Facing the pressure radiating from Supreme Grand Master Kaldor Draigo, Corwin could not help but draw in a deep breath.
The psychic power spilling invisibly from that being had already surpassed that of any psyker. It was that overwhelming, that formidable, that alarming.
Could it be that the Supreme Grand Master has some issue with the Seventh Brotherhood? Corwin could not help thinking. Such a sudden burst of pressure naturally made him think along those lines.
Even so, he maintained his original posture and did not bow his head.
By Grey Knights convention, the Supreme Grand Master was a special office chosen from among the Brotherhood Grand Masters, responsible for directing the whole order during critical missions.
In theory, Draigo had no authority to interfere in the internal affairs of the Seventh Brotherhood.
Of course, that was only in theory. Given Kaldor Draigo's personal power and prestige, the authority he wielded had already surpassed that of any previous Supreme Grand Master.
If he invoked the need for some vital mission and demanded the Seventh Brotherhood make adjustments, Corwin would still have no choice but to bow his head and obey.
Fortunately, the Supreme Grand Master seemed to have no dissatisfaction with the Seventh Brotherhood at all. If anything, his gaze held approval.
That pressure from moments earlier had merely leaked out unintentionally.
Kaldor Draigo was looking their way because Corwin and the others were simply too conspicuous.
Whether in equipment, relics, or honor badges, they all had far more than the other Grey Knights, and with their new armor enhancing their frames, they even looked taller.
Standing among the Grey Knights ranks, the warriors of the Seventh Brotherhood looked several shades brighter than everyone else, so naturally they attracted more attention.
Kaldor Draigo was pleased to see stronger arms and equipment emerging within the Grey Knights, especially when those warriors had also annihilated so many daemons.
From that perspective, the Seventh Brotherhood was practically the model of what a Grey Knight force should be.
The Supreme Grand Master's praise for the Seventh Brotherhood caused the other Grand Masters to glance over, while Corwin himself accepted it calmly.
His record was there for all to see. Within the Grey Knights, probably only the Supreme Grand Master himself could surpass him. Of course he stood tall.
Praise the Emperor.
The unbreakable shield He left behind has grown stronger, and the blade sharper... Draigo thought silently.
Not long ago, he had learned of the Grey Knights' latest state. The Emperor's gift to mankind had recovered from grievous damage and grown stronger, its numbers swelling to several times what they had been before.
A full three thousand warriors.
And the strongest among them was the Seventh Brotherhood.
Their daemon-hunting record was outstanding. They deserved his praise.
As for how exactly the Seventh Brotherhood had managed it, Draigo had no desire to investigate. As long as that strength could serve the final mission, it was enough.
He believed they would not dare disobey his command, much less defy the Terminus Decree.
At that moment, the Warp convulsed violently.
This region of the Chambers of Purity, bound more deeply to the Warp than most places, could sense those tremors with particular clarity.
More terrifying still, those Warp shocks were coming from Holy Terra, more precisely from the Golden Throne.
The Emperor, the Master of Mankind, was in unbearable agony. It was as though He were crying out for help.
Not only that, but from the deepest reaches of the Warp, some even more dreadful presence was descending upon the Sol System in concert.
That Chaos-tainted evil struck the Grey Knights' keen psychic senses like a warhammer, making their hearts lurch.
"Emperor... what in Your name is happening?!"
Such upheaval in the Warp caused a stir among the Grey Knights. They looked at one another, faces filled with unease.
Even Draigo, mighty as he was, was no exception.
The Supreme Grand Master looked toward the gathered warriors.
"Brothers, you have all likely felt the approach of evil. They are attempting to strike Holy Terra, and the Throne itself is crying out for aid.
"Our Master of Mankind needs His unbreakable shield and His sharpened blade!"
His voice carried waves of psychic force.
"This is why I have returned. The prophecy has come to pass. The Grey Knights shall now enact the Terminus Decree!"
At the Supreme Grand Master's command, the sacred rite began. The Purifiers underwent their cleansing, and the great doors beneath the holy effigy slowly opened, revealing a silent sepulcher.
It was the tomb of Malcador the Sigillite, and the resting place of the Terminus Decree.
Wrapped in holy psychic flame, the Purifiers stepped into the crypt and approached the stone coffin.
They knelt on one knee before it, using obscure incantations to undo seal after seal of sorcery until the sarcophagus opened.
Inside lay Malcador's bones, still holy after ten thousand years, faintly glowing with psychic light.
The skull of that great being still wore an expression of agony. The remains were long since incomplete, with more than half reduced to ash.
Those ashes were among the Grey Knights' most important relics.
Whenever they performed large-scale rituals or undertook important daemon-banishing missions, they would remove a portion of those ashes and mix them with silver dust and sulfur, using them as the medium for Warp sorcery.
But this time, their eyes were not on the ashes.
They were on something even more important.
Held against Malcador's chest in his incomplete skeletal hands was a plain wooden box, shimmering with a special power.
The moment the Purifiers saw that humble box, their breathing stopped.
Inside that box was the power the Grey Knights had awaited for ten thousand years, their ultimate mission -
the Terminus Decree!
Under the gaze of all present, the chief of the Purifiers bowed deeply to Malcador's remains and began reciting that passage passed down for ten millennia, known only to senior Purifiers.
The other Purifiers prayed alongside him.
The meaning was simple: the Grey Knights stood ready to accept their mission, and begged that great being to entrust the Terminus Decree to them.
As the chant and prayer came to an end, Malcador's bones clicked and relaxed their grip, no longer clutching the plain wooden box.
"Praise the Emperor!"
At that sight, the Purifiers were overcome with excitement.
The Sigillite had acknowledged them. He was willing to hand the Terminus Decree over to the Grey Knights. What incomparable sanctity.
The chief Purifier, solemn-faced, bent down and carefully lifted the plain wooden box, then turned and carried it to Kaldor Draigo.
Only the Supreme Grand Master had the right to open the Terminus Decree.
When Kaldor Draigo received the box, even he could not keep his emotions from surging. This was the meaning of his existence, and of the Grey Knights as a whole.
He raised the box high in both hands so every Grey Knight could see it.
"Brothers, the Master of Mankind calls to us. We shall be made whole and fulfill our purpose!
"In the Emperor's name, let all evil be cast down!"
Boom!
The Grey Knights dropped to one knee, spear shafts striking the ground as their force fields flared to life in a display of utter devotion.
In grave unison, they swore:
"With faith as our armor, and sacrifice as our shield,
"The Emperor's will is made manifest. We are the knights beneath His banner, and the blade in His hand, until death!"
Corwin recited the oath, his heart filled with solemnity.
Like the others, his eyes remained fixed on the plain wooden box, afraid he might miss the very instant the Terminus Decree was revealed.
At the center of every gaze, Kaldor Draigo used an incantation to open the box and withdrew the parchment within.
The moment the parchment was taken out, the box lost the support of whatever power had sustained it and crumbled into ash. What was sacred was the document, not the container that held it.
Every Grey Knight trembled. Holding their breath, overcome with emotion, some even felt tears threatening at the corners of their eyes.
They wanted to know what was written on that parchment and what kind of power it contained.
Would it allow the Grey Knights to surpass every armed force of the Imperium and truly become the Emperor's final gift to mankind, the unbreakable shield?
Kaldor Draigo swallowed and looked down at the parchment in his hand.
The instant he saw its contents, it was like a thunderbolt struck him from above, and he froze on the spot.
???
"How... how is that possible?" the Supreme Grand Master said in disbelief. He drew a deep breath, closed his eyes, then opened them again and read it more carefully.
He even turned the parchment over.
But the contents on that parchment were exactly the same as what he had seen before.
"No..."
After confirming that he had read it correctly, and that apart from its durability and the preservation enchantments placed upon it the parchment had no special function at all, Kaldor Draigo shut his eyes in pain.
The Supreme Grand Master's reaction left the Grey Knights below the holy dais confused. No one had expected this to be his response upon seeing the Terminus Decree.
"What happened?"
Watching Draigo's expression shift from piety to bewilderment, then disbelief, and finally pain, Corwin was utterly at a loss.
Was there something wrong with the Terminus Decree? Had it not been said to contain the ultimate command and supreme power?
In the next moment, the contents of the parchment, the Terminus Decree itself, were projected into the air through psychic force so that every Grey Knight could see them.
"Savior... this is the Terminus Decree?"
When Corwin saw the contents of the legendary order, he was so stunned his mind nearly went blank.
And he was not the only one.
The other Grey Knights were just as dumbfounded.
For a moment, the entire Chambers of Purity fell into complete silence.
The fabled Terminus Decree was only a single statement. There were no secret spells, no hidden force, only one directive aimed at the Grey Knights:
The Master of Mankind must never be permitted to leave the Throne. Whether He rises from death, is reborn within another body, or escapes in the form of some Warp entity, if such a thing occurs, the Grey Knights must enact the Terminus Decree and return Him, forcing Him to resume that terrible duty.
The wording was clearly an order the Emperor Himself had left to the Grey Knights, bearing His own seal.
From any angle, this was an unimaginably difficult mission, far beyond what the Grey Knights had expected.
And the Decree said nothing about how it was to be accomplished. Nor did it grant them any weapon capable of carrying out such an order.
Corwin swallowed, scarcely able to believe it.
The ultimate sanction of the Grey Knights, a thing of legend, said to hold power enough to destroy the Imperium or save mankind in its darkest hour...
...was just this single message from the Emperor, and an impossibly difficult task?
The Grand Master slowly drew a deep breath and closed his eyes, not daring to open them again for a long while, hoping all of this was only an illusion.
But when he opened them, the contents were unchanged.
"Us?
"The Grey Knights' ultimate command is to capture the Emperor if He leaves the Throne?!"
Corwin's head buzzed as if it were about to explode, and his whole body went numb.
Master of Mankind... You may have thought a little too highly of us Grey Knights.
Purging evil and guarding humanity was already hard enough, hard enough that the Grey Knights had nearly collapsed more than once. At their worst, they had fewer than six hundred warriors left.
And now that the Grey Knights had only just recovered and begun to expand again, they were supposed to prepare to capture the Emperor Himself?!
More importantly, the Grey Knights had always believed themselves to be the Emperor's shield and spear.
And now, in a single instant, they were expected to become His jailers, the ones who would pursue and seize Him?
Was that even loyalty?!
If the Grey Knights truly carried out this ultimate command, how could they possibly ensure they succeeded?
Corwin's head was ringing. He felt dizzy.
No one knew in what state of mind the Emperor had left behind this Terminus Decree. Had the Master of Mankind truly believed the Grey Knights would be capable of completing such a mission?
Or had the Grey Knights simply failed to grow enough over the ages, so that when the Terminus Decree was finally opened, they still did not possess sufficient strength?
Too many questions churned in his mind.
Corwin turned to look at the other Grand Masters beside him.
He found that they looked much the same as he felt: full of confusion, weighed down by deep pressure and restless anxiety.
This was practically an impossible mission.
The ultimate command the Master of Mankind had left for the Grey Knights was basically the same as demanding that they raise their blades in outrage and shout, "Emperor, why have You rebelled?"
The only consolation was that they had the Emperor's permission, so perhaps it did not count as treason.
"Brothers, the Terminus Decree is the mission the Master of Mankind has entrusted to the Grey Knights. It is the very meaning of our existence. No matter what, it must be carried out..."
Just as the Grey Knights wavered, Kaldor Draigo's voice rang out, steady and resolute.
Holy fire blazed from the Supreme Grand Master, illuminating the entire Chambers of Purity.
"In the Emperor's name, unto death!"
"In the Emperor's name, unto death!"
The Grey Knights cast aside their hesitation and confusion, accepting this impossibly difficult final command.
But the moment their voices fell, the Warp convulsed again. Even the Chambers of Purity shook violently as dust and fragments of stone rained down.
"Emperor... what unspeakable evil!"
The Purifiers were trembling all over, as if they had sensed something utterly horrifying. The Grey Knights tightened their grips on their spears.
In ten thousand years, this Chambers of Purity, so deeply entwined with the Warp, had never once registered Chaos corruption this profound.
"The Throne... that presence is coming from the Throne. Our Master of Mankind..."
Corwin's voice shook.
His psychic senses had caught the waves coming from Holy Terra. The Master of Mankind seemed to have stopped calling for aid. Something was extending outward from within the Golden Throne itself.
The Emperor, the Master of Mankind, was about to leave the Throne He had guarded for ten thousand years.
And Corwin was not the only one.
Many of the senior Grey Knights had sensed it too, their hearts gripped as if by an invisible hand.
Darkness had fallen.
Faced with this sudden upheaval, the Grey Knights sprang into action at once. They contacted the Custodes, trying to learn what exactly was happening inside the Imperial Palace.
But both standard communications and psychic transmissions suffered severe interference. None of the inquiries the Grey Knights sent out received any reply.
The Palace in the Himalazia had become like a black hole swallowing all information. No one knew what had happened.
Kaldor Draigo stared in the direction of Holy Terra, his expression more grave than ever before.
For the first time in a very long while, the Supreme Grand Master was tense.
Even when facing the corruptions of the Chaos Gods and endless daemonic hosts within the Warp, he had never been this tense.
His voice trembled.
"Brothers, the Throne has undergone a catastrophic change. I fear we must enact the Terminus Decree at once!"
(End of Chapter)
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