Guilliman: I Need to Regroup My Forces

In that distant era, two screams rang out, the cries of the killer and the victim mingling together.

At this very moment, people still fear the flames and pray to the false gods for the sunrise.

Humans—who have evolved through thousands of forms from reptiles to mammals—have always been fighting for survival. Even a group of hunched apes and savage primitives waged countless seemingly insignificant yet brutal battles for survival, using stones, teeth, and fists.

Yet he was still the first. He wasn't the first to hate and kill his own kind. He was the first cold-blooded killer, the first murderer.

Brothers and sisters, farmer and shepherd, quarrel, fight, and murder for the first time over interests.

The screams of the first murderer pierced through the veil of the boundary, echoing between reality and the surreal.

The being that awaits in the Warp will be humanity's eternal nightmare.

Draconian.

The moment that Webway was opened by Lorgar's foolish actions.

Accompanied by the ever-changing tides of malice, it is both the moment the demon was born and the present moment when the Webway was opened.

In the Empyrean, everything is the eternal present.

Light exists within the malevolent darkness, and this perceived light also attracts darkness. Touched by the forces surrounding it, this light flickers, screams, and ultimately dissolves. Sharp fangs and claws appearing out of nowhere shatter all dreams and memories.

It appeared in the Webway.

The furious roar contained a thirst for blood and flesh; Draconian's birth was not merely a sacrifice to a simple death.

It originates from the mutual hatred and murder that humanity has had since the beginning of its existence, and feeds on the souls of countless people who have died as a result.

Until the end of humanity.

—Or rather, right now.

The eternal present.

To protect Terra and the Emperor himself, the Royal Adeptus Custodes and the Sisters of Silence became a fragile barrier protecting the Throne World with their own flesh and blood.

But this still couldn't stop, nor could it stop, that bizarre demon—even the Sisters of Silence, who could shield herself from Psychic Power, could only have her shattered limbs scattered and flying in the Webway under its claws.

In this Xenos creation with endless circuits and branches, completely defying human spatial reasoning and thus incomprehensible, the monster continued its slaughter.

It wasn't just Draconion; along with Draconian emerged an endless army of Unliving, guided and blessed by the Dark Gods.

With each passing moment, the power unleashed by Lorgar's foolishness continues to grow stronger.

Like a breached dam, it began as a trickle, gradually becoming a roaring torrent. Now, it is a raging storm, never ceasing and never weakening.

Karasta.

The ancient Eldar abandoned city, despite the erosion of time, still retains a structure many times larger than that of the Terra.

It makes one marvel at just how powerful the Aeldari Empire once was.

During the ancient Aeldari Empire, countless cities of this size were built at the connection points of the Webway Hubs. Among the man-made Webway Hubs constructed by humans, this ancient Eldar city was regarded as an important hub of the human Webway system.

In this first and last city in the Webway of humanity, the Adeptus Custodes is fighting desperately against an endless army of demons.

"His Majesty!"

The tribunes of the Adeptus Custodes, La Endymion, felt that he had connected with the thoughts of the great Master of Mankind.

"I will send Diocletian the surface to gather more manpower and mobilize all available troops. Your Majesty, now that the Legion of Ten Thousand Men is fighting alongside the Sisters of Silence, if you just leave the Golden Throne to support us for a short while, we will surely be able to launch a major counterattack against the 'Fool of Lorgar' and recapture hundreds of lost tunnels."

"I cannot leave the Golden Throne," the Emperor said, his tone concise and curt. "No."

"My Lord..."

"I cannot leave the Golden Throne. Every route between the Imperium Palace and the Miracle City will be filled with the tide of the Unliving. You can only rely on yourselves, Ra. Isolated and helpless."

In order to prevent the rift from expanding further and to suppress the ever-emerging demon army from the Webway, the Emperor could not leave his Golden Throne.

As for Magnus, who was imprisoned, he could indeed suppress the ever-expanding Webway rifts beneath the Golden Throne to some extent, temporarily taking the place of the Emperor.

But the Emperor did not trust him.

Especially now that the Webway is being used by the corrupted members of the Thousand Sons Legion, it is very likely that their surprise attack was launched in advance to rescue Magnus.

He also did not believe that Magnus could be so great as to willingly guard the Golden Throne forever and endure endless suffering for the future of all mankind.

No, he won't.

The Emperor clearly understood that there were some things that only he would sacrifice for humanity, and only he had the ability to do so.

Perhaps only now will he realize his own naiveté.

Since the Emperor was so wary of him that he wouldn't even reveal the secrets of the Webway to Magnus, how could one expect him to endure countless years of suffering for the sake of humanity after the Webway exploded?

At this moment, all he could rely on was his old friend.

—Magic Malcador the Sigilite.

But now is not the time; there is a more important battle to be fought.

"Oh, right, La, there's something else I need to tell you."

"The Emperor said, but his tone seemed full of hesitation."

But he finally made up his mind—at this point, he had nothing else to lose.

"What is it, my lord?"

"The next batch, the next batch will be the new Adeptus Custodes Guard spears brought by Diocletian."

"I didn't design those spears."

From that point on, the Emperor severed all Psychic Power communication with Ra.

". My lord?"

"What are the changes to the new Guardian Spear? Why are you emphasizing that it wasn't your design?"

"Hello? My lord?"

Let's rewind to the present.

Eastern Galaxy War Zone, Five Hundred Worlds of Ultramar.

Macragge.

As the massive fleet of the Pride of the Emperor traversed the tunnels formed by the Pharos Beacon and finally appeared above Macragge, a long and enthusiastic cheer erupted from the crowd.

After a long period of war, erosion, harassment, and Warp blockade, some encouraging good news has finally appeared in this turbulent time.

The people of the Five Hundred Worlds of Ultramar have suffered too much in the past few days.

First, Luo Lorgar and Alpharius led their legions to the Agri World of Calth in the Ultima Segmentum.

Here, the Ultramarines had already prepared a welcoming ceremony for their two brother legions.

To solidify the bond between the brothers, the command of the Thirteenth Legion was very enthusiastic about the arrival of the other two corps.

In this context, reports of the strange behavior of the Word Bearers and their auxiliary forces were ignored. Only a very small number of Ultramarines officers, led by Hill, questioned the Word Bearers' discordant chanting and seemingly pointless combat drills.

This is unlike the Word Bearers' usual style. As for Alpharius, they are too mysterious and unwilling to contact the Ultramarines. Nobody knows what they want to do.

However, just when they were completely off guard, as the three legions were about to hold a grand banquet in this Agri World, Lorgar and his Word Bearers suddenly launched an attack on the unsuspecting Ultramarines.

In this battle, the Ultramarines suffered heavy casualties.

Hours before the open war broke out on Calth, a large number of commanders of the Thirteenth Legion, along with their followers, had been wiped out by the Word Bearers and the Alpharius assassins—who infiltrated the Ultramarines' encampment under the guise of friendship and turned their blades on their allies when all the Ultramarines thought it impossible.

At the same time, the Word Bearers and the Alpha Fleet in orbit simultaneously began orbital bombardment.

Large quantities of Ultramarines' equipment were blown to pieces before they could be fully armed. Without the guidance of the command system, the Ultramarines frantically tried to get even the slightest reply from the communication signals amidst the sudden explosions, but received no response other than even louder explosions.

Faced with this unforeseen situation, Guilliman's carefully crafted doctrines and guidelines made no mention of how to deal with a blow from friendly forces.

For a moment, the entire Ultramarines was in a state of shutdown.

Faced with the frenzied slaughter by the Word Bearers and Alpharius, they were unable to mount any effective defense.

Meanwhile, after receiving guidance from the Thousand Sons Legion, the Word Bearers began carrying out large-scale sacrificial activities in the densely populated areas of Calth —under those bloody and filthy rituals, countless Portal to the Warp were established throughout the world of Calth.

The Word Bearers would carve bones from the bodies of unsuspecting allies to build grotesque monuments symbolizing their betrayal, as part of a blasphemous ritual.

They sacrificed the souls of their fellow human beings to the devil.

With the ritual and the Portal in place, a large number of Unliving demons appeared before the panicked humans for the first time.

Under the madness of Alpha and the Word Bearers, these doomed cities were swallowed up in a sudden, widespread panic.

Not only in Calth, but also in other star systems around the world, the defenders were attacked by the Word Bearers at the same time. As the rituals and soul-sacrificing arrays spread to almost countless worlds, the Warp Storm seemed to become increasingly turbulent, making it even more difficult for the Ultramarines' defenders to reach them.

The Ultramarines had already been scattered.

Even the Primarch himself and his flagship, the Glory of Macragge, were not spared.

The sudden attack by the demons summoned by the Word Bearers caused the impact to tear open the hull, catching Primarch Guilliman off guard and throwing him out of the cabin through the breach.

(Very embarrassing)

Blood, debris, and howling air formed a vortex that swept up a dozen or so other high-ranking officers and propelled them into the void along with the Primarch. Moreover, even more monsters born from the Warp, the Shadow, and the Empyrean simultaneously landed on the flagship.

Large numbers of ordinary crew members were slaughtered without any warning, their consciousness instantly shattered by the horrific scene they witnessed.

After the bridge disintegrated, the Gloriana-class Battleship, having lost all command, became a headless fly, at the Word Bearers came to board.

Despite the Ultramarines' attempts to organize small groups of fighters to fight back, their counterattacks were unable to reverse the rout.

The Ultramarines are in danger.

Guilliman must regroup his troops.

Assembling an entire legion is no easy task. Hundreds of thousands of Ultramarines, Space Marine, and armored combat vehicles are scattered across nearly a thousand distant fleets and Expeditionary Force.

The furthest Ultramarines were unable to reach their destination due to the Warp Storm, and while on their journey, they could do nothing but wait anxiously.

The Ultramarines atop Calth were completely unable to cope with the combined attack of the two legions—especially the addition of Alpha, which was too fatal. They made up for the Word Bearers' carelessness and used their powerful assassination and infiltration methods to extinguish the scattered fragments of the integrated force before it could even put up a fight.

If things continue this way, the Ultramarines will likely face annihilation in the Battle of Calth, under the combined attack of the demons and the traitor Astartes.

Fortunately, at the critical moment, whether it was triggered by the Emperor's Radiance or the manifestation of some strange miracle, Angell Tai, who had been imprisoned by the traitors of the Word Bearers, broke free of his shackles and came to the center of the battlefield.

He not only commanded nearly a third of the Word Bearers warriors, who were incredulous at the sight of their allies' tragic fate and the appearance of demons, to defect on the battlefield.

Upon arriving aboard the Macragge's Honour, they helped the Ultramarines gain a respite from being besieged by two legions, and also provided them with the best means to deal with Ultramarines.

Melee, fire, Psychic Power.

Those Bolter that were originally surprisingly effective were not very effective at killing demons. To expel demons, it was necessary to use religious rituals or fire and fragrant oil, as recorded in ancient books, to completely expel them.

Of course, you can also just crush the other person to death.

Meanwhile, during this time of organizing the counterattack Red Helmet Hill, who was left to fight alone on the Macragge's Honour, remembered the plan that had come from Commander Kasgar of the Sons of the Emperor.

Hill initially thought that the other party's statement about "exclusively for demons" was a joke, simply comparing certain strange and other supernatural beings to demons.

To everyone's surprise, a steady stream of demonic creatures is pouring out from beneath the Portal of the Word Bearers and Alpharius, wielding their blades and giant axes in a fierce battle against the Loyalist Word Bearers led by Angell Tai.

He has already obtained information on how to defend against the demons, but the current situation does not allow him to leave.

The Primarch is currently unknown. Loyalist and rebel Word Bearers, demons and humans, as well as Auxilia are all fighting each other on this shattered flagship. The entire battlefield is in chaos, and it is impossible to even distinguish friend from foe.

What made Hill even more desperate was that, seemingly seeing Angell Tai leading a number of Word Bearers of the Loyalist to escape here, the number of traitors marked with the Alpha Legion outside the portholes was also increasing. With the extension of the boarding tools, Macragge had almost completely fallen into the hands of the traitors.

It's too difficult for the Ultramarines to deal with Word Bearers and Alpha at the same time.

Fortunately, this time the Ultramarines won't be fighting alone.

As the Warp Storm spread across the eastern part of the galaxy, the Warsmith Danteok, as Guilliman had previously instructed, activated the Pharos Beacon when the Warp Storm was Radiance enough to obscure the Astronomican, and located it in Macragge.

Little did he know that Guilliman was currently floating aimlessly in mid-air.

Shortly after the beacon was deployed, Imperium Warmaster Fulgrim arrived with her fleet of the Sons of the Emperor.

This is good news: with the Warp Storm sweeping everything away and the Primarch disappearing during the Battle of Calth, the fact that a Primarch of sufficient stature has arrived and taken charge of Macragge is a stroke of good fortune amidst misfortune.

However, on the other hand, this is not good news—if even the Imperium Warmaster are forced to land in Macragge, what about Terra?

It seems that, in the absence of a clear line of defense, the only force capable of protecting the Legiones Astartes Solar System the Seventh Legion, the Imperial Fists.

Moreover, the Sons of the Emperor fleet didn't stay for long.

Upon arriving in Macragge, Kasgar was alarmed to hear that Guilliman was engaged in a fierce battle with the forces of the Word Bearers and Alphas at Calth. He immediately ordered the navigator to turn the ship around and head towards Calth.

No, putting aside the fact that the timing is a bit messy this time, how come there's an extra Alpha?

Fortunately, with the help of the beacon, the Navigator could open passages to other regions with the power of his mind—and plunge into the star system where Calth was located along with the newly assembled Ultramarines.

The war situation is not optimistic—with the intervention of the Alpha Legion, the overall war has become completely one-sided.

Even the head of the Glory of Macragge has been destroyed, Calth is even worse, almost entirely occupied by the rebels.

If it weren't for the Loyalist Word Bearers, led by Angell Tai, still waging guerrilla warfare, this battle could have completely wiped out the Ultramarines.

Fortunately, the Third Legion, led by Fulgrim and Kasgar, had ample experience with demons.

"Our primary objective is to reclaim the Glory of Macragge. This flagship not only houses the remaining high command of the Ultramarines, but it is also of great significance to the Loyalist still holding out on Calth."

"Also, search for Guilliman in the vacuum as much as possible. That guy has most likely fallen somewhere in space and is currently wriggling in the vacuum."

Kasgar respected Guilliman because he didn't have many embarrassing records.

Perhaps in the future Guilliman will be captured by Wang Xiulun in an even more humiliating way, but that's a matter for the future.

"As for now, all Sons of the Emperor, take up your retractable spears."

Kasgar's eyes gleamed with passion.

That was the fervor that had been planned for over two hundred years for this moment.

I finally caught him!

The next moment, the Sons of the Emperor fleet suddenly appeared from the tunnel in the sky, splitting into two groups— the Sons of the Emperor fleet led by Fulgrim would bombard and board the surface and the Word Bearers fleet.

Meanwhile, the Ultramarines who followed the Sons of the Emperor out of the tunnels scattered in all directions during the melee to stop the rebels from further encroaching.

Meanwhile, another boarding squadron led by Kasgar followed Kasgar's Stormbird and landed on the Macragge's Honour, which had been blown off the bridge.

The devastation here far exceeded his expectations.

Blood covered the cabin, screaming as it enveloped the creature that seemed cursed and had come back to life.

"You are— the Sons of the Emperor?"

Guilliman had already broken free from the vacuum environment. At the remaining connection of the bridge, he looked at Kasgar, who had just landed, his face full of vigilance.

In this time of internal strife, the Legiones Astartes does not necessarily mean they are trustworthy.

Who knows if the Sons of the Emperor might also be an accomplice of the Word Bearers?

"Guilliman, face me! I am your true opponent!"

But his opponents still gave him no chance to catch his breath.

—The Primarch of the Primarch Word Bearers Lorgar, wielded his giant hammer and slashed furiously toward Guilliman's original position. They were now locked in a fierce battle from which neither could escape.

Guilliman's combat skills were originally superior to Lorgar's, but the Erebus's Hammer in his hand seemed to have been transformed into a powerful Chaos artifact through Warp magic ritual.

Anyone struck by this hammer will have their soul devoured by it—and even if it fails to devour them, the soul of the victim will be tainted with the color of Erebus.

Even if it doesn't die, it will eventually become a great birth!

An extremely vicious weapon.

Guilliman was struggling under the weight of the giant hammer.

"Leave me alone!"

Seemingly seeing that Kasgar intended to lead the Sons of the Emperor to intervene, Guilliman felt an uncontrollable rage burning within him.

That damned beast's life must be ended by his own hands!

Whether the Sons of the Emperor is there to help them or not is irrelevant. If they are truly on Lorgar's side, then no matter how much Guilliman struggles, it will be useless.

This is the only gamble we can take!

"You! If you want to help me, go and help our legion regain control of the flagship. I can handle things here!"

"Lorgar, fight me!"

Nobody's here!

No one can break Guilliman's one-on-one match, no one!

Kasgar: "."

Okay, whatever makes you happy.

Anyway, it's hard to say about others, but against Lorgar, who also has a shameful record, he might actually be able to beat him.

"Sons of the Emperor, follow me to the auxiliary bridge and seize control of the fleet."

Another pile of fresh offerings!

Upon seeing the purple-gold armored Astartes landing through the gap outside the bridge, the demons surrounding the bow of the ship all let out hoarse laughter.

These humans are so foolish; they have no idea how to deal with them.

They would just hold the little box containing the Bolter, shoot at them desperately, and watch the bullets pass through the demon's phantom body.

It did not cause any impact.

The sheer terror of those who fired Bolter that pierced right through the demon was absolutely delicious.

"Get ready, raise your spears!"

Seeing the demons surrounding him at this moment, Kasgar forced down a smile and said.

A spear?

Now the demons are taking this a bit seriously.

Unable to suppress his rage and hunger, one of the demons, clearly resembling Khorne, charged toward Kasgar with two giant axes in his hands.

It truly craved a real battle, not the slaughter he inflicted on panicked humans who discovered the Bolter were ineffective.

After reaping too many of the weak, it craves even more the heads and blood of the strong.

And these old-school humans who immediately set up melee weapon formations will definitely satisfy it!

It will definitely be possible—

This Khorne Daemons knew that humans were far more upright than those Tzeentch, cowardly demons.

However, he never considered this question—that some things are worse than Tzeentch's Wizard.

"Put."

Whoosh—bang.

The next instant, the head of the Khorne Daemons was sliced in two by Kasgar's extended spear.

"Continue!!!"

Whoosh whoosh whoosh—!

Like a porcupine with its tail feathers spread, countless needle-like Power Spear shot out instantly, piercing the demons into a bloody mist, and then immediately retracted to await the next launch.

"Aaaaaah!!!"

The demons fled in terror from the bow of the ship to other locations.

As the saying goes, "An inch longer, an inch stronger."

After the advent of firearms, cold weapons ceased to be the mainstream weapon on the battlefield due to their insufficient length.

The solution is actually quite simple: make the kill radius of melee weapons the same as that of firearms, and then there won't be any problems.

"Hahaha!!!"

As Kasgar's laughter grew increasingly rampant, the assembled demon army was quickly routed.

There are no countermeasures whatsoever!

The demon Wizard in the Warp were not the majority to begin with, and the remaining Tzeentch Horror that flooded into the ship's cabins had their magic reduced to ashes by the flames of the Kasgar.

A perfect blend of offense and defense!

With such a shameless formation, no demon could possibly survive to get close.

—The worst off were the Nurgle's fat brothers. These guys were already huge and not very agile. They usually relied on close-range poison gas and pollutants to hurt each other, but in front of these 40m spears, even the strongest Beast of Nurgle couldn't get even a fraction of a step closer to Kasgar's team.

Close-range attacks are ineffective, and long-range attacks are negated.

Demons only ever wreak havoc in the real world, feasting on souls.

When have I ever suffered such injustice?

But what can we do?

Under the horrified and incredulous noses of the Unliving army, Kasgar used his telescopic Power Weapon to demonstrate to the demons what ranged and melee combat really meant.

Do you like my big spear?

"Say!!!"

Not only did it expand and contract, but Kasgar even swept across the Disintegration Field in half.

No martial ethics!

Under the sweeping blue light of that Disintegration Field, no matter how powerful a demon is, it must face the attack of this "melee weapon" that treats all beings equally.

Moreover, Kasgar ingeniously used his Psychic Flame to attach to the weapon, completing a final disinfection of the demon.

Disinfection can be completed in one step.

With the intervention of Kasgar and the Sons of the Emperor, the course of the battle on the Macragge's Honour was ruthlessly reversed.