The Emperor smiled. It was the first time Lin Fan had ever seen the Emperor smile, and the first time Jaghatai had seen it as well.
Such a gentle smile—let alone driving the Battle Sisters mad—would have made even the Space Marines swear loyalty unto death to this golden, radiant man.
"You've finally asked that question... I thought you'd wait much longer before asking..."
"So... is the one on the Throne really you?"
"That is me." The Emperor paused. "And it is not me."
"...Could you explain that more clearly? Being so cryptic is honestly rather infuriating..."
The Emperor smiled helplessly. "That was originally me, but later it became someone called the God-Emperor."
"I am many things... a savior... a destroyer... a true god... a mortal. Sometimes, even I do not know what exactly I am."
"I was placed upon the Throne. Naked, I faced all the madness of the Warp, changing from a disheartened failure into a cold sun suspended within the Warp."
"That faith united the Imperium from top to bottom and solidified the hearts of a chaotic people, but in the end, it all pointed toward me—or rather, toward my gradually decaying corpse upon the Throne."
"Many people cry out, 'For the Throne, for the God-Emperor'... Even if they do not know what the God-Emperor is, or what the Throne looks like, that does not stop those emotions from becoming great power in the Warp..."
"You are the only one who can hear the voice of my humanity..."
Lin Fan looked at the Emperor, his eyes stinging. From the Emperor's calm tone, he could hear an immense sorrow. The one who had refused to become a god had become one after all, and his divinity had utterly overwhelmed his humanity, turning it into an insignificant whisper amid