The Madness of the Ecclesiarchy 44

"The Ecclesiarchy possesses significant autonomy; they may not necessarily be willing to obey your orders," Phicris said with some concern.

Guilliman smiled slightly. "I will make them listen to me. I am the Emperor's own son, the Emperor's best spokesperson. Even the saints of the Ecclesiarchy would not dare claim they are more qualified than I to be the voice of the Ecclesiarchy."

"What if they feel their interests are being harmed and take a hardline stance?"

"Then we shall tie those heretics to the stake." Guilliman paused and looked at Phicris. "Speaking of stakes, go have the Techmarine on the ship weld a few for me. Perhaps we need a few stakes to show those bishops what the consequences will be should they defy me."

"My lord." Phicris hesitated for a moment. "Is this really wise? It doesn't seem to fit your usual style. Don't you advocate for following regulations in all things? For pursuing rational thought?"

"I only advocate for rational thought and acting within established frameworks when dealing with you, because you possess reason and understand the difference between right and wrong. Rules can help you restrain your inner arrogance and sloth, making you understand the purpose behind everything you do.

But those fanatical believers lack this awareness; they only follow the faith in their hearts with fervor, content to be tools of religion."

Guilliman began to pace, organizing his thoughts before continuing. "What do you think the success rate would be if I tried to persuade them to abandon their faith? Be honest, Phicris. No need for special flattery; just speak based on your past understanding of the Ecclesiarchy."

"Make them abandon their faith." Phicris fell into deep thought. He had had no shortage of contact with the Ecclesiarchy—the self-flagellating ascetics, the various tortures inflicted upon those deemed sinful, and all manner of frenzied behavior.

After reflecting on the actions of the Ecclesiarchy, Phicris arrived at his answer.

"The success rate is zero. It is impossible for them to abandon their faith; faith is their everything. Persuading those believers to give up their lives would be far simpler than persuading them to give up their faith."

"That is the crux of the problem. I cannot persuade them to abandon their faith, nor can I abolish the Ecclesiarchy with a single decree, so the means I can employ are minimal. Controlling them is the most secure path. As long as I control them, I can carry out a new round of reforms on the Ecclesiarchy, just as I have with the administrative systems and the Imperial military, limiting the power of the bishops and guiding those believers onto the correct path."

"To make them willingly accept my reforms, I must possess a legitimate identity—one that makes the believers feel I am one of them. Only then will they believe my reforms are correct and that the Emperor has guided me to do so. Those who oppose me will then be enemies of the Imperium, enemies of them, and agents of Chaos."

"My lord, this is all a bit too complex."

"Phicris, you must continue to learn. Beyond combat, you must learn other things; only then can you better assist me. We are not just facing the battlefield in plain sight, but also those unseen battlefields. We must win every victory to save humanity; otherwise, salvation is nothing but empty words."

"Chaos will interfere with us, traitors will deceive us, and those who harbor resentment will become our obstacles. Some are in the open, others in the shadows. Use power to resolve the enemies in the open, and use our minds to resolve those hidden enemies. Only in this way can the Imperium be saved."

"I understand, my lord."

"If you understand, then go out. I need some quiet. Report other matters to me in ten minutes."

Phicris nodded and walked out.

Guilliman remained alone in the room, pondering Espandor and how to take control of the Ecclesiarchy.

The fanatical faith of the Ecclesiarchy was terrifying, but it was not without its benefits.

Guilliman could leverage this faith to help him promote new systems and combat demons.

Of course, this was merely a stopgap measure.

The Ecclesiarchy could not exist forever; it could only exist temporarily.

Once every sector of the Imperium burst with vitality under his new technology and new ideas, the faith in the Emperor would naturally wither away.

In the Middle Ages, during the dark era ruled by the Church, the power of the Pope once swelled to great heights.

Yet, it eventually moved toward decline due to the Renaissance.

People after the Renaissance viewed God more with scrutiny, criticism, and a need for spiritual solace, rather than with fanaticism and ignorance.

In the Warhammer universe, denying the existence of gods was impractical.

But the status of humans and gods should be equal; there should be no blind kowtowing or sycophancy.

Guilliman did not possess the means or the audacity of the Emperor to directly destroy all religions and topple those temples and shrines.

The only thing he could do was to proceed slowly, adopting the method of boiling a frog in warm water.

Under Guilliman's orders, the fleet recalibrated its course and turned toward the missionary world of Espandor.

A week later, the fleet dropped out of the Warp and appeared outside the Espandor system.

This system was filled with floating preacher communication satellites, broadcasting encoded poems and prayers to the Emperor every moment.

These satellites were not only broadcasting in realspace but were also using the Auspex to transmit into the Warp.

The fleet received a massive amount of communication data before it even entered realspace.

Upon entering realspace, it was completely submerged by an ocean of electromagnetic communication signals.

The Cogitator Skull processing the communication data showed signs of distress, and the Servitors used for broadcasting and calculation were twitching incessantly due to the massive computational load.

Secondary systems were clogged by the sheer volume of communication, emitting noisy, ear-piercing warnings.

Most of these communications were useless, consisting only of the fanatical prayers and poems of the believers.

This forced the fleet to choose to block most of the information to prevent the Cogitators and Servitors from overloading.

In the Espandor system, there were dozens of Pilgrim Arks, each tens of kilometers long, dragging statues of the Emperor hundreds of kilometers high as they patrolled the system.

The Arks were filled with fanatical believers and ascetics prostrate on the ground, whipping themselves day and night to manifest the Emperor's faint light.

The Espandor system possessed two terrestrial planets.

Espandor Prime was the main population center of the system.

On the planet's surface stood over a dozen statues of the Emperor that pierced the clouds and reached into the sky.

The planet's atmosphere was thick with the scent of incense, and giant cities were filled with devout believers carrying censers and holy banners.

Among these believers, the number of fanatics was vast.

The ways these fanatics expressed their devotion were extremely extreme.

Some wealthy zealots went beyond merely tattooing scriptures across their skin; they were so deranged that they utilized Adeptus Mechanicus technology to carve scriptures directly into their own bones.

Others would whip themselves with thorns until they were covered in lacerations and gore, exposing white bone in some places, yet they refused to stop, leaving a rhythmic drip of blood with every step they took.

In front of the cathedrals of the Emperor, iron cages were often suspended.

Inside those cages were kept those whom the faithful deemed to be heretics.

Those heretics were bound to iron pillars, their bruises and bloodstains testifying to the long-term torture they had endured.

In the center of the cages were flamethrowers, which would be activated to the accompaniment of the prisoners' screams.

The intense heat melted parts of the iron pillars, and the molten metal would flow onto the heretics, causing them to shriek in agony.

Still other heretics had their throats slit by zealots and lay on the ground convulsing, their blood soaking the earth; believers would smear the blood onto their own faces, kneeling on the ground to proclaim that they had purged the enemies of the Emperor.

This was a mad world.

This was a world that had lost its reason.

The scenes captured by the radar arrays and Auspex sensors made Guilliman's heart palpitate.

The madness of the Ecclesiarchy was even more terrifying than he had imagined.

I hope everything goes smoothly, Guilliman thought to himself.

The moment Guilliman's fleet appeared, it was detected by the faithful of the Espandor system.

News of the Primarch's arrival spread throughout the entire system within a few hours, and countless believers cheered, viewing it as the Emperor's reward for their piety.

A grand welcoming ceremony was held one hour after Guilliman's fleet entered the Espandor system.

A massive number of pilgrim ships joined Guilliman's fleet to demonstrate their devotion.

Several bishops even expressed their request to board the Macragge's Honour to meet the Primarch in person.

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