Guilliman's Disheartenment

"This was a massive conspiracy."

"From the very beginning, I was their target."

The primarch walked along Victory Avenue as countless mortals shouted themselves hoarse.

Their eyes were filled with confusion and hatred. Not long ago, they might have devoutly praised Guilliman's greatness and sung of the Emperor's Children's wisdom and martial prowess.

But now, with only the slightest prompting, they had swung to the opposite extreme.

Guilliman did not hate them. These people were merely ignorant puppets pushed to the forefront.

Anyone with half a brain could tell that behind them stood the Navigator Houses, the Astropathic Choir, the Astronomican, and every faction whose interests he had harmed.

They all remained hidden in the shadows. Even if he investigated, he would never uncover any useful leads.

Before moving against him, they had already anticipated that he would inevitably retaliate. They had prepared their countermeasures in advance, wiping away every trace of their actions.

"What can be certain is that the Greenskin Orks who suddenly emerged through the webway had nothing to do with these people.

"They only learned of the situation afterward, then exploited it, intending to use this political scandal to strike at me."

"After all, if they had colluded with the Greenskin Orks from the start, there was no way I would have failed to notice anything at all."

Guilliman's multi-threaded mind was frantically analyzing the intelligence at hand, using what he knew to infer the unknown and steadily drawing closer to the original truth.

"The most troublesome issue now is not these problems that have already been exposed.

"It is that I do not know whether those conspirators and ambitious men lurking in the dark still have more sinister and vicious cards left unrevealed."

"If I flatly deny the history of the Second Empire, I may