Warhammer: In the Name of the Emperor

The bright starlight shines down through the dome at the top, illuminating the statue of the emperor. He sits on the throne, the golden throne, the golden body shines like the sun, and his face is made of white ceramics. , between the eyes, the golden eyes burst out with dazzling golden light.

There was silence in the monastery hall, which was not surprising. It was still late at night and everyone had returned to the cabin to rest.

It would be better to say that the existence of this monastery is strange. Not in itself, monasteries are everywhere in the empire. It would be strange if there were no churches and monasteries in the world.

But it shouldn't be here, that statue, those angel murals, the rows of stone pillars and the gilded scrolls on the marble walls, they shouldn't exist here, they shouldn't exist inside the Macragge Glory.

The Ultramarines have never worshiped the Emperor as a god. Even after that fateful day, in the endless darkness, the Ultramarines have never worshiped the Emperor as a god. They have other ways to fight against the demons and monsters of the warp. Reason, only reason.

But the Ultramarines did retain this monastery as a mark of respect. They did not believe in the Emperor, but they were loyal to him, his cause, and his will.

New recruits would take their oaths here, and sermons and celebrations would be held here, but that was a long time ago, and there have always been rumors that this place will be demolished, and this magnificent monastery will be uprooted from the back of the battleship, because, its past owner , and the current owner hates its existence.

And he, the being who hates it, is sitting here himself. Robert Guilliman is sitting on the bench. That wide bench was designed for the Astartes. Everything here is one size larger. But it was still difficult to get Guilliman, wearing the Armor of Destiny, to sit down properly.

Guilliman was sitting in the middle of the church, neither in front nor behind. He was looking at the statue of the Emperor in front of him. He was sitting on the throne, overlooking everything in the hall with silent eyes, but, Only him, only him here.

"I said where are you, and it turns out you are here."

A man walked over from the aisle between the benches. His steps were very light because he was not wearing the heavy armor, which was good, otherwise Guilliman would think that the person on the throne had come alive.

I don’t know if Vito has noticed that he actually looks somewhat similar to the Emperor. It’s not that they are exactly the same, but in some places they do look like the same person.

"Have you been to church?"

"No, never, this is the first time."

"Well, I've been to it more than once. I've been to all kinds of churches, good and bad, both good and bad."

Vito appeared at the edge of the bench with his hands on his hips. He was very tall, but even to a mortal, he still looked very small among these benches designed for the Astartes.

He looked up at the statue, smiled and scratched his nose, "Does it look like him?", "No, not at all, the bridge of his nose is not that high.", "That's right, he is not that handsome, not as handsome as me. "These future generations have never seen him, and each of his statues is more outrageous than the last. You should look at your own, which is similar."

"I've seen it, but... yes, like you said, I couldn't even recognize that it was me." Guilliman smiled bitterly, recalling that when he first arrived on Terra, he was dragged to the state religion by the pope of the state religion. When I visited the headquarters, it was not a church, or at least not entirely.

He saw his own statue and other people's statues. He looked at the person standing in the shrine, and he couldn't recognize that it was him, that face, that expression.

"Where's Coze?"

"He's hiding in his batcave. I don't know where exactly he is. You know him."

Guilliman smiled. He leaned back on the chair, his tall body raised his head and looked into the eyes of the statue. His golden pupils were like a mirror reflecting everything in the church.

"Fortunately, the people I transferred to fight that sloppy Nurgle were all Mechanicus. If they were mortals, how much inspection, ideological review, and subsequent cleaning work would be required."

Vitor scratched his head and glanced at Guilliman. The latter did not look at him, but continued to look at the statue. The blue eyes reflected the light of the stars. After a long time, he slowly spoke.

"Vito, are you sure that you are still you now?"

"philosophy?"

"No, it's just a question."

Vito shrugged with his hands on his hips. He raised his head and looked at the statue. "I think so, the teacher said. I stopped thinking about who I am a long time ago."

"Why?"

"Brother, if you live long enough like me, change enough names, and experience different lives again and again, you won't care too much about yourself."

"Is he too?"

Vito fell silent. He crossed his arms and stared into the emperor's eyes with a long sigh, "Do you want me to be honest? I don't know, maybe there is, maybe there is not. We are not as familiar as you think. "

"You're his best friend."

"Yes, but who says friends really understand each other so well? We have been together for so many years, but do you think I know that old bastard well? No, I don't know what is going on in his mind. I guess, he I don’t know, the more familiar people are, the less they understand each other.”

"Then, look at me, am I still the same as I was then? Am I still the same Robert Guilliman?"

Guilliman said in a low voice, the voice seemed to be the sound of vicissitudes of life pulled from an old organ. Vito looked at him, "Are you lamenting life? How old are you? Ten thousand years old? Most of them It’s time to sleep.”

"No, I just realized that I don't recognize myself."

Guilliman looked at his hands. They were as clean as new, but in his eyes, they were so strange. "While I was there, when I was fighting the demon, I felt a strange feeling. I said at that time Those words were not mine, yes, they were my thoughts, but I had a feeling they were not entirely from me.”

"I felt him, Vito, I felt his power, his thoughts, his words echoed in my mind, overlapping with my thoughts, and at that moment I couldn't even tell them apart. ”

"Tell me, Vito, am I still me?"

Guilliman looked towards him, but Vitor did not speak. He stood aside with his arms folded.

"Answer me, just tell me."

"Honestly? I don't know, Robert, you are not him. Although I don't know him well enough, I think you are not him." Vito turned to look at the statue and frowned slightly.

Guilliman was silent for a long time, looking at the statue, and then at the sword beside him, "People from the National Religion told me that when you believe in the Emperor, his "divine power" will be with you, and he will Appeared on you, but I didn’t believe him, but he still appeared.”

"You want to say that you don't know whether you have subconsciously believed in his divinity? Do you believe that that person is a god?"

Guilliman was silent for a while, and finally nodded. Vito was also silent for a moment, and then sighed, "Tell me, Vito, just tell me about a person. Is he really a god? His power, when When I use it, I can feel that it is not an earthly power."

"I used to believe that it was just a form of spiritual energy. I once spurned Luojia's theory, but I'm not so sure now. I know that spiritual energy can affect a person's mind and his thoughts, but I once Facing those big demons and powerful beings, they have never had an impact on me. I haven’t seen the evil god yet, so I don’t know how.”

"But he can. I heard his voice and felt his will. Every wave seemed to be through his arms. Every thought seemed to overlap with him. Is this God? Vito.”

"Tell me, you are the only one of us who has seen God, and you are the only one who knows it."

"God? What is God?"

"Don't answer me in riddles. I like to think about mysteries, but not now."

"No, this is not a riddle, just a fact. What is a god? Do you know? Robert, who knows how to fill mountains and create land? Or can you tear apart the planet? I know many people can do it, those four, others, and even It’s me, do you think I’m a god?”

Vito smiled jokingly and patted his chest, "I said I was a god, which would probably make people laugh to death. The way my believers worship me is to roll all over the ground."

"Vito, I don't want to joke. If you are trying to appease me, it will do no good. Your joke is too bad."

"Humph, you kid, okay, you come and ask me."

Vito looked at the statue and leaned on the bench. He crossed his arms and stopped making wisecracks. Guilliman was silent for a while and then slowly raised his head to look at his statue.

"Spiritual transformation, control of will, they say that the real God allows you to look at him and feel his thoughts, understanding, and integration."

"Then do you feel it? Look at him."

Guilliman's eyes overlapped with his, and after a long moment he shook his head slightly, "I don't know, is what I say now what I want to say? Is everything I once believed true?"

"Then, does God have any other representative powers?"

"Resurrection of the dead? I remember that I once read about a similar miracle in a book. Has he done it?"

Guilliman asked. He noticed that Vitor fell silent. He folded his arms and lowered his eyes. After a moment, he sighed and sat on the bench. "Did I tell you such a story?"

"Which one?"

"About how he became the "Emperor" in your eyes."