Soul of Manros

Chaos and the Imperium were focused on the decisive battle on the plains.

Manros gained some breathing room and spent a week recuperating.

The upper ranks believed they could not abandon the underground barracks from the first through the twelfth, as they formed their strategic depth.

The Manrosans had been fully militarized. There were no civilians left, and another two divisions of soldiers were being mobilized toward the front lines.

Just then.

Over a hundred former members of the Manros Noble Guard were searching abandoned underground structures in some corner of the planet.

"This is an arsenal built during the World Eaters' occupation. We all know that."

"The nobles sent people to search this place long ago. There's absolutely nothing here."

"If that little former resistance Psyker's prophecy was wrong, then we'll have wasted our time. While all the other Manrosans are already heading to the front, we're sightseeing around this godforsaken place for no reason."

The Noble Guard officer was surrounded by his subordinates, listening to the waves of complaints.

They were guardsmen who had surrendered to the resistance during the Time of Cleansing Grudges, and now they had been assigned to search for weapons.

This assignment had been issued because the grandson of the former resistance prophet at the command center had made a prophecy. He claimed they could find surviving weapons in an abandoned World Eaters arsenal in the north of the planet.

However, the guardsmen had spent four days searching. They had even crawled into every hole they could find, yet discovered nothing.

The officer felt his men had a point in calling this a "sightseeing trip."

The entire arsenal had already been absorbed into the natural ecosystem. Grass grew through the floor, while tangled vines and the roots of unknown plants spread throughout the abandoned complex.

They could even spot wild animals that had hidden here and thus escaped the Virus Bomb as they advanced.

"Let's pull out—"

Just as the officer gave the order, a white deer emerged from the bushes and stared at them all.

The officer's attention was immediately drawn to it. He recalled seeing this white deer many times before, but nobody had paid it any mind because they were not actually there to sightsee.

But now, just as they were about to give up, a sudden impulse stirred in his heart.

"Is there something you want to tell us?" he called to the white deer.

The guardsmen thought their officer had lost his mind.

"He's gone crazy!"

"Break it up, break it up. Let's get to the front and defend Manros."

"..."

The officer followed the white deer away.

The guardsmen who had called for everyone to disperse made as if to leave, but out of the simple decency of not truly abandoning a madman in this eerie place, they followed him anyway.

The white deer fled as though startled.

The group followed the officer, and the officer followed the deer through the corridors.

Eventually, they came before a wall completely concealed by thick tree roots.

Just when everyone thought they had reached a dead end, the roots suddenly spread apart, revealing a hole in the wall. Beyond it stood several neatly arranged cargo containers.

Everyone held their breath as they carefully entered through the hole and opened the containers.

"Herud Flintlocks!"

Rows upon rows of alien rifles filled the containers.

Since Manros also purchased and modified some alien weapons, someone recognized them as Herud Flintlocks.

When fired, Herud Flintlocks released beams of light whose initial temperature exceeded that of a stellar core.

There were probably more than a thousand flintlocks in these containers.

"That little Psyker's prophecy was real..."

"There really are weapons here."

A moment later.

"That child's prophecy was true."

"There are alien weapons in the abandoned arsenal, around a thousand of them. According to the management logs, they were stored there back when the World Eaters were collecting munitions for their rebellion."

Lu Jin walked toward the command center.

The officer followed him, reporting the latest developments.

"Additionally, the artisans have designed an armor-piercing rifle. They call it the Gauss Rifle."

"This weapon has already entered production."

"At the very least, when the next offensive begins, our people will no longer have to die alongside the enemy."

"Even with production pushed to its absolute limit, though, we can only ensure that one man in each infantry squad has a Gauss Rifle..."

Before entering the command center, Lu Jin stopped.

The officer looked at Lu Jin.

"Do everything you can," Lu Jin said.

"Yes, Lord of Valor." The officer saluted and turned away.

Lord of Valor was a new title.

It meant: the source of all courageous qualities and deeds.

After the Time of Cleansing Grudges ended, Manros entered the Time of Defending Manros. Lu Jin, who still led the locals in battle, was inevitably given a new name.

He had become an essential element in uniting the people's shared beliefs.

Lu Jin entered the command center.

The person in charge of supplies came over to report. "A type of fungus has grown in the underground barracks and the Underhive. It's edible and rich in protein. Before we consume all our food, large-scale artificial cultivation of this fungus could prevent famine."

"Even if we don't waste manpower and resources on artificial cultivation, we can still avoid famine with these mushrooms."

"Because they were given to us by the Soul of Manros. They can grow everywhere, all over the place."

Lu Jin looked at the speaker.

It was the youth who had been making prophecies in the command center, the grandson of the Psyker who had once foretold Lu Jin's arrival to cleanse all grudges from Manros.

"The Soul of Manros? I've heard you mention it before." Lu Jin was curious. "What is it?"

"Manros, our homeworld—it isn't a lifeless planet. It is more alive than any other world. It is a living being."

The youth spoke.

"Just as we once destroyed the environment, Manros regulates its own ecosystem, making the hive cities and the northern continent affected by them part of that ecosystem."

"In the oceans and on land, countless organisms evolved purification capabilities and broke down the pollution we created."

"And now that the surface has been devastated, it has drawn most life underground, while living things in other parts of the planet continue to thrive and reproduce."

"It is even willing to help us now, because it knows that if we fail to defend our home against the invaders, it will be corrupted by Chaos."

Hearing this, Lu Jin thought it sounded somewhat like Gaia, like the Gaia hypothesis.

"Lord of Valor." The youth came before Lu Jin and looked up at him. "Manros has prepared a gift for you. It... it previously revealed the enemy's next offensive to me, and this gift will be our only means of resisting it..."

Lu Jin had just been about to ask what the gift was when the blast doors suddenly opened.

Kao entered the command center wearing Lu Jin's armor. He removed his helmet and reported, "The last separated veteran has been found. He died defending a group of Manrosans hiding in a shelter, and those he defended ultimately died protecting his body."

Lu Jin drew a deep breath and lowered his head in silent mourning.

The Fierce Angels now had only seven veterans and ten recruits remaining.

Those recruits had also become formidable warriors... the ones who learned too slowly or lacked quick wits had all died.

"Go to the eastern front." Lu Jin raised his head. "The people there need your encouragement."

Kao put on his helmet and left in Lu Jin's armor.

He had worn Lu Jin's armor to raise morale before, and he still did so now.

Whenever Lu Jin was occupied with important matters, Kao would patrol the defensive lines and inspire the troops.

The people also knew that the person beneath that armor was not necessarily the Lord of Valor, but the armor had become a symbol of Lu Jin.

They had even given Kao, who once fought while wearing the armor, a title—"Glory Bearer."

"Lord of Valor." The youth gestured for Lu Jin to follow him. "I know where that gift is."

Beneath the Underhive.

Manros artisans were supervising soldiers as they blasted a passage through the floor with melta bombs.

When Lu Jin and the young Psyker arrived, the artisans looked toward him.

Lu Jin's hands were empty. A Mechanical Arm on his right shoulder held the Fierce Angels' relic Sceptre.

One look at his appearance told the Manrosans that the man running around outside, carrying a Battle Axe and Warhammer while loudly exhorting and rallying morale, was not the Lord of Valor himself, but Kao the Armored One.

"We've already blasted a way through." A construction artisan approached and saluted. "The prophet was right. There's a hidden chamber beneath the hive city."

Another elderly artisan came forward. "My lord, I saw records in the guild's history about rumors of a hidden chamber beneath the Underhive, but since no one could find it, everyone assumed it was merely a rumor... In any case, I hope you'll permit members of our guild to enter with you."

"Of course." Lu Jin nodded.

The members of the Manros Artisan Guild who had long been waiting there rose one after another and followed behind Lu Jin.

The group entered the passage blasted open by the melta bombs and descended beneath the Underhive.

They needed neither torches nor lamps, because enormous glowing mushrooms on the walls illuminated the hidden chamber as brightly as day.

Within this five-hundred-square-meter space stood a forge bench, furnaces, and several pieces of furniture.

Judging by their enormous size, these furnishings had clearly not been made for ordinary humans.

"According to the guild's history, three thousand years after the World Eaters were defeated and driven away, one of the God-Emperor's sons came to Manros."

The elderly artisan followed beside Lu Jin, recounting the history.

"That son of the God-Emperor was alone and wore a robe. By himself, he slew the remaining World Eaters on the planet and freed us slaves."

"He took two hundred and twenty-two of the brightest children as apprentices."

"He taught us how to build, forge, and modify."

"That lone son of the God-Emperor was named Vulkan."

Lu Jin glanced back at the elderly artisan.

Vulkan, Master of the Forge. He truly was a Primarch. He had survived the Horus Heresy and even helped the Imperium during the War of the Beast, before vanishing once more.

Could he really have come to Manros?

If Vulkan had come to Manros after the War of the Beast, where had he gone afterward?

The Manros artisans had modified Herud Flintlocks into automatic weapons, and earlier, they had even converted Ironclad Terminators so they could be operated without a Black Carapace.

That level of practical skill... Lu Jin felt that all the knowledge of Manros's artisan guild might truly have originated from the first group of artisans taught by Vulkan.

There was a door in the hidden chamber.

The youth gently pushed it open and walked inside.

When Lu Jin entered as well, he found the smaller chamber filled with vines and tree roots.

As though welcoming him, the vines lifted like curtains.

The tree roots gradually contracted.

At the very front, a suit of armor appeared before Lu Jin.

The armor did not even retain any color, and vines had already spread over it.

Yet Lu Jin recognized it at once as a Saturnine Terminator Tactical Dreadnought.

This Dreadnought pattern had once been called MKI.

It had been made by a lost Adeptus Mechanicus organization, after which Vulkan improved its design.

Lu Jin knew that it was now truly called the Saturnine Terminator.

It was an exceptionally tall and heavy suit of armor, and powerful enough as well.

But operating it required tremendous willpower. Lu Jin felt that his willpower was perhaps stronger than that of an ordinary person, but the problem was that he possessed no Psionic Power, while a Saturnine Terminator required at least some Psionic Power.

Furthermore, Vulkan should have improved this armor again. It was even heavier than the original model, yet its joints appeared to have a greater range of movement... This modified version probably required a Psyker to operate it.

"This probably isn't a gift for me."

Lu Jin walked up to the Terminator and touched its surface.

At that moment, a thread of white light condensed from the Sceptre, then flowed down like a drop of water and landed upon the Terminator.

Lu Jin saw this and softly called out, "Chapter Master Ninos?"

He had learned that the Legion Relic Sceptre could cast psychic spells after Ninos's death because it contained a portion of Ninos's soul.

But Lu Jin had tried calling upon Ninos's soul for advice, and no matter how he called, there had been no response.

He had assumed that the portion of Ninos's soul within the Sceptre lacked consciousness.

Yet now, a portion of his soul within the Sceptre flowed into the Terminator.

Lu Jin stroked the armor's surface, his thoughts returning to the time when Ninos had taught him how to shoot step by step.

The Sceptre suddenly gave Lu Jin a light tap on the head.

"It is your gift," the youth said. "The Soul of Manros told me that this ancient armor, improved several times by the Primarch, has already developed its own Machine Spirit. It will charge through all obstacles with you, unstoppable and invincible!"