was torn open, and then demons descended," The Lion recalled, "They twisted everything, even the stars, and said I would understand when the sun set."
"Accurate enough," Zabriel said, "Dusk is approaching. If you can wait until then, my explanation will be easier to understand."
Lion ElJonson pondered. His instincts urged him to gather more information quickly, but he could vaguely feel the cracks in his soul.
Lion ElJonson had lost consciousness in a duel with the man he considered his father, and when he awoke again, it was ten thousand years later, and all his brothers were dead.
He was already clearly aware that much more than this had likely happened in those ten thousand years, and a good warrior needed to understand his limits. Memories were still constantly flooding into his mind; simply absorbing ten thousand years of history would be detrimental to his mental state.
Moreover, there was another malicious possibility... that all of this was merely the profane power that corrupted Horus tormenting him, showing him the ruins of his father's ideals. If this were the case, he would patiently wait for this illusion to show a flaw.
"I still need a knife." He turned to the crowd and said. As he strode towards the corpse of the mutated beast, the crowd retreated in fear.
"That thing's meat can't be eaten, sir," someone bravely spoke up, and immediately someone nudged the woman's waist,
"Uh, at least we can't eat it." The woman added.
"I have no intention of consuming its flesh." The Lion declared. He stretched his fingers, memories of countless hunts on Caliban slowly resurfacing.
Even performing the simplest task of skinning with a knife that felt like a 'nail file' to him, filled the old man's thoughts and calmed his mind.
The knife had a hand-carved imperial aquila, and although it was now a symbol of piety in this world, for Lion ElJonson, it reminded him of his father.
He didn't pay too much attention to the emotions of the people around him, but he could still feel the fear in some people's hearts since he had defeated their Guardian, while others rejoiced at having a stronger warrior.
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