What 24 Saw Was Not All Real

The moment he stepped into the Temple of Ral, Lorgar Aurelian retracted his foot from the first floor tile of the temple, and at the same time, he lifted the Illuminarum.

He gripped it tightly in his hand, preferring the heavy scepter to rub against his gauntlets, making a creaking sound, rather than letting its end touch the ground.

The reason is simple: those floor tiles are not ordinary.

They are alive.

The bodies of the Laer form the basic components of the floor tiles. If you find this description too vague, imagine a large group of deformed snake-like creatures twisted and intertwined together.

Think carefully about their wet scales and gleaming eyes, their pink tongues that occasionally flick out, their bodies broken to adapt to the tiled floor, their exposed bones carved with patterns, and their internal organs lying flat together, breathing.

Lorgar's gaze gradually changed, turning to disgust, extreme disgust. The Laer were a million times more depraved than he had imagined.

However, religions are not without such twisted evils; human sacrifice and all sorts of horrific atrocities have occurred in the history of other religions.

This is why he is so Devotion to the Emperor —the moment he saw the Emperor with his own eyes, Lorgar understood one thing.

His father was unlike any other god; those gods were false, distorted, and fabricated frauds.

But the Emperor are different.

The Emperor would sacrifice himself for humanity until his last breath. Therefore, a religion founded on the Emperor's beliefs would inevitably be the most righteous and radiant religion in the galaxy. Humanity needs the Emperor, needs a savior like him, to dispel the darkness.

Just like right now.

Lorgar gripped his scepter, looked ahead, and took a step.

He didn't want to do it, but he had to; he had to destroy the temple from the inside out.

Stepping over the still-living, deformed bodies of the Laer, and treading on their twisted serpent tails, Lorgar entered the temple.

The place was deep and sticky, the air free of toxins, and the Great Word Bearers's skin still radiated a golden glow. He surveyed his surroundings Dreadnought, coldly observing the evil of these heretics.

The walls are mostly made of pinkish-purple coral reefs, and the tails of some seemingly degenerated and atavistic Laer's remains are intertwined on the walls.

Their bodies were cut open, their internal organs and most of their bones were gone, and the few remaining parts were nailed to the wall with bone nails.

The ground was still soft and breathing. The Laer who made up the paving stones seemed to know he was coming. More eyes opened, anticipating being trampled, craving pain.

Lorgar remained unmoved by all of this. He resisted the urge to turn back and send the Star of Judgement Chapter of the Word Bearers to burn the entire place to ashes, and continued onward.

His behavior is undoubtedly puzzling.

If this were a normal temple, he could indeed inspect it as Cole Fallon described. This is precisely the style of the Word Bearers, who despise heresy.

But this temple is abnormal. At this moment, what he should do is not to go deeper, but to make peace with the impulse in his mind, turn around and leave. Let his offspring take the Phosphex and use the flames of anger to completely reduce this place to ashes.

Lorgar didn't want it to be like this.

There must be priests inside the temple. Especially for a race like the Laer, their priests probably hold both power and religious leadership positions. What is Lorgar planning to do right now? The answer is actually quite simple.

He was going to find the priest, and then seize him and hang him on the temple gate.

At the same time, he will show the surviving Laer what the consequences are for not believing in the true God and practicing illicit worship! If they scream or cry, then the Great Word Bearers will be very pleased.

Undoubtedly, his idea seemed absurd, and in fact, even foolish. But the thoughts of believers can never be judged by common sense; faith and intellect can only coexist.

If a person is devout in their faith, their intellect will inevitably give way to their faith at certain times. If a person is intellectually superior and rational at all times, faith cannot subdue their intellect.

Which side does Lorgar belong to?

Nobody has the answer.

The Great Word Bearers walked coldly into the depths of the temple. The air and environment began to grow increasingly humid; the temperature wasn't cold, but rather carried an unpleasant, damp heat. Smoke rose from the bodies of the "floor tiles."

The walls had changed; many openings replaced the remains of the Laer. Through them, Lorgar could observe the fighting outside, but he did not stop; a seven-colored light had already appeared in his vision.

Like a dream, it began to spin for some unknown reason, illuminating some of the statues.

They are some kind of enormous and powerful monster, with many arms and huge, menacingly curved horns on their heads. A series of spiked pinkish-purple rings connect their chests, and none of the statues are dressed in any clothing. It is highly suggestive.

Gazing at them, one of Lorgar's taut nerves finally snapped. He furiously raised the Illuminarum, Displacer Field began to crackle.

"Boom!"

A heavy crash echoed throughout the temple as Lorgar, in a fit of rage, destroyed a statue and showed no sign of stopping there.

Its fragments tumbled down, but he had already rushed to the next statue. The Illuminarum continued to swing, the Primarch using his extraordinary power to wield the scepter, furiously beating the stone creations until they were completely destroyed, only then did Lorgar stop.

He withdrew his scepter, but then heard a buzzing, whispering sound. Turning around, he saw a Laer dressed in dark purple fabric walking toward him.

This Xenos looked very old; its skin was wrinkled, and most of its scales had fallen off, leaving only scar-like white remnants among the remaining dozen or so scales. Its eyes were not black like those of other Laer, but a hazy purple.

Lorgar narrowed his eyes and shook his head in disgust—he had already achieved his goal, at least half of it. At the same time, he handed over the scepter again.

Despite Cole Fallon's assurance that there were no guards, Lorgar remained vigilant. He knew how formidable the Ral warriors were.

"Kneel down, heretic," Lorgar said coldly.

The language he spoke was pure High Gothic, which the Xenos could not possibly understand. But he didn't need it to understand; any intelligent being could comprehend the threat implied in the Primarch's tone.

The aged priest looked at him, his posture submissive and threatening, but he did not kneel. Lorgar Jia walked towards it, deciding to break its spine first before dragging it out and hanging it up.

However, at that very moment, the Laer actually spoke.

"Please stop, Son of God, I mean no harm."

Lorgar was initially startled by the creature's voice—despite its ugly appearance, the voice of this Ral Xenos was surprisingly pleasant. But he quickly frowned and even quickened his pace.

"Where did you learn High Gothic?" Lorgar approached it, a dangerous crackling of electricity crackling at the tip of the Illuminarum's staff. The Primarch's tone was low, the threat palpable. "And what did you just call me?"

"I learned this language many years ago," the priest's voice sounded quite meaningful. "Son of God, that is how I address you."

"You shameless Xenos, you filthy and lowly heretic, do you even deserve to use human language?" Lorgar raised the Illuminarum, but did not swing it down for the time being. He held it up, allowing it to serve another purpose as a weapon—a threat.

Tell me, why do you call me that?

"For I can see the God you believe in," the priest said. "His Radiance shines brightly, as radiant as the sun."

Lorgar laughed, reaching out and grabbing the Xenos by the neck. The Primarch stared at it, watching with satisfaction as it slowly succumbed to the agony of suffocation, completely unmoved.

"You dare describe him? You dare see him?" he said coldly. "I don't know where you learned High Gothic, but I don't care. You deserve to die, you and all your brethren deserve to die. Only one race is destined to rise in this galaxy."

The priest struggled desperately, its eyes reflecting the dark, furious face of Lorgar Aurelian.

Within that hazy purple aura, even Lorgar's appearance changed. He was no longer carrying a Xenos, but instead holding a sharp blade in one hand—a blade with a slightly curved shape and exquisite silver engravings.

But what about in Lorgar's eyes?

He was merely still gripping the priest's neck, even tightening his grip slightly—he had changed his mind; he was going to kill the Xenos now.

Of all the Primarch, Lorgar's conquest progress was arguably the slowest. Whenever he arrived at a human planet that needed reconquest, he was willing to spend years preaching, gradually winning over the local Devotion the Emperor and drawing them into the Imperium.

He would do his utmost to avoid injury and bloodshed, which sounds Mercy to the point of being pedantic, but that's only because he's dealing with human beings.

Lorgar Aurelian can be more ruthless than anyone else when it comes to Xenos and heretics.

Just like now.

He slowly tightened his fingers, watching with satisfaction as the priest died in despair and suffocation.

The Great Word Bearers laughed coldly, clutching its corpse, he turned and walked back the way he came. The priest was dead, but its body would still be burned along with the temple.

He walked with his head held high inside the temple, his Shadow stretched long by a white Radiance unlike any other color. Beneath his shadow, the Laer who formed the floor tiles began to dance wildly. Their tails intertwined, and a thick, foul-smelling liquid oozed from beneath their bodies.

About ten minutes later, he walked out the door. Cole Fallon's expression changed swiftly upon seeing him.

"Sir—" The once eloquent pastor stammered. "--Sir?!"

"What's wrong, Cole?" Lorgar asked gently, regaining her composure. "Is there a problem?"

Cole Fallon didn't answer, but instead scanned him up and down. This offensive behavior didn't anger Lorgar; he even tacitly approved of the probing and waited patiently. Several minutes later, Cole Fallon finally managed to regain his composure.

"It's alright, sir." The Word Bearers's company commander forced a smile. "How was your haul at the temple?"

Lorgar raised his left hand and showed the corpse of the Xenos priest to Cole Fallon. Instead of starting to loudly proclaim the Xenos' shamelessness as he had expected, the latter looked at Lorgar with an extremely unfamiliar gaze.

"What does this mean, sir?" Cole Fallon asked.

"You'll find out," Lorgar said.

He turned around and carefully observed the battlefield. The bombardment had long since stopped, but the artillery was still operating, and the war cries of the Word Bearers could still be clearly heard by the Primarch in the wind. Lorgar smiled, opened the built-in voice channel, and began a speech to all the Word Bearers on the ground.

"Word Bearers, loyal followers of the Emperor, look to me!" Lorgar cried, raising his arms. "Look to Lorgar Aurelian!"

He raised his left hand, revealing the Xenos to his offspring. He knew they could see it, and as in all previous wars against the Xenos, the Word Bearers had triumphed this time.

"You emerged from blood and fire, you slaughtered Xenos, bringing peace and stability to humanity behind you, just as I have done! And this is exactly what the Emperor demands of us! He will be proud of us."

With his back to Cole Fallon, Lorgar began a heartfelt speech.

The Word Bearers listened to the Primarch's words as they slaughtered the remaining Laer. They would glance at him from time to time, but their gazes were no longer fixed on the Primarch; instead, they were inexplicably drawn to the sword in his left hand.

Cole Fallon watched all this with his fists clenched, a chilling feeling slowly spreading through him, as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.

He silently put on his helmet, activated the projection function of the goggles via neural connection, and entered a hidden chat channel to communicate with the Fidelitas Lex orbiting the planet.

A runic signal representing Erebus flashed across his retina, followed by a line of text: [What happened?]

The Word Bearers replied with a single sentence in silence.

[Lorgar Aurelian has gone mad. And that sword, Erebus. Can you even tell what it is?]

Erebus remained silent for several minutes before finally replying with a single sentence.

[This is different from what was described in the prophecy.]

[Yes.]

That's what Cole Fallon replied, and he closed the chat channel. Lorgar Aurelian had already turned around, finished his speech, and was now smiling at Cole Fallon, raising his sword high.

Like a victor, a general returning in triumph.

Extremely ironic.

"Hang it on that door!" Lorgar shouted. "And burn the temple down with it! Cole! I'm leaving!"

After saying this, he shoved the sword into Cole Fallon's hand and hurriedly left, presumably to see his brother.

Cole Fallon watched his retreating figure in silence, then looked down at the sword in his hand, a whisper rising in his heart.

He's always so naive and childish. Don't you want to have complete control over him?

"Oh, Empyrean above, shut up," Cole Fallon muttered. "I'll burn you to a crisp with Phosphex flamethrower right now."

The voice chuckled, "No need for that, dear fallen one. I dare not linger any longer; that terrifying nightmare is about to gaze upon me. Good luck, and may you soon gain favor."

Holding the weapon that had been reduced to a mere mortal, Cole Fallon's face twitched violently beneath his helmet.

One more chapter.

Also, this wasn't the original title for this chapter; the original title was "Lorgar Aurelian: I'll Be Waiting for You on Laar Street."

Lorgar: All eyes are on me! I am a--